IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Here we go again: another oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound; Mercury rising --- in Americans; Senate Democrats get squishy on climate and clean energy legislation ... PLUS: What really happened in Copenhagen? ... 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': Famous California alpine lakes warmer faster than surrounding region; First case of highly drug-resistant TB found in US; The Rise of Super Bacteria: Disinfectants Cause Some Bacteria to Adapt, Thrive; Oklahoma Company Recalls 248,000 Pounds of Beef; More than 125 whales die in New Zealand strandings... PLUS: Really? Carbon Dioxide Gift Certificates?....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Not a happy anniversary for a Tennessee town; Carping on invasive species in the Great Lakes; Oopsies for PA Childhood Lead Prevention Center ... PLUS: Have a Greener Christmas! ... 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': UN Climate Chief urges avoiding blame over summit; China says "development right" key in climate talks; Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced $1 billion to stop deforestation around the world; New EPA shipping rule may exempt older vessels; Delay in tax extenders could hinder investment in biofuels, energy sector; IBM forecasts the next 5 big ideas for the next 5 years; New WaPo/ABC poll shows political polarization on environmental science; NOAA Warns El Nino changes in Pacific getting stronger....

PLUS: 5 Radical Green Actions That Could Get You Arrested and 5 Alternatives That Won't: Drastic times call for drastic measures ....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Copenhagen Wrap-up: After high stakes diplomacy and high comedy, the U.N. conference ends with something resembling an agreement --- but is the glass half-full, or half-empty? ... PLUS: Was she lying then, or is she lying now? Sarah Palin was for action on climate change before she was against it ... 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': In Industrial Thailand, Health and Business Concerns Collide; NASA satellites show California's water problems worse than previously thought; Toxic legacy: public schools built on contaminated land; NASA, Google offer more precise emissions tracking; Acid oceans: the 'evil twin' of climate change; Climate activist youth groups: ‘There will be no decisions about us, without us’ .... PLUS: CBO Stunner: Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act cuts the deficit ...

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

[ADDITIONAL BREAKING UPDATES NOW ADDED BELOW...]

Guest blogged by Desi Doyen

As we noted in yesterday's Green News Report, President Obama is in Copenhagen today at the U.N. climate summit, in an attempt to broker a deal at the historic conference which has been stalled in efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

It appears his efforts have paid off: MSNBC is reporting that a U.S. official says Obama has brokered a "meaningful agreement" agreement with China, India, and South Africa to move the talks forward.

The talks have been deadlocked over emissions targets, and how reductions will be verified, with China balking at allowing international audits of progress. Obama was originally scheduled to return to the U.S. today after his speech, but canceled his trip in order to enter into intensive high-level negotiations with other world leaders.

LIVE UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING STORY FOLLOW BELOW...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: COP15 Cop-out? Copenhagen climate talks stalled in the last days --- or are they? Our special coverage continues... PLUS: Are they fake or real? Christmas trees, that is, and which are greener? ... 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': NASA: California’s water woes worsen; Quake threat leads Swiss to close geothermal project; U.K.'s celebrity climate change denier Lord Monckton "Makes Mischief"; Contaminated drinking water, the dark side of the natural gas boom; Paper battery shows promise for grid, vehicle energy storage; Is 'malicious bullshitting' the key to global warming denialism?; Solar energy for no money down!; Alaskan lawmakers seek PR firm to fight endangered species listings ... PLUS: Decades later, PA town still burns from coal fire underground....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

Must read from Eugene Robinson at WaPo. "Palin's own 'Climate-gate'". Starts this way:

There's more, so please read the rest. So was Palin lying then about global warming? Or is she lying now?

And does it even matter to those who have become so professional at justifying and rationalizing such obvious and overt lies and statements of blatant absurdity that all relationship with Reality has become little more than a quaint memory of days long gone by? Before the madness and derangement had permanently set in...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Our special coverage of the historic U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen continues; AP finds 'no fraud' in stolen climate science emails; New poll finds majority of Americans want a climate treaty ... PLUS: Teabaggers in Copenhagen get a taste of their own tea! ... 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': Solar-powered plane has successful test flight; Washington Post Op-Ed editor defends Palin denier column; Climate scientists debunk WSJ “Stalinist” screed; China races ahead of U.S. in green energy; Home weatherization industry one of few primed for expansion; World Bank to fund solar projects in Middle East and North Africa; Plans for new U.S. nuclear plant withdrawn after losing bid for taxpayer loans; Mining company pays record $1.79 billion to clean up hazardous waste across U.S.... PLUS: Top Ten clean technology predictions for 2010....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

From AP today:

Multitudes of climate science denialists have inundated The BRAD BLOG over the past several weeks with comments alleging that the stolen e-mails, offer "proof" that global warming is a "hoax" or the decades of science behind it is a "sham."

Despite repeated and open-minded requests for links to any actual email --- out of more than 1,000 stolen and posted --- demonstrating evidence of such a "hoax" or that the science behind global warming has now been revealed as incorrect, as many claimed, so far none of those denialists have been able to produce a single such a link.

Presumably they found what AP did: that despite cynical disinformation to the contrary from manipulative corporate operatives and stooges in the wingnut media hoping to play the disaffected rightwing rank and file as suckers (yet again), no such email or evidence actually exists. In short --- as with the ACORN nonsense, as with the WMD scam, as with the CIA leak case, etc. --- the tea baggers have been had, and played as useful fools and tools for rightwing corporatists who couldn't give less of a damn about them, other than where they can trick them into serving as their own unpaid PR disinformation squad.

ADDENDUM 12/13/09: And, in a related toon...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Obama's Nobel 'green' Prize?; Climate talks --- and protests --- continue in Copenhagen... PLUS: What should we call the decade of the 2000s? How about "The Hottest in Recorded History"?!... 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': Despite a decade of record drought, Australian farmers refuse to buy into climate change; U.S. business community reacts to EPA 'endangerment finding'; New policy on lobbyists could spur shake-up for EPA Advisory Panel; Senate panel opens door to carbon tax, sector-specific GHG limits; Right-wing billionaire funding SwiftBoat campaign against global warming science; Solar Eyesore? The fight between homeowners and homeowners associations over solar panels ... PLUS: Marines take portable solar power to the front lines ....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

David Kurtz at TPM avers "It never stops":

And, guess what? If you think that's bad, just wait until we get to Climate Legislation proper, where the Petroleum Industry, some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the history of civilization --- in no small part, thanks to enormous federal subsidies --- have a direct financial stake in the outcome.

(Yes, the world's most profitable corporations benefit mightily from U.S. government welfare, your tax-payer dollars, to the tune of some $72 billion over the last seven years in permanent subsidies. See the handy chart below the fold to see how those subsidies stack up against other energy industries, such as renewables. Never mind the worldwide recession. Exxon Mobil profited more than $45 billion last year, Chevron $23 billion, and the federal subsidies keep coming nonetheless, even as their stooges in the Tea Party denialist "ClimateGater" crowds have been duped into mindlessly continuing their dirty work for them.)

The Oil and Coal (Fossil Fuel) Industries have played no small part in ginning up the tea bagging fight against health care reform if only because it further serves to stall Climate Legislation.

It's horrible, an abrogation of what the Founding Fathers likely had in mind (nowhere, to my knowledge, does the support for unbridled corporate spending as "free speech" come into play in the Constitution at last read) and yet all signs suggest it's only going to get far worse before it gets any better --- if it ever does.

See the chart below to understand how the federal welfare queens from Exxon Mobil and Chevron et al. make out, thanks to your hard-earned tax dollars, and keep it in mind every time you hear yet another global warming denialist out there --- and even here in comments at The BRAD BLOG --- hoping to punk the world for more such free money and endless, record corporate profits...

[Now updated at end of article.]

Notice anything wrong with these Fox "News" reported poll numbers?

That's right, according to Fox, 120 percent of Americans have an opinion on global warming issues in the wake of stolen emails from climate scientists, and 94 percent of them believe it's at least "somewhat likely" that those scientists falsified research while 26 percent feel otherwise. That's tea bag math for ya.

Simon Malloy at Media Matters offers his best guess on how Fox "News" came up with their falsified numbers, though it's also worth noting that out of 120 percent or more of Fox "News" viewers, not a single one of them has so far been able to identify, at least to us, a single stolen email that demonstrates the science of global warming is in any way inaccurate...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: 'Copenhagen' begins, and the stakes are high as nations of the world meet to address global climate change ... PLUS: More hot air over hacked & stolen emails from climate scientists ... 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': EPA finalizes 'endangerment finding,' greenhouse gas ruling 'sends message to world'; Refinery accidents release of toxic chemicals into water; Health problems follow air pollution; Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show; EPA to review wastewater regulations for coal power plants; One of last old-growth forests in Europe is threatened by logging; Scientists: The last time carbon dioxide levels were this high was 15 million years ago; What’s all the Dam fuss about? Army Corps plays with Willamette water flows... PLUS: Decade of 2000s was warmest ever, scientists say ....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

"Biased thermometers" are to blame for scientific data documenting a precipitous rise in global temperatures, according to Marc Morano.

Morano was Rush Limbaugh's former producer and a columnist at the rightwing "news" site, Cybercast News Service, before becoming denialist-extraordinaire Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)'s top aide on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works. In 2003, Inhofe described global warming as "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people," a statement which he stills stands by today.

Morano now runs the climate denialist website ClimateDepot.com and is, essentially, the very heart of the entire climate change denialist echosphere.

On CNN on Thursday, he debated with James Balog, photographer and former "climate change skeptic" with a degree in geomorphology....

From AP last night:

The story goes on to list a few of the efforts from governments around the world taking measures to deal with climate change issues already affecting the citizenry, such as:

Other than that, all is well and global warming has finally been exposed as a "hoax" --- cuz, gosh darn it, those emails say something or other that proves it conclusively! Also, ACORN commits voter fraud, and Iraq had WMD. Oh, and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Andy Breitbart and Matt Drudge also asked me to mention: "There's nothing to see here, and these aren't the droids you're looking for."