IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Lights out for the power grid in South America; U.S. military reportedly escalates cyber-intrusions into Russia's power grid; Gulf of Mexico dead zone set to be record size this year, thanks in part to climate change; PLUS: U.K. commits to the most aggressive climate target in the world... 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): Here's what to know about the Trump replacement for Obama's Clean Power Plan, due out this week; EU Commission finds national climate plans insufficient; Germany joins push for EU-wide 2050 net zero emissions goal; NY State reaches landmark deal on Green New Deal-style climate bill; Where does your plastic go? Global probe reveals America's dirty little secret; Valley Fever is hitting farmworkers hard, and climate change is making it worse; Nestlé is still taking national forest water for its Arrowhead label, with feds' help... PLUS: Democratic voters overwhelmingly support a climate debate, poll finds... and much, MUCH more! ...

We are far beyond politics and partisanship at this point. Our nation, and indeed our planet, is under threat from an entirely corrupt enterprise from top to bottom: the Republican Party. That doesn't mean that Democrats are wonderful. It means that the GOP may as well no longer exist as a political party. It is now no more than a wholly corrupt tool of corporate paymasters hoping to retain power and willing to take down an entire nation or planet with them in order to do it, if need be. [Audio link to full show is posted below.]

Among the stories covered on today's BradCast...

• Like China or North Korea or the old Soviet Union, the Trump Administration is finally just censoring science. The White House, according to the Washington Post, blocked a State Department intelligence analyst from delivering the written version of his opening testimony to a Congressional meeting last week after severely censoring his spoken remarks as well. Objections from several different corrupt White House agencies prevented Rod Schoonover, of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, from submitting his prepared testimony because it allegedly included just too much science from federal agencies such as NASA and NOAA, warning about the national security perils of unchecked climate change. In the oral version of his remarks, which he was allowed to deliver, he was forced to remove the words like "possibly catastrophic" from the phrase: "Absent extensive mitigating factors or events, we see few plausible future scenarios where significant --- possibly catastrophic --- harm does not arise from the compounded effects of climate change." Our climate crisis in frightening enough. What is happening now at the very top of our federal government makes it all the more terrifying;

• On yesterday's program, we featured my exclusive interview with cybersecurity researcher Chris Vickery, who discovered hundreds of sensitive documents available for download on the Internet at the North Carolina State Board of Election's website, including "master passwords" for voting systems used in the state. We hope to have some followup on that story in coming days, but, in the meantime, North Carolina Republicans seems to be in competition with the nearby states of Georgia and Florida when it comes to who is able to be the most corrupt and willing to blatantly game elections for partisan advantage the most.

  Setting aside Vickery's disturbing report for now, and setting aside the DHS finally beginning a forensic probe of potential corruption (or even foreign penetration) of the state's voter registration system during the November 2016 Presidential election, and setting aside the GOP Absentee Ballot Fraud scandal that derailed last November's U.S. House election in the state's 9th Congressional District, the state GOP's multiple attempts to unlawfully use both racial and partisan gerrymandering in their successful effort to prevent Democrats from winning elections at both the state legislative and U.S. House level is breathtaking.

  But it has now been revealed to be even worse than previously known, thanks to new documents found on the hard drive of the RNC's late redistricting expert which reveal the state lied to a federal court in at least one of three different lawsuits against them for unlawful gerrymanders. We try, with the help of Daily Kos' Stephen Wolf, to break down the three different gerrymandering cases (two in federal court over racial and then partisan gerrymanders of U.S. House seats, and an ongoing case in state court over the gaming of legislative districts) to help expose how breathtakingly corrupt and dishonest state Republicans have become and the lengths to which they have been willing to go in recent years to try and cling to power. That, as statewide elections have now resulted in Democratic victories for the top executive offices such as Governor and Attorney General, and a 6 to 1 advantage for Democrats on the elected state Supreme Court.

  Nonetheless, with the several illegal gerrymanders, the GOP has been able to hold on to super-majorities in both chambers of the state legislature until last November, when court-ordered fairer districts were used for the first time. But the lie that has now been exposed thanks to the dead GOPer's hard drive allowed the party to enjoy an extra year of veto-proof control and a bevy of bills and ballot measures were adopted that likely never would have been had democracy actually existed in state legislative elections;

• Speaking of corrupt Republican state lawmakers, Florida is working hard to keep up with NC. After their legislature recently passed a measure to gut a state Constitutional amendment adopted by nearly 65% of Florida voters last year to restore voting rights to most former felons in the state after completion of their sentences, the Sunshine State's new Governor, Ron DeSantis (who reportedly won election last year by less than one half of one percent of the vote), insisted lawmakers gut the entire statewide ballot initiative process to make it nearly impossible for citizen-led initiatives to end up on the ballot at all. The new measure, as the Tampa Bay Times describes it, "will solidify Republican control in Tallahassee by eliminating one of the last threats to their power: the ballot box." They report that the legislation will "stifle the last area outside of statewide Republican control in Florida," noting "Republicans have dominated the Legislature, Cabinet and governor’s mansion for the last 20 years, and every member of the state Supreme Court has now been appointed by Republicans";

• But where state GOP lawmakers are wholly corrupt, those at the federal level, setting the tone, are putting them to shame. We set aside today's Constitutional Crisis and Impeachment Update to bring you Jon Stewart's full testimony to a Congressional committee this afternoon, instead. Most Republican lawmakers didn't even bother to show up, despite the fact that it was a House hearing on renewing the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund which is said to be running out of money. The VCF covers health care costs of first responders such as police and firefighters who worked on and in the pile at Ground Zero on 9/11 and in the days that followed. Many of those victims have since died and are continuing to die due to long-term ailments related to breathing the air at Ground Zero. Shamefully, the GOP is, once again, fighting an extension of the program. Stewart blasts the lawmakers in moving, must-listen, sometimes tearful remarks that are alternately enraging and heartbreaking, citing "callous indifference and rank hypocrisy" of those who formerly used "Never Forget" as a political slogan supposedly in support of the same first responders who are now forced to show up on Capitol Hill to beg for healthcare as they fight for their very lives;

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report on one of those troubling days when the GNR, of all things, is the lightest, fluffiest segment we seem to be able to muster...

Download MP3 or listen to complete show online below...

MONTHLY BRAD BLOG SUBSCRIPTION	ONE-TIME DONATION
Choose monthly amount... $10 : $10.00 USD - monthly$20 : $20.00 USD - monthly$50 : $50.00 USD - monthly$100 : $100.00 USD - monthly	(Snail mail support to "Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028" always welcome too!)

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's escalating trade war hits U.S. natural gas industry; Administration ices Arctic Council declaration over climate change wording; Houston floods again as U.S. just saw its wettest year on record; PLUS: The UK and Scotland ratchet up action on our 'climate emergency'... 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): Nearly all countries agree to stem flow of plastic waste into poor nations (except for the U.S.); Saudi oil tankers among those attacked off UAE amid Iran tensions; $2 billion verdict against Monsanto is 3rd to find Roundup caused cancer; Britain sets record of 7 days without coal power; CEI uses new White House Rule to undermine U.S. climate policy; Climate change jumps to biggest risk for insurers; Kelp: the climate-friendly vegetable you ought to eat; Scientists say they've cooked up an endlessly recyclable plastic... PLUS: Loving a vanishing world... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Upper Midwest braces for another bomb cyclone and more flooding thereafter; Growing humanitarian crisis in Africa in wake of Cyclone Idai; Global warming pushing the Arctic into 'unprecedented' new state; PLUS: Republicans are suddenly coming up with own climate policy to counters Democrats' popular Green New Deal... 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): This is how human extinction could play out; Green New Deal fan stumps Fox News reporter in viral video; Earth's CO2 levels highest in 3 million years; Navajo reservation votes to shift from coal to renewables; Congress approves 7-state Colorado River drought contingency deal; Crude oil shipments in Oregon increased while keeping regulators in the dark; Harbour Air set to become the first all-electric airline in the world; EPA IG issues rare 'alert' that EPA's data on toxics releases is inaccurate... PLUS: As White House questions climate change, U.S. military is planning for it... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: As record floods move south from the Midwest, NOAA warns of much more to come; Big new problems after major petrochemical fire in Houston; Humanitarian crisis in Mozambique amid Cyclone Idai's widespread devastation; PLUS: Trump Administration gives troubled Georgia 'nook-yu-ler' plant billions more in taxpayer loan guarantees... 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): In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018; Shutting down almost every coal plant and swapping for renewables would save money: report; Recording reveals oil industry execs laughing at Trump access; Puerto Rico passes 100% renewable energy bill as it aims for storm resilience; Tearing down McMansion-sized housing myths; Navajo Nation votes to end efforts to purchase coal-fired power plant; Battery power’s latest plunge in costs threatens coal, gas; Fed researcher warns climate change could spur financial crisis; Louisiana’s Disappearing Coast... PLUS: Polluted by Money: How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America... and much, MUCH more! ...

All of the news you need to know today, and nothing you don't. Among the many important stories covered on today's BradCast [Audio link to complete show is posted below]...

• New Zealand bans military-style assault weapons less than one week after a white supremacist terrorist massacred 50 worshiping Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch. That was easy. Must be nice to not be enthralled to decades of NRA propaganda and the tens of millions of dollars they are allowed to use to bribe politicians in the U.S., where even a Congressional vote on background checks has been verboten by Republicans;

• Record flooding continues to swamp the upper Midwest, as the National Weather Service warns the catastrophic floods will be moving south and inundating states as water makes it way toward the Mississippi Delta where some areas have already been fighting with rising waters since last month;

• All of that before we even get to the spring rainy season, about which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned on Thursday could bring widespread "unprecedented flooding" to most of the nation amid climate change-accelerated storms;

• But there is much better news out of a court in Wisconsin where a state judge today blocked the GOP-controlled state legislature's unprecedented lame duck power-grab passed during an "extraordinary session" called last December to take power from the incoming Democratic Governor and Attorney General following the defeat of Republican Gov. Scott Walker by state voters in November. The judge ruled the session itself, called by just eight Republicans in the state House and Senate, unconstituionally declared and therefore, the three sweeping power-grab bills and last-minute confirmation of 82 Walker appointees before Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul could take over, are all now struck down. The victory for state voters and democracy lovers also means the Badger State may now withdraw from a multi-state lawsuit joined by the previous GOP administration challenging the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare"). GOPers in the state legislature have promised to appeal the ruling;

• The Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps issued blistering memos this week warning that Donald Trump's deployment of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and his "emergency" declaration has undermined troop readiness, national security and placed the well-being of the Corps at an "unacceptable risk". Gen. Robert Neller charges, according to the documents obtained and published today by the L.A. Times, that "unplanned/unbudgeted" deployment to the border last year and the shift of funding to border security efforts has resulted in cancellation of military exercises across the globe and has compromised "combat readiness and solvency". The unusually strong comments, according to military experts, critically cite the delay of urgent repairs needed at bases damaged by hurricanes last year in North Carolina and Georgia, with the new hurricane season just months away for "Marines, Sailors, and civilians working in compromised structures". All of that as Trump touted his support for the military on Wednesday night at a plant in Lima, Ohio which manufacturers tanks that the Pentagon has said they neither need nor want;

• All of this also follows on Trump's announcement last month that he is pulling the U.S. out of the 30-year old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty struck between Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987, leading to the destruction of thousands of nuclear-tipped missiles on both sides after the landmark Cold War era pact was signed. Russia has said they will now follow Trump's lead in abandoning the treaty and, according to Pentagon officials, the U.S. is now preparing flight tests this summer for two types of non-INF compliant missiles that would have been long-banned under the treaty. Let the arms race begin again!;

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report on the staggering cost to date of the deadly flooding in the upper Midwest, the toxic chemical inferno this week in Houston, Trump's new EPA chief blowing off concerns of global warming, 2020 Dems demanding action on same, and a very encouraging ruling on oil and gas drilling in Wyoming from a federal judge who has ordered that the government reconsider its environmental assessment of drilling on public lands to account for the cumulative threat of fossil fueled climate change due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions...

Download MP3 or listen to complete show online below...

MONTHLY BRAD BLOG SUBSCRIPTION	ONE-TIME DONATION
Choose monthly amount... $10 : $10.00 USD - monthly$20 : $20.00 USD - monthly$50 : $50.00 USD - monthly$100 : $100.00 USD - monthly	(Snail mail support to "Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028" always welcome too!)

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: EPA's 'action plan' on toxic chemicals in drinking water? Take action...later; Australian court blocks coal mine on climate change grounds; January was the third hottest January ever recorded; BP predicts renewable energy will be world's main source of power within 20 years; PLUS: Trump Administration wants California's high-speed rail funding back... 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 Green New Deal: a centuries-old idea could revolutionize climate policy; >'Moment of reckoning': US cities burn recyclables after China bans imports; How EPA Wehrum’s former law firm profited from the fight to roll back air rules; Polar Vortex showed how much renewable energy storage may be needed; Is the 'insect apocalypse' really upon us?; MI Gov. Whitmer's new environmental order leaves 'polluter panels' in place— for now; Supreme Court Clean Water Act case could have big impact on coal ash disposal... PLUS: Video: 'We are entering into an unprecedented climate', say authors David Wallace-Wells and Dr. Michael Mann... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's State of the Union was low on facts, but high on oil; Democrats bring climate science back to the U.S. House; PLUS: It's official: we've just lived through the five hottest years 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): There’s now an official Green New Deal. Here’s what’s in it; The Green New Deal takes its first Congressional baby step, as Pelosi mocks “Green Dream or whatever”; Concern about climate change among conservative Republicans hits highest level ever; Native American tribe displaced by sea gets land to relocate; Federal government steps in to handle Colorado River drought crisis; Climate change hidden driver of Central American migration; DOE move to weaken light bulb efficiency standards could cost consumers $12B; Appeals court allows quick-take of land for Mountain Valley Pipeline... PLUS: If property rights were real, climate-destroying companies would be sued out of existence... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Record extreme cold shuts down parts of the U.S. --- and it still doesn't disprove climate change; Trump Administration seems to concede that Venezuela intervention is all about oil; PLUS: Germany sets path to completely quit coal... 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): Ocasio-Cortez, Markey to unveil Green New Deal bill; US intelligence officials warn climate change is a worldwide threat; Scientists single out a suspect in starfish carnage - warming oceans; There's a huge cavity under Antarctica's most endangered glacier (yes, that's bad); As climate warms, plants will absorb less CO2, study finds; King County passes temporary ban on fossil fuel infrastructure; Brazil has nearly 4,000 dams at high risk; Colorado River drought plan takes another step in Arizona... PLUS: Making cities more dense always sparks resistance. Here’s how to overcome it... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Greenland ice melt is reaching a 'tipping point', new study warns; Was 2018 a record hot year? We don't know because of Trump's government shutdown; Overwhelming majority of Americans are now concerned about climate change; PLUS: Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg shakes up World Economic Forum in Davos... 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): Climate Change Making Us Sicker And Shortening Our Lives, Doctors Say; How Brands Think They Can Make a Buck off Climate Change; Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Sponsored a Conference That Promoted Climate Change Denial; New Bud Super Bowl Ad features Wind Turbines; Bees Face Yet Another Lethal Threat In Dicamba; Illinois joins states committed to carbon-emission reduction; U.S. Oil Production Is Set to Rise as Experts Say Fossil Fuels Need to Be Phased Out... PLUS: 3 Newborn Endangered Right Whales Inspire Hope for Species... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Intense winter storms wreak havoc from coast to coast; Trump's ongoing government shutdown threatening public health and safety; 2018 was the hottest year on record for the world's oceans, putting the planet in hot water; PLUS: California's largest electric utility to file for bankruptcy in wake of catastrophic wildfires... 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): Are we living through climate change’s worst-case scenario?; EPA criminal action against polluters hits 30-year low; Australia extreme heatwave: 'code red' issued; How China’s big overseas initiative threatens global climate progress; Detroit Auto Show has SUVs, horsepower, but electric cars are few; Water desalination plants harm environment, U.N. report finds; New industry group pledges $1B to combat plastic pollution; One fight the Green New Deal should avoid for now; Trump’s executive order will aggressively cut more forest trees... PLUS: Air pollution is as bad as smoking when it comes to miscarriage risk... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: While we were out: Trump's government shutdown is seriously impacting national parks and federal scientific research; Trump EPA launched another serious attack on public health; PLUS: New Democratic U.S. House majority pledged to act on our climate crisis... 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): Democrats are shockingly unprepared to fight climate change; U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2018;
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Exxon in climate change document dispute; US Interior Dept. plans to skirt FOIA requests; Colorado could save $2.5 billion by rapidly shutting down its coal power plants; Sharp drop in monarch butterflies in California; PG&E could be prosecuted for murder in record CA wildfires; Waste Management's 20-year path to 'moonshot' climate goal... PLUS: 10 easy ways to reduce your plastic use in 2019... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Very bad news in the latest Arctic Report Card; Coal state Democratic Senator gets top energy committee position; Washington state Governor unveils ambitious climate change legislation; PLUS: Trump EPA rolls back yet another major water protection rule... 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): Welcome to the Eocene, where ice sheets turn into swamps; Big Oil's covert campaign to rewrite American car emissions rules; The race to understand Antarctica’s most terrifying glacier; Democrats shift toward impact on jobs as climate change moves to front of 2020 agenda; California is turning farms into carbon-sucking factories; Radical fixes get a boost at climate talks; California wildfires take toll on insurance industry; Minneapolis moves to eliminate mandatory parking... PLUS: More floods and more droughts: climate change delivers both... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: 'GNR' Special Coverage: Major U.S. climate report warns global warming is already devastating America's environment and economy --- and unless we act aggressively to reduce emissions, it is going to get much worse... 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 world needs to quit coal. Why is it so hard?; Trump energy pick who falsely claimed renewable energy ‘screws up’ grid advances to full Senate for vote; Chemicals on our food --- when 'safe' may not really be safe; Super-bacteria show up in Puget Sound wildlife; Brazil says deforestation in The Amazon is at worst level in a decade; Hog farm waste agreement lacked teeth, North Carolinians left to suffer; Threatened ,ountain gorillas off ‘critically endangered’ species list... PLUS: The Insect Apocalypse is here... and much, MUCH more! ...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Mexico braces for powerful Hurricane Willa --- and so does Central Texas; September 2018 was the fourth hottest September ever recorded; PLUS: Climate change and clean energy are on the ballot in the November midterms --- and even in the debates... 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): Late night shows find ways to joke about climate change; Trump tweets out photo-shopped map falsely claiming US has 'cleanest air'; Poll: Independents more likely to support candidate favoring climate action; Austin issues unprecedented boil-water notice after record flooding; Microplastics found in human poo; Water around Utah uranium mill grows more polluted; U.S. EPA withdraws Obama-era groundwater protection rule for uranium mining; Michigan warns of PFAS levels in deer around Air Force base; A remote Hawaiian island has now vanished beneath rising seas... PLUS: Supreme Court pauses kids' climate case in win for Trump... and much, MUCH more! ...