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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: EPA study confirms fracking contaminates drinking water; Norway divests from coal; Santa Barbara oil spill pipeline was badly corroded; May 2015 was the wettest month ever on record in the U.S; PLUS: Republican Senator and presidential candidate Lindsey Graham smacks Republicans on climate science denial... 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): NOAA Study Confirms Global Warming Speed-Up Is Imminent; Santorum: I’m More Qualified Than Pope Francis To Talk About Climate Change Because I’m A Politician; Report: Warming Water In LI Sound Altering Fish Populations; In Tampa Bay, Rare Environmental Win Measured in Seagrass; Nearly 60 Percent of Kentucky’s Coal Plants May Be Gone by 2040... PLUS: Keystone Protesters Tracked at Border After FBI Spied on 'Extremists'... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• EPA Study Confirms Fracking Contaminates Water, But Not "Widespread":
• AUDIO: EPA's Fracked Up New Study, 'BradCast' 6/4/2015 (The Brad Blog)
• Fracking Not a 'Widespread Risk' To Drinking Water: U.S. EPA (Reuters)
• VIDEO: Watch Fox's Varney Kick Off His Guest For Telling The Truth About Fracking - Gasland's Josh Fox: "Why Would You Not Frack On Your Own Property And Then Prescribe It For Other People In America?" (Media Matters)
• UPDATED: Newsweek, Wash. Times Publish False Headlines About EPA Fracking Study (Media Matters)
• EPA study: No evidence fracking has caused "widespread" impacts on drinking water (Fuel Fix) [emphasis added]:
  
  But its scope has been criticized by hydraulic fracturing skeptics, who say the agency was forced to analyze data without forward-looking studies that include tests of wells both before and after hydraulic fracturing operations to determine baseline conditions and document changes. In its draft, the EPA itself acknowledged that its findings could be affected by "insufficient pre- and post-fracturing data on the quality of drinking water resources."
• Santa Barbara Co. Oil Spill: Pipeline Was Badly Corroded:
• California Oil Spill Pipeline Had Been Left To Rust Paper-Thin (AP):
  
  An oil pipeline that ruptured and spilled an estimated 383,000 litres (101,000 gallons) of crude near Santa Barbara in May had been allowed to corrode to a tiny fraction of its original thickness, federal regulators have said.
• Photos of Ruptured Pipeline Finally Released: Images Show Where the Rusty Equipment Broke (Santa Barbara Independent):
  
  Last week, every Santa Barbara resident received a postcard from Plains All American Pipeline CEO Greg L. Armstrong expressing his regrets at the “accidental release” of oil off the coast of Refugio two weeks ago. Since then, the oil spill has dominated any news coverage emanating out of Santa Barbara County and has become the focus of intense discussion among political-activist classes and elected officials.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham Smacks Climate-Change Denying Republican Party:
• VIDEO: Lindsey Graham's GOP tent is big enough for Caitlyn Jenner (CNN)
• Lindsey Graham Calls Out Fellow Republican Candidates Over Climate Change Views (Climate Progress):
  
  “If I’m president of the United States, we’re going to address climate change, CO2 emissions in a business-friendly way,” Graham said during the interview, noting that he does “believe that climate change is real.”
• Meet The Only Prominent GOP Presidential Candidate Who Accepts Climate Science (Climate Progress)
• Lindsey Graham is the best GOP contender on climate change. That isn't saying much. (Salon)
• VIDEO: Santorum: 'There Is No Such Thing As Global Warming' (Forecast the Facts)
• Norway Divests From Coal:
• Norway Will Divest From Coal in Push Against Climate Change (NY Times)
• Norway's plan to divest massive $900B fund from coal could hit U.S. companies (E&E News)
• Norway Divests From Coal (NY Times op/ed):
  
  Coal may be a worse offender on the climate change front, and the Norwegian legislators may truly have the planet’s best interests at heart, but it is hard to avoid the perception of hypocrisy in Norway’s selective combat against carbon emitters.
• May 2015: Wettest Month for US Ever Recorded:
• The U.S. Got More Rain This May Than Any Other Month On Record (Climte Progress):
  
  Fifteen states saw precipitation that was “much above average” in May, and Oklahoma and Texas experienced their wettest month on record, with precipitation levels “more than twice the long-term average,” according to NOAA.
• Wet Spring Reduces Wildfire Risk in Most of US for June (AP):
  
  An unusually wet May reduced the likelihood of wildfires during June over much of the nation, but the danger will increase from July through September, the National Interagency Fire Center said in its latest outlook report.

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

• NOAA Study Confirms Global Warming Speed-Up Is Imminent (Climate Progress) [emphasis added]:
  
  [M]any recent studies have found that we are about to enter an era of even more rapid global warming...[O]ne March study, “Near-term acceleration in the rate of temperature change,” warns the speed-up is imminent — with Arctic warming rising a stunning 1°F per decade by the 2020s.
• Santorum: I’m More Qualified Than Pope Francis To Talk About Climate Change Because I’m A Politician (Climate Progress):
  
  “If he’s not a scientist — and in fact, he does have a degree in chemistry — neither are you?” host Chris Wallace asked Santorum Sunday. “So, I guess the question would be, if he shouldn’t talk about it, should you?”
• Big Oil Companies Want a Price on Carbon. Here's Why. (National Journal) [emphasis added]:
  
  Their effort reflects a strategic calculation for the companies that by engaging on the topic, they can help shape climate policies to benefit natural gas, which produces about half the carbon emissions of coal when burned to create electricity. Wider use of carbon pricing worldwide, depending on how stringent the policies, could benefit companies that produce gas and ship it around the globe in liquefied form..
• Report: Warming Water In LI Sound Altering Fish Populations (AP):
  
  Fish such as black seabass and summer flounder that prefer warm water are appearing more frequently in Long Island Sound because of climate change, according to a report released Monday on the health of the sound.
• In Tampa Bay, Rare Environmental Win Measured in Seagrass (Reuters):
  
  When Tampa Bay was grappling with repeated fish kills and murky waters two decades ago, the scientists who set out to restore its health by bringing back once-bountiful underwater grasses were doubtful it could be done in their lifetimes.
• US Says Enbridge To Pay $4 Million, Restore Area Hit By 2010 Oil Spill (Reuters):
  
  The United States on Monday filed a proposed settlement requiring Enbridge Inc to complete natural resource restoration projects and pay about $4 million following its 2010 oil pipeline spill in Michigan, the Justice Department said.
• Nearly 60 Percent of Kentucky’s Coal Plants May Be Gone by 2040 (WFPL):
  
  In 25 years, Kentucky’s energy landscape will look dramatically different than it does now. As Energy and Environment Secretary Len Peters told a legislative committee last week, Kentucky is already facing the loss of the majority of its coal fleet over the next 25 years, and that’s without the EPA’s upcoming greenhouse gas regulations.
• Keystone Protesters Tracked at Border After FBI Spied on 'Extremists' (Guardian UK):
  
  An activist was placed on a US government watchlist for domestic flights after being swept up in an FBI investigation into protests of the Keystone XL pipeline, linking a breach of intelligence protocol with accounts of continued tracking that environmentalists fear could follow them for life.
• Maryland's Republican governor just let a fracking moratorium become law (Grist):
  
  The law's backers in the General Assembly, some of whom pushed for a longer, eight-year moratorium, said the the state will now have time to gather more information about fracking's impacts.
• Coal Industry Fighting for Survival on 7 Fronts (InsideClimate News):
  
  The 'war on coal' started long before Obama took office to control the costly and deadly health impacts of an otherwise cheap and abundant fuel.
• Now's Your Chance to Help Save the Imperiled Monarch Butterfly-and Get Paid to Do So (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
  
  Another threat, according to Grant, has been well-intentioned individuals who have planted a tropical form of milkweed, which competes with native varieties and is not beneficial to monarchs or other pollinators.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a 'Hoax'!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).

                 

Article Categories: California, Environment, Republicans, Green News, Lindsey Graham, EPA, Fracking, Coal, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Election 2016