‘Green News Report’ – June 10, 2014

Follow @GreenNewsReport…

 


(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: President Obama pushes back against climate change-denying politicians; Real-world data shows cutting emissions boosts economic growth and that the Koch Brothers are wrong; PLUS: Supreme Court says BP must continue oil spill payouts … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): How Solar Will Destroy Utilities in 5 Easy Steps; President of Kiribati: “It’s too late for us”; Amazon tribal chief: the white man is destroying everything; War on Coal already happened – mining industry won and miners lost; FAA oks first drones on US soil – for BP; Supreme Court rules against homeowners in Camp Lejeune water contamination; Duke Energy signs deals for Dan River spill cleanup; Illinois bans plastic microbeads in personal care products due to water pollution … PLUS: 7 reasons to be more optimistic about climate change than Ezra Klein … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Florida Congressman: If Humans Cause Climate Change, Then ‘Why Did The Dinosaurs Go Extinct’?
• VIDEO: FL Congressman: If Humans Cause Climate Change, Then ‘Why Did The Dinosaurs Go Extinct’? (Climate Progress)
• DERP: ‘Then why did the dinosaurs go extinct?’ (MaddowBlog):
  Asked if human activity is responsible for the climate crisis – and all of the evidence clearly shows it is – the congressman asked, “Then why did the dinosaurs go extinct?” That doesn’t any make any sense. None. It’s little more than gibberish. For his constituents in Florida, it had to be a dangerously unsettling moment.
• GOP Demonizes Once Favored Cap-And-Trade Policy (NPR)
• President Obama Embraces Action on Climate Change and a Price on Carbon:
• VIDEO: ‘Science Is Science’: Obama Embraces Price On Carbon, Leaving Fossil Fuels In The Ground (Climate Progress):
  I can’t recall Obama being as candid about the realities of climate change and what must be done to address it as he is in this interview. He goes on to say:

  “We’re not going to be able to burn it all. Over the course of the next several decades, we’re going to have to build a ramp from how we currently use energy to where we need to use energy. And we’re not going to suddenly turn off a switch and suddenly we’re no longer using fossil fuels, but we have to use this time wisely, so that you have a tapering off of fossil fuels replaced by clean energy sources that are not releasing carbon … But I very much believe in keeping that 2 [degree] Celsius target as a goal.”

• 8 Things You Should Know About The Biggest Thing A President’s Ever Done On Climate Change (Climate Progress)
• On Climate Change, Obama Is Finally Leading From the Front (Slate)
• VIDEO: Years of Living Dangerously: Episode 9 – President Obama (Showtimes’ ‘Years of Living Dangerously’):



• Polls Show Vast Majority of Americans Support Climate Action:
• Polling Data Swinging Against Climate Denial (Climate Crocks)
• PPP Poll: Voters won’t elect climate denier in 2016, GOP stance hurts with independents [PDF] (Public Policy Polling)
• Broad Concern about Global Warming Boosts Support for New EPA Regulations (ABC News):
  A new ABC News/Washington Post poll … conducted in advance of the Obama administration’s announcement today of planned regulations to cut such pollution, finds 70 percent support for limiting emissions from existing power plants, and, more generally, for requiring states to cut the production of greenhouse gases within their borders.
• Reality: States That Cut Emissions Lead the Nation In Economic Growth:
• In Some States, Emissions Cuts Defy Skeptics (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  Through a program called cap and trade, the Northeastern states also impose a small price on emissions of carbon dioxide from power generation, and plow the proceeds back into energy-efficiency programs, such as retrofitting homes and businesses, lowering electricity bills. …“Every dollar they’re not spending on coal that comes from Colombia or natural gas that comes from Pennsylvania is a dollar that stays here in Massachusetts,” Mr. Cash said..
• Emission Cuts No Curb to Economic Growth (Climate Crocks)
• New Study Shows No More Excuses to Reject Fee on Carbon (Huffington Post Green):
  [A] new study from Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), shows that a steadily-rising fee on fossil fuels, with revenue returned to households, will actually add 2.1 million jobs in the U.S. over the next 10 years while reducing greenhouse gas emissions 33 percent.
• The Northeast’s Cap-And-Trade System Just Had Its Most Successful Auction Ever (Climate Progress)
• California’s Carbon Market a Success in its First Year, Report Finds (KCET Rewire):
  “The first year results are highly encouraging and proof positive that we can successfully harness the power of the marketplace to solve climate change without sacrificing economic growth,” EDF President Fred Krupp said in a press release. “In a year marked by gridlock and polarization, the Golden State is a shining example of climate leadership.”
• Withdrawal from Regional Cap & Trade System Hurt New Jersey’s Economy:
• N.J. Economic Growth Seen 15% Slower Than U.S. Rate Until 2033 (Bloomberg News, 12/11/2013)
• The Koch Tapes: David Koch Introduces Chris Christie at Secret 2011 Koch Brothers Billionaire Summit as ‘My Kind of Guy’, ‘A True Political Hero’ (The BRAD BLOG):
  DAVID KOCH: Another example of Governor Christie’s commitment to the free enterprise system is that only a few weeks ago he announced that New Jersey would be withdrawing from the [Regional] Greenhouse Gas Initiative which is a [cheers and applause], which would have raised energy costs, reduced economic growth and led to very little, if any, benefit for the environment. [A ‘boo’ is heard.]
• Full SPECIAL COVERAGE: The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes… (The BRAD BLOG)
• Opinion: Destabilization of Earth’s climate system is bringing real impact to N.J. communities (Times of Trenton, NJ)
• Germany’s Switch To Renewables Helps Create Budget Surplus:
• While US argues, Germany faces budget surplus (Bloomberg BusinessWeek):
  The country’s strong economy means it will take in more in tax revenue than it will spend next year for a third straight year, a group of top economic institutes said in a twice-annual report Thursday.
• Germany Counts on Renewable Energy as an Economic Growth Driver (Wall St. Journal)
• Germany’s energy transition: Sunny, windy, costly and dirty (Economist)
• Solar with Storage Approaches Critical Mass in Germany (Climate Crocks)
• BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf: SCOTUS Denies BP Attempt to Scuttle Damage Payments:
• Court rules BP, Andarko must face fines for U.S. gulf oil spill (Reuters):
  The companies had appealed Barbier’s ruling, arguing in part that they should not be responsible for oil spilled as a result of failed equipment on the drilling rig, which was owned by Transocean Ltd. But as co-owners of the well, BP and Anadarko would be on the hook for resulting fines, the appeals court ruled.
• New report on BP oil spill points to faulty blowout preventer procedures (Washington Post):
  In its report, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said that the blowout preventer’s blind shear ram – an emergency hydraulic device with two sharp, powerful cutting blades – probably did activate on the night of April 20, contrary to the conclusions reached by some other investigations. But the device ended up puncturing the off-center pipe, sending huge volumes of oil and gas to the surface and triggering the massive oil spill, the CSB said.

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

• How Solar Will Destroy Utilities in 5 Easy Steps (Climate Crocks):
  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
• 7 reasons to be more optimistic about climate change than Ezra Klein (Next Gen America):
  I really believe that things aren’t (quite) as dire as their posts suggest. Here are 7 reasons why I’m still an optimist.
• Supreme Court Ruling Muddies Water in Lejeune Pollution Case (McClatchy)
• President of Kiribati Anote Tong on climate change: “It’s too late for us” on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS (CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria) [emphasis added]:
  According to the science and the projections, I don’t think the science – the science is telling us it is already too late for us. And so we have been asking the global community to say, OK, think about the future, the speculation of what will happen. But don’t forget, those who are already affected, those for whom it is already too late, we are working together collectively with the countries in the like situation, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, the Maldives, where the impact of climate change is about total annihilation of our – of our nations.
• Amazon tribal chief’s SOS: the white man is destroying everything (UK Independent):
  The Brazilian tribal leader who enlisted Sting to help save the Amazon rainforest has accused the developed world of being intent on “destroying everything” and urged its citizens to fundamentally change the way they think.
• Tidal Wave of Green Energy Swamping Europe. Coming to a Utility Near You. (Climate Crocks)
• Krugman: In The Real War On Coal, The Mining Industry Won And Workers Lost (Climate Progress):
  The real war on coal, or at least on coal workers, took place a generation ago, waged not by liberal environmentalists but by the coal industry itself. And coal workers lost.
• Duke Energy signs deal with NC, VA for Dan River coal ash spill cleanup (NY Times):
  Environmental and wildlife officials in North Carolina and Virginia signed an agreement with Duke Energy Monday for the cleanup of toxic coal ash from the Dan River, which flows through the two states.
• Illinois bans plastic microbeads in personal care products due to water pollution (Chicago Tribune):
  Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Sunday banning the manufacture and sale of personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
• Not much to lose in move from coal (Op-ed, The Nashville Tennesseean) [emphasis added]:
  People in the Appalachian coal region don’t have much to lose, because they’ve already lost. The coal jobs started vanishing in the ’50s through mechanization. In just the past three years, Kentucky’s already-shrunken coal employment has fallen by half. And even the coal is disappearing.
• Bobby Jindal signs bill to kill lawsuit against oil, gas companies (New Orleans Times-Picayune):
  “If there is a pipeline rupture in the coastal zone, the ability of local governments to litigate will be limited,” said Barry, who Jindal removed from the levee board after Barry pushed for the lawsuit. “I’m actually more concerned about the future than BP litigation.”
• FAA OKs first commercial drone flights over land — for BP, in Alaska (CNN)
• How Obama’s Climate Rule Could Change The U.S. Job Market (Climate Progress):
  “These rules are definitely going to change the job market,” Josh Bivens, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told ThinkProgress on Thursday. “In the long run, when the overall level of employment evens out, the composition of employment will change. You’ll have fewer jobs in coal-mining, and more jobs in new energy sources, whether that’s in solar, wind — probably some in energy efficiency, too.”
• Monarch butterfly decline linked to spread of GM crops (CBC Canada):
  The main cause of the monarch butterfly’s decline is the loss of milkweed — its food — in its U.S. breeding grounds, a new study has found. That all but confirms that the spread of genetically modified crops is indirectly killing the monarch.
• Australia experiences its hottest two years on record (Guardian UK):
  Australia has experienced its hottest two years on record and high temperatures are set to continue through winter in a clear sign of climate change, a report warns. May 2012 to April 2014 was the hottest 24-month period ever recorded in Australia, but that is likely to be eclipsed by the two years between June 2012 and May 2014, according to the Climate Commission’s latest report, Abnormal Autumn.
• VIDEO: Colbert Embraces Conservative Solution to Climate Change: ‘F*ck It’ (The Colbert Report)
• How to Solve Global Warming: It’s the Energy Supply (Scientific American):
  Restraining global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius will require changing how the world produces and uses energy to power its cities and factories, heats and cools buildings, as well as moves people and goods in airplanes, trains, cars, ships and trucks, according to the IPCC. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people’s behavior.

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).