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.

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

Protests, Surveillance and Privacy, Media; Environment, Pollution, North Carolina; Climate Change; Ecology, Animal Cruelty, Food Insecurity

Protests

• Tensions high in Ukraine after at least 21 die in fiery clashes
• 4 dead after Thai police clash with anti-government protesters in Bangkok
• Cheered by supporters, Venezuelan opposition leader Lopez surrenders
• Violence derails Brazilian protest movement—"Smashed shopfronts, burning buses, injured protesters and the death of a cameraman - an ugly escalation of violence threatens to relegate Brazil's protest movement to a position from which it is unlikely to recover."
• Vietnam: Ballroom dancers break up war protest

Surveillance and Privacy

• Spy Chief: We Should’ve Told You We Track Your Calls—"The U.S. government long considered its collection of Americans' call records to be a state secret. Now the Director of National Intelligence admits it would have been better if Washington had acknowledged the surveillance in the first place."
• Hillary Clinton goes mum on NSA, skirts surveillance fight Politico
• Snowden Documents Reveal Covert Surveillance and Pressure Tactics Aimed at WikiLeaks and Its Supporters
• Imprisoned CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Threatened with 'Diesel Therapy,' Suffers Shakedowns for Talking to Press
• AT&T reveals number of NSA and location demands in first-ever transparency report
• It's OK to parody the NSA—"NSA backs down, admits man can use their seal for T-shirts and mugs on Zazzle."

Media

• UK Court: David Miranda Detention Legal Under Terrorism Law
• Removal of Russian radio station CEO stokes concerns—"Shareholders replaced the head of one of Russia's few independent broadcasters on Tuesday, fueling concerns that a government crackdown on civil liberties and human rights is growing more intense."
• China Accused of Exporting Media Censorship Across Asia

Environment

• Memo reveals Ohio regulatory agency had planned to support fracking and wage PR campaign
• Ohio Governor Reverses Course On Fracking In State Parks After Plan To Discredit Environmentalists Leaked
• ALEC's Fracking Chemical Disclosure Bill Moving Through Florida Legislature—"ALEC's model bill, like HB 157, has a trade secrets exemption for chemicals deemed proprietary."
• Refineries Seeking Canadian Tar Sands Quietly Finance Pro-Keystone XL Advocacy
• Native Americans vow a last stand to block Keystone XL pipeline

Pollution

• Whistle-Blower Fired From Hanford Nuclear Site—"Whistle-blower Donna Busche, who raised safety concerns at the nation's most polluted nuclear weapons production site, was fired Tuesday from her job at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation."
• Dolphins 'suffering miscarriage, lung disease, losing teeth after BP oil spill' researchers claim
• Saturated with oil money, Texas legislature saved industry from pollution rule
• Chevron: Sorry Our Gas Well Exploded, Here's a Free Pizza
• Chinese villagers attack polluting factory, police

North Carolina

• NC: McCrory on defensive over coal ash spill
• NC Gov. McCrory briefed on Duke coal ash lawsuit—"...resulting in a negotiated settlement that fined the $50 billion corporation $99,111 to resolve violations over groundwater contamination leaching from two huge coal ash dumps."
• Toxins leaking from 2nd pipe at NC coal ash dump—"North Carolina officials said Tuesday that groundwater containing unsafe levels of arsenic apparently leaching from a Duke Energy coal ash dump is still pouring into the Dan River, which is already contaminated from a massive Feb. 2 spill."

Climate Change

• Obama to propose $1 billion to prepare for climate change WaPo
• Kerry calls climate change a weapon of mass destruction, derides skeptics WaPo
• How Big Oil Gave Up On the Climate—"Five years ago Shell was ready to fight global warming. Now it’s rooting for it."
• Flurry of Storms: A Result of Climate Change?—"Scientist Bill Nye and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., discuss the politics of weather emergencies and climate change."
• Climate change is here now and it could lead to global conflict—"Extreme weather events in the UK and overseas are part of a growing pattern that it would be very unwise for us, or our leaders, to ignore, writes the author of the influential 2006 report on the economics of climate change."
• Wavier jet stream 'may drive weather shift'
• Utah lawmaker: Our atmosphere needs more carbon dioxide—Note to self: former science teachers from Utah are batshit crazy.

Ecology

• Slaughtered for Ivory: 65 Percent of Forest Elephants Killed Since 2002
• Four African nations pledge to end all sales of ivory
• N.J. man convicted of narwhal tusk trafficking
• Killer starfish are eating the Great Barrier Reef by smothering and digesting its flesh
• Deep-sea mining 'must responsibly respect ecosystems'
• Parody video: Shark Cull

Animal Cruelty

• Father and son charged with poisoning bald eagles
• Australian fined for killing great white shark
• Teen charged with shooting cat 17 times in Sarnia, Ont.
• Disputed 'ag gag bill' advances in Idaho Senate—Protecting animal cruelty (or maybe animal love?) from 'marauding invaders'.

Food Insecurity

• This Is Not a Drill: Hot Pockets Yanked From Shelves for Containing 'Diseased and Unsound Animals'
• 2 El Monterey brand products recalled due to diseased beef concerns
• Kroger accused of being not-so-honest in 'Simple Truth' chicken labels
• 11 arrested for serving human meat at Nigerian hotel restaurant: report—"Two human heads were found at an unnamed hotel restaurant and wrapped in cellophane, according to a report out of Anambra, Nigeria, in which police were tipped off to the restaurant allegedly serving human meat in burgers."

World News, Ukraine; Environment, China Air Pollution, West Virginia Spill, Fracking, Ecology; Obama, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

World News

• Thailand declares state of emergency in Bangkok
• Catalonia Pushes For Independence From Spain—235,000 signatures collected in one weekend.
• Scottish independence: Economy matters most, says social attitudes survey

Ukraine

• Ukraine protests: 'Two people' killed in Kiev clashes
• After another night of violence, Russia tells Europeans not to interfere in Ukraine
• Maybe the Most Orwellian Text Message a Government's Ever Sent

Environment

• Russia cracks down on green activism ahead of Sochi Olympics—"Russian courts sentence Evgeny Vitishko, a critic of the Sochi Olympics construction projects, to three years."
• Palm Oil Company Fined Millions for Burning Sumatran Forest
• Judge sides with company in asbestos fight, cuts liability by more than $1 billion
• Halliburton manager gets probation for destroying Deepwater Horizon evidence—"Oil company's cement technology expert deleted data uncovered by inquiry into fatal oil well blowout in April 2010."
• California official: utilities would like to "strangle" solar

China Air Pollution

• China's smog now 20 times worse than safe levels
• China's exports linked to western U.S. air pollution
• Westerners are so convinced China is a dystopian hellscape they'll share anything that confirms it—"Take, for instance, the reports about pollution being so severe in Beijing that residents now watch radiant sunrises broadcast on a huge screen in Tiananmen Square."

West Virginia Spill

• Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy, owes $2.4 million to IRS—Looks like West Virginians will be stuck paying for the clean-up.
• Chemical-Related Hospital Admissions In West Virginia Have Doubled Since Water Deemed Safe—Not so fast.
• Elk River leak included another chemical—"Federal and state investigators learned Tuesday that an additional chemical that wasn't previously identified was in the tank that leaked Jan. 9 at the Freedom Industries tank farm, just upstream from West Virginia American Water's regional drinking water intake."
• West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: 'It's Your Decision… I'm Not A Scientist'
• West Virginia politicians consider chemical regulation after spill

Fracking

• Are you opposed to fracking? Then you might just be a terrorist—"From North America to Europe, the 'national security' apparatus is being bought off by Big Oil to rout peaceful activism."
• Livestream captures violent arrest of anti-fracking protester
• Fracking Chemicals In North Carolina Will Remain Secret, Industry-Funded Commission Rules

Ecology

• Drugs, Death, Neglect: Behind the Scenes at Animal Planet—Our exclusive investigation reveals how animals suffer on the network's top reality show."
• BBC admits filming nature scenes in 'controlled conditions' as cameraman claims small animal footage was 'faked'
• Reward offered for whooping cranes illegally shot in Western Kentucky
• Japanese fishermen begin annual slaughter of hundreds of dolphins—Anonymous gets involved.
• India's forest man—"Lauded for growing an entire forest over thirty years, Jadav Payeng shows the way forward to afforestation."

Obama

• Obama's NSA Speech Fails To Register With Americans, Poll Finds
• Five Criticisms of Obama's NSA Speech
• 'The USA knows that for us spying is a crime'—"German reaction to President Barack Obama's much-anticipated speech on Friday on the future of NSA spying has veered from skepticism to veiled threats with politicians suggesting legal action is a possibility."
• Human Rights Watch annual report 2014 criticises NSA mass surveillance—And that Obama has not gone far enough on NSA reforms.
• Stewart Skewers Obama's NSA Speech: Privacy Is Important!… Unless We Decide It Isn't!

NSA Spying

• New documents: NSA provided 2-3 daily "tips" to FBI for at least 3 years—"Secret 2007 court order mentions 'approximately three telephone identifiers.'"
• US withholding Fisa court orders on NSA bulk collection of Americans' data—"Justice Department refuses to turn over 'certain other' documents in ACLU lawsuit meant to shed light on surveillance practices."
• Legislators in 6 States Want to Pull the Plug on NSA Spying—Some Literally
• Google's Eric Schmidt denies knowledge of NSA data tapping of firm—"Executive chairman says search company has 'complained at great length' to the US government over intrusion."
• Reddit co-founder: NSA supporters offering 'false choice'
• Snowden to ask Russian police for protection after US threats – lawyer
• NSA files: Snowden says 'I acted alone' and rubbishes Russian spy claims—"Former spy agency contractor tells magazine that attempt to link him to FSB are 'absurd.'"

Surveillance and Privacy

• The Big Brother bargain: How government surveillance became easy and cheap—"It used to be that intelligence gathering was painstaking and expensive. Not anymore!" Salon
• China cracks down on web anonymity with new regulations
• Google should have been fined $1B over privacy policy, says EU justice chief
• Privacy tools used by 28% of the online world, research finds—"Concern about privacy, and frustration over censorship and content blocking is driving millions to use anonymity tools."
• Camouflage from face detection