The logo of the National Security Agency hangs at the Threat Operations Center in Fort Meade, Maryland on January 25, 2006 (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

news.yahoo.com - AFP - June 27, 2014

Washington (AFP) - The US National Security Agency released its first "transparency report" Friday, as part of an effort to quell the firestorm over reports of its massive data collection efforts.

The NSA report said that in 2013, it obtained fewer than 2,000 orders from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

That included 1,767 orders based on "probable cause" for an investigation, and 131 orders allowing the agency to collect data using a so-called "pen register" or "trap and trace."

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IC on the Record - Statistical Transparency Report Regarding Use of National Security Authorities
Annual Statistics for Calendar Year 2013

submitted by Margery Schab  

Texas is among the leaders nationally in the creation of clean-energy jobs.  OCI Solar

bizjournals.com - by Sanford Nowlin - March 14, 2014

Clean-energy production and energy-efficient transportation projects created nearly 6,400 jobs in Texas last year, according to a new report by nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2. 

The Lone Star State ranked No. 2 behind California, which generated around 15,400 clean-energy jobs in 2013.

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REPORT - E2 - Clean Energy Jobs: 2013 Year in Review and Q4 Report (12 page .PDF report)

Since the water wheel began churning in May, it has removed 40 tons of trash from Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  Clearwater Mills LLC

npr.org - by Julia Botero - June 23, 2014

Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a city landmark teeming with tourists, restaurants and — until recently — floating trash.

John Kellett used to walk by Pier 6 every day on his way to work at the Baltimore Maritime Museum on the Inner Harbor. He'd notice the trash floating in the water and hear tourists call the harbor disgusting — and it bugged him.

That's when he developed his idea: a big water wheel to collect the plastic cups, cigarette butts and Cheetos bags that flow into the waterway after rainstorms.

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Facebook - Clearwater Mills LLC

riskybusiness.org

reuters.com - by Sharon Begley - June 24, 2014

(Reuters) - Annual property losses from hurricanes and other coastal storms of $35 billion; a decline in crop yields of 14 percent, costing corn and wheat farmers tens of billions of dollars; heat wave-driven demand for electricity costing utility customers up to $12 billion per year.

These are among the economic costs that climate change is expected to exact in the United States over the next 25 years, according to a bipartisan report released on Tuesday. And that's just for starters: The price tag could soar to hundreds of billions by 2100.

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American Climate Prospectus
http://rhg.com/reports/climate-prospectus

Two retirees from the Pennsylvania Department of Health say its employees were silenced on the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling.  Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY

stateimpact.npr.org - by Katie Colaneri - June 19, 2014

Two retirees from the Pennsylvania Department of Health say its employees were silenced on the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling.

One veteran employee says she was instructed not to return phone calls from residents who expressed health concerns about natural gas development.

“We were absolutely not allowed to talk to them,” said Tammi Stuck, who worked as a community health nurse in Fayette County for nearly 36 years.

Another retired employee, Marshall P. Deasy III, confirmed that.

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(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

Across newspapers, TV, and Internet, confidence no higher than 22%

gallup.com - by Andrew Dugan - June 19, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' faith in each of three major news media platforms -- television news, newspapers, and news on the Internet -- is at or tied with record lows in Gallup's long-standing confidence in institutions trend. This continues a decades-long decline in the share of Americans saying they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers or TV news, while trust in Internet news remains low since the one prior measure in 1999.

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environmentalleader.com - by Erica Morehouse - June 23, 2014

Governor Brown signed a budget last week that lays out for the first time how to invest the millions from California’s landmark cap-and-trade program ($734 million so far). California has shown another way that cap-and-trade is like the Swiss army knife of environmental policies: a versatile tool known for its usefulness and adaptability.

A Multi-faceted Investment Portfolio

California will invest $850 million over the next year to reduce dangerous climate pollution, a portfolio of investments that will benefit almost every part of California’s economy, going to low-carbon and public transportation, weatherization and energy efficient buildings, water efficiency, waste diversion, and natural resources like urban forests.

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Carbon dioxide emissions like those from coal-fired power plants should be taxed to spur energy innovation.
Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

Lessons for Climate Change in the 2008 Recession

nytimes.com - by Henry M. Paulson, Jr. - June 21, 2014

THERE is a time for weighing evidence and a time for acting. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my work in finance, government and conservation, it is to act before problems become too big to manage.

. . . We’re staring down a climate bubble that poses enormous risks to both our environment and economy.

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(CLICK HERE - RISKY BUSINESS PROJECT)

Lead image: Nuclear plant via Shutterstock

renewableenergyworld.com - by Mark Cooper - June 6, 2014

Within the past year, a bevy of independent, financial analysts (Lazard, Citi, Credit Suisse, McKinsey and Company, Sanford Bernstein, Morningstar) have heralded an economic revolution in the electricity sector. A quarter of a century of technological progress has led to the conclusion that over the course of the next decade a combination of efficiency, renewables and gas will meet the need for new resources and more importantly, render the antiquated baseload model largely obsolete.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

FEMA looks for trailer alternative // Source: fema.gov

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - June 24, 2014

Brownsville, Texas may soon become a model for other hurricane-ravaged cities as community groups institute new emergency housing measures in the wake of inexcusable hold-ups on the part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

As theMonitor reports, groups like the Community Development Corporation (CDCB) in the city are assessing new ways to provide emergency housing for families in the wake of disasters, following FEMA’s slow response in providing reconstruction support to the South Texas coast after $1.35 billion in damage from Hurricane Dolly in 2008.

submitted by Margery Schab

Natural gas well holding tanks sit next to a subdivision of homes in Denton, Texas, Thursday, May 29, 2014. (AP Photo/LM Otero) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

huffingtonpost.com - by Emily Schmall - June 19, 2014

. . . For more than a decade, Denton has drawn its lifeblood from the huge gas reserves that lie beneath its streets. The gas fields have produced a billion dollars in mineral wealth and pumped more than $30 million into city bank accounts.

But this former farming center north of Dallas is considering a revolt. Unlike other communities that have embraced the lucrative drilling boom made possible by hydraulic fracturing, leaders here have temporarily halted all fracking as they consider an ordinance that could make theirs the first city in the state to permanently ban the practice.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB7IIN098IM

Pensacola, Florida - June 10, 2014

Objective: By April of 2015, the ALERT pilot study will conduct health evaluations and environmental baseline monitoring, and establish networks of informed health care providers, in two regions of the country at-risk from petrochemical exposure----Gulf Coast communities harmed by the 2010 BP DWH disaster and Keystone XL corridor communities. ALERT will test for evidence of chemical exposure and provide training for treatment for oil-chemical related illness in these exposed communities. An important component of the ALERT project will be focused on educating community leaders and the public on the risks and health effects of petrochemical exposure to work toward solutions for treatment of current illnesses and protect against future exposure events.

Former US Vice President Al Gore
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for Free The Children

It's time to accelerate the shift toward a low-carbon future

rollingstone.com - by Al Gore - June 18, 2014

In the struggle to solve the climate crisis, a powerful, largely unnoticed shift is taking place. The forward journey for human civilization will be difficult and dangerous, but it is now clear that we will ultimately prevail. The only question is how quickly we can accelerate and complete the transition to a low-carbon civilization.

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submitted by Luis Kun

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - June 17, 2014

Drug-resistant germs kill more than 40 percent of individuals with serious infections, and they tend to have a higher kill-rate among patients with weaker immune systems, including the elderly and young children. In Florida, several hospitals handled antibiotic-resistant germ outbreaks without alerting the public. Since 2008, twelve outbreaks have affected at least 490 people statewide, but the Florida Department of Health (FDH) did little to inform the public.

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The U.S. Capitol Building stands past the natural gas and coal fueled Capitol Power Plant, which provides heating and cooling throughout the 23 facilities on Capitol Hill including House and Senate Office Buildings, in Washington, D.C.  Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

bloomberg.com - by Lisa Lerer - June 10, 2014

Americans are willing to bear the costs of combating climate change, and most are more likely to support a candidate seeking to address the issue.

By an almost two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 33 percent, Americans say they would pay more for energy if it would mean a reduction in pollution from carbon emissions, according to the Bloomberg National Poll.

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