IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Political earthquake in Massachusetts? Climate & clean energy legislation also hangs in the balance; James Inhofe is #1! PLUS: The long aftermath of the real earthquake in Haiti, as the 'second wave' of disaster unfolds ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': 2009 hottest year on record in southern hemisphere, but not in Antarctica --- yet; Trading commission moves to curb oil speculators; China snaps up California solar market; Texas town now fears pollution from drilling; Antarctica gets its first wind farm; Oregon to shut down only coal fired power plant .... PLUS: Green building is really green with vertical garden walls....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

• Climate & Clean Energy Legislation Hangs in the Balance with Senate Special Election in Massachusetts:
• Green Group Launches Last-Ditch Effort Against Scott Brown (Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones)
• Brown showcases his conservative leanings (Boston Globe) [emphasis added]:
  
  In liberal Massachusetts, the moderate Brown tends not to advertise his status as a minority Republican. Just try to find his party designation on his campaign website.
  ...
  Last month he expressed skepticism that climate change is being caused by humans. He has even denounced two national proposals that he supported in Massachusetts as a lawmaker - mandatory health care coverage and a cap-and-trade system to cut global warming gases.
• LCV Launches $350K TV Ad Blitz Against Brown in Final Days of Massachusetts Senate Race: Ad Highlights Scott Brown’s Opposition to Clean Energy Jobs, Cutting Dependence on Foreign Oil(League of Conservation Voters)
• Senate Majority Leader expects to pass bipartisan energy and climate bill this spring: (Climate Progress)
• Inhofe is Number One!:
• Inhofe: I Am The Planet's #1 Worst Enemy (Talking Points Memo)
• It Ain't Just a River in Egypt: American Farm Bureau Bets Against Science:
• Lies, Damn Lies, and Baseball Caps: The American Farm Bureau Goes All In (Grist)
• Big Ag Looks to Plow Under Senate Climate Bill (Mother Jones)
• Scientists demand meeting to talk climate with head of American Farm Bureau (Grist)
• Implications of Climate Change on Food Crops (Food Technology)
• USDA Declares Half Of Midwest As Agricultural Disaster Area (Market Skeptics)
• Texas Scorched by Worst Drought in 50 Years: Crop and Livestock Losses Reach $3.6 Billion, and Tourism Industry Takes a Hit (Wall St. Journal)
• Drought drives Middle Eastern pepper farmers out of business, threatens prized heirloom chiles (Grist)
• The Long Aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake:
• Haiti aid agencies warn: chaotic and confusing relief effort is costing lives: Operations delayed as vital supplies fail to get through at Port-au-Prince airport (Guardian UK)
• WATCH: Haiti Quake: Legacy of Disaster: Even before the recent earthquake Haiti's environment teetered on the brink of disaster. Brent and Craig Renaud report on the country's deforestation problems. (NY Times)
• Tectonics and poor construction conspired to create devastation in Haiti: The earthquake was a massive, shallow eruption beneath a heavily populated area that lacked stringent building standards, resulting in catastrophe. (LA Times)
• The Unnatural Side Of The Haiti Quake (The New Republic)
• Architecture for Humanity's Plan to Rebuild Haiti --- Better, Safer, Stronger --- And How You Can Help:
• Haiti Quake: What Next? The 3 R's: Response, Recovery, Reconstruction (Huffington Post)
• Architecture For Humanity's Plan For Haiti; Cameron Sinclair Says "Steal This Plan" (Treehugger)
• READ THE PLAN: Haiti: A Plan for Reconstruction (Architecture for Humanity.org)
• Architecture for Humanity Responds to Haiti Quake: The firm has issued a call to architects, interior designers, engineers, environmental scientists, agronomists, and landscape architects across the globe to donate their time and talent. (Interior Design)
• It could take 10 years to rebuild Haiti (CNN)
• TAKE ACTION: Building a Better, Stronger Haiti (Planet Green):
  
  Donate to non-profit organizations who are working to:
  1. Help build Haiti's economy
  2. Microfinance
  3. Help reforest Haiti
  4. Help the animals of Haiti
  5. Help rebuild a stronger Haiti
  6. Help bring renewable energy to Haiti
  7. Help provide clean water

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': More green news not covered in today's audio report...

• 2009 Hottest Year on Record in Southern Hemisphere (Science Magazine) [emphasis added]:
  
  The United States may be experiencing one of the coldest winters in decades, but things continue to heat up in the Southern Hemisphere. Science has obtained exclusive data from NASA that indicates that 2009 was the hottest year on record south of the Equator. The find adds to multiple lines of evidence showing that the 2000s were the warmest decade in the modern instrumental record.
• Why Antarctica isn't melting much – yet (New Scientist)
• Trading commission proposes curbing speculation in oil prices (McClatchy DC)
• China Snaps Up California Solar Market (Green Inc.)
• Texas town welcomed drilling, now fears pollution (The State, South Carolina)
• Antarctic Wind Farm Blows Into Life At Scott Base (TVNZ, New Zealand)
• Early Closure of Oregon's Only Coal-Fired Power Plant Has National Implications: Utility Proposes Shutdown in 2020 (Solve Climate)
• Giant Green Facade Part Of Green Rehab of Portland Office Building (Treehugger)

                 

Article Categories: Environment, Green News