People underestimate the level of support for real climate action

I think this is true for a lot of issues, though generally not quite to this extreme.

A staggering 89 percent of people worldwide believe their governments should be doing more to combat climate change. Yet current policies across nations are putting the planet on track for a catastrophic 3.1°C of warming. That disconnect—between near-universal public demand and government inaction—is what Covering Climate Now (CCNow) calls a “deficit in democracy.” It’s also the focus of its new yearlong initiative: the 89% Project.

Launched to coincide with Earth Day, the 89 Percent Project aims to break what experts describe as a dangerous spiral of silence around climate action, one perpetuated by misperceptions, media neglect, and political indifference. Despite overwhelming evidence that climate concern is both widespread and intensifying, many people continue to feel isolated in their worry—an illusion that disempowers individuals and lets leaders off the hook…

“Almost everybody dramatically underestimates the level of concern and support for action on climate change,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “It basically refers to the fact that most of us don’t know what’s in other people’s heads.”

This phenomenon—what researchers call “pluralistic ignorance”—is fueling what sociologist Cynthia Frantz describes as a “self-fulfilling spiral of silence.” As she put it, “Currently, worrying about climate change is something people are largely doing in the privacy of their own minds.” - Nation of Change

Trump inadvertently screws US LNG exporters

I actually think this won't last long. Once he realizes that his trade war's a disaster for his own public standing Trump will back down. Probably with the "help" of some quiet, though very substantial, corporate bribes.

China has just suspended all LNG imports from the United States. No warning, no phasedown, just an apparent state directive that Chinese buyers, including the national oil companies, were no longer to sign, lift, or receive U.S. liquefied natural gas. The decision comes in the wake of a rapidly escalating trade war, reignited by a second Trump presidency that wasted no time imposing steep new tariffs on Chinese technology and industrial goods. The result is a gaping hole in the U.S. LNG export market, one that undermines years of investment assumptions and exposes the growing fragility of fossil fuel infrastructure in a changing geopolitical landscape…

Ironically, Trump’s trade war — by freezing China-bound shipments and halting new terminal progress — may have delivered an unexpected climate silver lining: a substantial brake on future emissions from fossil gas infrastructure that would otherwise lock in decades of high-carbon export activity. In trying to punish a geopolitical rival, he has accidentally slowed the expansion of one of America’s most emissions-intensive energy sectors.

The final irony is political. U.S. oil and gas executives spent heavily during the 2024 election cycle, once again backing Trump in the hopes of favorable policies, looser regulations, and accelerated fossil fuel exports. Billions were spent on lobbying, campaign donations, and friendly media to amplify the message that fossil fuels meant freedom and prosperity. - CleanTechnica

Big Oil is privately freaking out over Trumpism

You'd think that they of all people would be "walking on air," these days.

“Chaos.” “A disaster.” “Uncertainty.” “Very negative.”

That’s a sample of the reactions to Trump’s first few months published in the latest Dallas Fed Energy Survey, which gives executives from nearly 200 oil companies headquartered in Texas the chance to speak anonymously about burning issues inside the oil industry…

Big oil poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump’s re-election campaign and down-ballot GOP candidates last year, including an $80 million advertising spree — not counting undisclosed “dark money” funding. Fossil fuel fortunes have funded Project 2025 and its backers, alongside even more extreme far-right Trump-era policy blueprints.

But Trump’s tariffs, rising steel prices, and his sledgehammer approach to the administrative state are starting to unnerve oil and gas executives — at least in the anonymous survey conducted quarterly by the Dallas Fed. - DeSmog

Trump pardoned a corporation

A largely overlooked item among the veritable flood of corrupt and disgraceful things that he's been doing. And note which kind of company was granted "mercy."

In what may have been a first, Trump pardoned a corporation. The company to earn that distinction was a cryptocurrency exchange sentenced to a $100 million fine for violating an anti-money laundering law.

The move surprised scholars of presidential pardons, which have traditionally been considered the domain of human beings. Several experts contacted by The Intercept said Trump appears to have acted within his powers, but they were unaware of any prior instances of corporations granted full pardons.

“There have been plenty of cases where presidents have remitted fines or forfeitures, or something else like that,” said Margaret Love, who served as U.S. pardon attorney from 1990 to 1997. “As far as I know, the president has never granted a full pardon to a corporation.” - The Intercept

Nasty, naughty words being banned by Trumpers

This is going on all across government thanks to that miserable witling at the top and the ridiculous boobs he has around him. I’m highlighting this example due to my interest in rural issues. ARS stands for Agricultural Research Service.

ARS is the division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) tasked with providing the agricultural research, education and economic analysis that protects the health of the nation’s farmland, ensures the safety of the food we eat and develops solutions for diseases, disasters and other threats to the food supply. Most recently, it was operating over 600 research projects in 95 locations and had a $1.7 billion budget, which like the words it uses could now be on the chopping block and could significantly hamper the division’s ability to do its job…

The climate-related key terms being banned by the ARS include:

climate, climate change, climate-change, changing climate, climate consulting, climate models, climate model, climate accountability, climate risk, climate resilience, climate smart agriculture, climate smart forestry, climatesmart, climate science, climate variability, global warming, carbon sequestration, GHG emission, GHG monitoring, GHG modeling, carbon emissions mitigation, greenhouse gas emission, methane emissions, green infrastructure, sustainable construction, carbon pricing, carbon markets - Barn Raiser