Can you write a story about this year’s record-setting global warmth and never mention the primary cause, indeed never mention human emissions at all?

Can you spin Arctic sea ice loss that is faster than every IPCC climate model as somehow evidence that computer model predictions of sea ice loss “seem to have been too extreme”?

You can if you are Richard Black, environment correspondent for the BBC News.

The bar for climate journalism has dropped so low — even for the few remaining serious science and environmental reporters — that people have become blas© about the kind of misreporting Black does in his piece, ” ‘Rapid’ 2010 melt for Arctic ice – but no record.“  But this kind of stuff is just inexcusable:

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2010 hurricane season has already set multiple records

A rare double feature: two simultaneous Category 4 hurricanes in the Atlantic, for only the second time in recorded history.

Uber-meteorologist and former NOAA Hurricane Hunter (!) discussed some of the remarkable records the 2010 season has already set, on his WunderBlog yesterday:

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Here’s what we hear:  a naggingly high unemployment rate, a wavering stock market, tea party protests, low approval ratings for the President and the party in power…

Here’s what we don’t hear: President Obama’s stimulus package is funding green technology around the nation – creating jobs, spurring innovation and transforming the U.S. economy.

That’s Dan Heffernan writing at Reuters.com.  Here’s more of the story that we rarely see in the media:

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The Wall Street Journal has a story about my favorite clean energy strategy — see Cool roofs save money, save energy, cut pollution and directly reduce warming — woo-hoo!

White roofs promoted to save energy

NEW YORK “” Herb Van Gent points his infrared gun at a square of still unpainted gray shingle and clicks the trigger. He gets an immediate temperature reading: 143 degrees and rising. Then he aims it 5 feet away to a square of roof I have just painted: 98 degrees and decreasing.

He smiles.

“A 45-degree difference and we’re only on the first coat,” he says. That means it also will be cooler inside the building, he says, saving energy.

Its 11 a.m. and we are on the roof of a New York retirement home, rolling out a thick, shiny white paint. Van Gent is one of a volunteer group that has come up here to paint the roof as part of a city-sponsored “cool roof” program.

The idea of painting roofs white is catching on across the country; Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it could contribute to the fight against global warming.

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One of the greatest crises of our time is climate change, which threatens to create food shortages (as the Russians learned this summer), change geography, eradicate entire eco-systems and even wipe out cities and towns in coastal areas. (NOTE: If you are an anti-science know-nothing, don’t bother to comment. The clear scientific consensus indicates a warming climate caused by human activity.)

That’s Pulitzer Prize winner Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a blog piece titled, “The GOP is now a party of know-nothing flat-earthers.”

Sadly, and painfully, the anti-science crowd did bother to comment, but that is no big surprise since they swarm over any unmoderated discussion.  Her piece continues:

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A Wonk Room analysis finds that there are six key Senate races for climate action, in which a strong vote for climate runs a serious risk of being replaced by a global warming denier. Of the 37 U.S. Senate races this fall, 36 involve Republican candidates who are global warming deniers or oppose climate action (Vermont’s Len Britton is a possible exception). Hard-right Tea Party challenger Christine O’Donnell knocked out climate activist Mike Castle (R-DE) last night, leaving a GOP slate of conspiracy theorists and know-nothings angling for the United States’ highest legislative body. The pivotal climate races this November (with the 538.com estimated likelihood of a Republican pickup) are:

(91%) PA: Joe Sestak v. Pat Toomey
(74%) CO: Michael Bennet v. Ken Buck
(54%) WA: Patty Murray v. Dino Rossi
(46%) NV: Harry Reid v. Sharron Angle
(42%) CA: Barbara Boxer v. Carly Fiorina
(36%) WI: Russ Feingold v. Ron Johnson

An examination of the races is below: Read more

Huffington Post is having an online voting contest:  Who Is The Ultimate Game Changer In Green?

There are a number of good choices, though I wouldn’t have included Stephen Colbert — he does sometimes air some very clever environmental messaging, but he’s happy to ridicule environmentalists or environmental themes if it can get a laugh.

The guy you should vote for is Ken Ward, Jr (click here).  Here’s why:

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