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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Republicans pan government action on climate and energy at their third Presidential debate; PLUS: More major corporations sign on to Obama's Clean Power Plan (But don't tell the GOP or CNBC)... 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): NOAA Stiff-Arms House Science Committee Subpoena Questioning 'Hiatus' Study; Apple's solar commitment in China could roil tech industry; Worldwide chocolate shortage looms in 10 years, due to climate change; Warming seas blamed for cod fishery collapse in Maine waters; Shell Oil scraps another tar sands project; Governments To Raise $22 Billion From Carbon Pricing in 2015... PLUS: Mining Companies Keep Drawing Water from Athabasca River as It Runs Dry ... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• The Third GOP Presidential Primary Debate in Boulder, CO:
• VIDEO: Watch the full Republican debate - CNBC's Republican Presidential Debate where the candidates debated the economy, Social Security and numerous fiscal and global issues. (CNBC)
• The third Republican debate transcript, annotated (Main Debate) (Washington Post)
• GOP Debate in Boulder, CO: No Government Role on Climate Change:
• Republicans Embrace Obama on Energy: Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham and George Pataki sought to claim some of the president's energy policies as their own. (US News):
  
  The candidates even went a few steps further, pledging to expand just about every aspect of the Obama administration's energy policies:
  + Pataki, former governor of New York, said he'd increase government support for research and development in clean energy - a major plank of Energy Department policy under the Obama administration.
  + Jindal falsely declared that Obama "won't let us produce more energy on our domestic federal lands and waters." The administration's not only approved new oil, gas and coal extraction on public lands, it's also sought to open the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean to drilling.
  + And Christie vowed no new "government taxes" on things like heat-trapping carbon emissions - an originally Republican idea also supported by many conservatives and manufacturers and fossil fuels groups, but which Obama has also avoided since a cap-and-trade proposal died in the Senate in 2009.
• VIDEO: Pataki Slams GOP On Climate Change And Vaccines: 'We Question Science' (Talking Points Memo) [emphasis added]:
  
  "One of the things that troubles me about the Republican Party is too often we question science that everyone accepts," Pataki said at Wednesday's GOP undercard debate, when asked about his belief that climate change is caused by human activity."I mean, it's ridiculous that in the 21st century we're questioning whether or not vaccines are the appropriate way to go. Of course they are," Pataki said. "And it's also not appropriate to think that human activity, putting CO2 into the atmosphere doesn't make the Earth warmer, all things being equal. It does." He said the government should "incentivize innovation," but suggested that the private sector lead the charge against climate change.
• VIDEO: Christie: We should invest in all types of energy (CNBC) [emphasis added]:
  
  "That's the way we deal with global warming - not through government intervention, not through government taxes, and for God's sake, don't send Washington another dime until they stop wasting the money they are already sending now."
  ...
  The Republican candidates have had mixed views, which are sometimes unclear, on climate change. For the most part, the candidates are wary of the way in which green policies and regulations can potentially affect the economy.
• Christie was the only Republican asked about climate at the main debate - and he got it all wrong (Grist) [emphasis added]:
  
  Last time, [Christie] just agreed with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's false talking points about how climate action is too expensive. This time Christie's answer was more in-depth. Unfortunately, it was just as dishonest and ignorant as Rubio's....Christie actually weakened New Jersey's renewable energy goal.
  ...
  If you are trying to solve climate change, then it is obviously counterproductive to "do everything we can" to increase production of oil, which is the second-largest source of carbon emissions after coal.
• Christie talks climate change at debate, but he gets it wrong, wrong, wrong (Daily Kos)
• 81 More Major Corporations Sign On to Obama's Clean Power Plan:
• VIDEO: White House Emphasizes Companies' Commitment to Cutting Emissions (NY Times):
  
  The companies that have made the pledge include such iconic American brands as Levi Strauss & Company, McDonald's, I.B.M. and Procter & Gamble. They have operations in all 50 states, employ over nine million people, and have more than $3 trillion in annual revenue and a combined market capitalization of over $5 trillion, according to the White House.
• America's Companies Keep Pledging To Reduce Emissions (Climate Progress)
• Apple to build more solar projects in China, green its suppliers (Reuters)

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

• NOAA Stiff-Arms House Science Committee Subpoena Questioning 'Hiatus' Study (InsideClimate News):
  
  The agency refused to turn over scientists' emails about a study that debunks a theory favored by climate deniers, including committee chair Lamar Smith.
• Apple's solar commitment in China could roil tech industry (E & E News) [emphasis added]:
  
  While many large tech companies recently have made big commitments to renewable energy, Apple's initiative is something new. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon have purchased large wind or solar farms in the United States and directed hundreds of megawatts of electricity to supply their own data centers --- moves that give them credibility among their young and social media-minded customers. What Apple promised to do this week is to build solar farms to supply an entirely different sort of animal: factories, in another country, that aren't owned or controlled by Apple.
• National Chocolate Day: Could climate change hurt supplies? (CS Monitor) [emphasis added]:
  
  Due to climate change, land degradation, and unsustainable business models, an international chocolate crisis is forecast to strike the planet in as soon as 10 years. And by 2050, West Africa, the home to most of the world's chocolate crops, will be too hot for cacao trees to survive.
• Climate change is doing some very strange things to the waters off New England (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
  
  A new scientific study says that rapidly warming waters off the New England coast have had a severe consequence — the collapse of a cod fishery that saw too many catches even as overall cod numbers declined due to warmer seas.
• Shell scraps Carmon Creek oilsands project (CTV):
  
  "We are making changes to Shell's portfolio mix by reviewing our longer-term upstream options world-wide, and managing affordability and exposure in the current world of lower oil prices. This is forcing tough choices at Shell," CEO Ben van Beurden said in a release.
• Mining Companies Keep Drawing Water from Athabasca River as It Runs Dry (VICE):
  
  Tar sands mining companies have continued to withdraw water from the Athabasca River in northeastern Alberta despite low flows that have made navigation difficult for river users downstream and left Fort Chipewyan's harbor dry.
• Though Labeled ‘Wild,’ That Serving of Salmon May Be Farmed or ‘Faux’ (NY Times):
  
  The wild-caught salmon sold by restaurants and fishmongers is frequently farm-raised fish that has been mislabeled, said a report released Wednesday.
• Before We Drown We May Die of Thirst (Nature):
  
  The island nation of Kiribati is one of the world's most vulnerable to rising sea levels. But residents may have to leave well before the ocean claims their homes.
• Governments To Raise $22 Billion From Carbon Pricing in 2015: Report (Reuters):
  
  Governments around the world will this year raise around $22 billion from schemes putting a price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions such as taxes or emissions trading systems, a report on Wednesday showed.
• Scientists Confirm E Antarctica’s Biggest Glacier Is Melting From Below (Washington Post):
  
  Scientists have observed a thinning of East Antarctica's Totten Glacier, which they now believe is because it is being undermined by sea water. This could cause significant sea level rise.

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: Environment, Green News, EPA, Chris Christie, Fracking, Natural gas, Nuclear power/weapons, Oil, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Election 2016, Keystone XL, Bobby Jindal