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Rebecca John

@rebeccajohn.bsky.social

3.7K followers 2K following 130 posts

Investigative climate reporter and award-winning documentary film maker. Long lost secrets and contemporary scoops. Research fellow Climate Investigations Center. Words in DeSmog and Air Mail.

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Rebecca John @rebeccajohn.bsky.social · Nov 15

Once Upon A Time In LA ... Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact 'Civilization'

NEW story of early front group that went 'rogue' before being pressured back into line by California's oilmen

Latest investigation and story by me ⬇️

www.desmog.com/2024/11/12/r...

Revealed: Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact ‘Civilization’

New documents show how a deceptive PR strategy pioneered in 1950s California first exposed the risk of climate change and then helped the industry deny it.

www.desmog.com

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 17h

🚨New report: how the fossil fuel industry duped successive UK governments into pumping money into costly CCS schemes to ensure continued reliance on oil and gas.

InfluenceMap @influencemap.bsky.social · 18h

📢 🚨New Report - How the UK oil and gas industry spent 15 years pushing for subsidies & incentives for Carbon Capture and Storage rather than regulatory accountability or science-based emissions reductions; maintaining a funding pipeline for a technology yet to deliver on its promises 👇

The UK Oil and Gas Industry's Advocacy on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

New analysis from InfluenceMap suggests that for more than 15 years, the oil and gas industry has systematically pushed the UK government to adopt a costly, emissions-intensive energy policy agenda de...

influencemap.org

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 7d

Trump administration wants to roll back regulations on HFCs (very potent greenhouse gases) OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY.

Here’s why one industry is worried about Trump’s latest climate rollback

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

wapo.st

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Adam McKay @ghostpanther.bsky.social · 12d

“The German Meteorological & Physical Societies warn: "There is already a risk of warming by 3 degrees Celsius by 2050."
Some media are interpreting this as climate researchers contradicting each other. But the IPCC already warned of up to 3C for moderate emissions and up to 3.4C for high emissions.

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 12d

Die Deutschen Meteorologischen und Physikalischen Gesellschaften warnen: "Bereits bis 2050
besteht das Risiko einer Erwärmung um 3 Grad."
Manche Medien machen daraus: Klimaforscher widersprechen sich. Aber schon der IPCC-Bericht warnte bei mittleren Emissionen vor bis zu 3 Grad, bei hohen bis 3,4.

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All Our Yesterdays @allouryesterdays.bsky.social · 16d

70 years ago today, (Sept 22, 1955) a General Electric scientist warned about carbon dioxide build-up.

C02 “may be having a greenhouse effect on our climate” because mankind is “contaminating the earth’s atmosphere faster than nature can clean it.”

allouryesterdays.info/2025/09/22/7...

Portrait photo of John G. Hutton, General Engineering Lab of General Electric

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 18d

President Johnson, in a November 9, 1968 letter to the Smothers Brothers:

“It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists . . . May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives.”

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 20d

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel

Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

www.yahoo.com

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 28d

This is such positive, powerful, direct communication. The fact that this seems so remarkable and so rare speaks volumes about our failure to stand up to the fossil fuel lobby.

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 28d

"My school saves thousands of pounds every year from those solar panels." The TUC directly takes on Reform, a party funded by the fossil fuel Industry. Posted on IG by tradesunioncongress

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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · Sep 7

UK should stop investing in carbon capture for power, government adviser says.
#CCS “a gift to the oil and gas industry, and carry on the fiction that somehow enormous amounts of public money should enable them to keep doing it”.
www.ft.com/content/5595...

UK should stop investing in carbon capture for power, government adviser says

Octopus chief says ‘enormous amounts’ of public money spent on technology should be saved

www.ft.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Sep 4

Another reason to stop setting all forms of carbon on fire, including fossil fuels and trees.

Air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia, research suggests

Airborne particles cause toxic clumps of proteins in brain that are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, study indicates

www.theguardian.com

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Simon Ferrigno @brexcyclopaedia.bsky.social · Sep 4

It was only a matter of when, not if... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 1/

Reform UK scraps Derbyshire climate change aim

The new Reform leadership in Derbyshire says environmental strategy will be

www.bbc.co.uk

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Aug 23

How much more of the future do we want to let them destroy?

Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built

www.nytimes.com

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Green and Red Podcast @podcastgreenred.bsky.social · Aug 20

"The plastic industry, like many other industries, has sought to blame individuals for problems that are largely created by those industries in the first place. By developing markets that didn't exist before for its own products."

- @rebeccajohn.bsky.social

🎙️: bit.ly/3UwWLSn

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Aug 19

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is once again publishing propaganda on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, this time by printing pseudoscience.

Normal Margaret @margaretz.bsky.social · Aug 18

The @wsj.com is pushing climate denialism in its newsletter today

Q: The Trump administration says CO2 isn’t a threat to public health. What does the science say?
The Trump administration’s stance on CO2 is part of a new effort to undo some of the Environmental Protection Agency’s responsibilities for regulating emissions. Ahead of public hearings on the contested rules this week, Eric Niiler breaks down the debate that is set to unfold.

A: Greenhouse gases including CO2 are considered air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, according to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said federal regulators must determine whether these pollutants endanger public health. Most climate and atmospheric scientists say increasing levels of CO2 are raising the planet’s temperature, which in turn is leading to more intense storms, rising sea levels and the risk of more intense drought and wildfires that endanger human health and welfare.

As the scientific consensus on CO2’s role in climate change has solidified, so too has the alternative view that more CO2 is good for the planet, and that it was a mistake to classify it as a pollutant. The Energy Department’s review of the science of climate change—the scientific foundation of the EPA’s effort to roll back existing emissions rules—argues that increasing CO2 levels will boost agricultural production, like a massive jolt of plant food.

Determining how much and how fast CO2 emissions will warm the planet in the future is still uncertain. Large-scale changes in the Earth’s ecosystem as the atmosphere warms are still being studied. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s move to change EPA rules is set to kick off a lengthy legal battle over whether the government will continue to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles, power plants and other industries.

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · Aug 19

Your daily reminder: "The overnight rule" - anyone who says something like 'you can't switch off fossil fuels overnight' is actually arguing for phasing them out as slowly as possible, and arguing against a made-up person to cover and distract from this

archive.ph/C0vh3 [article from Oct 2023]

Oil and gas cannot be ‘shut down overnight’ on path to net zero, says Carney
Economies must ‘build up alternatives’ before winding down fossil fuel production

Szu Ping Chan
in Marrakech.
Tim Wallace
Related Topics
Mark Carney, Net Zero, Oil, Gas, Russia-Ukraine war, UK economy
11 October 2023 5:58pm BST

Gift this article free
Mark Carney
Mr Carney says that it is impossible to 'divest your way to net zero' Credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
Mark Carney has said it is “not right” to expect countries with oil and gas industries to “shut down overnight”, admitting that fossil fuels have a role to play in net zero.

The former governor of the Bank of England said it was important for economies to “build up the alternatives” before winding down oil and gas production, adding that it was impossible to “divest your way to net zero”.

Speaking at an event hosted by the International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Marrakech, he said: “In economies that have conventional energy — so oil and gas production — you can’t shut those down overnight. That’s not right. That’s not a just transition.

“You need to build up the alternatives. You need to work with the communities, train people, undergo the transition and all elements of that need to be financed. And they are equally worthy.”

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Rebecca John @rebeccajohn.bsky.social · Aug 18

The only way out is through! A deep dive into a mountain of plastic waste, recycled myths and possible solutions with the great Green and Red Podcast.

Featuring @davisallen.bsky.social from @climateintegrity.org

and my @desmog.com investigation supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism

Green and Red Podcast @podcastgreenred.bsky.social · Aug 16

~NEW EPISODE~

One Word: Plastics!

We talk w/ @rebeccajohn.bsky.social & @davisallen.bsky.social about the fraud of plastic recycling, and the failure of the global plastics treaty negotiations as the industry undermines attempts to get a cap on plastic production.

🎙️: bit.ly/3UwWLSn

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Green and Red Podcast @podcastgreenred.bsky.social · Aug 16

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Rebecca John @rebeccajohn.bsky.social · Aug 18

www.desmog.com/2025/08/05/m...

‘Maddening’ Proof Plastics Industry Knew Recycling Was False Solution in 1974, New Document Shows

Exclusive finding by DeSmog shows high-level industry awareness that recycling plastic ‘not feasible’ as companies face lawsuits over alleged public deception campaign.

www.desmog.com

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Rebecca John @rebeccajohn.bsky.social · Aug 18

DuPont knew. Plastics knew. We can't recycle our way out of the plastic problem.

Earthday.org calls for global cuts in plastic production,
citing latest findings by @desmog.com

The Dirty Dozen: How Plastic Has Infected Everything - Earth Day

Plastics degrade into toxic microplastics found in our bodies, food, and air. EARTHDAY.ORG calls for global cuts in plastic production by 2040.

www.earthday.org

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Yung En Chee @yungenchee.bsky.social · Aug 12

#PlasticsTreaty #Regulate #CourageNotCompromise

"the plastics industry has been actively deceiving the public for decades about the recyclability of plastics”

Plastics "recycling" is largely a fraud that the industry has perpetuated since at least 1974

Read @rebeccajohn.bsky.social👇

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · Aug 10

Nice FT citing Ireland, where data centre power demand has massively outpaced clean power growth - meaning increased burning of fossil fuels

You can't rely on an assumption of infinite, exponential, unstoppable renewable energy to excuse data centre expansionism.

www.ft.com/content/0f61...

a chart showing rising dc power consumption but flatlining renewable growth levels

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Yung En Chee @yungenchee.bsky.social · Aug 8

Getting up to speed on #PlasticsTreaty❓️

Fortify yourself against industry talk pushing self-regulation & false, non-performing "solutions"

Read @rebeccajohn.bsky.social's in-depth @desmog.com report

Center for Climate Integrity @climateintegrity.org · Aug 5

NEW: The president of one of the world's largest plastics producers acknowledged in 1974 that recycling plastic was "not feasible."

It's “further proof that the plastics industry has been actively deceiving the public for decades about the recyclability of plastics” says @davisallen.bsky.social.

‘Maddening’ Proof Plastics Industry Knew Recycling Was False Solution in 1974, New Document Shows

Exclusive finding by DeSmog shows high-level industry awareness that recycling plastic ‘not feasible’ as companies face lawsuits over alleged public deception campaign.

www.desmog.com

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Jon Owen @anotherjon.bsky.social · Aug 7

Newly discovered correspondence reveals that executives of one of the world’s largest plastic producers, DuPont, acknowledged as early as 1974 that recycling its plastic products was not possible.

✍️ - @rebeccajohn.bsky.social for @desmog.com

www.desmog.com/2025/08/05/m...

‘Maddening’ Proof Plastics Industry Knew Recycling Was False Solution in 1974, New Document Shows

Exclusive finding by DeSmog shows high-level industry awareness that recycling plastic ‘not feasible’ as companies face lawsuits over alleged public deception campaign.

www.desmog.com

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DeSmog @desmog.com · Aug 5

Waste pickers in Nairobi say that as the global market for "plastic credits" expands, waste collection companies are cutting them out of the market for high-value recyclable or reusable plastic.

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DeSmog @desmog.com · Aug 7

New at DeSmog: @rachelsherrington.bsky.social reveals how the meat industry might have teamed up with prominent environmental groups to convince consumers that beef can be "climate friendly," even as the industry's emissions of planet-heating pollutants increase. #climatechange

Revealed: How the Meat Industry Uses Environmental Groups to Make Beef Seem Climate-Friendly

Expert says non-profit partners provide a ‘fairy dust’ of legitimacy to beef industry.

buff.ly

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Break Free From Plastic @breakfreefromplastic.org · Aug 5

"[An ambitious #PlasticsTreaty can be achieved through] control of chemicals of concern in plastics, and safeguards against substitutions; reduction targets for plastic production, and addressing legacy pollution ..." - @UNHumanRights (6/) #BreakFreeFromPlastic #ToxicPlastics

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