POTUS pipes up: In his eagerly-anticipated State of the Union speech, President Obama announced plans to alleviate poverty, boost employment, and curb gun violence ... and, oh yeah, he had a little to say about climate change, too. First off, it exists! Those wildfires, droughts, superstorms, and exceptionally hot years we've been suffering through? They ain't no coinkidink. So let's do something about it. Obama didn't deliver the detail-rich emissions reduction plan that his inaugural address led us to expect, but he did call on Congress to enact a carbon reduction program -- and warned that if that dysfunctional body couldn’t get the job done, he’d go right ahead and do it himself (there’s been a lot of scuttlebutt about using the EPA to target existing power plants). Since waiting for Congress to act is like waiting for Sisyphus to get that boulder on top of the hill, we’re expecting a Presidential announcement in the near future. Big Coal is no doubt having secret panicky meetings as we speak. New York Times, Politico
Rubio’s rebuttal: How did Marco Rubio -- Florida Senator, young-earth believer, and Next Big Thing -- respond to the SOTU? Same old, same old: "government can’t control the weather" (Yo Marco, weather ≠ climate); Solyndra proves that clean energy investment is a bad idea (um, wrong lesson there); and “God blessed America with abundant coal, oil, and natural gas" (Now if God wanted us to use fossil fuels, why'd She make ‘em so hard to get out of the ground?). Yawn. If Rubio thinks he’s thirsty now, just wait 'til drought and heat hit him. New York Magazine, Grist
Ridiculous rhino rescue: How do you capture and relocate a temperamental 5,000-pound southern white rhinoceros? Easy: with a helicopter, a tranquilizer gun, and a whole lot of chutzpah. Now, if only the game wardens could keep the poachers out of Botswana, that would be a real feat. Yale Environmental 360
Certifiably fishy: Next time you find yourself by the seafood counter, contemplating that sustainable-certified slab of swordfish, keep walking. It turns out that lots of supposedly clean fisheries are not so wonderful (shocking, we know), and Nova Scotia swordfish, which is primarily caught on longlines, might be the worst offender. According to recent research, two sharks die for every swordfish that’s brought onto the boat. Now, if you can’t trust a certification board that both serves and is funded by giant corporate food interests, who can you trust?! NPR
Bourne-again environmentalist: When last OnEarth caught glimpse of Matt Damon, he was playing a soft-hearted landman in Promised Land, Gus Van Sant’s short-lived paean to fractivists. But fear not, tree-hugging Damon-o-philes: Matt is back, this time as part of a potty-mouthed YouTube campaign to promote the importance of toilets in improving global sanitation. We won’t give away the joke, but let’s just say that this is one Damon role of which Ben Affleck is definitely not jealous. The Guardian
Tips: @OnEarthMag (tag it #greenreads)
Image: Screenshot of ABC coverage
