‘Green News Report’ – April 14, 2011

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: California doubles down on clean energy; Obama vows to continue the fight as well in budget speech … PLUS: Renewables vs. Nukes: More jobs in renewables, so why hasn’t the President mentioned that? … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Should kids be exposed to more or less toxic pollution?’ Loss of penguins tied to loss of krill; Shooting badgers to be legal under plans for ‘big society cull’; BP executives brace for a stormy shareholders’ meeting; Times Square air cleaner now that cars are gone; Iowa’s topsoil washing away; Australia: Energy giants face new tax bill; Brazil ethanol prices surge 65% in one month; Mother Earth to be given rights equal to humans; Study: Algae Could Replace 17% of U.S. Oil Imports; MN to pass law banning undercover farm videos; Studies begin to reveal effects of Gulf Oil Spill; Coal co. agrees to install pollution controls; Meet the Gulf ‘Spillionaires’ … PLUS: Surprise!: Leaked talking points show oil companies don’t give a frack about the truth ….

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

• Obama Vows Investment in Clean Energy v. GOP Cuts:
• WATCH: The Country We Believe In: President Obama’s Remarks on the 2011 Budget (with transcript) (Truthout.org):
  But the way [the Republicans’] plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we’ve known throughout most of our history.

  A 70% cut to clean energy. A 25% cut in education. A 30% cut in transportation. Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year. That’s what they’re proposing. These aren’t the kind of cuts you make when you’re trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings in the budget. These aren’t the kind of cuts that Republicans and Democrats on the Fiscal Commission proposed. These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can’t afford the America we believe in. And they paint a vision of our future that’s deeply pessimistic.
  …
  Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can’t afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can’t afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy.

• Obama seeks $4 trillion cut to deficit, higher taxes for rich (Boston Globe):
• Obama calls for more energy investments while proposing to cut deficit $4 trillion(Climate Progress)
• Cuts to DOE Loan Program Could Set Back U.S. Solar Industry: Industry executives say that several planned solar plants would be canceled if House Republicans succeed in eliminating key DOE loan guarantee programs (SolveClimate.com)
• Tough green questions on Obama’s record (Climate Progress)
• Budget Cuts Mean 18-Month Gap in Crucial Weather Data, Says NOAA
• The budget deal slows innovation and slashes rail, green jobs, and cleanup programs (Grist)
• Federal Green Energy Loan Program Lives On: A DOE program to support clean energy technologies was spared the Congressional budget ax this week, while EPA’s funds were cut 16 percent (SolveClimate.com)
• Energy Options and Polarized Politics (NYT Dot Earth)
• Krugman: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Weighs In (NY Times)
• Christopher Hitchens: ‘America has become sour, nasty and boring’: Christopher Hitchens, the provocative British author who lives in the United States, has criticised his adopted country’s current political mood. (Telegraph UK)
• California Doubles Down on Clean Energy with Nation’s Highest Renewable Energy Standard
• Gov. Brown signs law requiring 33% of energy be renewable by 2020 (LA Times):
  The California law increases a previous mandate of 20% renewable energy. U.S. energy secretary calls the law a model for other states, and an industry group says it could create 100,000 jobs.
  …
  The legislation will make it easier for renewable-energy companies to attract investors for green energy firms, said SunPower Chief Executive Thomas Werner. The measure “gives us long-term market visibility,” he said.
• Google Invests $168 Million In World’s Largest Solar Tower Power Plant (Gizmag)
• California’s New Renewable Energy Standard Set at 33% by 2020 (Treehugger)
• Renewable energy: Will new law help or hurt California economy?: Will California’s new energy legislation help or hurt the state’s economy? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Signs of Life in Senate for Obama’s ‘Clean Energy Standard’: Senators go back to square one with a new white paper on how to design a federal clean energy standard that includes nuclear and coal (SolveClimate.com)
• DOE shines $1.2 billion on a new solar plant I(Smart Planet)
• Renewable Energy Standards Across the US: A Survey of States’ Clean Power Commitments (Treehugger)
• Renewables v. Nuclear: Nearly Equal Energy Generators AND 20% More Jobs:
• Obama Team Is Oddly Quiet About Evidence That Renewable Energy Beats Nuclear in Job Creation (Brad Jacobson, Alternet):
  AlterNet has learned that University of Massachusetts researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute — who are also consultants to the Department of Energy — have provided data to the Obama administration that show investment in renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass, would generate far more returns in American jobs than would investment in building new nuclear power plants.

  The Obama administration, however, has steered clear of providing this fact to the American public.

• EIA: Renewable resources delivered 11% of U.S. energy production in 2010, just like nuclear power (Climate Progress)
• 11% of U.S. Energy Production from Renewable Resources in 2010 (Clean Technica)
• ONGOING COVERAGE: Japan’s Ongoing Triple Disaster & Nuclear Nightmare:
• How to Help: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (NY Times)
• UPDATED Coverage of Japan’s Nuclear Disaster at BRAD BLOG.COM (BradBlog.com)
• Updated: Japan’s Nuclear Emergency Explained (Mother Jones)
• Updated Full Coverage: JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS (Kyodo News)
• Updated Full Coverage Page at Reuters (Reuters)
• IAEA Update on Japan Earthquake (International Atomic Energy Agency)
• Facts: Nuclear Power Safety (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: JAPAN’S ONGOING NUCLEAR CRISIS:
• Radiation surges above 4’s fuel pool (Wired Danger Room)
• What Does Fukushima’s New “Level 7” Status Mean? (TIME)
• VOA Correspondent Reaches Crippled Fukushima-1 Nuclear Plant (Voice of America)
• Tepco to Move Fukushima Power Backup to Higher Ground for Safety (BusinessWeek)
• Japan’s Nuclear Crisis Yet to Stabilize, NRC Chairman Says (BusinessWeek)
• Hitachi, GE Submit Proposal to Dismantle Crippled Fukushima Nuclear Plant (Bloomberg)
• Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to seek government approval to start a nuclear reactor shut after a 2007 earthquake to help ease shortages, while the utility battles radiation leaks from its Fukushima Dai-Ichi station. The reactor at Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world’s biggest atomic station, is capable of supplying electricity this year.