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DeSmogCAST 13: Merchants of Doubt, the Race for the Arctic and Bomb Trains

In this episode of the DesmogCAST, host Farron Cousins speaks with me, Kyla Mandel and Justin Mikulka to talk about the breakout documentary Merchants of Doubt and how climate science deniers are still manufacturing a fake debate about the clear consensus among bonafide climate experts.

And while the deniers wreak havoc, the climate is warming, opening the Arctic to more than just oil companies. As DeSmog UK's Deputy Editor Kyla Mandel explains, nations are upping their military presence in the region as vast reserves of hydrocarbons become available beneath the melting ice.

Lastly, DeSmog contributor Justin Mikulka discusses the problems associated with moving highly-flammable and explosive oils from the Bakken shale and the Alberta tar sands as the now-called bomb trains are involved in all too regular disasters across North America.


 

DeSmogCAST is a weekly online show that features DeSmog writers, experts and guests covering breaking news and in-depth analysis on politics, energy and environment issues in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

For more visit DeSmogBlog.com, DeSmog.ca, and DeSmog.uk.

DeSmogCAST is a joint project of DeSmogBlog, DeSmog Canada and DeSmogUK.

Like a kid in a candy store
When those boxes of heavily redacted documents start to pile in, reporters at The Narwhal waste no time in looking for kernels of news that matter the most. Just ask our Prairies reporter Drew Anderson, who gleefully scanned through freedom of information files like a kid in a candy store, leading to pretty damning revelations in Alberta. Long story short: the government wasn’t being forthright when it claimed its pause on new renewable energy projects wasn’t political. Just like that, our small team was again leading the charge on a pretty big story

In an oil-rich province like Alberta, that kind of reporting is crucial. But look at our investigative work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline to the west, or our Greenbelt reporting out in Ontario. They all highlight one thing: those with power over our shared natural world don’t want you to know how — or why — they call the shots. And we try to disrupt that.

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Like a kid in a candy store
When those boxes of heavily redacted documents start to pile in, reporters at The Narwhal waste no time in looking for kernels of news that matter the most. Just ask our Prairies reporter Drew Anderson, who gleefully scanned through freedom of information files like a kid in a candy store, leading to pretty damning revelations in Alberta. Long story short: the government wasn’t being forthright when it claimed its pause on new renewable energy projects wasn’t political. Just like that, our small team was again leading the charge on a pretty big story

In an oil-rich province like Alberta, that kind of reporting is crucial. But look at our investigative work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline to the west, or our Greenbelt reporting out in Ontario. They all highlight one thing: those with power over our shared natural world don’t want you to know how — or why — they call the shots. And we try to disrupt that.

Our journalism is powered by people just like you. We never take corporate ad dollars, or put this public-interest information behind a paywall. Will you join the pod of Narwhals that make a difference by helping us uncover some of the most important stories of our time?

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