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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Congrats ExxonMobil, ya did it again!; Have a greener Halloween; The Governator slams “wimps” in D.C., and his director James Cameron jumps in; PLUS: It’s Crazy Time in the final stretch before Tuesday’s pivotal elections, and the fists, dollars and puns are flying … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): CA Student Delivers Prop. 23 Debate Challenge to Koch; Strongest storm ever recorded in the Midwest smashes all-time records; “Security zone” set around BP oil spill site; Seattle Fuel Spill Spreads Slick Across Salmon Bay; South Africa unveils plans for ‘world’s biggest’ solar power plant; Companies Fight to Keep Global Warming Data Secret; air emissions of benzene may cause birth defects; Global warming threatens CA state’s parks …PLUS: Justice Dept. Inspector: Prison E-Waste Recycling Endangered Inmates…
STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Have a Greener Halloween!
- Green Halloween: A Healthy, Green and Fun Community Movement (GreenHalloween.org)
- How to Go Green: Halloween (Planet Green)
- Green Halloween: Throwing A Fabulously Green Monster Bash (Eat.Drink.Better blog)
- Green Halloween Tips: Tricks to Make Your Halloween a Treat for Mother Nature (About.com)
- 10 Green Halloween Costume Ideas Inspired by the Planet’s Perils (Treehugger)
- Threadbanger: DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Costume Ideas (via Treehugger)
- Green Halloween: Sugar Rush: Heatlhier Snacks for Treats (Treehugger)
- Green Halloween: Bag the Habit — Make your own re-usable treat bags! (Treehugger)
- 5 Do-It-Yourself Halloween Costumes Made from Materials You Already Own (Ebay Green Team)
- A Magical and Green Halloween (NatureMoms Blog)
- How ‘Bout Creating Some Jobs Now?: ExxonMobil’s 55% Jump in 3rd Quarter Profit:
- FUNNY: The Governator slams “wimps” in Congress, Teams Up With James Cameron to Fight CA’s Prop 23
- WATCH: Schwarzenegger Says Prop 23 Fight Should Be National Example: ‘Stand Up Against The Oil Companies’ (Wonk Room):
“And so now the important thing is we push back, wipe out Proposition 23….[I]t will be one of the first times in a long time where oil companies – rich people that have polluted the world, who have enriched themselves in doing that – have been pushed back. And it will be that momentum.
We need to go to Washington and say, “Look what happened. You, because oil companies have spent money against you, they have threatened you, you backed off the energy policy and the environmental policy in Washington.” What wimps. No guts. I mean, here, you idolize and always celebrate the great warriors, our soldiers, our men and women who go to Iraq and Afghanistan, and they’re risking their lives to defend this country, and you’re not even willing to stand up against the oil companies? I say, “That’s disgusting.” You promised the people you’d represent them. You didn’t promise the people you’d represent the oil companies and the special interests.”
- WATCH: Filming together for the first time in 16 years, a truly dynamic duo say “No on Prop 23 (Climate Progress):
- CRAZY TIME in the Push to Tuesday’s Pivotal Election:
- Oily Assaults on CA: Both Direct (Prop 23) and Subtle (Prop 26): Industry seeks to evade accountability by labeling a ‘fee’ as a ‘tax’ (The Brad Blog)
- Study: California’s Prop 26 undermines green, health laws (The Hill)
- Hint: It’s not out of the goodness of its black oil heart: The curious case of why Chevron is sitting out Prop 23 (Grist)
- In California, 26 = 23: Prop 26″²s dirty backers flee from political poison of Prop 23 (Grist)
- House GOP candidate Tim Burns: “I don’t believe in manmade global warming”:
Local climate scientist: “I think the Academies of Science is right that we need to get a grip on this now before it becomes ungrippable.” (Climate Progress) - Americans For Prosperity Lies: ‘We’re Not Arguing The Science Of Climate Change’ (Wonk Rom):
The pollution-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) claims not to question the science of global warming, arguing that its massive Astroturfing campaign against climate policy hinges purely on economic arguments. However, footage from the new documentary (Astro)Turf Wars reveals that AFP officials in fact are radical climate science deniers, promoting untenable conspiracy theories to challenge the overwhelming scientific consensus that fossil fuel pollution is dangerously warming the planet.
- Global warming issue may determine key races in Virginia: GOP congressional candidates have questioned proposals to curb climate change. Polls suggest several House races may turn on whether the incumbent voted for the ‘cap and trade’ bill in 2009. (LA Times)
- California Green Vote Could Hurt Voluntary CO2 Market: A ballot measure to suspend a Californian global warming law could stall activity in the voluntary carbon market if it is passed next week, market players said on Wednesday. (Reuters)
- Hawaii Rejects Proposed Ban on Solar Energy: State’s largest utility loses skirmish to solar industry group but could still halt feed-in tariff program (Solve Climate)
- Deadly Deception: How Some Industry Lobbyists Peddle Deception to Block Clean Air Protections That Will Save Thousands of American Lives Every Year (NRDC Switchboard)
- Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith (NY Times):
Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement, here in Indiana and across the country. For some, it is a matter of religious conviction; for others, it is driven by distrust of those they call the elites. And for others still, efforts to address climate change are seen as a conspiracy to impose world government and a sweeping redistribution of wealth.
- Global Warming Deniers and Their Proven Strategy of Doubt (Yale 360)
- Crashing the Covert Campaign Spending Spree [VIDEO]: What do secretive independent expenditure groups hate more than disclosure rules? When we show up at their doors with a camera rolling. (Mother Jones)
- President Obama Says “GO VOTE”, Admits “Much Remains to be Done” on The Daily Show:
- WATCH: Barack Obama Pt. 1: President Barack Obama believes a lot has been accomplished over the last 18 months in very difficult circumstances. (06:49) (The Daily Show)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- : Masters: “Strongest storm ever recorded in the Midwest smashes all-time pressure records”: ‘Weather bomb’ hits Midwest with power of major hurricane (Climate Progress):
My dad was the biggest Republican that ever walked the earth. He always said: “Actions have consequences.” To pretend that a 38% increase in greenhouse gases isn’t going to have any impact, that we can have our cake and eat it too, and smear it all over our face, and maybe have our grandchildren deal with the hangover, I think it is immoral.
- Hurricane-Force Storm Slams The Midwest (NPR)
- U.S. Sets Up Security Zone Around BP Oil Spill Site A security zone has been set up around the site of the BP oil spill in the Gulf to safeguard any evidence of the environmental disaster earlier this year, the Justice Department said. (AFP)
- Seattle Fuel Spill Spreads Slick Across Salmon Bay: A Washington state ecology official says a fuel spill at Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal has spread a slick across nearby Salmon Bay. (AP)
- South Africa unveils plans for ‘world’s biggest’ solar power plant: Giant mirrors and solar panels in Northern Cape would reduce carbon emissions and generate one-tenth of the country’s energy needs (Guardian UK)
- Companies Fight to Keep Global Warming Data Secret (AP)
Some of the country’s largest carbon emitters, including businesses that publicly support efforts to curb global warming, don’t want the public knowing exactly how much they pollute. - CA Student Delivers Prop. 23 Debate Challenge to Koch HQ in Wichita: Student and Marine vet asks CEO Charles Koch to publicly explain why he’s trying to “wreck” California’s green sector (Solve Climate):
Francis, a 31-year-old senior and former student president at California State University-Los Angeles, challenges Charles Koch to a debate: “I say, if you are going to try to hurt the economy in a state that you don’t even live in, that you ought to have the courage to explain yourself in person.”
At issue is the $1 million a Koch subsidiary contributed to back Prop. 23, the California ballot initiative that would halt AB 32, California’s landmark climate law, until unemployment levels drop to 5.5 percent for four successive quarters.
- Breathe carefully: air emissions of benzene may cause birth defects. (Environmental Health News):
Pregnant women living in Texas neighborhoods with higher air levels of benzene – a pollutant often released from oil refineries and traffic exhaust – are more likely to have babies with neural tube defects. Women living in the areas with the highest benzene levels had a two times greater risk for their children to be born with spina bifida. This study is the first to examine the link between environmental levels of benzene and neural tube defects in newborns and adds to the growing body of evidence linking prenatal air pollution exposures to harmful effects on the developing fetus.
- Global warming threatens CA state’s parks (SF Gate):
Stunted redwoods, flooded campgrounds and a mighty Yosemite waterfall reduced to a trickle.
Those are a few of the dire consequences facing 10 California parks over the next century because of rapidly changing climate patterns, according to a new study by an environmental think tank.
- Justice Dept. Inspector: Prison E-Waste Recycling Endangered Inmates, Staff (Environment News Service):
The U.S. federal prison industry that recycled computers and other electronics violated health, safety and environmental laws, according to a scathing report by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General released Thursday.
The multi-year investigation into the health, safety, and environmental compliance practices of e-waste recycling conducted by Federal Prison Industries, known by its trade name UNICOR, found “numerous instances of staff misconduct and performance failures…”endangering staff and inmates, dishonesty, theft and dereliction of duty”.
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