Scientist exposes anti-wind groups as oil-funded. Now they want to silence him.
Oil-funded groups are engaging in strategic harassment to stop scientists from revealing the nature of their politically-linked disinformation networks – in what should be a surprise to nobody.
A new report came out last week from the Climate & Development Lab (CDL) at Brown University, titled “Legal Entanglements: Mapping Connections of Anti-Offshore Wind Groups and their Lawyers in the Eastern United States.”
The study focuses on several examples of law firms with connections to anti-wind groups, the fossil fuel industry, and the American political right wing. These fossil-funded groups have spread disinformation to slow the adoption of clean and cheap wind power, in order to keep America addicted to the poison that the fossil fuel industry wants to keep selling us.
The lab is headed by J Timmons Roberts, but the research was done by various students and faculty at at the lab. The new report builds on former research by the CDL cataloguing extensive connections between these groups and the dark money networks that fund the anti-wind movement.
Why the East Coast needs offshore wind
Offshore wind, especially in the North Atlantic, is a cheap and abundant form of energy that is heretofore relatively untapped in the US. It also has very little environmental cost, given that its carbon emissions and land use are both zero, and wind tends to be quite consistent over the ocean, making it more reliable as a power source.
Many other countries have successfully implemented offshore wind projects to bring this cheap and clean power to their populaces, with particular booms in China, the UK, Vietnam, Germany and several other Northern European countries (like Denmark, where many large wind power companies are based).
And wind is important for the global transition to renewable energy and the fight against climate change. As a zero-emission power source, it’s essential for meeting the US East Coast’s climate and renewable energy goals, and could provide a huge chunk of the power needs for the entire US Eastern seaboard, where the country’s population is clustered.
However, offshore wind has recently encountered setbacks due to the spread of disinformation from fossil-funded networks, which has made its way into the popular conception and into right-wing politics. (Nevertheless, Americans of all political stripes still support greater deployment of offshore wind)
How and why fossil fuel companies oppose wind
Fossil fuel companies oppose wind power because it would help to wean America off of fossil fuels, displacing coal and methane generation for electricity and enabling greater electrification of the vehicle fleet to wean us off of oil. All of these would result in air quality improvements, cost reductions, health improvements and avoidance of climate change – which are all anathema to the most deadly industry the world has ever seen.
So, fossil fuel companies have developed and funded a complicated network of fake public interest groups, politicians and lawyers to oppose wind power by spreading disinformation. And the CDL’s report highlights how certain legal firms have received funding from fossil fuel companies and/or given support to these fake public interest groups in attempts to sue wind projects out of existence.
While many of these lawsuits have been unsuccessful, they can still add delays to a project, making it more expensive and slower to deploy (which then makes your electricity more expensive). In some cases, the delays can result in project cancellation, like when oil billionaire William Koch sued Cape Wind out of existence via a fake public interest group called the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.
In the report, five specific legal networks are highlighted in particular, showing how each is related to fossil fuels and science denial. The networks have provided representation, written comments, filed lawsuits and otherwise spread disinformation in an attempt to stop the public good that offshore wind power represents.
The nature of the disinformation
The disinformation largely focuses on the North Atlantic Right Whale, a whale whose population is currently experiencing an “unusual mortality event” due to changing climate and Atlantic shipping and fishing.
Anti-wind groups have invoked laws like the Endangers Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, despite the fact that the products of the industry they are funded by are the deadliest thing for marine life.
Burning oil raises both the temperature and acidity of our oceans, disrupting marine ecosystems in profound ways. For example, North Atlantic krill populations have dropped by 50% due to ocean warming driven by fossil fuel use. Krill are the main food source for the North Atlantic Right Whale, which anti-wind groups claim to be interested in protecting, but are in fact aiding the decline of.
Further, whale populations are directly harmed by vessel strikes, which are the leading direct cause of death for North Atlantic Right Whales in recent years. And 29% of those vessels are carrying oil across the globe – shipments that would be unnecessary if transportation were powered by clean renewable energy instead of deadly oil. Not only that, but some of the exact same groups that oppose wind also opposed draft regulations to reduce vessel strikes, showing that they are actually interested in continuing to harm whales, not protecting them.
Law firm responds to the truth by pressuring university to hide it
One of the law firms highlighted in the report, Marzulla Law, sent a letter threatening its authors. Marzulla Law said it would complain to Brown’s funding sources, including the US Department of Energy which a former oil executive is currently squatting as the head of, in an attempt to get the entirety of Brown University’s funding pulled if the CDL doesn’t self-censor its research findings.
The CDL itself is not funded by the Department of Energy, Roberts said to Bloomberg, so the threat isn’t even related to CDL’s funding sources, but to Brown University’s as a whole.
Marzulla Law represented one of the disinformation groups which the CDL has highlighted before, the deceptively-named “Green Oceans.” Green Oceans opposed the Revolution Wind project, which was halted on Friday over fake national security concerns by a convicted felon who is Constitutionally barred from holding office in the US, despite the project already being 80% finished, costing the US billions in waste and increased utility bills.
Mike Herr, a spokesman for Green Oceans said “these oft-repeated lies are designed to discredit the messenger while preventing the public from absorbing the substance of our valid and well-researched concerns,” which is itself an example of the very thing he’s wrongly accusing the researchers of.
Herr’s organization lies about offshore wind, and their attack on science (through their law firm) is designed to discredit the messenger while preventing the public from absorbing the substance of valid and well-researched concerns: the connection between fossil fuels, the republican party, and disinformation that keeps us from embracing superior forms of cheaper, cleaner energy like wind.
Discrediting science and knowledge is increasingly becoming a feature of the American right wing, which is currently on a crusade against universities as it tries to make America stupider.
Roberts called Marzulla’s response “strategic harassment to shut me up and waste my time and make me more cautious,” which is a common reaction faced by truth-tellers in this day and age, particularly when funding from the largest and most deadly industry on the planet, which has repeatedly shown its interest in propaganda, is involved.
For its part, Brown University did not comment on Marzulla’s demands, but did state that “Scholars shape their own research and course of instruction at Brown. One principle that is core to research at Brown is the ability for scholars to discuss contested topics and themes and to have those topics openly debated.”
However, Brown is one of the universities which recently kowtowed to the idiotic demands of an inept moron, making its words about academic independence ring somewhat hollow. We’ll have to see if they step up to defend truth this time around, or bow the knee to one of the dumbest people on the planet once again.
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LiveWire, the electric motorcycle brand spun out of Harley-Davidson, has just given us a closer look than ever at its upcoming lower-cost, smaller-format electric motorcycles ahead of their larger unveiling at the Milan Motorcycle Show (EICMA) next week.
While we got our first glimpse of the new machines earlier this summer, spotting a street and trail version of the smaller electric motorbikes, now we have a name for the models and a few more details.
Officially called the S4 Honcho, the new model will be a 125-cc equivalent that will be available in both a street-legal version capable of being operated by riders who possess a moped/light motorcycle license in Europe or a motorcycle license in the US, and a license-free off-road version.
“The S4 Honcho Street will qualify for A1 licenses in Europe and the UK and M-endorsement in the U.S., offering lightweight, urban-friendly electric mobility with intuitive performance and removable batteries,” explained the company.
The bikes appear to be powered by a centrally-mounted, chain-driving electric motor and a pair of removable batteries accessed by flipping up the seat.
LiveWire has remained fairly tight-lipped regarding the major tech specs for the bikes, as well as the price, but we do get a look at the dual removable batteries thanks to a new image posted to the company’s website.
There, we can see what appears suspiciously similar to a pair of KYMCO Ionex batteries, which would make sense given LiveWire’s close partnership with the Taiwanese scooter giant.
A couple years ago at EICMA I had the chance to check out KYMCO’s new Ionex batteries and e-scooter platform firsthand, which you can see in the video below.
While excitement has been building for LiveWire’s smaller electric motorcycles, the full unveiling of the bikes’ performance figures as well as the price tag will prove critical for gauging whether or not the mini-bikes could be a major turning point for LiveWire’s elusive profitability.
But the company isn’t betting it all on one horse, or one Honcho. Also in attendance at the show will be LiveWire’s full-scale concept of an electric maxiscooter built on the same S2 architecture that powers the company’s currently best-selling models, the S2 Del Mar, S2 Mulholland, and S2 Alpinista.
That scooter, built in partnership with KYMCO, will leverage the company’s fully developed S2 platform to create a more comfortable, high-performance urban and suburban-oriented model.
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Tesla is talking about finally bringing the next-generation Roadster to production in new job listing.
However, you shouldn’t hold your breath.
The prototype for the next-generation Tesla Roadster was unveiled in 2017 and was supposed to enter production in 2020, but it has been delayed each year since then.
It has become a running gag in the Tesla community and an example of CEO Elon Musk’s tendency to stretch the truth about timelines.
Since missing its original 2020 production timeline, Musk has given six updated production timelines for the new electric supercar, and each has been wrong.
The latest timeline hasn’t even been about producing the vehicle. It has been about the unveiling of a new version of the next-generation as the last prototype of what is supposed to be a “next-gen” car was unveiled almost a decade ago.
Musk has been talking about an unveiling and demonstration of the New Roadster by the end of the year.
This week, Tesla has posted a new job listing for a ‘Manufacturing Engineer, Roadster‘. In the job description, Tesla mentions working on battery manufacturing equipment for the Roadster:
Tesla is looking to hire a Manufacturing Engineer to contribute to the concept development and launch of battery manufacturing equipment for our cutting-edge Roadster vehicle. In this role you will take large scale manufacturing systems for new battery products and architectures from the early concept development stage through equipment launch, optimization and handover to local operations teams. Battery development is at the heart of our company, and this is an exciting opportunity to work directly on the central challenges for the all-new Roadster product architecture while still in its early development stages.
The comment does point to Tesla starting to set up manufacturing for the production of the new Roadster.
Since this does sound like early manufacturing development work, it would be optimistic to hope to see new Roadsters rolling off the production line by the end of next year. More likely to be in 2027.
In its updated annual installed production capacity chart, Tesla listed Roadster production as still being in the “design development” phase as of last week:
The location of Roadster production is also listed as “to be determined.”
The new job listing for a manufacturing engineer on the Roadster program mentions being based in Fremont, which could mean Tesla plans to launch production at its California factory.
Tesla next-gen Roadster
As unveiled in 2017, the new Roadster was supposed to get 620 miles (1,000 km) of range and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.
It was listed for $200,000, and a “Founder Series” was also offered for $250,000.
At the time, Tesla used the Roadster as a prize for its referral program when it badly needed to generate sales. A few dozen Tesla owners referred enough new sales to win one or two free new Roadsters each.
Some have suspected that Tesla didn’t want to bring the vehicle to production because it would have to deliver over 30 of them for free and hundreds more at heavy discounts due to its original referral program.
Others believe that updates to the vehicles have led to delays.
Shortly after the unveiling of the next-gen Roadster in 2017, Musk discussed adding cold-air thrusters to the supercar to deliver unprecedented racing performance and possibly even allow it to hover over the ground.
The CEO referenced demonstrating that the “Roadster can fly” on several occasions in the last few years.
Electrek’s Take
It looks like we are talking about the Roadster possibly coming to market in 2027—maybe late 2026 at the earliest.
That’s roughly 10 years after it was unveiled.
I’ll believe it when I see it. And if it does happen, I might have one or two flying Roasters for sale.
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Just like it says on the tine: TV brand SHARP is following Sony into the automotive space with the new LDK+ concept that transforms into a mobile movie theater. It’s a type of concept we’ve seen before – but not like this!
The SHARP LDK+ promises to be a Living room, a Dining room, and a Kitchen on wheels – and more (the plus, obviously), building off the decidedly more blobular™ concept first shown back in 2024. This updated version, however, takes the LDK concept and brings it significantly closer to reality by basing it on Foxconn’s “Model A EV by Hon Hai Technology Group” chassis.
And, now that it’s a little bit closer to some kind of reality, it might be time to climb on the SHARP hype train and take a minute to genuinely enjoy the movie/gaming environment the company is promising to deliver with the LDK+ concept.
Get hyped, kids
Not to be overly crude here, but if you roll in a van with a sliding projector table, opaque windows, and fully reclining seats, you probably hit the “family planning” section of your local Walgreens on a regular basis. Similarly, as more and more young people find themselves struggling to afford their own space, offering a vehicle that delivers a little privacy. And even if that’s more Netflix than chill, I think it’s bound to find a few buyers.
Whether I’m right or wrong about that will remain to be seen for a while, however. The official press release is light on specs, offering the following description of the LDK+ concept …
The second iteration of “LDK+” retains the original concept while featuring both high maneuverability with its compact body and a spacious, relaxing interior. Developed based on the“Model A” EV by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), this compact minivan model offers an expansive cabin layout.
When parked, the vehicle can be used as a theater room or a remote workspace. A console box equipped with a table and projector is placed between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. By swiveling the driver’s seat to face backward, it creates a living room-like atmosphere where you can sit around with the rear seats. Pulling down the screen installed above the rear seats allows you to enjoy movies or conduct online meetings on a large display. Through Sharp’s AIoT platform, which connects AI and home appliances, the vehicle links with household devices such as kitchen appliances, air conditioning, and laundry systems. The AI learns residents’ lifestyles and preferences, creating personalized new ways of living. In addition, the system can connect with V2H (Vehicle to Home) solutions, enabling efficient energy management by integrating solar power generation and residential storage batteries.
SHARP
… but skipping automotive basics like battery capacity, anticipated driving range, and the usual horsepower and torque figures. Pricing and, perhaps most importantly, when the vehicle might see the light of day weren’t revealed, either.
SHARP LDK+ concept
All of which is to say: they’re probably never going to actually build something like this – and that’s too bad, because a new-age Honda Element/Nissan Cube-style boxy little EV would absolutely sell like hotcakes.
SOURCE | IMAGES: SHARP, The Japan News.
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