8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn't Want You to Hear About | Alternet

8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn't Want You to Hear About | Alternet

"With the recent confirmation by the U.S. government that the fracking process causes earthquakes, the list of fracking's deadly byproducts is growing longer and more worrisome. And while the process produces jobs and natural gas, the host of environmental, health and safety hazards continues to make fracking a hot-button issue that evenly divides Americans."

Global Carbon Dioxide Concentration Hit Record High in March | Alternet

Global Carbon Dioxide Concentration Hit Record High in March | Alternet

"Recorded levels have not been seen at least since monitoring began—and likely in all of human history."

Hoboken pushes forward

Republicans Aim to Preempt Local Democracy, Target Fracking Bans

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30670-republicans-aim-to-preempt-local-democracy-targeting-fracking-bans
"The Texas Senate - in lockstep with the oil and gas industry, despite the continued protests of their own constituents - approved legislation this week that would make the city of Denton's fracking ban unenforceable and preempt the ability of local communities to regulate oil and gas operations within their city limits."

Why Food Companies Aren’t Prepared To Deal With Water Scarcity

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/09/3657089/ceres-water-report-food-companies/
"Leading global food companies are failing to account for impending water scarcity in their business plans, new report finds."

Heartland Institute's President Denies They're Climate Science Deniers...Then Spouts More Denial

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/04/heartland-institutes-president-denies-theyre-cl/203522
"Here is a side-by-side comparison of what Heartland says about climate science juxtaposed with statements from some of the world's leading scientific bodies"

Rising tide a national security threat

Watch GOP Environment Committee Head Argue Carbon Pollution Is Good With Straight Face (VIDEO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/07/watch-gop-environment-committee-head-argue-carbon-pollution-is-good-with-straight-face-video/
"While Inhofe held his carbon dioxide lovefest in the Senate, House Republicans have been busy working on a bill that would roll back a massive number of regulations that have kept oil companies in check, while at the same time killing funding for green energy. Fittingly, it has been dubbed the “Pollute at Will” bill. Republicans are falling head over heels for it.
It’s hard to view what Republican lawmakers are doing as anything other than sabotage."

Despite Republican Obstruction Tesla Sales Are Going Strong

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/07/tesla-sales/
"Republicans tend to tout the party line of how government regulations strangle innovation, all the while continuing a legacy of using regulations to hinder those who are not in their pocket. Hence, why the subsidies to the fossil fuel industry are fine, but those that subsidize clean energy are merely the works of the devil trying to institute Sharia Law in the United States for some reason."

Tesla accelerating the solar revolution

The Buildings of Tomorrow Are Here Today

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2015/04/30/112212/the-buildings-of-tomorrow-are-here-today/
"Net-zero energy buildings are technically and financially viable today and are delivering benefits to their owners and users. Throughout the United States, private citizens and businesses are already demonstrating this by building and retrofitting spaces of the future that are highly efficient and renewable energy powered"

Political disconnect on climate change

ALEC-Tied Politicians Push North Carolina To Gut Its Environmental Protection Act

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/30/3653236/nc-environmental-act-threatened/
"It only took two weeks for the Republican-led House in North Carolina to introduce and pass a bill gutting the state’s environmental law."

Global Carbon Dioxide Levels Just Hit A Disturbing New Threshold

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/06/3655775/carbon-dioxide-new-threshold/
"Four hundred: it’s a number that will go down in climate history while also continuing to rise.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 400.83 parts per million (ppm) was the average concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in March."

Republicans Who Cut Science Budgets Are Not Stupid — They're Malicious — And Their Goal is Ignorance | Alternet

Republicans Who Cut Science Budgets Are Not Stupid — They're Malicious — And Their Goal is Ignorance | Alternet

"It's meant to bolster the goals and, most importantly, the bottom line of the corporations whose products are the driving force behind the global warming that is steadily making Earth less humanly habitable."

Rising sea levels threaten major cities

Right-Wing Media Desperately Smear Scientists To Defend Climate Deniers' Virtue

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/01/right-wing-media-desperately-smear-scientists-t/203489
"It should come as no surprise that Michaels himself works for an organization funded by the fossil fuel industry. The Cato Institute was co-founded by the oil billionaire Koch brothers and has received millions from the Koch family, while also receiving funding from ExxonMobil and the American Petroleum Institute."

Anti-Science GOP 'Eviscerates' NASA Spending on Climate Change Research

Anti-Science GOP 'Eviscerates' NASA Spending on Climate Change Research

"Astronomer and journalist Phil Plait, writing at Slate, agreed that "the evisceration of Earth sciences means this bill is seriously, critically flawed." But, Plait said, U.S. voters only have themselves to blame for such short-sighted policy decisions"

Fracking Titans Bankrolling Right-Wing Indoctrination Effort in Schools: Investigation

Fracking Titans Bankrolling Right-Wing Indoctrination Effort in Schools: Investigation

"Prager University, an online institution founded in 2011 by conservative radio host Dennis Prager to create right-wing educational resources, is directing its religious politics directly at students and teachers, while receiving financial support from two fracking industry titans."

Water Industry Launches Attack on Water Democracy, Promotes Privatization | Alternet

Water Industry Launches Attack on Water Democracy, Promotes Privatization | Alternet

"What’s not so transparent is how the water industry lobbies to secure their interests. Comprised of large U.S. water companies and the U.S. subsidiaries of multinational corporations like Suez, the NAWC has been a member of the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), alongside Koch Industries and ExxonMobil. ALEC works to ensure that state legislation is modeled to support its industry-friendly policy goals, including deregulation and privatization. One of its bolder resolutions has been one to dissolve the Environmental Protection Agency. ALEC has even backed restrictions on voting.

Some companies, such as Amazon, Coca-Cola and more recently, Google, have backed out of ALEC because of its reactionary agenda. But in 2012 NAWC publicly defended its membership in ALEC, and, as journalist Sarah Pavlus noted, it’s not the industry’s only dubious association: American Water’s Pennsylvania subsidiary and Aqua America have partnered with the oil and gas industry on a lobbying effort to expand fracking (water companies sell the industry water used in fracking operations, and also recognize that the treatment of wastewater from fracking is a lucrative business opportunity.)

Instead of promoting private involvement in municipal water systems in the form of public private partnerships, the federal government should adequately fund water infrastructure projects."

GOP House Leaders Create ‘Action Group’ To Seize And Sell America’s Public Lands

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/01/3653883/gop-action-group-seize-public-lands/
"Thanks to support from the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and front groups for the oil industry’s PR giant, Richard Berman, as well as increasing lobbying by the Utah-based American Lands Council, these proposals have now gained prominence at the national level."

Koch Group Sends Envoy To Rome To Convince Pope To Shut Up About Climate Change

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/24/koch-group-sends-envoy-to-rome-to-convince-pope-to-shut-up-about-climate-change/
"You read that right: A group of wealthy energy industry businessmen think they can preach the gospel of climate denialism to the pope. This should be fun to watch.
The pope caught the ire of the libertarian-leaning Heartland Institute when the Vatican announced that he would be holding meetings with United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon and other experts to discuss what policymakers and religious leaders can do to better combat the worst effects of climate change. Heartland Institute’s subsequent freak out was captured in the hurriedly released statement announcing they would be sending their own experts to the meeting to intervene."

Pope Francis To Tackle Climate Change

Tom Colicchio talks food waste

How Eco-Friendly is Your State?

http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-eco-friendly-your-state
"For the new report "2015’s Most & Least Eco-Friendly States," WalletHub compared each state across 14 key metrics to assess current environmental health."

Adidas Wants To Make Shoes And Clothing Using Plastic Garbage From The Ocean

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/20/3648820/adidas-marine-plastic-material/
"In an effort to bolster its commitment to sustainability, Adidas announced on Monday that it would begin developing materials out of plastic ocean waste to ultimately use in its products."

On Earth Day, Congress Targets America’s Public Lands and Waters

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/22/3650183/earth-day-lwcf-funding/
"Funded through revenues from offshore oil and gas development fees, the budget-neutral LWCF has attracted broad bipartisan support in the past. However, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is among a group of members in Congress who are arguing for significant changes to its structure, including diverting and placing restrictions on funding for the program."

Banking Giant Warns Clients Of Fossil Fuel Investment Risks

Banking Giant Warns Clients Of Fossil Fuel Investment Risks

"Global banking giant HSBC has warned investors of the growing risk of their fossil fuel assets becoming useless, in a private report seen by Newsweek.

In the report, titled ‘Stranded assets: what next?’, analysts warn of the growing likelihood that fossil fuel companies may become “economically non-viable”, as people move away from carbon energy and fossil fuels are left in the ground."

Green Energy Job Growth Outpaces Losses in Coal Industry

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30360-green-energy-job-growth-outpaces-losses-in-coal-industry
"Far more jobs have been created in wind and solar in recent years than lost in the collapse of the coal industry, and renewable energy is poised for record growth in the United States this year."

Big Insurance Companies Are Warning The U.S. To Prepare For Climate Change

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/21/3649244/insurance-climate-change-disaster-relief/
"A coalition of big insurance companies, consumer groups, and environmental advocates are urging the United States to overhaul its disaster policies in the face of increasingly extreme weather due to human-caused climate change."

Nestlé Caught Stealing Water From California's National Forests

Angry Commenters Force Koch Ties Disclosure In Newsweek Op-Ed

Angry Commenters Force Koch Ties Disclosure In Newsweek Op-Ed

"You should call these shills out every time you see them. Our Glorious Corporate Media won't do these things unless we make it too uncomfortable for them."

The Three Biggest Threats to the Environment from the 114th Congress

Koch Funding of Universities Shrouded in Secrecy

Koch Funding of Universities Shrouded in Secrecy

"But that’s not all the money buys. As students at Florida State University and Clemson University discovered in 2011, grant agreements (Memorandums of Understanding, or "MOUs") between universities and the Charles Koch Foundation often give the Kochs influence over the hiring of professors and development of course curriculum. In other words, on top of reshaping scientific studies to further their bottom line, the Kochs are also trying to reshape public education to match their libertarian ideology."

Tesla Will Pay Its Factory Workers $25 An Hour Despite GOP Trying To Kill The Company

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/15/tesla-will-pay-its-factory-workers-25-an-hour-despite-gop-trying-to-kill-the-company/
"Free Market. Industry. Small government. These are all things Republicans love to say when trying to get elected, but clearly don’t mean. For instance, just look at how emerging high-tech company Tesla has struggled to survive under constant attacks by state lawmakers eager to watch it fail."

Even For A Robot, Fukushima Is Too Much To Handle

Even For A Robot, Fukushima Is Too Much To Handle

"So TEPCO sent in a robot that was supposed to be able to function in such high levels of radiation to inspect the No. 1 reactor and help them figure out how to extract the melted fuel, but that didn't work -- probably because they're flying blind and no one is willing to admit it"

WI agency bans mention of climate change

How The Oil Industry’s ‘Dr. Evil’ Is Running A Campaign To Sell Off America’s Public Lands

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/06/3643232/berman-front-group-op-eds-on-public-lands/
"With a series of four nearly identical op-ed articles written by one of its front groups and published in western newspapers last week, the oil industry and its allies appear to be taking a more active and public role in a controversial campaign to seize and sell America’s national forests and public lands."

Why Big Sugar Hired 'Protesters' Against Florida Land Deal

ALEC is threatening to sue the groups calling it out on its climate denial

ALEC is threatening to sue the groups calling it out on its climate denial

"The free-market lobbying group says it accepts the scientific consensus on global warming. It's lying."

California drought could impact food prices

Obama In Utah - Full Speech About Solar Energy

Obama Unveils Smart Plan To Combat Climate Change While Training 75,000 Vets For Jobs

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/03/obama-unveils-smart-plan-combat-climate-change-training-75000-vets-jobs.html
"The plan is smart because it trains tens of thousands of transitioning military personnel and spouses for a civilian job in an industry that is growing ten times faster than the national average."

A Rebuttal to Ted Cruz’s ‘Flat Earth’ Comment

http://www.liberalamerica.org/2015/03/31/a-rebuttal-to-ted-cruzs-flat-earth-comment/
"It may be that conservatives like Cruz really know better, but choose for political reasons to pander to their highly-fundamentalist, science-averse base."

Mitch McConnell Goes Tom Cotton – Undermines Obama’s U.N. Negotiations

http://samuel-warde.com/2015/04/mitch-mcconnell-goes-tom-cotton-undermines-obamas-u-n-negotiations/
"Much like Tom Cotton’s Open Letter to Iran, signed by 46 GOP senators last month, this is yet another way for Republicans to sabotage international negotiations and to undermine President Obama."

Republicans Write Letter To U.N. Encouraging Countries To Ignore Obama. Sound Familiar?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/01/republicans-write-letter-to-u-n-encouraging-countries-to-ignore-obama-sound-familiar/
"It’s no secret that the Republican Party loathes President Obama with a seething anger. He demolished their candidates in two separate elections. He has managed to accomplish a great deal during his terms despite their avowed goal of obstruction. But perhaps worst of all, he has become increasingly popular over the years as his agenda gets realized. Republicans look like the spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum – and they know it.
In a new odious tactic that circumvents having to actually beat Obama politically (which they can’t do) or win over the public (which they also can’t do), Republicans have taken to the radical approach of undermining the president by going behind his back and insisting to other world leaders that the president is not important, not to be trusted, and safely ignored. According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Republican congressional leaders have sent a letter to the United Nations, asking that member countries back away from any climate deal that Obama might offer."

Mitch McConnell Undermines Obama’s Climate Plan With Other Countries

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/01/3641594/mcconnells-inner-tom-cotton/
"The Majority Leader’s tactic is similar to a recent and slightly more aggressive effort by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to undermine international negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program."

Mitch McConnell Tries To Tank International Climate Change Accord

Mitch McConnell Tries To Tank International Climate Change Accord

"If there was any doubt left in your mind about what a Koch whore Mitch McConnell is, you should definitely lose those last shards with this news."

The ALEC-Backed War on Local Democracy

The ALEC-Backed War on Local Democracy

"After the town of Denton, Texas passed a ballot initiative banning fracking in November 2014, the oil and gas industry reacted with outrage and swiftly filed suit."

Monsanto Lobbyist Runs Away When Asked To Drink ‘Harmless’ Pesticide

Senate Mocks Fla. Official Because He Can’t Say Climate Change During Hearing (VIDEO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/22/mock-cant-say-climate-change/
"Florida was once again the laughing stock of the United Sates recently due to Florida agencies being banned from the words “climate change”. The absurdity of the situation was made clear at a Senate subcommittee hearing last Thursday."

Lobbyist Fails His Own Pesticide Challenge On Camera

Lobbyist Fails His Own Pesticide Challenge On Camera

"Today's lesson is brought to you by Dr. Patrick Moore, who has worked for pesticide manufacturers like Monsanto, refusing to drink Monsanto's product just seconds after claiming it's safe to do so"

There's A Dead Cat At The Bottom Of Fukushima Unit 1

There's A Dead Cat At The Bottom Of Fukushima Unit 1

"First of all, it's not an "accident." TEPCO cut corners to save money, and this is the predictable result.

And who are they kidding? The containment vessel melted, too. They didn't scan the containment area because they don't want us to know that. That fuel is out there. And we can probably assume the same about Unit 2."

The Brutal Winter That Wasn’t

Aggressive steps to fight climate change

Up Next on the GOP's To-Do List: Selling US National Forests

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/29763-up-next-on-the-gop-s-to-do-list-selling-us-national-forests
"Several parties have drawn up a proposal for the House GOP budget resolution that calls for the seizure and sale of US national forests and public land."

The Movie Climate Science Deniers Don’t Want You To See

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/19/3635437/merchants-of-doubt/
"The now-classic book “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming” has been made into a must-see documentary."