IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Interior Dept. kicks oil industry out of bed --- literally!; EPA to start regulating toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants; Fastest electric motorcycle in the world breaks speed record... PLUS: Corporate "free speech" could get even worse...much... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': Clean energy to create more jobs than coal; Nestle Gives Up on McCloud Water Bottling Plant; Antibiotic resistance clue found; Google says We're Going into the Solar Mirror Business; UN: Gaza water supplies in danger of ‘collapse,’; Solar Filling Stations: On-Demand Fuel for Electric Cars and Bikes ... PLUS: A message from Van Jones...
Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...
- U.S. Kicks Oil Companies Out of Bed:
- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to end royalty program that erupted in scandal (LA Times)
- U.S. Ending Oil-Royalty Program After Scandal (NY Times)
- Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department (NY Times, Sept. 2008)
- EPA to Regulate Toxic Water Discharges
- US to place limits on power plant water pollution (Forbes)
- EPA to crack down on toxic water from power plants (Coal Tattoo)
- EPA Revamping Rules For Toxic Releases From Coal Plants (Grist)
- A releases ‘integrity’ studies of coal-ash dams (Coal Tattoo)
- Environmental Groups Hold EPA Accountable for 26-Year Delay in Setting Limits on Coal Power Plant Toxic Discharges (Environmental Integrity Project)
- Mercury found in all fish caught in U.S.-tested streams (USA Today)
- EPA releases locations of high-hazard coal ash dumps; most are in the South (Institute for Southern Studies)
- NY Times nails Clean Water Act crimes and (lack of) punishment (Grist)
- Toxic Waters: Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va.In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes.
...
Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.“How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?” said Mrs. Hall-Massey, a senior accountant at one of the state’s largest banks.
She and her husband, Charles, do not live in some remote corner of Appalachia. Charleston, the state capital, is less than 17 miles from her home.
- U.S. Congress Moves and Stalls on Clean Energy:
- Is Harry Reid bailing on climate legislation? (Wall St. Journal)
- Senate Delay on Climate Bill Could Stymie Copenhagen Talks (ClimateWire
- House clears $3 billion for auto technology research (Reuters)
- Electric Motorcycles AND Electric Cars:
- Mission Accomplished: Electric Motorcycle Hits 150 MPH (Wired)
- Video: Mission One Electric Superbike at 150 mph (Wired)
- As Frankfurt Auto Show Opens, the Buzz Is About Electric Cars (NY Times)
- Citroën Hybrid Concept is Mildly Revolte-ing (Wired)
- Audi’s EV Delivers Torque Like a Tank
- Top 5 Green Cars from the Frankfurt Auto Show (Inhabitat)
- Full Coverage: Frankfurt Auto Show 2009
- Supreme Court Revisits Rules on Corporate Speech:
- Unprecedented: Watching the Supreme Court make its campaign finance jurisprudence disappear. (Salon)
- WATCH: Corporations do everything people do except breathe, die and go to jail for dumping 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the Hudson River. (06:11)
The Colbert Report: The Word - Let Freedom Ka-Ching (Comedy Central) - WATCH: Jeffrey Toobin explains what will happen to elections if the Supreme Court decides in favor of corporations. (04:03)
The Colbert Report: Citizens United v. FEC (Comedy Central)
'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': More green news not covered in today's audio report...
- Clean energy to create more jobs than coal: study (Reuters)
- Nestle Gives Up on McCloud Water Bottling Plant (Triple Pundit)
- Antibiotic resistance clue found: US scientists have uncovered a defence mechanism in bacteria that allows them to fend off the threat of antibiotics. (BBC)
- Google: We're Going into the Solar Mirror Business (PC Magazine)
- Gaza water supplies in danger of ‘collapse,’ U.N. says (AFP)
- Solar Filling Stations: On-Demand Fuel for Electric Cars and Bikes (Inhabitat)
- A message from Van Jones (Grist):
My family and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support that we have received over the past week or so. I resigned from the White House on Sept. 6, and I have remained silent since then—in keeping with my promise not to be a distraction during a key moment in the Obama Presidency.Over the past several days, however, many people have been asking how they can help and what they can do.
The main thing is this: please do everything you can to support both President Obama and the green jobs movement. Winning real change is ultimately the best response to these kinds of smear campaigns.