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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: China choking on toxic air; Air pollution causing lung cancer everywhere; Anti-fracking protests spread across Europe…and turn violent in Canada, while France holds the line; PLUS: Some good news: US carbon emissions falling for the 5th year in a row … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
10/22/2013
‘Green News Report’ – October 22, 2013 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – October 22, 2013 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Koch Brothers Could Make $100 Billion if Keystone XL Pipeline Approved; Another oil train explodes in Canada; Fukushima: toxic water overflows after storm; State Dept. officials warns ‘rigid’ climate deal won’t fly; Paper giant funds secret science to deflect asbestos lawsuits; ‘Divest now from ‘sub-prime’ coal, oil before carbon bubble bursts’; Gulf ecosystem still in crisis 3 years after BP spill; Koch-owned BP refinery waste piles up in Chicago; $26b to build UK’s first new nuclear plant; 300 elephants poisoned … PLUS: “The ocean is broken” … and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- VIDEO: WSJ’s Stephen Moore: Fracking Is “Like The Equivalent In Health Care Of A Cure For Cancer” (Media Matters)
- China Air-Pocalypse: Northern City Shuts Down in Toxic Smog Fog:
- Unclean Coal: Record-Breaking Air Pollution Nearly Shuts Down Chinese City (Climate Progress) [emphasis added]:
In Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang province, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) reached levels of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city…for comparison, as the New York Times notes, the air quality index in New York was 41 on Monday morning. It was the first time PM2.5 readings have hit 1,000 since China began releasing data on PM2.5 in January 2012.
- In China’s Polluted Cities, the Smog May Be Here to Stay (Time Magazine)
- VIDEO: Chinese citizens losing patience with air pollution consequences (PBS Newshour):
“If you go online on the Chinese web, you see people saying things like, welcome to the middle class, and they mean it bitterly. This is not what they wanted.”
- China to adopt emergency measures to fight air pollution (Global News)
- As China coughs and chokes, public concern about air pollution rises (Pew Research)
- WHO: Air Pollution Causes Cancer:
- VIDEO: Europeans not safe from urban air pollution cancer threat, WHO confirms (EuroNews):
- VIDEO: Air pollution causes lung cancer, WHO agency announces (NBC News)
- Air Pollution Definitively Linked To Cancer (Climate Progress):
The IARC’s research found the toll of air pollution on public health worldwide is significant. In 2010 alone, exposure to ambient fine particles was recently estimated to have contributed to 3.2 million premature deaths, predominantly from cardiovascular disease, and 223,000 deaths from lung cancer. More than half of the lung cancer deaths attributable to ambient fine particles were projected to have been in China and other East Asian countries.
- Air pollution as great a risk as smoking during pregnancy (Independent UK):
Exposure to even low levels of common air pollutants during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of babies being born small, according to one of the largest studies of its kind… The risk was even increased at pollution levels well below those deemed unsafe by the European Union.
- Canada: First Nations anti-fracking protest turns violent:
- N.B. protesters plan more protests after violent clash with RCMP over shale-gas project (Globe & Mail):
The police intended to enforce an injunction against a native blockade that has prevented SWN, a natural gas and oil exploration company, from conducting seismic testing. The protesters refused the demands to disperse, and the confrontation devolved into a melee of tear gas and rubber bullets. In the end, at least 40 people, including Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock and several council members, had been arrested and five police cruisers had been set ablaze.
- ‘Battle Won, War Continues’: Court Affirms First Nation’s Right to Protest Fracking (Common Dreams): Ruling follows violent police crackdown on New Brunswick protest; Elsipogtog vow to continue mobilizations
- Canada Anti-Fracking Protests: First Nations Confront Harper Government (Global Research)
- Police Bring Snipers, Fire Hoses, And Tear Gas To First Nation Fracking Protest (Climate Progress)
- Court’s injunction again Elsipogtog First Nation could have dire consequences: (Troy Media.com)
- Anti-Fracking Sentiment Spreads Across Europe:
- I risked arrest at Balcombe to send the coalition a message on climate change (Guardian UK): Instead of heeding scientists’ warnings on fossil fuels the coalition has become flagwaver-in-chief for the fracking industry.
- France’s Fracking Ban ‘Absolute’ After Court Upholds Law (Bloomberg):
Schuepbach Energy LLC, a Dallas-based explorer, complained to the court that the law was unfair after having two exploration permits revoked because of the ban. President Francois Hollande has said France won’t allow exploration of shale energy even as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on nuclear energy and keep down costs for consumers….French Environment Minister Philippe Martin said today after the ruling. “With this decision the ban on hydraulic fracturing is absolute.”
- France Upholds Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing (NY Times)
- VIDEO: MP Caroline Lucas explains protest aims after fracking arrest in Balcombe (Gurardian UK)
- VIDEO: Romania: a small village’s anti-fracking protest spreads to the capital (EuroNews)
- Good News: US Carbon Emissions Drop For 5th Year In A Row:
- Report: U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2012 (US Energy Information Administration):
+The 2012 downturn means that emissions are at their lowest level since 1994 and over 12 percent below the recent 2007 peak.
+ After 1990, only the recession year of 2009 saw a larger percentage emissions decrease than 2012.
+ Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have declined in 5 out of the last 7 years. - Americans Consumed Less Energy In 2012, And Pumped Out Less Carbon Dioxide To Do It (Climate Progress)
- U.S. energy-related carbon pollution at lowest since 1994 (Reuters):
Carbon dioxide emissions from energy production in the United States fell to 5.29 billion metric tons in 2012 – its lowest level since 1994.
- Antarctic ozone hole not as large this year (NOAA)
- U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions rebounding sharply in 2013 (Facts of the Day)
- Report: U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2012 (US Energy Information Administration):
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- “The ocean is broken” (Newcastle Herald) [emphasis added]:
What was missing was the cries of the seabirds which, on all previous similar voyages, had surrounded the boat. The birds were missing because the fish were missing.
…
“They told us that this was just a small fraction of one day’s by-catch. That they were only interested in tuna and to them, everything else was rubbish. It was all killed, all dumped. They just trawled that reef day and night and stripped it of every living thing.” - Study: Koch Brothers Could Make $100 Billion if Keystone XL Pipeline Approved (DeSmogBlog):
A new study released today concludes that Koch Industries and its subsidiaries stand to make as much as $100 billion in profits if the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is granted a presidential permit from U.S. President Barack Obama.
- Oil Train Derailment, Explosions Force Evacuation of Alberta Community (Toronto Globe and Mail)
- Facing suits over asbestors, paper giant launched secretive research: (Center for Public Integrity):
In the spring of 2005, Georgia-Pacific Corp. found itself facing nearly $1 billion in liability from a product it hadn’t made in nearly three decades: a putty-like building material, known as joint compound, containing the cancer-causing mineral asbestos.
- State Department official: ‘Rigid’ global climate deal won’t fly (The Hill’s e2 Wire)
- Japan Extends the Fukushima Clean-Up Deadline To 2017 (BBC News)
- After Storm, Toxic Water Overflows in Japan (NY Times):
The operator of Japan’s wrecked nuclear plant said Monday that rainwater from a weekend storm became contaminated as it collected behind barriers meant to stop radiation leaks. The toxic water overflowed those barriers at several locations, with some of it possibly spilling into the Pacific Ocean.
- Al Gore: Divest Now From ‘Sub-Prime’ Coal And Oil Companies Before ‘Carbon Bubble’ Bursts (Climate Progress):
Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project will kick off a live-stream, multimedia event. It will explore how we are all already paying the cost of carbon pollution “” and what we can do about it. Details and webcast here.
- Gulf Ecosystem in Crisis After BP Spill: (Aljazeera English_):
Three years after well blowout, declining seafood catches and deformities point to an environment in distress.
- BP rests its case in Gulf spill trial’s barrel-counting segment (Huffington Post Green)
- BP Refinery Waste at Koch-Owned Site Pollutes Chicago Neighborhoods: (Huffington Post):
Residents in several lower-income Chicago neighborhoods say a dirty oil byproduct from a nearby BP refinery is creating environmental and health hazards — and no one is doing enough to stop it.
- $26b Deal to Build a British Nuclear Plant Assumes a Role for Government (NY Times):
In reaching its nuclear deal with EDF Group, the big French state-controlled utility, and opening the door to financing from China, the British government signaled that whether in terms of environmental concerns, consumer prices or Britain’s long-term energy independence, the free market alone no longer served the national interest.
- Zimbabwe Elephant Poisoning Death Toll Rises Above 300; Lions, Vultures, Hyenas Also Killed (Huffington Post Green)
- In China, victory for wildlife conservation as citizens persuaded to give up shark fin soup (Washington Post)
- Making Republicans pay a price for climate science denialism? (Washington Post): The League of Conservation Voters is engaged in an interesting experiment designed to answer that question
- Climate change will hit oceans everywhere, with massive impacts on societies — study (E & E News) [emphasis added]:
[Camilo Mora, the University of Hawaii, Manoa] led a group of 28 scientists who used output from the latest generation of climate models to calculate changes in acidity, temperature, oxygen and productivity for the world’s oceans by 2100. They show that across the world’s oceans, everything from food chains to fisheries will see influences of climate change.
- Rises in Early Puberty May Have Environmental Roots: Americans girls and boys are going through puberty earlier than ever, although the reasons are unclear (Scientific American):
A 2012 analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that American girls exposed to high levels of common household chemicals had their first periods seven months earlier than those with lower exposures. “This study adds to the growing body of scientific research that exposure to environmental chemicals may be associated with early puberty…”
- Limits approved for genetically modified crops (GMO) crops in Kauai, Hawaii: (NY Times):
Legislators on the island of Kauai in Hawaii have approved a bill that would restrict the use of pesticides by companies developing genetically modified crops there.
- The Minamata Mercury Convention: 12 Things It Does and Doesn’t Do (Scientific American): The Minamata Convention, a United Nations pact launched Thursday, is designed to limit mercury use and emissions internationally
- What Our Idyllic, Non-Dystopian Future Would Look Like If We Fixed the World (Motherboard/VICE):
The book, The World We Made: Alex McKay’s Story from 2050, is told through the perspective of Alex, the non gender-specific protagonist living in the year 2050, reflecting on how the world came back from the brink of destruction. It’s due to come out next month.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
When my wife and I were flying into Beijing in 2008, I looked out my window and saw this huge black cloud. The steward laughed when I asked if it was fog. Despite having lived in So Cal most of my life, I really didn’t have an idea of the meaning of a traffic jam or gridlock until I spent time on a Beijing freeway, watching emergency vehicles go nowhere even when their red lights were flashing.
We were driven past the same university in Xian where Al Gore had met with a Chinese professor during the filming of An Inconvenient Truth. The air quality was substantially similar to the photo at the beginning of this article. Drawing a deep breath was painful.
While the air in Shanghai was relatively clean thanks to energy produced by the nearby Three Gorges Dam and natural gas driven vehicles, during our trip towards Shanghai on the Yangtze river, all we saw was one coal barge after another.
“The ocean is broken” does not bode well for the food supply.