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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: UN climate talks stall on 2C temperature target; Hillary Clinton calls for prosecuting Exxon Mobil; Climate denier academics caught soliciting payment from fossil fuel interests; PLUS: Rush Limbaugh’s guest host given U.S. Senate platform to deny climate change… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
12/10/2015
‘Green News Report’ – December 10, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – December 10, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Ethiopia Drought ‘Leaves 10 Million Without Food; Environmental, Energy Riders Key in Capitol Hill’s Budget Endgame; Heading Off Negative Impacts of Dam Projects; Texas Fracking Zone Emits 90% More Methane Than EPA Estimated; Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Sues Gas Driller Over ‘Deceptive’ Leases; House of Representatives approves bill to ban microbeads; Fear at the Tap: Uranium Contaminates Water in the West… PLUS: Shade-Grown Cacao? This Pricey Treat Is Actually Good for the Planet… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- COP21: Challenging the Temperature Target at Historic Climate Negotiations In Paris:
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 Newsroom (UNFCCC)
- AUDIO: Island Nations Fight to Stay Afloat at Paris Climate Conference: ‘BradCast’ 12/8/2015 (The BRAD BLOG):
“This is not something that is an economic issue for us, it’s an existential issue for us. Our backs are literally against the wall on this one. And therefore we will fight for our existence…If you think the Syrian refugee crisis is bad now,” he adds, “imagine if all the low-lying areas in the world have to migrate. And it’s not only the small islands. The majority of the world’s population lives on a coastline, and all those areas will be displaced.”
- The Paris Climate Talks Are Going Much Better Than Expected (Slate):
[Ju]dging by progress so far, the Paris summit looks like it will at least eliminate the worst-case climate change scenario. Whether or not it will pave the way toward locking in the best-case scenario will of course depend on the additional action it motivates over the years to come.
- At the Climate Conference, the Rich Are Working to Stay Rich (The New Republic)
- With New Climate Draft, a Deal Creeps Closer in Paris (Reuters)
- Paris climate talks: John Kerry sees hurdles to deal as deadline approaches (Guardian UK):
US secretary of state expects a slog in the next 72 hours as governments seek to reach an agreement, but he voices optimism: ‘Consensus is slowly being built’
- Australia wins ‘fossil of the day’ for Julie Bishop’s coal speech at Paris climate talks (Guardian UK):
Foreign affairs minister earns mock award for claim that ‘coal will remain critical to promoting prosperity, growing economies and alleviating hunger for years.’
- Chasing a Climate Deal in Paris (NY Times)
- Seven key issues to be addressed at the Paris climate summit (Simon Donner, Univ. of British Columbia)
- Matter of degree: Temperature goal in climate talks an issue (AP):
Here’s a math problem that is confounding international climate negotiators: Which is better, 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius? The difference is just half a degree, but small nations say that for them it could mean the difference between life and death. For larger nations, the question is what’s realistic and what’s not when it comes to limiting global warming.
- Hillary Clinton Calls For Investigation, Prosecution of Exxon Mobil:
- VIDEO: Hillary Clinton Explains #ExxonKnew Scandal (350.org Youtube Channel):
Question: “Earlier you supported the Department of Justice investigating Exxon Mobil lying about climate change. Ah, would you support them prosecuting them to the fullest extent possible?”
Secretary Clinton: “Well first of all you have to have an investigation. And I don’t know what the investigation will determine. So, I don’t wanna say, I don’t wanna prejudge it. But if the investigation points towards either civil or criminal action, then I would support that. Because I think that, I want us to be looking at what Exxon Mobil told their shareholders, told the public… - Exxon: The Road Not Taken: Exxon’s Own Research Confirmed Fossil Fuels’ Role in Global Warming Decades Ago (InsideClimate News):
Top executives were warned of possible catastrophe from greenhouse effect, then led efforts to block solutions.
- Climate Denier Academics Caught Soliticing Payment from Fossil Fuel Interests:
- Greenpeace exposes sceptics hired to cast doubt on climate science (Guardian UK):
Sting operation uncovers two prominent climate sceptics available for hire by the hour to write reports on the benefits of rising CO2 levels and coal
- Oil Companies Can Sponsor Academics To Write Contrarian Studies, Investigation Finds (Climate Progress)
- Rush Limbaugh’s Guest Host Given Senate Platform to Deny Climate Change:
- VIDEO: Ted Cruz Invited A Right-Wing Radio Host To Testify On Climate Science And He Gave This Insane Rant (Climate Progress):
“We are planning now for global security threats a century hence, because the Maldives might have been swept away by water by then,” Steyn said. “The entire population of the Maldives are Sunni Muslim, so they will fit in perfectly fine if they all move to this Brussels suburb that produced the shooters in Paris.”
- Pentagon: Global Warming Poses ‘Immediate Risk’ To National Security (Climate Progress)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- Environmental, Energy Riders Key in Capitol Hill’s Budget Endgame (AP):
Environmental policy riders are one of the bones of contention stalling a massive omnibus funding deal in Congress as the December 11 government shutdown deadline looms.
- Ethiopia Drought ‘Leaves 10 Million Without Food (BBC):
Ethiopia’s government has increased to 10.1 million the estimated number of people who desperately need food aid because of a drought.
- Heading Off Negative Impacts of Dam Projects (NY Times):
Hydroelectric dams grace bank notes in developing countries, from Mozambique to Laos, Kyrgyzstan to Sri Lanka, a place of honor reflecting their reputation as harbingers of prosperity.
- Texas Fracking Zone Emits 90% More Methane Than EPA Estimated (InsideClimate News):
The Barnett Shale’s emissions have been vastly underestimated, sweeping Environmental Defense Fund-backed study finds.
- Top Climate Expert: Crisis is Worse Than We Think & Scientists Are Self-Censoring to Downplay Risk (Democracy Now!):
The message is that the voluntary submissions that have been put forward by all of the countries, when you add all of these up, they are far, far above the level of what we call dangerous climate change…
- China Raises Its Targets for Renewable Energy (NY Times):
China now wants to generate 150 to 200 gigawatts of electricity using solar power by 2020, possibly quadrupling the previous target. China also wants to sharply lift its wind power targets to 250 gigawatts by the same year.
- Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Sues Gas Driller Over ‘Deceptive’ Leases (Talking Points Memo):
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. tricked landowners into signing industry-friendly leases in the early years of the Marcellus Shale drilling boom and then improperly deducted post-production expenses from their royalty checks, according to the lawsuit filed in Bradford County.
- House of Representatives approves bill to ban environmentally damaging microbeads (The Verge):
The United States is poised to ban microbeads, minuscule pieces of plastic found in personal care products like face and body washes, toothpastes, and soap, after studies showed they cause significant harm to the environment. The House of Representatives yesterday approved the Microbead Free Waters Act, which “” if approved by the Senate “” will start phasing out the production of microbeads on July 1st, 2017.
- Shade-Grown Cacao? This Pricey Treat Is Actually Good for the Planet (Washington Post):
Among large chocolate growers, this traditional method has given way to the more profitable cultivation of a single crop in a clear-cut field with little or no-shade cover. However, research shows that this method of farming leads to major losses in carbon storage compared to natural forests.
- For Indians, Smog and Poverty Are Higher Priorities Than Talks in Paris (NY Times):
For the last month, the front pages of major newspapers have been dominated by one environmental crisis after another: City-dwellers are up in arms about hazardous levels of air pollution, which has already damaged the lungs of about half of Delhi’s schoolchildren. And last month brought torrential rains and flooding in the southern city of Chennai, evoking the erratic weather that climate experts warn about.- One Simple Chart Shows How The Democratic Candidates’ Climate Plans Have Drastically Changed (Climate Progress):
A lot has changed in the last five months.- Fear at the Tap: Uranium Contaminates Water in the West (AP):
In a trailer park tucked among irrigated orchards that help make California’s San Joaquin Valley the richest farm region in the world, 16-year-old Giselle Alvarez, one of the few English-speakers in the community of farmworkers, puzzles over the notices posted on front doors: There’s a danger in their drinking water.FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
- Skeptical Science: Database with FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Myths
- 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.- How to Solve Global Warming: It’s the Energy Supply (Scientific American):
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.- Warning: Even in the best-case scenario, climate change will kick our asses (Grist)
- NASA Video: Warming over the last 130 years, and into the next 100 years:
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- For Indians, Smog and Poverty Are Higher Priorities Than Talks in Paris (NY Times):
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