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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, five years later; As Earth Day comes and goes, Obama pushes again for climate action; Jan-March 2015 was the hottest ever recorded; PLUS: Jeb Bush thinks climate change might actually be a thing… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
4/21/2015
‘Green News Report’ – April 21, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – April 21, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): 10 tips to make every day Earth Day; Geologists think they know what caused TX earthquakes; Everything you think you know about CA water is wrong; Majority of e-waste collected in 2014 not recycled correctly; Arctic is ‘unraveling’ due to climate change; Geologists blame fracking injection wells for TX earthquakes; Support for carbon tax reaches almost 70%; Electrical grid infrastructure needs major changes, report finds… PLUS: Since BP Spill, 9 Million Acres in Gulf Leased for Drilling… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- It’s Earth Day 2015 – Celebrate Your Life Support System (ie, The Planet):
- Earth Day Network – Find a celebration near you! (Earth Day Network):
Earth Day Network’s year-round mission is to broaden, diversify and activate the environmental movement worldwide, through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer campaigns.
- 10 tips to make every day Earth Day (Treehugger):
Reuse instead of buying new every time.
Repurpose The more creative cousin of reuse, repurposing turns old junk into new, functional objects.
Rot compost everything organic.
Repair instead of replacing.
Return Only buy from companies with take-back programs.
Refill instead of buying disposable bottles and paper cups.
Refuse to buy overpackaged, disposable, single-use junk. - Earth Day 2015: These 10 Funds Prove Investors Can Beat The Stock Market By Going Green (Forbes)
- Apple gives us an environmental responsibility update for Earth Day (Treehugger)
- BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, 5 Years Later:
- BP: The Whole Story? (Public Citizen):
In the aftermath of the crisis, BP pledged to make the Gulf Coast and the victims of the oil disaster whole. Five years later, this promise has yet to be fulfilled. In fact, BP’s early pledge has largely been cast aside, because the cost to keep that promise has exceeded how much BP is willing to spend.
- What will it take to restore the Gulf Coast and its people? (Grist):
Today, after BP has spilled tens of billions of dollars on the Gulf region, looking to “make it right,” and after protracted court battles through which BP has been trying to recoup some of that money the critical question is, what will it take to fully restore the Gulf ecosystem, including its people?
- Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we are closer than ever to catastrophe (Guardian UK):
Important changes have been made since 2010, but the oil and gas industry has not learned from the historic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
- The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Was Five Years Ago Today. Here’s What We Still Don’t Know. (Climate Progress)
- Jan-March 2015 – Hottest on Record:
- New Report: March 2015 Easily Set The Record For Hottest March Ever Recorded (Climate Progress):
January-to-March was not only the hottest start to any year on record, it also beat “the previous record of 2002 by 0.09°F.”
…
Last week, NASA also reported this was the hottest three-month start of any year on record. In NASA’s database, though, this was the third warmest March on record. It was the warmest in the dataset of the Japan Meteorological Agency. These three agencies use slightly different methods for tracking global temperature, so their monthly and yearly rankings differ slightly, even as they all show the same long-term trend driven by carbon pollution. - Last month was the hottest March since record keeping began (PBS NewsHour)
- So far, 2015 is the hottest year on record (Quartz)
- Jeb Bush Acknowledges Human-Caused Climate Change – Sort Of:
- Jeb Bush, ‘concerned’ about climate change, tries to stake out middle ground on the issue (E&E News)
- VIDEO: Jeb Bush Acknowledges Human-Caused Climate Change at NH’s Politics and Eggs Breakfast (MSNBC Shift)
- Jeb Bush Came So Close to Acknowledging Climate Change (New Republic):
Bush offered a caveat, though, saying he is more worried “about the hollowing out of our country, the hollowing out of our industrial core, the hollowing out of our ability to compete in an increasingly competitive world.” The comments are only significant as far as it hints that Bush may be forming a more moderate position on climate change.
- Obama Says ‘Climate Change Can No Longer Be Ignored’ as Jeb Bush Admits He’s ‘Concerned’ (EcoWatch)
- President Obama: Time To Act On Climate Change:
- VIDEO: Obama Weekly Address: “Climate Change Threatens Our Economy” (Real Clear Politics):
We’ve committed to doubling the pace at which we cut carbon pollution, and China has committed, for the first time, to limiting their emissions. And because the world’s two largest economies came together, there’s new hope that, with American leadership, this year, the world will finally reach an agreement to prevent the worst impacts of climate change before it’s too late.
- Why Florida Everglades Could Be a Powerful Symbol in Climate Debate (Washington Post):
It may not be as obvious a climate symbol as the rapidly warming Arctic. But with President Obama’s climate-focused visit on Earth Day, Everglades National Park could take on new significance as a politically potent case study of how global warming directly impacts people living in the United States.
- Obama To Press Climate Agenda With Trip To Everglades on Earth Day (Washington Post)
[I]n February Bush told a meeting of the conservative Club for Growth that the Clean Air Act had “stifled the ability for people to rise up,” and that the country’s priority should be “growth at all cost.” It seems that his “concern” for the climate only goes so far.
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- 10 tips to make every day Earth Day (Treehugger):
Reuse instead of buying new every time.
Repurpose The more creative cousin of reuse, repurposing turns old junk into new, functional objects.
Rot compost everything organic.
Repair instead of replacing.
Return Only buy from companies with take-back programs.
Refill instead of buying disposable bottles and paper cups.
Refuse to buy overpackaged, disposable, single-use junk. - Majority of e-waste collected in 2014 not recycled correctly: report (Waste Dive) [emphasis added]:
[T]he volume of electronic waste discarded around the globe reached 41.8 million tons in 2014. Less than one-sixth of that was considered to be reused or recycled properly….The 41.8 million tons of electronics tossed in 2014 had a potential value of $52 billion worth of reusable resources.
- The Arctic is ‘unraveling’ due to climate change, and the consequences will be global (Washington Post):
“What Happens in the Arctic Doesn’t Stay in the Arctic:” Here are four potential ways, drawing both upon the new report and much of our prior reporting here, that changes in the Arctic will reverberate well beyond it and, in some cases, have planet wide consequences…
- Everything I thought I knew about water in California is wrong (Grist):
Yes, farmers use a whole lot of Golden State water. But there’s no easy solution to the state’s drought woes in turning off their taps.
- Geologists think they know what caused Azle earthquakes (WFAA):
It states that the team at SMU found “high volumes of wastewater injection combined with saltwater (brine) extraction from natural gas wells is the most likely cause of earthquakes.”
- Support for carbon tax reaches almost 70% (E&E News) [emphasis added]:
A large majority of Americans support taxing carbon emissions, according to polling results released yesterday, and favorability rises to two-thirds if the tax is used to send money back to households….[The survey] also found that efforts by environmental organizations to increase urgency around climate change by pointing to extreme weather isn’t working, and neither are efforts to erode people’s belief in global warming by questioning the science.
- Since BP Spill, 9 Million Acres in Gulf Leased for Drilling (InsideClimate News):
The BP drilling rig explosion five years ago sent 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, causing widespread damage to wildlife, ecosystems and livelihoods still seen today.
- Sardine population collapses, prompting ban on commercial fishing (SF Chronicle) [emphasis added]:
[F]ederal scientists documented a 91 percent decline in sardine numbers along the West Coast since 2007…. “They didn’t respond fast enough to the decline,” said Shester, who blamed overfishing for worsening an already bad situation. “Now we find ourselves in a crisis situation.”
- Major Changes Needed for U.S. Power Infrastructure, Says Obama Report (Washington Post):
The U.S. electric grid will require major changes to reposition itself for the future challenges of climate change, new technologies, and national security in coming decades, according to a first-ever “Quadrennial Energy Review” released by the Obama administration.
- Rate Of Climate Change To Soar By 2020s, With Arctic Warming 1°F Per Decade (Climate Progress):
New research from a major national lab projects that the rate of climate change, which has risen sharply in recent decades, will soar by the 2020s. This worrisome projection – which has implications for extreme weather, sea level rise, and permafrost melt – is consistent with several recent studies.
- Now’s Your Chance to Help Save the Imperiled Monarch Butterfly-and Get Paid to Do So (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
Another threat, according to Grant, has been well-intentioned individuals who have planted a tropical form of milkweed, which competes with native varieties and is not beneficial to monarchs or other pollinators.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
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.
Restraining global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius will require changing how the world produces and uses energy to power its cities and factories, heats and cools buildings, as well as moves people and goods in airplanes, trains, cars, ships and trucks, according to the IPCC. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people’s behavior.
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