Must Read

Who's Protecting Us?

The federal agency responsible for assessing "health hazards at polluted sites designated under the Superfund cleanup law, and those of concern to local communities" is not, a new Congressional report finds, doing its job.  "Time and time again [the agency] appears to avoid clearly and directly confronting the most obvious toxic culprits that harm the health of local communities throughout the nation," the report states, adding that officials "deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate health concerns."  Keep up the great work, guys!  [AP]

Worse (and Wetter) than Expected

As nearly 2,000 scientists gather in Copenhagen for the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change, a stark warning dominated the first day's news.  Sea levels may rise twice the amount estimated just two years ago in the famous (and Nobel Prize winning) IPCC report, which neglected the effects of Greenland and Antarctic ice shelf melt.  "This means the lives of some 600 million people living on low-lying islands, as well as those living in Southeast Asia's populous delta areas, will be put at serious risk if climate change is not quickly and radically mitigated."  As one scientist puts it, "There's no good news here." The AP's headline agrees:"Climate Scientists Gather, and the news is not good."  [New York Times/ClimateWire]

Should Read

See the Forest for the Jobs

A U.N. agency is proposing green job creation through sustainable forestry.  They claim that at least 10 million jobs could be created by hiring people "to  monitor and manage how much wood is taken out to ensure the forest does not become depleted and can grow back fully," and to selectively harvest the trees. [CNN]

Citizen, Scientist

A new national program is recruiting backyard naturalists to help measure "the pulse of the natural system and how it's responding to climate change."  The National Phenology Network is "hoping to recruit a new corps of 100,000 citizen scientists" to take notes when buds form, leaves unfurl, and blooms peak.  "ou don't have to be a scientist to make these kinds of observations" says one climate researcher, "and it's amazing what can emerge from them."  [Seattle Times]

Van the Man

Kate Sheppard is the first to chat with green jobs guru Van Jones about his big promotion to the White House.  [Grist]