Tweet Of The Day

That time when a cast member of MTV's Jersey Shore schooled Donald Trump on climate change/global warming...

Rush Limbaugh Claims Hurricane Irma A Climate Hoax, Then Flees Florida

Earlier this week, far-right radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that Hurricane Irma was part of a huge "liberal media" climate change hoax and that Irma would not make landfall in the U.S.

Yesterday he announced he would not be doing his show, broadcast from South Florida because he would be busy evacuating the state.

Via ThinkProgress:

“So there is a desire to advance this climate change agenda, and hurricanes are one of the fastest and best ways to do it. You can accomplish a lot just by creating fear and panic. You don’t need a hurricane to hit anywhere,” Limbaugh said on his show Tuesday. “All you need is to create the fear and panic accompanied by talk that climate change is causing hurricanes to become more frequent and bigger and more dangerous, and you create the panic, and it’s mission accomplished, agenda advanced.”

But on the show Thursday, Limbaugh said he would be off the air for the next few days.

“May as well… announce this. I’m not going to get into details because of the security nature of things, but it turns out that we will not be able to do the program here tomorrow,” Limbaugh said Thursday. “We’ll be on the air next week, folks, from parts unknown.”

Limbaugh said the show will be back on the air Monday, but to be on the air Friday would be “legally impossible” for them do to the show out of South Florida.

Listen to him admit he's evacuating below:

Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday: #Irma an attempt to push "climate agenda."
RL on Thursday: I'm evacuating South Florida.https://t.co/iPeZwhviyZ

— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) September 8, 2017

Earlier this wk, Rush Limbaugh claimed Irma was a liberal hoax to push climate agenda. Today, he's fleeing south FL.https://t.co/hkYtnikd26

— Facts Do Matter (@WilDonnelly) September 8, 2017

Rush Limbaugh, after calling Hurricane Irma a lie to push a climate agenda, now looks to be evacuating south FL. https://t.co/26EiwhZ5uF

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 8, 2017

Trump Will Announce Decision On Paris Climate Accord Next Week

President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday he will make a decision next week on whether the United States will withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord.

At the G7 Summit in Sicily this week, several world leaders attempted to sway Trump into staying committed to the climate agreement.

An official dispatch from the G7 read, the U.S. "is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics."

Speaking to reporters after the G7 meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “The whole discussion about climate has been difficult, or rather very unsatisfactory. Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one.”

Running for president in 2016, Trump often threatened to tear up the climate agreement that President Obama signed. But, aides to Trump say the president listened carefully to his counterparts, and is "evolving" on the issue.

News site Axios reports that Trump has already told several close advisers he plans to leave the accord.

I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2017

Trump Signs Executive Order To Reverse Obama-era Climate Change Regulations

President Trump signed an executive order today meant to reverse many of President Obama's climate change regulations.

Trump says the EO will move the U.S. towards energy independence, while environmentalists say the action will do serious damage to ecological interests.

Via Reuters:

The decree, dubbed the "Energy Independence" order, will seek to undo former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan requiring states to slash carbon emissions from power plants - a critical element in helping the United States meet its commitments to a global climate change accord agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in December 2015.

It will also rescind a ban on coal leasing on federal lands, reverse rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas production, and reduce the weight of climate change in federal agencies' assessments of new regulations.

"We're going to go in a different direction," a senior White House official told reporters ahead of Tuesday's order. "The previous administration devalued workers with their policies. We can protect the environment while providing people with work."

"I cannot tell you how many jobs the executive order is going to create but I can tell you that it provides confidence in this administration’s commitment to the coal industry," said Kentucky Coal Association president Tyler White.

So, when Trump claims this EO will create jobs, no one actually knows if that's true?

And while we're talking "energy independence," why doesn't Trump ever mention solar or wind?

During the 2016 campaign, Trump made clear he doesn't believe in "global warming:"

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

Park Service Rangers Go Rogue With Alt-Twitter Feed Servicing Climate Science

https://twitter.com/AltNatParkSer

A team of National Park Service rangers "and friends" has captured the attention of the Twitterverse posting as "AltUSNatParkService" (@AltNatParkSer) after the Trump administration shut down the Twitter accounts of several federal agencies, and ordered the deletion of tweets involving climate change.

Via The Daily Dot:

As the Trump administration rapidly shuts down the lines of communication between federal agencies and the public, an anonymous Twitter account is upholding the ethos of the National Parks Service.

@AltUSNatParkSer gained more than 170,000 followers overnight after the Badlands National Park Twitter account made headlines by tweeting and then deleting a series of climate change facts. Many Twitter users interpreted the Badlands tweets as a sign of resistance against encroaching censorship and the president’s environmental policies, exemplified by the administration deleting all references to climate change from the White House website.

While the Badlands tweets inspired several parody accounts, the alternate National Parks feed was the one that really caught hold. It claims to be run by “several active NPS rangers and friends,” and spent the night tweeting about climate change, sharing photos of national parks, and promoting free access to information produced by federal agencies.

The Twitter account has quickly grown to over 340,000 in less than 24 hours.

Hello, we are the Alternative National Park Service Twitter Account activated in time of war and censorship to ensure fact-based education. https://t.co/Ez8twyES7p

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

There'$ a rea$on WHY Pre$ident Trump want$ u$ $ilenced on #Climate $cience. Don't let US institutions be cen$ored

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

Call your representative in Congress and say you object to 640m acres of national land being privatised. #resist https://t.co/0Ndg0gk2l1

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

The National Parks, forest and wilderness reserves in our country are our greatest natural assets. We're scared for the future. #Keystone

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

Hi @JettGoldsmith This accnt being run by several active NPS rangers and friends.

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

President Trump has called climate change a hoax & the White House deleted the climate change policies on its website on inauguration day.

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

A media blackout has also been introduced over our colleagues at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

Want some real fact to go with your alt-president? US national parks posted tweets about climate change that were later deleted.

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

No matter our politics: Dems, Reps, Indy, Martian, we all want the best for our parks & that starts with understanding the Earth

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

We don't want any trouble. We just want to keep peer-reviewed "factually accurate" climate science flowing out of US institutions.

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

The consequences of climate change will have profound effect on humans over next 100 years. https://t.co/uroesBJxJw

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate

— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 24, 2017

(h/t JoeMyGod)

News Round-Up: December 14, 2016

Some news items you might have missed:

• The brilliant indie film Moonlight received 6 Golden Globe nominations which means even more of the world will be exposed to one of the best movies I've ever seen. If you haven't seen it yet, GO!

• Scientists are downloading and copying government climate data as quickly as possible out of fears a Trump administration might destroy any info showing the reality of climate change.

• Politico is reporting that upwards of 20 GOP Electoral College members are considering not casting their votes for Donald Trump on December 19th. The most EC members to change their votes in one year was 6 in 1808.

• More from the Electoral College - 40 members have asked for an intelligence briefing before December 19th regarding information that Russia actively moved to help elect Donald Trump.

• Oklahoma lawmakers have approved a bill that would require businesses to post anti-abortion signs in their bathrooms.

• Following an acclaimed 4 night concert production at City Center this past October, Jake Gyllenhaal heads back to Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George for ten weeks at the Hudson Theater.

My Favorite Rick Santorum Moment This Year

White House hopeful (oh my sides) Rick Santorum says the Pope should "leave the science to scientists" when it comes to discussing climate change.

Hey Rick - Pope Francis has a Master's Degree in Chemistry, thus, making him a scientist.

What's your basis for discussing the subject, Rick?

GOP: The Mad (Not A) Scientists

Sen. Lindsey Graham Talks Trump, Immigration Reform & Climate Change

Sen. Lindsey Graham, currently in the hunt for the GOP nom for president, chatted with Seth Meyers about Donald Trump, Republican failures on immigration reform and climate change.

Climate Change And The U.S. Senate

Fascinating (and frightening) animation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

Decades ago, the majority of the Arctic's winter ice pack was made up of thick, perennial ice. Today, very old ice is extremely rare.

This animation tracks the relative amount of ice of different ages from 1987 through early November 2014.

Video produced by the Climate.gov team, based on data provided by Mark Tschudi.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 98-1 to acknowledge that climate change is "real." However, an amendment saying that climate change is due to human activity was voted down 59-40.

Go watch the video below and think on whether all this ice is melting "just because."

(h/t JMG)

News Roundup - January 17, 2015

Dot Marie Jones as "Coach Beiste"

A few news stories you might have missed:

• GLEE's Dot Marie Jones ("Coach Beiste") revealed this week that her character will transition from woman to man in a transgender story arc in the series' final season.

• Climate change deniers should take note: 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history.

• Fox has announced "Grease: Live" - a live TV adaptation of the hit musical - will star Julianne Hough (“Dancing with the Stars”) as "Sandy," and Vanessa Hudgens (“High School Musical”) as "Rizzo."

• A pastor in Denver has attempted to ensnare a pro-LGBT baker with charges of discrimination because she wouldn't bake a cake in the shape of a Bible with the words "God hates fags."

Tweet of the Day: Stephen Colbert

President Obama Announces Ambitious Climate Change Goals In Agreement With China

Photo: Greg Baker

From the AP:

The United States and China unveiled ambitious targets Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gases, aiming to inject fresh momentum into the global fight against climate change ahead of a make-or-break treaty to be finalized next year.

President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would move much faster in cutting pollution, with a goal to reduce by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels. Earlier in his presidency, Obama set a goal to cut emissions by 17 percent by 2020.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country's emissions are still growing as it builds new coal plants, didn't commit to cut emissions by a specific amount. Rather, he set a target for China's emission to peak by 2030, or earlier if possible. He also pledged to increase the share of energy that China will derive from sources other than fossil fuels.

The unexpected breakthrough by the world's two largest polluters reflected both nations' desire to display a united front on climate change, blunting arguments from developing countries that have balked at demands that they get serious about cutting emissions. Yet it was unclear how feasible it would be for either country to meet their goals, and Obama's pledge was sure to confront tough opposition from ascendant Republicans in Congress.

"This is, in my view, the most important bilateral climate announcement ever," said David Sandalow, formerly a top environmental official at the White House and the Energy Department. "It sends the signal the two largest emitters in the world are working together to address this problem."

Brazil: São Paulo Close To Running Out Of Water

Folks here in the US can deny climate change all they want, but down in São Paulo, Brazil, it's about to get real as the city of 20 million faces it's worst drought in 80 years.

One of the causes of the crisis may be more than 2,000 kilometers away, in the growing deforested areas in the Amazon region.

“Humidity that comes from the Amazon in the form of vapor clouds - what we call ‘flying rivers’ - has dropped dramatically, contributing to this devastating situation we are living today,” said Antonio Nobre, a leading climate scientist at INPE, Brazil’s National Space Research Institute.

The changes, he said, are “all because of deforestation”.

Nobre and a group of fellow scientists and meteorologists believe the lack of rain that has dried up key reservoirs in São Paulo and neighboring states in southeastern Brazil is not just the result of an aberration in weather patterns.

Instead, global warming and the deforestation of the Amazon are altering the climate in the region by drastically reducing the release of billions of liters of water by rainforest trees, they say.

Sabesp, the state-owned water utility that serves the city, issued warnings last week that São Paulo only has about two weeks of drinking water supplies left.

And we're not just talking about water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Crops in southeastern Brazil, like sugar and coffee, look to be highly impacted by the drought.

NYC: Over 300,000 take part in The People's Climate March"

Ahead of this week's United Nations Climate Summit, over 300,000 people from around the world marched through Manhattan to bring awareness to the growing concerns for man's affect on the environment.

Among those attending the march were U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, former U.S. vice president Al Gore, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and actors Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The next time someone tells you "no one cares about climate change," show them this picture.