With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 9/1/2015, 11:23am PT  


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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: President Obama makes powerful case for climate action on the edge of the melting Arctic; 2015 hurricane season enters weird, record-breaking territory; Huge news for electric cars; PLUS: Rightwingers apoplectic over renaming of nation's tallest mountain... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): VIDEO: Rick Santorum Demonstrates the Technique of Fake Science; Behind Tianjin Blasts, Flouted Regulations and Corruption; UN Climate Talks: the Sticking Points; U.N. Climate Talks Begin Divided, But With Hope for Paris Accord; Massive Cleanup Plan Emerging For U.S. Steel Site in Duluth; Japan Nuclear Power Outlook Bleak Despite First Reactor Restart... PLUS: Docs: Koch Industries Backed Effort to Undermine Renewable Energy in KS... and much, MUCH more! ...

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



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

  • VIDEO: Rick Santorum Demonstrates the Technique of Fake Science (Climate Crocks):
    I think this is important. The other night, we had yet another demonstration of how things go wrong when one of our major political parties decides that they no longer believe in the scientific method. Rick Santorum, former Senator and current Presidential candidate in the US, appeared on the Bill Maher program.
  • Behind Tianjin Blasts, Flouted Regulations and Corruption (NY Times):
    One partner was the son of a local police chief, the other an executive at a state-run chemicals firm. After meeting at a dinner party, they started a company here to handle the export of the most dangerous chemicals made in China, promising 'outstanding service' and 'good results.
  • UN Climate Talks: the Sticking Points (AFP):
    The 195-nation UN climate talks resume Monday when rank-and-file diplomats gather in Bonn to lay the foundation for a global climate pact to be inked in December.
  • Massive Cleanup Plan Emerging For U.S. Steel Site in Duluth (Duluth News Tribune):
    After years of neglect, the site of the long-closed U.S. Steel Duluth Works may be be on the verge of revitalization.
  • U.N. Climate Talks Begin Divided, But With Hope for Paris Accord (Reuters):
    Chances that governments will work out a U.N. accord to combat climate change in December seem brighter than in the run-up to a failed attempt in 2009, experts said as delegates from almost 200 nations met on Monday, hoping to bridge deep divisions.
  • Japan Nuclear Power Outlook Bleak Despite First Reactor Restart (Reuters):
    The number of Japanese nuclear reactors likely to restart in the next few years has halved, hit by legal challenges and worries about meeting tougher safety standards imposed in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a Reuters analysis shows.
  • Docs: Koch Industries Backed Effort to Undermine Renewable Energy in KS (The Intercept):
    Emails and financial documents released by the University of Kansas on Thursday reveal earmarked funding from Koch Industries to develop research used to lobby against the state renewable energy standard.
  • Records Detail Equipment Failure on Arctic Drilling Rig (Fuel Fix):
    Newly released documents reveal the extent of problems with anti-pollution equipment on a Shell-contracted Arctic drillship earlier this year.
  • Rare Brain Disease Is Caused by Cousin of Mad Cow Agent, Study Finds (NBC News):
    A rare, incurable brain disorder that resembles Parkinson's disease is caused by a misfolded brain protein called a prion, similar to the prions that cause mad cow disease, researchers reported on Monday.
  • Latvia, Greece Win Opt-Out From Monsanto GM Crop (Reuters):
    Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia's and Greece's requests under a new EU opt-out law to be excluded from its application to grow a genetically modified (GM) crop across the European Union, but accused them of ignoring science.
  • Bernie Sanders: 'Environmentalists Deserve A Debate' (Climate Progress):
    "I think environmentalists deserve a debate so we could talk about how we move aggressively to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel," Sanders said on CNN's State of the Union.
  • Rising Sea Levels More Dangerous Than Thought (Scientific American):
    Consequences of global sea level rise could be even scarier than the worst-case scenarios predicted by the dominant climate models
  • Climate wonks focus on economics. They need to pay more attention to politics (Vox.com) [emphasis added]:
    The headline findings are twofold. First, "Citi's 'Action' scenario implies a total spend on energy of $190.2 trillion while our 'Inaction' scenario is actually marginally larger at $192 trillion." In other words, the total energy investment necessary is slightly lower in the low-carbon scenario....The clean path requires roughly the same total spending on energy as the status quo path....After reviewing the evidence, the report says this: "Given that all things being equal cleaner air has to be preferable to pollution, a very strong 'Why would you not?' argument begins to develop."
  • Monarch Butterflies Face Pesticides in U.S., Illegal Logging in Mexico (Washington Post):
    Illegal logging on a key sanctuary in Mexico threatens monarch butterflies already decimated by herbicides sprayed on milkweed in the U.S.
  • Ex Machina: No Techno-Fix For Irreversible Ocean Collapse From Carbon Pollution (Climate Progress):
    The Nature Climate Change study examined what would happen if we continue current CO2 emissions trends through 2050 and then try to remove huge volumes of CO2 from the air after the fact with some techno-fix. The result, as co-author John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, put it, is "we will not be able to preserve ocean life as we know it."
  • Every country is now pledging to tackle CO2 emissions. It's still not enough. (Vox.com):
    In other words, if the world wants to stay below 2°C of global warming - which has long been considered the danger zone for climate change - these pledges are only a first step. Countries will have to do a whole lot more than they're currently promising. And the IEA has a few ideas for what "do a whole lot more" might entail.
    ...
    1. Increase energy efficiency in the industry, buildings, and transport sectors.
    2. Progressively reduce the use of the least efficient coal-fired power plants and banning their construction.
    3. Increase investment in renewable energy technologies in the power sector from $270 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2030.
    4. Gradually phase out fossil fuel subsidies to end-users by 2030.
    5. Reduce methane emissions in oil and gas production.
  • 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

  • Skeptical Science: Database with FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Myths
  • 4 Scenarios Show What Climate Change Will Do To The Earth, From Pretty Bad To Disaster (Fast CoExist):
    But exactly how bad is still an open question, and a lot depends not only on how we react, but how quickly. The rate at which humans cut down on greenhouse gas emissions--if we do choose to cut them--will have a large bearing on how the world turns out by 2100, the forecasts reveal.
  • How to Solve Global Warming: It's the Energy Supply (Scientific American):
    Restraining global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius will require changing how the world produces and uses energy to power its cities and factories, heats and cools buildings, as well as moves people and goods in airplanes, trains, cars, ships and trucks, according to the IPCC. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people's behavior.
  • Warning: Even in the best-case scenario, climate change will kick our asses (Grist)
  • NASA Video: Warming over the last 130 years, and into the next 100 years:
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