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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: WI Gov. Scott Walker jumps into the 2016 race - we report on his (predictable) position on climate change; Warmest June on record for the Western United States; Exxon Mobil knew about man-made global warming in 1981 - and then funded climate denial industry for 30 years; PLUS: No, we are not headed into a new 'mini-ice age' - the latest denialist theory debunked... 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): In Pennsylvania city, the poor are paying the price for a bad water deal; Japan is building huge solar power plants that float on water; China: June coal imports fall 34 per cent; Iran Nuclear Deal Is Reached After Long Negotiations; Pipeline Safety in the Congressional Spotlight; Presidential Candidates Say 'No' To Fossil Fuel Funding... PLUS: Australia: Tony Abbot's government pulls the plug on household solar... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• WI Gov. Scott Walker Enters Race for 2016 Republican Nomination:
• Walker Gives GOP Presidential Field a New Anti-Climate Leader (InsideClimate News):
  
  As governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker has worked against environmental policies and tried to ban any work on climate change.
• Transcript: Read Full Text of Gov. Scott Walker’s Campaign Launch (TIME)
• Scott Walker Is the Worst Candidate for the Environment - From wind turbines to iron ore mines… (Mother Jones) [emphasis added]:
  
  "He really has gone after every single piece of environmental protection: Land, air, water—he's left no stone unturned," said Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. "It's hard to imagine anyone has done worse."
• Scott Walker Is the Most Dangerous Candidate on Climate Change (The New Republic) [emphasis added]:
  
  The 14 Republicans running for president already meet the party’s every need for an anti-environment, climate change-denying nominee....But Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is set to announce his own presidential candidacy on Monday, can claim a unique role as the GOP’s most dangerous candidate when it comes to the environment.
• Scott Walker: Let’s Gut The EPA (Climate Progress)
• What does Scott Walker believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues (PBS NewsHour)
• Hottest June On Record For Western United States:
• Record Warmth Continues to Bake U.S. West (Climate Central):
  
  The U.S. West is still baking. The temperatures for June are in and five Western states saw their warmest June ever (helping to make the month the second warmest June for the contiguous U.S.), and four continue to see their warmest year-to-date, just as 2015 hits the halfway mark.
• National Overview - June 2015 (NOAA)
• Unprecedented June Heat on Four Continents; Wimbledon Roasts in Record Heat (Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground):
  
  Unprecedented June heat scorched portions of four continents during the past week, and many all-time heat records are likely to fall across multiple continents this July as the peak heat of summer arrives for what has been the hottest year in recorded human history.
• Exxon Mobil: Knew About Climate Change in 1981, Funded Denial Industry Instead:
• Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years (Guardian UK):
  
  A newly unearthed missive from Lenny Bernstein, a climate expert with the oil firm for 30 years, shows concerns over high presence of carbon dioxide in enormous gas field in south-east Asia factored into decision not to tap it.
• Former Exxon Employee Says Company Considered Climate Risks as Early as 1981: New Report Finds that Despite Decades of Scientific Warnings, Fossil Fuel Companies Continued to Mislead Public, Policymakers (Union of Concerned Scientists):
  
  Yet as the new report, The Climate Deception Dossiers, chronicles, Exxon and other major fossil fuel companies did not take action to disclose or reduce climate risks in the ensuing years, but instead actively misled the public and policymakers about them.
• A New Climate Denier Myth! No, We Are NOT Headed Into a Mini-Ice Age:
• AUDIO: Debunking New 'Mini Ice Age' Scam and the Man Who Punked Scott Walker: 'BradCast' 7/13/2015: Guests: Physicist Joe Romm; Journalist Ian 'David Koch' Murphy...(The BRAD BLOG)
• Media Blows The Story: Global Warming Speed-Up Is Imminent, Not An Ice Age (Climate Progress):
  
  U.K. tabloids, conservative media, and others are (mis)reporting that the Earth will enter a "mini ice age" in the 2030s. In fact, the reverse is true.

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

• In Pennsylvania city, the poor are paying the price for a bad water deal (Al Jazeera America):
  
  Beleaguered Coatesville sold its water system to a private company in hopes of fueling a turnaround that never came
• Japan is building huge solar power plants that float on water (Huffington Post):
  
  In Japan’s Hyogo prefecture, a solar station was recently launched that floats on a reservoir and will produce about 2,680 megawatt hours per year—enough for 820 typical households. Kyocera plans to build dozens of such stations on reservoirs around Japan, especially in areas lacking available land for utility-scale generation.
• Australia: Tony Abbot's government pulls the plug on household solar (Sydney Morning Herals):
  
  The Abbott government has opened up another front in its war on renewable energy by pulling the plug on investments in the most common form of alternative energy, rooftop and small-scale solar. As a storm raged over the government's directive to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to no longer back wind energy projects, it emerged that it has also put a stop to solar investments other than the largest industrial-scale projects.
• China: June coal imports fall 34 per cent on year (Reuters):
  
  Imports rose 16.5 percent on a month earlier as power plants began to rebuild stockpiles ahead of the summer consumption peak, but first-half imports were still down 37.5 percent at 99.9 million tonnes, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs.
• Iran Nuclear Deal Is Reached After Long Negotiations (NY Times):
  
  Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States have agreed to a historic accord to significantly limit Tehran’s nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions against Iran, a senior Western diplomat involved in the negotiations said on Tuesday.
• Pipeline Safety in the Congressional Spotlight (Houston Chronicle):
  
  Lawmakers are set to grill the nation's top pipeline regulator on Tuesday, as a Houston company works to clean up oil spills in California and Illinois that have highlighted safety concerns.
• 3 Presidential Candidates Say 'No' To Fossil Fuel Funding (Huffington Post):
  
  Three of the candidates in the 2016 presidential race have pledged to shun campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
• Treat Climate Change as Seriously as National Security: Report (Reuters):
  
  Governments should treat climate change as seriously as threats to national security or public health, partly by focusing more on the worst scenarios of rising temperatures, an international report said on Monday.
• Lead Poisoning Is Still A Public Health Crisis For African-Americans (Huffington Post):
  
  Before Freddie Gray died of spinal injuries he received in police custody, sparking weeks of protest in his native Baltimore and around the country, he was a 'lead kid,' one of thousands of children in the city with toxic levels of lead in their blood from years of living in substandard housing --- and long-term health problems as a result.
• Judge Rejects Greens’ Intervention in Chris Christie’s Exxon Settlement (The Hill):
  
  A New Jersey judge has rejected a plea from environmental groups to intervene in a pollution settlement Gov. Chris Christie (R) negotiated.
• 20 Companies Open Online Market for Material Reuse (ENS):
  
  The newly formed National Materials Marketplace brings together more than 20 major companies with operations in the United States to avoid waste by making use of undervalued materials.
• The Really Big One: An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when. (The New Yorker):
  
  In the Pacific Northwest, everything west of Interstate 5 covers some hundred and forty thousand square miles, including Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Salem (the capital city of Oregon), Olympia (the capital of Washington), and some seven million people. When the next full-margin rupture happens, that region will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America.
• Every country is now pledging to tackle CO2 emissions. It's still not enough. (Vox.com):
  
  In other words, if the world wants to stay below 2°C of global warming - which has long been considered the danger zone for climate change - these pledges are only a first step. Countries will have to do a whole lot more than they're currently promising. And the IEA has a few ideas for what "do a whole lot more" might entail.
  ...
  1. Increase energy efficiency in the industry, buildings, and transport sectors.
  2. Progressively reduce the use of the least efficient coal-fired power plants and banning their construction.
  3. Increase investment in renewable energy technologies in the power sector from $270 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2030.
  4. Gradually phase out fossil fuel subsidies to end-users by 2030.
  5. Reduce methane emissions in oil and gas production.
• 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

• 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, Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, Mainstream Media Failure, Environment, Washington State, Republicans, Green News, Natural gas, Coal, Nuclear power/weapons, 'Tea Party', Scott Walker, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Idaho, Election 2016, Keystone XL, Exxon Mobil