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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Sen. Mitch McConnell dodges on climate change: "I am not a scientist"; Republican candidates retreating from climate change denial; U.S. auto fleet achieves record fuel efficiency; PLUS: 'Clean Coal' goes online in Canada - but there's a catch ... 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): Printable solar cells coming soon; Obama to designate San Gabriel Mountain as America's newest national monument; Artificial turf linked to cancer cluster; The future of food amid record drought; Kansas wind energy takes off; Massive oil train fire in Saskatchewan; US east coast cities face chronic flooding due to climate change; Hyrdopower drying up in CA ... PLUS: Solution Is the Soil: How Organic Farming Can Feed the World and Save the Planet ... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• US Auto Fleet Hits Record High Vehicle Mileage:
• Americans’ Cars Are More Fuel-Efficient Than Ever (Climate Progress)
• EPA says new vehicle mileage hits record 24.1 mpg (AP):
  
  Gas mileage for new cars and trucks in the U.S. averaged a record 24.1 miles per gallon last year, but gains in fuel economy are slowing. The Environmental Protection Agency says fuel economy last year rose one-half mile per gallon over the 2012 model year, mainly because automakers have improved gas engines and transmissions and added turbochargers to give smaller motors more power.
• Republicans Retreat from Climate Change Denial
• VIDEO: GOP Senate candidate Cory Gardner has held 3 positions on climate change this week (Salon):
  
  The Colorado Republican can't get his story straight on whether humans contribute to the problem.
• ‘I’m Not A Scientist’: A Complete Guide To Politicians Who Plead Ignorance On Climate Change (Climate Progress)
• Republican Surgeon-Turned-Congressman: ‘I Am A Scientist’ And There’s No Evidence Of Manmade Climate Change (Climate Progress)
• Artful Dodger: Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Claims "I Am Not A Scientist":
• VIDEO: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "I am not a scientist" [at about 14:15mins] (Cincinnatti Enquirer)
• McConnell on climate change: 'Not a scientist' (Louisville Courier-Journal):
  
  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial board on Thursday that he doesn't know if climate change is a real problem because he's "not a scientist" and that he's more interested in producing cheap energy than worrying about it.
• AUDIO: Testy Sen. McConnell on Kentucky Sports Radio - "I Am Not A Scientist" (Kentucky Sports Radio 1080AM)
• McConnell Called 'Needlessly Angry' After Tough KY Sports Radio Interview (Talking Points Memo)
• Coal-Fired Politics: In Kentucky Senate Race, Bitter Rivals Woo a Dying Industry
  Incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell and challenger Alison Grimes are fighting over an industry that provides just .06 percent of Kentucky's jobs. (InsideClimate News)
• Rand Paul Mistakenly Claims Coal Is Kentucky's Biggest Industry (Huffington Post Green)
• "Clean Coal" Goes Online In Canada - But There's A Catch:
• VIDEO: Has an era of ‘clean coal’ begun? (All In with Chris Hayes, MSNBC): Mississippi’s Kemper County energy facility is supposed to be the symbol for a clean coal future. All In got an inside look.
• 'Clean Coal' With Carbon Capture Debuts in North America (Not in U.S.) (NBC News)
• Clean Coal Era Begins (in Canada) (Scientific American) [emphasis added]:
  
  the Mississippi-based Kemper Facility, a power plant that will turn brown coal to gas and strip off the CO2 in the process, is due online in 2015—a year behind schedule and at a of cost $5.6 billion, more than twice its initial estimate.
• Cost rises again, completion delayed at Mississippi Power's Kemper County plant (AP)
• VIDEO Parody: Clean Coal Air Freshener (ThisIsReality.org):

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

• Printable Solar Panels May Be Coming to a Device Near You (Mashable):
  
  Australian scientists claim they are extremely close to having printable solar panels available for market.
• Obama to designate San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
  
  When President Obama stands in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles Friday and sets aside 346,000 acres as the country’s newest national monument, he will bring together two of the top priorities of what he hopes will be his presidential legacy — environmental protection and cultural and demographic diversity.
• The Solution Is the Soil: How Organic Farming Can Feed the World and Save the Planet (Common Dreams) [emphasis added]:
  
  One man, backed by many, marches on Washington to tell lawmakers and the world that 'there is hope right beneath our feet.'... "We're talking about the capability of regenerative organic agriculture being able to actually reverse and draw down the excesses" of carbon and other greenhouse gases that are now overwhelming the capacity of the planet's atmosphere.
• How Safe Is the Artificial Turf Your Child Plays On? (NBC News) [emphasis added]:
  
  Two young female goalies Griffin knew had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma...That day, the nurse looked down at the woman Griffin was sitting with and said, "Don't tell me you guys are goalkeepers. You're the fourth goalkeeper I've hooked up this week."
• Soaring Almond Prices, Drought, and the Future of Food (Epoch Times):
  
  The pain is felt most acutely in California itself. The state’s $45 billion agricultural sector has lost an estimated $2.5 to $7 billion in production and a staggering 20,000 jobs, often among the state’s poorest workers, as fields have been fallowed for lack of water.
• Kansas Wind Hits Turbulence (Climate Crocks):
  
  What makes wind power so compelling is that, at the moment, it is close to the lowest-price electricity, and that price can be locked in for 20 years by contract. “It’s a way to hedge gas price volatility and the environmental regulation of coal,” Riley said.
• Massive fire after oil train derails in central Saskatchewan (National Post)
• US east coast cities face frequent flooding due to climate change (Guardian UK):
  
  From Miami to Washington DC, towns and cities on America’s east coast could see triple the number of tidal floods by 2030 as sea levels rise, say researchers.
• California’s Drought Is So Bad, Even Its Hydropower Is Drying Up (Climate Progress):
  
  California’s ability to produce renewable energy from hydroelectric dams has been significantly hampered over the last few years because of an increasingly severe and widespread drought, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday.
• Oil-Price Swoon Hits Energy Firms’ Shares (Wall St. Journal)
• Cancer risk from air pollution drops in Southern California (LA Times):
  
  Southern Californians' cancer risk from air pollution has dropped 65% since 2005 but is still too high in many areas, regional air quality regulators said in a report released Thursday.
• Satellite Data Shows U.S. Methane ‘Hot Spot’ Bigger than Expected (NASA) [emphasis added]:
  
  [T]he study period predates the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, near the hot spot. This indicates the methane emissions should not be attributed to fracking but instead to leaks in natural gas production and processing equipment in New Mexico's San Juan Basin, which is the most active coalbed methane production area in the country.
• VIDEO: If We Cared About The Environment Like We Care About Sports (Buzzfeed):



• 4 Scenarios Show What Climate Change Will Do To The Earth, From Pretty Bad To Disaster (Fast CoExist):
  
  But exactly how bad is still an open question, and a lot depends not only on how we react, but how quickly. The rate at which humans cut down on greenhouse gas emissions--if we do choose to cut them--will have a large bearing on how the world turns out by 2100, the forecasts reveal.

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, MSNBC, Colorado, Mainstream Corporate Media, Corporate Media, Mainstream Media Failure, Environment, U.S. Senate, Kentucky, Republicans, Green News, EPA, Mitch McConnell, Natural gas, Coal, Canada, Chris Hayes, Oil, Climate change, Election 2014, Mark Udall