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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Keystone XL pipeline moves one step closer to approval; Britain pummeled by record rain and floods; Another coal-related spill contaminates drinking water, this time in North Carolina; PLUS: The Arctic wins again --- for now --- as Shell Oil drops plans to drill this summer ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Great Barrier Reef to become sludge repository for Big Coal port; World's largest solar thermal plant opens in CA; Iceland taps magma for energy; Senate passes Farm Bill; Safe, Schmafe: Pesticides ok for kids?; Environment loses in Russia's race to Sochi; US food companies go GMO-free in EU; Chemical Safety Board underfunded, understaffed at critical time ... PLUS: Video: Wingnuts think Southern snow was faked by the government ... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• North Carolina: Another Coal Spill Contaminates Water:
• Up To 82,000 Tons Of Toxic Coal Ash Spilled Into North Carolina River From ‘Antiquated’ Storage Pit (Climate Progress)
• Duke Energy plant reports coal-ash spill (Charlotte Observer):
  
  Duke Energy said Monday that 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash and up to 27 million gallons of water were released from a pond at its retired power plant in Eden into the Dan River, and were still flowing.
• Insane Flooding, Record Rains in UK:
• Britain faces choice of saving town or country from floods, says agency chief (Guardian UK):
  
  Too expensive to defend both urban and rural areas, says Lord Smith, as forecasters warn worse weather to come.
• UK floods: January rain breaks records in parts of England (BBC)
• UK weather: Why has it been so wet? (BBC)
• Prince Charles shocked by 'tragedy' of flood failures on Somerset visit (Guardian UK)
• Win for the Arctic: Shell Postpones Plans to Drill, For Now:
• Shell won't drill offshore in Alaska Arctic this year; 'reviewing our options,' CEO says (Anchorage Daily News):
  
  The decision came as Shell reported a steep drop in earnings and its new CEO announced plans to restructure operations to improve the company's cash flow. CEO Ben van Beurden cited last week's court ruling that threw offshore Arctic oil leases into question.
• Bonga Oil Spill: Shell ordered to pay N1.8 trillion fine (The Herald Nigeria)
• Keystone XL: State Dept Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement:
• U.S. Department of State: Keystone XL Pipeline Main Page (US State Dept):
  
  The Department’s responsibility, under Executive Order 13337, is to determine if granting a permit for the proposed pipeline would serve the national interest....Consistent with the Executive Order, this involves consideration of many factors, including energy security, health, environmental, cultural, economic, and foreign policy concerns.
• State Department releases Keystone XL final environmental impact statement (Washinton Post)
• What's in State's Keystone XL oil pipeline report (AP)
• White House to Keystone Advocates: Not So Fast (National Journal): The administration's response to a key State Department finding on the pipeline left Obama plenty of room to keep the project on ice.
• 7 facts that were left out of the State Department's Keystone XL report (Climate Progress)
• State Department IG won’t release Keystone XL report on a contractor Friday (Washington Post)
• Keystone XL: Analysis of Assumptions in State Dept. E.I.S.:
• 5 takeaways from State Department’s review of the Keystone XL pipeline (Washington Post)
• State Dept. Admits Keystone XL Pipeline Climate Impact (Environment News Service)
• VIDEO: Conservation biologist: Environmental consequences of Keystone ‘epic’ (MSNBC)
• A deeper dive: State's environmental review of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline shows it is not in the nation's interest (NRDC Switchboard):
  
  State now recognizes there are conditions in which Keystone XL would enable substantial climate emissions. With respect to water, the State Department acknowledges that large leaks on Keystone XL could go undetected and that tar sands spills constitute unique risks to water resources. And the environmental reviews shows that most of the tar sands flowing through Keystone XL will be exported and very few jobs will be created.
• VIDEO: Obama debunks Keystone jobs estimate in interview (Politico) [emphasis added]:
  
  [T]hose [3900] jobs are short lived. Once built, Keystone XL would support just 35 permanent workers and 15 temporary jobs, according to the State Department.
• As Keystone Decision Looms, Buried Report Cites TransCanada’s ‘Inadequate’ Pipeline Inspections (Climate Progress)
• Hundreds of Vigils Call On Obama to Reject Keystone XL Pipeline:
• VIDEO: 350.org & Indigenous Groups Hold Vigils to Block Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline (Democracy Now!)
• State Department Walks Away from “Significant Impact” in New Keystone XL Review (Sierra Club)
• Greenpeace Responds to State Department’s Keystone Report (Greenpeace)
• Some 300 rallies held in US after State Dept green lights Keystone XL (RT)
• Tar Sands Oil Development Is More Toxic Than Previously Thought, Study Finds (Climate Progress)

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

• Great Barrier Reef to Become Sludge Repository For Coal Export Terminal (Science):
  
  The Australian agency tasked with managing the Great Barrier Reef has authorized what amounts to an experiment opposed by many scientists: how the iconic ecosystem will respond to mountains of sludge dumped into the waters between the reef and the Australian mainland.
• Red State Freak Out: Wingnuts Think Southern Snow Is Faked By the Government (Alternet): YouTube videos have cropped up showing people unsuccesfully trying to melt their snow with lighters.
• World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant Starts Operating In Drought-Stricken California (Climate Progress)
• In Iceland, Magma Used To Create Geothermal Power For First Time (Climate Progress):
  
  After accidentally drilling into a chamber of molten lava more than a mile underground in 2009, researchers in Iceland have now found a way to use the magma to create geothermal energy.
• Safe Shmafe: How Slate’s Latest Article on Pesticides Got It (Really) Wrong (Civil Eats):
  
  [T]his sounds like the industry talking—why wouldn’t we seek to further regulate all toxic substances on our foods, whether organic or not, rather than concluding we might as well eat the conventional foods?... When Moyers says that pesticides are “perfectly healthy for kids,” she doesn’t specify whose kids.
• Senate Passes Long-Stalled Farm Bill (NY Times):
  
  “These cuts will be absolutely devastating,” said Sheena Wright, the president of the United Way of New York City. “Two hundred million can in no way plug a nearly $9 billion hole.”
• Environment Loses Out in Russia's Race to Sochi (AFP) [emphasis added]:
  
  Just outside the Olympic Park in Sochi, where the Winter Games open on Friday, is a green space with benches, artificial ponds and a couple of hides. 'Ornithological Park', the sign declares. The problem is that there is not a bird in sight in the park, which was set up as a replacement for sensitive wetlands that were covered over for the construction of Games venues.
• California Drought Produces Thirst for Water And Political Solutions (McClatchy)
• How American Food Companies Go GMO-Free in a GMO World (NPR):
  
  Quite possibly, you've noticed some new food labels out there, like 'Not made with genetically modified ingredients' or 'GMO-free.' You might have seen them on boxes of Cheerios, or on chicken meat. If you've shopped at Whole Foods, that retailer says that it now sells more than 3,000 products that have been certified as 'non-GMO.'
• Undermanned and Limited, Chemical Safety Board Confronts A Crisis: (NPR)
• West Virginia Water Contains Formaldehyde, Official Says (Climate Progress)
• Industry Awakens to Threat of Climate Change (NY Times):
  
  Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Coke’s balance sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change as an economically disruptive force.
• U.N. Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  
  Nations have so dragged their feet in battling climate change that the situation has grown critical and the risk of severe economic disruption is rising, according to a draft United Nations report. Another 15 years of failure to limit carbon emissions could make the problem virtually impossible to solve with current technologies, experts found.

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: North Carolina, West Virginia, Bill O'Reilly, John Kerry, Alaska, Great Britain, Accountability, Environment, Barack Obama, Republicans, Nebraska, State Department, Green News, EPA, Coal, Canada, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Keystone XL