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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Summer of Floods, Summer of Fires: today's unlucky town is Minot, ND; Bad news for US nukes; Sea level rise accelerating; PLUS: Al Gore slams Obama on climate change, Fox "News" gets all confused ... 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): Can nuclear waste storage co-exist with nearby oil & gas drilling?; Drilling co. sells kids on fracking with new coloring book; Google hits $780M in total clean energy investing; Seafood processors accused of violations; Conservative group sues NASA for climate scientist's records; How livable streets make us happier humans; Answers from the E. coli outbreak in Germany; Are architects the change agents for the new Green Economy?; GOP House votes to weaken Clean Air permits for oil-drillers; Transocean blames BP for Gulf Oil Spill Disaster; Canada opposes labeling Asbestos as hazardous; DoD plans large-scale integration of electric vehicles; Civil Disobedience in DC this summer to stop the Keystone XL tar sands p pipeline; Congress: Let's just rename it the "Dirty Water Act" ... PLUS: Which cities can best adapt to climate change? (Congrats, Cleveland!) ...

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

• Summer of Floods, Summer of Fires: Minot, ND:
• Floods Again Force Families to Evacuate Minot, ND: (Environmental News Service):
  
  Minot city officials, residents and the North Dakota National Guard today worked together to ensure a safe evacuation of some 12,000 people and 4,200 homes in Minot, as the Souris River overtopped its levees, flooding streets and washing away some homes.
• Water Tops Levees In North Dakota City (AP)
• Few Vacancies for Thousands of ND Flood Evacuees (AP):
  
  Many of the thousands who have fled their homes as the Souris River spills into the North Dakota city of Minot have been scrambling to relocate in a region that boasts few vacancies in even the best of times, thanks largely to the state's oil boom.
• NOAA Makes It Official: 2011 Among Most Extreme Weather Years in History (Scientific American)
• WITH MAPS!: Track the Nation's Rivers: Missouri River Floods and Southern Drought (Climate Central)
• Bad News for US Nukes:
• US Nuclear Plant Safety Rules Inadequate, Group Says (NY Times)
• Midwest Flooding Brings Worries Over Two NE Nuclear Plants (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  
  Though the plants have declared "unusual events," the lowest level in the emergency taxonomy used by federal nuclear regulators, both were designed to withstand this level of flooding, and neither is viewed as being at risk for a disaster, said a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

  "We think they've taken all the necessary precautions and made the appropriate arrangements to deal with the flooding conditions," said the spokesman, Victor Dricks.

• Radioactive tritium leaks found at 48 US nuclear sites (AP)
• AP Special Report: US nuke regulators weaken safety rules (AP) [emphasis added]:
  
  Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation's aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards, or simply failing to enforce them, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

  Time after time, officials at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have decided that original regulations were too strict, arguing that safety margins could be eased without peril, according to records and interviews.
  ...
  Failed cables. Busted seals. Broken nozzles, clogged screens, cracked concrete, dented containers, corroded metals and rusty underground pipes - all of these and thousands of other problems linked to aging were uncovered in the AP's yearlong investigation. And all of them could escalate dangers in the event of an accident.

• What's scary and not about the Nebraska nukes (MNSBC Maddow Blog)
• Japan Stops Water Treatment at Fukushima After Radiation Spike (Washington Post):
  
  A system to clean massive amounts of contaminated water at the site of Japan's nuclear disaster was shut down Saturday, just hours after it began full operations, because a component filled with radioactivity much more quickly than expected.
• What would happen in NE in a worst-case scenario? Not much of an answer: Rumors Swirl ARound Nebraska's Two Nuclear Plants
• NRC: No Flood Danger At Reactor (Omaha World-Herald)
• Flood Facts and Information (June 2011) (Nebraska Public Power District)
• Dear Nebraska: Sorry about water, but more on the way. Love, Montana (Omaha Journal-Star)
• Sea Level Rise Accelerating:
• Sea Levels Rising At Fastest Rate in 2000 Years (Mother Jones):
  
  The science behind a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal is complicated, but the evidence is more precise than it has ever been: Sea levels are now rising at a faster rate than they were at any time in the past 2,000 years.
• Study reveals long-term rise in sea level: Researcher cites link to increase in temperatures (Boston Globe)
• World's oceans move into 'extinction phase' (Telegraph UK):
  
  The next generation may lose the opportunity to swim over coral reefs or eat certain species of fish, scientists have warned, as the world's oceans move into a 'phase of extinction' due to human impacts such as over-fishing and climate change.
• Fox News Maligns Scientists With Baseless Accusation Of "Doctoring" Sea Level Data (Media Matters.org)
• Al Gore Slams Obama on Climate Change (Does Not Compute for Fox News)
• Climate of Denial: Can science and the truth withstand the merchants of poison? (Rolling Stone):
  
  He has not defended the science against the ongoing, withering and dishonest attacks, nor has he provided a presidential venue for the scientific community-- including our own National Academy-- to bring the reality of the science before the public.
• Al Gore slams Obama for Failing to Take on "the Merchants of Poison," Compares Media to Pro Wrestling Referees (Climate Progress):
  
  But what is particularly absurd about this story is that it never mentions that Gore launches an even more blistering and detailed attack on the media! In fact, that's how Gore's essay begins - by comparing the mainstream media today to the referees of professional wrestling (!!)...
  ...
  It will be fascinating to see if the entire media simply chooses to ignore this devastating critique and focus just on Gore's comments on Obama, which will, ironically enough, make Gore's point that the media is interested only in the drama, not the substance.
• Drop the Gore vs. Obama script (Salon.com)
• Al Gore slams Obama on climate change (Yahoo News)
• Obama Administration Orders Release From Strategic Petroleum Reserve:
• Obama Faulted for Tapping Oil Reserves by Republicans, Industry (BusinessWeek)
• Oil Tumbles, Erases 2011 Gains as IEA Members to Tap Reserves (BusinessWeek)
• West plans to release emergency oil to halt rising petrol and energy prices: Paris-based International Energy Agency sanctions 60ml barrels to counter shortages but Opec condemns 'political' intervention(Guardian UK)
• US to release 30m barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (AP)

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

• Salt caverns might provide nuclear waste storage. But what happens when oil and gas well are drilled nearby? (BusinessWeek)
• Google hits $780M in total clean energy investing after adding SoCal wind farm (GigaOm)
• Two More Seafood Processors With Violations (Food Safety News)
• Drilling company's coloring book sells fracking to kids
• Conservative group sues NASA for climate scientist James Hansen's records (The Hill)
• Great places: how livable streets make us happier humans (Grist)
• Answers On Lingering Questions From the E. Coli Outbreak in Germany (Food Safety News)
• Are architects the change agents for the new Green Economy?
• Congress: Let's just rename it the "Dirty Water Act" (Grist)
• House Votes to Streamline Clean-Air Permits for Oil-Drilling Projects (Wall St. Journal)
• Transocean Report Blames BP for Gulf Oil Spill Disaster (AP)
  
  An internal investigation by the owner of the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year has largely blamed BP for the disaster.
• Canada Opposes Labelling Asbestos as Hazardous (Postmedia News):
  
  Canada told the world Wednesday it opposes placing limits on the export of chrysotile asbestos --- a 'bombshell' expected to derail international efforts to list the mineral as hazardous.
• Department of Defense planning large-scale integration of electric vehicles (Huffington Post Green)
• Get arrested this summer on behalf of a livable climate!: Environmental Leaders Call For Civil Disobedience to Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
• Which cities can best adapt to climate change? (Congrats, Cleveland!) (Grist)

                 

Article Categories: Fox 'News', Al Gore, Corporate Media, Mainstream Media Failure, Accountability, Environment, Halliburton, Barack Obama, Republicans, Nebraska, Media Reform, Green News, BP Oil Disaster, EPA, Japan, Fracking