Fat Tuesday, Dr. Oz, Big Food, Ag-Gag and Agri-Torture, Buzz-Kill; Abortion and Birth Control, Obamacare, VA, Think of the Children, Psych; Gone Viral, Vax Populi

Fat Tuesday

• Court: Teacher Teasing Overweight Student Is Child Abuse
• House GOP wants to cut Michelle Obama's healthy school lunches: These Republicans come from the unhealthiest states
• State high court rules NYC ban on large sodas is illegal—Suck it, Bloomie.
• China to recruit 'more portly' soldiers with brainpower—"China's military relaxes height, eyesight and weight requirements for soldiers in effort to attract more educated personnel, newspaper says."

Dr. Oz

• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplements
• Why Dr. Oz can say anything and keep his medical license
• A Snake Oil Salesman Alive and Well in Dr. Oz
• Twitter gets predictably snarky when Dr. Oz asks, "What are you eating that is Oz Approved"? Salon

Big Food

• Chipotle's anti-Big-Food ad wins Cannes PR award
• How the US Government Helps McDonald's Sell Junk Food—"The feds also helped bring you the Taco Bell Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla and several other fast-food gems."
• Hamburger Chef Jamie Oliver Proves McDonald's Burgers "Unfit for human consumption"
• Monsanto Tries to Patent & Control Natural, Non-GMO Tomatoes
• Whole Foods to pay $800,000 in overpricing case
• U.S. meat producers square off against consumer groups in request to peel back on labeling
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Letter of the Week -- POM Wonderful

Ag-Gag and Agri-Torture

• Undercover animal abuse videos could soon be outlawed
• Canada's Largest Dairy Farm Employees Accused Of Animal Cruelty
• The Abstinence Method—"Dutch farmers just say no to antibiotics for livestock." Gerbert Oosterlaken, owner of Hoeve de Hulsdonk farm, "believes the more you can see, the better."

Buzz-Kill

• Obama orders review of pesticides' effect on bees
• Pesticides threaten birds and bees alike, study says
• Pesticides linked to bee deaths must be banned, scientists say
• French scientists revive assault on pesticide, GM corn
• Study links pesticide exposure in pregnancy to autism

Abortion and Birth Control

• Supreme Court says employers with religious objections can refuse to pay for contraception
• Corporations Are People, And They Have More Rights Than You
• SCOTUS end of term: The Supreme Court’s conservatives are using the First Amendment as a weapon
• 'Supreme Court strikes down abortion clinic buffer zone
• Anti-abortion protesters take advantage of Supreme Court ruling
• Alabama Abortion Clinic Forced To Close Because Its Hallways Aren't Wide Enough
• The Rise of the DIY Abortion in Texas—"A pill that revolutionized reproductive rights in Latin America is now gaining ground on the black market in South Texas."

Obamacare

• McAuliffe Defies GOP: We're 'Moving Forward' With Obamacare Expansion
• Capitol police gave House clerks access to governor's office—"Father's Day budget delivery to the governor's secure suite of offices prompts protests from the administration, which alleged an 'unacceptable' security breach."
• Emails: GOP Secured Majority After VA Dem Promised Job, Phone And Car
• Analysis Shows GOP Fear-Mongering On Obamacare Premiums Is Probably Bogus
• Republicans Finally Admit Why They Really Hate Obamacare
• Here Is the Most Shameless Anti-Obamacare Argument Yet

VA

• White House report: Overhaul VA's 'corrosive culture' Politico
• Letters Claim Vets Were Mistreated At West Palm Beach VA
• Acton Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor's Appointment – 2 Years After He Died
• Obama to name new VA chief

Think of the Children

• Alaska to put free pregnancy tests in bars to curb fetal alcohol syndrome rate
• Is veganism child abuse?—"A mother is arrested for infant neglect after a hospital crisis that began with her veganism." Salon
• Meet the con man selling fake stem cell treatments to children—"Davide Vannoni is playing with people's lives, and the Italian government is paying for it."
• No, PETA, Cow Milk Does Not Cause Autism—"The group that brought you animal-fur horror stories has just launched a campaign claiming cow's milk causes autism. Hold on to your Cheerios, this one needs explaining."

Psych

• Cost of not caring: Stigma set in stone—"People with mental illness face prejudice and discrimination nearly everywhere they turn, from friends and employers and even insurance plans."
• Minnesota teen who planned school massacre: 'I think I'm really mentally ill'
• Stop Telling Your Depressed Friends to "Cheer Up"—"It's more helpful to express that their feelings are valid."

Gone Viral

• Untreatable virus spreading in the Caribbean now afflicts 4,600 LA Times
• Doctors Without Borders: Ebola 'out of control'—Experts say it's just the 'tip of the iceberg' and it's getting worse [WaPo].
• CDC: Up to 86 workers possibly exposed to anthrax

Vax Populi

• One unvaccinated child was patient zero of a measles epidemic
• Measles cases are spreading, despite high vaccination rates. What's going on?—In other news, Jenny allegedly-not-against-vaccinations McCarthy is no longer on 'The View'. WaPo
• First measles case in at least 6 years reported in Pierce County—"The case is connected to eight confirmed cases being investigated in South King County, all among members of the same extended family, officials said."
• Judge Upholds Policy Barring Unvaccinated Students During Illnesses NYT
• Ohio Amish begin vaccinations amid largest measles outbreak in recent U.S. history
• Blast from the Past: Fear and frustration dominated Somali community forum on measles, vaccines and autism

Climate Change, Denialists, Weather Control; Environment, Carbon Caps, Unclean Energy, Fracking; Law and Disorder, BP, Pollution, Water; Ecology, Poached, Oceans, Forests

Climate Change

• Krugman: Interests, Ideology And Climate—"The monetary stakes, it turns out, are not the biggest obstacle to rational action on global warming." NYT
• Republican EPA chiefs to Congress: Act on climate
• Hawaii: Gov. signs climate change bill—"Being the only island state in the country, we are especially vulnerable to climate change and are on the frontlines of impacts like sea level rise."
• How the insurance industry sees climate change—"Why, if climate change is a hoax, are we paying for it?" LA Times
• Brazil Has Done More To Stop Climate Change Than Any Other Country, Study Finds
• Fiji accuses global community of abandoning the Pacific on climate change, singles out 'selfish' Australia
• Apparent pause in global warming blamed on 'lousy' data—"European Space Agency scientist says annual sea level rises since 1993 indicate that warming has continued unabated."
• Climate change will 'cost world far more than estimated'

Denialists

• Obama: Denying Climate Change Is Like Saying the Moon Is "Made of Cheese"
• Florida Congressman: If Humans Cause Climate Change, Then 'Why Did The Dinosaurs Go Extinct'?
• Koch Brothers Unveil New Strategy at Big Donor Retreat—"The Koch brothers' financial network is planning on spending almost $300 million in the 2014 election, including a new anti-environment effort."
• Coal Company CEO Threatens To Sue EPA For 'Lying' About Climate Change
• Fox News slams local newspaper for refusing to entertain climate deniers Salon
• Whitehouse: GOP is 'shrinking' from climate change challenge
• Tony Abbott seeks alliance to thwart President Obama on climate change policy—UK and NZ say no.
• Australia: Labor, Greens challenge Tony Abbott to call double dissolution election after climate bill voted down again in Senate

Weather Control

• China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year—and it plans to quintuple that
• The United States Is Experimenting With Drones To Control The Weather
• Air conditioning raising night-time temperatures in the US

Environment

• The Turning Point: New Hope for the Climate—Al Gore: "It's time to accelerate the shift toward a low-carbon future."
• Chile rejects Patagonia wilderness dam project—"The Chilean government has rejected a plan to build five hydroelectric dams on rivers in the south of the country. Its decision follows years of campaigning by environmentalists and local communities."
• Germany produces half of energy with solar
• U.K. Approves Plans For What Could Become The World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm
• Oil-rich United Arab Emirates aims to be a sustainable energy pioneer—"One of the world's richest oil-based economies is Fembracing sustainable technologies, and making a surprise bid to become a clean energy leader."

Carbon Caps

• In Some States, Emissions Cuts Defy Skeptics—"At least 10 states have already met President Obama's goal of a 30 percent reduction in power plant emissions by 2030, without the economic damage that critics have warned would occur." NYT
• Ohio rebels against Obama climate change agenda with energy bill—"Governor John Kasich puts a two-year freeze on measures promoting wind and solar power and energy efficiency."
• House Republicans Are So Mad at the EPA that They Might Force Another Shutdown

Unclean Energy

• Push To Impose Extra Fees On Customers Who Install Solar Panels Sparks Outrage In Utah
• America's Coal-Producing States Weigh Their Options
• Despite Protests, Canada Approves Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline—"The project, which would send oil from Alberta to Asia, faces stiff opposition from aboriginal groups, environmentalists and community advocates." NYT

Fracking

• Drug Gangs Attacking With Tanks Block Mexican Shale Boom
• Buru to gas frack without EPA assessment—"The West Australian government has decided to allow Buru Energy to frack for gas in the Kimberley region without an Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) assessment."
• German beermakers look like winning their battle to stop fracking
• Russia in secret plot against fracking, Nato chief says—"Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated 'disinformation campaign' aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas."

Law and Disorder

• Court rules against homeowners in toxic water case—"The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a group of homeowners in North Carolina can't sue a company that contaminated their drinking water decades ago because a state deadline has lapsed.... even if residents did not realize their water was polluted until years later."
• Iowa high court reinstates major pollution lawsuit—"In a major environmental case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that residents can bring a nuisance lawsuit against a Muscatine manufacturer accused of routinely blanketing their properties with soot and chemicals."
• EPA fines Buffalo for mishandling waste

BP

• Did Jindal tell us his brother's law firm represents BP before signing SB 469? We didn't get the memo from press office—Protecting corporations, screwing real people.
• BP loses bid to freeze Gulf of Mexico spill payouts—"The US Supreme Court has refused to allow BP to stop paying compensation claims while it awaits a review of its settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill."
• New trial ordered for ex-BP engineer—"A new trial was ordered Thursday for a former BP engineer convicted of deleting text messages related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."
• Four Years After Deepwater Horizon Spill, Tar Balls Continue to Wash Up on Shore—"Researchers have analyzed oil-soaked sand patties near the Gulf of Mexico to track oil from the spill."

Pollution

• Australia drops planned Aborigine nuclear waste site
• NC AG Says Coal Ash Must Be Cleaned Up—"North Carolina's attorney general said Wednesday that Duke Energy's coal ash pits must be cleaned up to protect the state's waterways, but the costs shouldn't be passed along to consumers through higher utility rates."
• China pollution arrests rise as Beijing pushes green agenda
• Chinese official tries to blame industrial lead pollution on "pencil chewing" Salon
• Smog-busting roof tiles could clean tons of pollution, study says

Water

• Suit: Pure Life H2O complaint brought death threats—"A Philly who called Nestle's customer-service department to inquire about the fluoride content in her Nestle Pure Life water was "threatened with a bloody death" by the customer representative who took her call, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Common Pleas Court."
• Indian officials order Coca-Cola plant to close for using too much water—"Mehdiganj plant at centre of protests accused of extracting too much groundwater and releasing pollutants above limits."
• Venezuela Sacrifices Drinking Water to Pay Bondholders—"At a time when Venezuela's record $25 billion in arrears to importers has its citizens waiting hours in line to buy drinking water and crossing borders in search of medicine, President Nicolas Maduro is using the nation's dwindling supply of dollars to enrich bondholders."
• Detroit Plan to Profit on Water Looks Half Empty—"Cities and counties that have long bought their water from Detroit's vast, aging system are teaming up to bypass the bankrupt city." The cut-offs are coming. NYT
• Gwyneth Paltrow believes water has feelings: 'Negativity changes the structure of water'—Wait... what?

Ecology

• WildLeaks attracts major wildlife crime leads in first three months—"WikiLeaks-style website yields 24 tip-offs including elephant poaching, tiger killing, illegal fishery and forest destruction."
• First California condor spotted in San Mateo County since 1904
• Tufted puffin seen on Atlantic coast for 1st time since 1830s
• India: 200 crore trees to be planted along highways—1 crore is 10,000,000 so that makes it 2 billion trees. Project will employ jobless youth. Definitely a win-win.

Poached

• Alarm as 117 elephant carcasses found
• Poachers massacre 68 elephants in Congo park
• Kenya's biggest elephant killed by poachers
• Notorious poacher Bheema Bavaria arrested
• Huge haul of blood-stained ivory found in 32 suitcases at Hong Kong airport SCMP
• Orphaned baby rhino Gertjie refuses to sleep alone after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of poachers

Oceans

• Govt opens Maui's dolphin area for oil drilling
• Pacific Nation Bans Fishing in One of World's Largest Marine Parks
• Obama proposes vast expansion of Pacific Ocean sanctuaries for marine life
• Chinese fishermen held in Philippines defiant ahead of turtle-poaching trial SCMP
• Japan to press for resumption of annual whale hunt

Forests

• Saving Tasmania's forests—"The Australian government will attempt to delist part of Tasmania's forests from UNESCO's World Heritage List."
• Dying to save the Amazonian rainforest—"An environmental campaigner is killed every week in Brazil. Jonathan Watts and Karina Vieira travel to Lábrea in the heart of the Amazon to meet the people risking their lives."
• Brazil's recent fight against deforestation has been a huge success

Reset the Net; World Environment Day, Carbon Caps, Climate Change, Denialists, Fracking, Coal; Ecology; Water; GMO

Reset the Net

• Snowden sounds call to action for Reset the Net web protest
• Reset the Net protest kicks off with massive net support
• Google Joins 'Reset the Net' With Encryption Tool

World Environment Day

• Let the exploitation begin: Ecuador issues drilling permits for untouched corner of the Amazon—""'The world has failed us,' President Rafael Correa said of his abandoned conservation effort." Salon
• Congressmen Defend Repairing Oil Pipes With Trash Bags And Duct Tape
• Business Lobby Tries to Frighten America About Clean Energy, Fails Utterly
• Tony Abbott raises eyebrows after linking WWII D-Day memorial with policies on mining and carbon taxes
• Crowdscrounging pennies to support Canada's most important environmental research
• Hundreds of scientists to Canada PM: Pipeline report 'deeply flawed'
• Federal appeals court says British Petroleum must face fines for gulf oil spill
• France experiments with paying people to cycle to work

Carbon Caps

• Ahead of power plant push, Obama ties climate change to health hazards
• President Obama gets serious on climate change—"With new greenhouse gas emissions regulations, the U.S. is finally a world leader on this important topic."
• China plan to cap CO2 emissions seen turning point in climate talks
• Obama's 'War on Coal' Is Worth Fighting—"The proposed new E.P.A. regulations won’t stop climate change, but they could open the way to a truly meaningful international effort."
• Sorry Rand Paul, Not Only Is The EPA Carbon Rule Legal, It's Mandated By Law
• Get Ready For More False Claims By Big Polluters
• EPA administrator says rule critics 'crying wolf' to protect interests
• EPA policy reflects true cost of coal
• A huge majority of Americans support regulating carbon from power plants. And they're even willing to pay for it.

Climate Change

• 'Cosmos' recap: Climate change is explained in 'The World Set Free' LATimes
• Republican witness admits the expert consensus on human-caused global warming is real
• Prince Charles: reform capitalism to save the planet—"A 'fundamental transformation of global capitalism' is needed in order to tackle climate change, the Prince of Wales has said."

Denialists

• Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains How Republicans Blew It on Climate Change—"The host of Cosmos dishes on our warming planet, why science is 'trending' in our culture, and the meaning of a groundbreaking science TV experiment."
• Climate science is a hoax: Big Oil, GOP, God say so—"Commentary: 30 million Americans dismiss all warnings of deadly disaster."
• The House Science Committee Spent Today in a Climate Change Denial Echo Chamber
• Congress Tells Scientists IPCC Climate Report "Not Science"
• New Ad Looks At All The Ways GOPers Deny Climate Change Science
• John Boehner: 'I'm Not Qualified To Debate The Science Over Climate Change'
• GOP science deniers threaten U.S. national defense
• Canadian Weather Forecasters Forbidden From Discussing Climate Change

Fracking

• Former Energy in Depth Spokesman John Krohn Now at U.S. EIA Promoting Fracking
• Inside a Hollywood Hit Job: How Sting Artist James O'Keefe Tried to Set His Latest Trap – And Got Stung Himself—"Sting artist James O'Keefe says anti-fracking filmmaker Josh Fox is one of his latest victims. But Fox says his own secret tape reveals O'Keefe's true methods."
• North Carolina: House approves fast-track 'fracking' bill—And cops and firefighters could soon be charged for disclosing fracking chemicals.
• David Cameron's house 'fracked' by protesters
• Texas homeowner vents methane from water well, sets it on fire—You don't need no stinkin' regulations.

Coal

• A bogus claim that electricity prices will 'nearly double' because of clean coal technology WaPo
• Rural NC sites become dumping grounds for unwanted coal ash
• Deutsche Bank rules out funding for controversial Abbot Point coal terminal
• Idemitsu admits it hired contractors in coal spies operation

Ecology

• Study: Species disappearing far faster than before
• Monarch butterfly decline linked to spread of GM crops—"Milkweed essential to monarchs in decline because of herbicides used with genetically modified crops."
• Chinese man sentenced for smuggling rhino horns
• Zambian Park Ranger in Charge of Law Enforcement Shot Dead
• Rhino poacher killed in Kaziranga

Water

• World Bank wants water privatized, despite risks
• California Cuts Water to Some Farms and Cities
• A Bloody War for Water in Mexico
• Seven states running out of water

GMO

• West Australian organic farmer loses court fight against GM neighbour
• Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill "Written By Monsanto" Signed Into Law
• N.Y. Assembly committee backs GMO labels
• Vermont governor signs GMO food labeling into law—Monsanto set to sue.

International Biodiversity Day, Environment, Inspection; Pollution, Cities; BP, Duke, Citgo, Coal; Fracking

International Biodiversity Day

• Ottawa removing North Pacific humpback whales from list of 'threatened' species—"The decision removes a major legal hurdle that the environmental group Ecojustice said stood in the way of the $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project that would bring 550,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude from Alberta to Kitimat."
• Queensland Government urges boycott of Ben & Jerry's ice cream over WWF 'propaganda' on Great Barrier Reef
• Great Barrier Reef's 'unprecedented' threat from dredging, dumping—"Conservation society says impact of previous sediment dumps far greater than claimed."
• Alberta to sell off land that serves as crucial caribou habitat
• Wood poaching: Men charged with slashing old-growth redwood
• China to jail eaters of rare wild animals—All for status symbol.
• Grey wolf appears in Iowa for first time in 89 years – and is shot dead—"Hunter mistook animal for a coyote and escapes being cited despite wolves being a protected species in the state, reports Mongabay."
• Madrid matadors gored by bulls at festival launch
• Marine mammals mysteriously dying in record numbers along West Coast
• World's No. 1 pesticide brings honeybees to their knees, say scientists—"A new study from Harvard implicates two neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid and clothianidin, in the ongoing plague of honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder. Imidacloprid is the most widely used pesticide in the world, and both are approved by the EPA."

Environment

• U.S. Senate Republicans block energy bill, forfeit Keystone vote
• Joe Hockey warns clean energy and 'utterly offensive' windfarms are in his budget crosshairs
• Kansas Republican slams Kochs for trying to cripple state’s growing wind power industry
• Germany Sets New Record, Generating 74 Percent Of Energy Needs From Renewable Energy
• WWF staff receive death threats for opposing Virunga oil exploitation

Inspection

• US failed to inspect thousands of at-risk oil and gas wells, report finds
• Probe finds scant oversight of chemical plants—"The government has no way of fully knowing which U.S. chemical facilities stock ammonium nitrate, the substance that exploded last year at a Texas fertilizer plant and killed 14 people, congressional investigators say."
• Federal official tipped off oil company about "surprise" rail inspection—"This is what the government's crackdown on rail safety looks like." Salon

Pollution

• Second radioactive oil waste site found in North Dakota
• Cleanup continues for drilling leak near Marietta
• Oil Train Derails in Lynchburg, Virginia—Also: Crude Oil Cars and Train Derailments, Explained
• Ethanol fuels ozone pollution—"Shifts in use between petrol and ethanol in São Paulo’s cars creates unique atmospheric chemistry experiment."

Cities

• Air pollution 'too high' in most of world's cities
• Top 20 most polluted cities in the world
• Smog-Sucking Electrostatic Vacuum Cleaners May Scrub Polluted Air
• D.C. said it was recycling — it wasn't. Nearly 53 tons of plastic trash cans sent to landfill. WaPo
• Baltimore: Water Wheel operating in a rain storm

BP

• BP pipeline sprays 'oily mist' over 33 acres of Alaskan tundra
• BP oil spill may have killed hundreds of thousands of birds
• US seeks reinstatement of charge in BP spill case
• Gulf Coast oil spill settlement: BP should pay up—"It's outrageous for the company to wriggle out of the settlement for the Gulf Coast oil spill."
• BP Faces Billions in Spill Payments After Court Upholds Deal—Supreme Court appeal is last ditch effort.

Duke

• Duke Says Disposal of Coal-Ash May Cost Up to $10 Billion
• Duke Energy spends tiny percentage of revenue on coal ash cleanup
• Appeals court won't stay order that Duke Energy must stop coal ash leaks—"[I]t is unlikely the ruling will lead to any immediate action by Duke.... The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which regulates ash ponds, disagrees with the judge's interpretation of the law. And the state has joined Duke in appealing the Wake court's ruling." Wow.

Citgo

• Citgo's Corpus Christi Environmental Crimes: Too Big to Punish—"After seven years of waiting, Corpus Christi pollution victims finally learned what restitution they'll be receiving from Citgo Petroleum Corp.: nothing."
• Pollution Is a Violent Crime—Prosecute It as Such—"The corporation doesn't have to pay compensation for pollution it caused in Texas. But pollution is a violent crime—and should be prosecuted as such."
• Oil giant Citgo gets off easy in criminal case
• 10 Years of Pollution, $2 Million in Penalties—"In Texas, an old pollution case is looming over new development."

Coal

• Murray Energy sues Labor Dept over coal dust rule—"An Ohio-based coal operator is suing the Obama administration, claiming that new federal regulations to cut the amount of coal dust in coal mines are overly burdensome and costly to industry."
• Feds lower level of coal dust allowed in mines
• EPA Hails Big Victory At Supreme Court—"It's not every day that environmentalists notch up a victory in the modern Supreme Court, but that's what happened Tuesday in a 6-2 decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to crack down on coal pollution that moves across state lines."
• Justice Scalia Makes Epic Blunder In Supreme Court Opinion
• Court strikes down Minnesota's landmark anti-coal law—Supreme Court ruling came too late? Salon
• Stanford becomes the most prominent university yet to divest from coal—"Following student protests across the country, Stanford becomes the 12th university to announce it's divesting from coal companies." WaPo

Fracking

• In Landmark Ruling, Jury Says Fracking Company Must Pay $3 Million To Sickened Family
• California City Becomes First To Vote To Ban Fracking
• Santa Cruz, Calif., bans fracking—"Scenic coastal area becomes first county in California to do so as issue becomes a statewide concern."
• Local anti-fracking activist wins world's largest environmental prize
• EPA Takes First Step Toward Regulating Fracking Chemicals
• EPA changes course on injection well approval—"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken the unusual step of withdrawing its February approval of a 7,300-foot-deep injection well being drilled to permanently store shale gas drilling waste water near DuBois, Clearfield County."
• Fracking's Air Pollution Drives Couple From Their Home of 23 Years
• Illegal Dumping of Texas Frack Waste Caught on Video—"The waste fluid from oil and gas drilling is often disposed of wherever it is convenient and out of sight, Texas watchdog group says."
• North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals
• Read The Secret Trade Memo Calling For More Fracking and Offshore Drilling

Earth Day, Pollution, Ecology, Climate Change, Denialists, Unclean Energy, Trashing Renewables, Keystone XL, Fracking; Fat Tuesday; Obamacare, GOP Obstructionism; Big Pharma, Medical Malpractice, Vax Populi

Earth Day

• The Latest "Cosmos" Explains How Corporations Fund Science Denial—"Neil Tyson explores the surprising connection between the age of the Earth and the dangers of lead."
• Killing of environmental activists rises globally
• Documents reveal extent of Shell and Rio Tinto lobbying in human rights case—"Multinationals sought legal support from UK government to fight allegations of rights abuses in Nigeria and Papua New Guinea."

Pollution

• Why Are 20 Far-Away States Trying To Block The Cleanup Of The Chesapeake Bay?—"EPA overreach."
• Plane Search Shows World's Oceans Are Full of Trash—"Search for missing Malaysian plane shines spotlight on giant ocean garbage patches."
• James Dyson Is Designing A Giant Vacuum-On-A-Boat To Clean Ocean Trash
• China just revealed a major state secret: nearly 20% of its farmland is polluted
• China's new environment law submitted to parliament

Ecology

• Arab royal hunts down 2,100 houbara bustards in three week safari
• Japan Plans to Resume Whaling Program, With Changes to Address Court Concerns NYT
• BP refuses to fund Gulf oil spill studies—"BP is refusing to pay a large bill for US government-led studies into its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including research into its impact on dolphins, whales and oysters." FT

Climate Change

• IPCC finally weighs in on how to avoid further climate change—"Third and final section of latest IPCC report gives policymakers a roadmap."
• Apple: climate change is real and it's a real problem—"Technology company claims 94% of its corporate facilities are now powered by renewable energy."
• Climate change to 'cost €2bn a year as droughts hit crops'
• Climate change increasing massive wildfires in West
• Climate changes visible by ZIP code with new online tools

Denialists

• Va. Supreme Court rules for U-Va. in global warming FOIA case—"The high court decision rejects an argument by global warming skeptics who wanted to see the work of a climate researcher." WaPo
• Congressman Denies Manmade Climate Change, Calls It 'An Agenda-Driven Science'—"Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) readily admits he’s 'not smart enough' to determine the roots of climate change. He is, however, able to rule out one possible cause: humans."
• Who is mucking up science education?—Wyoming Department of Education Chairman Ron Micheli: "I don’t accept, personally, that [climate change] is a fact. [The standards are] very prejudiced in my opinion against fossil-fuel development." WaPo
• States of Denial: States with the Most Federal Disaster Aid Sent Climate-Science Deniers to Congress
• Why climate deniers are winning: The twisted psychology that overwhelms scientific consensus Salon

Unclean Energy

• Triumph of the Drill: How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways—"Deficit hawks slam them. Execs say they don't need them. So why does petroleum still get big tax breaks?"
• Louisiana's traumatic bond with Big Oil—"What is it about the oil and gas industry that engenders such steadfast devotion from our political leaders? In case you hadn't noticed, Louisiana's government has long functioned as a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Oil."
• EPA drastically underestimates methane released at drilling sites
• World must end 'dirty' fuel use - UN
• Canadian town says 'no' to Enbridge pipeline in vote
• It's Final -- Corn Ethanol Is Of No Use—"Can we stop pretending biofuel from corn is helping the planet and the environment?"

Trashing Renewables

• ALEC Defeated Again In Attacks On Solar, Net Metering Preserved In Kansas
• Op-Ed: ALEC and the Koch brothers fight solar energy with surcharges
• Oklahoma electric utilities want higher rate for solar, wind energy producers

Keystone XL

• Jimmy Carter comes out against Keystone XL pipeline WaPo
• Keystone XL pipeline decision postponed by Obama administration WaPo
• Keystone XL delay pounds TransCanada stock

Fracking

• Ohio geologists link local earthquakes directly to fracking—"For the first time, a state study links Ohio's recent seismic events to hydraulic fracturing, not just water disposal."
• Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity
• North Dakota Finds Itself Unprepared To Handle The Radioactive Burden Of Its Fracking Boom

Fat Tuesday

• Junk food makes you lazy, not just fat, study suggests
• Hello fruits and vegetables! "Junk food" banned from schools July 1
• Thinking 'obesity is a disease' makes you more likely to eat high-calorie foods, study finds
• Yale student , 92 lbs., stuffed her face with Cheetos, ice cream to pacify school officials
• Oscar Nominated Actor Kicked Off Plane—"He says he usually buys two seats, but only one was available."

Obamacare

• Obamacare Signups Hit 8 Million—"And both young and old are on board."
• Very Bad News For Obamacare Opponents In The Government's Latest Report
• States embracing Obamacare are doing a better job of covering the uninsured, surveys show WaPo
• Nobody believes there is any GOP alternative to Obamacare WaPo
• Poll: Republicans Admit Obamacare Might Not Be The End Of The World

GOP Obstructionism

• How the GOP Bet on Failure And Lost
• Making the GOP pay for Medicaid obstruction Salon
• Democrats Need to Start Blaming the GOP for the Death of Charlene Dill—"How liberals should talk about the Medicaid expansion."
• GOP, Insurers Bully Dems Into Retreat On Medicare Cuts
• Florida Voter Confronts GOP Representative On His Repeated Efforts To Repeal Obamacare
• For Republicans, Obama's Obamacare news changes nothing WaPo
• The Right's New Scam: Feigning Anger on Behalf of People They Encouraged to Skip Obamacare
• Cruz Still Pledging To 'Repeal Every Single Word Of Obamacare'

Big Pharma

• Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline bribed doctors to boost sales, says whistleblower
• US: A mecca for overpriced medicine
• What the Tamiflu saga tells us about drug trials and big pharma
• Big pharma struggles to balance transparency and profits

Medical Malpractice

• Grandmother 'was put in morgue freezer while still alive'
• Medical Malpractice Caps Voided in Florida
• Nursing Home Hired Strippers For Patients: Suit
• Australia: NHMRC rule homeopathic remedies useless for human health

Vax Populi

• Jenny McCarthy: I am not "anti-vaccine." This is not a change in my stance nor is it a new position that I have recently adopted.—Is she being disingenuous? Sure sounds like it. This is her legacy.
• Ontario Health Minister slams Jenny McCarthy for 'outrageously irresponsible' anti-vaccine campaign
• Mom Whose Child Died After Catching Chicken Pox Advocates for Vaccines
• Dear parents: you are being lied to about vaccines
• Measles Outbreak Traced to Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time—This is where herd immunity can come in.
• Fear of polio virus: India, Georgia place curbs on Pakistanis—There's a danger of fake vaccination certificates.

International Space Day, Travel, Moon, Mars, Doughnut; Earth, Ecology, Unclean Energy, Climate Change; Follow-ups

International Space Day

• Morpheus lander: VTOL test package video
• New Catalog Brings NASA Software Down to Earth
• Interview with man who discovered lost Challenger photos
• Astronaut's Near-Drowning Could Have Been Avoided
• The audacious rescue plan that might have saved space shuttle Columbia—"The untold story of the rescue mission that could have been NASA's finest hour."
• Every single satellite orbiting Earth, in a single image
• Mysterious 'flying saucer' slides found in documents leaked by Edward Snowden
• How Nuclear Bombs Could Save Earth from Killer Asteroids

Travel

• NASA Can't Ethically Send Astronauts on One-Way Missions to Deep Space
• How Many People Does It Take to Colonize Another Star System?—"A multigenerational journey between stars would require a lot more passengers than scientists previously thought."
• An Intergalactic Travel Bureau in Midtown—"'Can I interest you in a space vacation?' asked a smiling travel agent wearing a jaunty hat…"

Moon

• 'Biggest observed meteorite impact' hits Moon
• 'It came back to life': China’s Jade Rabbit snaps out of silence but mechanical kinks remain
• If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel

Mars

• Ten Years on Mars for NASA Rovers Spirit and Opportunity!
• NASAs Mars Curiosity rover has taken the first picture of Earth and our Moon from the surface of the red planet
• NASAs Mars orbiter sees signs of seasonal water flow on Mars surface
• NASA photo captures strange bright light coming out of Mars
• India's Mars mission crosses half the distance—A trip to Mars doesn't have to break the bank [NYT].

Doughnut

• Nasa says 'doughnut rock' on Mars is 'like nothing we've ever seen before'
• "Astrobiologist" sues NASA, says Mars rock a "mushroom-like fungus"
• Mars Rover Heads Uphill After Solving 'Doughnut' Riddle

Earth

• Bolivia gives legal rights to the Earth
• China Finds Nearly 2,000 Firms in Breach of Anti-pollution Rules
• Guinea to strip Beny Steinmetz company of mining concessions—"Decision marks turning point in two-year battle between billionaire and Guinea's first democratically-elected government."
• Scientists say Australia's Tony Abbott is engineering an 'environmental train wreck'

Ecology

• Poachers Attack Beloved Elders of California, Its Redwoods—"Thieves who target burls, protrusions on trees that are valued for their intricately patterned wood, are driven by a sluggish economy and costly methamphetamine habits, officials said." NYT
• Shark fin trade from Hong Kong to China drops almost 90 per cent in one year—"WWF-Hong Kong says sales to mainland down 90pc because of pressure from green groups and possibly campaign against extravagance."
• Belgium Crushes its Elephant Ivory As Europe Takes Harder Look at Wildlife Trafficking
• New York-based Wedding Photographer Turns Her Lens from White Dresses to Wildlife Trafficking

Unclean Energy

• NC commission appeals ruling giving it authority to halt coal ash pollution—What the fuck is this shit?
• Obama rejects call by 11 Democrats to move on Keystone pipeline—"But President Obama still faces a tough political choice: Reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline and risk tipping the Senate to Republicans, or support it and alienate elements of his party's base."
• California drought gives boost to anti-fracking movement
• Oil Vote Deadline Looms for Ecuador's Yasuní National Park

Climate Change

• EU 'unhappy' climate change is off G20 agenda—"Europe is unhappy with Australia's decision to drop climate change from the G20 agenda and is lobbying the Abbott government to reconsider."
• Carbon Dioxide Levels Climb Into Uncharted Territory for Humans
• IPCC report says climate change is bad news for crops
• FSU Students to Charles Koch: Stop Polluting Academic Integrity—"Evidence of Florida State University's economics department denying climate science amid criticism of Charles Koch's threats to FSU academic integrity."
• New study: 72 Percent of Fox News Climate Segments Are Misleading—"The report finds that MSNBC was the most accurate cable network in 2013, and CNN could be a lot more accurate if it would stop hosting "debates" about climate science."
• 'SNL' Mocks 'Fox And Friends' And Its Climate Change Coverage

Follow-ups

• Are Google and Facebook Just Pretending They Want Limits on NSA Surveillance?—"The front groups they’ve set up to oppose the 'Fourth Amendment Protection Act' suggest the answer is 'yes.'"
• Facebook received 28,147 government requests for data impacting 38,256 accounts in the second half of 2013
• CIA and White House under pressure after Senate torture report leaks—"Senate committee found CIA interrogations and detentions to be 'brutal' and urges administration to release report as quickly as possible."
• NSA denies report it exploited Heartbleed for years
• Why Massive Auto Recalls Are Becoming the Norm

First Contact Day, Planets, Galaxies, Universe; Environment and Politics, Pollution, Climate Change, Whaling; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

First Contact Day

• Bill Clinton says he "wouldn't be surprised" if aliens visited Earth—"The former president shares his thoughts on extraterrestrials with Jimmy Kimmel." Salon
• NASA detects ocean inside Saturn Moon, potential home for extraterrestrial microbes
• North Carolina Town Councilman Resigns In Klingon
• The Most Impressive Costumes from Star Trek: TNG's First 3 Seasons
• Eau My, available on Amazon—"Set phasers to stunning."

Planets

• Planetology comes of age—"Those who study planets orbiting other stars now have plenty of data to play with.
• Scientists Home In On Earth-Sized Exoplanet
• NASA Has Discovered 715 New Planets
• Planet Biden: Scientists Nickname New Dwarf Planet After The VP

Galaxies

• Distant galaxy cluster is so huge it can actually bend light—"MACS J0454.1-0300 is 180 trillion times the mass of our sun." Salon
• Milky Way Galaxy Has Four Spiral Arms, New Study Confirms
• Hubble Opens Pandora's Box, and Thousands of Galaxies Fly Out
• Star Birth Sparked at the Galaxy's Edge—"Gas from another galaxy is hitting our own, triggering the birth of bright new stars and adding fresh luster to the Milky Way."
• Where Do Galaxies Come From?

Universe

• The Most Massive Object in the Universe—How Was It Created?
• Stephen Hawking: 'There are no black holes'—"Notion of an 'event horizon', from which nothing can escape, is incompatible with quantum theory, physicist claims."
• Lasers to Solve the Black Hole Information Paradox?
• Gravity - From Newton to Einstein - The Elegant Universe

Environment and Politics

• The Fight for Wisconsin's Soul—"Gov. Scott Walker granted a company astonishing latitude to construct a mine and pollute pristine waters." NYT
• Neighbors bicker in PA. over forced gas drilling—"An energy company is dusting off an old, unused state law that can force property owners to accept oil and gas drilling under their land, pitting neighbor against neighbor in a Pennsylvania community and raising the possibility that lawmakers will have to take sides."
• Australian government may ban environmental boycotts—"Parliamentary secretary says there is 'an appetite' for removing environmental groups' exemption from secondary boycotts ban."
• China Wants To Close 1,725 Coal Mines By The End Of This Year

Pollution

• North Carolina judge denies secrecy motion in trial over coal ash spill—"A North Carolina judge on Friday denied Duke Energy's motion seeking to shield records related to groundwater pollution leeching from 33 coal ash dumps in the state while a separate federal criminal investigation is ongoing."
• Judge says no to Lake O polluting—"A federal judge ruled Friday in New York that backpumping — the practice of taking water from Lake Okeechobee, using it on farm lands and then discharging the nutrient-laden water back into the lake — is a violation of the Clean Water Act and that the state of Florida should no longer permit such operations."
• Lowe's pays $18.1 million to settle violations—"The civil suit filed in Alameda County alleges that the offending stores routinely sent hazardous waste — from aerosols and pesticides to paints and electronic products — to local landfills that were not permitted to receive it."
• Famous paintings help study the Earth's past atmosphere
• 29 dead dolphins found since Galveston oil spill

Climate Change

• Congress's Scientific Illiterates Are Resigning the World to Ruin—"Scientists are begging the world to address climate change. Meet the handful of American science deniers who are ensuring it won't happen."
• The House of Representatives Committee on Science is turning into a national embarrassment
• The right's new climate change lie: It's all the scientists' fault—"Conservative hucksters argue scientists are politicizing their work. They're wrong -- and climate change is real." Salon
• MPs criticise BBC over climate change reporting—BBC "editors were 'poor' at determining viewers' and listeners' level of expertise and sometimes pitted lobbyists against 'top scientists' as if their views had 'equal weight.'"
• Exxon Mobil says climate change unlikely to stop it selling fossil fuels—"Oil giant issues report on risks that climate policies could pose to the value of its assets and future profitability."

Whaling

• Japan accepts court ban on Antarctic whaling—It ain't scientific.
• Will Japan find a way around anti-whaling ruling?
• Big threat to Japan whaling: Declining appetites—"The amount of whale meat stockpiled for lack of buyers has nearly doubled over 10 years, even as anti-whaling protests helped drive catches to record lows."

NSA Spying

• Germany Opens Hearings On NSA Spying, Want To Offer Safe Passage For Snowden To Come To Berlin
• Obama's NSA overhaul may require phone carriers to store more data
• Obama's promise to prevent NSA spying rings hollow
• New Harris poll finds NSA spying affecting online commerce—Hurting the corporate bottom line.
• ACLU database lets anyone dig into NSA activities
• Interactive Graphic: The NSA Spying Machine
• NSA Has Been Hijacking the Botnets of Other Hackers

Surveillance and Privacy

• U.S. Pushes Canada To Loosen Privacy Laws—"The U.S. government is prodding Ottawa and some provinces to overhaul their privacy laws and allow Canadians' personal data to be hosted on U.S. servers."
• U.S. knocks plans for European communication network—"The United States on Friday criticized proposals to build a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States, warning that such rules could breach international trade laws." Oh, the hypocrisy.
• Websites Must Use HSTS in Order to Be Secure—That's the HTTP Strict Transport Security.
• Can Yahoo's enhanced encryption stop the NSA from spying?
• Physicists are building an NSA-proof internet

Earth Hour, Oil Spill, Air Pollution; Ecology; Climate Change, Science Under Siege, Cosmos

Earth Hour

• State allowed logging on plateau above slope—"In recent decades the state allowed logging — with restrictions — on the plateau above the Snohomish County hillside that collapsed in last weekend's deadly mudslide."
• Duke Energy seeks to keep records from regulators—"Worried about getting a fair shake from investigators, Duke Energy is asking a judge to shield its records from North Carolina regulators and environmental groups while a federal criminal probe is ongoing."
• US House votes to allow dumping of coal mining waste into streams—"House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, called it part of an effort to stop what Republicans call the 'war on coal' and a 'pro-growth jobs bill.'"
• George Osborne is preparing to kill off Britain's renewable energy revolution—"In delivering budget, chancellor stealthily abolished a tax break that attracts private money to help build our green energy future."
• State officials abruptly cancel talk by FSU professor Diane Roberts—"Roberts [who has been critical of the administration of Gov. Rick Scott] planned to discuss Florida's environment and problems with the state's rivers, lakes and springs."
• Death threats made to Ecuadorian lawyer in Chevron pollution case—"Juan Pablo Saenz is representing small farmers trying to force Chevron to pay damages for pollution in the Amazon."
• In California, Demand for Groundwater Causing Huge Swaths of Land to Sink
• Kiruna: How to move a town two miles east

Oil Spill

• Malfunction at BP's Whiting Refinery sends oil into Lake Michigan—They've doubled their original estimates.
• Texas Oil Spill Investigation Far From Over
• Hikers find unreported oil spill into Grand Staircase monument
• Seattle scientists show how Deepwater Horizon spill caused heart damage in young tuna
• Galveston Bay Oil Spill: Wildlife Damage Expected to Get 'Much Worse'; 100 Ships, Barges At Standstill

Air Pollution

• Air Pollution Kills 7 Million a Year, WHO Says
• Most Face Masks In China Don't Work And Pollution Is Getting Worse
• China Admits Its Cities Are Failing Pollution Standards As Beijing Chokes On Smog Again

Ecology

• Tigers slaughtered in show of social stature for Guangdong businessmen—"Police seize body of freshly killed tiger and discover video evidence of electrocution and torture after raid in Zhanjiang."
• Copenhagen Zoo kills 4 lions, weeks after shooting giraffe
• Elephant thought rescued by Sir Paul McCartney found beaten in chicken shack

Climate Change

• UN Blames 2013 Storms, Floods On Human-Induced Climate Change
• Bad Astronomy: This Old Earth Is Warming Up
• How climate change will acidify the oceans
• Bill Nye, the Climate Guy—"A kids' TV star is liberals' most effective spokesman against right-wing science skeptics."
• Obama Talks Climate Change in James Cameron's Showtime Documentary—He's looking into new gas and oil regulations to address climate change.
• Climate Denier Jim Inhofe Says He Could Lead Senate's Top Environment Committee Next Year—"Inhofe has also said that humans lack the ability to affect the climate because control is limited to divine powers: 'The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what [God] is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.'" Best evidence for not having a god if this guy gets the job.
• Nate Silver's Climate Author Accused Of Threatening Critics—"Pielke argued that the cost of natural disasters has risen not because of climate change, but as a result of an increase in wealth."
• U.S. Tries To Stop India's Solar Policy While Pushing Fight Against Climate Change

Science Under Siege

• Contrarians bully journal into retracting a climate psychology paper—"After threats of frivolous libel and defamation lawsuits, a journal will retract an academically sound paper."
• How The Koch Brothers Are Hacking Science
• Billionaires With Big Ideas Are Privatizing American Science—"As government financing of basic research has fallen off precipitously, philanthropists have stepped in, setting priorities and drawing both gratitude and trepidation from scientists." NYT
• Right-wing billionaires, creationism and pseudo-science: Why is a wingnut giving commencement speech at Montana's best tech college?—"Uproar at Montana Tech as a conservative funder of creationist museums is asked to speak at top engineering school." Salon
• Special report: Taxpayers fund creationism in the classroom Politico
• GOP: Predict storms, not climate change

Cosmos

• Yes, "Cosmos" Fans, Creationists Also Deny the Science of Comets—"Last night on "Cosmos," Neil deGrasse Tyson explained how comets work, and why they're not bad omens. They are for creationists, though." I never knew Halley was had such a profound influence on Newton.
• Creationist Complains That His Side Isn't Getting Equal Time on Cosmos
• Cosmic terror: Why Neil deGrasse Tyson has religious fundamentalists so freaked—"Religious belief systems prefer a universe with mankind firmly at its center. No wonder 'Cosmos' is so threatening." Salon