‘Green News Report’ – March 1, 2011

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Dems call for probe in U.S. Chamber of Commerce plot to target citizens like us; Indictment in WV coal mine disaster investigation; Deepwater drilling permits resume in the Gulf, but that’s still not good enough for Republicans; Climate scientists in fake ‘ClimateGate Scandal’ vindicated — AGAIN; PLUS: More on the WI GOP power play to privatize Wisconsin’s power plants … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): NYT “fracking” bombshell: toxic & radioactive water dumped in rivers; US v. Tim DeChristopher, climate activist; House Democrats launch investigation into ‘fracking’ on public lands; Anonymous turns firepower against Billionaire Koch Bros.; 80% of US antibiotics go to factory farm animals; Ad Age slams Chevron ad campaign; House Republicans bring back styrofoam; SunChips tries again with quieter bag; Supreme Court halts NYC’s push for hybrid taxis; NYC classroom scores 100% PCBs; Soaring oil prices, a popular argument for just about anything; BP fund lawyer to refuse 100k Gulf spill disaster claims, while BP asks judge to dismiss them; Australia stuck with desalination white elephant; Skyrocketing water bills anger GA residents; Glenn Beck says 350.org is part of a communist plot (and Bill McKibben’s response); Arctic sea ice at new record low … PLUS: China leadership issues stunning warning on climate & growth…

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

• UPDATE on the Chamber of Commerce’s $12 Million Secret Smear Campaign to Discredit American Journalists (Like Us):
• >Green News Report SPECIAL: The U.S. Chamber’s Secret Smear Campaign (Green News Report, Brad Blog)
• House Dems Call for Probe Into U.S. Chamber of Commerce Plot to Discredit Perceived Enemies (Brad Blog)
• Democrats call for an investigation of law firm, 3 tech companies (Washington Post)
• WATCH: Colbert Interviews Greenwald on the Revealed Plot to Turn ‘Terror Tools’ Against U.S. Citizens, Journalists and Progressive Organizations (Brad Blog)
• Massey Official Indicted in Upper Big Branch Mine Explosion Probe:
• Massey Official Indicted For Obstructing Mine Disaster Probe
• Deepwater Drilling Permits Resume in the Gulf, But That’s Not Fast Enough for House Repblicans:
• Interior Issues First New Deepwater Permit(NY Times)
• Interior faces pressure despite drilling permit
• Vitter: One drilling permit is not enough (The Hill)
• House GOP bill would force Obama’s hand on offshore drilling (The Hill)
• Climate Scientists Exonerated — AGAIN:
• ‘Climategate’ report clears scientists (The Hill)
• MORE on the Sneaky WI GOP Power Play to Privatize WI’s Power Plants:
• WATCH: >WI State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald Attempts to Justify WI GOP Power Play on The Last Word (MSNBC)
• The Koch Brothers’ End Game in Wisconsin (Daily Kos) [emphasis added]:
  State of Wisconsin SENATE BILL 11 [pdf, bottom of page 23]:

  SECTION 44. 16.896 of the statutes is created to read:
  16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state-owned heating, cooling, and power plants. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).

• Plutocracy Now: What Wisconsin Is Really About (Mother Jones)
• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros. (Mother Jones):
  Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, whose bill to kill collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions has caused an uproar among state employees, might not be where he is today without the Koch brothers.

  Charles and David Koch are conservative titans of industry who have infamously used their vast wealth to undermine President Obama and fight legislation they detest, such as the cap-and-trade climate bill, the health care reform act, and the economic stimulus package. For years, the billionaires have made extensive political donations to Republican candidates across the country and have provided millions of dollars to astroturf right-wing organizations. Koch Industries’ political action committee has doled out more than $2.6 million to candidates. And one prominent beneficiary of the Koch brothers’ largess is Scott Walker.

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

• The Trial Of Bidder 70: US V. Tim DeChristopher, Climate Hawk (The Wonk Room):
  In the waning days of the Bush presidency, an auction of 130,000 acres of pristine Utah lands near national parks was organized by the Bureau of Land Management as a last-minute gift to the oil and gas industry. Tim DeChristopher, “then a 27-year-old economics student at Utah, walked into the auction and signed up as Bidder 70.” DeChristopher successfully bid for $1.7 million in parcels, breaking up the auction. The Bush leasing plan was found in court to be flawed and has been withdrawn, but DeChristopher faces 10 years in jail for his brave act of non-violent civil disobedience. Furthermore, the judge in charge of DeChristopher’s case is stacking the case against him…
  …
  Meanwhile, the Obama administration approved the first offshore drilling permit today since the BP disaster, for which no criminal charges have been filed.
• Top House Democrats launch investigation into ‘fracking’ on public lands (The Hill)
• Chevron’s Ads “Add Up To One Big Lie” (The Chevron Pit blog)
• Republicans recycle an old idea: the foam plastic coffee cup (Guardian UK)
• SunChips tries again with quieter biodegradable bag (Huffington Post Green)
• By refusing to hear NYC’s appeal, Supreme Court halts Bloomberg’s push for hybrid taxis (NY Times)
• N.Y. Classroom Scores 100 (That Is, 100% PCBs)
• Soaring Oil Prices Become Popular Argument for Just About Anything (Greenwire)
• BP fund lawyer to refuse 100,000 Gulf spill disaster claims (Guardian UK)
• BP asks judge to dismiss Gulf oil spill claims (Huffington Post Green)
• Australia: Victoria stuck with desalination white elephant (Australia Broadcasting Corporation)
• Skyrocketing water bills mystify, anger residents (CNN):
  Many of the problems arose after the installation of new, automated water meters, which began nearly five years ago, and involved contracts for meter installations, the electronic meters and software equipment. The automated meter-reading technology eliminates the need for city workers to manually check every meter. Instead, they retrieve the data by driving by each property. The meter electronically transmits data showing the amount of water used.
  …
  [Peter Aman, the city of Atlanta’s chief operating officer] said the city has sampled about 9,000 of the 132,954 residential meters and made a major discovery: About 1% of the meters’ registers, which show how much water is being used, and the meter base underneath do not properly fit. That mismatch could result in a doubling of the water bill, Aman said.
• Arctic sea ice at new record low at end of Feb. as it struggles toward annual winter maximum
• Glenn Beck says 350.org is part of a communist plot
• Bill McKibben of 350.org has the perfect response to being attacked by Glenn Beck. (Washington Post)
• China Issues Warning on Climate and Growth (NY Times):
  BEIJING — China’s environment minister on Monday issued an unusually stark warning about the effects of unbridled development on the country’s air, water and soil, saying the nation’s current path could stifle long-term economic growth and feed social instability.
  …
  Ignoring such risks, Mr. Zhou said, would be perilous.

  “In China’s thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humankind and nature has never been as serious as it is today,” he wrote. “The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the worsening ecological environment have become bottlenecks and grave impediments to the nation’s economic and social development.”