‘Green News Report’ – September 30, 2010

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Koala Chlamydia; Coal protests around the world; New Rules for offshore drilling; PLUS: The Governator slams Big Oil and corporate campaign cash … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Avatar director James Cameron says oil sands will become “curse”; DOE: Small solar power systems could provide enough power for big utilities; Chuitna and the Curse of Coal; Nissan LEAF already sold out in U.S. — before it’s even for sale; The Vatican goes green; EPA hits Illinois over factory farm water pollution; McCain now a climate conspiracy theorist; Lawmakers move to stop genetically modified salmon; One-fifth of world’s plants at risk of extinction; Biochar could help climate change fight; California raises Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33% …PLUS: Meet Generation Hot …

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

• And then the thermometer broke: L.A.’s Hottest Day Evah
• L.A.’s hottest day ever: How hot was it? The National Weather Service’s thermometer downtown reached 113 degrees for the first time since records began being kept in 1877 – and then stopped working. The record highs follow a summer of record lows. (LA Times)
• Koala Chlamydia (Really)
• WATCH: Steven Colbert Exposes the Perverted Perps Behind Rise in Koala Chlamydia (Comedy Central)
• Koala Population Ravaged by Chlamydia (AOL News)
• Rallying For Sanity (& Climate Action) In A City Near You
• WATCH: OneNation march plans send Glenn Beck into a Red-baiting frenzy: Marxists are everywhere! (Crooks & Liars):
  Marxism is evil, and the only thing it has contributed to in the history of mankind is mass graves. All of these groups, and the president of the United States, want nothing short of fundamental transformation of America. It is not about cleaning up corruption. It is only a beginning — a beginning of a radical, revolutionary Marxist land.

  Do not allow them to get away with the lies! Do not allow them to say that we are just “one nation, working together”. “We’re just trying to put America back to work, and putting America back together.” These people, a lot of them have fought their entire life to destroy America!

• Find an event near you: One Nation Working Together Rallies on Saturday, October 2nd: One Nation Working Together is a social movement of individuals and organizations committed to putting America back to work and pulling America back together. Coming from a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, beliefs and orientations, we are determined to build a more united country with good jobs, equal justice, and quality public education for all.
• Find an event near you: 10/10/10 Global Work Party: On 10/10/10, we will celebrate climate solutions and send our politicians a clear message: “We’re getting to work-what about you?” (350.org)
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Attacks Oil Companies Behind Prop 23 & Corporate Campaign Cash:
• Gov. Schwarzenegger Defends CA’s Climate Change Laws
• Prop 23, So-Called ‘California Jobs Initiative’, A Scam That Would Destroy Jobs and Environment: Will the Orwellian lies of the oil industry’s ‘poison populism’ be exposed in time to save humanity?… (The BRAD BLOG)
• Schwarzenegger defends climate law, slams Texans (SF Gate) [emphasis added]:
  Schwarzenegger, speaking before several hundred people at the Commonwealth Club in Santa Clara, said the proponents of Prop. 23 are attempting to subvert the democratic process using scare tactics. He likened the campaign to a shell game hiding what he said was the real purpose: “self-serving greed.”

  “They are creating a shell argument that they are doing this to protect jobs,” the governor said. “Does anybody really believe they are doing this out of the goodness of their black oil hearts – spending millions and millions of dollars to save jobs?”
  …
  The only job losses or costs, he said, would be in polluting industries like Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., both of which have refineries in California that climate experts say are sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Schwarzenegger Blasts “Black Oil Hearts” of Prop 23 Backers (Treehugger)
• Prop 23 campaigns begin television battle for undecided voters (Grist)
• Whitman Brown Debate HERE
• Boxer And Fiorina Slug It Out In Debate (Talking Points Memo)
• PROP 23: California’s climate fight heats up (The Progress Report)
• FLASHBACK: The Powell Manifesto: How A Prominent Lawyer’s Attack Memo Changed America (Media Transparency.org, 8/20/2002):
  For two decades, since the installation of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the radical right has run a tightly coordinated campaign to seal its hold on the organs of power, ranging from the highest law courts to the largest corporations, from the White House to Capitol Hill, from television tubes to editorial pages, and across college campuses.
  …
  Their grants have paid for a veritable constellation of think tanks, pressure groups, special-interest foundations, litigation centers, scholarly research and funding endowments, publishing and TV production houses, media attack operations, political consultancies, polling mills, and public-relations operations. The concerted campaigns they run, also underwritten by such self-interested corporations as those in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and finance, have weakened the AARP, the Food and Drug Administration, Head Start, Medicare, and welfare programs.
• International Action Against Coal Gets You Arrested:
• ‘Appalachia Rising’ rallies in Washington, D.C. (Coal Tattoo)
• More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal: Dr. James Hansen, Appalachian residents and retired coal miners arrested calling for abolition of mountaintop mining and immediate veto of Spruce mine project (Appalachia Rising)
• Australia: Climate activists close down world’s largest coal port (Reuters):
  The action by climate change group Rising Tide in Newcastle stopped operations at all three terminals operated by Port Waratah Coal Services, which normally run continuously, a company spokesman said.
  …
  Rising Tide said about 50 people in total were involved in the protest, some entering before dawn Sunday morning, abseiling down machinery and attaching themselves to loaders. Others demonstrated with banners.

  Spokeswoman Annika Dean said nine protesters attached themselves to infrastructure, calling it an “emergency” action to highlight climate change, which she blamed for recent fires in Russia and floods in Pakistan.

  “We have stopped all operations in the coal port,” Dean said.

• “Topless Mountains Are Obscene” (Mother Jones)
• PNC Bank: Helping to destroy mountains (Marc Gunther)
• Appalachia Rising Demands End to Mountaintop Removal (TNJN, Tennessee)
• Today’s shocker: Coal endorses Gov. Manchin (Ken Ward, Coal Tattoo)
• GOP blocks Senate action on mine safety bill (Coal Tattoo)
• BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf: Oil Spill Commission Hearings, NEW RULES for Offshore Drilling, and the Fight Over Drilling Moratorium:
• NEW RULES: Salazar: When Drilling Moratorium Ends, Expect Stricter Rules (Mother Jones)
• Salazar Announces Regulations to Strengthen Drilling Safety, Reduce Risk of Human Error on Offshore Oil and Gas Operations (Press Release, Dept. Of Interior)
• U.S. issues new drilling rules, offshore ban stays (Reuters)
• Landrieu Blocks OMB Nomination Over Drilling Moratorium (Mother Jones)
• Drilling Moratorium Hasn’t Cost Any Jobs In The Gulf, Feds Say (AP)
• New Drilling Rules Today to Reflect Legacy from Spill (Houston Chronicle)
• Next Phase of Gulf Spill Damage Assessment Starts: Federal and state government agencies and BP have entered a new and important phase in determining how much damage has been done to the ecosystem by the Gulf spill. (AP)
• BP and DOJ: Deal or No Deal? (Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones):
  The Associated Press reports that the Department of Justice may be seeking to cut a deal with BP over fines resulting from the Gulf spill rather than hashing it out in court. The AP’s main source is the office of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), which says it as tipped off via their work on a spill-response bill.

  A DOJ official tells Politico there’s no deal in the works. But, deal or no deal, how the department handles this issue is crucial, as there is a huge amount of money at stake.

• BP Ousts Exploration Chief, Vows to Boost Safety: BP’s incoming Chief Executive Bob Dudley has ousted the oil group’s exploration and production chief following the Gulf spill and promised to restructure the company to boost safety. (Reuters)
• GOP Still Thwarting Spill Panel (Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones)
• When moratorium ends, it won’t hasten drilling: ‘It is going to take time,’ official says as panel looks at U.S response (Houston Chronicle)
• WATCH: National Commission on BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Hearings (C-SPAN)
• MAIN site: National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
• Cuba plans deep oil wells very close to US coast (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

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

• Avatar Director James Cameron Says Oil Sands Will Become “Curse” Without Science-Based Regulations: Hollywood mogul declares “lifelong” commitment to help Canadian First Nations fight mining pollution (SolveClimate)
• DOE: Big Utilities Can Get Reliable Power from Small Solar PV Arrays: A Berkeley Lab study says when PV plant arrays are spread out over a range, output variability is largely eliminated (SolveClimate)
• Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview (Rolling Stone):
  One of my top priorities next year is to have an energy policy that begins to address all facets of our overreliance on fossil fuels. We may end up having to do it in chunks, as opposed to some sort of comprehensive omnibus legislation. But we’re going to stay on this because it is good for our economy, it’s good for our national security, and, ultimately, it’s good for our environment.

  Understand, though, that even in the absence of legislation, we took steps over the past two years that have made a significant difference.
  …
  We instituted the first increase in fuel-efficiency standards in this country in 30 years. It used to be that California would have some very rigorous rule, and then other states would have much weaker ones. Now we’ve got one rule.

• Chuitna and the Curse of Coal (Mudflats) [emphasis added]:
  I can tell right away that like most Anchorage residents, he has not heard of the massive development project just across the body of water that he sees every day. I’ve also now broached the subject of mining, which means that the “jobs vs. tree huggers” meme has just been introduced into this early morning conversation. Alaskans love pristine wilderness, but many also have an paradoxical aversion to “greenies,” which are loosely defined as anyone who thinks they know what’s best for other people at the expense of “progress.” It’s a reckless move on my part, but I’m too sleepy to overthink it, so I lay my cards on the table.
  …
  But ten minutes later when I was standing on the coffee line waiting to pay for the eggs and a 16 oz. cup of the black stuff, I heard his voice again over my shoulder. He spoke slowly and deliberately. “I just wanted to say good luck again.” He looked me right in the face. That one I could read. He’d thought about it, and in the wee hours of the morning on a Saturday in the grocery store, he decided that fish were more important than coal. One down – thousands more to go.
• Nissan Stops Taking Reservations for LEAF, Reaches 20k Target 3 Months Ahead of Schedule (Treehugger)
• The Vatican Goes Green: The Holy See has embarked on a new mission: the fight against climate change. (Mother Jones)
• Illinois takes a hit over factory farms
  : State fails to crack down on water pollution at sites, federal EPA says (Chicago Tribune):
  Illinois is failing to crack down on water pollution from large confined-animal farms, the Obama administration announced Wednesday in a stinging rebuke that gave the state a month to figure out how to fix its troubled permitting and enforcement programs
• How low, how low McCain you go: McCain has become a climate conspiracy theorist (Grist)
• Lawmakers Make Move To Stop Genetically Modified Salmon Approval: US Senator, Mark Begich, along with ten other senators are spearheading a fight to stop the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) from approving the human consumption of genetically modified salmon (GM salmon). (Medical News Today)
• One-fifth of world’s plants at risk of extinction: One-fifth of the world’s plants – the foundation of life on Earth – are at risk of extinction, a study concludes. (BBC)
• How biochar production could help climate change fight (Climate Progress)
• Exposed: Global Warming Deniers : If the world’s top climatologists are all convinced that the burning of fossil fuels is causing dangerous global warming, why do the media keep giving equal time to deniers? No matter how strong the scientific consensus becomes, the campaign to discount climate change — financed by the fossil-fuel industries and conservative foundations — continues. (Huffington Post Green)
• California raises Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33%: California regulators raised the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 33 percent by 2020 in a unanimous vote yesterday that extends the mandate to public power and opens the door to more clean power imported from other states. (Energy & Environment News)
• If youth can’t stand the heat: Meet Generation Hot (Grist):