Media

Traditional Indigenous Knowledge & Global Warming

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Culture, developing world, Forests, Global Issues and Perspectives, global warming, Indigenous People, Media, News

Returned from Panama a few days ago. I was offline for a week in a village in autonomus Kuna Yala territory on an island in the south Caribbean Ocean with no electricity, no roads, vehicles….just the sounds of the ocean and children playing. It was an amazing experience amongst unique group of Indigenous people still living by their traditional ways with a very strong emphasis on family, community and reciprocity.

Thanks to travel funding from an educational organization I was able to be at a unique workshop on the island where 18 indigenous people from around the world came to share their experiences in dealing with climate change. They are also documenting how their traditional knowledge is helping them adapt. What is often forgotten by those of us in the north is the lengthening of summer seasons, shortening winter, or changes in rainfall that are minor inconveniences for us often spell disaster for those who are subsistence farmers.

CONTRIBUTION UPDATE:

Special thanks to Ken of Ottawa, James from Toronto, Richard of Oshawa, Aidan who lives in Germany, Siri of London UK, Michael of Toronto, David of Salmon Arm and Catherine from Atikokan for your recent support. It is heartening to receive your encouragement and desire to help ensure I can continue to write and report on these important issues for everyone.

Thanks to these good folks the Community Supported Environmental Journalism Fund has now reached $1450.00, nearly 10 per cent of what’s needed for 2010.

There are some very important articles I’m hoping to write this year so help out if you can.

Contributions can be made via PayPal or Credit Card here:

(NOTE: For ocean lovers there is a major conference on Oceans this May –there are new prospects of international governance to hopefully end the ruthless rush to get the last fish. But will need $1000 to be able to get there)

— Greenest wishes, Steve

Doubt Is Our Product: Media and Global Warming

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Culture, Energy, global warming, Media, News, Science , , ,

Why do media run nonsensical “scandals” about climate science?

Why does the public put up with it?

Those are some of the questions posed on Alex Smith’s fine syndicated weekly Radio Ecoshock Show has three expert viewpoints in his one hour show OUR PRODUCT IS DOUBT

Clive Hamilton on “Requiem for a Species, Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change.” The madness of masses & media.

Stanford’s Prof. Stephen Schneider on death threats, & threats from Senators (calling climate scientists “criminals”).

Naomi Oreskes on “Merchants of Doubt”.

1 hour CD Quality 56 MB or Lo-Fi 14 MB

See also Alex’s detailed notes and links to far more on his blog: DOUBT IS OUR PRODUCT – the blog

[full disclosure: I supplied my interview with climatologist Stephen Schneider – Violent Backlash Against Climate Scientists

]

Violent Backlash Against Climate Scientists

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Media , , , , ,

By Stephen Leahy

From death threats to aggressive discrediting in the press, disaster has hit the IPCC, the global scientific panel dedicated to studying climate change – and it is now finding ways to regroup and respond.

[See also personal posting Scientists Face Death Threats, Democracy at Risk ]

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Mar 8 (Tierramérica)

Climate change science is under full-scale attack in a last-ditch effort to delay or prevent action by the U.S. government against global warming, experts warn.

U.S. Senator James Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma and climate change denier, in late February released a list of leading climate scientists he wants prosecuted as criminals for misleading the government. Those scientists are receiving hate mail and death threats.

“I have hundreds” of threatening emails, Stephen Schneider, a climatologist at Stanford University, told Tierramérica.

He believes scientists will be killed over this. “I’m not going to let it worry me… but you know it’s going to happen,” said Schneider, one of the most respected climate scientists in the world. “They shoot abortion doctors here.”

This backlash against the evidence of climate change and the scientists themselves is not just a U.S. phenomenon. It is happening in Canada, Australia, Britain, and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and elsewhere.

On the surface, this campaign is about a few errors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2,800-page report released in 2007 and some 10-year-old personal emails stolen from Britain’s University of East Anglia.

But deeper down, this is the last big effort by the fossil fuel industry to delay action on climate change, just as the tobacco industry successfully delayed understanding of the harmful effects of smoking for several decades, says Schneider.

Is this article of interest? It exists thanks to contributions from readers. Please click here to learn more about Community Supported Journalism.

“We’re up against the multi-billion-dollar fossil fuel industry and the haters of government. They spin and spin and cast doubt on the credibility of science,” he said. Continue reading →

Scientists Face Death Threats, Democracy at Risk

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, Energy, global warming, Media , , ,

[A personal note from Stephen]

There’s something strange in the air when a highly-respected US scientist says he or a colleague will likely be killed for saying climate change is happening.

That’s what Stanford’s Stephen Schneider told me last week. He’s not an alarmist, he’s a pro with 40 years under his belt. These days climate scientists receive all kinds of hate mail and even death threats. I even get hate mail. Bizarre times.

At the same time traditional media are complicit, giving ‘face time’ to those who smear scientists with no evidence, just nonsensical conspiracy allegations. Schneider says simply:

“I’m pretty damn angry that media companies are putting profits ahead of truth. The media are deeply broken… That’s a real threat to democracy.”

I couldn’t agree more. We’re in a dangerous trap. Schneider, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chair, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and many other experts have recently told me: ‘we need people like you to write about these issues’.

I could do far more but my time is largely gobbled up trying to figure out how to put bread on the table. Last year writing about these issues put my family $10,000 in the red despite about $4000 in donations which mostly went towards travel costs. (And we have a pretty modest lifestyle, living in my in-law’s basement apt)

Put plainly, writing honestly about important issues is not rewarded in our current economic system, even though it’s in our best interests. Writing junk mail to sell crap that people don’t need is rewarded 100X more. (I know, I used to do it)

Community Supported Journalism

Community Supported Journalism is the only way forward that I can see. That means reciprocity: You help support the investigation, research, writing about what’s important for all of us to know so we can make informed decisions. In an earlier age I would have come to your village, taught your children and told you useful stories about what I’d learned from wise elders in other villages. Today I send out those stories to you and many others in our global village and rely more and more on you to provide the financial equivalent of a place to sleep and a meal to eat.

Reciprocity, co-operation and community are some of the key values we need to escape the trap we are in.

On a practical level supporting or funding individual story ideas isn’t working mainly because it takes too much time to put together and generate support. It’s not nimble enough to respond to breaking news, but it could work for larger, long term projects. Instead what’s needed is ‘bread and butter’ funding — contributions that help cover the everyday costs of living and doing environmental journalism.

A “Bread and Butter Environmental Journalism Support Fund” if you will. That fund will need about $15,000 in 2010 for the work to continue.

It has taken me three days to find the words to ask because it is a lot of money. Please consider $50, $100 or more — less than cost of a newspaper or cable TV subscription — for coverage of important issues that shape our world and our future.

Contributions can be made safely and easily via PayPal or Credit Card. Or  contact me at writersteve [AT] gmail [DOT] com (no spaces) to send a cheque.

Please also pass this along to interested family, friends and organizations. My continued appreciation to those who have contributed in the past.

Thanks and best wishes, Steve

State of Denial: The Real Global Warming Fantasy

Stephen arctic, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, Media , , , , , ,

What ever happened to common sense?
(based on a true story)

By Stephen Leahy

Two guys were sitting in a bar one evening. The first one says: “Climate change is a complete hoax you know. There’s lots information on the internet proving that.”

“No it’s not” the second guy replies. “I’ve talked to dozens and dozens of climate scientists around the world and read hundreds of reports and studies.”

The first guy responds saying: “All my friends agree with me. This global warming thing was just scam to make money for Al Gore.”

“But I’ve seen the vanishing glaciers, melting Arctic ice, rising temperatures and sea levels and extreme weather events with my own eyes,” says the second.

The first guy, pauses for a few seconds and says: “Well, I guess you’re entitled to your opinion. So let’s just say the jury is still out on global warming.”

The two fall silent for awhile. Finally the second asks: “Let’s say I’m driving you home and it’s foggy out. You tell me to slow down a bit because there’s a sharp curve in the road coming up. Now I’ve never been on this road before and could acknowledge you might know the road well but instead of slowing down I say: ‘you’re entitled to your opinion, but the road looks straight enough to me’ and then step on the gas.”

The first guy gets up and puts on his coat saying: “You’d have to be crazy not to slow down just in case. I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing now.”

“But we are,” says the second as the first guy walks out the door.

Even if the world’s best scientists are wrong about climate change taking action now will create new jobs, save money, clean the air and water, improve energy efficiency, boost the health of our children, reduce our dependency on big oil companies, create more sustainable communities and many more benefits to all.

So you have to wonder why people oppose this.

And should 30 years of climate research done in dozens of countries be correct, the “bonus” in taking action is keeping rising temperatures to no more than 2 degrees C hopefully ensuring our children and grandchildren have a reasonable climate system to live with.

My wish for the new decade is that common sense will come back in fashion.

Related:

Denial & Delay: Global Warming B.S. Detector Tips

Greed Stalls 21st Century Bio-Economy

Interview With One of the Last Environmental Journalists Left Standing

Interview With One of the Last Environmental Journalists Left Standing

Stephen Biodiversity, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Media, OCEAN , ,

steve-on-log-in-oz-rslpixApparently as one of the few independent international environmental journalists I’m a rare beast worthy of public curiosity. In the past year I’ve been asked to do a number of talks at various conferences, colleges and universities in a number of countries and a growing number of media interviews.

Here’s my  15 min radio interview on the well-informed Radio EcoShock— talk about hard questions on big issues of our time. (@ 19:00 min)

Vancouver’s wonderful RADIO ECOSHOCK is the best environmental radio/podcast programs on the planet. One hour each week of new, innovative and intelligent information with a wry sense of humor by host Alex Smith. Check out his blog for even more.

Get links to my latest articles once a week.

This week’s EcoShock program: PROGRESS AND DENIAL

Climate change is not about politics or negotiations, but inevitable physics and science. Latest speeches by Bill McKibben and Van Jones. A look at twisted climate deniers John Coleman and Michael Savage. Interview with indy enviro journalist Stephan Leahy. Humour from Craig Mayhemradio-eco-header

Paris Hilton vs Global Warming

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, economics, Media , ,

Global warming (climate change) is the most pressing issue humanity has EVER faced.

And yet mainstream media devote nearly all of their time and attention to Paris Hiltonesque celebrity culture, Iraq or some other conflict zone and any political controversy no matter how trivial.

Sure there is a bit of ‘green’ coverage but it is thin, inconsistent and rarely examines the roots of this growing global crisis.

This chart from a University of Oxford study shows how world-wide media coverage of global warming has DECLINED in the 2008 even as the science is clear that its affects are coming faster (happening right now) and with much bigger impacts than expected. news-coverage-gw-oxford

Fortunately there are some alternative news media working extremely hard to cover the truly important issues that are shaping our future and our children’s future. What most people may not realize is that precious few of these alternative media can afford pay journalists and writers a living wage.

Here’s what you can do:

truth-over-fear

1. Spread the word. Circulate these stories to everyone on your email list — and ask them to pass them on.

2. Write a letter. Contact Canadian and US media outlets asking them to use stories published by media outlets like IPS.

[Remarkably while 200 million people read IPS stories in the newspapers and magazines published in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa but they are rarely published in North America.]

3. Become a supporter. Financial support is important if this work is to continue. Here is a safe and convenient way via PayPal or Credit Card:

Or contact Stephen

The Best Green Radio/Podcast

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ENVIRONMENT, Media

radio-eco-header1

Radio Ecoshock is a brilliant weekly one-hour roundup of the big environmental and social issues of our time. Alex Smith collects the best podcasts, conference recordings and original interview from a refreshing diversity of leading experts and authorities.

Many great ideas and fascinating commentary that you won’t hear anywhere else:

* “the business model of the auto industry is broken” — Dr. Peter Morici, Professor of International Business at the University of Maryland

* coal-fired power plants are dumping thousands of tonnes radioactive waste such as thorium and uranium into the air and on the land

* London-based Gwynne Dyer columnist, author, military historian on extreme climate change and resulting wars

* Dec 8 show — includes shameless but hilarious, twisted XMAS songs from the coal industry: “Ho Ho Ho Clean Coal for the Holidays” and “Frosty the Coal Man”.

Lots of supplemental information on the RE blog — Ecoshock Program Notes.

Reporter’s Notebook 1999: “CO2 levels in decline last five years”

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Media, Science , ,

CO2 levels have been in decline the last five years said Tim Ball, a retired Professor of Geography, on Nov 24, 1999, at the Riverview Center, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

That statement was completely false then and laughable now, but Ball continues to spew similar lies and misinformation to this day. Just last week Ball was a leading speaker in New York City at last week’s climate change denial festival.

climate-chaos-kills-art-not-oil.jpg

I happened across my notes from the 1999 conference and was stunned at the outrageous comments Ball presented as “facts” to about 200 to 300 business types at a time when people knew little about carbon dioxide or global warming. No doubt many were convinced as Ball claimed (wrongly in every case) that: Continue reading →

Last March of the Global Warming Denialists

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, economics, Energy, Media, News, Science , , ,

Analysis by Stephen Leahy

Mar 4 (IPS) – Colder than usual January temperatures in the United States have brought the climate change deniers out of hibernation, flooding websites, and opinion and letters pages about the “great global warming hoax”. They even organised their own conference on denial in New York City this week.

king-penguins-on-beach-pnas-sml.jpg

“Global warming is not a global crisis” declared the Heartland Institute, organiser of the “International Conference on Climate Change”. Heartland is a well-known right-wing lobby group which accepted more than half a million dollars from oil giant ExxonMobil between 1999 and 2005, according to Exxon documents disclosed by Greenpeace, and thousands of dollars more from the tobacco industry.

Not surprisingly, in a statement issued Tuesday, they insisted that all efforts “intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith”.

“Manmade global warming is a total hoax. It has no basis in fact,” shouted Rush Limbaugh, a U.S. conservative radio host, on his Feb. 27 show, which draws as many as 13 million listeners. Continue reading →