How Peabody Sells Coal Like Phillip Morris Sold Cigarettes
This is an in-depth look into Peabody Energy’s attempts to soften the image of coal in partnership with Burson-Marsteller – the PR giant who back in the day helped downplay the links between tobacco smoke and lung cancer. To quote: “Just as it once helped Marlboro cigarettes push into Asia
Leaked Docs Expose ALEC’s Operation “Prodigal Son”
The Guardian, now famous for its abilities to get a hold of damning secret documents, has released a pile of of files today that outline major funding issues at the right-wing lobby group, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Most interesting, is ALEC’s operation called the “Prodigal Son Project” outlining the
International Coal Summit’s Glorious Pipe Dream of Carbon Capture and Storage
A new study released today at the UN climate conference underway in Warsaw, Poland finds that new coal plants cannot be built if we are to keep global warming below the 2° Celsius threshold. That is, unless the coal industry can deploy commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS). The report,
New Study: Koch’s Could Make $100 Billion on Keystone XL Pipeline Deal
A new study released today concludes that Koch Industries and its subsidiaries stand to make as much as $100 billion in profits if the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is given the go-ahead by U.S. President Obama. The report, titled Billionaires’ Carbon Bomb, and produced by the think tank International Forum on
Dear United States: We’re Being Total Hosers, Sorry About That
It wasn’t too long ago when Canadians were shouting at the top of their lungs about George Bush, the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay, Gay Rights and a myriad of other “American” issues. But the tides have turned quickly. Canada is now what the US was in the George W.
FDL Book Salon Welcomes Mark Pendergrast, For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It
Everywhere you go there is Coca-Cola.
On one hand, there’s comfort in seeing something familiar in the backroads of Thailand, but on the other it can piss you off to see the massive white and red logo and realize just how far Coca-Cola has infiltrated global society.
As traditional marketing and advertising concepts are buried by the demands of a Facebook culture that seeks a personal relationship with the brands they consume, Mark Pendergrast’s book, For God, Country and Coca Cola is more relevant today than it was when it was first published in 1993.
New Report Another Blow to Keystone Pipeline Supporters
A new report out today finds that enforcement of environmental infractions by companies in the Alberta oil sands are 17 times lower than similar infractions reported to the United State’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report [pdf], authored by the environmental non-profit Global Forest Watch, looked at more than fifteen years of data on
Kelloggs Killing Last Sumatran Tigers for Cheap Processed Snack Food
The Sumatran tiger is awesome. One of the most beautiful creatures in the world, and there are less than 400 left in the wild. To give you an idea of how fast this creature is being wiped out, I remember only a couple of years ago writing that there were
Company Behind XL Pipeline Environmental Assessment Member of Major Oil Lobby Group
It has been discovered today that the company charged with writing the official Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline is a member of the American Petroleum Institute – the largest lobbying group for the US oil and gas industry. The company hired by the State Department and at
Is Obama’s Faith in Carbon Capture a Technicolor Dream?
President Obama’s climate action announcement yesterday relies heavily on carbon capture and storage technology eventually paying off as a commercially viable option. But carbon capture and storage (or CCS) continues to be more of a dream than reality. And a very expensive dream at that. According to a database maintained