skippy the bush kangaroo

they challenge the right wing nut job's dog whistle talking points....especially the "there is no such thing as climate change" meme.

mainstream news outlets spent a lot of time in 2011 covering the record-breaking year for extreme weather in the u.s. but only a few of them spent much time exploring the link between those events and global warming.

so pbs deserves a special mention for a segment that aired last week looking at how global warming is influencing extreme weather events. as jeff masters, co-founder of the weather underground, explained in the piece: "they all tend to get increased when you have this extra energy in the atmosphere. I call it being on steroids ... for the atmosphere." - grist

"les verts monts" - the green mountains.

vermont has taken a large step forward for us states, outlining in its comprehensive energy plan how it will get 90% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2050. currently vermont gets 23% of its energy from renewable sources, mostly biomass and hydropower which supply roughly 50% of the state's electricity. - treehugger

let's hope 2012 is a better year for the environment than last year. it doesn't seem to be starting off well...

smog from celebrations closes philippine airport. - smog from new years eve celebrations was so thick in manilla this year that flights had to be diverted - philippine daily enquirer

anyway...happy new year to all of skippy's readers.

global warming: top stories of 2011. - if 2011 goes down as the year that global warming awareness reached a critical mass, it could be attributed to the spate of unusual weather events around the globe - summit county citizens voice

world pays ecuador not to extract oil from rainforest. - an alliance of european local authorities, national governments, us film stars, japanese shops, soft drink companies and russian foundations have stepped in to prevent oil companies exploiting 900m barrels of crude oil from one of the world's most biologically rich tracts of land - london guardian

diy cesium scanning store may be 'new normal.' - the surreal sight of a do-it-yourself radiation testing facility standing next to a hardware store and an Internet cafe raises a question for japan: is this the new normal? - japan times

ohio connects quakes to injection well. - the state has temporarily halted the disposal of waste produced from shale drilling within a 5-mile radius of the d&l energy brine-injection well on ohio works drive in girard. the announcement was made late saturday following the magnitude 4.0 earthquake that shook the youngstown area around 3 p.m. - youngstone daily business journal

oil rigs may provide bird buffet for sharks. - heaped on a table at the laboratory, the pile of beaks, feet, eyeballs, feathers and whole bird carcasses testified to what may be the oil industry’s most unexpected environmental impact - mobile press register

severe storms led to sewage spills across connecticut. - while power outages during tropical storm Irene and the october snowstorm left much of the state in the dark, they had a less-publicized but possibly more damaging result — millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into waterways throughout connecticut when backup power systems failed at waste treatment plants - hartford current

wildfires devastate chilean wilderness. - wildfires sweeping through one of south america's most famous national parks are devastating thousands of acres of pristine habitat. so far, more than 21,000 acres of torres del paine have been destroyed by blazes that have yet to be brought under control - london independent

more storms on the way unless we learn to manage the land. - when the bureau of meteorology releases its annual data this week, it will probably announce that australia has just had the second or third wettest year in its recorded history. no surprise. by changing the landscape, we changed the weather - sydney morning herald

nimasa: bonga oil spill requires national, international response. - as efforts to clean the oil spillage at the bonga offshore production storage and offloading vessel continue, the management of nigerian maritime administration and safety agency has said only a national and international response could save ecological and aquatic lives in the oil- and gas-rich niger delta region - lagos this day

new china food safety scandal widens to oil, peanuts. - chinese authorities in a southern boomtown have detected a cancer-causing toxin in peanuts and cooking oil that was only recently discovered in milk, in the nation's latest food safety scandal - afp

green will be hot for 2012, flordians predict. - being eco-friendly will be important in art, food, landscaping and across the spectrum of design, floridians predicted. - melbourne florida today

missing maps mean pg&e lines weren't inspected. - pacific gas and electric co. failed to check nearly 14 miles of gas distribution pipelines for leaks for up to two decades when it lost track of 16 maps needed to guide mandated safety inspections of its system in eastern contra costa county. - sfgate

a tempestuous year. - is there a connection between last year’s extreme weather events and global warming? the answers might be a lot clearer if the republicans in congress were less hostile to climate change research. - nytimes

the recession squeeze on buses and trains.  - for the average american driver, the time wasted in traffic jams has more than doubled in 30 years. the best way of easing that gridlock — not to mention saving gas, curbing pollution and finally finishing that novel — is public transit - nytimes

new hampshire celebrates 25 years of environmental protection. - the year 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the creation of des and its service to the people of our state. des has played a vital role in protecting and restoring our precious natural resources and public health - exeter news-letter

only new economics can save great lakes . - there is a substantial and growing consensus that planet earth is in trouble and that the prevalent economic model, which has brought us to the point of crisis, will not be the solution to the crisis - ashland current

study: does enduring extreme weather make you vote liberal? - on the heels of a disastrous weather year in the usa, and with the long presidential campaign season looming, a new study finds that people who have endured extreme weather events are more likely to support environmental legislation, even if it means restricting individual freedoms. - usa today

benzene fouling drinking water at suncor refinery, chemicals seeping into sand creek. - toxic petroleum dissolved in groundwater beneath suncor energy north of downtown denver is seeping directly into the bottom of sand creek near the creek's confluence with the south platte river, and piped drinking water at the refinery may be contaminated with benzene - denver post

arnold schwarzenegger's green road back. - in recent weeks, schwarzenegger has begun to return to the spotlight, making public appearances at renewable energy and climate change events, advocating for green technology and touting his energy achievements in the golden state - politico

why don't you go up to alaska and find out what that so-called "wasteful" volcano monitoring is all about.

a volcano in alaska's aleutian islands sent up an ash cloud thursday that prompted scientists to increase the alert level for commercial aircraft traffic.

the alaska volcano observatory said satellite images at 4:02 a.m. alaska time showed cleveland volcano had spewed ash 15,000 feet into the air in a cloud that moved east-southeast. u.s. geological survey scientist-in-charge john power called it a small explosion. - cbs

is the new black in fashionable political polls.

a new poll from the pew research center for the people & the press out yesterday shows that “progressive” is the most positively viewed political label in america, with 67 percent holding a positive view compared to just 22 percent who view the term negatively: - think progress

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

bad food news of 2011.

good food news of 2011.

the political scandals of 2011.

osama bin laden's death most impactful story of 2011 (say aol voters)

top corporate governance stories of 2011.

the bbc wants to quiz your knowledge of top stories of 2011.

npr's top songs of 2011. can you hum a few bars of these?

time's top 10 of everything in 2011

christmas version

trees in trouble: grim future for frankincense. - frankincense is still used today — for perfumes, incense and traditional medicines — but a new study suggests that its future looks grim - weekend edition (npr)

northeast holds front line in climate change war. - up and down the connecticut river valley in massachusetts colleges and major research universities have expanded their course offerings to address the growing interest in meeting the challenges of a ‘carbon-constrained’ future and other questions of environmental sustainability - springfield republican

add vitamin d to scotland's food: experts. - international experts are calling for food in scotland to be fortified with vitamin d, in an attempt to cut the large numbers of people who develop multiple sclerosis at sunshine-deprived northern latitudes - london guardian

fractured earth, polluted water? - in new mexico, water is precious. until we know more about how fracking can impact water supplies, state regulators should require more information about the chemicals being pumped into the ground. new mexico would be better off safeguarding our water before drilling starts, not after. - santa fe new mexican


global warming and malaria: it’s kind of complicated. - al gore’s “an inconvenient truth” may be the first place a lot of people heard about it, but scientists have been worried for a long time about how climate change will affect infectious diseases - climate central

don't take bath this christmas as drought order is issued. - people in the south east are being asked not to take a bath over christmas to save water after the first winter drought order in almost 10 years was imposed - london daily telegraph

reindeer are fading into holiday myth. - in the barren lands of the far north, where caribou numbers have undergone natural fluctuations over decades, the question is whether the declining populations will have the chance and the space to rebound as their ranges face mineral exploration, mine, oil and gas development, and a changing climate - new york times

green christmas more frequent due to global warming. - there was time in the great white north when dreaming of a white christmas would almost always be a dream come true. - canadian press

mercury rule is president obama's christmas gift to america. - the obama administration delivered a last-minute christmas present this week. on wednesday, following a tortured history, the epa finally released new standards that sharply reduce the emissions of mercury - mother jones

sony's bio battery turns waste paper into electricity. - sony has unveiled a paper-powered battery prototype in japan. the technology generates electricity by turning shredded paper into sugar which in turn is used as fuel. if brought to market, the innovation could allow the public to top up the power of their mobile devices using waste material - bbc

great lakes funding & christmas tree debate. - people who are working on cleaning up the great lakes got some good news this week. after months of negotiations, the 2012 federal budget contains $300 million for the great lakes restoration Initiative - environment report

the best christmas gift ever: saving santa from the watery north pole. - this christmas, think about a donation to the ‘where will santa live?‘ campaign, where your dollars will be put to the best use possible for santa and his crew as they get ready to face their new reality of a warmed up north pole. - scientific american

columnist objects to ads depicting santa as a homeless climate refugee. - “where will santa live?” the ad asks. “santa’s workshop is sinking." actually, it’s okay, kids. santa’s coming next saturday night just as he always does - toronto sun

endangered reindeer. - reindeer – also called caribou – are ubiquitous in the world’s northern latitudes, but the populations closest to the north pole are dwindling because of climate change. now there is a push to list the large deer as endangered - living on earth

real christmas trees save water. - fake christmas trees might be convenient and seem eco-friendly at first glance, but their environmental costs – measured in greenhouse gas emissions and landfill space – far outweigh their benefits, say conservationists who urge consumers to "stay real" this holiday season - national geographic news