Message From the Editor

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last week, American conservatives descending on Florida for 2022’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) delivered a mixed message about the conflict. But one thing many speakers could agree on was that the war showed the need for America to push for expanded coal mining and oil and gas drilling — a line that the American Petroleum Institute had been pushing since the first day of the invasion. Speakers at CPAC, however, went beyond simply using the war as an excuse to call for more drilling. They also blamed Biden’s stance on coal, oil, and gas for encouraging this war. Read on.

The world’s leading climate scientists warned of the “irreversible” impacts of global warming in the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), describing the window of opportunity to act as “brief and rapidly closing.” And, for the first time ever, the IPCC report also criticized the “vested economic and political interests” that were delaying efforts to tackle climate change. Phoebe Cooke reports.

On February 16, Energy Transfer announced in an earnings call that construction on its long-delayed Mariner East pipeline project, built to carry natural gas liquids across southern Pennsylvania, was “complete.” However, nine days later, a truck arrived at an apartment complex near Philadelphia, carrying lengths of uninstalled pipeline, according to photographs, videos and witness accounts obtained by DeSmog. That truck arrived at a pipeline construction site already humming with activity, photos show, as workers prepared to weld those joints into place — despite Energy Transfer’s statements that Mariner East construction was already over. Sharon Kelly has the story.

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Brendan DeMelle

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Republicans at CPAC Say ‘Drill Dummy Drill’ in Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

— By Zach Roberts (04 min. read)—

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last week, American conservatives descending on Florida for 2022’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) delivered a mixed message about the conflict. Many speakers seemed undecided on whether to quietly support Russian President Vladimir Putin or fall back on Cold War conservative ideologies. Others, like Charlie Kirk, CPAC favorite and founder of youth conservative organization Turning Point USA, simply urged attendees to forget about “a dispute 5,000 miles away in cities we can’t pronounce,” and focus instead on “how the cartels are deliberately trying to infiltrate our country.”

But one thing many speakers could agree on was that the war showed the need for America to push for expanded coal mining and oil and gas drilling. It was a line that the American Petroleum Institute had been pushing since the first day of the invasion, when it said in a blog post that “right now, the most important move President Biden can make is to signal that America is positioned to provide stability and supply amid any disruption of international energy markets — and can do so without increasing costs at home.”

IPCC Report Calls Out ‘Vested Interests’ Delaying Climate Action

— Phoebe Cooke (03 min. read) —

The UN’s expert climate science organization has criticised the “vested interests” obstructing efforts to cut emissions for the first time this week.

The world’s leading climate scientists warned of the “irreversible” impacts of global warming in the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), describing the window of opportunity to act as “brief and rapidly closing”.

Energy Transfer Continued Work After Telling Investors Mariner East Pipeline Was Completed

— By Amy Westervelt, the Guardian (05 min. read)—

On February 16, Energy Transfer announced in an earnings call that construction on its long-delayed Mariner East pipeline project, built to carry natural gas liquids across southern Pennsylvania, was “complete.”

Nine days later, a truck arrived at the Tunbridge apartment complex in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, carrying lengths of uninstalled pipeline, according to photographs, videos and witness accounts obtained by DeSmog. That truck arrived at a pipeline construction site already humming with activity, photos show, as workers prepared to weld those joints into place — despite Energy Transfer’s statements that Mariner East construction was already over.

Tory MP Leading Net Zero Backlash is Linked to Lobbyist With Hidden Fossil Fuel Interest

— By Adam Barnett and Rich Collett-White (5 min. read) —

The chair of a campaign by backbench Tory MPs against climate action runs a parliamentary group with a lobbyist who has an undeclared interest in the continued use of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, DeSmog can reveal.

Craig Mackinlay runs an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) with Howard Cox, a regular Sun columnist and vocal critic of green transport policies, whose haulage industry-funded FairFuelUK campaign boasts of having kept fuel duty frozen for the past 12 years.

Leading Climate Research Publisher Helps Fuel Oil and Gas Drilling

— By Amy Westervelt, the Guardian (05 min. read)—

Scientists working with one of the world’s largest climate research publishers say they’re increasingly alarmed that the company works with the fossil fuel industry to help increase oil and gas drilling, the Guardian can reveal.

Elsevier, a Dutch company behind many renowned peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the Lancet and Global Environmental Change, is also one of the top publishers of books aimed at expanding fossil fuel production.

From the Climate Disinformation Database:Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a youth conservative activist organization with the mission “to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” When he was 18 years old, Kirk launched TPUSA with the guidance of William Montgomery and seed funding from Foster Friess, a conservative donor with ties to the Koch brothers. He is the author of Time for a Turning Point, a book that he has promoted through the Heartland Institute, and is a regular speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database