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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Coronavirus is officially a pandemic, with uncertain long term impacts for our climate crisis; GM bets big on all-electric vehicles; Honolulu, Hawaii sues the oil industry; PLUS: Coal is no longer king --- renewables now generate more electricity... 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): The climate crisis already disrupting life for millions, WMO finds; Green energy’s $10 trillion revolution faces oil crash test; Electric grid overseer issues warning on coronavirus; Senate energy bill stalled over GOP disagreement on HFC emissions cuts; Polar ice caps melting six times faster than in 1990s; Trump Administration presses cities to evict homeowners from flood zones... PLUS: PanDumbic: Corona response mirrors climate change denial... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Oil stocks tank due to coronavirus and a Saudi Arabian price war; Coronavirus economic disruption could infect banks and communities dependent on fossil fuel jobs; Outdoor air pollution takes three years off human lifespans; PLUS: New York State bans single use plastic bags... 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): Where Biden and Sanders diverge on climate change; The climate movement doesn’t know how to talk with union members about green jobs; 10-month deadline makes Netherlands a ‘test case’ for rapid decarbonization; Paris Agreement requires one coal unit to close every day until 2040; Oil executives tell 2020 Dem candidates that halting fossil fuel production would be 'criminal'; How America's shrinking cities can 'rightsize'; Pro-Trump climate denial group Heartland Institute lays off staff amid financial woes; Your plastic addiction is bankrolling Big Oil... PLUS: Coronavirus could halt the world’s emissions growth. Not that we should feel good about that.... and much, MUCH more! ...

We enjoy a brief pause from our wall-to-wall election coverage of late on today's BradCast (if not entirely) to revisit the ongoing unraveling of the rule of law as we know it at the U.S. Dept. of Justice under Donald Trump's fixer Attorney General Bill Barr. [Audio link to show is posted at end of summary.]

Late on Thursday, a long-time U.S. District Court judge appointed by George W. Bush issued a blistering --- and perhaps unprecedented --- opinion, essentially describing the U.S. Attorney General as a liar. Judge Reggie Walton described Barr's characterization of the Robert Mueller Special Counsel's Report on the investigation into Russia's influence on the 2016 election, as "distorted" and "misleading".

He cited "inconsistencies" between Barr's description of the findings in Mueller's 381-page report before it was released in redacted form last year, versus the often-damning evidence actually revealed by the Special Counsel's probe. Walton declared that Barr's "lack of candor" called into question his "credibility and, in turn, the department's" reasons for redacting portions of the report in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the full, unredacted text of the document.

"The inconsistencies between Attorney General Barr’s statements, made at a time when the public did not have access to the redacted version of the Mueller Report to assess the veracity of his statements, and portions of the redacted version of the Mueller Report that conflict with those statements cause the Court to seriously question whether Attorney General Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary," Walton said.

The unusually blistering opinion by a federal judge of a sitting U.S. Attorney General, challenging the credibility of DoJ prosecutors who, he felt, might be lying about the reasons for redactions in order to protect Barr's earlier false claims (that Mueller found no evidence of collusion and was unable "to establish that the President committed an obstruction of justice offense" --- all lies) is being cited by former prosecutors as "indicative of the fabric of the justice system deteriorating".

Judge Walton has now ordered the DoJ to privately reveal to him what is under the redactions that the government is claiming are related to national security and other lawful exemptions from FOIA requests.

We're joined today by BuzzFeed News investigative journalist JASON LEOPOLD, who filed the FOIA request in question and has now been forced to sue with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) to challenge the validity of the DoJ's redactions. Leopold tells us he's filed "well over 3,500" such requests, having sued the government "70 times" to force them to follow the law, but says he has never seen anything like the response unleashed by Walton (who has presided over other suits brought by Leopold as well.)

In other similar litigation, Leopold explains, judges tend to simply defer to claims by prosecutors. If they say there is good reason to keep the material redacted, judges do not tend to question them. "It's rare, it's very rare that a judge will actually say 'let me take a look at this and make a decision'." But, Leopold tells me, he has noticed Walton increasingly losing patience with the Department in recent months. "He's become very, very frustrated and sees this as politicization...and therefore, he just can't take their word that these redactions are justified and followed the law."

When I ask if Walton's charge that Barr was "lacking in candor" is a polite way for the judge to say he may be lying, Leopold says "not 'may be' lying --- is lying!," according to his reading of the federal jurist's opinion.

"This is a very important opinion," he argues, "because you're going to see this opinion cited in other Freedom of Information Act cases, when they go to court to say that the withholding of records, that there's questions about whether there's politicization behind that, and that Barr is the person who presides over this department and simply doesn't have credibility." Leopold continues: "This doesn't just disappear. It doesn't just go away. This is in the record. This is a case that people can cite. Barr has really damaged the reputation of the Justice Department."

All of which serves as a helpful reminder of the importance of removing this dangerous Administration from office this November, no matter who ends up becoming the Democratic Presidential nominee. On that important point, and on the likelihood of Democrats winning back the Senate this year, we've got some encouraging news today --- presuming voters who oppose Trump can come together.

And, after that, some less encouraging news as we're joined by Desi Doyen for our latest Green News Report...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Australia's record bushfires are out --- finally --- as new study warns they're going to get worse; Climate coverage by corporate news media still falling short; Tropical forests losing the ability to absorb carbon; PLUS: February 2020 was the second hottest February on record... 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): EU commission unveils climate law amid criticism; Backed by industry, five states seek to block natural gas bans; Ash and debris are choking Australia’s rivers; House lawmakers debate regulatory role of federal government in plastics and recycling... PLUS: Renewables, EV tax credits won't be included in Senate energy bill 'unless we have a miracle on the floor'... and much, MUCH more! ...

Okay, I gotta make today's BradCast summary really quick, as polls are closing around the country and people are still fighting like hell to cast their votes out here in California. [Audio link to show follows below.]

With 14 states voting in today's critical Super Tuesday elections, voters were once again prevented or absurdly delayed in their attempts to take part. Of all the states holding elections today (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia) only one --- maybe two --- had a good excuse for the failures.

Tennessee was hit with early morning tornadoes, which resulted in at least 25 dead in or near Nashville, with some 15 polling places knocked out by the storms. Voting continued nonetheless in the Volunteer State, as well as in Alabama, which also saw several twisters just as polls opened Tuesday morning.

But what are the excuses for forcing voters to wait in line for hours in places like Austin and Houston, Texas and up and down the great state of California, where almost 700 delegates in total will be awarded towards the 1,991 needed to win a majority for the Democratic Presidential nomination?

In the dozens and dozens of cases emerging throughout the day --- in L.A. County and at least 15 other California counties, not to mention all over Texas --- as covered on today's program (at least as many of them as we could fit in to a single hour!), it was the failure of computer touchscreen voting systems and electronic pollbook check-in computers. All of which was completely predictable. And we should know, because we've been predicting it for months and much longer, as long time listeners and readers likely know.

We cover a tsunami of such problems across the country today, particularly in California, where Bloomberg News is reporting tonight that L.A. County is admitting some 20% of the the new voting machines deployed for the first time countywide in this election failed to work today. Yes, these are the brand-new, 100% unverifiable, $300,000,000 touchscreen voting systems (which we've very specifically been a lonely voice in warning about for YEARS --- yes, as long ago as 2010, when I was invited to the first development meeting and gave the very same warnings many others are finally offering today. See my 2013 interview with their brainchild, L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan, from back before he decided to no longer answer my questions or appear on the program.)

We also open the phones to callers ringing in with their own various nightmarish experience on L.A. County's new systems and we get an update from the polls in Southern California via KPFK News Director ERNESTO ARCE along with much more infuriating madness on today's program. (Including a smear on Twitter from Logan who called me a liar there last night after I had reported on Sunday that a poll worker at the Hollywood Bowl voting center said he was not allowed to speak to the media and that I had to call a special number to ask questions like "Was it busy today?" "Why was this voting center shutdown for hours yesterday?" "Have many voters been seeing their ballots jammed in the new printers, like that woman?" But, of course, I shared the "receipts" to show who was actually lying.)

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, on billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer quitting the Democratic Primary race, the coronavirus' deadly clearing of China's air, and a sad sign of climate change at Yosemite National Park...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer gets out of 2020 Presidential race; Coronavirus concern slams energy markets and cancels global conferences; China's air pollution dramatically decreases amid coronavirus measures; PLUS: Climate change cancels this year's "Firefall" in Yosemite National Park... 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): Interior Dept. inks deal with water district tied to Interior Sec. Bernhardt; Tornadoes devastate Tennessee, killing at least 19; Green New Deal backers vs. Koch money in Texas; No, Trump, wind turbines are not 'rotting'; Coal miners are being "cheated"; Climate models are running red hot, and scientists don't know why yet; Trump White House rewrote EPA scientists' assessment on toxic chemical, and not in a good way... PLUS: How to prepare for the Coronavirus in the U.S., and why it is your civic duty to get ready... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: CBS News ignores the climate crisis in South Carolina Democratic debate, but candidates don't; JPMorgan economists warn climate change threatens human survival; Colorado River facing 'severe water shortages'; PLUS: Yet another refinery explodes, this time in Southern California... 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): Tribal nation condemns 'desecration' to build border wall; Trump downplays Coronavirus risk; Dismantling Fred Hiatt's pro-oil, anti-Sanders climate op-ed; Climate change is pushing ocean currents poleward; New Interior rule would limit which scientific studies agency can consider; After Trump mocks proposed sea wall in New York, plan is abruptly shelved; Climate change, soaring flood insurance could trigger a mortgage crisis; Uber and Lyft are convenient and highly carbon-intensive ... PLUS: Brazil is cracking down on climate migrants while worsening the climate crisis... and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast: A former insurance exec says Medicare for All is better than even the best union healthcare plans, more problems with L.A. County's new, unverifiable touchscreen voting systems ahead of next Tuesday's Super Tuesday, and Desi Doyen "celebrates" another birthday...

First up, financial markets continued to plummet on Tuesday after a senior official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) --- which Donald Trump has been gutting and/or attempting to gut since taking office --- announced Americans should prepare for the spread of the Coronavirus, declaring "It's not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but ... when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness."

At the same time, with that cheery news, the Democratic Presidential primary campaign moves forward after Bernie Sanders' landslide win at the Nevada Caucuses on Saturday, with many members of the Party establishment concerned about the likelihood of his nomination. One of their concerns is Sanders' decades-long campaign to establish healthcare as a right, not a privilege, in the U.S., as illustrated by his Medicare for All (M4A) proposal. That plan, and its end to private health insurance in the U.S., was the source of concern by leadership of NV's powerful Culinary Union before the caucuses last week. Its members, however, according to Entrance Polling, were strong supporters of Sanders, a longtime champion for the labor movement, on caucus day nonetheless.

At issue with Sanders' (and Elizabeth Warren's) M4A proposal is the fear of the loss of top-flight, hard-earned health care benefits for the Culinary Union workers. The union has negotiated one of the nation's best health care programs, with leadership worried about losing those benefits under M4A. It's a fear shared by many Americans who are nervous about the prospect of losing their existing private health care coverage, while being misinformed about how the program would actually work.

RICHARD "RJ" ESKOW, however, a former insurance executive turned political columnist, policy analyst and host of The Zero Hour, argues this week in an detailed analysis at The Intercept that, while the Culinary Union's plan is top notch, Medicare For All would actually be even better for them in many ways. He joins us today to explain why he finds that not only those union members would be better off under Sanders' plan if passed as currently proposed, but so would all Americans.

Eskow details his analysis of that union's very good health plan --- which, he tells me, "makes it a perfect test case, in a sense, for comparing Medicare For All to the best plans --- and how M4A would still be better. "My hat's off to the Culinary Union and to the workers, who went on strike and fought for years to get this plan, in the current environment we have now. It's just about as good a plan as you're going to see," Eskow says. "It's well ahead of most other plans, private insurance plans, private employer plans, whether they are union or otherwise. It's really one of the best." Nonetheless, he argues, after detailing all of the excellent benefits for those workers, "Medicare For All gives better benefits."

He also goes on to answer many questions that skeptics and/or critics of universal single-payer coverage --- from both the Left and the Right --- likely have.

Also today, we look forward, again, toward the crucial South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary on Saturday and concerns about the state's new, 100% unverifiable touchscreen voting systems that all voters will be forced to use at the polls (despite myriad failed elections on similar equipment made by the same vendor, ES&S, the nation's largest.) And I've got a correction about a point I made on this topic on yesterday's show.

Then, we look again at more failures already revealing themselves here in L.A. County in advance of the March 3rd Super Tuesday Primary --- just three days after South Carolina --- in California and more than a dozen other states. Problems with L.A.'s brand-new, 100% unverifiable, $300,000,000 touchscreen voting systems surfaced over the weekend on the first day of Early Voting last Saturday, when several Voting Centers in the County were unable to open for hours, as equipment problems left workers unable to set up the new, complicated, Internet-connected computer pollbooks and voting systems.

Those problems continued on Monday, as reported by CBS2-LA's David Goldstein last night. He followed up his earlier investigative report on the new systems several weeks ago (in which I was featured) with another report on Monday night, finding Voting Centers still down in some areas, with one poll worker seen examining the system's user manual for clues and another bemoaning the idle voting systems: "They're not working because the router....we're waiting for AT&T to come," she says.

Oh, brother. 1,000 of these new Voting Centers with all new equipment, replacing 5,000 community precincts used for decades in L.A., are all supposed to be up and running by next Tuesday. Though, even if the new VSAP ("Voting Solutions for All People") systems work as designed, the results of next Tuesday's election will still be 100% unverifiable after the polls close.

Finally, Birthday Girl Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, with her usual mix of bad news, very bad news, and some actually good news! It's also her birthday! So, to make up for the fact that she has to work today, all donations to BradBlog.com/Donate are going to her this week! Please consider cheering her up by pitching in!...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Climate change gets a moment at the Nevada Democratic Debate; Natural gas pipeline protesters blockade Canadian rail lines; Climate impact of oil and gas production worse than previously known; PLUS: Big oil company drops Alberta tar sands mine... 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): JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human race; Climate Change Steals Billion Tons Of Water From Colorado River; Anxiety creeps into oil-dependent Alaska as banks step back from Arctic investment; Oil and gas industry rewards US lawmakers who oppose environmental protections; Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns... PLUS: Colombia was the deadliest place on Earth for environmental activists. It's gotten worse.... and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast: With all the knives out between all of the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates at Wednesday night's debate in Las Vegas, you may not have noticed that there was actually a rather substantive policy debate within it over how to deal with our intensifying climate emergency. But we noticed. [Audio link to show follows below.]

It's rare enough that climate and environmental issues are raised at all by Presidential Debate moderators, much less to allow for substantive discussion of differences between the candidates. And, in the few instances that it happens, the conversation is often buried at the end of the forum, and/or otherwise completely ignored in post-debate coverage which tends to be overwhelmed by electorate politics and horse-race discussion. That is an extraordinary disservice to the electorate, especially given that, as a number of recent polls both nationally and in early primary states reveal, climate change is now among the top issue for voters, often this cycle coming in second only to health care and ahead of both economic and foreign policy issues.

So, before Wednesday's debate gives way entirely to Saturday's Nevada Caucuses and next week's South Carolina Primary and then Super Tuesday in 14 states just three days later on March 3rd, we thought many still-undecided voters might be well-served by some expert help in unpacking some of the key differences between the leading candidates on climate action policies. Unlike Donald Trump and the Republicans, who treat the matter as a joke, all of the Democrats claim to understand the existential threat posed by global warming. But the differences in their responses to questions on the matter --- which are sometimes much larger than you may have noticed --- is both telling and informative.

To that end, we are joined today for a sharp review of the climate crisis portion of Wednesday's debate by LEAH STOKES of UC-Santa Barbara and DAVID ARKUSH of Public Citizen to break down the candidates differing positions for and against fracking bans; on taking on the fossil fuel industry and its executives politically, economically and, yes, criminally; on killing the filibuster; on carbon taxes; on a Green New Deal; on which of the candidates are climate champions (and which are not); and much more!

Both Stokes and Arkush are excellent and unabashed climate policy communicators with long and impressive track records of advocacy on these matters, including with elected officials. Neither of them pull any punches (unlike a number of the candidates on Wednesday night on this issue) and one of them even notes that fossil fuel industry executives could be, perhaps should be, not only prosecuted for fraud, but even "for homicide"...depending on who becomes the nominee and if they can take back the White House (and the Senate!) this November...

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We've got a lot to catch up on on today's BradCast after a long holiday weekend, as the crisis of rot and corruption inside the once-revered U.S. Dept. of Justice continues to metastasize under Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr; as billionaire Michael Bloomberg buys his way into shaking up the 2020 Democratic Presidential race; as the Nevada Caucuses may be heading toward another embarrassing meltdown this weekend; and as our ongoing, literal planetary meltdown continues. [Audio link to full show is posted below.]

Among the stories covered on today's packed program...

• Amid an already deepening crisis at the Justice Dept., Trump went on a "clemency spree" on Tuesday, issuing pardons to a long list of crooks, cronies and n'er do wells --- many of them personal friends of the Prez, natch --- from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (who attempted to sell a U.S. Senate seat), to Rudy Giuliani pal and former NYPD Commission Bernie Kerik (who lied to the Dept. of Homeland Security), to the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers (who bribed a Louisiana Governor for a riverboat casino gambling license.) Those are just some of the liars, tax frauds and scam artists like Trump who received get-out-of-jail free cards today, in hopes, we surmise, that someone may do the same for Trump some day, once the law finally catches up with him. And it will;

• With the American system of justice now in full and active breach at the DoJ under Barr's corrupt leadership, the calls for his resignation have grown impossible to ignore in the wake of his unprecedented overruling of career line prosecutors' recommendations for criminal sentencing of longtime Trump confidante Roger Stone and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (among other wildly corrupt actions he's taken of late and since taking office last year.)

  Former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer, appointed by George H.W. Bush, describes "Bill Barr's America" as "a banana republic where all are subject to the whims of a dictatorial president and his henchmen," in a new Atlantic op-ed while calling for a "public uprising demanding that Bill Barr resign immediately, or failing that, be impeached."

  More than 2,000(!) former DoJ officials, both Democratic and Republican, have now signed on to a Sunday public letter declaring Trump and Barr "have openly and repeatedly flouted" the concept of equal justice in the U.S., and demanding Barr step down, citing "damage" that Barr's actions "have done to the Department of Justice's reputation for integrity and the rule of law."

  And, in the wake of all of this --- and the President's continuing Twitter attacks on the U.S. District Court Judge overseeing Roger Stone's case and upcoming sentencing --- the Federal Judges Association, a group of more than 1,000 jurists, has now called an "emergency meeting" for Wednesday to discuss related issues that, according to its President, George W. Bush-appointed U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, "could not wait" until the group's spring conference scheduled for April;

• Meanwhile, the Democratic and democratic efforts to replace Trump in November's election continue apace, as Nevada Democrats address security concerns about their upcoming Saturday caucuses by switching to electronic voters! (Okay, that one's from The Onion, but still, it shouldn't be long);

• The Dominican Republic sets an example that Americans might want to pay attention to, by suspending their weekend election just a few hours after polls opened due to failed electronic voting systems. (Who could have seen that coming?);

• Billionaire Michael Bloomberg turned Presidential candidate turned self-declared reformed racist and misogynist, buys his way onto Wednesday's Democratic Presidential Debate stage in Las Vegas, even though he will not be on the ballot at Saturday's caucus there. Bloomberg, it was announced on Tuesday, will appear at the forum, after qualifying in several national polls, including a second place finish in a new NPR/PBS/Marist national poll and a virtual tie for second with Joe Biden in a new NBC News/WSJ survey. In both of those national polls, Biden has plummeted and current front-runner Bernie Sanders has taken double-digit leads over his nearest competitor;

• But, according to news reports from Washington Post, Politico and others over the weekend, the Nevada Caucuses could be a "complete disaster" mirroring Iowa's just two weeks ago. Under-trained caucus leaders, a lack of communication between the state party and the candidates' campaigns about the complicated process, and the use of an iPad "Caucus Calculator" could lead to a meltdown, many fear. If the hours-long lines at last weekend's Early Voting sites are any indication, state Dems may, once again, be in way over the heads. But we'll see;

• In slightly brighter primary news, late last week California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a last-minute bill into law that will allow Golden State voters to change party registration up to and on Election Day itself. That seemingly very smart move may help the state avoid some, if not all, of the expected confusion and potential meltdowns at their own March 3rd Super Tuesday primary in the state with the most Democratic delegates at stake (415 of them) in this year's nominating contest;

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, as Antarctica breaks another stunning heat record, Mississippi gets swamped, Trump's EPA allows the return of toxic mercury even though the Obama-era regulation was a tremendous success and the utility industry doesn't even want him to, and some very big news from CNBC's Wall Street guru Jim Cramer declaring fossil fuels "over!"...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Yet another state now grappling with extreme rains and floods; Antarctica hits another record high; Trump EPA trying to gut yet another public health pollution standard; PLUS: CNBC investment guru warns the writing is on the wall for fossil fuels... 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): Anti-pipeline protests shut down Canadian rail networks; Global financial giants swear off funding Alberta's dirty tar sands; Peach grower awarded $265 million from Bayer, BASF in weedkiller lawsuit; Huge locust outbreak in East Africa reaches South Sudan; 211 million gallons of sewage spilled into Fort Lauderdale waterways; Hundreds of thousands of mussels cooked to death on New Zealand beach in heatwave...PLUS: It’s official: Federal judge shuts down the largest oil refinery on the East Coast... and much, MUCH more! ...

Although I didn't reference Adam Schiff's remarks from just two weeks ago during the impeachment trial on the "the normalization of lawlessness," about which he presciently warned "that way madness lies". But, upon reflecting on today's BradCast, it seemed an appropriate headline. It was only one week ago that corrupt and cowardly Senate Republicans had the chance to remove Trump from office, but acquitted him instead with the message to continue breaking the law and shredding the Constitution.It was just one week before that when Schiff warned: "What we have seen over the last couple days is a descent into Constitutional madness." This week has made that madness seem like child's play. [Audio link to show follows below.]

These are dark times. Growing darker by the day. But we can't turn away, as much as we might like to right now. Now is the time to step forward and help ourselves --- help each other --- back into the light. It won't be easy. But we must. And we do what we can, once again, towards that end on today's program. Among the stories covered today...

• An vengeful, bitter, out-of-control Trump turns his ongoing Twitter attacks from federal Justice Department prosecutors working on the case against his friend and convicted felon Roger Stone onto the foreperson of the jury that convicted him;

• A witness in the trial who was threatened by Stone (who was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress, among his seven counts), has pleaded for no jail time for the longtime GOP dirty-trickster, but has also now stepped forward to call out Trump's attacks on the four prosecutors who quit the case in protest as a "vile smear job" by the President;

• Trump's former Chief-of-Staff, Marine Corps General John Kelly, calls out Trump for his wrathful firing of decorated Iraq War vet Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from his post on the National Security Counsel because Vindman dared answer a lawful subpoena to testify truthfully to Congress about Trump's unlawful bribery campaign against Ukraine. Kelly argues Vindman should be respected, not attacked, for refusing to follow "an illegal order" from the President. "We teach them," Kelly said, "‘Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss.'" The legal defense by Nazi soldiers that they were just following orders, whether unlawful or not, failed at the Nuremburg Trials. But perhaps Trump disagrees with that verdict too. In response, Trump attacked Kelly, tweeting that he was "over his head" as CoS, couldn't be fired "fast enough", and that Kelly has a "military and legal obligation" to "keep his mouth shut." The Nazi's defense attorneys would be very proud of this President;

• But how do we get out of this dark mess and reverse the madness? There is only one way left that I'm aware of, which is why I have spent so many years fighting for the right to vote and for publicly overseeable voting systems. After about 10 lonely years warning specifically about the development of the new, 100% unverifiable "VSAP" touchscreen voting system set for first-time use in Los Angeles County in the March 3rd Super Tuesday primary, I've finally received a bit of help in those warnings of late from the corporate media. Last week, it came from an investigative report by CBS-2 Los Angeles (in which I appear). This morning, it came from a new investigative report on L.A.'s dangerous new systems from Cynthia McFadden, as previewed on NBC's Today show. We share that report today, along with advice on how to overcome the dangers presented by the new, $300,000,000 boondoggle of a voting system coming to the nation's most populous jurisdiction, as well as how to do the same in other states and counties (including battlegrounds like Georgia, Philadelphia, parts of Texas and elsewhere) where voters will be forced to vote on similarly unverifiable touchscreen systems at the polls in this year's never-more-critical Presidential election;

• Oh, and we have a few more observations on the New Hampshire primary turnout which we couldn't get to yesterday, but which are still worth taking note of today, as we all move forward to the next primaries and caucuses;

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us with the latest Green News Report, with some seemingly genuinely good --- and very surprising --- news from a major fossil fuel company, that almost, if not entirely, helps us forget about the much-less-good news in the rest of today's GNR and, for that matter, today's BradCast!...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Oil giant BP announces major shift to cut its emissions; Sea level rise is accelerating in the U.S., especially on the East Coast; Get used to record-breaking heat, because it's here to stay; PLUS: House Republicans unveil their version of climate legislation... 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): Trump’s Biggest Vulnerability Is His Climate Change Denial.; Sea Level Rise Is Accelerating globally, 4 Inches Per Decade (or More) by 2100; Ancient Antarctic ice melt caused extreme sea level rise 129,000 years ago – and it could happen again; The fastest way to cut carbon emissions is a ‘fee’ and a dividend; Cross-State Air Pollution Causes Significant Premature Deaths in the U.S.; Revealed: big oil's profits since 1990 total nearly $2 trillion... PLUS: ‘We Knew They Had Cooked the Books’: The Trump administration’s attempt to kill one of America’s strongest climate policies has been a complete debacle... and much, MUCH more! ...

As usual, we cover far too much on today's BradCast, as New Hampshire voters head to the polls for their first-in-the-nation primary today. Full reported results from NH tomorrow, of course. [Audio link for today's show is posted below.]

Among those too many things covered today...

• We start with some common sense news out of Nevada, where state Democrats, after the Iowa Caucus disaster, have decided to use hand-marked paper ballots for early voting in the state's upcoming February 22nd caucuses. However, they will still be relying on a vulnerable, online iPad tool to record sign-ins (albeit with paper backup, so there's that);

• On Monday night, the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Donald Trump rallied in the Granite State by lying to supporters about voter fraud there, and by taking a small page from the disgraced Chris Christie's New Jersey "BridgeGate" scandal. Trump's Secret Service detail, according to campaign officials, made it difficult for Democratic candidates and their supporters to get around the state's largest city. Given that Republican Senators recently gave a thumbs up for Trump to cheat in the 2020 election with their "not guilty" votes at the end of last week's Impeachment Trial, nobody should be surprised he is now doing so;

• But there was some very good news for Bernie Sanders from a national Quinnipiac poll on Monday night, revealing the Vermont Senator vaulting into first place ahead of Joe Biden for the first time. We also review a number of other interesting findings for the survey suggesting good news for Sanders, along with a warning that those are national numbers, in a nation that runs state-by-state elections instead. Just ask Hillary Clinton;

• As he gains momentum, Sanders is also being forced to defend his identity as a "democratic socialist" and his support for programs such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Republicans (and even some Democrats) are hoping to disparage Sanders with those charges, from which he does not shy away;

• At the same time, Trump and friends and family are attempting to sow discord among Democrats by claiming that the DNC is rigging the election against Sanders, hoping they'll convince Sanders' supporters to sit out 2020 if he is not the nominee;

• At the same time, Republicans in South Carolina are reportedly urging their own supporters to vote for Sanders in the state's upcoming February 29 primary, since the state GOP cancelled their own primary there as a gift to Donald Trump. The theory, also floated publicly by Trump himself, is that they'd love to run against Sanders this November because, they'd like you to believe he will be easy to beat;

• And, just to the north, a mysterious group calling themselves the "Faith and Power PAC" is playing a similar game, by spending nearly $2.5 million to support a progressive state Senator for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in North Carolina's March 3rd Super Tuesday primary. The new group appears to be tied to Republicans and the candidate they are running ads for, state Senator Erica D. Smith [pictured above right], is currently running behind the centrist D.C. Dem-supported Cal Cunningham in the contest to win the Dem Senate nomination to run against vulnerable Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis this fall. The TV spot purporting to be on behalf of Smith, highlights her support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and other progressive policies making her "one of us", as the ad claims. (We interviewed Smith on The BradCast late last year, as she was demanding hand-marked paper ballots for North Carolina);

• We're joined today by North Carolina's DR. WILLIAM BUSA of the progressive political data consulting firm EQV Analytics to discuss all of the dirty tricks in the Carolinas. Busa, who previously worked for state Senator Smith and writes as "DocDawg" at DailyKos, suggests this mysterious group of Republicans may have made a miscalculation in their attempt to monkey-wrench the Democratic Senate primary race in his state. He also explains how they may have committed fraud in their FEC filing. He shares his insight on the curious NC ad buy and the question of whether Republicans are really interested in running against progressives like Sanders and Smith because they believe they will be easy to beat this November, or because they want Democratic voters to BELIEVE progressives will be easy to beat. "Is this eleventy-dimensional chess or is this Tic-Tac-Toe that they're playing?," Busa asks. "I'm not entirely sure which it is, but I don't think it's eleventy-dimensional chess." We've got a lot to unpack in that conversation today!

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, with good news and bad Down Under, unquestionably bad news for bumblebees and Antarctica (and, by extension, for all of us) and the interesting way that Democrats raised the issue of climate change during last Friday's Presidential Debate in New Hampshire...

See? Told you we covered too much! Enjoy!...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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