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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Obama Administration approves sonic cannons for offshore oil exploration off the East Coast; Tornadoes in Boston? Bizarre extreme weather across the U.S.; Colorado judge strikes down local fracking ban; General Mills takes action on global warming; PLUS: Rocker Neil Young wants your help with a new technology to stop illegal logging in the rainforest … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 7/29/2014

‘Green News Report’ – July 29, 2014  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – July 29, 2014  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Libya oil depot fire blazes out of control; NBC Shows How To Report On The Economic Costs Of Climate Change; BP Oil Spill is much worse than people think: scientists say; EPA is failing to stop pipeline methane leaks; More mysterious craters found in remote Siberia region; GOP candidate: most energy problems ‘are caused by environmentalists’; New communications platform to link electric cars, utilities… PLUS: Report find delaying climate action will carry heavy economic cost … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• Bizarre Extreme Weather Across the U.S.:
• Lightning at Venice Beach Shows California Faces Weird Weather: Could drought be destabilizing California weather? (Scientific American) [emphasis added]:
  Summer is the dry season in California, with any rain at all unlikely in July. Lightning is extremely unusual on the Southern California coast at any time because the weather is so heavily influenced by the ocean, which tends to stabilize the air, said Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist in climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
• VIDEO: Tornado Recorded in Boston Suburb Makes History: For the first time in history a tornado touched down in the Boston suburb of Revere. (ABC News)
• Catastrophic Flash Flooding in Southern Nevada Prompts Road Closures, Damages Homes (Weather Channel)
• Yosemite fire spreads; Highway 120 access to park closed east of Groveland (SF Gate)
• Obama Admin Approves Sonic Cannons for Oil Exploration:
• Obama opens Eastern Seaboard to oil exploration (AP) [emphasis added]:
  The cannons create noise pollution in waters shared by whales, dolphins and turtles, sending sound waves many times louder than a jet engine reverberating through the deep every ten seconds for weeks at a time. Arguing that endangered species could be harmed was the environmental groups’ best hope for extending a decades-old ban against drilling off the U.S. Atlantic coast.
• VIDEO: Dangerous oceanic exploration off the East Coast (The Ed Shultz Show, MSNBC):
  A major setback for environmental safety, after the Obama Administration lifts a 30 year ban on east coast oil and gas exploration. Ed Schultz and Dr. Reese Halter discuss the potential impact.
• Colorado Judge Strikes Down Local Control Of Fracking:
• Judge Strikes Down Longmont, Colorado’s Fracking Ban (AP) [emphasis added]:
  Judge D.D. Mallard ruled the ban conflicts with state regulations and Colorado’s interest in efficiently developing oil and gas deposits. “While the Court appreciates the Longmont citizens’ sincerely-held beliefs about risks to their health and safety, the Court does not find this is sufficient to completely devalue the State’s interest,” Mallard wrote.
• Longmont’s Fracking Ban Tossed as Colorado Vote Looms (Bloomberg News)
• General Mills Agrees to Take Action On Climate Change
• General Mills takes bold stand for climate action: Oxfam welcomes General Mills’ commitments to act following tremendous public pressure (Oxfam) [emphasis added]:
  As one of the biggest food and beverage companies on the planet, General Mills has immense power to influence its suppliers and help create stronger standards in the industry….Kellogg, one of General Mills’ main competitors in the industry, faces growing pressure from the public to act. General Mills has shown that the only thing standing in the way of greater climate action from food and beverage companies is the political will.
• Behind the Brands campaign makes waves as General Mills pledges climate action (TckTckTck)
• General Mills’ Policy on Climate (General Mills) [emphasis added]:
  As a global food company, General Mills recognizes the risks that climate change presents to humanity, our environment and our livelihoods. Changes in climate not only affect global food security but also impact General Mills’ raw material supply which, in turn, affects our ability to deliver quality, finished product to our consumers and ultimately, value to our shareholders.
• NHL Warns Climate Change Could Threaten The Future Of Hockey (Think Progress Sports):
  The report, which draws attention to the impact of climate change and other environmental factors on the growth and long-term outlook of the sport, is the first of its kind from any major sports league, the NHL said.
• Neil Young’s Kickstarter Campaign: The Rainforest Call For Help:
• VIDEO: Campaign to Save the Rainforest (Rolling Stone) [emphasis added]:
  The central idea behind Rainforest Connection is as simple as it is brilliant: Old cellphones are retrofitted with a solar-powered energy source and placed in trees around the rainforest. When they pick up the sound of chainsaws, animals in distress or gunshots, they alert authorities in real time. “Current detection systems rely on satellites which show rainforest destruction days or weeks too late,” says a note on the group’s Kickstarter page. “Our system provides the world’s first real-time logging/poaching detection system. We can pinpoint deforestation activity the moment it begins, while simultaneously streaming the data openly and immediately to anyone around the world.”

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Delaying climate action will carry heavy economic cost, White House warned (Guardian UK):
  President’s council of economic advisers sounds warning over delaying EPA power plant rules in face of industry lobbying
• VIDEO: NBC Shows How To Report On The Economic Costs Of Climate Change – Reporter Connects Global Warming To “The New Price Of Fighting Fires” (Media Matters)
• Congressional watchdog urges EPA to step up actions on fracking (McClatchy DC):
  The Government Accountability Office is calling on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to step up enforcement of water contamination and seismic activity associated with fracking, the high-pressure injection of fluids into wells to extract oil and natural gas.
• Libya oil tanker fire blazes out of control: ‘Environmental disaster’ feared after rocket lights second oil depot on fire in Tripoli amid militia clashes.(Al Jazeera)
• BP Oil Spill Is Much Worse Than People Think, Scientists Say (Climate Progress):
  Scientists at Penn State University have discovered two new coral reefs near the site of BP’s historic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the impacts to those reefs from the spill have been greater than expected, according to research released Monday.
• More mysterious craters found in Russia’s remote Siberia region (Reuters)
• Congressional Candidate: Most Energy Problems ‘Are Caused By Environmentalists’ (Climate Progress)
• Communications platform would link electric cars, utilities (SF Gate):
  [A] broad alliance of automakers and utilities plans to create a lingua franca for electric vehicles. Their goal: build a single communications platform that will let utilities glean information from and send commands to electric cars.
• EPA Is Failing To Stop Methane Leaks From Pipelines, Inspector General Says (Climate Progress):
  The Environmental Protection Agency isn’t doing enough to prevent methane from escaping from natural gas pipelines, according to a new report from the agency’s internal watchdog. The report, published Friday by the EPA’s Inspector General, stated that in 2011, more than $192 million worth of natural gas was lost due to leaks in pipelines.
• June 2014 was Earth’s warmest on record as ocean temperatures surged (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that June was the globe’s warmest in 134 years of records following its report that May was also the hottest on record. These reports are feeding anticipation that 2014 could become the warmest year on record.
• Global Ocean Temperatures Haven’t Been This Hot Since Before 1880 (Mashable)
• Study vindicates climate models accused of ‘missing the pause’ (The Conversation):
  Climate models can recreate the slowdown in global warming since 1998, as long as they correctly factor in crucial variables such as the state of the El Nià±o system, new research has shown.
• How long will world’s oil reserves last? 53 years, says BP (CS Monitor):
  The world has 53.3 years left to find an alternative to oil before current proved reserves run dry, according to BP. Of course, nations are finding new oil – meaning that number is rising – but new extraction methods are costly and can pose environmental threats.

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).