global warming

Asked why people like Patrick Moore and Stewart Brand, who made their name as environmentalists are now nuclear power advocates, the highly regarded energy efficiency analyst Amory Lovins was blunt: "I think they haven't done their homework. And I keep asking for their analysis and not getting it, because I don't think they have one." Nuclear power, he argues, is no solution to global warming. "If you buy more nuclear plants, you're going to get about two to ten times less climate solution per dollar, and you'll get it about twenty to forty times slower" than efficient use of electricity, renewables and micropower, he said. Lovins is also dismissive of claims that a "nuclear renaissance" is sweeping the world. "It's a very carefully fabricated illusion. And the reason it isn't happening is there are no buyers. That is, Wall Street is not putting a penny of private capital into the industry, despite 100-plus percent subsidies," he told Amy Goodman.

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at rock star Guard members, protection for journalists and a bizarre "honor" for Jesse Helms. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at Senator Elizabeth Dole. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

Former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes wrote in an introductory email to her new colleagues at the global PR firm Burson-Marsetller about how "excited" she was to join B-M and "become a 'Burson person!'" Hughes explained in her email that "today's leaders in business and government face the challenge of thinking globally and acting locally, developing broad umbrella themes that shape perceptions of their industry, brand or product, while also customizing those messages for many different customers and cultures." Hughes failed dismally to reverse America's poor global reputation in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion in her role as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Despite her track record, Hughes is upbeat about the prospect of "advocating on behalf of our clients". Last week the Wall Street Journal reported (sub req'd) that Hughes "is expected to bring in a chunk of new business, headed up by Republican-leaning chief executives who know her from her political life" and will "focus on issues from energy to health care."

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at Dick Cheney's red pen, drug companies' new code and a match made in PR heaven. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at Montel Williams' pharma gig. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

U.S. Vice President Dick CheneyU.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's office was behind a push to censor congressional testimony that global warming poses a danger to the public, according to Jason Burnett, a former associate deputy administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The vice president and the White House Office of Management and Budget heavily edited testimony last year by the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). "I read the testimony, checked with EPA scientists, and came to the conclusion that the draft testimony was fundamentally accurate as written," Burnett stated in a letter to Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

"Beyond the Phony 'Debate': Government Science and the Climate Crisis" will be one of the topics discussed at "Rejuvenating Public Sector Science," a day-long conference sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It will be held July 11 at the Ronald Reagan International Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004.Next week, I will moderate a panel titled "Beyond the Phony 'Debate': Government Science and the Climate Crisis" in Washington, DC. In case I needed any proof that the climate is important, last month's flooding in the Midwest gave me a personal look at what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was talking about last year when it warned of "an increased chance of intense precipitation and flooding due to the greater water-holding capacity of a warmer atmosphere."

The photograph at right shows a road not far from my home in Portage, Wisconsin that was damaged during the floods. In Sauk County, just a few miles from where I live, officials estimated that 95 percent of the roads were damaged. The seven states where the flooding occurred are still trying to assess the cost of the disaster, but it is already clear that the damages will run into billions of dollars.

In Lake Delton, about 20 miles from Portage, the water broke through a dam, causing the entire lake (600 million gallons of water) to drain into the Wisconsin River, washing away several homes in its path. The Wisconsin River passes through Portage. Like other local residents, I spent some time at the levee, gawking at the rising waters and watching for bits of other people's homes as they floated downstream.

A new YouTube video raises the question of whether CNN's coverage of the clean coal debate has been biased by a multi-million dollar advertising campaign purchased on CNN by the coal industry through Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a coal front group since renamed the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. The ad campaign, which began a year ago, was created by Waylon Ad, a firm representing both ABEC and the National Mining Association. A coal industry website describes the purpose of the CNN ad campaign: "The St. Louis ad agency's spot, which follows a debut effort that broke in April, suggests coal use is economically efficient and environmentally friendly. In the latest spot, a panorama of people and faces, including a man in the middle of a field with an electric guitar, is shown as a voiceover touts coal use." The low budget video piece was posted on YouTube June 24. Watch it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKR-6Szlv0g

Do federal scientists fear for their jobs for speaking the truth? What about corporate-funded science? Increasingly, powerful institutions have tried to curb scientific independence and integrity regarding issues as wide-ranging as public health, the environment, the economy, and government energy policy. To address these concerns, the Integrity in Science project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest is sponsoring a July 11 conference in Washington, DC. Titled "Rejuvenating Public Sector Science," the conference will feature sessions on the climate crisis; protecting and empowering scientists at federal agencies; insulating clean energy research from special interests; and how the scientific commumunity should handle conflict of interests. (CMD's research director, Sheldon Rampton, will moderate the global warming panel.) For more information and to register, call (202) 777-8348 or visit http://cspinet.org/integrity/conflictedscience_conf.html