This Changes Everything

by Naomi Klein

  56. “First Academic Study Released in EDF’s Groundbreaking Methane Emissions Series,” Environmental Defense Fund, press release, September 16, 2013; Michael Wines, “Gas Leaks in Fracking Disputed in Study,” New York Times, September 16, 2013; “University of Texas at Austin Study Measures Methane Emissions Released from Natural Gas Production,” Cockrell School of Engineering, press release, October 10, 2012; David T. Allen et al., “Measurements of Methane Emissions at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110 (2013): 17, 768–773; Robert Howarth, “Re: Allen et al. Paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” Cornell University, press release, September 11, 2013.

  57. Ibid.; Denver Nicks, “Study: Leaks at Natural Gas Wells Less Than Previously Thought,” Time, September 17, 2013; Seth Borenstein and Kevin Begos, “Study: Methane Leaks from Gas Drilling Not Huge,” Associated Press, September 16, 2013; “Fracking Methane Fears Overdone,” The Australian, September 19, 2013.

  58. Lindsay Abrams, “Josh Fox: ‘Democracy Itself Has Become Contaminated,’ ” Salon, August 1, 2013.

  59. Pooley, The Climate War, 88–89.

  60. William Drozdiak, “Global Warming Talks Collapse,” Washington Post, November 26, 2000; “Special Report,” International Environment Reporter, February 4, 1998.

  61. “The EU Emissions Trading System,” Policies, Climate Action, European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu; “State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2011,” Environment Department, World Bank, June 2011, p. 9; personal email communication with Jacob Ipsen Hansen, energy efficiency consultant, UNEP DTU Partnership, April 15, 2014; email communication with Larry Lohmann, carbon trading expert, The Corner House.

  62. Oscar Reyes, “Future Trends in the African Carbon Market,” in Trusha Reddy, ed., “Carbon Trading in Africa: A Critical Review,” Institute for Security Studies, Monograph No. 184, November 2011, pp. 21–28; Fidelis Allen, “Niger Delta Oil Flares, Illegal Pollution and Oppression,” in Patrick Bond et al., “The CDM Cannot Deliver the Money to Africa: Why the Clean Development Mechanism Won’t Save the Planet from Climate Change, and How African Civil Society is Resisting,” EJOLT Report No. 2, December 2012, pp. 57–61; “Green Projects,” Carbon Limits (Nigeria), http://carbonlimitsngr.com.

  63. Elisabeth Rosenthal and Andrew W. Lehren, “Profits on Carbon Credits Drive Output of a Harmful Gas,” New York Times, August 8, 2012; John McGarrity, “India HFC-23 Emissions May Rise if CDM Boon Ends—Former Official,” Reuters (Point Carbon), October 31, 2012; “Two Billion Tonne Climate Bomb: How to Defuse the HFC-23 Problem,” Environmental Investigation Agency, June 2013, p. 5.

  64. “CDM Panel Calls for Investigation over Carbon Market Scandal,” CDM Watch and Environmental Investigation Agency, press release, July 2, 2010, http://eia-global.org.

  65. “CDM Projects by Type,” CDM/JI Pipeline Analysis and Database, UNEP DTU partnership, updated September 1, 2013, http://www.cdmpipeline.org.

  66. Rowan Callick, “The Rush Is on for Sky Money,” The Australian, September 5, 2009; “Voices from Madagascar’s Forests: ‘The Strangers, They’re Selling the Wind,’ ” No REDD in Africa Network, http://no-redd-africa.org.

  67. Ryan Jacobs, “The Forest Mafia: How Scammers Steal Millions Through Carbon Markets,” The Atlantic, October 11, 2013; Luz Marina Herrera, “Piden Que Defensoría del Pueblo Investigue a Presunto Estafador de Nacionalidad Australiana,” La Región, April 4, 2011; Chris Lang, “AIDESEP and COICA Condemn and Reject ‘Carbon Cowboy’ David Nilsson and Demand His Expulsion from Peru,” REDD-Monitor, May 3, 2011; Chris Lang, “David Nilsson: Carbon Cowboy,” Chris Lang.org, November 22, 2011, http://chrislang.org; “Perú: Amazónicos exigen ‘REDD+ Indígena’ y rechazan falsas soluciones al cambio global,” Servindi, May 2, 2011; FOOTNOTE: Patrick Bodenham and Ben Cubby, “Carbon Cowboys,” Sydney Morning Herald, July 23, 2011; “Record of Proceedings (Hansard),” 48th Parliament of Queensland, December 3, 1996, pp. 4781–83, http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au.

  68. Larry Lohmann, “Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power,” Development Dialogue no. 48, September 2006, p. 219; Deb Niemeier and Dana Rowan, “From Kiosks to Megastores: The Evolving Carbon Market,” California Agriculture 63 (2009); Chris Lang, “How a Forestry Offset Project in Guatemala Allowed Emissions in the USA to Increase,” REDD-Monitor, October 9, 2009.

  69. The Carbon Rush, directed by Amy Miller (Kinosmith, 2012); Anjali Nayar, “How to Save a Forest,” Nature 462 (2009): 28.

  70. Mark Schapiro, “GM’s Money Trees,” Mother Jones, November/December 2009; “The Carbon Hunters” (transcript), reported by Mark Schapiro, Frontline/World, PBS, May 11, 2010; Chris Lang, “Uganda: Notes from a Visit to Mount Elgon,” ChrisLang.org, February 28, 2007, http://chrislang.org.

  71. Rosie Wong, “The Oxygen Trade: Leaving Hondurans Gasping for Air,” Foreign Policy in Focus, June 18, 2013; Rosie Wong, “Carbon Blood Money in Honduras,” Foreign Policy in Focus, March 9, 2012.

  72. Personal email communication with Chris Lang, September 28, 2013.

  73. Bram Büscher, “Nature on the Move: The Value and Circulation of Liquid Nature and the Emergence of Fictitious Conservation,” New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry 6, (2013): 20–36; personal email communication with Bram Büscher, April 16, 2014.

  74. EUROPEAN CARBON MARKET: Stanley Reed and Mark Scott, “In Europe, Paid Permits for Pollution Are Fizzling,” New York Times, April 21, 2013; “MEPs’ Move to Fix EU Carbon Market Praised,” BBC, July 4, 2013; U.K. COAL: “Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2012,” United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change, press release, July 26, 2012, p. 5; “Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2013,” United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change, press release, July 25, 2013, p. 6; UN COMMISSIONED REPORT: “Climate Change, Carbon Markets and the CDM: A Call to Action,” Report of the High Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue, 2012, p. 67; “99 PERCENT”: personal email communication with Oscar Reyes, May 2, 2014; Alessandro Vitelli, “UN Carbon Plan Won’t Reverse 99% Price Decline, New Energy Says,” Bloomberg, December 12, 2013.

  75. Gillian Mohney, “John Kerry Calls Climate Change a ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction,’ ” ABC News, February 16, 2014.

  76. “It Is Time the EU Scraps Its Carbon Emissions Trading System,” Scrap the EU-ETS, press release, February 18, 2013; “Declaration Signatories,” Scrap the EU-ETS, http://scrap-the-euets.make noise.org; “Declaration Scrap ETS,” Scrap the EU-ETS, http://scrap-the-euets.makenoise.org.

  77. “EU ETS Phase II—The Potential and Scale of Windfall Profits in the Power Sector,” Point Carbon Advisory Services for WWF, March 2008; Suzanne Goldenberg, “Airlines ‘Made Billions in Windfall Profits’ from EU Carbon Tax,” Guardian, January 24, 2013.

  78. Michael H. Smith, Karlson Hargroves, Cheryl Desha, Cents and Sustainability: Securing Our Common Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures (London: EarthScan, 2010), 211.

  79. Pooley, The Climate War, 371, 377.

  80. Bartosiewicz and Miley, “The Too Polite Revolution,” p. 26.

  81. “Comparison Chart of Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Lieberman,” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, http://www.c2es.org; Bartosiewicz and Miley, “The Too Polite Revolution,” p. 20.

  82. Johnson, “Duke Energy Quits Scandal-Ridden American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity”; Jane Mayer, “Covert Operations,” The New Yorker, August 30, 2010; Ian Urbina, “Beyond Beltway, Health Debate Turns Hostile,” New York Times, August 7, 2009; Rachel Weiner, “Obama’s NH Town Hall Brings Out Birthers, Deathers, and More,” Huffington Post, September 13, 2009.

  83. MEMBERS DROP OUT: Steven Mufson, “ConocoPhillips, BP and Caterpillar Quit USCAP,” Washington Post, February 17, 2010; “UNRECOVERABLE”: Statement of Red Cavaney, senior vice president, government affairs, ConocoPhillips, U.S. Climate Action Partnership: Hearings Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U
nited States House of Representatives, 111th Congress, 5 (2009); ConocoPhillips, 2012 Annual Report, February 19, 2013, p. 20; CONOCOPHILLIPS WEBSITE: Kate Sheppard, “ConocoPhillips Works to Undermine Climate Bill Despite Pledge to Support Climate Action,” Grist, August 18, 2009; EMPLOYEES: “ConocoPhillips Intensifies Climate Focus,” ConocoPhillips, press release, February 16, 2010; “LOWEST-COST OPTION”: Michael Burnham, “Conoco, BP, Caterpillar Leave Climate Coalition,” New York Times (Greenwire), February 16, 2010.

  84. “Representative Barton on Energy Legislation” (video), C-SPAN, May 19, 2009; FOOTNOTE: Session 4: Public Policy Realities (video), 6th International Conference on Climate Change, The Heartland Institute, June 30, 2011; Chris Horner, “Al Gore’s Inconvenient Enron,” National Review Online, April 28, 2009.

  85. John M. Broder and Clifford Krauss, “Advocates of Climate Bill Scale Down Their Goals,” New York Times, January 26, 2010.

  86. Theda Skocpol, “Naming the Problem: What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight Against Global Warming,” paper presented at symposium on the Politics of America’s Fight Against Global Warming, Harvard University, February 2013, p. 11.

  87. “Environmentalist Slams Exxon over EPA” (video), CNN Money, April 5, 2011; Colin Sullivan, “EDF Chief: ‘Shrillness’ of Greens Contributed to Climate Bill’s Failure in Washington,” New York Times (Greenwire), April 4, 2011.

  88. “Fortune Brainstorm Green 2011,” Fortune Conferences, http://fortuneconferences.com.

  CHAPTER 7: NO MESSIAHS

  1. This quote appeared in the first edition of Branson’s book, published in 2007. All citations to the book refer to the updated 2008 version. Richard Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It: Expanded Edition (New York: Virgin, 2008), 114.

  2. Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci, “Bloomberg’s Hidden Legacy: Climate Change and the Future of New York City, Part 5,” InsideClimate News, November 22, 2013.

  3. Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It, 118.

  4. Ibid., 122–24.

  5. Ibid., 119, 127.

  6. Andrew C. Revkin, “Branson Pledges Billions to Fight Global Warming,” New York Times, September 21, 2006; Marius Benson, “Richard Branson Pledges $3 Billion to Tackle Global Warming,” The World Today, ABC (Australia), September 22, 2006.

  7. Bruce Falconer, “Virgin Airlines: Powered by Pond Scum?” Mother Jones, January 22, 2008; Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It, 131.

  8. “Virgin Founder Richard Branson Pledges $3 Billion to Fight Global Warming,” Reuters, September 22, 2006; Michael Specter, “Branson’s Luck,” The New Yorker, May 14, 2007.

  9. “The Virgin Earth Challenge: Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore Announce a $25 Million Global Science and Technology Prize,” The Virgin Earth Challenge, Virgin Atlantic, http://www.virgin -atlantic.com; “Branson, Gore Announce $25 Million ‘Virgin Earth Challenge,’ ” Environmental Leader, February 9, 2007; Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It, 138; “Virgin Offers $25 Million Prize to Defeat Global Warming,” Virgin Earth Prize, press release, February 9, 2007.

  10. Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It, 140.

  11. Joel Kirkland, “Branson’s ‘Carbon War Room’ Puts Industry on Front Line of U.S. Climate Debate,” ClimateWire, New York Times, April 22, 2010; Rowena Mason, “Sir Richard Branson: The Airline Owner on His New War,” Telegraph, December 28, 2009.

  12. Bryan Walsh, “Global Warming: Why Branson Wants to Step In,” Time, December 31, 2009.

  13. Carlo Rotella, “Can Jeremy Grantham Profit from Ecological Mayhem?” New York Times, August 11, 2011; Jeremy Grantham, “The Longest Quarterly Letter Ever,” Quarterly Letter, GMO LLC, February 2012, http://www.capitalinstitute.org; FOOTNOTE: “Grantees,” The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment,” http://www.granthamfoundation.org.

  14. Whitney Tilson, “Whitney Tilson’s 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Notes,” Whitney Tilson’s Value Investing Website, May 5, 2007, http://www.tilsonfunds.com.

  15. “NV Energy to Join MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company,” MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, press release, May 19, 2013, http://www.midamerican.com; “Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker,” CNBC, http://www.cnbc.com; Nick Zieminski, “Buffett Buying Burlington Rail in His Biggest Deal,” Reuters, November 3, 2009; Alex Crippen, “CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett Explains His Railroad ‘All-In Bet’ on America,” CNBC, November 3, 2009.

  16. Keith McCue, “Reinsurance 101,” presentation, RenaissanceRe, 2011; personal interview with Eli Lehrer, August 20, 2012; Eli Lehrer, “The Beach House Bailout,” Weekly Standard, May 10, 2010.

  17. Josh Wingrove, “Meet the U.S. Billionaire Who Wants to Kill the Keystone XL Pipeline,” Globe and Mail, April 6, 2013; FOOTNOTE: Joe Hagan, “Tom Steyer: An Inconvenient Billionaire,” Men’s Journal, March 2014; “Unprecedented Measurements Provide Better Understanding of Methane Emissions During Natural Gas Production,” University of Texas at Austin, press release, September 16, 2013; Tom Steyer and John Podesta, “We Don’t Need More Foreign Oil and Gas,” Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2012.

  18. “Beyond Coal Campaign,” Philanthropist: Moving Beyond Coal, Mike Bloomberg, http://www.mikebloomberg.com; “Bloomberg Philanthropies Grant Awarded to Environmental Defense Fund,” Bloomberg Philanthropies, press release, August 27, 2012; Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci, “Bloomberg’s Hidden Legacy: Climate Change and the Future of New York City, Part 1,” InsideClimate News, November 18, 2013; FOOTNOTE: Tom Angotti, “Is New York’s Sustainability Plan Sustainable?” paper presented at Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and Association of European Schools of Planning joint conference, July 2008; Michael R. Bloomberg and George P. Mitchell, “Fracking is Too Important to Foul Up,” Washington Post, August 23, 2012.

  19. “Introducing Our Carbon Risk Valuation Tool,” Bloomberg, December 5, 2013; Dawn Lim, “Willett Advisors Eyes Real Assets for Bloomberg’s Philanthropic Portfolio,” Foundation & Endowment Intelligence, May 2013.

  20. “Risky Business Co-Chair Michael Bloomberg” (video), Next Generation, YouTube, June 23, 2014; Robert Kopp, et al., “American Climate Prospectus: Economic Risks in the United States, prepared by Rhodium Group for the Risky Business Project, June 2014; “Secretary-General Appoints Michael Bloomberg of United States Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change,” United Nations, press release, January 31, 2014.

  21. Holdings in other major oil and gas companies include Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, and the foundation has investments in a large number of other oil and gas exploration, production, services, and engineering firms, as well as coal, gas, and mining companies: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, Form 990-PF, Return of Private Foundation, 2012, Attachment C, pp. 1–18, and Attachment D, pp. 1–15; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, December 31, 2013, http://www.sec.gov.

  22. “ENERGY MIRACLES”: Bill Gates, “Innovating to Zero!” (video), TED, February 2010; TERRAPOWER: “Chairman of the Board,” http://terrapower.com; Robert A. Guth, “A Window into the Nuclear Future,” Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2011; CARBON-SUCKING INVESTMENT: “About CE,” Carbon Engineering, http://carbonengineering.com; MILLIONS OF HIS OWN MONEY: “Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research,” http://dge.stanford.edu; PATENTS: U.S. Patent 8,702,982, “Water Alteration Sructure and System,” filed January 3, 2008; U.S. Patent 8,685,254, “Water Alteration Structure Applications and Methods,” filed January 3, 2008; U.S. Patent 8,679,331, “Water Alteration Structure Movement Method and System,” filed January 3, 2008; U.S. Patent 8,348,550, “Water Alteration Structure and System Having Heat Transfer Conduit,” filed May 29, 2009; “WE FOCUS”: Interview with David Leonhardt (transcript), Washington Ideas Forum, November 14, 2012; “CUTE”: Dave Mosher, “Gates: ‘Cute’ Won’t Solve Planet’s Energy Woes,” Wired, May 3, 2011; “NON-ECONOMIC”: “Conversation with Bill Gates” (transcript), Charlie Rose Show, January 30, 2013; 25 PERCENT: “Production: Gross Electricity Production in Germany from 2011 to 2013,” Statistis
ches Bundesamt, https://www.destatis.de.

  23. “Texas Oilman T. Boone Pickens Wants to Supplant Oil with Wind,” USA Today, July 11, 2008; “T. Boone Pickens TV Commercial” (video), PickensPlan, YouTube, July 7, 2008.

  24. Dan Reed, “An Apology to Boone Pickens: Sorry, Your Plan Never Had a Chance,” Energy Viewpoints, December 9, 2013; Carl Pope, “T. Boone and Me,” Huffington Post, July 3, 2008.

  25. Christopher Helman, “T. Boone Reborn,” Forbes, March 31, 2014; Kirsten Korosec, “T. Boone Pickens Finally Drops the ‘Clean’ from His ‘Clean Energy’ Plan,” MoneyWatch, CBS, May 19, 2011; Fen Montaigne, “A New Pickens Plan: Good for the U.S. or Just for T. Boone?” Yale Environment 360, April 11, 2011; “T. Boone Pickens on Why He’s for the Keystone XL Pipeline, Why the Tax Code Should Be ‘Redone’ and No One Person Is to Blame for Gas Prices,” CNN, April 25, 2012.

  26. VIRGIN GREEN FUND: Nicholas Lockley, “Eco-pragmatists,” Private Equity International, November 2007, pp. 76–77; AGROFUEL INVESTMENTS: “Khosla Ventures and Virgin Fuels Invest in Gevo, Inc.,” Gevo, Inc., press release, July 19, 2007; Kabir Chibber, “How Green Is Richard Branson?” Wired, August 5, 2009; NOT AN INVESTOR IN BIOFUEL PROJECTS: personal email communication with Freya Burton, director of European relations, LanzaTech, April 18, 2014; Ross Kelly, “Virgin Australia Researching Eucalyptus Leaves as Jet Fuel,” Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2011; email communication, communications manager, Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Center, April 29, 2014; “HASN’T”: Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It, 132; BIOFUELS STALLED: “What Happened to Biofuels?” The Economist, September 7, 2013; “INCREASINGLY CLEAR”: personal email communication with Richard Branson, May 6, 2014; FOOTNOTE: National Research Council, Renewable Fuel Standard: Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of U.S. Biofuel Policy (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2011), 130–34.

  27. “Our Companies: Gevo,” Virgin Green Fund, version saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on September 28, 2013, http://web.archive.org; “Our Companies: Seven Seas Water,” Virgin Green Fund, version saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on April 4, 2014, http://web.archive.org; “Our Companies: Metrolight,” Virgin Green Fund, version saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on October 30, 2013, http://web.archive.org; “Our Companies: GreenRoad,” Virgin Green Fund, version saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on November 29, 2013, http://web.archive.org; personal interview with Evan Lovell, September 3, 2013.