How safe are organic foods, especially when compared to conventionally grown varieties? Not as safe as many assume. A recall has just been announced for certified organic berries sold at Costco. According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 106 people in eight states have contracted hepatitis A, a debilitating disease that can last for weeks or months, and even be deadly, after eating Townsend Farms frozen berries bought at the box store retailer.

Texas State Climatologist Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, a Regents Professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, will present a view that global temperatures have seen an upward trend since the late 1970s. Former director of the U.S. Weather Satellite Service and University of Virginia Professor Emeritus Dr. S. Fred Singer will present an argument that there is no convincing evidence of warming since that time.

A recent study — Powering California: The Monterey Shale & California’s Economic Future — found that development of oil from the Monterey Shale using hydraulic fracturing and other recovery technologies could result in (a) the creation of 512,000 to 2.8 million new jobs; (b) personal income growth of $40.6 billion to $222.3 billion; (c) additional local and state government revenues from $4.5 billion to $24.6 billion, and (d) an increase in state GDP by 2.6% to 14.3% on a per-person basis.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity presents an even gloomier future for coal than the EIA projects. They predict that more than 280 coal-fired generating units are set to be shut down, partly due to stricter EPA regulations. And according to a report released by the National Economic Research Associates, seven new EPA regulations are expected to cost the electrical sector $16.7 billion per year, cause 887,000 job losses annually, and eliminate 69 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity.

For the UN climate conference in Bonn the bear to worry about was not Polar, but Russian. Russia has revealed a lack of due process at the UNFCCC and forced them to suspend treaty talks.