Message From the Editor

The growing online phenomenon known as QAnon — which fans the flames of Satanic conspiracy theories about opponents to Donald Trump — has recently turned to climate science denial. And according to new research, a group of vocal climate deniers have welcomed the attention, regularly engaging with QAnon on social media. Sharon Kelly has the story on why the merging of these two conspiratorial world views could spell trouble for those wanting to see more climate action.

In New Orleans, Julie Dermansky reports that as many as 745 million tiny plastic resin pellets, known as nurdles, may have been lost in the Mississippi River earlier this month, and as accountability and cleanup remain elusive, this plastics spill is revealing how grossly underprepared the country is for an expanding plastics industry. Check out Julie’s story and photos.

Even as the nation is battered by climate-fueled hurricanes and wildfires, the Senate Democrats’ new climate action report this week fails to mention using the courts to hold polluters accountable for these impacts, reports Dana Drugmand.
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Brendan DeMelle
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As QAnon Conspiracy Spreads on the Far Right, Climate Science Deniers Jump Aboard

— By Sharon Kelly (10 min. read) —

Back in December 2019, two conspiratorial worldviews collided as, for the first time, QAnon’s Q suggested his followers should question anew a topic that, by now, has been considered, and reconsidered, for decades: climate change.

“The Paris Agreement on Climate is Another Scam to Ripoff Taxpayers and Enrich the Politicians,” the Q-Drop (the term QAnon followers use to refer to messages they believe come from some sort of government insider who signs messages with the letter Q) claimed, labeling climate action a “con.”

Pollution Scientist Calls Plastic Pellet Spill in the Mississippi River 'a Nurdle Apocalypse'

— By Julie Dermansky (9 min. read) —

Three weeks after a shipping container full of tiny plastic pellets fell into the Mississippi River near New Orleans, cleanup hired by the vessel that lost its cargo stopped shortly after it started as a pair of major storms approached the Gulf Coast. But huge numbers of the pellets, which were made by Dow Chemical and are melted down to manufacture plastic products, still line the river banks in New Orleans and further afield.

After visiting a couple locations along the river banks affected by the spill, Mark Benfield, an oceanographer and plastic pollution expert at Louisiana State University, estimated that nearly 750 million of these lentil-sized plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, could have been lost in the river.

Climate Accountability Largely Missing from Senate Democrats’ New Climate Report

— By Dana Drugmand (8 min. read) —

As blistering wildfires and a monstrous hurricane fueled by rising temperatures ravage the U.S., Senate Democrats this week released their action plan for combating the climate crisis and building a clean energy economy.

But the report appears to have left out any reference to, much less a plan for, climate accountability — that is, holding polluters accountable for the harms they are knowingly causing in communities across the country facing extreme heat, devastating wildfires, and disastrous flooding and storms.

Climate Deniers on Front Line of Battle Over Pennsylvania Joining Cap-and-Trade Program to Slash Carbon Pollution

— By Dana Drugmand (6 min. read) —

Pennsylvania, traditionally a battleground state in electoral politics, is currently embroiled in a battle over the state potentially joining a regional program to curb carbon pollution from the power sector. That program, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), has seen carbon dioxide emissions from power plants slashed by 47 percent over 10 years while generating over $3 billion in revenue. Participating states have then used that revenue to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy programs.

Environmental advocates say Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI would be a “game-changer,” but climate science deniers and other fossil fuel allies claim it would be too costly and kill jobs in a state where the coal and fracked gas industries have long dominated the energy landscape.

U.S. LNG Industry's Business Model Doesn't Work

— By Justin Mikulka (8 min. read) —

In mid-July, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette signed an order authorizing the export of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from a proposed $10 billion terminal and gas pipeline project in Oregon. The news release accompanying Brouillette's order hailed the approval as having “profound economic, energy security, and environmental implications, both at home and abroad.”

Although the project, known as the Jordan Cove LNG terminal, has struggled to obtain state permits and faces vocal opposition from tribes and others, this consistent Trump administration refrain has not changed. The Obama administration made similar claims about natural gas production and energy security, jobs, and the environment, when it oversaw a rapid expansion of the LNG export industry.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Naomi Seibt

Naomi Seibt is a 19-year-old German YouTube “influencer” who has been described by climate science deniers as the “anti-Greta,” in reference to Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. She briefly joined the notorious climate science denial think tank the Heartland Institute but left in April 2020 after facing potential fines from a regional broadcasting authority. Seibt has faced criticism for her comments on race and recently has begun posting about the conspiracy theory QAnon.

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