Thursday, August 31, 2017

Exxon researched climate science. Understood it. And misled the public.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/23/16188422/exxon-climate-change
"The world’s largest oil company has been under some scrutiny lately. Back in 2015, Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times published a pair of matching exposes on Exxon, using internal documents to show that the company was well aware of the threat of climate change as far back as the 1970s, but consistently misled the public and investors about it. Now ExxonMobil is under siege from even more directions. Seventeen state attorneys general have said they will begin cooperating on investigations into whether Exxon broke racketeering, consumer protection, or investor protection laws in its climate communications."

State Department Science Envoy Quits With Not-So-Secret Message For Trump: ‘IMPEACH’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/state-department-science-envoy-sends-not-so-secret-message-to-trump-impeach_us_599d9fcae4b0d97c4000a0d6?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
"the first letter of each paragraph spelling out a word — that sends a blunter message to Trump: IMPEACH."

Exxon Knew

Trump Thinks Clean Coal Means That Workers Literally Hand Wash Pieces Of Coal

EPA Chief Says That Science Shouldn’t Dictate Policy In America

Monday, August 28, 2017

Moms' Group Sounds Alarm Over Worst GOP Bill "You've Never Heard Of"

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/21/moms-group-sounds-alarm-over-worst-gop-bill-youve-never-heard
"The environmental group Clean Air Moms Action released a new ad campaign Monday urging voters to fight back against two pending  Republican anti-regulation laws."

The Trump administration doesn’t want to find out how bad mountaintop removal is for human health

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-administration-halts-mountaintop-removal-study-ccff579a95ca/
"A study on the health impacts of mountaintop removal by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has been suspended after the Department of the Interior told the group it was reviewing grants in advance of budget cuts."

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Trump Administration Doesn’t Know How National Security Works – Their Climate Stance Proves It

EPA Welcomed Industry Feedback Before Reversing Pesticide Ban, Ignoring Health Concerns

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/18/epa-welcomed-industry-feedback-before-reversing-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban-ignoring-health-concerns/
"The story that emerges from the documents is a simple one of agricultural industry lobbying and, after its success, celebration. Before the presidential election, the EPA had proposed banning chlorpyrifos based in part on evidence that the chemical causes lasting harm to children’s brains, including attention problems, memory loss, tremors, and autism. In reports issued in 2014 and 2015, the agency acknowledged research showing that children exposed to chlorpyrifos were more likely to have certain developmental problems. In November the EPA issued a report recommending a ban. A 90-day waiting period pushed the finalization of the ban into March, after Trump’s inauguration."

Beer is the greenest beverage

https://thinkprogress.org/craft-beer-goes-green-d4d6a70cb742/
"And craft brewers are speaking out against the Trump administration's anti-environment agenda."

Friday, August 18, 2017

Scott Pruitt is dismantling EPA in secret for the same reason the GOP health care bill was secret

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/14/16142150/scott-pruitt-epa-secrecy-republican
"Pruitt is keeping his agenda as hidden as possible for the very same reasons Republicans in Congress tried to keep their recent health care bill a secret: virtually no one likes it and there’s not a coherent policy case to be made for it."

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Denier-in-Chief Trump Should Read NOAA's Frightening New Climate Report

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/10/denier-chief-trump-should-read-noaas-frightening-new-climate-report
"With a climate denier in the Oval Office, a "fossil fuel puppet" heading the Environmental Protection Agency, and Big Oil lobbyists filling the ranks of secretive deregulatory teams, a new report by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that 2016 was the hottest—and in some ways most alarming—year on record."

450 scientists present stunning rebuke of Trump’s climate science denial

https://thinkprogress.org/noaa-report-contradicts-trump-d34e2be06736/
"A massive new report by more than 450 scientists, confirms that the Earth warmed to a new record in 2016, driven by a record increase in carbon dioxide levels.  The 27th annual “State of the Climate” report, led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), stands as the first comprehensive rebuke by the nation’s and world’s climate scientists to the presidency of Donald Trump."

New analysis shows sharp decline in environmental enforcement under Trump

https://thinkprogress.org/penalties-against-polluters-down-60-percent-under-trump-ea0bd62b4435/
"A new report from the Environmental Integrity Project charts how EPA enforcement has fallen in the Trump era."

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Trump's PC Police Purging The Term 'Climate Change'

30-Year EPA Veteran Writes Farewell Letter, Warns of Environmental Catastrophe Under Pruitt @alternet

30-Year EPA Veteran Writes Farewell Letter, Warns of Environmental Catastrophe Under Pruitt @alternet:

"A 30-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency senior official is leaving federal service today convinced that her agency is being steered in a disastrously wrong direction, according to her farewell message posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). She is an eyewitness to the wreckage wreaked by Administrator Scott Pruitt and his cadre of political appointees."

The Cronies Behind the Energy Industry's Deliberate Misinformation Campaigns @alternet

The Cronies Behind the Energy Industry's Deliberate Misinformation Campaigns @alternet:

"Tillerson, his predecessor Lee Raymond, and their cronies knew the truth about the fate of the planet. And yet they lied, and they paid others to lie. They lied as global temperatures began rising at record rates. They lied as droughts and wildfires swept across the American West, and as California started running out of water. They lied as tornadoes and hurricanes and snowfall levels intensified in unprecedented ways. They lied as thousands died in European heat waves, and thousands more perished in Asian floods. They lied as Greenland’s ice turned liquid, and sea levels began to rise two-and-a-half times faster than anyone thought possible, and the oceans became increasingly acidic and filled with disease-causing bacteria. They lied and sacrificed future generations for their short-term profits."

The Trump Administration Has Begun Censoring Use of the Term 'Climate Change' @alternet

The Trump Administration Has Begun Censoring Use of the Term 'Climate Change' @alternet:

"New emails indicate the USDA has been directed not to acknowledge the dangers of global warming."

We Would Need 1.7 Earths to Sustain Humanity's Current Rate of Resource Consumption @alternet

We Would Need 1.7 Earths to Sustain Humanity's Current Rate of Resource Consumption @alternet:

"We're overfishing, overharvesting forests and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural sinks like forests can sequester."

Government Scientists Leak Climate Change Report Before Trump Can Get His Hands On It

$100 million a month in weed sales is the new normal in Colorado

http://www.newsweek.com/colorado-marijuana-sales-legalization-2017-637126
"Marijuana sales in Colorado are soaring. The state, which legalized adult pot use in 2014, achieved a milestone in May, when pot sales topped $100 million for the 12th consecutive month, according to a Thursday report by marijuana news site The Cannabist.  Colorado sold over $127.7 million worth of cannabis flower, edible products and concentrates in May, according to The Cannabist’s analysis of the state’s marijuana tax data. More than $35.7 million of sales stemmed from medical marijuana purchases, and recreational-use items generated $90.1 million in sales.  Bethany Gomez, director of research for marijuana market research firm Brightfield Group, told the site that hitting the $100 million mark has become “the new norm” in Colorado, with some $1.4 billion in sales between May 2016 and May 2017. During that time, Colorado racked up over $233 million in taxes and license fees."

The Cutting Edge of Marijuana Medical Research Will Leave You Wondering What It Can't Help Cure @alternet

The Cutting Edge of Marijuana Medical Research Will Leave You Wondering What It Can't Help Cure @alternet:

"New findings highlight CBD’s therapeutic potential for cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, and other disorders."

Crime Task Force Report Leaves Sessions Without Ammo in His War on Weed @alternet

Crime Task Force Report Leaves Sessions Without Ammo in His War on Weed @alternet:

"His own hand-picked task force found no change needed for marijuana enforcement."

The War On Weed Is Stupid And Ancient

Blowing Up the Big Marijuana IQ Myth—The Science Points to Zero Effect on Your Smarts @alternet

Blowing Up the Big Marijuana IQ Myth—The Science Points to Zero Effect on Your Smarts @alternet:

"Debunking one of the oldest theories about cannabis."


Meet the Senior Federal Official Blowing the Whistle on Trump's Suppression of Climate Science

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Senior EPA official resigns with scathing message for Trump and Pruitt

https://thinkprogress.org/epa-southerland-resignation-letter-ca62895b0c47/
"Southerland noted that Pruitt has already begun repealing 30 existing environmental regulations, like the Clean Power Plan, the Clean Water Rule, and a rule requiring stricter emissions monitoring for oil and gas operations on federal lands."

Clean water advocates tell Trump administration to ‘stop pandering to polluters’

https://thinkprogress.org/clean-water-advocates-tell-trump-administration-to-stop-pandering-to-polluters-5716f3bb24b/
"Environmental leaders testified at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters on Monday in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed delay of an Obama-era rule that limits the amount of toxic pollution power plant operators can discharge into stream, rivers, and lakes."