Saturday, May 31, 2014

Solar Power for the Global Masses: The Next Revolution | Common Dreams

Solar Power for the Global Masses: The Next Revolution | Common Dreams

"As the price of solar panels drops, they increasingly are being spontaneously bought and installed by villagers throughout the world, who are often ill-served, or not served at all, by the central power grid in their countries."

U.S. Residential Solar Just Beat Commercial Installations For The First Time

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/31/3443520/us-residential-solar-beat-commercial/
"The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring the total in the U.S. up to 14.8 gigawatts of installed capacity — enough to power three million homes, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)."

Nuclear-waste facility on high alert over risk of new explosions

www.nature.com/news/nuclear-waste-facility-on-high-alert-over-risk-of-new-explosions-1.15290
"US authorities concluded last week that at least 368 drums of waste at the site could be susceptible to the chemical reaction suspected to have caused a drum to rupture there in February."

Feds Leave Radioactive Waste Stranded In Wildfire Danger Zone | Common Dreams

Feds Leave Radioactive Waste Stranded In Wildfire Danger Zone | Common Dreams

"At least 3,706 cubic meters of radioactive waste are being stored at the Los Alamos National Laboratory complex after the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico, was shut down indefinitely in February due to an airborne radiation leak."

Why the Oil Industry is Running Into Major Trouble

www.alternet.org/economy/why-oil-industry-running-major-trouble
"Spread across the oil companies' quarterly reports and the pronouncements of government agencies from the U.S. Energy Information Agency to the International Energy Agency are the hard facts that the era of cheap oil is over. It's impacting the U.S. and global economies and forcing a fundamental rethinking and restructuring of our economic activities and thinking."

Big Energy Money Foils Fracking Moratorium | Common Dreams

Big Energy Money Foils Fracking Moratorium | Common Dreams

"An effort to put a moratorium on fracking in the state of California failed to pass the state Senate on Wednesday following a spending blitz by the energy industry."

Friday, May 30, 2014

Why Do Republicans Always Say ‘I’m Not a Scientist’?

www.nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/05/why-republicans-always-say-im-not-a-scientist.html
“I’m not a scientist” allows Republicans to avoid conceding the legitimacy of climate science while also avoiding the political downside of openly branding themselves as haters of science. The beauty of the line is that it implicitly concedes that scientists possess real expertise, while simultaneously allowing you to ignore that expertise altogether.

The Cause Is Us: World on Verge of Sixth Extinction | Common Dreams

The Cause Is Us: World on Verge of Sixth Extinction | Common Dreams

"The study, published Thursday by the journal Science and led by conservation expert Stuart Pimm, also warns that without drastic action, the sixth mass extinction could be imminent."

Rooftop Solar’s Emerging Markets Are In Middle-Class Neighborhoods

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/29/3442855/middle-class-rooftop-solar/
"Middle-class households are a major force in driving rooftop solar installations in emerging residential solar markets."

North Carolina Set To Legalize Fracking Without So Much As A Debate

North Carolina Set To Legalize Fracking Without So Much As A Debate

"Chris Hayes had Rep. Pricey Harrison on to talk about a law rammed through the legislature making it a crime to disclose fracking chemicals. What that law also does is legalize fracking."

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Renewable Energy Foes Poised to Return Ohio to ‘the Dark Ages’ | The Nation

Renewable Energy Foes Poised to Return Ohio to ‘the Dark Ages’ | The Nation

"The campaign against renewable standards in Ohio followed a standard pattern. Armed with model legislation, conservative lawmakers like state senators Bill Seitz and Kris Jordan— both members of ALEC —argued against renewables using economic analyses produced by research institutes in the Koch brothers’ network—in particular"

Permanent Protest Vigil Launched to Confront First Tar Sands Mine in US | Common Dreams

Permanent Protest Vigil Launched to Confront First Tar Sands Mine in US | Common Dreams

"As a Canadian company readies its plans for extraction at the first proposed tar sands mine in the United States, a group of climate justice activists is readying its own mobilization: a permanent protest vigil at the site to protest the project's "swift obliteration" of ecosystems, danger to waterways and contribution to the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency."

Fracking industry avoids responsibility for flaming water

Lawmakers help oil industry duck pollution liability

Moms to EPA: End Monsantos Poisoning of America | Common Dreams

Moms to EPA: End Monsantos Poisoning of America | Common Dreams

"It's time for Monsanto's Roundup to stop poisoning our food.

That was the message brought to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday by a group of concerned mothers who say that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widespread herbicide made by the chemical and biotechnology giant, is putting public health in jeopardy."

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Millions Worldwide March Against Monsanto | Common Dreams

Millions Worldwide March Against Monsanto | Common Dreams

"The third annual March Against Monsanto (MAM) is slated to be the biggest yet, according to movement founder Tami Canal, with millions of people in over 400 cities expected to take part."

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Sign of the Times? More Towns Warned They Could Run Out of Drinking Water | Common Dreams

Sign of the Times? More Towns Warned They Could Run Out of Drinking Water | Common Dreams

"Over 30 areas in drought-plagued Texas have been given a warning their municipal water systems are at risk of soon running out of water."

Oil & Gas Industry Averages 20 Spills A Day For 2013 — And That’s Not All! (VIDEO)

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/05/22/oil-spills-daily/
"An EnergyWire analysis released May 12 concluded that the U.S. gas and oil industry was liable for at least 7,662 spills of various nature and devastation in 2013 alone, averaging roughly 20 spills per day."

GOP congressmen: Repairing oil pipes with trash bags and duct tape is an “innovative” solution

GOP congressmen: Repairing oil pipes with trash bags and duct tape is an “innovative” solution

"Patching up leaky oil pipes with trash bags and duct tape isn’t an insufficient, lazy and potentially dangerous way to protect wildlife refuges, say two Louisiana congressmen. In fact, the DIY repair work is downright “innovative"."

Evangelical Group: Climate Change Is A ‘Pro-Life’ Issue

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/20/3439695/evangelical-environmental-network-rick-scott-petition/
"A group of Evangelical Christians are calling on Florida Gov. Rick Scott to create a plan to mitigate and adapt to climate change, hoping that their message will resonate with Scott’s staunch Christian values."

Pope Francis Makes Biblical Case For Addressing Climate Change: ‘If We Destroy Creation, Creation Will Destroy Us’

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/21/3440075/pope-francis-if-we-destroy-creation-creation-will-destroy-us/
"Pope Francis made the religious case for tackling climate change on Wednesday, calling on his fellow Christians to become “Custodians of Creation” and issuing a dire warning about the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change."

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

New GOP Bill: Jail Time If You Reveal What Frackers Are Poisoning Your Drinking Water With

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/05/20/gop-fracking-secrets/
"Republicans in North Carolina are busy using the power of government to punish citizens protecting their right not to be poisoned for profit."

Rubio’s radical denial of climate change

In Alaska Senate Race, A Fierce Competition To Prove Who Knows Less About Climate Science

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/19/3439028/alaska-denier-race/
"The tea party-affiliated candidate for Alaska’s open U.S. Senate seat is challenging his Republican primary opponents to “come clean” about their beliefs on man-made climate change, saying he’s the only true skeptic of the bunch."

GOP Senator Attacks Retired Military Brass for Saying Climate Change Threatens Security

www.alternet.org/inhofe-attacks-retired-generals-and-admirals-over-climate-change
"Republican Sen. James Inhofe is once again dismissing a report on climate change, attacking the integrity of the report's authors. While that's not news in itself, the targets of Inhofe's derision are 16 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals.

Global Warming is Melting and Burning the Planet | Common Dreams

Global Warming is Melting and Burning the Planet | Common Dreams

"According to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Tuesday, April 2014 tied the one in 2010 as the hottest April since records began."


We Must End the Madness of Nuclear Weapons

We Must End the Madness of Nuclear Weapons

"Nothing good has ever come of nuclear weapons. Nothing good ever will. For the sake of all humanity, current and future, it's time to respect the law and keep the promise."

Factory Farms Are Bad for Your Health | Common Dreams

Factory Farms Are Bad for Your Health | Common Dreams

"Every single day, factory farms feed their animals low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster and prevent disease in filthy, crowded living conditions. In fact, the factory farming industry uses 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. And now, the medical community is warning that the medicines we’ve been relying on since the 1940s may no longer work when we need them."

Monday, May 19, 2014

North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals

www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/05/north-carolina-felony-fracking-chemicals-disclosure
"As hydraulic fracturing ramps up around the country, so do concerns about its health impacts. These concerns have led 20 states to require the disclosure of industrial chemicals used in the fracking process.
North Carolina isn't on that list of states yet—and it may be hurtling in the opposite direction.
On Thursday, three Republican state senators introduced a bill that would slap a felony charge on individuals who disclosed confidential information about fracking chemicals."

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

'Energy [R]evolution': Nearly 100% Renewable Is Doable, says Report | Common Dreams

'Energy [R]evolution': Nearly 100% Renewable Is Doable, says Report | Common Dreams

"Not only can all this be accomplished, say researchers and experts, it can be done with readily available technologies and on an expedited timeline that—if executed—would prove humanity capable of acting to address the crisis of planetary climate change before it's too late."

Monday, May 12, 2014

Pesticide Firms Use Tobacco Playbook to Spin Bee Crisis

Pesticide Firms Use Tobacco Playbook to Spin Bee Crisis

"One out of every three bites of food we eat requires pollination by bees, but America's bee population is taking a pounding, with initial reports indicating greater losses of hives this winter than the last."

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Collapse of the Bees... And How To Save Them | Common Dreams

The Collapse of the Bees... And How To Save Them | Common Dreams

"Two new reports this week provide key evidence that back a growing call that the destructive use of large-scale chemical agriculture must be halted in order to give the global bee population a fighting chance to regain their strength as the world's most prolific and effective pollinating species."

Friday, May 9, 2014

Ocean Acidification, Wildfires Are Taking Their Toll On The Pacific Northwest

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/09/3436080/national-climate-assessment-northwest/
"ocean waters in the bay have become so acidic that the company can’t grow oyster larvae off the coast of Washington anymore."

This Weekend Watch Schwarzenegger Fight Wildfires, Or GOP Pol Make On-Air Climate Science Conversion

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/09/3436061/schwarzenegger-wildfires-climate-science/
"The good news is that this weekend — May 9-11 — Showtime is making all its programming, including “Years of Living Dangerously,” available for free to 74 million homes that get cable, which is to say most of the country."

Big Oil Wants to Keep Its Tax Breaks Despite Very Profitable Winter

www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2014/05/05/89012/big-oil-wants-to-keep-its-tax-breaks-despite-very-profitable-winter/
"The big five oil companies made a combined profit of $23 billion in the first quarter of 2014, and had cash reserves of $68 billion. They do not need the $2.4 billion in annual special tax breaks that could otherwise pay for approximately 658,000 Pell Grants for college students or 42,000 additional public school teachers; that amount of money could also increase federal funding for the National Cancer Institute by 50 percent. Any of these investments would benefit Americans far more than the handouts to oil companies, particularly when those companies use one-third of their profits to buy back their own stocks, and their five CEOs have a combined salary of $89 million annually."

Missouri May Be the Next State to Ban Tesla Motors

www.alternet.org/environment/missouri-may-be-next-state-ban-tesla-motors
"Missouri is the latest state to try to slip in anti-Tesla legislation without anyone noticing. The "Show Me State" legislature is trying to obscure their actions by slipping through legislation as it current session comes to an end this Spring."

Green energy opposition traced to Kochs

Food Industry Giants to Wage Legal Battle to Defeat Vermont's Landmark GMO Labeling Law | Common Dreams

Food Industry Giants to Wage Legal Battle to Defeat Vermont's Landmark GMO Labeling Law | Common Dreams

"As pro-labeling advocates were cheering Vermont's passage of a GMO labeling bill on Thursday, a powerful food industry lobbing group announced its plans to file a federal lawsuit to overturn the law."

Fox News devolves from climate denial to rejecting all science

Fox News devolves from climate denial to rejecting all science

"To watch Will and Krauthammer grasp for rationales to cast doubt on an established scientific field merely because its findings pose a challenge to their ideological priors is a depressing, and even harrowing, study in the poisonous effects of dogma upon a once-healthy brain."

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Why Walmart Is a Threat to Organic Food

www.alternet.org/food/why-wal-mart-threat-organic-food
"Walmart will turn organic food into another low-cost input that shortchanges consumers, workers and the environment for a fast buck."

Great Barrier Reef Facing 'Unprecedented' Threat from Coal Expansion | Common Dreams

Great Barrier Reef Facing 'Unprecedented' Threat from Coal Expansion | Common Dreams

"The Great Barrier Reef is facing "unprecedented industrial development," and the damage wrought by seabed dredging as a result coal industry expansion has been significantly downplayed by the state government and mining industry, a conservation watchdog charged in a new report issued Wednesday."

Student-led Climate Victory as Stanford Divests from Coal | Common Dreams

Student-led Climate Victory as Stanford Divests from Coal | Common Dreams

"Student climate activists at Stanford University declared a sizeable, though not ultimate, victory on Tuesday after the prominent university's board of trustees announced it would wholly divest the school's holdings in the coal industry."

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

'We're Screwed': US Climate Report says Era of 'Normal' Over | Common Dreams

'We're Screwed': US Climate Report says Era of 'Normal' Over | Common Dreams

"That was how 350.org co-founder Jamie Henn responded to Tuesday's release of the federal government's National Climate Assessment, the national scientific community's definitive statement on the current and future impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States."

Humanity's Destruction of Earth's Climate in Ninety Seconds | Common Dreams

Humanity's Destruction of Earth's Climate in Ninety Seconds | Common Dreams

"Over the course of April, according to the world's premiere atmospheric monitoring station  Mauna Loa, Hawaii, which is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the concentration of carbon averaged more than 400 parts per million for the entire month for the first time in human history."

Monday, May 5, 2014

East Antarctic Melting Could Raise Sea Levels By 10 To 13 Feet, Study Finds

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/05/3433981/antarctic-melting-sea-levels/
"The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, looked at the 600-mile Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, which, if it melted, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 10 to 13 feet."

Tesla Wants A Gigafactory Or Two Ready By 2017

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/05/3434367/tesla-gigafactory-three-years/
"Late last week, Bloomberg reported that Musk — the founder and CEO of electric-car-maker Tesla Motors — is close to naming two sites for the project. Tesla has been looking at multiple possible locations in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, and wants to time the gigafactory’s start-up with the release of a new car model aimed more at the average consumer."

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Stronger ‘Frackquakes’ Are On The Way, Scientists Warn

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/02/3433793/stronger-frackquakes-on-the-way/
"The man-made earthquakes that have been shaking up the southern United States only stand to get stronger and more dangerous as the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, increases, scientists warned at a Thursday conference."

Pipe Explosion at Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant Site

www.nbcrightnow.com/story/25408984/pipe-explosion-at-hanford-plutonium-finishing-plant-site
"NEAR RICHLAND, WA - Hanford union workers tell NBC Right Now there was an explosion at the plutonium finishing plant cleanup site weeks ago, but the event wasn't shared with the public."

Friday, May 2, 2014

ALEC Has A New Tactic It’s Using To Take Down The EPA

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/02/3433615/alec-campaign-push/
"ALEC, an influential right-wing lobbying group funded in part by petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch, has been working to undermine anti-pollution and pro-clean energy policies for years."

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Ocean Acidification Dissolving Shells of Key Marine Creature | Common Dreams

Ocean Acidification Dissolving Shells of Key Marine Creature | Common Dreams

"Scientists have documented how ocean acidification, sometimes referred to as climate change's "evil twin," is already taking a toll on an essential part of the marine food chain in an area off the U.S. northwest coast, and with runaway greenhouse gas emissions continuing, it looks like the problem is only set to worsen."

GREENPEACE CONFIRMS: SIX UTILITIES QUIETLY DUMPED ALEC

www.greenpeaceblogs.org/2014/05/01/greenpeace-confirms-six-utilities-quietly-dumped-alec/
"After writing letters to nine utility companies that have supported the anti-science environmental attack campaign waged by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Greenpeace has directly confirmed at least six large U.S. utility companies have ceased supporting the secretive lobbying group in recent years"

How Scientists, Car Companies, And The Military Are Creating The Smartest Energy Solution On The Market

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/01/3429627/batteries-smartest-energy-solution/
"we need to be able to store renewable electricity when it’s made, and then release it when we need it."

Washington State Announces Effort To Take Climate Fight Into Its Own Hands

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/30/3432504/washington-climate-change-fight/
"Even as a climate change stalemate persists in Washington, D.C., the other Washington is embarking on a broad-based effort to reduce carbon pollution and expand the use of clean energy."

How Organized Mothers Are Making an Impact | Common Dreams

How Organized Mothers Are Making an Impact | Common Dreams

"A phenomenon in environmental activism in recent years has been the emergence of grassroots organizations “powered by the voices of mothers, dedicated to protecting children in global communities,” as one group, The Mothers Project, describes itself."

“Fox & Friends” attacks “scientific coward” who exposed climate censorship

“Fox & Friends” attacks “scientific coward” who exposed climate censorship

"The hosts of Fox & Friends were really, truly hurt to discover that their new friend, Scientific American editor Michael Moyer, left his segment Wednesday morning only to tweet about his disgust over the program’s “anti-Obama agitprop” — as well as their refusal to let him talk about climate change."

Black Smoke, Flames Spew From Train Derailment | Common Dreams

Black Smoke, Flames Spew From Train Derailment | Common Dreams

"A train carrying crude oil derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia Wednesday afternoon, city officials said, the latest in a series of fiery accidents involving the transportation of the dirty fuel by rail."

Crude Oil Train Derails, Catches Fire, Spills Into Virginia’s James River

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/30/3432820/train-derailment-lynchburg/
"A CSX freight train carrying crude oil derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia Wednesday afternoon around 2 p.m. according to local authorities, “causing extensive flames and dense black smoke” to reach into the air."

Koch Brothers To Face Lawsuit Over ‘Swirling’ Chicago Petcoke Pollution

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/30/3432796/koch-getting-sued/
"Two environmental groups on Monday sent a letter to billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, saying they intend to file a lawsuit against them for polluting a primarily low-income area of Chicago with thick, black, oily dust."

Half The Country Lives With Unsafe Air Pollution, American Lung Association Report Finds

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/30/3432601/147-million-air-pollution-ala/
"Almost half the country — 147 million Americans, to be precise — live in counties with unhealthy air, according to a new report."