The BRAD BLOG

BREAKING: SCOTUS AGREES TO REVIEW CONSTITUTIONALITY OF CA BAN ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY, FEDERAL 'DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT'

Brad Friedman — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:09:52 +0000

Very big news just out today for fans of the U.S. Constitution, equal protection under the law, human rights and states' rights --- all conservative values, upheld by conservative Republican judge after conservative Republican judge across the country over recent years --- which we here at The BRAD BLOG strongly support.

And, once again, before sharing the news, our caveat to those who are against all of the above, a reminder that no matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issues surrounding marriage equality, it will never be mandatory that you get gay married...

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take its first serious look at the issue of gay marriage, granting review of California's ban on same-sex marriage and of a federal law that defines marriage as only the legal union of a man and a woman.

At the very least, the court will look at this question: When states choose to permit the marriages of same-sex couples, can the federal government refuse to recognize their validity? But by also taking up the California case, the court could get to the more fundamental question of whether the states must permit marriages by gay people in the first place.

The California case involves a challenge to Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment approved by 52 percent of voters in 2008. It banned same-sex marriages in the state and went into effect after 18,000 couples were legally married earlier that year.

A federal judge declared the ban unconstitutional, and a federal appeals court upheld that ruling, though on narrower grounds that apply only to California. Now that the Supreme Court is wading into the battle, the justices could decide the more basic issue of whether any state can ban same-sex marriage under the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the law. Or they could limit their ruling to apply only to the ban in California.

The Supreme Court also agreed Friday to hear a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, passed by overwhelming margins in both houses of Congress in 1996 and signed by President Clinton. A provision of the law specifies that, for federal purposes, "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."
...
Because of DOMA, gay couples who wed in the nine states where same-sex marriage is permitted are considered legally married only under state law. The federal government is barred from recognizing their marriages. As a result, they are denied over 1,000 federal benefits that are available to traditional couples.

After first supporting DOMA in court, the Obama administration concluded last year that it violated the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

"We cannot defend the federal government poking its nose into what states are doing and putting the thumb on the scale against same-sex couples," President Obama said in explaining the change.

Gay married couples in five states filed lawsuits challenging DOMA as an unconstitutional denial of their right to equal protection. After the Obama Justice Department declined to defend the law, House Republicans stepped in to carry on the legal fight.
...
A Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act would not, by itself, require states to allow same-sex marriages. But the federal government would be required to recognize those marriages in the states where they are legal.

The cases will be argued before the justices in March, with a decision expected by late June.

'Exxon Hates Your Children'

Brad Friedman — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:39:41 +0000

We covered this briefly during yesterday's Green News Report, but it deserves its own item here. It's a pretty brazen --- but also very affective --- 30-second video that its creators at ExxonHatesYourChildren.com hope you will help fund to see it run over our public television airwaves. Their hope is to help counter the extraordinary amount of propaganda seen paid for every single day on those same airwaves, as funded by the corporate welfare queens otherwise known as the fossil-fuel industry. (Yes, the fossil-fuel industry uses your money to help keep you confused about the massive dangers of their own industry.)

So here's a bit of welcome push-back...

45 House Dems Call for $100B Cut in Nuclear Weapons Budget as Part of 'Fiscal Cliff' Talks

Ernest A. Canning — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:43:35 +0000

45 Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House are calling on Congressional leadership in both chambers to cut $100 billion from a "bloated nuclear weapons budget" as part of the ongoing so-called "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued a press release citing the letter sent to House Speaker John Boehner (R), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senators Harry Reid (D) and Mitch McConell (R) charging that "Our oversized nuclear weapons arsenal fails to reflect historic reality" and that "Our spending on radioactive relics of the past requires a reality check" after the successful conclusion of the Cold War.

The 45 House Dems list unnecessary current expenditures for "refurbishing a nuclear bomb that no one wants…a Uranium processing facility we do not need…a nuclear bomber when the ones we have will last for decades."

The letter, (posted in full below) implores leadership:

Cut Minuteman missiles. Do not cut Medicare and Medicaid. Cut nuclear-armed B-52 and B-2 bombers. Do not cut Social Security. Invest in the research and education that will drive our future prosperity, not in weapons for a war we already won.

While the letter from the largely progressive Congressional members appears to be a rational step in the right direction, it raises additional questions. Among them: (1) Given that two nations, the U.S. and Russia, possess 95% of the world’s nuclear arsenals, and given that each nation’s individual arsenal is capable of destroying all life on the planet many times over, does it make sense to simply trim only $100 billion from an estimated $640 billion in nuclear weapons expenditures scheduled over the next ten years? (2) Why not couple the immediate request to trim $100 billion from the nuclear weapons budget with a call for a joint resolution of Congress calling upon the President to initiate negotiations under the auspices of the U.N. for a multilateral Treaty that would entail the eventual dismantling of all nuclear arsenals?...

The full text of the letter from Congressional Dems follows below. Along with Markey, it was said to have been signed by John Conyers, Jr., Rush D. Holt, Barbara Lee, Raul M. Grijalva, Charles B. Rangel, Lynn Woolsey, Donna M.C. Christensen, Peter A. DeFazio, Jared Polis, Sam Farr, Jerrold Nadler, Michael M. Honda, Barney Frank, James P. McGovern, Hansen Clarke, Earl Blumenauer, Alcee L. Hastings, Maxine Waters, Jan Schakowsky, Keith Ellison, William Lacy Clay, Lois Capps, Bruce Braley, John Yarmuth, James P. Moran, Peter Welch, Timothy H. Bishop, John W. Olver, John F. Tierney, Marcy Kaptur, Laura Richardson, Richard E. Neal, John Lewis, Janice Hahn, Donna Edwards, Maurice D. Hinchey, Betty McCollum, William Keating, Jim McDermott, David E. Price, Yvette D. Clarke, Carolyn B. Maloney, Doris Matsui, and Hank Johnson...

December 4, 2012

The Honorable John Boehner
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
The Honorable Harry Reid
The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Dear Congressional Leaders,

Our bloated nuclear weapons budget defies fiscal reality. Our oversized nuclear weapons arsenal fails to reflect historical reality. Our spending on radioactive relics of the past requires a reality check. We won the Cold War. The Berlin Wall fell. The threats we face today have dramatically changed in the past two decades. At a time when our need for fiscal responsibility has never been greater, we must cut our nuclear weapons budget.

Unchecked spending on nuclear weapons threatens to push us over the fiscal cliff. It imperils both our national and economic security. It makes us less safe by preventing investment in the systems that our soldiers need most. It jeopardizes our future by forcing cuts to programs that fund life-saving medical research, train teachers, and ensure seniors and the most vulnerable receive essential healthcare.

The Ploughshares Fund estimates that the U.S. is projected to spend over $640 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next ten years. At a time when the government must tighten its belt, we cannot continue to spend at these levels. We can save hundreds of billions of dollars by restructuring the U.S. nuclear program for the 21st century.

We know there is plenty of waste in the nuclear weapons budget. We are refurbishing a nuclear bomb that no one wants. We are building a Uranium processing facility we do not need. We are planning for a new nuclear bomber when the ones we have will last for decades. In fact, just one nuclear bomb life extension program will cost $10 billion for an estimated 400 weapons. At that price, we could buy each bomb’s weight in solid gold. And this would be a better investment. Gold appreciates, while money spent on this nuclear bomb is money down the drain.

Cuts to nuclear weapons programs upwards of $100 billion over the next ten years are possible. Specific programs have been identified that can be decreased in scope or eliminated to bring our nuclear forces into better alignment with our 21st century needs. Such cuts should be included in any final deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

* * *Ernest A. Canning has been an active member of the California state bar since 1977. Mr. Canning has received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science as well as a juris doctor. He is also a Vietnam vet (4th Infantry, Central Highlands 1968). Follow him on Twitter: @Cann4ing.

'Green News Report' - December 6, 2012

Desi Doyen — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:30:04 +0000

TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport
FACEBOOK: Green News Report
VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio!

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Crunch time at UN climate talks in Doha; More dire warnings from the Arctic; Pollution regulations really do save lives; PLUS: Exxon hates your children (?!?!) ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

Link:
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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): NASA: Climate Models Project Increase In U.S. Wildfires; UN climate may never pass US Senate; Driver still missing in coal ash slurry pond breach; Oil trains on the rise in U.S.; NJ toxic train wreck won't be cleared for a week; Divide over coal trains in Pacific NW; Starving snowy oils flock south to British Columbia ... PLUS: Photos: 60th anniversary of the deadly Great Smog of London ... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

VIDEO: AZ Gov. Jan Brewer: ‘I probably don’t believe’ climate change is man made (Raw Story):

“Everybody has an opinion on it and I probably don’t believe that it’s man made,” Brewer replied. “I believe, you know, that weather elements are controlled maybe by different things."
UN COP18: Next Phase of Climate Negotiations in Doha, Qatar:

UNFCC Main Page: Video and Text (United Nations)
VIDEO: UN COP18 Webcast Main Page: (United Nations)
UN News Centre (United Nations)

UNCOP18: Crunch Time:

Will Philippines negotiator's tears change our course on climate change?: At the COP18 climate talks, the Filipino delegate broke down as he appealed to the world: 'no more delays, no more excuses' (Guardian UK):

Typhoon Bopha hits the Philippines at Cat 5 strength; at least 40 killed (Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground):

Bopha is the third Category 5 typhoon to affect the Western Pacific this year, and the strongest typhoon ever recorded to hit Mindanao, which rarely sees strong typhoons due to its position close to the Equator.
Rare note of harmony at Doha as action agreed on black carbon: The 25 members of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition have agreed to vastly reduce black carbon [soot], methane and ozone (Guardian UK)
How Reducing Soot Pollution Can Save Lives (Center for American Progress)
Lord Stern: Developing Countries Must Make Deeper Emissions Cuts (Guardian)
Clashes over financing threat UN climate talks (AP):

The world's poorest nations on Wednesday called for significant financing to cope with the impacts of global warming, setting up a potential clash with rich countries that could slow progress on reaching a global climate pact by 2015.

AGU 2012: NOAA: Arctic Loses Record Ice, Snow in 2012:

VIDEO: NOAA Press Conference: What's Going On in the Arctic? (NOAA YouTube):

Despite unremarkable air temperatures this year, the Arctic still set records for loss of summer sea ice, decline in spring snow extent, rising permafrost temperatures in northernmost Alaska,and duration and extent of melting at the surface of the Greenland ice sheet. Large changes in multiple indicators are affecting climate and ecosystems. What's going on here? NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and others will outline the changing conditions as part of the annual update of the Arctic Report Card, an international effort to assess the state of the Arctic environmental system.
Arctic lost record snow and ice last year as data shows changing climate: Findings from US science agency NOAA suggest widespread and irreversible changes because of a warming climate (Guardian UK):

The Arctic lost more snow and sea ice between October 2011 and August 2012 than any year other on record, a premier US science agency reported on Wednesday, delivering the fullest picture to date of a region in the throes of rapid, system-wide change.

AGU 2012: Climate Change Impacts on Global Security:

VIDEO: AGU Union Frontiers of Geophysics Lecture: The Impact of Climate Change on Global Security, with Professor Sir Bob Watson, CMG, FRS, Chief Scientific Adviser to DEFRA (AGU Fall Meeting 2012)

Pollution Regulations Increase Life Expectancy:

Declining Air Pollution Levels Continue to Improve Life Expectancy in U.S. (Science Daily):

"Despite the fact that the U.S. population as a whole is exposed to much lower levels of air pollution than 30 years ago --- because of great strides made to reduce people's exposure --- it appears that further reductions in air pollution levels would continue to benefit public health," said lead author Andrew Correia, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biostatistics at HSPH.

Exxon HATES Your Children:

VIDEO: Exxon Hates Your Children:

Calls to Stop Funding Climate Problem with Fossil Fuel Subsidies: (AP):

[R]ich nations in 2011 gave more than $58 billion in tax breaks and other production subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. The U.S. figure was $13 billion.
...
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has calculated that removing fossil fuel subsidies could reduce carbon emissions by more than 10 percent by 2050.

Time's Up: World on Track for Climate Disaster:

CO2 Emissions Rises Mean Dangerous Climate Change Now Almost Certain (Guardian)
Greenland and Antarctica 'have lost four trillion tonnes of ice' in 20 years (Guardian UK):

• Landmark study by global team of scientists published
• Finds melting polar ice has led to 11mm rise in sea level
• Greenland losing ice five times faster than early 1990s
Despite weak economy, CO2 emissions to grow 2.6 percent in 2012: study (Reuters) [emphasis added]:

Carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose an estimated 2.6 percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, powered by rapid emissions growth in China and India, which may add urgency to U.N. climate talks in Doha.
With Carbon Dioxide Emissions at Record High, Worries on How to Slow Warming (NY Times):

Global emissions of carbon dioxide were at a record high in 2011 and are likely to take a similar jump in 2012, scientists reported Sunday — the latest indication that efforts to limit such emissions are failing.
Arctic sea ice larger than US melts, UN reports; climate change happening ‘before our eyes’ (Washington Post)
US coastal cities in danger as sea levels rise faster than expected, study warns: "Satellite measurements show flooding from storms like Sandy will put low-lying population centres at risk sooner than projected."
2012 expected to be 9th warmest year on record (Guardian UK)
Study: Sea Levels Rising 60% Faster Than Projected, Planet Keeps Warming As Expected (Climate Progress)
Ocean Acidification: Animals are already dissolving in Southern Ocean (New Scientist)
Arctic sea ice larger than US melts, UN reports; climate change happening 'before our eyes' (Washington Post)
Global warming targets further out of reach, UN says (Phys.org):

Based on current pledges, global average temperatures could rise by three to five degrees Celsius (5.4 to 9.0 degrees Fahrenheit) this century-way above the two degrees Celsius being targeted, said a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Century (The World Bank)
Thawing of permafrost to be 'major factor' in global warming, warns UN report (UN News Centre)

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

NASA: Climate Models Project Increase In U.S. Wildfires, ‘Causing A Further Rise In The Release Of Carbon Dioxide’ (Climate Progress)
US Negotiators Work on Treaty That May Never Pass Muster at Home: (Greenwire):

The Senate's rejection yesterday of a treaty to extend rights to disabled people internationally does not bode well for a climate change treaty, observers here said today as the clock began to wind down on this year's U.N. climate talks.
Coal: WV DEP Inspection of Consol Slurry Pond in October Found No Problems; Driver Still Missing (AP)
Oil Trains on the Rise in the Northwest: (KUOW Seattle):

As regulators in the region weigh the potential impacts of trains full of coal moving along the Columbia River and the shores of Puget Sound, trainloads of oil are quietly on the move.
NJ: Toxic Chemicals from Train Wreck May Not Be Cleared Until Next Week: (Reuters):

A U.S. Coast Guard official told an angry crowd on Wednesday that it may take until next week to clear the air of toxic chemicals spilled after a train wreck in their south New Jersey town, where evacuations were ramped up this week.
Debate over coal exports in Pacific NW Leaves Some Out, Critics Charge:: (McClatchy DC)

While proposals to turn green-leaning Washington state into a major exporter of coal to China have caused an uproar in coastal communities, the heated debate is largely absent from other places along the industry's expected trade route to Asia.
Starving Snowy Owls Flock South to BC: (CBC News):

Snowy owls have left the arctic en masse this year, flocking south to B.C., delighting bird enthusiasts across the province but worrying biologists.
60 years since the great smog of London - in pictures (Guardian UK):

On Friday 5 December 1952, a thick yellow smog brought the capital to a standstill for four days and is estimated to have killed more than 4,000 people. London's air may appear much cleaner today, but is still dangerously polluted. The coal pollution that caused the infamous 'pea soupers' has been replaced by invisible pollution – mainly from traffic fumes – resulting in 13,000 early deaths each year in the UK and 4,300 in London.
COVER STORY: It's Global Warming, Stupid (Businessweek):

Yes, yes, it's unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us-and they're right-that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.
...
If all that doesn't impress, forget the scientists ostensibly devoted to advancing knowledge and saving lives. Listen instead to corporate insurers committed to compiling statistics for profit.

Colbert on Republican ACORN Fantasies and 'Dr. Rick Santorum's Imaginarium' [VIDEO]

Brad Friedman — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:06:20 +0000

So, yeah, this is pretty much what it's all come to these days in the Republican Party. Imaginary "voter fraud" and imaginary U.N. tyranny...

BONUS: The Daily Show also had his own take on the Republican dysfunction in the U.S. Senate (discussed by Colbert above) which led to the embarrassing failure to ratify the U.N. treaty for worldwide accommodations for the disabled. The treaty was based on our own, very successful federal bill, the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed by Republican President George H.W. Bush twenty years ago.

Part 1 of Jon Stewart's two-parter below is worth watching for the killer John Kerry joke alone...

Almost Half of GOP Voters: ACORN Stole It Again!

Brad Friedman — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:59:46 +0000

It was bad enough when a majority of Republicans were so disinformed after the 2008 election that they thought ACORN stole the election (almost 10 million votes, apparently) for Barack Obama.

Now that ACORN is no more (since early 2010), the massive disinformation campaign that Republicans have been suckered into believing seems to continue nonetheless. Just under a majority of self-identified GOP voters think the non-existent ACORN stole the election again this year for Obama! Those tricky non-existent bastards, apparently, somehow stuffed the ballot box 5.5 million times and never got caught even once!

From Public Policy Polling today, who note that Republicans are "not handling election results well"...

49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. We found that 52% of Republicans thought that ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama, so this is a modest decline, but perhaps smaller than might have been expected given that ACORN doesn't exist anymore.

It should be noted, for any of those duped Republicans who may be reading this, that there is no evidence, none, zero, nada, that any vote has ever been stolen in any election either by ACORN or via one of the bad voter registrations submitted by one of its workers (bad registrations which were almost all discovered by ACORN themselves and turned in, along with the rogue worker who submitted them, to authorities.)

For those stooges who are still unconvinced, because they read something somewhere on the Internet about "voter fraud" in 2012, we dispatched with the most popular "massive voter fraud" myths of 2012 over the weekend right here.

Finally, as if all of that isn't pathetic enough, PPP has more sad news for a party which now seems intent on disappearing itself entirely...

Some GOP voters are so unhappy with the outcome that they no longer care to be a part of the United States. 25% of Republicans say they would like their state to secede from the union compared to 56% who want to stay and 19% who aren't sure.

One reason that such a high percentage of Republicans are holding what could be seen as extreme views is that their numbers are declining. Our final poll before the election, which hit the final outcome almost on the head, found 39% of voters identifying themselves as Democrats and 37% as Republicans. Since the election we've seen a 5 point increase in Democratic identification to 44%, and a 5 point decrease in Republican identification to 32%.

* * *

UPDATE 12/6/12: Even Glenn Beck's The Blaze "news" site is skewering Republicans for chasing ACORN ghosts, calling PPP's finding "potentially alarming". (Gosh, we wonder who might have been responsible for setting off that "alarm"?) Also, Stephen Colbert takes his own shot at the GOP's ACORN "voter fraud" fantasy as well. That video is right here...

* * *Please support The BRAD BLOG's fiercely independent, award-winning coverage of your electoral system, as available from no other media outlet in the nation, with a donation to help us keep going (Snail mail, more options here). If you like, we'll send you some great, award-winning election integrity documentary films in return! Details right here...

'Green News Report' - December 4, 2012

Desi Doyen — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:55:23 +0000

TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport
FACEBOOK: Green News Report
VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio!

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Time's running for UN climate talks (and for the planet); Record winter heat blasts the Midwest (again); NY, NJ press for billions in Sandy disaster recovery; PLUS: Cannibal lobsters ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

Link:
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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Air pollution regulations increase life expectancy in US; Mississippi River near record lows, threatens 20k jobs; Typhoon Bopha kills 40 in the Phillipines; Costs double for new French nuke plant; Bye, CFLs?: Cheap lighting breakthrough; 44 hazardous pollutants near gas drilling sites ... PLUS: 4 Reasons to hope we can still avert the worst impacts of climate change ... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

UN COP18: Next Phase of Climate Negotiations in Doha, Qatar:

UNFCC Main Page: Video and Text (United Nations)
VIDEO: UN COP18 Webcast Main Page: (United Nations)
UN News Centre (United Nations)

UNCOP18: Climate Conference Update:

VIDEO: UN Sec. General Ban Ki-Moon Warns 'Window Is Closing': (UNFCCC)
Calls to Stop Funding Climate Problem with Fossil Fuel Subsidies: (AP):

[R]ich nations in 2011 gave more than $58 billion in tax breaks and other production subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. The U.S. figure was $13 billion.
...
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has calculated that removing fossil fuel subsidies could reduce carbon emissions by more than 10 percent by 2050.
New finance models to address climate change (NewKerala.com)
Doha climate conference diary: Qatar's generosity keeps us guessing (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:

US oil baron billionaires Charles and David Koch were accused at a meeting today of helping to paralyse the talks with their undue lobbying influence over the US government... "As the top spenders to stop climate policy… the brothers from Wichita hold hostage any progress in Washington, and hence any meaningful global deal in Doha," said IFG director Victor Menotti.
U.S. Says Climate Plan on Track, EU Wants More (Reuters)
Pledges To Fight Global Warming Inadequate, U.S. Off Track: Study (Reuters)
Geo-Engineering Wins Scant Enthusiasm At U.N. Climate Talks (Reuters)
Rich Nations Alone Can't Halt Global Warming: Report (AFP)
Canada Ranked as Worst Performer in the Developed World on Climate Change (Vancouver Observer)
US Envoy Hits China's Stand In UN Climate Talks (AP)
Lord Stern: Developing Countries Must Make Deeper Emissions Cuts (Guardian)
CO2 Emissions Rises Mean Dangerous Climate Change Now Almost Certain (Guardian)
International Climate World Not Wowed as Obama Enters Second Term (Greenwire)

Time's Up: World on Track for Climate Disaster:

Greenland and Antarctica 'have lost four trillion tonnes of ice' in 20 years (Guardian UK):

Landmark study by global team of scientists published, finds melting polar ice has led to 11mm rise in sea level. Greenland losing ice five times faster than early 1990s
Despite weak economy, CO2 emissions to grow 2.6 percent in 2012: study (Reuters) [emphasis added]:

Carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose an estimated 2.6 percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, powered by rapid emissions growth in China and India, which may add urgency to U.N. climate talks in Doha.
With Carbon Dioxide Emissions at Record High, Worries on How to Slow Warming (NY Times):

Global emissions of carbon dioxide were at a record high in 2011 and are likely to take a similar jump in 2012, scientists reported Sunday — the latest indication that efforts to limit such emissions are failing.
Arctic sea ice larger than US melts, UN reports; climate change happening ‘before our eyes’ (Washington Post)
US coastal cities in danger as sea levels rise faster than expected, study warns: Satellite measurements show flooding from storms like Sandy will put low-lying population centres at risk sooner than projected
2012 expected to be 9th warmest year on record (Guardian UK)
Study: Sea Levels Rising 60% Faster Than Projected, Planet Keeps Warming As Expected (Climate Progress)
Ocean Acidification: Animals are already dissolving in Southern Ocean (New Scientist)
Global warming targets further out of reach, UN says (Phys.org):

Based on current pledges, global average temperatures could rise by three to five degrees Celsius (5.4 to 9.0 degrees Fahrenheit) this century-way above the two degrees Celsius being targeted, said a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Century (The World Bank)
Thawing of permafrost to be 'major factor' in global warming, warns UN report (UN News Centre)

NY Gov. Cuomo Requests $80B in Superstorm Sandy Aid:

Cuomo Takes Request for Federal Aid to White House, Capitol Hill (Bloomberg):

“We need help on this. These are very big numbers, even for New York.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo voices optimism on federal hurricane assistance (AP)
Poll: Superstorm Sandy Linked To Climate Change By 69% Of New Yorkers, Including 73% Of Independents (Climate Progress)
NY Times Warns On Climate Change: 'Fear Death By Water', Rising Seas Likely To Swallow Up City If We Don't Act Soon (Climate Progress)
Hurricane Sandy Damage in NY: By The Numbers: (Huffington Post Green)

Warm Winter Weather AGAIN Breaks US Records:

VIDEO: NBC Nightly News: "Warm Weather Breaks Records Across US (NBC):

Attack of the CANNIBAL LOBSTERS:

Maine scientist discovers lobster-eat-lobster world: Cannibal lobsters? They're real, and a local scientist caught them on video. (Portland Press-Herald)
Lobster cannibals caused by warm seasons: Cannibalism has been found in lobsters, something never recorded in the wild before (Global Post)

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

Declining Air Pollution Levels Continue to Improve Life Expectancy in U.S. (Science Daily) [emphasis added] [emphasis added]:

"Since the 1970s, enactment of increasingly stringent air quality controls has led to improvements in ambient air quality in the United States ... [T]he extent to which more recent regulatory actions have benefited public health remains in question. This study provides strong and compelling evidence that continuing to reduce ambient levels of PM2.5 prolongs life."
Low Mississippi’s Ripple Effect Imperils 20,000 U.S. Jobs (Bloomberg):

“Given the number of jobs at stake if commerce on the Mississippi is crippled, and especially given the ripple effect on local economies up and down the river, the administration cannot afford to remain silent on this critical issue,” said Tom Allegretti, president of American Waterways Operators.
...
The Army Corps says navigation will be impaired by Dec. 11 and a record low-water mark will be set on Dec. 22.
Typhoon Bopha hits the Philippines at Cat 5 strength; at least 40 killed (Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground):

Bopha is the third Category 5 typhoon to affect the Western Pacific this year, and the strongest typhoon ever recorded to hit Mindanao, which rarely sees strong typhoons due to its position close to the Equator.
Costs of New French Nuclear Reactor Doubles:: French utility EDF has raised the cost of the construction of its next-generation nuclear reactor by more than 2 billion euros on Monday, the latest in a series of overruns for the first EPR reactor built in France.
4 Reasons To Hope We Can Still Avert the Worst Impacts of Climate Change (Guardian)
New Plastic LED Lighting Save Energy: Goodbye, CFLs?:

Scientists have designed an energy-efficient light of plastic packed with nanomaterials that glow. The shatterproof FIPEL technology can be molded into almost any shape, but still needs to prove it's commercially viable.
Study Finds 44 Hazardous Air Pollutants at Gas Drilling Sites: (InsideClimate News):

For years, the controversy over natural gas drilling has focused on the water and air quality problems linked to hydraulic fracturing, the process where chemicals are blasted deep underground to release tightly bound natural gas deposits.
Judge Tosses Asian Carp Suit (AP):

A federal judge Monday threw out a lawsuit filed by five states that want barriers placed in Chicago-area waterways to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, but said he would consider new arguments if the case were filed again.
COVER STORY: It's Global Warming, Stupid (Businessweek):

Yes, yes, it's unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us-and they're right-that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.
...
If all that doesn't impress, forget the scientists ostensibly devoted to advancing knowledge and saving lives. Listen instead to corporate insurers committed to compiling statistics for profit.

Essential Climate Science Findings:

Skeptical Science: Get the FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Arguments
Report: Humans near tipping point that could dramatically change Earth (CS Monitor):

Human activity is affecting Earth in many ways, but a new study suggests that continued population growth and its impact on climate and ecology could trigger a more profound chain reaction of effects within little more than a decade.
VIDEO: James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (TED Talks):

Top climate scientist James Hansen tells the story of his involvement in the science of and debate over global climate change. In doing so he outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried about the future.
VIDEO ANIMATION: Time history of atmospheric CO2 (NOAA Carbon Tracker YouTube channel):

VIDEO: Animation Charts Modern Global Warming (NYT Green)

Thinking Big: NREL Study Shows 80 Percent Renewables Possible By 2050 (Climate Progress)
Must-Read: Economist William Nordhaus Slams Global Warming Deniers, Explains Cost of Delay is $4 Trillion (Climate Progress):

Nordhaus's blunt piece - "Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong" - is worth reading because he is no climate hawk.
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"The skeptics' summary is based on poor analysis and on an incorrect reading of the results."
Part 1: The brutal logic of climate change (David Roberts, Grist) [emphasis added]:

It's simple: If there is to be any hope of avoiding civilization-threatening climate disruption, the U.S. and other nations must act immediately and aggressively on an unprecedented scale. That means moving to emergency footing. War footing. "Hitler is on the march and our survival is at stake" footing. That simply won't be possible unless a critical mass of people are on board. It's not the kind of thing you can sneak in incrementally.

It is unpleasant to talk like this. People don't want to hear it.
Part 2: The brutal logic of climate change mitigation (David Roberts, Grist)
How to Buy Time in the Fight against Climate Change: Mobilize to Stop Soot and Methane: A short list of relatively simple actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases other than CO2 could help put the brakes on global warming--if implemented globally (Scientific American)
Climate Scientists Rebuke Rupert Murdoch: WSJ Denier Op-Ed Like 'Dentists Practicing Cardiology' (Think Progress Green)
Saudi Oil Minister Calls Global Warming "Humanity's Most Pressing Concern" (Climate Progress):

"We know that pumping oil out of the ground does not create many jobs. It does not foster an entrepreneurial spirit, nor does it sharpen critical faculties."
VIDEO: Behold: The World's First 24/7 Solar Plant is Up and Running (Treehugger)
World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns: If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed, the world will 'lose for ever' the chance to avoid dangerous climate change (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:

The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
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"The door is closing," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. "I am very worried - if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."
Concise Overview: The IPCC report on extreme climate and weather events (Real Climate)
READ the IPCC Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
The Real Global Warming Signal (Tamino)
No, global warming hasn't stopped (New Scientist)
Top UN Climate Official Blasts U.S. Climate Policy: Americans Must Realize "This Is Their Future They're Compromising" (Think Progress Green)
VIDEO: Climate Scientists Michael Mann on "A Look Into Our Climate: Past To Present To Future" (TEDx, YouTube)
Earth's Plant Growth Fell Because of Climate Change, Study Finds (NYT Green)
Heads in the Sand: Warning: "Climate change is occurring … and poses significant risks to humans and the environment," reports the National Academy of Sciences. As climate-change science moves in one direction, Republicans in Congress are moving in another. Why?
(National Journal) [emphasis added]:

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, says there's no question that the influence of his group and others like it has been instrumental in the rise of Republican candidates who question or deny climate science. "If you look at where the situation was three years ago and where it is today, there's been a dramatic turnaround. Most of these candidates have figured out that the science has become political," he said.
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Groups like Americans for Prosperity have done it."

Republican Congressman on Susan Rice Witch Hunt: 'Maybe We Should Investigate Bush Too'

Brad Friedman — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:05:13 +0000

From Henry Decker at The National Memo (where, by way of full disclosure, I'm also a fairly regular contributor)...

For the second time in a week, conservative Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) is breaking with his party on a hot button issue.

Last Tuesday, Cole made headlines for disagreeing with House Speaker John Boehner and advising his fellow Republicans to accept President Barack Obama’s offer to immediately extend tax cuts on incomes under $250,000, while negotiating a broader deal involving tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

During a Sunday morning appearance on ABC’s This Week, Cole offered his advice on the other issue that has animated Republicans in the weeks since the election: U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s response to the September 11th attacks in Benghazi, and her potential nomination as Secretary of State.

When Dan Senor — the former spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority during the Iraq War, and the chief foreign policy advisor to Mitt Romney — suggested investigating “whether or not Susan Rice should be blamed” for the Obama administration’s response to the Benghazi attacks, Cole reminded Senor of the Bush administration’s false claims that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

“We saw President Bush out front defending something wasn’t true too,” Cole noted. “Maybe we should ask those guys some questions too.”
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In both cases, Cole is not adopting the Democratic position; he opposes raising tax rates for the wealthy, and he does not appear to support Rice (although he did not say whether or not he would vote to confirm her if he were in the Senate.) Instead, Cole seems to be trying to divert his party from embracing hopeless political positions. Just as Cole correctly identified that the White House has all of the leverage in the tax cut debate, so too does he seem to realize that a public battle over Rice could lead to some very uncomfortable questions about the Bush administration’s record — a history that the Republican Party would rather stay buried.

Video of the ABC This Week moment mentioned above, from 12/2/2012, follows below...

After Four Years Obama Has Finally Learned Something (Or, We Wish You a 'Fiscal Cliff' Mess)

Brad Friedman — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:35:42 +0000

After four years of lousy bills, or lack thereof, brought about through unnecessary concessions, it seems as though the President has finally learned something, at least: how to make an opening bid in a negotiation.

As Josh Marshall aptly described the two party's relative positions in the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations (the specifics of which are broken down by Ezra Klein at the bottom of this article for anybody, understandably, not paying attention to all of this silliness):

There’s no way to understand the jousting and positioning over the ‘fiscal cliff’ without understanding the following facts: Both President Obama and congressional Republicans are moving right along to the edge of the cliff. Both say they’re ready to go over the edge. Only President Obama is gliding along in a hot air balloon and John Boehner and co. are on foot. So the repercussions over going over the edge are quite different. And both sides know it.

The take away here is that it's a welcome change of pace that Obama not only seems to understand his upper hand in these negotiations, but he's finally learned to actually negotiate on that basis this time around.

One of our earliest and most consistent complaints about Obama has been his embarrassingly dreadful negotiation skills. In fact, that was one of our earliest documented complaints about him, way back in April of 2007.

We were reminded once again about his lousy negotiation skills in August of 2011 when he gave away the store during that year's "hostage crisis," as Congressional Republicans were then holding the routine matter of voting to raise the debt ceiling --- and both the American and global economy along with it --- hostage to extreme spending cuts.

Here's what we wrote in 2011, harkening back to our initial warning about Obama's horrific negotiation skills back in 2007...

Back on April 1, 2007 --- in what wasn't an April Fools Day joke, unfortunately --- The BRAD BLOG highlighted pretty much everything you needed to know about Barack Obama. In the middle of a tense debate over a military spending bill passed by Democrats and threatened with a veto by George W. Bush since it included a requirement for the President to set timelines for a withdraw from Iraq, Obama told AP that even if Bush vetoed the bill, Senate Democrats would simply send back another bill that didn't include the timeline requirement.

In short, he sold out his own caucus by showing their hand and thus paved the way for Bush to call their bluff with a veto without consequence. That's exactly what Bush did.

As we reported at the time...

If we ever need to negotiate for anything, remind us to not call on Obama to represent us.

"I think that it's important for voters to get a sense of how the next president will make decisions in a foreign policy arena," he told AP.

Great. We've just gotten that "sense," and if that's your plan, then thanks but no thanks.

Yes, President Obama has been forced to deal with an unprecedented extremist GOP willing to use terrorist tactics to get their way, creating phony "hostage crises" time and again --- in the latest episode putting a gun to the head of the world economy. But negotiating with terrorists only ensures the likelihood of the bad guys taking another hostage in the future, which the Republicans have repeatedly done, and will continue to do. Capitulating to them, as he has now done time and again, is inexcusable.
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What was clear to us as long ago as 2007 was that Obama was the worst. negotiator ever. His time in office to date has done nothing to assuage us of that initial assessment, as he has negotiated with himself and capitulated to terror tactics again and again, acceding to virtually ever demand of the hostage takers by the end.

From giving away the store with un-stimulating tax cuts in a much-smaller-than-needed stimulus package, to giving up away the public option (much less single payer) right off the bat in the health care reform bill, to capitulating on extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich earlier this year, and now accepting a "bargain" which tosses out everything he had formerly promised to be a "bottom line" for any debt ceiling deal, the President has done almost precisely as he projected he would 4 years ago when we pointed it out, so that we could "get a sense of how the next president will make decisions."

Happily, that was then and this is now. After four years of such capitulation, and with his concerns about running for re-election behind him, it seems President Obama has finally learned how to negotiate --- or, at least, make an opening bid in a negotiation. It remains to be seen how long he'll hang tough for his position before he starts negotiating with himself again. Signs, at the moment, suggesting that he plans to stay strong, however, are encouraging. But we'll see.

On Friday on MSNBC, Ezra Klein broke down the details of Obama's opening bid in the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations --- in which the President not only asked for all of the tax cuts and tax increases and additional stimulus spending that he wanted and that we need, and that he successfully ran on, without offering concessions before negotiations actually begin and before the GOP puts forward its own opening bid, forcing them to actually lay their cards on the public table first.

This, it seems, for now, is something that the President has finally learned after four years...

Election Schadenfreude Toon of the Moment...

Brad Friedman — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 20:15:27 +0000