Emails Indicate Flint Lead Tests Withheld from Public at Snyder's Command

Emails Indicate Flint Lead Tests Withheld from Public at Snyder's Command

"redacted emails released last month by the governor indicate that his administration was informed of problems with Flint's water many months before, as early as Feb. 2015"

The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-koch-brothers-dirty-war-on-solar-power-20160211
"investor-owned utilities, together with Koch-brothers-funded front groups like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are mounting a fierce, rear-guard resistance at the state level – pushing rate hikes and punishing fees for homeowners who turn to solar power. Their efforts have darkened green-energy prospects in could-be solar superpowers like Arizona and Nevada. But nowhere has the solar industry been more eclipsed than in Florida, where the utilities' powers of obstruction are unrivaled.

Maine Joins the Growing List of States to Vote on Marijuana Legalization This Year @alternet

Maine Joins the Growing List of States to Vote on Marijuana Legalization This Year @alternet:

"It looks like Mainers will be voting on legalization in November."

5 New Discoveries That Will Shake Up Our Understanding of Marijuana @alternet

5 New Discoveries That Will Shake Up Our Understanding of Marijuana @alternet:

"New research shows marijuana may have more uses (and benefits) than we thought."

Flint Water Crisis Is What Happens With A Republican Government

The ExxonMobil Climate Scandal Reveals the Deadly Evil of Corporatism

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/02/05/exxon-climate-scandal-reveals-deadly-evil-corporatism.html
"The Republican Party and its voter drones are always advocating for corporations, as though corporatism is the answer to federalism, as though corporations run by people we don’t get to vote for is a healthier choice for Americans than a government we do. To understand how very wrong this is, you need only to look at the ExxonMobil climate scandal. Like the tobacco companies of a generation ago, ExxonMobil knew all about the dangers of fossil fuels – and sold them anyway. Now the oil giant is being investigated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has followed suit. Others may join them. And the fossil fuel industry is outraged. Corporate America is outraged. How dare anyone call their practices into question!"

The GOP's Flint disaster: Will they help fix the mess made by a 'fiscally responsible' GOP governor?

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/3/1479353/-The-GOP-s-Flint-disaster-Will-they-help-fix-the-mess-made-by-a-fiscally-responsible-GOP-governor#read-more
"Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder committed one of the worst sins imaginable for a public servant: He poisoned his own people. Why? To pinch a penny. Now he's got to turn to his GOP-led state government and the Republican Congress to help foot the $767 million bill to fix Flint's water infrastructure. It seems government's always the problem until you've got a problem—even if you engineered that problem yourself."

FBI probing criminality of Flint water crisis

Incomplete picture in testimony at Flint hearing in Congress

Radioactive Water From Fukushima Is Leaking Into the Pacific

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34565-radioactive-water-from-fukushima-is-leaking-into-the-pacific
"TEPCO detected levels of radioactive cesium (a material which has a half-life of 30 years) in water samples that were 4,000 times higher than data taken the same month one year earlier. The samples also contained levels of a beta-ray-emitting radioactive substance that were 4,100 times higher than they were from the same period a year earlier."

The 5 Worst Fracking Moments of 2015 @alternet

The 5 Worst Fracking Moments of 2015 @alternet:

"Once again, in 2015 the oil and gas industry showed us the ludicrous lengths they will go to in order to frack more communities."

Can't Hide From Reality: Florida Mayors Request Climate Change Meeting With Senator Marco Rubio @alternet

Can't Hide From Reality: Florida Mayors Request Climate Change Meeting With Senator Marco Rubio @alternet:

"Fifteen South Florida mayors released a letter Tuesday that was sent to Senator Marco Rubio requesting a meeting with the presidential candidate to talk about the climate change risk facing the state’s communities."

Study: Most Large Herbivores Now Face Extinction @alternet

Study: Most Large Herbivores Now Face Extinction @alternet:

"These include well-known species such as elephants, hippos and all species of rhino."

Incredible Infographic Shows How We Have Ruined Our Oceans — and Ourselves as a Result @alternet

Incredible Infographic Shows How We Have Ruined Our Oceans — and Ourselves as a Result @alternet:

"From plastic trash and discarded fishing gear to oil spills and pesticide runoff, human beings have treated the oceans as a vast dumping ground."

New tests show lead in Flint water may exceed filter capacity

Tests Reveal A New Problem With Treating Flint’s Lead-Tainted Water

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/30/3744566/flint-water-lead-exceeds-filters/
"Results of recently-tested water samples, released Friday out of Flint, Michigan, show levels of lead so high in some locations that government-issued filtration systems are unable to effectively treat the water. Water problems began in Flint as early as April 2014, when state-appointed emergency managers made the decision to switch the city’s water supply from Detroit’s system to the Flint River."

Flint residents billed for water they can't drink

How Rick Snyder doomed Flint from the start: Tax cuts for the ultra-rich, poison for the poor

How Rick Snyder doomed Flint from the start: Tax cuts for the ultra-rich, poison for the poor

"Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder doesn’t want you to know which corporations are paying to salvage his reputation in the wake of the lead poisoning of Flint’s children under his watch. In fact, when he was asked about it at a press conference in Flint on Wednesday, he walked out. At issue are two dark money non-.profits, Moving Michigan Forward and Celebrating the Power of Michigan, that Snyder uses to accept corporate donations to fund various projects, including paying out-of-state P.R. firm Mercury to manage public relations related to Flint."

Rachel: Flint water crisis will be solved

Government Run Like a Business Poisons Kids @alternet

Government Run Like a Business Poisons Kids @alternet:

"The people of Michigan hired themselves a GOP businessman to be governor in 2011. And what they got was children poisoned by public water in Flint. That is, what they got was a government run based on GOP business values. To line the pockets of CEOs and shareholders, corporations cut corners in ways that frequently end up injuring workers and the public. Think of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster where safety violations killed 29 workers or the Takata airbag fatalities that occurred despite workers voicing safety concerns or the nine deaths and 714 illnesses caused by salmonella-contaminated peanut butter knowingly sold by Peanut Corporation of America. So, really, the lead poisoning of Flint children by a government based on Republican business values is no surprise."

Who's really at fault for Flint water crisis?

Michigan Rep. Troubled That Gov. Snyder Is Hiring PR Firms With Dark Money

http://samuel-warde.com/2016/01/michigan-rep-troubled-gov-snyder-hiring-pr-firms-dark-money/
"We keep seeing familiar patterns when it comes to GOP governance. That even when it costs more to outsource, they still choose to outsource and privatize. Private companies aren’t in the business of caring about people, and government needs to stop handing over precious resources and basic human rights, like clean water, to corporations in the name of Capitalism."

The impact of lead poisoning on Flint’s kids

Mayor: 'Our trust has been broken' in Flint

Flint Residents Told That Their Children Could Be Taken Away If They Don’t Pay For City’s Poison Water @alternet

Flint Residents Told That Their Children Could Be Taken Away If They Don’t Pay For City’s Poison Water @alternet:

"Not only is the Michigan government poisoning residents, but now they are threatening to take their children for not paying for it."

Matt Damon Slams Michigan Governor Over Flint Water Crisis: ‘At the Very Least He Should Resign! @alternet

Matt Damon Slams Michigan Governor Over Flint Water Crisis: ‘At the Very Least He Should Resign! @alternet:

"Matt Damon has joined the escalating outrage over Gov. Rick Snyder’s handling of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and has called on embattled governor to step down from his post."

Challenges ahead in fixing Flint's water

Maddow examines damaged Flint pipes

'Join Us in a Revolt': Michael Moore Pens Open Letter on How to Help Victims of Flint Water Crisis @alternet

'Join Us in a Revolt': Michael Moore Pens Open Letter on How to Help Victims of Flint Water Crisis @alternet:

"Instead of sending bottled water—a short-term solution to a long-term problem—Moore lays out a five-step plan for those who want to help. The first step is to push for the arrest and removal of Michigan governor Rick Snyder."

Nevada's Right Wing Could Get Burned Trying to Shut Solar Power Down

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34415-nevada-s-right-wing-could-get-burned-trying-to-shut-solar-power-down
"efforts by the Koch brothers-subsidized American Legislative Exchange Council to kneecap the growth of home solar installations."

Snyder Gets Served Some Very Bad News From Court: It’s Time To Answer For Flint

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/26/snyder-gets-served-some-very-bad-news-from-court-its-time-to-answer-for-flint/
"Michigan Governor Rick Snyder stood before the state legislature and declared that the “buck stops” with him. He said that the people of Flint deserve the truth and that they will get it. Hew said he takes full responsibility and that the government had failed the people. Then he refused to resign, denying the people the basic satisfaction of seeing their grossly incompetent “leader” step down. The hope for some kind of satisfaction isn’t completely gone, however, as the lawyers in a class action suit filed for the people of Flint obtained subpoenas requiring the governor, his staffers, city managers and the Department of Environmental Quality to turn over all documents, records and emails pertaining the crisis in Flint. Lawyers are looking for anything dating back to 2011 referring to three specific items: The Flint River tapped for drinking water, the quality of the water in the river or the KWA pipeline, the main transfer route at the root of the problem. The bad news didn’t stop there for Governor Snyder. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that it was assigning the former head of the FBI’s Detroit field office to lead a criminal investigation. “What the citizens of Flint want, desire and deserve is what laws may have been broken,” said Schuette."

EPA cracks whip on Michigan, Snyder cagey on aid money for Flint

The Poisoning of Flint Was Not an Accident - It Was a Crime

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34553-the-poisoning-of-flint-was-not-an-accident-it-was-a-crime
"The story of Flint is the story of the United States, and it isn't pretty. Flint once boasted 80,000 General Motors employees, but thanks to outsourcing now only has a tenth of that. Unemployment is rampant. The river is disgusting after years of industrial pollution. Our national indifference toward our crumbling, sometimes century-old infrastructure left those pipes in the ground to deliver that lead to children thanks to the austerity policies of a right-wing governor and his national party."

DuPont’s Disgusting Legacy: Their Toxins Will Keep Poisoning For Generations

New House Bill Gives Away Public Lands, Creates Pseudo-Wilderness Areas

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/21/3741512/rob-bishop-bundy-public-lands-seizures/
"Rep. Bishop has crafted a bill complete with loopholes, land seizures, and favors for his financial supporters in the fossil fuel sector."

Trump, Cruz and Rubio deny climate science, facts show 2015 is hottest year ever. Whom to believe?

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/24/1472511/-Trump-Cruz-and-Rubio-deny-climate-science-facts-show-2015-is-hottest-year-ever-Whom-to-believe
"The point is this: It is almost certain that the Republican Party will nominate someone who rejects science, rejects facts, rejects truth. Given that we’re talking about a party whose economic philosophy rests on the fiction that tax cuts for the rich actually increase government revenue, we probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Either way, those of us who do believe that facts matter—that ensuring our grandkids and their grandkids have an inhabitable planet matters—had better be prepared to fight."

Science Denial Still Rampant While Global Temperatures Continue To Rise

Watch: Snyder Gets Called Out For Poisoning Water To Save Pennies While Wasting Billions On Tax Cuts For The Rich

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/watch-snyder-gets-called-out-for-poisoning-water-to-save-pennies-while-wasting-billions-on-tax-cuts-for-the-rich/
"the Republican Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, is called out by a local news channel for his astonishing corporate tax cuts, which blew a tremendous hole in the budget and prompted Snyder’s appointed emergency manager of cash-strapped Flint to switch from the clean Detroit water system to the heavily polluted Flint River water, in an attempt to save some money which ended up poisoning a city of a hundred thousand souls."

How DuPont Recklessly Poisoned An Entire Valley

Denmark Just Broke A World Record For Wind Power — Again

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/19/3740547/denmark-wind-power-2015-record/
"The record 42 percent electricity generated from wind represents a three percent increase from the 39 percent it generated in 2014"

We Just Lived In The Hottest Year On Record

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/20/3740962/2015-hottest-year-record/
"The NOAA and NASA findings are consistent with other key global surface temperature datasets. For instance, Berkeley Earth — originally funded in part by deniers like Charles Koch to disprove global warming — reported last week that “2015 was unambiguously the hottest year on record.” The blowout record warmth of 2015 erases the notion of a so-called pause in warming. NASA and Columbia University climatologists explain that “the updated global temperature record makes it clear that there was no global warming ‘hiatus’.” Similarly, Berkeley Earth’s Scientific Director Richard Muller, says 2015 “confirms our previous interpretation” that “global warming has not slowed"."

2015 Was The Hottest Year In Recorded History

As Flint Struggles With Contaminated Water, Congress Tries To Gut Clean Water Rule

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/21/3741610/clean-water-rule-veto-upheld/
"The latest attempt to do away with a federal water rule that protects millions of miles of streams failed Thursday, as senators couldn’t garner enough votes to override a presidential veto and block the contested Waters of the United States rule. The attempt to veto the rule, which protects bodies of water that provide drinking water for one-third of Americans, comes in the midst of a water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan. The vote was deeply divided among partisan lines, with 52 senators voting to upheld the veto, eight abstaining and the remaining 40 voting against it. While the vote was close, overriding a veto requires a super-majority. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed for the vote, which was considered a long-shot from the start"

Republican Governor Knowingly Poisoned City Of Flint Michigan

How Big An Idiot Is Rep. Justin Amash?

How Big An Idiot Is Rep. Justin Amash?

"These Ayn Rand wannabes are a blight on their constituents."

Democratic Candidates Furious Over Flint Water Crisis

The Connection Between Super PACS and Flint's Water Crisis

Republicans Tried To Kill The Clean Water Rule, But Obama’s Veto Pen Said ‘Hell No’

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/19/republicans-tried-to-kill-the-clean-water-rule-but-obamas-veto-pen-said-hell-no/
"On Tuesday, President Obama’s Veto Pen™ got some exercise when he dashed Republicans’ hopes of gutting clean water rules — a curious mission, given the fact that Republicans in Michigan literally murdered 10 people and poisoned hundreds of kids with the state’s disgusting water supply — water their Governor assured them was safe to drink. The resolution, introduced by hog-castrating waste of flesh Joni Ernst, had one goal: to block the EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Water Rule and to prevent similar measures from being taken to protect our nation’s water in the future. Fortunately, President Obama stepped up to kill the GOP’s dream of unregulated waterways teeming with dangerous bacteria and other nasty stuff."

Obama Drops The Hammer And Vetoes Republican Bill That Kills Clean Water Rules

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/01/19/obama-drops-hammer-vetoes-republican-bill-kills-clean-water-rules.html
"In 2016, the American people should not have to rely on their president to protect their access to water, but such is the state of the Republican Party."

Snyder e-mails missing key year in Flint toxic water disaster

Desperate MI Governor Tries Claiming Flint Poisoning Was ‘Natural Disaster’, Obama Slaps Him Down

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/18/desperate-mi-governor-tries-claiming-flint-poisoning-was-natural-disaster-obama-slaps-him-down/
"Doctors now warn that every child in Flint under the age of six – over 8,000 of them – must now be treated for lead poisoning. The long-term effects to their health and mental development won’t be known for some time. It’s gotten so bad that President Obama was forced to declare a federal emergency in Flint."

Historic: Obama Defeats Kochs As Solar Jobs Overtake Coal For The First Time Ever

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/historic-obama-defeats-kochs-as-solar-jobs-overtake-coal-for-the-first-time-ever/
"big dirty energy companies like Koch Industries have been pulling strings in statehouses across the country to overturn incentives for residents to switch to solar power. In Nevada, solar customers received a dramatic rate hike despite the fact that they actually give back more energy to the grid than they use after a public utilities commission panel voted to approve the increase; the panel was hand-selected by Republican governor Brian Sandoval, who allegedly has ties to NV Energy, the Berkshire-Hathaway corporation that is the main private utility in the state. In Arizona, APS, the main energy provider, was granted permission by state regulators to charge a flat fee on solar users simply because they were no longer plugging into APS’ dirty energy, and the state’s once thriving solar industry has been decimated since. In Oklahoma, the staunchly Republican state legislature abandoned its supposed conservative principle of lower taxes to impose a new levy on solar power; the move came after a lobbying blitz by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is close to the Koch Brothers. The Koch Brothers and their companions in the dirty energy industry have pumped millions into often disingenuous campaigns to impede the growth of solar energy across the country, proving themselves once again willing to sacrifice the good of the American people to make a quick buck by continuing to poison our planet."

The GOP’s reign of gubernatorial terror: Here are the small-government zealots who made their states considerably worse

The GOP’s reign of gubernatorial terror: Here are the small-government zealots who made their states considerably worse

"The next time some idiot wearing a Donald Trump t-shirt and a sneer tells you that we need leaders who will run the government more like a business, kindly direct their attention to Snyder. A business executive and CPA with no prior experience serving in government, Snyder was elected in the wave election of 2010 that swept Tea Party conservatives into office at the state and federal level. He immediately set about trying to run the state like it was a division of Gateway, the computer company where he was an executive during the 1990s. He crushed unions and made Michigan a right-to-work state, cutting services, and replacing the business tax with a flat tax while eliminating tax breaks on pensions, thus putting more of the state’s tax burden on the poor and working classes. The result? Michigan now ranks a whopping 36th in per capita income and just spent a year and a half poisoning 100,000 people with water so polluted, a local General Motors engine plant stopped using it because it corroded the factory’s machinery. Snyder is not the only Republican governor swept into power during the Tea Party wave of 2009-10 who used his state as a lab experiment for the type of conservative governance the GOP has been pushing for decades – lower regulations, lower taxes, slashing government services, and generally screwing over everyone not in their socio-economic class through austerity budgets and a boneheaded, stubborn refusal to adjust their policies in reaction to changing events. How is that working out for some of the other governors? You’re probably already well acquainted with the disasters of the Scott Walker and Chris Christie administrations. But let’s review some of the others."

Water donations run dry in Flint, no action from Governor Snyder

Calls for Michigan Gov. Snyder's Arrest as Flint Poisoning Scandal Implicates Top Staffers

Calls for Michigan Gov. Snyder's Arrest as Flint Poisoning Scandal Implicates Top Staffers

"Calls for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's ouster—and arrest—are growing after internal emails showed that his high-level staffers were aware of lead poisoning in Flint's public water supply six months before the administration declared a state of emergency."

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Poisons Flint Kids And Then Declares An Emergency

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/01/07/michigan-governor-snyder-poisons-flint-kids-declares-its-emergency.html
"As a brief refresher, in 2012 Michigan Governor Rick Snyder used ALEC and Mackinac Center for Public Policy tactics to impose “financial martial law” and corporate-backed “disaster capitalism” on the state’s residents. As governor, Snyder appointed little corporate tyrants known as “emergency managers” with unprecedented dictatorial authority to disband unions, corporatize city services, abolish school districts, and dissolve local elected governments; it was a move touted as the corporate model to help Michigan residents adjust to privatization and loss of liberty. Now, although there were numerous warnings that people’s lives were being put at risk with an ALEC corporate tyrant running the show, Michigan’s governor can hardly deny that his ALEC-Mackinac tyrannical takeover is literally poisoning entire communities; all in the name of GOP and ALEC privatization and austerity madness. On Tuesday Rick Snyder was “forced” to declare a state of emergency in two Michigan counties, Flint and Genesee, because the water supply is toxic with lead."

Flint water concerns 'blown off' by state: Snyder staffer e-mail