‘Green News Report’ – January 18, 2011

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The sun also rises — two days earlier?!?! (in Greenland); Carbon capture project may be failing in Canada; Obama orders overhaul of regulations to help U.S. businesses … PLUS: Eisenhower’s other prescient warning, 50 years ago this week … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Scientists warn of a future “superstorm” in CA; Obama to discuss clean energy with Chinese premier’s visit?; “Managed retreat” for California coastal town; ABC Reports On Fossil-Fueled Climate Catastrophes; Arch Coal refused plan to reduce mining impact; Canada bans toxic BPA in kids’ toys; Experts warn of looming global food crisis; Toxic parking lots! … PLUS: Surprise! Opponents of ‘fracking’ disclosure take big money from industry ….

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

• VIDEO: Fearing High Gas Prices, Sean Hannity Proposes Re-Invading Iraq and Kuwait To ‘Take All Their Oil (Think Progress)
• The Sun Rises Two Days Early in Greenland:
• The sun rises two days early in Ilulissat [Jacobshavn], Greenland, sparking fears that climate change is accelerating (UK Daily Mail):
  The sun over Greenland has risen two days early, baffling scientists and sparking fears that Arctic icecaps are melting faster than previously thought.

  Experts say the sun should have risen over the Arctic nation’s most westerly town, Ilulissat [colonial & Google Earth name: Jacobshavn], yesterday, ending a month-and-a-half of winter darkness.

  But for the first time in history light began creeping over the horizon at around 1pm on Tuesday – 48 hours ahead of the usual date of 13 January.

  The mysterious sunrise has confused scientists, although it is believed the most likely explanation is that it is down to the lower height of melting icecaps allowing the sun’s light to penetrate through earlier.

• Greenland’s Early Sunrise (Half Astro-Physicist blog)
• PHOTO of Greenland’s Early Sunrise, Jan. 11, 2011
• BP Expanding Deepwater Drilling in Russia and Australia:
• BP’s Russian deal: What the analysts say: The partnership between BP and Rosneft to drill for oil in the Arctic seas has angered environmentalists and US politicians, but most City experts reckon it’s a pretty good deal (Guardian UK)
• Miliband calls BP’s Russian tie-up ‘worrying’ (Guardian UL)
• BP wins first Australian oil exploration permits (Guardian UK)
• BP’s shares rise despite criticism of Russian deal (Guardian UK)
• Farmer in Canada Says CO2 Seeping From Carbon Capture & Storage Project:
• Couple claims contamination (Regina, Canada Leader-Post)
• In an experimental phase, researchers will burn taxpayer money and bury the CO2. (Calgary Herald)
• Weyburn complaints hurt Carbon Capture and Sequestration (Edmonton Journal)
• Obama’s New Regulatory Overhaul to Help U.S. Businesses (Not People):
• Obama Orders Regulation Review to Boost U.S. Growth (Bloomberg) [emphasis added]:
  The president has sought to counter perceptions that his administration is insensitive to business interests, appointing a former corporate executive as his new chief of staff and planning to speak to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 7. While the American recession ended in June 2009, employers have yet to step up hiring enough to pull the jobless rate below 9.4 percent.

  “This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth,” Obama wrote. “We are seeking more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends.“

• Chamber: Obama executive order on regulations ‘positive first step’ (The Hill)
• Cantor spokesman: Obama’s executive order on regulation was a Republican idea (Daily Caller)
• READ IT: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review – Executive Order, Jan. 18, 2011 (White House.gove)
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s OTHER Warning, 50 Years Ago This Week: Do Not “Plunder” Our Children’s Natural Resources:
• LISTEN: President Dwight D. Eisenhower Farewell Speech, Jan. 17, 1961 — Part 2 (YouTube)
• Eisenhower Farewell Speech, Part 1: “Beware the Military/Industrial Complex” (YouTube)
• Ike was right all along: The danger of the military-industrial complex: Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower warned of the danger of the ‘military-industrial complex’. The huge budget and reach of America’s modern defence industry has proved him correct. (UK Independent):
  Kennedy might have projected the dynamism of youth. But the old soldier won the prize for prescience.
• READ IT: Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 (Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, p. 1035- 1040) [emphasis added]:
  The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.
  …
  The other factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

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

• If Quakes Weren’t Enough, Enter the ‘Superstorm’ (LA Times):
  California faces the risk not just of devastating earthquakes but also of a catastrophic storm that could tear at the coasts, inundate the Central Valley and cause four to five times as much economic damage as a large quake, scientists and emergency planners warn.
• For Chinese Leader’s Visit, U.S. to Take a Bolder Tack (NY Times)
• In Ventura, a retreat in the face of a rising sea: Higher ocean levels force Ventura officials to move facilities inland, an action that is expected to recur along the coast as the ocean rises over the next century. (LA Times)
• Global Boiling: ABC Reports On Fossil-Fueled Climate Catastrophes (Wonk Room)
• Spruce Mine could have reduced impacts, report says (Charleston Gazette):
  Arch Coal Inc. could have cut the stream damage from its proposed Spruce Mine in half without significantly increasing coal-production costs, according to a previously secret engineering report prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Chemical ban in toys announced (Vancouver Sun)
• Warning: Beware of the ‘Food Bubble’ (Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones)
• New doubts cast on safety of common driveway sealant: Extremely high levels of toxic chemical in coal tar found in booming suburb (Chicago Tribune)
• Oppnonents of Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money From Industry (Pro Publica)