Plus, who thinks CCS is ‘not going to happen’? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Plus, who thinks CCS is 'not going to happen'? ...

Message From the Editor

$Six men and women, including now Energy Secretary Chris Wright, third from right, raise cups of simplified frac fluid, with a blender of clear liquid and a pitcher of clear liquid labeled 'FRAC' in the foreground.$

The Trump-Musk bromance may be over, but the effects of that marriage of convenience — via massive cuts to federal environmental agencies — live on. As oversight at the federal level collapses, the need for state and local municipalities to pick up the slack becomes more essential than ever.

But as Sharon Kelly reports, a sinister wave of secrecy now threatens to obscure our full understanding of fossil fuel harms there too, as community groups face legal obstacles to transparency across the nation.

In Galeton, Colorado, first responders don’t know what “trade secret” fracking chemicals recently gushed out of Chevron’s blown-out gas well a mile from an elementary school — despite a 2022 state law requiring chemical disclosures.

Community groups in Louisiana used to routinely warn neighbors of poor air quality using air testing equipment that, in many cases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency loaned them. Not anymore. They fear fines up to $1 million under an aggressive new state law for talking publicly about evidence of airborne pollution, except under a narrow set of circumstances.

In northern Virginia’s “data center alley,” good luck figuring out whether your local public official signed a deal with Big Tech to build a new data center. Like fossil fuel companies during the fracking hey day, tech companies working on artificial intelligence fiercely guard anything akin to a “trade secret” — including physical evidence of their AI development capacity like a data center. That leads to shell companies, “phantom” data center demand, and signing nondisclosure agreements with your county official.

Get the full story on the concerning trend in transparency and how community groups are fighting back from Sharon Kelly.

One recent casualty of the Trump Department of Energy cuts that may surprise some: $3.7 billion in awards for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other decarbonization projects. The recipients include ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel producers. For years, a majority of Republicans supported this tech. Not now.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright seems like he followed the advice of his “friend,” Danish political scientist, and climate crisis denier, Bjorn Lomborg. DeSmog obtained exclusive audio from a recent Fraser Institute event where Lomborg said CCS technology is way too expensive to be viable. He argued that “carbon capture will always be a net cost” to oil and gas producers and the taxpayers that subsidize it. Read more from Geoff Dembicki.

Did you miss last week’s major investigation and interactive map detailing the links between 70 percent of Trump’s cabinet members and Project 2025 groups? Joe Fassler has the story.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. DeSmog continues to keep you informed about threats to our climate across the globe — from up-to-the minute reporting to essential database profiles that help others fight climate denial and delay. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Photo: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright (third from right) drinks “frac fluid” in 2019 as then-CEO of Liberty Energy with employees. Credit: Liberty Energy/Facebook

Left, Canada Energy Minister Tim Hodgson in a suit and mauve tie speaks into a microphone, right, Bjorn Lomborg in a blue shirt speaking.

Carbon Capture ‘Not Going to Happen,’ Top Fossil Fuel Advocate Predicts

— By Geoff Dembicki (4 min. read) —

In audio obtained by DeSmog, Bjorn Lomborg told a Fraser Institute event in Vancouver that the technology is way too expensive to be viable.

A Chevron oil well in Galeton, CO, erupted in April, spewing toxic chemicals into the air for five days.

As Trump Unwinds Federal Oversight, States Become Battlegrounds for Environmental Data

— By Sharon Kelly (11 min. read) —

From Colorado to Virginia, environmental groups are challenging legal barriers that prevent scientists and communities from seeing the full picture of fossil fuel harms.

A blonde woman in a suit, Polina Zabrodskaya, looks ahead.

Q&A: Why an Advertising Executive Is Blowing the Whistle on Her Agency’s ‘Greenwashing’

— By TJ Jordan and Matthew Green (6 min. read) —

Former BBDO Creative Partner Polina Zabrodskaya: “It’s devastating to know your work causes real harm, so people suppress that knowledge.”

Zia Yusuf in black and white looks left against a blue and black textured background.

Zia Yusuf: the Butler to Billionaires Who Became Reform’s ‘DOGE’ Ringleader

— By Sam Bright (5 min) —

Yusuf’s new role in the UK's rising right-wing political party contrasts markedly with his background in business.

Jordan Peterson wearing a half navy, half maroon suit, gestures left, on a stage with 'ARC' framed in dark yellow on white behind him.

Jordan Peterson’s ARC Project Receives $500,000 from CEO of Disgraced Pharma Firm

— By Sam Bright (4 min. read) —

The anti-climate network received the donation from the owner of a company fined $47 million by the Department of Justice.

The words 'climate denier spotlight' in wide appear against a transitional gray background with three smokestacks and two intersecting yellow spotlights highlight a bag of gold.

Bjorn Lomborg is a political scientist, economist, and the founder and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC). Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center was founded in 2006 in Denmark and registered as a non-profit organization in the United States in 2008. Since March 2023 Lomborg has been an advisory board member of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), a group co-founded by Jordan B. Peterson which includes a number of high-profile climate deniers on its advisory board. Lomborg is best known as the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It, two books that downplay the risks of global warming. Lomborg does not have a background in climate science and has published no peer-reviewed articles in journals devoted to climate change research. In a 2010 report in The Guardian, Lomborg acknowledged that global warming is “a challenge that humanity must confront.” But in his book Smart Solutions to Climate Change, Lomborg argues that it would be too expensive to implement any major carbon reduction policy, and that “drastic carbon cuts would be the poorest way to respond to global warming.”

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.