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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: It's official: 2013 was 4th warmest year on record globally; West Virginia's water polluter Freedom Industries declares bankruptcy; Coal responsible for 50% of toxic water pollution; Halliburton exec gets probation for destroying evidence on 2010 BP Gulf spill; PLUS: California drought emergency - Arizona and New Mexico, you're next ... 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): Utilities Would "Strangle Solar" if They Could; Unchecked CO2 emissions will double extreme El Niño weather events; Climate scientist to US Senate: 'Climate change is a clear and present danger'; China pollution wafting across Pacific; Kenya to generate over half of its electricity through solar power by 2016 ... PLUS: Despite international outcry, dolphin slaughter at Japan's Taiji Cove ... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• BP Oil Spill: Manager Gets Probation:
• BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf: Halliburton Manager Gets Probation in Gulf Spill (AP)
• Multibillion-dollar BP private claims settlement is upheld by split U.S. 5th Circuit Court panel (NOLA.com)
• It's Official: 2013 is 4th/7th Warmest Year on Record Globally:
• NOAA: 2013 tied for fourth-warmest year on record (Guardian UK)
• NASA Finds 2013 Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming Trend (NASA.gov)
• Golden State Drought Emergency - AZ and NM, You're Next
• Southwest’s Dwindling Water Supply (NYT):
  
  If Lake Mead drops below 1,000 feet above sea level, millions of people will lose their source of water.
• Brown declares California drought emergency (San Jose Mercury News)
• No Relief From Ongoing Drought In Southwest (Fronteras Desk)
• Prepare drought plans, NM warned (Albuquerque Journal)
• What Californians Can Expect from the Drought (Peter Gleick, ScienceBlogs) [emphasis added]:
  
  It is now early 2014 and the rains have not come, for the third year in a row. While the definition of "drought" varies from place to place, it is safe to say that California is currently suffering from a severe - and by some measures, unprecedented - drought.
• Update: West Virginia Toxic Chemical Spill:
• New Accusations Against Freedom Industries in West Virginia Spill (BusinessWeek):
  
  In a court filing, a local water utility has accused Freedom Industries, the chemical supplier blamed for the leak in Charleston, of trying to pull a fast one in its federal bankruptcy filing.
• West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: 'It's Your Decision… I'm Not A Scientist' (Climate Progress)
• West Virginia politicians consider chemical regulation after spill (Al Jazeera America)
• How the West Virginia Spill Exposes Our Lax Chemical Laws (Mother Jones)
• VIDEO: Freedom Industries Files For Bankruptcy: Truth behind WV spill company's bankruptcy with guest Bob Kincaid (All In With Chris Hayes, MNSBC): The company at the center of the West Virginia water crisis appears to be dodging lawsuits and creditors.



• AUDIO: Drinking in WV's Toxic 'Freedom' Disaster: KPFK 'BradCast' [@ about 47 mins] (The BRAD BLOG)
• "Watchdog Reporting at its Finest": Follow Ken Ward Jr. on Twitter
• Coal Responsible for 50-60% of Pollution in US Waterways: (AP) [emphasis added]:
  
  For decades, chemicals and waste from the coal industry have tainted hundreds of waterways and groundwater supplies, spoiling private wells, shutting down fishing and rendering streams virtually lifeless, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal environmental data.
  ...
  [C]oal-fired power plants that alone are responsible for 50 percent to 60 percent of all toxic pollution entering the nation's water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

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

• VIDEO: Dolphin slaughter starts at Japan's Taiji Cove, fisherman says (CNN)
• California Utility Commissioner: Utilities Would "Strangle Solar" if They Could (Climate Crocks)
• Current rate of carbon emissions will double devastating El Niño weather events: study (Raw Story)
• Climate scientist to US Senate: 'Climate change is a clear and present danger' (Guardian UK): In a Senate hearing on President Obama's Climate Action Plan, Dessler summarised the science behind the climate threat
• China pollution wafting across Pacific to blanket US (Guardian UK): Some US cities getting an extra day of smog per year due to pollution from China, US National Academy of Sciences says
• 'Overwhelming Majority' Of Pipeline Spills Are Discovered By People, Not Spill Detectors, Review Finds (Climate Progress)
• Kenya to generate over half of its electricity through solar power by 2016 (Guardian UK): Kenya government invests $1.2bn jointly with private companies to build solar power plants across the country
• New, privatized African city heralds climate apartheid (Guardian UK): Nigeria's Eko Atlantic augurs how the super-rich will exploit the crisis of climate change to increase inequality and seal themselves off from its impacts
• Yet Another Large Jump in Ocean Warming (Quark Soup)
• WikiLeaks Exposes What Obama's Secret Trade Deal Would Do To The Environment (Huffington Post)
• Massive Antarctic Glacier Has Entered Irreversible Melt, Could Add Up To 1 Centimeter To Sea Level (Climate Progress)
• ANALYSIS: Fox Only Talks About Climate Change When It's Cold (Media Matters)
• Breakthrough: Cheap Liquid Battery Provides Large-Scale Energy Storage for a Rainy Day (Scientific American)

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

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



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

                 

Article Categories: California, West Virginia, United Nations, Accountability, Environment, Halliburton, Green News, BP Oil Disaster, EPA, Japan, Fracking, Natural gas, Coal, Oil, Solar energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Keystone XL, Jerry Brown