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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Fox ‘News’ wants to abolish FEMA, but VT’s Emergency Management team — and even NJ Gov. Chris Christie(!) — beg to differ; Talking energy innovation in Vegas; PLUS: Now even Snooki gets it! Well…um…sort of… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 9/1/2011

‘Green News Report’ – September 1, 2011  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   Â· · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – September 1, 2011  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Letter from a Utah jail: Tim DeChristopher speaks; Solar setback: Solyndra files for bankruptcy; ConocoPhillips says ‘virtually all’ of China spill cleared; Germany sets renewables record; Oil shale mining would suck the West dry: report; Panel confirms fix was in at Japan’s nuclear public meetings; Australia to get its first utility-scale solar plant; Attack of the Monsanto Superinsects; The greenest building on Earth; Rising Biomass Demand Could Drive Land Grabs: Report; Exxon Reaches Arctic Oil Deal With Russians; San Bruno Pipeline Explosion: ‘A Failure of the Entire System’ … PLUS: NSFW: Don Cheadle IS Captain Planet! …

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• Hurricane Irene: Extreme Weather and Climate Change
• Federal Hurricane Forecasters Did Their Job with Irene (NY Times
• After Irene, FEMA Facing a Disaster of Its Own – Funding (Washington Post)
• Atmospheric Forces Conspire to Make 2011 a Wild Year (Live Science)
• VT Gov. Shumlin on “Our Continuing Irrational Exuberance About Burning Fossil Fuels, in Light of These Storm Patterns” (Climate Progress):
  I find it extraordinary that so many political leaders won’t actually talk about the relationship between climate change, fossil fuels, our continuing irrational exuberance about burning fossil fuels, in light of these storm patterns that we’ve been experiencing.

  We had storms this spring that flooded our downtowns and put us through many of the same exercises that we’re going through right now. We didn’t used to get weather patterns like this in Vermont”¦.
  …
  We’ve got to get off fossil fuels as quickly as we know how, to make this planet livable for our children and our grandchildren.”

• Hurricane Cost Seen as Ranking Among Top Ten (New York Times)
• Climate realities: Global warming is a fact, and it’s evident right here in the streets of Pittsburgh (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• Energy Secretary Steven Chu: ‘It Saddens Me’ That Political Leaders Don’t Understand Climate Science (Climate Progress)
• Why I Thought Irene Might Kill Me (Treehugger)
• Politifact: Do scientists disagree about global warming? [No.] (Politifact)
• Conservative, white men most likely to be climate change sceptics, study shows (Guardian UK):
  The demographic was more than twice as likely than other adults to say the media exaggerated seriousness of climate change.
• National Clean Energy Summit 4.0: Energy Innovation, US Competitiveness, and Global Security (In Vegas!):
• WATCH the entire conference: VIDEO: National Clean Energy Summit 4.0: The Future of Energy, Las Vegas, NV (UNLV)
• Biden: ‘If We Don’t Develop Renewable Energy, We Will Make the Biggest Mistake in This Nation’s History’ (Climate Progress)
• Navy Secretary Ray Mabus: ‘Our Responsibilities Have to be Tied in to the Effects of Climate Change’ (Climate Progress)
• Sustained, high joblessness causes lasting damage to wages, benefits, income, & wealth (Economic Policy Institute)
• As part of jobs plan, Obama calls for speedy infrastructure permitting
• Arguments for resilience or adaptation in face of climate change with enduring uncertainty (Earth Island Journal)
• Controversial Keystone XL Pipeline One Step Closer to Approval While Protests Continue:
• GET INVOLVED: Tar Sands Action Protests Thru Sept. 3 in DC (TarSandsAction.org)
• VIDEO: Sec. Chu Says Energy Security ‘Trade Off’ Favors Oil-Sands Pipeline (EnergyNow)
• US Offers Key Support to Canadian Pipeline (NY Times)
• Keystone oil sands pipeline moves one step closer to approval (The Hill):
  The State Department said Friday that a proposed pipeline slated to carry Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries poses little environmental risk if managed properly, a decision that moves the controversial project one step closer to final approval.

  The finding sets the stage for a collision between the White House and environmentalists, who bitterly oppose the project and warn federal approval could sap their enthusiasm for President Obama heading into next year’s election.

• 3 Security Concerns with the Keystone XL Pipeline (Checks & Balances Project)
• Is the Keystone XL Pipeline Protest About Tar Sands or Politics? (Treehugger)
• NASA’s James Hansen Arrested at Tar Sands Pipeline Protest (Climate Progress)
• $7 billion gets you a dirty oil pipeline or a wind farm + transmission line. Which would you prefer? (Grist)
• NE Governor Dave Heineman asks Obama to deny or reroute the Keystone XL pipeline because of threats to water quality (Lincoln Journal-Star)
Heineman cited concerns about potential oil spills and contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer as grounds for denial.

“I want to emphasize that I am not opposed to pipelines,” the governor said. “We already have hundreds of them in our state. I am opposed to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline route because it is directly over the Ogallala Aquifer.”

• Tar Sands Promoters Turn to Oprah Fans for Support (Mother Jones):
  The promoters of the Canadian oil industry are now resorting to appeals to “women’s liberation” to promote tar sands oil. A group calling itself “Ethical Oil” is running ads on the Oprah Winfrey Network asking women to support extracting and exporting oil from the tar sands as a means of protecting women in Saudi Arabia.
• The Chinese own significant portions of the Tar Sands (GetRealist)
• 32 more Tar Sands facts
• Hey, Even SNOOKI Gets It!: Take Action on Global Warming or Aliens Will Kill Us:
• VIDEO: Snooki has a call to action on global warming (Grist)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Letter from a Utah jail: Tim DeChristopher speaks (Grist) [emphasis added]:
  If I had ever doubted the power of words, Judge Benson made their importance all too clear at my sentencing last month. When he sentenced me to two years in prison plus three years probation, he admitted my offense “wasn’t too bad.” The problem, Judge Benson insisted, was my “continuing trail of statements” and my lack of regret. Apparently, all he really wanted was an apology, and for that, two years in prison could have been avoided. In fact, Judge Benson said that had it not been for the political statements I made in public, I would have avoided prosecution entirely. As is generally the case with civil disobedience, it was extremely important to the government that I come before the majesty of the court with my head bowed and express regret. So important, in fact, that an apology with proper genuflection is currently fair trade for a couple years in prison. Perhaps that’s why most activist cases end in a plea bargain.

  Since that seems like such a good deal, some people are asking why I wasn’t willing to shut my mouth and take it.

• Solar Power Innovator Solyndra Files For Bankruptcy (Treehugger)
• Wind Technology Breakthrough: Researcher Develops Tougher, Lighter Wind Turbine Blade (N. American Wind Power)
• ConocoPhillips Says Virtually All Of China Spill Cleared (Huffington Post Green)
• Germany sets renewables record (Grist)
• Oil Shale Mining Would Suck the West Dry, Report Warns (New West)
• Australia to get its first utility-scale solar plant (CNET)
• Attack of the Monsanto Superinsects (Mother Jones)
• The greenest building on Earth (Grist):
  Workers broke ground this week in Seattle on a six-story building that will generate its own power, collect and reuse rainwater, compost its sewage, and depend on daylight instead of halogen lamps. Its owner, the Bullitt Foundation, which supports work in sustainability, set out to build the greenest building on Earth. We’d say they’re earning that title.
• Panel Confirms Fix Was In At Japan’s Nuclear Public Meetings (Japan Times):
  An independent investigation panel has confirmed that [Japan’s] Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked utilities in at least three cases to mobilize their employees for government-sponsored symposiums on nuclear power and express supportive or neutral opinions.
• Rising Biomass Demand Could Drive Land Grabs: Report (Reuters)
• Exxon Reaches Arctic Oil Deal With Russians (NY Times):
  Exxon Mobil won a coveted prize in the global petroleum industry Tuesday with an agreement to explore for oil in a Russian portion of the Arctic Ocean that is being opened for drilling even as Alaskan waters remain mostly off limits.
• San Bruno Pipeline Explosion: ‘A Failure of the Entire System’ (LA Times):
  Federal panel’s report blames PG&E for last year’s deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, but other agencies come in for criticism too.
• VIDEO: Don Cheadle is Captain Planet (Funny Or Die):
  Don Cheadle is obviously the best person to play Captain Planet in the movie version of the popular cartoon, hopefully they make his character a nicer guy.