‘Green News Report’ – September 19, 2013

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Climate science denial on display in US House in advance of new UN report as DOE, EPA defend climate action; Mexico reeling from simultaneous twin hurricanes; Arctic sea ice 6th lowest on record; PLUS: Confirmed: toxic oil and gas leaks in CO floodwaters … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Researchers struggle to project how fast, how high and how far sea levels will rise; Utilities shocked as more big companies self-generate power; E-waste a ‘global time bomb’; Solar Decathlon heads to CA; Japan balked at steps to control Fukushima water in 2011; Clean energy less costly than fossil fuels; USDA guts public organic review process to limit synthetics … PLUS: California wins right to clamp down on carbon … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• Fox News FAIL: Just Making Stuff Up Now:
• VIDEO: Fox Equates Faux UN Climate Report With The Real Thing (Media Matters)
• VIDEO: Fox Guest: “Fracking Is Actually Incredibly Good For Our Environment” (Media Matters)
• Climate Science Denial on Display at GOP House Hearing
• Obama’s Energy, EPA Chiefs Say Climate Plan Won’t Kill Coal (Reuters):
  New rules limiting emissions from U.S. power plants that are expected to be proposed on Friday will ‘provide certainty’ to the coal industry, environment and energy chiefs told lawmakers anxious about the fuel’s future.
• The Five Craziest Arguments At Yesterday’s Climate Hearing (Climate Progress)
• Tabloid Science Infiltrates House Climate Hearing (Media Matters)
• VIDEO: Congressman Makes “Completely Wrong” Claim About Temperature (Mother Jones) [emphasis added]:
  Scientists disagree. Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, called McKinley’s claim “completely wrong.”
• Obama climate change plan gets first airing in front of House sceptics (Guardian UK): EPA asserted authority to move forward without new laws from Congress at hearing where contrarian views were on display
• The best (and worst) quotes from the silly House climate hearing (Grist)
• The GOP’s hyped-up climate meeting was kind of a bust (Salon): Only two federal agency heads showed up to debate Rep. Ed Whitfield on climate change
• Arctic sea ice: 2013 6th Lowest on Record:
• GRAPHIC: No, Arctic Sea Ice Has Not Recovered, Scientists Say (Climate Central) [emphasis added]:
  This year’s melt represents a significant gain in sea ice extent from last year — when the ice cover plummeted to a record low — but scientists cautioned that long-term trends are what is most important, with most projections still showing a seasonally ice free Arctic Ocean by the middle of the century, if not sooner. In addition, measurements of sea ice volume are at near-record low levels, indicating that the ice cover is unusually thin and vulnerable.
• Arctic sea ice has *not* recovered, in 7 visuals (Washington Post)
• No, the World Isn’t Cooling (Phil Plait, Slate)
• An Arctic first: Chinese cargo ship reaches Europe via the Northeast Sea Route (Nunatsiaq Online)
• CO: Oil & Gas Leaks In Floodwaters:
• Industry puppets spew obscene lies while people drown (David Sirota, Salon) [emphasis added]:
  siting authorities can employ the “first do no harm” idea before permitting more energy development in areas like floodplains; and local officials can be given more power to oversee the fossil fuel industry within their midst. Most important, all of them can finally reject climate change denialism and begin factoring in meteorological reality when making energy development decisions.
• Noble Energy finds three leaking gas wells in flood-hit Colorado (Reuters)
• More oil, gas leaks found in Colorado after floods: regulator (Reuters)
• Colorado is tracking 10 oil and gas spills across the state (Climate Progress)
• Mexico: Twin Storms Wreak Havoc:
• Mexico struggles to recover from twin storms and rescue tourists (LA Times)
• Mexico storms: Tourists airlifted from flooded Acapulco (BBC)
• VIDEO: This alligator was washed into the streets of Acapulco by a mudslide (Daily Times)
• Mexico’s storm devastation raises questions (Al Jazeera America)
• Hurricane Manuel worsens Mexico plight (Al Jazeera America)
• Mexico victims recount horror; toll rises to 97 (AP)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Rising tide: Researchers struggle to project how fast, how high and how far the oceans will rise. (Nature Magazine):
  The [IPCC] panel had previously projected much higher rates of sea-level rise, but its 2007 assessment admitted that it could not tackle the entire problem: the predictions did not include the possibility of rapid changes in ice cover in Greenland or the Antarctic because the authors had concluded that it was impossible to forecast such behaviour.
• California wins right to clamp down on carbon from gasoline, diesel (Grist):
  California can finally begin forcing producers, refiners, and importers of gasoline and diesel to reduce their effect on the climate following a legal victory on Wednesday.
• Utilities Shocked as More Companies Self-Generate Power (Climate Crocks)
• Electronic waste is a ‘global time bomb’ (Australia Broadcasting Corp):
  “I would call it a global time bomb,” says Wong, referring to the growing pile of waste produced by old mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices…”[It] is the world’s fastest growing waste stream, rising by 3 to 5 per cent every year, due to the decreased lifespan of the average computer from six years to two,” says Wong.
• Solar Decathlon heads to California (Treehugger): The competition will be held at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA from October 3 – 13, 2013. This is the first year in the competition’s history that it has been held outside of Washington, D.C.
• Japan balked at steps to control Fukushima water in 2011 (Reuters):
  Japanese authorities, now struggling to contain leaks of radioactive groundwater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, were urged two years ago by U.S. experts to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination but decided not to act on the advice.
• New Study: Clean Energy Least Costly to Power America’s Electricity Needs (NRDC Switchboard) [emphasis added]:
  [O]nce estimates of climate change costs and other health impacts are taken into account, it would be cheaper to build new power plants from wind turbines or solar panels than from coal. It would also be cheaper to replace some of our dirtiest coal plants with these cleaner sources.
• USDA Guts Public Organic Review Process to Limit Synthetics (Beyond Pesticides)
• Luminant to shut 3rd Texas coal unit, citing low power prices (Reuters)
• Big Coal, Republicans go after Obama’s energy nominee, saying he’s too green (Grist)
• Energy efficiency bill bogs down in Senate (Fuel Fix):
  Senate leaders were still working on a deal to break the logjam by granting Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a vote on his unrelated proposal to force lawmakers and congressional aides to buy insurance on public exchanges without the benefit of offsetting federal contributions.
• Inspector General: DOE Has Failed to Meet Its Advanced Biofuels Goals (GreenTech Media):
  The review points out that funds were not misspent within the strict confines of the program. It simply concludes that many of the investments were not ready for prime time due to poor market conditions and insufficient reviews.
• Former Halliburton manager charged in Gulf spill case (Fuel Fix)
• Nigerian community rejects Shell oil spill compensation offer (Al Jazeera America):
  About 13,000 fishermen lost their livelihoods because of the spills, and 31,000 inhabitants of 35 villages were affected in and around the Bodo lagoon and its associated waterways, according to Leigh Day. Independent experts estimate between 500,000 and 600,000 barrels were spilled, devastating the environment and contaminating about 30 square miles of mangroves, swamps and channels, the law firm said.
• Human Fingerprints Visible in Atmospheric Changes (Climate Central) [emphasis added]:
  Increases in greenhouse gases in the troposphere generally act as an insulator, leading to warming. In contrast, the stratosphere, which is the next layer up, has cooled due to a combination of less warmth leaving the troposphere and the depletion of the ozone layer. Changes in the troposphere have the potential to alter global weather patterns, while a cooler stratosphere lets in harmful ultraviolet radiation and can affect the troposphere in certain areas, such as over Antarctica.
• Hansen Study: Climate Sensitivity Is High, Burning All Fossil Fuels Would Make Most Of Planet ‘Uninhabitable’ (Climate Progress):
  “Burning all fossil fuels” would warm land areas on average about 20°C (36°F) and warm the poles a stunning 30°C (54°F). This “would make most of the planet uninhabitable by humans, thus calling into question strategies that emphasize adaptation to climate change.”
• The Most Important Climate Pacts You’ve Never Heard Of (Climate Central):
  Reducing emissions of the short-lived pollutants offers the chance to slow global warming in the near-term while diplomats continue the arduous process of negotiating a longer-term climate treaty, since carbon emissions cuts will be required to limit long-term warming and its myriad effects regardless of how steep any cuts to short-lived pollutants are.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a ‘Hoax’!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).