Warren Buffett: Climate Killer?

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Over at Rolling Stone, Tim Dickinson has published a list of 17 “polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.” Topping his list is a rather unconventional choice: Obama advisor and Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett. Dickinson points out that Buffett has poo-pooed the climate bill as a “huge tax” that would mean “very poor people are going to pay a lot more for their electricity.” Moreover, he’s poured money into some of America’s dirtiest companies, recently purchasing 1.28 million shares of ExxonMobil and buying the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad–the nation’s top hauler of coal–for $26 billion, his largest purchase ever. “As a savvy investor,” Dickinson writes, “Buffett would only buy a coal-shipping railroad if he felt certain that Congress would fail to crack down on coal pollution.”

Dickinson’s list of 17 “climate killers” is a good read for anyone who wants to get up to speed on the right wing’s hit squad. And for a more targeted rundown of people who are pusing climate change skepticism, check out our Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial.

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In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

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But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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