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

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

Bada-Big Bang Theory; Fat Tuesday; Obamacare, Big Pharma, Anti-Vax; Hazardous; Pollution, Big Energy; MH370; Ukraine

Bada-Big Bang Theory

• Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed—"Scientists say they have extraordinary new evidence to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe."
• Hyperexpansion, Gravitational Waves, and Polarized Light: Oh My
• Stephen Hawking claims victory in gravitational wave bet

Fat Tuesday

• 5 shocking reasons why Americans are getting fatter—"It's not just the fast food..." Salon
• The surprising reason Americans might be obese, anxious and depressed—"New research suggests the answer to a number of modern ailments may reside in our gut." Salon
• Florida Real Estate Scammer Says He's Too Fat For Prison

Obamacare

• U.S. administration says Obamacare enrollment tops 5 million—Claims there are enough to keeps things going.
• Koch Group Abandons Obamacare 'Horror' Stories After Fact-Check Backlash
• Boehner's claim that Obamacare has resulted in a 'net loss' of people with health insurance—Four Pinocchios WaPo
• Former New Hampshire GOP Chair Saves $1,000 A Month With Obamacare
• Expanding Medicaid would be 'sinful,' LePage says
• Where The GOP Might Target Obamacare If It Wins The Senate
• Democrats should play offense on Obamacare WaPo
• How Obama's Healthcare.gov Efforts Got Lost In Translation For Latinos
• Louisiana Suing MoveOn.org For Billboard Criticizing Jindal —For violating trademark.
• When Health Costs Harm Your Credit—"A minor medical bill could block your mortgage." NYT

Big Pharma

• Drug company changes course, gives drug to sick boy—"A company says it will provide medication to a boy whose case has attracted thousands of sympathizers."
• Wisconsin senators heavily support cancer drug bill; no vote planned—"Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Wednesday he's going to unusual steps to block the proposal because a majority of his GOP caucus opposes it, not because his brother is lobbying on behalf of influential insurers to kill the bill."
• Big Pharma still betting on "messed up" Indian drugs market

Anti-Vax

• Thanks, Anti-Vaxxers. You Just Brought Back Measles in NYC.—"Measles was considered eliminated at the turn of the millennium. Now it’s back, thanks to the loons who refuse to vaccinate their children."
• Cavallari: She and Cutler not vaccinating their kids—More loons.
• Chilliwack pastor tells congregation vaccines interfere with God's care
• Jenny McCarthy Asks; the Internet Slam Dunks—The body count keeps climbing.
• Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network loses its charity status for fundraising over misinformation claims

Hazardous

• Doctors are top source of prescription drugs for chronic abusers—"Results of federal study show more focus is needed on doctors who are 'problem prescribers,' says the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prescription drugs contribute to more than 16,000 fatal overdoses a year."
• Virginia Beach police officer sues drug company over psychotic outburst—"A Virginia Beach police officer who was jailed for three months after stabbing two Accomack County firefighters and shooting at a third says there should have been warning labels on an antibiotic that briefly turned him psychotic."
• How Industry and the Feds Suppressed Evidence That Plastics Wreak Havoc on Our Hormones
• Woman's stomach explodes after eating too much
• Herbalife wilts on news of FTC

Pollution

• Energy company caught pumping from toxic pond—"Rachel Maddow reports on the discovery by environmental activists of water being pumped from Duke Energy coal ash ponds into local waterways, and a new report that NC law has been changed to protect Duke's coal ash pits."
• Kentucky coal-ash dumping tracked by hidden cameras
• Seafood processing company fined in Kodiak ammonia dumping case
• Cotter negotiates amid spills and uranium spike by river in Canon City
• Ohio groups seek U.S. EPA coal review—"Two Ohio environmental groups asked federal regulators Monday to investigate circumstances surrounding expired pollution-discharge permits at an agency where allegations of coal-industry influence arose during a personnel flap last year."
• Today, Paris's Air Pollution Is Worse Than Beijing

Big Energy

• Wyoming rejects science education standards over climate change—"Reality, legislator argues, needs to comport with the state's economic interests."
• Emails show close ties between Duke, NC regulators—"Internal emails between staff at North Carolina's environmental agency suggest state regulators were coordinating with Duke Energy before intervening in efforts by citizens groups trying to sue the company over groundwater pollution leeching from its coal ash dumps." NYT
• Duke's Coal Ash Pits Protected By Provision In North Carolina Regulatory Bill
• $175M tax break for Marathon refinery buys Detroiters only 15 jobs—"Marathon Petroleum, which received a $175-million tax break from the City of Detroit in a mammoth expansion project, is coming under fire from City Council for failing to hire enough Detroiters."
• Nigerian gold mining: farmers choose death by lead poisoning over poverty—"Unregulated mining in rural northern Nigeria is causing blindness and paralysis among children and making adults infertile."

MH370

• Lost Jet's Path Seen as Altered via Computer—Curiouser and curiouser. NYT
• Key moments emerge in tracking of missing Malaysia Airlines plane
• CNN Host Speculates Whether Malaysia Jet's Disappearance Was 'Supernatural'—More believable than Courtney Love finding the plane.

Ukraine

• Crimea applies to be part of Russian Federation after vote to leave Ukraine—And Russia accepts.
• Ukraine 'will never accept' Crimea annexation, President says
• Ukrainian government refuses to remove troops from Crimea, prepares for war
• Ukraine Is Training Young Protesters to Fight the Russian Army
• Russian government admits economy in crisis as Ukraine weighs
• Russia Will Sanction U.S. Senators—"Putin is set to respond to Obama's sanctions of Russian officials with his own list. Several U.S. Senators and officials will be banned from visiting Russia, including Sen. Dick Durbin."
• China warns of dangerous Russia sanctions 'spiral'

Surveillance State; Climate Change; Environment, Pollution, North Carolina, Keystone XL, Fukushima, China Smog-åsbord, Unclean Energy, Fracking; Ecology, Agri-Torture

Surveillance State

• Sen. Wyden: CIA, NSA leadership have developed a pattern of false statements, misleading actions
• CIA Search of Congressional Computer Sparks Constitutional Crisis
• The C.I.A. Torture Cover-Up—"Sen. Feinstein today provided stark evidence that the C.I.A. may have committed crimes to prevent the exposure of brutal interrogation practices." NYT
• Did the CIA Chief Just Dare Obama to Fire Him?—"Under a sudden avalanche of criticism, CIA director John Brennan said President Obama can 'ask me to go.' Will he?" Wasn't he was already following the White House's directives?
• CIA feud with Senate panel puts lack of post-9/11 accountability in spotlight WaPo
• The Senate and the CIA at War—"Even Sen. Dianne Feinstein has lost faith in America’s intelligence community."
• The Senate Didn't Care Much About Surveillance Until the CIA Spied on It Too
• What Happens When the NSA Comes to Town—"The NSA set up a facility in Utah, promising jobs and industry along with it. None of that came. Now, one surveillance scandal later, residents can vote to render the facility useless in the simplest way possible. Is it worth it?"

Climate Change

• The Very, Very Thin Wedge of Denial—"To me, one of the most fascinating aspects of climate change denial is how deniers essentially never publish in legitimate journals, but instead rely on talk shows, grossly error-laden op-eds, and hugely out-of-date claims (that were never right to start with)."
• Wyoming Governor Takes Major Stand Against Modern Science—'Wyoming took an unprecedented step this week when the governor approved a budget that would prevent the state from reviewing or funding a new set of science standards that treat climate change as fact."
• GOP's "inane" war on science: Plasma physicist congressman takes on the denialists—'Retiring Rep. Rush Holt tells us why 'millions will die' due to climate change -- but why the solution is a bargain." Salon
• Climate buffoons' real motives: 5 reasons they still spout debunked garbage—"From greed to idiocy, here's the true agenda of deniers who still claim climate change isn't happening." Salon
• Climate change deniers have grasped that markets can't fix the climate—"The refusal to accept global warming is driven by corporate interests and the fear of what it will cost to try to stop it."
• Australia: Environment commissioner Kate Auty quits, drops bucket—"Victoria's environment commissioner has quit and hit out at the Napthine government's attitude on climate change, saying bureaucrats told her they were directed to refrain from even using the term."
• UN Officials Speak Out On Climate Change As Australian Drought Deepens
• Global Warming Slows Down Antarctica's Coldest Currents

Environment

• Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Gets More Protection Than Mobile's Drinking Water Supply For 250,000
• Alaska mine could be blocked to save salmon fisheries
• SF becomes first major city to ban sale of plastic water bottles
• Congress Designates the First Wilderness Area in Five Years—"32,500 acres of lakeshore along Lake Michigan have been designated as wilderness by Congress."
• Mysterious new man-made gases pose threat to ozone layer

Pollution

• Chicagoans Want the Koch Brothers to Stop Polluting The City
• Pollution's price: Will a stiff fine change the ways of Alpha coal?—Coal Firm to Pay Record Fine for Water Pollution
• NY Judge Rules for Chevron in Ecuador Case—"A federal judge on Tuesday blocked U.S. courts from being used to collect a $9 billion Ecuadorean judgment against Chevron for rainforest damage, saying lawyers poisoned an honorable quest with their illegal and wrongful conduct."
• Oil From the Exxon Valdez Spill Lingers on Alaska Beaches—"Boulder-strewn beaches in the Gulf of Alaska still harbor oil from the Exxon Valdez spill."
• Industry Attempting to Defeat Pollution Standards Before They Emerge

North Carolina

• Duke CEO: Ratepayers will cover coal ash cleanup—Gov. McCrory still trying to wash his hands of this mess.
• Ash Spill Shows How Watchdog Was Defanged—"North Carolina regulators say that under Gov. Pat McCrory, a weakened Department of Environment and Natural Resources has abandoned its regulatory role." NYT
• Violations issued against Duke for coal ash spill
• NC cites 5 Duke Energy plants for lacking permits
• Judge rules Duke must halt groundwater pollution at coal ash sites

Keystone XL

• Dozens Arrested At Keystone Protest At White House
• Study Finds Keystone XL Would Have Much Larger Impact Than State Department Suggests
• Ed Schultz: "I was wrong" about Keystone—"The MSNBC host urges Obama to say no to the pipeline." Salon
• It's Not About the Pipe—"It's about what the pipe would carry."
• Keystone XL: Just the facts

Fukushima

• Prosecutors drop charges over Fukushima nuclear disaster—"No-one has been held accountable for the second-worst nuclear accident in history."
• Three years later, the lessons of Fukushima are uglier than ever
• Fukushima operator may have to dump contaminated water into Pacific—"As Japan marks the third anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, Tepco is struggling to find a solution for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water."
• U.S. Nuclear Agency Hid Concerns, Hailed Safety Record as Fukushima Melted
• Fukushima Radiation To Reach West Coast In April, Experts Weigh In On How Dangerous It Is

China Smog-åsbord

• Nine Chinese cities suffered more days of severe smog than Beijing—"Pollution widespread and affected millions more than previously thought, 2013 data shows."
• Wealthy Residents Depart Chinese Mainland In Search Of Clean Air
• China's 'War on Pollution' Will Be Fought by Smog-Sucking Drones

Unclean Energy

• Coal Miners Say They Were Surveilled, Harassed After Making Safety Complaints
• Alberta doctor tells U.S.: Canada is 'lying' about tar sands' health effects—"American Senators told that oil sands are linked to a huge spike in cancer, despite Canadian government claims."
• BP Splitter Refinery Seen Skirting U.S. Oil Export Ban
• This Is What Happened When Scholastic Tried to Bring Pro-Coal Propaganda to School—"'The United States of Energy' was a colorful series of lessons on the advantages of coal, aimed at 4th-graders—and sponsored by Big Coal. Here’s how educators and activists worked together to get it out of."
• Chevron pizza 'scandal' isn't one in small town

Fracking

• Fracking could be allowed under homes without owners' permission—"Ministers admit they are looking at overhauling trespass laws to make it easier for energy companies to explore for shale gas."
• Fracking Waste is Being Dumped Into the Ocean Off California's Coast
• State Senators Mitchell and Leno introduce fracking moratorium bill
• Wastewater Injection Triggered Oklahoma's Earthquake Cascade—"One of Oklahoma's biggest man-made earthquakes, caused by fracking-linked wastewater injection, triggered an earthquake cascade that led to the damaging magnitude-5.7 Prague quake that struck on Nov. 6, 2011, a new study confirms."
• Court bars anti-fracking activist from more than 300 square miles of Pa.

Ecology

• Rhino with bullet in its brain and hacked off horn wanders for days before being put down
• Uganda president wants poachers 'shot on sight'
• Australia's Shark Cull Is Killing the Wrong Sharks
• Indonesian Muslim clerics issue fatwa protecting endangered animals
• Japan to halve bluefin tuna catch—"Japanese media say the nation's fisheries agency has decided to boost protection for juvenile bluefin tuna by halving Japan's northern Pacific catch. Studies show a dramatic decline in tuna prized by eaters of sushi."

Agri-Torture

• The wrongheaded law that's making your food less safe—"If the cows providing your milk were being drugged up and abused, you'd want to know, right?" The Idaho governor doesn't want anyone to know.
• Arizona House approves livestock cruelty bill—"House Bill 2587 would reduce first-offense felony charges to a misdemeanor for farmers and others accused of abusing livestock."
• Don’t buy the Chipotle hype: There’s no such thing as "humane" slaughter—"The chain has earned praise for promoting animal welfare — but there's no getting past the bloody truth." Salon