‘Green News Report’ – March 4, 2014

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Hundreds arrested at White House — again — protesting Keystone XL pipeline; EPA moves to block controversial Alaska mine; New smog standards reduce pollution from tailpipes (and save lives, too); Ancient virus resurrected in the Arctic; PLUS: Unrest in Ukraine exposes energy security vulnerability for Europe… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Energy CEO: Climate change is real, driven by humans; Aboriginal rights a threat to Canada’s resource agenda: documents; Flood damage to rise fivefold in Europe; Climate change is preventing ocean heat from escaping in Antarctica; Feds shocked at NC oversight of Duke Energy coal ash ponds; US organic farmers see increasing GMO contamination of their crops; BPA-free plastics may not be any safer for children … PLUS: Apple CEO’s renewable energy ‘controversy’ underscores need for government mandates … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Ellen Skewers California Rainstorms At 2014 Oscars:
• VIDEO: Ellen Opens Oscars with Old School, Hilariously Biting Monologue (Mediaite)
• Massive Storm Pummels California, But Does Little To Alleviate Its Drought Crisis (Climate Progress)
• Ukraine-Russia Conflict Exposes Europe’s Energy Security Vulnerability:
• VIDEO: Energy dependence softens Europe on Russia (The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC): P.J. Crowley, former spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, talks with Rachel Maddow about Russia’s standing with Europe and the G7.
• Shifting energy trends blunt Russia’s natural-gas weapon (Washington Post)
• The Ukraine-Russia Crisis in 26 Nail-Biting Numbers (Mother Jones)
• Keystone XL: Public Comment Period Ends Friday, March 7th:
• CLICK HERE for info on making a Public Comment on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline: 30-day public comment period ENDS March 7, 2014 (State Dept.gov):
  Comments can be submitted via Regulations.gov and by mail to the address indicated above.
• Keystone XL: Hundreds Arrested at White House Protest:
• VIDEO: XL Dissent: 398 Youth Arrested at Anti-Keystone XL Pipeline Protest at White House (Democracy Now!)
• Hundreds of Students Arrested Outside White House at Keystone XL Pipeline Protest (Bill Moyers)
• Did the State Department Fail Obama on Keystone XL? (Bloomberg)
• Judge throws out Nebraska pipeline law, complicating Keystone XL plans (Nebraska Watchdog)
• Senators Call For Study On Keystone Health Effects After Doctor Cites Cancer Near Tar Sands (Climate Progress)
• Keystone XL: Study Says State Dept. Underestimates Production & Total Climate Impact:
• Study Finds Keystone XL Would Have Much Larger Impact Than State Department Suggests (Huffington Post Green) [emphasis added]:
  Carbon Tracker says this is the “significance trap.” The pipeline is only deemed insignificant because the State Department’s report failed to fully consider the ways the pipeline would affect production of the tar sands, the group argues.
• Report: How The State Department Got Keystone XL’s Climate Impact Totally Wrong (Climate Progress)
• EPA Moves To Block Pebble Mine:
• E.P.A. Says It Will Fight Mine Project in Alaska (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  While the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency was not an outright death blow to the project, called the Pebble Mine, it left little room for the mine and its supporters to persuade the agency otherwise. …The agency’s administrator, Gina McCarthy, was unequivocal in saying that the science, including a three-year peer-reviewed study by the E.P.A. completed this year, had spoken.
• Leaders, stakeholders react after EPA’s Pebble Mine announcement (Alaska Dispatch)
• Death Knell for Pebble Mine? (On Earth Magazine): The EPA announces that it will review whether a monstrous mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay can go forward.
• EPA Takes Step to Restrict Pebble Mine Project in Alaska (PBS Frontline)
• EPA: New Tailpipe Rules For Gasoline And Vehicles Will Save Lives:
• New U.S. fuel standards aim to cut asthma, heart attacks (Reuters)
• A Comprehensive Guide To The EPA’s New Pollution-Reducing Gasoline Rules (Climate Progress)
• Not Sci-Fi: Melting Arctic Exposes Ancient, “Giant” Virus:
• Giant Virus Resurrected from Permafrost After 30,000 Years (Live Science) [emphasis added]:
  The virus only infects single-celled organisms and doesn’t closely resemble any known pathogens that harm humans. Even so, the new discovery raises the possibility that as the climate warms and exploration expands in long-untouched regions of Siberia, humans could release ancient or eradicated viruses. These could include Neanderthal viruses or even smallpox that have lain dormant in the ice for thousands of years.

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

• Apple’s Renewable Energy ‘Controversy’ Underscores Need for Government Mandates (The BRAD BLOG):
  The fact is, even well-meaning corporate directors can have a very difficult time, and face huge legal obstacles, towards doing the right thing for society and for their corporate shareholders without a government that sets clear and strong standards requiring them to do so.
• CEO: Oil industry ‘no longer the deep pocket’ as costs soar (Fuel Fix)
• Energy CEO: Climate change is real, driven by humans (Fuel Fix) [emphasis added]:
  Speaking to energy industry leaders at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Mackenzie, a geologist by training, said evidence of the climate trend is clear and compelling.

  “You can’t argue with a rock,” Mackenzie said, noting geological signs of the change.

  Mackenzie — whose Australia-based company produces oil, gas, coal and uranium — also advocated for the creation of a carbon pricing system that would enable the market “to identify the most cost-effective methods of cutting emissions.”

• Aboriginal rights a threat to Canada’s resource agenda, documents reveal (Guardian UK): Canadian government closely monitoring how legal rulings and aboriginal protest pose an increasing ‘risk’ for multi-billion dollar oil and mining plans
• Flood damage cost to rise fivefold across Europe, study says (Guardian UK): Increasingly intense downpours driven by climate change will see flood damages rise 23bn a year by 2050
• Climate change is preventing ocean heat from escaping in Antarctica: McGill study (CTV News):
  “The fact that we can still have a surprise like this after studying the climate system for decades shows just how complex and dangerous (climate change) is,” study co-author Eric Galbraith told CTVNews.ca.
• NC Coal Ash Spill: Duke Energy receives 5 more citations weeks after coal ash spill (LA Times):
  The agency “knew about these violations yet took no action until after the spill, the federal criminal grand jury and intense press scrutiny,’’ Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said of the coal ash leaks at the Dan River plant.
• The scary new evidence on BPA-free plastics: (Mother Jones):
  Environmentalists may have won a victory convincing manufacturers to remove the estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from products like babies’ sippy cups — but lab results are showing that the chemicals replacing them are as bad or worse.
• US farmers report widespread GM crop contamination: (Inter Press Service):
  A third of U.S. organic farmers have experienced problems in their fields due to the nearby use of genetically modified crops, and over half of those growers have had loads of grain rejected because of unwitting GMO contamination.
• Acidic Waters Kill 10 Million Scallops Off Vancouver (Climate Progress) [emphasis added]:
  A mass die-off of scallops near Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island is being linked to the increasingly acidic waters that are threatening marine life and aquatic industries along the West Coast. Rob Saunders, CEO of Island Scallops, estimates his company has lost three years worth of scallops and $10 million dollars.“I’m not sure we are going to stay alive and I’m not sure the oyster industry is going to stay alive,” Saunders told The Parksville Qualicum Beach NEWS. “It’s that dramatic.”
• Global Shift to Clean Energy No Longer ‘Theoretical’ (The Tyee):
  These days the data tell a powerful story. Recent price declines for solar energy have been “massive,” [Ethan Zindler, Bloomberg New Energy Finance] explained, while merely “substantial” for wind, meaning that a global shift away from fossil fuels is no longer “theoretical.”

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

• Skeptical Science: Database with FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Myths
• Warning: Even in the best-case scenario, climate change will kick our asses (Grist)
• NASA Video: Warming over the last 130 years, and into the next 100 years:
• 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).