IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Record wildfires burn a million acres in the Pacific Northwest; It’s official: June 2014 was the hottest June globally on record; EPA moves to block massive Pebble Mine; California moves to block oil industry polluting groundwater; PLUS: Wanna cut your emissions? Then cut the beef… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 7/22/2014

‘Green News Report’ – July 22, 2014  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – July 22, 2014  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

30s 30s

0:00 0:00

Download Episode Link to this page Embed on your site! Subscribe RSS/Podcast

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Study vindicates climate models accused of ‘missing the pause’; Wildlife refuges ban bee-killing pesticide; Obama administration approves seismic testing for oil off Atlantic coast; NY seeks to shut down Indian Point nuclear plant to protect fish; Freedom Industries proposes $3m settlement for chemical spill; Portland, Maine fights off tar sands pipeline; CA couple fined for brown lawn while conserving water; Australia’s drought caused by carbon emissions … PLUS: Poll: U.S. Leads The World… In Climate Denial … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• CNBC Guest: “Demonization Of Carbon Dioxide Is Just Like” Demonization Of “Jews Under Hitler”:
• VIDEO: CNBC’s Climate “Expert”: “Demonization Of Carbon Dioxide Is Just Like” Demonization Of “Jews Under Hitler” (Media Matters) [emphasis added]:
  The cable business channel CNBC continued to push climate change denial on its network, hosting a professor who compared the “demonization” of carbon dioxide to the Holocaust. Physics Professor William Happer has published no peer-reviewed research on climate change, yet co-host Joe Kernen introduced him as an “industry expert” on the July 14 edition of Squawk Box.
• Climate Denier William Happer: CO2 “Demonized like Jews” (Climate Crocks)
• Record Wildfires Burn Pacific Northwest:
• Washington wildfire, biggest in state history, claims first fatality (LA Times)
  The Carlton fire is one of about 20 major wildfires burning in the arid Northwest. It began with a lightning strike on July 14 in the region roughly 200 miles northeast of Seattle.
• Wildfire is largest in Washington state history (King 5, Seattle)
• It’s Official: June 2014 Hottest On Record:
• June 2014 was Earth’s warmest on record as ocean temperatures surged (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that June was the globe’s warmest in 134 years of records following its report that May was also the hottest on record. These reports are feeding anticipation that 2014 could become the warmest year on record.
• Global Ocean Temperatures Haven’t Been This Hot Since Before 1880 (Mashable)
• AUDIO: NOAA State of the Climate in 2013 report findings (NOAA.gov)
• Climate data from air, land, sea and ice in 2013 reflect trends of a warming planet: Increases in temperature, sea level and CO2 observed; Southern Hemisphere warmth and Super Typhoon Haiyan among year’s most notable events (NOAA.ogv)
• New NOAA climate model shows Australia’s long-term rainfall decline due to human-caused climate change (NOAA.gov)
• California Orders Emergency Shutdown of Oil Industry Wells Polluting Groundwater:
• California Halts Injection of Fracking Waste, Warning it May Be Contaminating Aquifers (Pro Publica):
  State’s drought has forced farmers to rely on groundwater, even as California aquifers have been intentionally polluted due to exemptions for oil industry.
• Chevron Admits The Truth: Oil Shale Will Use Huge Amounts Of Western Water (Climate Progress)
• Beef Production Has Huge Environmental Impact:
• Beef pollutes more than pork, poultry, study says (AP) [emphasis added]:
  Compared with the other animal proteins, beef produces five times more heat-trapping gases per calorie, puts out six times as much water-polluting nitrogen, takes 11 times more water for irrigation and uses 28 times the land, according to the study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Cows are not efficient at converting feed to protein for human consumption.
• Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences):
  Livestock-based food production is an important and pervasive way humans impact the environment. It causes about one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is the key land user and source of water pollution by nutrient overabundance.
• Studies Sound Red Alert On Beef’s Global Warming Toll (Climate Progress)
  Researchers found that beef and dairy cattle account for just about three-fourths of livestock-related GHG emissions, with 54 percent coming from beef cattle and 17 percent from dairy cattle. This is partly due to the sheer abundance of the animal but also from the higher levels of methane and nitrous oxide that they emit.
• Not Eating Meat Can Cut Your Food-Related Carbon Emissions Almost In Half, Study Finds (Climate Progress)
• Win for Salmon: EPA Moves to Block Pebble Mine:
• EPA proposes strict limits on Pebble mine to protect salmon (Alaska Dispatch):
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday said it intends to take extraordinary action to protect Bristol Bay’s world-class salmon runs and unparalleled natural habitat from destruction by the proposed Pebble mine. But the agency is stopping short of blocking the mine outright and instead is proposing caps on how many miles of streams and acres of wetlands could be lost.
• EPA proposal could derail planned Pebble Mine in Alaska: The agency’s proposed restrictions would basically prevent development of the gold and copper mine near the highly valued salmon fishery in Bristol Bay. (Seattle Times)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Poll: U.S. Leads The World… In Climate Denial (Climate Progress)
A poll of 20 countries and over 16,000 people has found that the United States leads the world when it comes to climate denial.
• Climate models that accidentally got El Nià±o right also show warming slowdown (Ars Technica) [emphasis added]:
  If you look at the four models that were the worst at reproducing ENSO behavior, then you’d think climate modelers were incompetent, as these models all showed rapid warming from 1990 onward. But, if you picked the four that had the best match to real-world ENSO data, then you see exactly what reality produced: a relatively slow rate of warming starting at about the beginning of the century.
• Study vindicates climate models accused of ‘missing the pause’ (The Conversation):
  Climate models can recreate the slowdown in global warming since 1998, as long as they correctly factor in crucial variables such as the state of the El Nià±o system, new research has shown.
• Obama administration approves seismic testing for oil and gas off Atlantic coast (Baltimore Sun) [emphasis added]:
  [E]nvironmental groups decried the decision, warning that despite precautions ordered by the government, “dynamite-like” seismic testing could injure fish, whales and other marine mammals.
• New York environment regulators seek summer shutdown at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (Reuters):
  Environmental groups and the DEC have long argued that Indian Point’s water intake system kills about a billion fish, fish eggs and larvae each year, and the plant should install cooling towers to reduce the use of river water by recycling it. Entergy argues that cooling towers are too expensive.
• Freedom Industries Proposes $2.9 Million Settlement for WV Chemical Spill Cases (Charleston Gazette)
• Maine town fights plan to use pipeline to export oil sands crude (LeHigh Valley Morning Call)
• California Couple Tries To Conserve Water, Ends Up Facing $500 Fine For Brown Lawn (Climate Progress)
• How oil and gas firms gained influence and transformed North Dakota: Boom has brought prosperity, but critics wonder about the costs (Center for Public Integrity)
• VIDEO: Energy Efficiency: The Forgotten Giant (Climate Crocks)
• Australia’s drought – yes, it’s climate change (The Ecologist):
  American scientists have just confirmed that parts of Australia are being slowly parched because of greenhouse gas emissions. A report in Nature Geoscience shows that the long-term decline in rainfall over south and south-west Australia is a consequence of fossil fuel burning and depletion of the ozone layer by human activity.
• Northwest wildlife refuges to phase out bee-killing pesticide (SF Gate):
  Federal wildlife refuges in the Northwest and Hawaii will phase out a class of pesticides that are chemically similar to nicotine because they pose a threat to bees and other pollinators key to crop growth.
• Clear differences between organic and non-organic food, study finds (Guardian UK)
• How long will world’s oil reserves last? 53 years, says BP (CS Monitor):
  The world has 53.3 years left to find an alternative to oil before current proved reserves run dry, according to BP. Of course, nations are finding new oil – meaning that number is rising – but new extraction methods are costly and can pose environmental threats.
• Zero carbon and economic growth can go together, UN study says (Guardian UK):
  The top 15 emitter countries could make deep cuts to emissions while also tripling economic output, according to the study

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a ‘Hoax’!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).