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(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The race for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination just doubled in size: Fox ‘News’ darling Ben Carson jumps in; former CEO Carly Fiorina jumps in; former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee jumps in — climate change deniers all; PLUS: The Pope’s moral message on climate change… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Elon Musk unveils fancy new Tesla battery — ’cause existing batteries “suckâ€; Scientists call for limits on non-stick and stain-resistant chemicals that can leach into foods; CA crops raised with oil-field water; Ominous signs for endangered Great Lakes blue butterfly; Heartland Institute’s president denies they are deniers; GOP lawmakers slash NASA budget… PLUS: Climate change drives ‘new era’ in Arctic, say Norwegian scientists… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Pope Francis Calls Climate Change Great Moral Responsibility:
- Blessed Are the Climate Advocates: Renewed faith from Vatican global warming conference: (Slate) [emphasis added]:
It wasn’t my faith in God that was renewed at the Vatican but rather a faith in our ability to get something done on climate change.
…
Throughout the day I witnessed multiple about-faces of previously cynical staff rapidly turning toward optimism. This Vatican moment was a game-changer. Science and religion were forcefully and unwaveringly aligning.
…
The Vatican’s Turkson, meanwhile, pulled out all the stops, saying that “a crime against the natural world is a sin,†and “to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation … are sins.†Turkson warned about how quickly we are degrading the planet’s integrity, stripping its forests, destroying its wetlands, and contaminating its waters, land, and air. - Remarks of Cardinal Turkson: together for stewardship of creation (Vatican Radio)
- Secretary-General’s Remarks at Workshop on the Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity” [As Delivered] (United Nations)
- Election 2016: Carson, Fiorina and Huckabee Jump In:
- What the candidates believe (PBS NewsHour)
- Diverse GOP Candidates Join Race (NECN) [emphasis added]:
Democratic Political analyst Alex Goldstein says, “I think it’s really turning into a three ring circus. In one ring, you have candidates who are denying climate change, another ring you have candidates who are against marriage equality, and in another ring, you have candidates who are against equal pay for equal work for women.”
- FactChecking Huckabee, Fiorina and Carson (Fact Check)
- What does Ben Carson believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues (PBS NewsHour):
Climate change: The climate change debate is “irrelevant.†Temperature change is cyclical.
- Ben Carson on Meet the Press Transcript – March 1, 2015 (NBC News)
- What does Carly Fiorina believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues (PBS NewsHour) [emphasis added]:
Climate change: It is real and manmade. But government has limited ability to address it. Speaking in New Hampshire in February, Fiorina said there is scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by humans. But she also argued that it is not clear that a single nation or state can reverse the trend. She implied that targeting the coal industry will not solve the problem.
- Carly Fiorina on the Issues (NY Times):
Unlike other Republican candidates, Ms. Fiorina has not denied that human activity causes global warming. But she has argued against regulation in California to reduce climate-warming emissions, saying such actions by individual governments alone “won’t make a bit of difference in climate change.â€
- Distorting Climate Change Threats, Solutions (FactCheck):
Two potential Republican candidates for president distorted the facts about climate change and casually dismissed well-established threats and potential solutions…
- VIDEO: Carly Fiorina: ‘Read the fine print’ on climate change (MSNBC.com)
- AUDIO: Huckabee Makes Ridiculous Claim About Volcanoes, Climate Change (AOL)
- VIDEO: Mike Huckabee Mocks Obama’s Climate Goals (Climate Progress)
- VIDEO: Huckabee slams Obama for saying climate change is the greatest threat (YouTube)
- Mike Huckabee draws laughs on ISIL, climate change (Politico) [emphasis added]:
Mike Huckabee mocked the notion that climate change is a major threat to Americans in a speech to conservative activists Saturday. “A beheading is a far greater threat to an American than a sunburn,†cracked Huckabee, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and its tactic of beheading its enemies.
- President Obama’s Historic Emissions Deal with China in Nov. 2014:
- Deal on Carbon Emissions by Obama and Xi Jinping Raises Hopes for Upcoming Paris Climate Talks (NY Times, Nov. 12, 2014):
The historic announcement by President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China that they will commit to targets for cuts in their nations’ carbon emissions has fundamentally shifted the global politics of climate change. The agreement has given a fresh jolt of optimism to negotiations aimed at reaching a new international climate treaty next year in Paris, where the American and Chinese targets are expected to be the heart of the deal.
- FACT SHEET: U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change and Clean Energy Cooperation (White House)
- A Real Deal: To appreciate the U.S.-China climate agreement, there’s only one number you need to pay attention to. (Slate)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- Elon Musk unveils fancy new Tesla battery — ’cause existing batteries “suck†(Grist):
We live in a world where I can say: “Elon Musk, leader of the space transportation company SpaceX, just announced that Tesla will be churning out Powerwalls from its Gigafactory in the desert by 2017,†and it makes complete sense. If that doesn’t make you excited about living in the 21st century, I don’t know what will.
- Scientists Call for Limits on Stain- And Water-Proofing Chemicals (Environmental Health News):
More than 200 scientists outline potential health concerns from fluorinated chemicals, urge replacements and tightened regulations.
- GOP Rep Introduces Bill To Gut EPA (The Hill):
A House Republican wants to cut 13 programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including all of its grants and its ability to regulate ground-level ozone and carbon dioxide.
- Central Valley’s Growing Concern: Crops Raised With Oil Field Water (LA Times):
The use of treated oil field water to raise Central Valley crops raises questions about food chain safety.
- Climate Drives ‘New Era’ in Arctic Ocean (BBC):
Changes in the Arctic Ocean are so profound that the region is entering what amounts to “a new era”, according to Norwegian scientists.
- Ominous signs add up for endangered species (Toledo Blade):
Indiana park struggling to preserve climate-sensitive Karner blue butterfly: At an inch long, the Karner blue is a butterfly small enough to hide behind a quarter. It’s what scientists call an indicator species because of its fragility, a warning sign for other creatures when something goes afoul with it.
- Heartland Institute’s President Denies They’re Climate Science Deniers…Then Spouts More Denial (Media Matters):
The crux of Bast’s argument is that the Heartland Institute and its allies “do not deny climate change.” But he sure has a funny way of proving it — by reiterating claims about the causes and impacts of climate change that directly contradict the nearly unanimous findings of scientists who study the climate for a living.
- Massive Cuts Proposed To NASA Earth Science Budget Draw Protest (Washington Post):
On Tuesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee chaired by Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced a new spending bill that would slash NASA’s earth science programs by over $300 million dollars. Advocates for earth science monitoring and research have voiced strong objections to this proposal.
- Climate Change Joins Terrorism, the Economy as a Top Diplomatic Issue (Slate)
- Thanks to Warren Buffett, Omaha Is Getting Less Reliant on Coal (Slate):
While Buffett famously avoids faddish investment and new technology—longtime holdings include Geico, WellsFargo, See’s Candies, even newspapers—his firm has quietly become a force in energy in recent years. And last week, on the eve of the annual meeting, one of his subsidiaries announced a deal that will help Omaha’s utility make a dramatic move away from coal and toward emissions-free wind power.
- China Adds Solar Power the Size of France in First Quarter (Bloomberg News):
China’s solar installations in the first quarter were almost equal to France’s entire supply of power from the sun.
- Exposure to widespread diabetes drug feminizes male fish. (Environmental Health News):
It is the first study to examine the drug metformin’s impact on fish endocrine systems and suggests that non-hormone pharmaceuticals pervasive in wastewater may cause reproductive and development problems in exposed fish.
- Rate Of Climate Change To Soar By 2020s, With Arctic Warming 1°F Per Decade (Climate Progress):
New research from a major national lab projects that the rate of climate change, which has risen sharply in recent decades, will soar by the 2020s. This worrisome projection – which has implications for extreme weather, sea level rise, and permafrost melt – is consistent with several recent studies.
- Now’s Your Chance to Help Save the Imperiled Monarch Butterfly-and Get Paid to Do So (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
Another threat, according to Grant, has been well-intentioned individuals who have planted a tropical form of milkweed, which competes with native varieties and is not beneficial to monarchs or other pollinators.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
But exactly how bad is still an open question, and a lot depends not only on how we react, but how quickly. The rate at which humans cut down on greenhouse gas emissions–if we do choose to cut them–will have a large bearing on how the world turns out by 2100, the forecasts reveal.
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.
Recently (late March) Antarctica was warmer than much of the US:
(Record warmth in Antarctica).
That was probably close to the time that the High Priest of Denial (Sen. Inhofe) brought his snowball buddy to work with him (The “Genes” of Culture In Civilizations).