2012 April Environment & Climate News

The April issue of Environment & Climate News reports on the ongoing Fakegate scandal. Prominent scientist and global warming alarmist Peter Gleick confessed to assuming the identity of a Heartland Institute board member in order to steal the organization’s internal documents and send them to global warming activists and sympathetic members of the media.

Also in this issue:

• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued a call to action to the state’s residents and businesses, urging them to participate in a voluntary initiative for cleaner air.

• Two solar energy trade groups are suing Riverside County, California over a new surcharge on large solar power projects. The surcharge is an annual fee of $450 per acre.

• The Oregon state Senate has passed a bill limiting the amount of mercury allowed in compact fluorescent light bulbs that can be sold or distributed in the state.

• Florida Tea Partiers and grassroots conservatives are expressing frustration at the state’s Republican-dominated legislature for fast-tracking legislation that would ramp up taxpayer subsidies to Solyndra-style renewable power projects.

• Wisconsin state environmental officials say they have no plans to impose new restrictions on the mining of sand for use in hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas. The state Department of Natural Resources says there is little support for claims of environmental damage done by sand mining.

• The American Bird Conservancy has filed a 100-page petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting replacement of FWS’s proposed voluntary guidelines for operating wind farms with mandatory, enforceable standards designed to protect birds and bats from turbines’ deadly blades.