Comments Anna Haynes has made

Yes, that's probably better than using their phone number (which isn't user-friendly).On Big Oil creates phony climate denial site, lies about it posted 2 months, 1 week ago 5 Responses

Miles says the article "spends its first 15 paragraphs detailing Big Oil’s massive campaign against clean energy while incredibly avoiding any mention of one little detail: money."

Just an FYI, though, I do see a reference to oil's $$ in para 8 -

" And they are facing an opposition with tycoon money and a gift for political stagecraft."

(Perhaps it was edited after this post was written, perhaps not)

I quote:

"Enterprise risk management (ERM) in business includes the methods and processes used by organizations to manage risks and seize opportunities related to the achievement of their objectives. ERM ...typically involves identifying particular events or circumstances relevant to the organization's objectives (risks and opportunities), assessing them in terms of likelihood and magnitude of impact, determining a response strategy, and monitoring progress. By identifying and proactively addressing risks and opportunities, business enterprises protect and create value for their stakeholders, including owners, employees, customers, regulators, and society overall."
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_risk_management

"ERM [Enterprise risk management] moved to [Peter Fahrenthold's] department, and his financial experience has helped him with his work on the ERM initiative.
...The Continental Airlines risk manager sees ERM as a big opportunity for himself and for other risk managers.
"It certainly increases the exposure that I have to certain aspects of the business," says Fahrenthold. "As a risk manager, ERM is an opportunity to get out of the insurance pigeonhole. You get more opportunity to get involved in strategy, and it puts you in a position to look at the broad expanse of what is going on in the company--and key areas where something could go wrong."
..."ERM is a real excellent opportunity for anyone who is a risk professional to jump in there and expand what they are doing." "
- http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Fahrenthold_Pete_-466044.aspx

Ken Ward disambiguation: I checked with the Grist/jpGreenhouse Ken Ward, or whoever plays him on email, and he reports he is neither "poor Ken Ward, Jr. (no relation)" who authored the Faces of Coal story (linked to by Kate in the above post), nor is he the Ken Ward at Adfero.

(Perhaps someone who speaks Wikipedia fluently can add this info there?  my attempts aren't good enough for them.)

Adfero turns out, if Google can be trusted, to be the firm formerly known as RightClick Strategies.

Along similar vein, the website of the "(climate change) Hot Air Road Tour" group Americans for Prosperity (.org) is tied in with SMARTech Corp, and appears to use the same nameservers as does the famed gwb43.com.

> "It's so hard to weed out every last bit of hypocrisy from your life, and then when you do, you're a crank and nobody wants to listen to you."

Andree, that was extremely fine.

As for reconciling the bunnies, their cuteness and joie de vivre, our compassion, our hunger - someone should start a business making a meat-bunny Orgasmotron.  Send 'em in, they get le petit mort, topped off by le grand mort.

Maybe it could be like a breadmachine, and cook them too.

NewNoah's link for the "abrupt political change" Ken Ward quote is dead - the new URL is http://www.grist.org/article/2009-03-19-u.s.-groups-desert-precaution/

"Relax ... it's only the end of the world!"
"What's so funny about drought, blight and coastal flooding?"
"Things that are funny:
    * Probably untrue, but still funny: PETA mad at Obama for killing fly
    * Protesters get goosed
    * Poo-pourri"

While I'm pretty sure this witzelsucht-afflicted Grist writer is a warm-hearted, good, wonderful person, his/her efforts need to be redirected to the "cute and inconsequential" subsections of Grist, not visible on the front page, so people who see global climate disruption as a crisis don't have our concerns trivialized.

Barring that, could we have a Gristmill "home page" again, please, so we don't have to wade through the fluffy stuff?

> Everyone was basically doing their jobs. And yet the net effect was to confuse the public and decrease aggregate understanding of an extremely important issue.

Like the baseless "the more you know, the less you worry" "finding" from the Kellstedt et al paper in Risk Analysis last year.  Picked up by John Tierney, spread to the four winds, and looks to have all the signs of being done deliberately. (e.g. the Joe Walker of 1998 climate-disinfo memo fame turns out to have written the K. paper's press release, etc - whose thrust was pretty much "Note to press: don't bother covering climate change")

> I honestly don’t have a clue how it could be fixed. Grist readers, perhaps you do?

If it came from a govt agency, submit a FOIA to get the correspondence from the guy who wrote it, to see what *really* went on.  It won't be fast though - I'm trying to get correspondence from Texas A&M related to the Kellstedt paper's submission and publicity, but they've appealed to the state Attorney General who, so far, has not deigned to give a ruling (it's been about 2 months now)

As for the daily-grind journalists - they should do something like what you did here, and write about why it's not a story - which is much more informative and interesting than pretending it is one.

Tried to contact the author

I used the NYTimes "contact a reporter" form, to ask the author of this piece about its genesis ("Could you please tell us, how did your article come into being? did it start with a press release?  were you reminded of how major an advertiser Exxon has been?  etc"), but didn't get a response.
On NYT suckered by ExxonMobil in puff piece titled 'Green is for Sissies' posted 11 months, 4 weeks ago 3 Responses

Second and third thoughts, and a reply to Ed A.

From the author, some final thoughts -

Kudos to the Associated Press for not doing a "footprint fetish" story in the run-up to the Poznan climate talks (to my knowledge).

There are some loose ends and logical holes in this story; if I were redoing it, it'd be structured somewhat differently.

re all the "You might wonder..." bits, in the 2nd half - I realize that writers resort to this wording when they want to accuse but not overtly; but that wasn't my intent, I honestly do wonder.  "It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it" (from Aristotle?); I hope we can do this.  
(When you wonder, and there's some justification for wondering, but the people who know aren't willing to talk, is it better to share your wondering, or just quietly file it away?)

re commenter Ed Arnold's disgust for "...self-appointed saviors preaching...from...very expensive, very exclusive resorts...when the message is that the rest of us have to buckle down" - this brings up an interesting point, a 2nd reason that calls for voluntary action are bad.  First reason is that voluntary actions won't solve the problem - as Bill Rees (via Alex Steffen) says, "We're all on the same ship and what we do in our individual cabins is of almost no consequence in terms of the direction the ship is going."
But the second reason, that Ed's comment made me realize, is that exhortations to voluntary "footprint-reduction" have the unintended consequence of creating a "second front" of resistance to the actions that really are needed to solve the problem - to the extent that voluntary carbon reductions are portrayed as the solution, conferences will be "anti-solution" and representative of "the elites" expecting the little guys to be the ones bearing the burden.

(something's not quite right with the tenses and conditionals in the previous sentence, but i hope the point got across nonetheless)

So, thanks to Ed for making me think about this.
On The AP's climate conference footprint fetish posted 12 months ago 5 Responses

Responses from an author of the study

I'd emailed one of the authors, Julie Zimmerman, some questions about this study a while back; she was kind enough to answer, as follows:

Q: How would you (and/or your coauthors) rate the hazard of CFL-based mercury emissions relative to global climate disruption?

A: this is a false trade-off.  there are other ways to reduce energy, thereby reducing greenhouse gases, besides the use of cfls.  the goal here is a reduction in energy consumption and the question is whether cfls are the best way to achieve this goal across all geographic regions.

Q: (in your view, would locally increased mercury emissions to be enough of a reason not to mandate a nationwide switch to CFLs?)

A: see above.  besides, the mandates were not to use to cfls but to stop using incandescents.  there are other lighting technologies to consider such as leds and organic leds that have not been sufficiently explored.

Q: Also, given the ACS control of the journal ES&T, I'm curious - was there any editorial (or peer-reviewer) attempt at influence to minimize climate concerns (relative to mercury-emission concerns), in preparing the paper for publication?

A: No.On CFL study argues against a mandate to switch from incandescents posted 1 year ago 4 Responses

Whiskerfish, links please

> "I have documented how local 'experts'..."

Whiskerfish, provide links please.

> The planet matters more than your feelings.

Amen to this.  Too many people have trouble grasping it.On Some final thoughts on Politico, skeptics, and the next con posted 1 year ago 18 Responses

What's the best outcome? Ask for it.

David, in your Politico letter you said "the maneuverings of various industries and interest groups are well worth documenting."

IMO, Politico owes its public now, on the issue of climate science & consequences; and to atone to their readers, they should bring on someone (Oreskes? Gelbspan? Mooney?) to bring the readers up to speed as to why this disinformation has been occurring - it's not enough just to "erase" those two articles with your letter, they need to move public understanding forward - and the most effective way would be to shed light on the actors and efforts that have generated such public confusion for so long.
(and from what I've seen here in the hinterlands, the public is still clueless about the denial industry.)

My community recently experienced something similar, BTW - a (reformed, he asserted, though it's hard to tell from the transcript) denier appeared on a local radio station.  And locally too, I'm suggesting that the followup should involve bringing someone on who can not just "undo" the impression this fellow left, but actually move public understanding forward.On Some final thoughts on Politico, skeptics, and the next con posted 1 year ago 18 Responses

fyi, just noticed the gristmill email addr

...i'm hoping it will work (nobody seems to be home, at webmaster@grist.org or grist@grist.org)
 On Volkswagen Jetta TDI: 2009 Green Car of the Year posted 1 year ago 10 Responses

Photo assemblage of Exxon ads in NYTimes

Jeff Huggins (denizen of the comments at the NYT blog Dot Earth) collected and photographed about a week's worth of Exxon ads, in the Times - see the photo in here.

Maybe to preserve its credibility the NYTimes should create a separate section, for articles about its advertisers.
On NYT suckered by ExxonMobil in puff piece titled 'Green is for Sissies' posted 1 year ago 3 Responses

And the more recent Oreskes talk

Naomi Oreskes: You CAN Argue with the Facts - Full Talk
http://smartenergyshow.com/node/67

I put up a transcript of the end, where she answered the Q "Now that you know all this, what do you do about it?"
(as a comment to the post)
On Two new pieces delve into the denial industry posted 1 year, 1 month ago 2 Responses

More links and slants

The ES&T press release ( http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/e ... ) highlights the opposite -
"Now, research published in ES&T (DOI 10.1021/es800117h) by researchers from Yale University is turning the mercury problem on its head--it turns out that depending on where you live, you may pump more mercury into the atmosphere by flipping on an old-school incandescent bulb, which doesn't even contain mercury, than by going fluorescent. The extra mercury emissions attributable to incandescent bulbs come from burning more mercury-containing coal to power the inefficient lights."

The article abstract is here -
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/asap/abs/ ...

...and you have to be a subscriber to see the full text.
On CFL study argues against a mandate to switch from incandescents posted 1 year, 1 month ago 4 Responses

Levitt didn't mean that.

> "William Levitt, the builder of the first modern suburb after World War II said, "No man who owns his own house and lot can be a communist."...

My understanding is that Levitt's reason was given in the second part of the sentence - "...he has too much to do."

Apart from that,  an interesting analysis.On Why the party that wrecked America can't fix it posted 1 year, 2 months ago 5 Responses

I wish Yoplait would get the message

With the upside-down-U-shaped bottom, it's like their yogurt's up on stilts.  Talk about a waste of plastic...
(but on the plus side, it did snooker the buyer)
On Another example of how carbon constraints may benefit big box retailers posted 1 year, 5 months ago 5 Responses

Why not just get an off-the-shelf one?

I notice Real Goods is still selling the UrbanMover Sprite for 1200 dollars.
(an NiMH battery, although UrbanMover now makes lithium batteries for it)

And I do like mine.On More hybrid electric bikes hit the streets posted 1 year, 6 months ago 26 Responses

Backward thinking, on mass transit

In my area - where bus ridership is up 10% since last year and projected to go up another 10% - our public servants in govt are looking at cutting back on bus service "because gas is costing us more".
On Yes we can! (ride bikes) posted 1 year, 6 months ago 7 Responses

What is the genesis of a story like this?

To me this story sounds like something pitched by a PR flack; how could we find out, and (if so) also find out what PR agency was behind it?
On Earth screwed, but small Japanese towns happy posted 1 year, 6 months ago 1 Response

On linking to other constituencies

One possible approach would be to point out - to any constituency which has a goal that's not purely short term (e.g, "save the [whatever]") - that in the long term, the [whatever] likely won't survive the effects of climate change, so they should be putting some portion of their effort into long-term prevention.
On Climate, as such, is unlikely to ever be a determinant of many votes posted 1 year, 6 months ago 14 Responses

As Gore said in his recent TED talk...

"Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and their legs collapse. Developing tar sands and coal shale is the equivalent."

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/243
(via earth2tech.com)On The cost of the status quo posted 1 year, 7 months ago 3 Responses

FYI, yesterday's Gristmill post about this art.

Yesterday's (with comments) is here

> "Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can't prove that it will."

Alternatively, to borrow Michael Tobis's phrasing (in another context), Pollan suggests we "act with a certain futile dignity".

How about suggesting we act effectively instead? As a solution, retreating to the garden isn't going to be up to the job.On Pollan envy posted 1 year, 7 months ago 8 Responses

Where's our graphic artist?

How about doing oversized-reflective-mesh-reflectors for bicycles (or reflective mesh vests for their riders), earth-shaped, with "350" written across them?  
And hats.  T-shirts.  Purses.

Lapel pins.On McKibben kicks off 350.org, a new international grassroots climate campaign posted 1 year, 7 months ago 12 Responses

Just a comment on the ad

Interesting that the Pacific Research Institute's "Are we making progress?  Get the real story on the environment" ad appears beside this post.
(Scaife Fndn, Exxon being among its donors)

I haven't read the PDF report they're making available; perhaps someone can do so and summarize it in a comment?
On Government-financed construction plus carbon pricing is the key posted 1 year, 7 months ago 23 Responses

Suggestion box, please

I'd like to see an online 'brainstorming' suggestion box, for projects the ACP could&should fund.  Moderated, to keep it from being polluted into insignificance by the "global warming stopped in 1998" types.  

The ACP site's too top-down for this; could a Gristmill blogger do this please?
On Thoughts on the newly announced 'we' campaign posted 1 year, 8 months ago 14 Responses

Thanks

JMG, thank you.  That was excellent.

> "We need to make it rude to drive, especially rude to drive a big car."

OK, how can we do it?  Where's the brainstorming session being held?On How cars are like cigarettes posted 1 year, 8 months ago 9 Responses

a better link

Timescape on Wikipedia
On What is the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2? posted 1 year, 11 months ago 24 Responses

I'm skeptical too, based on recent experience

Try collecting signatures to draft Al Gore in a red county - you'll find enormous ignorance about climate change among faux news watchers.

Needed: a brochure/flier saying "global warming is real and the scientific consensus that we're causing it is overwhelming; here are the groups who've made statements to that effect and why; here's who's trying to deny it and who's backing them and why, here's a simple URL for a website with links to back up this info", that we 'science missionaries' can hand out when needed.

I've been looking for a PDF online that I could print out, that covers this; I can't find one.  Any ideas?
(I'll create one if I have to, but I'm no graphic artist)On Delayers are replacing deniers posted 2 years, 1 month ago 9 Responses

Priorities

From a commenter elsewhere on Grist:

Get your priorities right. You are worried about the mosquito while the elephant is running wild.

DiCaprio's tackling the elephant.  Kate, you might consider doing so too.
(I know gotcha journalism's fun, but you might think about whether it serves your readers.)
On Leo's feel-good press conference is interrupted by a feel-bad question posted 2 years, 2 months ago 10 Responses