DeSmog

?? Tory Peer to Lead Climate Science Denial Group Craig Mackinlay has taken over as the director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which has claimed that carbon dioxide has been “mercilessly demonised”.

Investigative journalist Taylor Noakes took a deep dive into Poilievre’s recent interview on Canadian conservative influencer Jordan Peterson’s podcast. (Like Trump, Peterson is a climate denier who has called climate change a “hoax.”) Despite big environmental risks and a potentially oversaturated market, over the next two years, Poilievre wants to go all in on LNG. “Why are we still importing oil when we have the world’s third-biggest supply?” Poilievre asked. “Why is it we can’t export our natural gas overseas?” Is this vision rooted in reality — or is it simply another shortsighted play that ignores environmental urgency and market trends? Dive into the story here. ?? https://loom.ly/J23Or98

We have a new translation from German outlet CORRECTIV! Who is Importing Donald Trump’s Anti-Climate Agenda to Germany? Dive into their investigation that maps the influential axis of think tanks and politicians encouraging Europe to “drill baby drill” from Annika Joeres, Elena Kolb and Katharina Huth ?? https://loom.ly/yw9xV6Y

Stewart Muir, founder of the extractive industries advocacy group Resource Works, is listed among the attendees of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference. https://loom.ly/xjVr0f8 Dubbed the Glastonbury of Climate Denial, ARC is led by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, who has previously called climate change a “scam.” The conference, which took place in London in mid-February, attracted the radical right authors of Project 2025, wealthy Trump donors, senior fossil fuel company representatives, and evangelical think tanks, as well as British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and Brexit leader Nigel Farage. Far-right politicians from France, Hungary, Poland and Spain also attended. https://loom.ly/pkUwecI Looking for more on the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship? Check out our #DisinfoDatabase ?? https://loom.ly/Fw4DNbg And get the full story in the article from Taylor Noakes ?? https://loom.ly/xjVr0f8

Another day of the Trump administration, another day of worldwide disruptions and shifts to the right. This time, in Europe: Sunday’s election results in Germany reflect a global right-wing movement that seriously threatens climate action. This is partly thanks to billionaire Elon Musk’s public embrace of far-right populists, as four of DeSmog’s top journalists reveal. The unelected Trump mouthpiece is loudly boosting a transatlantic movement aimed at spreading doubt about the reality of climate change and sabotaging action on the crisis. His interventions before Germany’s elections energized the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which claims climate policy “threatens our freedom.” The AfD secured 20.5 percent of the vote on Sunday, the far right’s strongest electoral performance in Germany since World War II. We should be alarmed by this far-right advance and Musk’s role in supporting it. His courtship, along with Trump’s, of hardline leaders in Europe threatens to torpedo hopes of progressive climate action by the EU, think tanks warn. And in the U.S., Musk’s ongoing war against the federal bureaucracy “erodes our collective ability to adapt to climate impacts,” Amanda Fencl, director of climate science for the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, warns. Read the full story from Geoff Dembicki, Edward Donnelly, Joe Fassler and Adam Barnett here ?? https://loom.ly/Z1_4NxM

DeSmog journalists in the European Union, the UK and the United States reviewed public materials from prominent climate deniers referencing Musk over recent months. Taken as a whole, these podcasts, opinion pieces, social media posts, newsletters, YouTube videos, and interviews with legacy media reveal an unmistakable trend: Musk’s public embrace of right-wing populists is invigorating a transatlantic movement aiming to spread doubt about the reality of climate change and sabotage action on the crisis. Read more in the article from Geoff Dembicki, Edward Donnelly, Joe Fassler and Adam Barnett ?? https://loom.ly/Z1_4NxM

Like zombies rising from the grave, many long-rejected oil pipeline projects like Energy East are suddenly being promoted as national necessities in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s musings about annexing Canada. To be clear, most Canadians agree that Canada needs to take Trump’s threats seriously and accelerate long-overdue efforts to make our country less economically dependent on our newly menacing neighbour. Previous political impediments to building interprovincial infrastructure are melting away as Canadians realize protecting our national sovereignty is more important than the priorities of any given region or industry. But before the country considers writing another blank cheque for an oil industry mega-project that may take a decade to complete, let’s make sure to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” Learn more from Mitch Anderson ?? https://loom.ly/m2svkaI

Tariffs, colonialism, minimalist government. We’ve taken a giant step backward to the age of robber barons and industrialists since Donald Trump became U.S. president, as he threatens to take over Canada and instigates global trade wars. We know Canada struggles with the perils of coming into Trump’s crosshairs. But, like the ongoing step backward in the United States, Canada also jumped back in time recently by approving a colossal $20 billion loan for the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline project. Remember TMX? It transports crude and refined oil from Alberta to British Columbia’s coast in an attempt to boost Canada’s oil exports to Asia. Taylor Noakes writes that support for TMX means struggling Canadians end up paying the price as global fossil fuel companies reap the rewards, since the loan further subsidizes a profitable industry while ordinary citizens struggle through an affordability crisis. The threat of Trump’s tariffs may have accelerated the loan approval as oil producers look to boost sales to non-U.S. markets. But can Canada truly be a climate champion, as it once promised, while doubling down on fossil fuel infrastructure? Read more here from Taylor Noakes ?? https://loom.ly/E6RVVHI

As tens of millions of Germans went to the polls last Sunday (February 23), one topic has been conspicuously absent from the headlines. In the wake of the hottest year on record – both in Germany and the world – the word “climate” has barely featured on election posters plastering the streets, and has been largely avoided in talk shows and interviews. This is a striking omission from a country which dictates the pace of climate action within the European Union, and which boasts an ambitious target to decarbonise by 2045. Hear more from Katharina Wecker and Edward Donnelly ?? https://loom.ly/QtKdKYQ

Trump and the Energy East Pipeline Revival: Why Canada Shouldn’t Waste Billions A smarter investment? Put that money towards a massive build-out of the nation’s electrical grid to reach projected energy demand instead. Learn more in the latest analysis from Mitch Anderson ?? https://loom.ly/m2svkaI