‘Green News Report’ – November 15, 2012

TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport
FACEBOOK: Green News Report
VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio!

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Some justice in the Gulf: Record fines for BP in Gulf Oil Spill disaster; October 2012 the 2nd hottest on record; CA launches landmark cap-and-trade system; PLUS: The Superstorm Sandy Effect: Obama says it’s time to tackle climate change — sort of … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Refineries ran while ‘offline,’ yet gas prices rose; British government files charges against nuclear waste plant owners; Scientists show changing wind patterns are key driver of Antarctica’s growing sea ice; EU climate head wants Obama to pull his weight in global warming talks… PLUS: Energy Independence: In Germany, everyone can be an energy producer … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Record Settlement in BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf:
• BP Plc will pay $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill ever. (Reuters)
• BP Returns to Profitability and Plans to Raise Its Dividend (NY Times)
• BP Oil-Spill Fine So Horrible, BP’s Stock Price Only Rises 1% (Huffington Post Green) [emphasis added]:
  Warning: You may hear a faint, unidentified cracking sound later today. Don’t be alarmed: It will simply be the U.S. Justice Department’s mighty slap across BP’s wrist.
• Is the BP Criminal Settlement Enough? (Mother Jones)
• In last 3 mths, BP made over $5B profit (Think Progress)
• Attorney for charged BP employee: “This is not justice” (Huffington Post)
• Long-term effects of Gulf oil spill on shrimp, other species is still unknown (NOLA.com)
• President Obama: Time To Tackle Climate Change (Sorta)
• Obama sees second-term focus on climate change (Reuters)
• The White House really tried to downplay action on climate change again today. (Think Progress)
• VIDEO: Pres. Obama Promises to Address Climate Change in 2nd Term (C-SPAN):



• Full Transcipt: President Obama’s news conference in the East Room of the White House on Nov. 14, 2012 (Washington Post):
  I am a firm believer that climate change is real. That it is impacted by human behavior, and carbon emissions. And as a consequence, I think we’ve got an obligation to future generations to do something about it.
  …
  [W]e haven’t done as much as we need to. So, what I’m going to be doing over the next several weeks — next several months is having a conversation, a wide-ranging conversation with scientists, engineers, and elected officials to find out what can — what more can we do to make short-term progress in reducing carbons, and then, you know, working through an education process that I think is necessary — a discussion, a conversation across the country about, you know, what realistically can we do long term to make sure that this is not something we’re passing on to future generations that’s going to be very expensive and very painful to deal with.
  …
  This one’s hard. But it’s important because, you know, one of the things that we don’t always factor in are the costs involved in these natural disasters. We just put them off as — as something that’s unconnected to our behavior right now. And I think what — based on the evidence we’re seeing is that what we do now is gonna have an impact and a cost down the road if — if we don’t do something about it.
• President Obama on climate change: We’ll see (Grist)
• OP-ED, NY Gov. Andrew Cumo: We will lead on climate change (NY Daily News)
• Polls: Majority in US Believe Climate Change Is a Problem:
• Rasmussen Poll: 68 Percent Of American Voters See Global Warming As A ‘Serious Problem’ (Climate Progress)
• 77% of Americans Think Fighting Climate Change Should be a Priority (Treehugger)
• Yale Poll: ‘Large And Growing Majority Of Americans’ Say ‘Global Warming Is Affecting Weather In The United States’ (Climate Progress)
• Poll: Americans’ Understanding of Climate Change Increasing With More Extreme Weather, Warmer Temperatures (Climate Progress)
• Poll: Give The Voters What They Overwhelmingly Support: Policies To Promote Clean Energy (Climate Progress)
• Poll: Independent Voters Favor Renewable Energy Over Keystone XL Pipeline By 4-1 Margin (Climate Progress)
• It’s Official: October 2012 2nd (or 5th) Warmest on Record:
• October 2012: Earth’s 5th warmest October on record (Weather Underground):
  October 2012 was the globe’s 5th warmest October on record, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) today. NASA rated October 2012 the 2nd warmest October on record.
• October 2012 Global Weather Extremes Summary (Weather Underground)
• CA Launches Landmark Statewide Cap-And-Trade System:
• California’s Cap-And-Trade System Goes Into Effect Amidst Lawsuit (AP)
• As U.S. hesitates, California pours billions into green energy (Reuters):
  California voters last week directed some $2.5 billion to energy conservation programs with the approval of Proposition 39, which closes a corporate tax loophole, allocates about half of the new revenue to environmental goals for five years, and which passed with more than 60 percent of the vote.
• CA’s Cap-And-Trade System To Launch With First Pollution Permits Auction (AP):
  California’s largest greenhouse gas emitters will begin buying permits in a landmark “cap-and-trade” system designed to control emissions of heat-trapping gases and to spur investment in clean technologies.
• CA Chamber of Commerce sues to stop state’s auction of carbon credits (Sacramento Business Journal)

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

• Refineries ran while ‘offline,’ yet gas prices rose, report says (Seattle Times):
  “It certainly does not prove collusion among the principal suppliers, since specific data by refineries is difficult to procure,” McCullough’s report said. “However, the data does suggest the need for an investigation on a refinery-by-refinery level.”
• British government files charges against nuclear waste plant owners (Reuters)
• Scientists show changing wind patterns are key driver of Antarctica’s growing sea ice (Climate Central)
• EU climate head wants Obama to pull his weight in global warming talks (Washington Post)
• House GOP leaders pledge to oppose climate change ‘tax’ (The Hill)
• CDC Warns About Rampant, Dangerous Use of Antibiotics on Livestock (Grist)
• Peanut butter tested postiive for Salmonella, but shipped anyway
• Patriot Coal to phase out mountaintop removal (Yale 360)
• ExxonMobil would like a carbon tax. Barack Obama would not. (Grist)
• Nanoparticles pose greater danger to small animals than previously thought, water flea study suggests (Science Daily)
• OP-ED: Time to Clean the Air (Houston Chronicle)
• In Germany, Everyone Can Be an Energy Producer (Grist)
• 2028: The End of the World As We Know It?: Bill McKibben’s ‘Do the Math’ tour is a call to arms on climate change. (Take Part)

• Skeptical Science: Get the FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Arguments
• Report: Humans near tipping point that could dramatically change Earth (CS Monitor):
  Human activity is affecting Earth in many ways, but a new study suggests that continued population growth and its impact on climate and ecology could trigger a more profound chain reaction of effects within little more than a decade.
• VIDEO: James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (TED Talks):
  Top climate scientist James Hansen tells the story of his involvement in the science of and debate over global climate change. In doing so he outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried about the future.
• VIDEO ANIMATION: Time history of atmospheric CO2 (NOAA Carbon Tracker YouTube channel):
• VIDEO: Animation Charts Modern Global Warming (NYT Green)
• Thinking Big: NREL Study Shows 80 Percent Renewables Possible By 2050 (Climate Progress)
• Must-Read: Economist William Nordhaus Slams Global Warming Deniers, Explains Cost of Delay is $4 Trillion (Climate Progress):
  Nordhaus’s blunt piece – “Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong” – is worth reading because he is no climate hawk.
  …
  “The skeptics’ summary is based on poor analysis and on an incorrect reading of the results.”
• Part 1: The brutal logic of climate change (David Roberts, Grist) [emphasis added]:
  It’s simple: If there is to be any hope of avoiding civilization-threatening climate disruption, the U.S. and other nations must act immediately and aggressively on an unprecedented scale. That means moving to emergency footing. War footing. “Hitler is on the march and our survival is at stake” footing. That simply won’t be possible unless a critical mass of people are on board. It’s not the kind of thing you can sneak in incrementally.

  It is unpleasant to talk like this. People don’t want to hear it.

• Part 2: The brutal logic of climate change mitigation (David Roberts, Grist)
• How to Buy Time in the Fight against Climate Change: Mobilize to Stop Soot and Methane: A short list of relatively simple actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases other than CO2 could help put the brakes on global warming–if implemented globally (Scientific American)
• Climate Scientists Rebuke Rupert Murdoch: WSJ Denier Op-Ed Like ‘Dentists Practicing Cardiology’ (Think Progress Green)
• Saudi Oil Minister Calls Global Warming “Humanity’s Most Pressing Concern” (Climate Progress):
  “We know that pumping oil out of the ground does not create many jobs. It does not foster an entrepreneurial spirit, nor does it sharpen critical faculties.”
• VIDEO: Behold: The World’s First 24/7 Solar Plant is Up and Running (Treehugger)
• World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns: If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed, the world will ‘lose for ever’ the chance to avoid dangerous climate change (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:
  The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be “lost for ever”, according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
  …
  “The door is closing,” Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. “I am very worried – if we don’t change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.”
• Concise Overview: The IPCC report on extreme climate and weather events (Real Climate)
• READ the IPCC Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• The Real Global Warming Signal (Tamino)
• No, global warming hasn’t stopped (New Scientist)
• Top UN Climate Official Blasts U.S. Climate Policy: Americans Must Realize “This Is Their Future They’re Compromising” (Think Progress Green)
• VIDEO: Climate Scientists Michael Mann on “A Look Into Our Climate: Past To Present To Future” (TEDx, YouTube)
• Earth’s Plant Growth Fell Because of Climate Change, Study Finds (NYT Green)
• Heads in the Sand: Warning: “Climate change is occurring … and poses significant risks to humans and the environment,” reports the National Academy of Sciences. As climate-change science moves in one direction, Republicans in Congress are moving in another. Why?
  (National Journal) [emphasis added]:
  Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, says there’s no question that the influence of his group and others like it has been instrumental in the rise of Republican candidates who question or deny climate science. “If you look at where the situation was three years ago and where it is today, there’s been a dramatic turnaround. Most of these candidates have figured out that the science has become political,” he said.
  …
  Groups like Americans for Prosperity have done it.“