Tuesday, June 03, 2014 4:31:04 AM
Lawmakers help oil industry duck liability
Rachel Maddow
May 29, 2014
Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, (ret.) talks with Rachel Maddow about how Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and state legislators protected the oil and gas industry from being held accountable for pollution that has destroyed vital protective coastal wetlands.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55290283#55290283 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/lawmakers-help-oil-industry-duck-liability-270001219906 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-may-29-2014-trms (with comment)] [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvAoQJt7A9o (with comments), also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQLH2ZzBLA (with comment)]
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North Carolina Coastal Commission Votes to Ignore Long-Term Sea Level Rise
May 16, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/16/1299816/-North-Carolina-Coastal-Commission-Votes-to-Ignore-Long-Term-Sea-Level-Rise [with embedded video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQMtb1Pd07E {with comments}, two posts back at {linked in} http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102161216 ), and comments]
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The moguls of climate change
May 21, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1300466/-Cartoon-The-moguls-of-climate-change [with comments]
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Flaming water? Not fracking's problem
[ http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/29/our-new-favorite-mad-scientist-builds-a-terrifying-wrist-mounted-flame-thrower-in-his-garage/ ]
Rachel Maddow
May 29, 2014
Rachel Maddow reports on the influence of the gas and oil industry in Texas politics and a town where the water has become flammable and yet the state has ruled that a connection cannot be made to nearby fracking activity.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55290128/#55290128 [with transcript], also embedded at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-flaming-wells-texas [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-may-29-2014-trms (with comment)] [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_iZXK0Fb6g (with comment)]
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House Directs Pentagon To Ignore Climate Change
The House approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill on Thursday that would bar the Pentagon from considering climate change and its implications for national security.
Erik Simonsen via Getty Images
by Kate Sheppard
Posted: 05/23/2014 6:37 pm EDT Updated: 05/27/2014 8:59 am EDT
WASHINGTON -- The House passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill on Thursday that would bar the Department of Defense from using funds to assess climate change and its implications for national security.
The amendment, from Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), passed in what was nearly a party-line vote [ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2014/roll231.xml ]. Four Democrats voted for the amendment, and three Republicans voted against it. The bill aims to block the DOD from taking any significant action related to climate change or its potential consequences. It reads [ http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/MCCLIMATE51914080929929.pdf ]:
None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to implement the U.S. Global Change Research Program National Climate Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, the United Nation's Agenda 21 sustainable development plan, or the May 2013 Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866.
"This amendment will prohibit the costs of the President's climate change policies being forced on the Department of Defense by the Obama Administration," wrote McKinley in a memo to House colleagues on Thursday that was obtained by The Huffington Post. "The climate is obviously changing; it has always been changing. With all the unrest around the [world], why should Congress divert funds from the mission of our military and national security to support a political ideology?"
Research suggests, however, that the Department of Defense has a number of reasons to be worried about climate change. The department said in its own evaluation last year [ http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121237 ] that climate change presents infrastructure challenges at home and abroad. Meanwhile, a March Pentagon report [ http://washingtonexaminer.com/pentagon-warns-of-climate-change-threat-multipliers/article/2545075 ] found that climate change impacts are "threat multipliers," and that the rapid rise of global temperatures and associated extreme weather events could exacerbate issues like "poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tensions -- conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence."
Nor is climate change a threat that the Obama administration dreamed up to distract the DOD. A National Intelligence Assessment issued during the George W. Bush administration [ http://grist.org/article/hot-zones/ ] concluded that climate change poses a significant threat to national security. And just this week, Tom Ridge, who served as homeland security secretary under Bush, said that climate change is "a real serious problem [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/21/tom-ridge-climate-change_n_5366457.html ]," one that "would bring destruction and economic damage" if we ignore it.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) sent a letter to colleagues [ http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Dear-Colleague-Oppose-McKinley-Amendment-to-HR-4435-2014-5-21.pdf ] on Thursday calling the McKinley measure "irresponsible."
"Science denial will not solve the problem," they wrote.
Copyright ©2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/pentagon-climate-change_n_5382067.html [with comments] [and see also e.g. "House Votes To Deny Climate Science And Ties Pentagon’s Hands On Climate Change", http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/22/3440827/mckinley-climate-pentagon-climate-change/ (with comments)]
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Republican science denial - a clear and present danger to U.S. national security
May 19, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/19/1300508/-Republican-science-denial-a-clear-and-present-danger-to-U-S-national-security [with comments]
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Fact-checking recent claims about climate change
May 30th, 2014
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/article/2014/may/30/fact-checking-recent-claims-on-climate-change/
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James O'Keefe is back with a new scam, but his targets have stolen his thunder
May 22, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/22/1301233/-James-O-Keefe-is-back-with-a-new-scam-but-his-targets-have-stolen-his-thunder [with comments]
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Neil deGrasse Tyson on climate change, Tyson discusses 'Cosmos' and creationists
All In
June 02, 2014
Chris Hayes speaks with legendary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the rhetoric and reality of climate change.
Chris Hayes and renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss the often heated responses to the television show "Cosmos" from creationists.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/55317214#55317214 and http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/55317251#55317251 [each with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-climate-change-272458819887 and http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/tyson-discusses-cosmos-and-creationists-272463427554 [each with comments] [the above YouTube of the two segments in sequence at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COugMyojCTQ (with comments)]
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Report: Global seafood industry to lose up to $41bn on climate change
May 28, 2014
http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2014/05/28/report-global-seafood-industry-to-lose-up-to-41bn-on-climate-change/ [no comments yet]
Press Release:
Seafood industry under threat from climate change and ocean acidification
Global reduction of CO2 emissions required to safeguard future
May 28, 2014
http://www.sustainablefish.org/news/articles/2014/05/28/seafood-industry-under-threat-from-climate-change-and-ocean-acidification
The Briefing (Infographic also at http://cmsdevelopment.sustainablefish.org.s3.amazonaws.com/2014/05/27/IPCC_AR5_Fisheries_Infographic_FINAL_Web-45ff43a5.pdf ):
IPCC AR5: Climate Change: Implication for Fisheries & Aquaculture
May 2014
http://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/Resources/Climate-and-Energy/Climate-Change-Implications-for-Fisheries-and-Aquaculture.aspx
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Ohio Legislature Votes To Delay And Weaken State's Renewable Energy Law
ASSOCIATED PRESS
by Kate Sheppard
Posted: 05/28/2014 4:59 pm EDT
The Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would roll back the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency law, making Ohio the first state to reverse standards meant to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The bill passed out of a House committee [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/05/27/energy-bill-vote-ahead.html ] on Tuesday and went to the floor Wednesday afternoon. The bill had already passed the Senate earlier this month [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/05/08/bill-to-pause-green-energy-standards-poised-to-pass-senate.html ].
The Ohio legislature approved the renewable energy and efficiency standards in 2008, when it passed them almost unanimously [ http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/votes.cfm?ID=127_SB_221 ]. But opponents of the measure have been trying to roll them back for several years. Last year, state Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Cincinnati, said [ http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/04/ohio-state-senator-review-stalinist-renewable-energy-standards ] the standards are like "Joseph Stalin's five-year plan." (Seitz is a co-sponsor of this year's bill [ http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_SB_310 ].)
The new measure would pause required increases in renewables and efficiency for two years, and would also weaken the standards when they come back into effect in 2017. The original plan called for a 5.5 percent increase in renewables by 2017, while the revised measure lowers that to a 3.5 percent increase.
Rep. Robert Hagan, a Democrat from Youngstown who voted against the bill, said in a statement that its supporters are "clinging to outdated modes of energy generation."
"As the rest of the country is moving forward on energy efficiency and independence, Ohio is moving backward,” Hagan said. “Reversing our Renewable Portfolio Standards is completely irrational, and unfortunately Ohio consumers and businesses are the victims of the absurdity."
The bill has been hotly contested in the state. Environmental and consumer advocates opposed the rollback, but so did some conservative-leaning business groups. An editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer quoted [ http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/05/the_shortsighted_fine_print_in.html ] the Ohio Manufacturers' Association as saying the measure "will drive up electricity costs for customers and undermine manufacturing competitiveness in Ohio." The automaker Honda, which is one of the largest employers in the state [ http://jobs-ohio.com/images/ohio-major-employers.pdf ], also opposes the rollback. Environmental [ http://ohiosierraclub.org/2014/05/take-the-ohio-legislature-dont-raise-my-bill-for-dirty-energy/ ] and energy efficiency [ http://www.aceee.org/blog/2014/05/misleading-ohio-clean-energy-freeze ] groups oppose the measure, too, and are pushing for Republican Gov. John Kasich to veto it.
Even other Republicans in the House committee tried to offer alternative measures [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/05/27/energy-bill-vote-ahead.html ] that would not go quite as far, but those were blocked.
An Ohio poll [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/PollPrintLCV.pdf ], which the environmental group League of Conservation Voters commissioned earlier this month, found that 77 percent of respondents wanted the state to increase the amount of energy it draws from renewables. While the poll of registered voters in the state found general support for renewables, only 18 percent of respondents said they had heard "anything at all" about the rollback bill. When given an explanation of the bill, 37 percent said they thought Kasich should oppose it. Only 18 percent said he should support it. (The vast majority -- 45 percent -- said they didn't know enough about the measure to say either way.)
Thirty-seven states have some sort of renewable energy standard in place. Conservative and anti-regulatory groups have tried to roll those back in a number of states in recent years, but those efforts have failed [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/renewable-energy-states_n_4194915.html ].
Ohio has been a leader in green jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study [ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ggqcew.pdf ] in March 2013 that ranked the state fifth in the country in terms of green jobs, with 137,143 positions in manufacturing, construction and other jobs that "produce goods and provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources."
“This bill tells clean energy companies that Ohio is closed for business at a time when they’re helping the state’s economy rebound," said Jeff Gohringer, national press secretary for the League of Conservation Voters. "The governor has a really clear choice to make on whether Ohio moves forward with the rest of the country on clean energy or forces these companies out of the state."
Copyright ©2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/28/ohio-renewable-energy_n_5406108.html [with comments]
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New pollution rules bring chicken littles
Rachel Maddow
June 02, 2014
Rachel Maddow reviews the long history of new pollution control regulations to address problems like acid rain and ozone depletion, and the freak-outs and dire warnings by industry advocates about economic disasters that never came to pass.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55317670#55317670 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/new-pollution-rules-bring-chicken-littles-272491587835 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-june-2-2014-trms (no comments yet)]
*
New pollution rules hailed by Bush EPA head
Rachel Maddow
June 02, 2014
William Reilly, former EPA administrator under President George H. W. Bush, talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenges to bringing environmental regulation and pollution controls against industry resistance.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55317542#55317542 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/new-pollution-rules-hailed-by-bush-epa-head-272480323535 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-june-2-2014-trms (no comments yet)]
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What will climate change deniers say…?
May 29, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/29/1302413/-Cartoon-What-will-climate-change-deniers-say [with comments]
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in addition to (linked in) the post to which this is a reply and preceding and (other) following, see also (linked in):
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=79234940 and preceding and following
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102431986 (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102435833 and preceding (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102461747 and preceding and following
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102535928 and preceding and following
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102536173 and preceding (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102587660 and preceding (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102592961 and preceding and following
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102602374 and preceding (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102730477 and preceding (and any future following)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102730590 and preceding (and any future following)
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http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102800830 and preceding (and any future following),
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102801130 and preceding (and any future following)
Rachel Maddow
May 29, 2014
Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, (ret.) talks with Rachel Maddow about how Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and state legislators protected the oil and gas industry from being held accountable for pollution that has destroyed vital protective coastal wetlands.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55290283#55290283 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/lawmakers-help-oil-industry-duck-liability-270001219906 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-may-29-2014-trms (with comment)] [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvAoQJt7A9o (with comments), also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQLH2ZzBLA (with comment)]
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North Carolina Coastal Commission Votes to Ignore Long-Term Sea Level Rise
May 16, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/16/1299816/-North-Carolina-Coastal-Commission-Votes-to-Ignore-Long-Term-Sea-Level-Rise [with embedded video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQMtb1Pd07E {with comments}, two posts back at {linked in} http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=102161216 ), and comments]
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The moguls of climate change
May 21, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1300466/-Cartoon-The-moguls-of-climate-change [with comments]
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Flaming water? Not fracking's problem
[ http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/29/our-new-favorite-mad-scientist-builds-a-terrifying-wrist-mounted-flame-thrower-in-his-garage/ ]
Rachel Maddow
May 29, 2014
Rachel Maddow reports on the influence of the gas and oil industry in Texas politics and a town where the water has become flammable and yet the state has ruled that a connection cannot be made to nearby fracking activity.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55290128/#55290128 [with transcript], also embedded at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-flaming-wells-texas [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-may-29-2014-trms (with comment)] [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_iZXK0Fb6g (with comment)]
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House Directs Pentagon To Ignore Climate Change
The House approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill on Thursday that would bar the Pentagon from considering climate change and its implications for national security.
Erik Simonsen via Getty Images
by Kate Sheppard
Posted: 05/23/2014 6:37 pm EDT Updated: 05/27/2014 8:59 am EDT
WASHINGTON -- The House passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill on Thursday that would bar the Department of Defense from using funds to assess climate change and its implications for national security.
The amendment, from Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), passed in what was nearly a party-line vote [ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2014/roll231.xml ]. Four Democrats voted for the amendment, and three Republicans voted against it. The bill aims to block the DOD from taking any significant action related to climate change or its potential consequences. It reads [ http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/MCCLIMATE51914080929929.pdf ]:
None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to implement the U.S. Global Change Research Program National Climate Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, the United Nation's Agenda 21 sustainable development plan, or the May 2013 Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866.
"This amendment will prohibit the costs of the President's climate change policies being forced on the Department of Defense by the Obama Administration," wrote McKinley in a memo to House colleagues on Thursday that was obtained by The Huffington Post. "The climate is obviously changing; it has always been changing. With all the unrest around the [world], why should Congress divert funds from the mission of our military and national security to support a political ideology?"
Research suggests, however, that the Department of Defense has a number of reasons to be worried about climate change. The department said in its own evaluation last year [ http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121237 ] that climate change presents infrastructure challenges at home and abroad. Meanwhile, a March Pentagon report [ http://washingtonexaminer.com/pentagon-warns-of-climate-change-threat-multipliers/article/2545075 ] found that climate change impacts are "threat multipliers," and that the rapid rise of global temperatures and associated extreme weather events could exacerbate issues like "poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tensions -- conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence."
Nor is climate change a threat that the Obama administration dreamed up to distract the DOD. A National Intelligence Assessment issued during the George W. Bush administration [ http://grist.org/article/hot-zones/ ] concluded that climate change poses a significant threat to national security. And just this week, Tom Ridge, who served as homeland security secretary under Bush, said that climate change is "a real serious problem [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/21/tom-ridge-climate-change_n_5366457.html ]," one that "would bring destruction and economic damage" if we ignore it.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) sent a letter to colleagues [ http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Dear-Colleague-Oppose-McKinley-Amendment-to-HR-4435-2014-5-21.pdf ] on Thursday calling the McKinley measure "irresponsible."
"Science denial will not solve the problem," they wrote.
Copyright ©2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/pentagon-climate-change_n_5382067.html [with comments] [and see also e.g. "House Votes To Deny Climate Science And Ties Pentagon’s Hands On Climate Change", http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/22/3440827/mckinley-climate-pentagon-climate-change/ (with comments)]
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Republican science denial - a clear and present danger to U.S. national security
May 19, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/19/1300508/-Republican-science-denial-a-clear-and-present-danger-to-U-S-national-security [with comments]
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Fact-checking recent claims about climate change
May 30th, 2014
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/article/2014/may/30/fact-checking-recent-claims-on-climate-change/
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James O'Keefe is back with a new scam, but his targets have stolen his thunder
May 22, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/22/1301233/-James-O-Keefe-is-back-with-a-new-scam-but-his-targets-have-stolen-his-thunder [with comments]
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Neil deGrasse Tyson on climate change, Tyson discusses 'Cosmos' and creationists
All In
June 02, 2014
Chris Hayes speaks with legendary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the rhetoric and reality of climate change.
Chris Hayes and renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss the often heated responses to the television show "Cosmos" from creationists.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/55317214#55317214 and http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/55317251#55317251 [each with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-climate-change-272458819887 and http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/tyson-discusses-cosmos-and-creationists-272463427554 [each with comments] [the above YouTube of the two segments in sequence at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COugMyojCTQ (with comments)]
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Report: Global seafood industry to lose up to $41bn on climate change
May 28, 2014
http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2014/05/28/report-global-seafood-industry-to-lose-up-to-41bn-on-climate-change/ [no comments yet]
Press Release:
Seafood industry under threat from climate change and ocean acidification
Global reduction of CO2 emissions required to safeguard future
May 28, 2014
http://www.sustainablefish.org/news/articles/2014/05/28/seafood-industry-under-threat-from-climate-change-and-ocean-acidification
The Briefing (Infographic also at http://cmsdevelopment.sustainablefish.org.s3.amazonaws.com/2014/05/27/IPCC_AR5_Fisheries_Infographic_FINAL_Web-45ff43a5.pdf ):
IPCC AR5: Climate Change: Implication for Fisheries & Aquaculture
May 2014
http://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/Resources/Climate-and-Energy/Climate-Change-Implications-for-Fisheries-and-Aquaculture.aspx
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Ohio Legislature Votes To Delay And Weaken State's Renewable Energy Law
ASSOCIATED PRESS
by Kate Sheppard
Posted: 05/28/2014 4:59 pm EDT
The Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would roll back the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency law, making Ohio the first state to reverse standards meant to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The bill passed out of a House committee [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/05/27/energy-bill-vote-ahead.html ] on Tuesday and went to the floor Wednesday afternoon. The bill had already passed the Senate earlier this month [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/05/08/bill-to-pause-green-energy-standards-poised-to-pass-senate.html ].
The Ohio legislature approved the renewable energy and efficiency standards in 2008, when it passed them almost unanimously [ http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/votes.cfm?ID=127_SB_221 ]. But opponents of the measure have been trying to roll them back for several years. Last year, state Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Cincinnati, said [ http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/04/ohio-state-senator-review-stalinist-renewable-energy-standards ] the standards are like "Joseph Stalin's five-year plan." (Seitz is a co-sponsor of this year's bill [ http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_SB_310 ].)
The new measure would pause required increases in renewables and efficiency for two years, and would also weaken the standards when they come back into effect in 2017. The original plan called for a 5.5 percent increase in renewables by 2017, while the revised measure lowers that to a 3.5 percent increase.
Rep. Robert Hagan, a Democrat from Youngstown who voted against the bill, said in a statement that its supporters are "clinging to outdated modes of energy generation."
"As the rest of the country is moving forward on energy efficiency and independence, Ohio is moving backward,” Hagan said. “Reversing our Renewable Portfolio Standards is completely irrational, and unfortunately Ohio consumers and businesses are the victims of the absurdity."
The bill has been hotly contested in the state. Environmental and consumer advocates opposed the rollback, but so did some conservative-leaning business groups. An editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer quoted [ http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/05/the_shortsighted_fine_print_in.html ] the Ohio Manufacturers' Association as saying the measure "will drive up electricity costs for customers and undermine manufacturing competitiveness in Ohio." The automaker Honda, which is one of the largest employers in the state [ http://jobs-ohio.com/images/ohio-major-employers.pdf ], also opposes the rollback. Environmental [ http://ohiosierraclub.org/2014/05/take-the-ohio-legislature-dont-raise-my-bill-for-dirty-energy/ ] and energy efficiency [ http://www.aceee.org/blog/2014/05/misleading-ohio-clean-energy-freeze ] groups oppose the measure, too, and are pushing for Republican Gov. John Kasich to veto it.
Even other Republicans in the House committee tried to offer alternative measures [ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/05/27/energy-bill-vote-ahead.html ] that would not go quite as far, but those were blocked.
An Ohio poll [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/PollPrintLCV.pdf ], which the environmental group League of Conservation Voters commissioned earlier this month, found that 77 percent of respondents wanted the state to increase the amount of energy it draws from renewables. While the poll of registered voters in the state found general support for renewables, only 18 percent of respondents said they had heard "anything at all" about the rollback bill. When given an explanation of the bill, 37 percent said they thought Kasich should oppose it. Only 18 percent said he should support it. (The vast majority -- 45 percent -- said they didn't know enough about the measure to say either way.)
Thirty-seven states have some sort of renewable energy standard in place. Conservative and anti-regulatory groups have tried to roll those back in a number of states in recent years, but those efforts have failed [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/renewable-energy-states_n_4194915.html ].
Ohio has been a leader in green jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study [ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ggqcew.pdf ] in March 2013 that ranked the state fifth in the country in terms of green jobs, with 137,143 positions in manufacturing, construction and other jobs that "produce goods and provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources."
“This bill tells clean energy companies that Ohio is closed for business at a time when they’re helping the state’s economy rebound," said Jeff Gohringer, national press secretary for the League of Conservation Voters. "The governor has a really clear choice to make on whether Ohio moves forward with the rest of the country on clean energy or forces these companies out of the state."
Copyright ©2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/28/ohio-renewable-energy_n_5406108.html [with comments]
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New pollution rules bring chicken littles
Rachel Maddow
June 02, 2014
Rachel Maddow reviews the long history of new pollution control regulations to address problems like acid rain and ozone depletion, and the freak-outs and dire warnings by industry advocates about economic disasters that never came to pass.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55317670#55317670 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/new-pollution-rules-bring-chicken-littles-272491587835 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-june-2-2014-trms (no comments yet)]
*
New pollution rules hailed by Bush EPA head
Rachel Maddow
June 02, 2014
William Reilly, former EPA administrator under President George H. W. Bush, talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenges to bringing environmental regulation and pollution controls against industry resistance.
©2014 NBCNews.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/55317542#55317542 [with transcript], http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/new-pollution-rules-hailed-by-bush-epa-head-272480323535 [with comments] [show links at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/citations-the-june-2-2014-trms (no comments yet)]
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What will climate change deniers say…?
May 29, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/29/1302413/-Cartoon-What-will-climate-change-deniers-say [with comments]
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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