IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: COP15 Cop-out? Copenhagen climate talks stalled in the last days --- or are they? Our special coverage continues... PLUS: Are they fake or real? Christmas trees, that is, and which are greener? ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': NASA: California’s water woes worsen; Quake threat leads Swiss to close geothermal project; U.K.'s celebrity climate change denier Lord Monckton "Makes Mischief"; Contaminated drinking water, the dark side of the natural gas boom; Paper battery shows promise for grid, vehicle energy storage; Is 'malicious bullshitting' the key to global warming denialism?; Solar energy for no money down!; Alaskan lawmakers seek PR firm to fight endangered species listings ... PLUS: Decades later, PA town still burns from coal fire underground....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

• Tuvalu to Obama and the Senate: ‘The fate of my country rests in your hands’:
  
  It appears that we are waiting for some senators in the U.S. Congress to conclude before we can consider this issue properly. It is an irony of the modern world that the fate of the world is being determined by some senators in the U.S. Congress.
• Climate Talks Deadlocked As Clashes Erupt Outside (NPR)
• Deal-Or-No-Deal Time in Copenhagen: With the US-China standoff dominating the climate summit, Hillary Clinton attempts a game-changer. (Mother Jones)
• Copenhagen Climate Talks Approach 'Defining Moment in History' (Environmental News Service)
• Climate talks deadlocked as clashes erupt outside (AP)
• Fight to control Copenhagen climate change fund: The deadlock over who should cut carbon emissions and by how much may be dominating the headlines here in Copenhagen but behind the scenes an equally big issue is being thrashed out. It's a fight for control of the massive new fund that will challenge our changing climate. (BBC)
• Signs of Movement on Money and Trust (Dot Earth) [emphasis added]:
  
  The political and diplomatic pressure to produce a meaningful agreement on climate by the weekend is clearly having an effect in the final hours of talks.
  ...
  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton [said] the United States was prepared to join with other wealthy nations in “mobilizing” $100 billion a year by 2020. She stressed that that level of support was only possible “in the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation.”
• Poor and Emerging States Stall Climate Negotiations (NY Times)
• There Are No Climate Skeptics in China: The temperature tax: a compromise with whom? (The Economist)
• Inhofe's One-Man Truth Squad (Mother Jones)
• How the Sausage Gets Made in Copenhagen (Bill McKibben, Mother Jones)
• What should we watch for during the climate summit’s final days? (Grist)
• Pope Calls for Action on Climate Change (AP)
• U.N. Draft Emissions Proposal a Nonstarter for U.S. Climate Negotiators (Greenwire)
• U.S. To Help Raise $100 Billion Climate Aid Fund (AP)
• China and U.S. Hit Strident Impasse at Climate Talks (NY Times)
• Climate Structural Adjustment: We’ll Save Your Life On Our Terms (The Nation)

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': More green news not covered in today's audio report...

• NASA: California’s water woes worsen (Grist)
• Quake Threat Leads Swiss to Close Geothermal Project (NY Times)
• U.K.'s Celebrity Climate Change Denier Lord Monckton "Makes Mischief" (Hot Topics NZ)
• Evillest Corporation Ever Gives Even More Reasons to Grow Your Own (Science Blogs) [emphasis added]:
  
  Even if Monsanto weren't evil, no company should be allowed to control 90% of the seed supply for any staple foods, ever, under any circumstances. Even if we ignore Monsanto's long persecution of farmers, its disregard for human welfare and its history of malfeasance, we're left with a big problem. Not only could they raise prices, but they could dangerously reduce genetic diversity - and given what happened when Monsanto took over Seminis, eliminating thousands of open pollinated varieties from the seed trade, this is not an unreasonable concern.
• Paper battery shows promise for grid, vehicle energy storage (Greenwire)
• Malicious bullshitting--the key to global warming denialism? (Open Left)
• Solar energy for no money down!: Irvine school board member Mike Parham gets full solar installations FOR FREE on every one of his 21 schools. (Climate Progress)
• Wanted by Alaska lawmakers: PR firm to fight species listings: A $1.5M Job: Legislators believe faulty climate change science has led to negative economic effects (Anchorage Daily News)
• Toxic Legacy of Coal Disaster: Centralia Still Burns as America Puts More Money Into Storing Carbon Dioxide in the Ground (Buzzflash)

                 

Article Categories: Green News