TOP STORY
Bush E.P.A. Hid Cancer Danger from Coal Ash
"The Bush administration kept secret for nearly five years data that showed increased cancer risks from drinking water polluted by coal-ash impoundments, according to a new report issued Thursday...Officials never made public an October 2002 study that outlined increased risks of as high as 1 in 50 additional cancer cases." [The Charleston Gazette]
Related:
- Secret EPA study: Big cancer risks from coal-ash ponds [Coal Tattoo]
- Watchdogs: Coal-ash danger kept secret by Bush administration [Knoxville News Sentinel]
RECOMMENDED READING
Obama Budget Cuts Funding for Hydrogen Cars
"President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget calls for cutting funding for a program at the Department of Energy that carries out research on hydrogen technology for vehicles by roughly 60%, or $100 million, as part of an effort to shift to technologies 'with more immediate promise.'" [Environmental Capital - Wall Street Journal]
Also...
U.S. Drop Research Into Fuel Cells for Cars
"Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, once hailed by President George W. Bush as a pollution-free solution for reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, will not be practical over the next 10 to 20 years, the energy secretary said Thursday, and the government will cut off funds for the vehicles’ development." [New York Times]
Vilsack's USDA Shakes Things Up
"A slew of positive decisions have come down from the USDA in recent days that merit attention and suggest that business is very much not as usual at ag’s end of the Mall. First up was USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan’s announcement of $50 million in funding from the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program for organic farming...Next comes news that the US has tabled (and likely ended) its trade war with Europe over exporting beef doused with growth hormone...And finally, we’ve got this just in: the USDA has proposed a revision to the organic dairy rules that would require a significant amount of grass-feeding (i.e. pasturing) for dairy cattle as a pre-condition for organic certification." [Grist]
Climate Change Displacement Has Begun
"Two weeks ago a momentous event occurred: the beginning of the world's first evacuation of an entire people as a result of manmade global warming." George Monbiot bemoans the fact that nobody's there to cover the story. [The Guardian]
COMIC RELIEF
Letterman sends Andy Kindler to talk to climate experts, including Gavin Schmidt of RealClimate.com and Joe Romm of ClimateProgress.com. [CBS.com]
