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Global Warming Denial Hits a 6-Year High

Mother Jones

The latest data are out on the prevalence of global warming denial among the US public. And they aren’t pretty.

The new study, from the Yale and George Mason research teams on climate change communication, shows a 7-percentage-point increase in the proportion of Americans who say they do not believe that global warming is happening. And that’s just since the spring of 2013. The number is now 23 percent; back at the start of last year, it was 16 percent:

The increase in climate science disbelief. Yale and George Mason University teams on Climate Change Communication.

The percentage of Americans who believe global warming is human-caused has also declined, and now stands at 47 percent, a decrease of 7 percent since 2012.

At the same time, the survey also shows an apparent hardening of attitudes. Back in September 2012, only 43 percent of those who believed that global warming isn’t happening said they were either “very sure” or “extremely sure” about their views. By November of last year, that number had increased to 56 percent.

Overall, more Americans now say they have all the information they need to make up their minds about the climate issue, and fewer say they could easily change their minds:

Increasing righteousness about global warming, on both sides of the issue. Yale and George Mason teams on Climate Change Communication.

The obvious question is, what happened over the last year to produce more climate denial?

According to both Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale and Ed Maibach of George Mason, the leaders of the two research teams, the answer may well lie in the so-called global warming “pause”—the misleading idea that global warming has slowed down or stopped over the the past 15 years or so. This claim was used by climate skeptics, to great effect, in their quest to undermine the release of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report in September 2013—precisely during the time period that is in question in the latest study.

As we have reported before, the notion of a global warming “pause” is, at best, the result of statistical cherry-picking. It relies on starting with a very hot year (1998) and then examining a relatively short time period (say, 15 years), in order to suggest that global warming has slowed down or stopped during this particular stretch of time. But put these numbers back into a broader context and the overall warming trend remains clear. Moreover, following the IPCC report, new research emerged suggesting that the semblance of a “pause” may be the result of incomplete temperature data due to the lack of adequate weather stations in the Arctic, where the most dramatic global warming is occurring.

Nonetheless, widely publicized “pause” claims may well have shaped public opinion. “Beginning in September, and lasting several months, coincident with the release of the IPCC report, there was considerable media attention to the concept of the ‘global warming pause,'” observes Maibach. “It is possible that this simple—albeit erroneous—idea helped to convince many people who were previously undecided to conclude that the climate really isn’t changing.”

“Even more likely, however,” Maibach adds, “is that media coverage of the ‘pause’ reinforced the beliefs of people who had previously concluded that global warming is not happening, making them more certain of their beliefs.”

As Maibach’s colleague Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale adds, it isn’t as though those who were already convinced about global warming became less sure of themselves over the last year. Rather, the change of views “really seems to be happening among the ‘don’t knows,'” says Leiserowitz. “Those are the people who aren’t paying attention, and don’t know much about the issue. So they’re the most open-minded, and the most swayable based on recent events.”

Journalists take heed: Your coverage has consequences. All those media outlets who trumpeted the global warming “pause” may now be partly responsible for a documented decrease in Americans’ scientific understanding.

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Global Warming Denial Hits a 6-Year High

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Beyoncé Redefines the Word "Quiet"

Mother Jones

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From the Wall Street Journal:

Beyoncé Releases Latest Album—Quietly

Can we please stop this? This wasn’t some kind of stealth release. It was a brilliant use of viral marketing. Beyoncé and a few of her buddies “quietly” advertised the new album to about ten or twenty million of their closest friends, all of whom thought they were being let in on a secret and immediately went out and crashed the iTunes server farm. It was genius. Even if it only works once, it’s genius.

But quiet? Only if you have a five-year-old’s understanding of human nature. To misquote everyone’s favorite America-hating superhero, it was an awfully loud kind of quiet, man.

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Beyoncé Redefines the Word "Quiet"

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Saturday Suburban Wildlife Blogging

Mother Jones

We have been besieged lately by a possum who comes in through the cat door and hoovers up Domino’s cat food. This is Not Good. I tried and tried to trap him using cat food as bait, but he was too smart for that. He only wanted the food that was actually in Domino’s bowl. Then, a couple of days ago, I foolishly left a package of cookies on a coffee table that’s low enough to be possum accessible. When I woke up, it looked like a bomb had gone off in the living room. Cookie crumbs were everywhere.

Stupid possum. But a little while later I happened to be on the phone with my editor, Monika, who suggested that if the possum likes cookies, why not bait the trap with cookies? Good idea! So I bought more cookies, crumbled up a couple of them, and put them in the trap. No dice. So then my mother chimed in: the possum obviously doesn’t want crumbled-up cookies. He wants whole cookies that he can demolish himself. Fine. I put out a whole cookie.

And that was that. I finally trapped the possum. As you can imagine, he was not a happy possum during his brief imprisonment, but I drove him over to a local marsh and let him loose. It seems like pretty ideal possum territory, and it’s not too near any residential areas. Hopefully he’ll now spend a long and comfortable life in the company of his fellow critters.

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Saturday Suburban Wildlife Blogging

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Trade Pact With Europe Might Gain Us Two Months of GDP By 2027

Mother Jones

Shorter Dean Baker: If we pass the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, U.S. GDP will rise to $24 trillion in January 2027. If it doesn’t pass, we won’t reach that level until…..

March 2027.

And that’s the most optimistic possible scenario. In the less optimistic scenario, passing TTIP only gains us a single month of GDP by 2027.

TTIP may well be worth doing anyway. It depends on what the final deal looks like, and just how badly IP law gets even further screwed up by it. Still, it’s worth seeing the benefits displayed this way, instead of in raw numbers, because it gives you a sense of just how small the economic gains are. There might well be some benefits to harmonizing business regulations, but that’s mostly what this is about. Trade between the United States and Europe is already pretty wide open, so the actual trade benefits of TTIP are modest.

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Trade Pact With Europe Might Gain Us Two Months of GDP By 2027

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Tips for Surviving Allergy Season

Vladimir M.

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Tips for Surviving Allergy Season

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Do trees fight crime in Philadelphia?

Do trees fight crime in Philadelphia?

htomren

We already know that having more trees around protects our health. Turns out those trees might also protect our wealth and safety, according to a new study from researchers at Temple University, published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.

Controlling for some socioeconomic factors such as poverty, education, and density, the researchers examined crime and tree data and found that “the presence of grass, trees and shrubs is associated with lower crime rates in Philadelphia, particularly for robberies and assaults.”

Here’s where things get a little presumptuous. The authors “surmise this deterrent effect is rooted in the fact that maintained greenery encourages social interaction and community supervision of public spaces, as well the calming effect that vegetated landscapes may impart, thus reducing psychological precursors to violent acts.”

A study published in the same journal last year backs up the connection: A 10 percent increase in trees in Baltimore correlated to about a 12 percent decrease in crime. “It’s really pretty striking how strong this relationship is,” said Austin Troy, lead author of that study.

But is it truly a causal relationship?

I like trees as much as the next blogger, maybe even more, but we need to see more research before jumping to conclusions. In both studies, researchers say they controlled for socioeconomic factors, but how effectively? Do trees necessarily deter crime, or are they just one characteristic of a richer neighborhood that has a lot of things that poorer neighborhoods don’t have — like safer streets?

Whether or not trees are really crime-stoppers, civic planting projects can play a big role in improving those poorer ‘hoods. But a pro tip for the green-minded: The key to success isn’t just planting more trees. You also have to keep them alive.

And a pro trip for the crime-minded: Whatever you do, just don’t be this guy.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Do trees fight crime in Philadelphia?

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5 Reasons to Have a Plant at Your Desk

We all know that adding a few well-positioned plants brings a welcoming feel to your work space. But aesthetics aren’t the only reason to incorporate a touch of green into your office setup. From improving indoor air quality to increasing productivity, here are five reasons to have a plant at your desk.

Photo: Shutterstock

1. Improve indoor air quality

In addition to bringing a friendly touch to your work space, growing live plants in the office can help clean the air and even improve your health, according to a NASA study.

In 1973, NASA scientists identified 107 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air inside the Skylab space station. Occupants often suffered from burning eyes and respiratory difficulties, later learned to be two of the most common symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome.

Meanwhile, B.C. “Bill” Wolverton, an environmental scientist working with the U.S. military, discovered that swamp plants actually eliminated Agent Orange from water samples. Expanding on this idea, Wolverton tested out the use of houseplants as a means of improving indoor air quality and discovered growing plants indoors helps eliminate VOCs from the air.

Research also suggests that plants play a psychological role in welfare, and that people actually recover from illness faster in the presence of plants, the study said. Check out these 15 houseplants that improve indoor air quality from Clean Air Gardening, and boost workplace wellness the eco way.

Bet You’ll Love: Make That Plant Even Cooler with One of These Rad Reused Planter Ideas

2. Reduce stress

In her dissertation at Surrey University in the U.K., master’s environmental psychology student Helen Russell set out to find scientific proof for notions already widely perceived – namely that plants in the office can reduce stress.

In the study, Russell asked participants to take a difficult test in a room filled with plants, and compared their skin conductivity, heart rate and blood pressure with people who completed the same test without plants.

Of the three types of measurements made, skin conductivity showed the greatest difference between the group exposed to office plants and those who took the test plant-free. Overall, Russell’s findings showed that plants eased stress for participants by at least this metric, and that participants recovered from stress more quickly in a plant-heavy environment.

Stay Green at Work: Reusable Replacements for the Office

3. Increase productivity

Tending for that potted plant not only helps you chill out during a hectic work day, but can also increase focus and productivity – allowing you to accomplish more with less stress.

In a study published in the “Journal of Environmental Horticulture,” researchers from Washington State University reported that live interior plants helped workers complete tasks with more focus and efficiency.

The study asked workers to complete a simple task on a computer in a room with plants and compared their performance with workers who completed the same task in the same room without plants.

Findings showed that productivity increased by 12 percent in the presence of plants. Additionally, people tested in the room with plants reported feeling about 10 percent more attentive after the task than those tested without plants.

More Ideas: 10 Ways to Stay Waste-Free at Work

4. Make rooms more comfortable

The recommended humidity range for human health and comfort is between 30 and 60 percent, but many offices fall short of these figures, especially in the summer and winter months. Low interior humidity can lead to increased fatigue, respiratory discomfort and an overall drop in workplace well-being, but the same Washington State University study that touted the benefits of plants for productivity suggests a touch of green can help fix this problem as well.

Findings show that when plants were added to a room, the relative humidity rose significantly, but not excessively. In one case, relative humidity without plants averaged 25 percent, and with plants it averaged 30 percent – bringing the room into the ideal comfort range.

Go the Extra Mile: How to Start an Office Recycling Program

5. Keep the environment on your mind

Keeping a plant at your desk has loads of health and wellness benefits. But don’t forget about the intangible ways a workplace plant can boost your green lifestyle.

In addition to improving your office environment, tending a house plant every day at work reminds you of how important it is to care for the Earth and why eco-friendly living means so much to you.

Each time you water your plant, let your mind wander to what you love about the environment, and channel these warm-fuzzy feelings to add a few eco-conscious habits to your workplace routine, such as reaching for reusable products over disposables, reducing paper use and conserving energy.

Want More Tips?: 50+ Ways to Green Your Workday

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5 Reasons to Have a Plant at Your Desk

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China keeps making new green pledges

China keeps making new green pledges

Shutterstock

Shanghai, along with the rest of China, might soon be getting a little cleaner.

The West has long turned a collective blind eye to China’s human rights abuses, its disregard for democracy, its complicity in the mistreatment of its low-wage workers, its occupation of Tibet, and its environmental sins. By turning that blind eye, we’ve ensured a cheap and steady flow of everything from McDonald’s Happy Meal toys to iPhones and other toxic consumer goods.

But something remarkable has been happening of late: China’s despotic leaders seem to be working to clean up the country’s environmental practices.

In February, the leaders announced they would introduce a carbon tax and new pollution discharge fees.

Also last month, China finally came clean and admitted to the existence of so-called cancer villages. “The toxic chemicals [used in China but banned elsewhere] have caused many environmental emergencies linked to water and air pollution,” the country’s environment ministry acknowledged in a landmark report.

And now, Bloomberg is reporting that China has issued environmental protection guidelines for companies to follow when they make foreign investments. Chinese companies operating abroad are being directed to curb pollution and consider their impacts on local communities. From the article:

The guidelines call on companies to follow local environmental laws, assess the environmental risks of their projects, minimize the impact on local heritage and draft plans for handling emergencies.

“We want our companies to realize that they must look after environmental issues in domestic and overseas investments,” Bie Tao, a policy department official from the Chinese environment ministry, said at the briefing. “No side will win if the environment is neglected, and we have many lessons in this regard.”

Zambia last week revoked the license of a Chinese-owned coal mine in the south of the country after violations of safety and environmental laws. In Myanmar, construction of a $3.6 billion hydropower plant by a venture between China Power Investment Corp., Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power-1 and a local private company was halted after the project drew the criticism of environmentalists and local residents protested.

And there’s more. From a separate Bloomberg article regarding the country’s latest effort to curb its killer air pollution:

China’s largest oil companies have announced plans for billions of yuan of upgrades after air pollution in the Chinese capital hit hazardous levels on 20 days in January. China Petrochemical Corp. Chairman Fu Chengyu said in an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television last month that the nation’s biggest refiner would spend about 30 billion yuan [$4.8 billion] a year to upgrade its plants to produce cleaner fuel.

So far, this is all mostly talk. But if China carries through with these and other pledges, it may soon have fewer environmental sins that we would need to overlook. That should make it even easier for us to turn a collective blind eye to its human rights abuses, its disregard for democracy, its complicity in the mistreatment of its low-wage workers, and its occupation of Tibet.

John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who

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China keeps making new green pledges

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Meet Obama’s EPA pick: Gina McCarthy

Meet Obama’s EPA pick: Gina McCarthy

EPAHere’s Gina.

President Obama today nominated Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency. She currently serves as assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under outgoing EPA chief Lisa Jackson.

Lauded and loathed for her climate work, McCarthy, a 58-year-old Bostonite, has had a big hand in recent critical rules such as new auto emissions standards. She used to work as the top state environmental official for Massachusetts under a Gov. Mitt Romney, and then in the same role in Connecticut under another Republican governor, Jodi Rell. But she’s still mostly a public unknown, which explains why people are so delighted/disturbed by her strong Boston accent.

McCarthy is squarely on the side of fighting climate change through sometimes aggressive policy-making. Her work in Massachusetts helped lead to the landmark Supreme Court case in 2007 that gave the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. From The Wall Street Journal:

Ms. McCarthy won praise from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) who worked with her when both were Connecticut state officials. “She recognizes that sometimes there’s a balance that has to be struck between environmental emphasis and economic growth, but she’s convinced the two are often mutually supportive,” Mr. Blumenthal said in an interview.

Ms. McCarthy is liked by environmental groups, which applaud her work at the EPA and her defense of some of the most sweeping environmental rules of Mr. Obama’s first term.

Some industry officials view Ms. McCarthy as a less polarizing figure than Ms. Jackson and say it is better to have an experienced regulator at the helm than an outsider.

The National Journal has a good profile of “pragmatic” but “aspirational” McCarthy and her “ready sense of humor and tough-talking style.” Some “industry officials” like her, but:

McCarthy comes with built-in enemies. If nominated, she’ll face a fiery confirmation hearing from Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The panel’s ranking Republican, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, and senior Republican member John Barrasso of Wyoming hail from states where oil and coal production are big parts of the economy—and EPA regulations are viewed as straight-up job-killers.

Vitter has already launched a public campaign of sorts against McCarthy, questioning the scientific methods used in EPA’s regulatory agenda. And in 2009, Barrasso initially blocked McCarthy’s nomination to her current slot at EPA, in part because of concerns about her approach to regulating greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

McCarthy has a history of climate action, but also a history of supporting natural gas and oil drilling à la Obama’s “all of the above” energy strategy. Industry is a little uncomfortable with McCarthy because of her cozy relationships with environmental causes, but some environmentalists question McCarthy’s cozy relationships with industry.

This might make her an effective EPA administrator or it might make her a lightning rod for congressional climate-denialist craziness. Or both! But it seems the brash Bostonite will ruffle some feathers either way.

See McCarthy in action, and hear that accent, as she talks about the dangers of old-fashioned cookstoves in the developing world:

Also read about Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Energy: Ernest Moniz.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Meet Obama’s EPA pick: Gina McCarthy

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The Great American Inequality Video

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When you get down to it, the debate over the sequester—the automatic budget cuts that kicked in on Friday—is really about the future of the middle class. Democrats want to close tax loopholes for the wealthy to preserve education and social programs for the rest of us. Republicans call this socialism, and flatly refuse to consider any option other than cutting bigger holes in the social safety net.

As these opposing views come to a head, a new video based on Mother Jones’ well-known income inequality charts has been making the rounds. Even if you’ve already seen the originals, it may put Washington’s latest squabbles in a different light:

Link – 

The Great American Inequality Video

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