The undersea cloud of “highly toxic” oil emanating from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster “is undoubtedly poisonous,” according to President Obama’s federal oceans chief. Marine scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) director, described the threat posed by the “hidden” plumes of oil and dispersants diffusing into the Gulf of Mexico to its valuable ecosystem at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday. She told interviewer Andrea Mitchell that NOAA and independent scientists have identified “not a lake of black ooze” but a “cloud of very fine droplets spread over an area in the general vicinity of the well,” a prime spawning ground for bluefin tuna. This oil cloud “is undoubtedly poisonous” to the marine life in the Gulf:

As that oil, which is highly toxic, comes into contact with small larvae, with eggs, fish for example, or other creatures, it is undoubtedly poisonous to them.

Watch it:

“This truly is an environmental disaster but more a human tragedy,” Lubchenco said in her opening remarks. “Its impact is likely to be considerable,” she said of the oil hidden undersea, “but we don’t yet know what it will be.”

Even as Americans see heartbreaking and infuriating images of damage to the Gulf coast, well-funded and powerful special interests have been working furiously to defeat progress and maintain the status quo. They have recruited their allies to help paralyze the Senate’s deliberations over whether and how to reduce oil use and cut global warming pollution, using tactics that have derailed efforts by Presidents for the last 40 years to curtail our ever-growing dependence on oil. A rapidly growing number of our millions of active members are deeply frustrated at the inability of the Senate and your Administration to act in the face of an overwhelming disaster in the Gulf, and the danger to our nation and world.

That’s from a letter to President Obama from Center for American Progress Action Fund President and CEO John Podesta and the heads of several environmental groups.

Here’s the whole thing:

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Solar-powered aircraft lands after 26-hour flight

A giant glider-like aircraft has completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy, organizers said on Thursday.

Solar Impulse, whose wingspan is the same as an Airbus A340, flew 26 hours and 9 minutes, powered only by solar energy stored during the day. It was also the longest and highest flight in the history of solar aviation, organisers said.

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It’s odd how little we’ve heard lately from the skeptics who deny that climate change is real. What’s the matter, people? Heat stroke?

So begins an op-ed piece by Eugene Robinson titled, “On climate change, let cool heads prevail.”

It’s hardly the best opinion piece ever written on human-caused warming, but the Washington Post op-ed page has been so dreadful on the subject (see “The Washington Post goes tabloid, publishes second falsehood-filled op-ed by Sarah Palin in five months “” on climate science and the hacked emails! and “And the 2009 Citizen Kane award for non-excellence in climate journalism goes to “¦“).  So they deserve a shout out whatever they published something reasonable.

Here are some more excerpts:

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Send Obama an email on the climate and clean energy bill

A Plea from Fellow Americans to President Obama: We Need You to Lead America to a Clean Climate & Energy Future

Good video from the Environmental Defense Fund below — and you can send Obama an email yourself (click here):

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Victory for Texas oil interests would have national ripple effect

At CP, we’ll be following California’s fight to preserve its landmark global warming and clean energy laws against Texas oil interests throughout the summer and leading up to the Nov. 2 election.  Here is a nice post from Solve Climate that frames the issue well. If you see other good pieces, send them our way.

This is not your father’s classic “tree hugger” vs. “big business” fracas.

Instead, a Nov. 2 ballot initiative aimed at derailing California’s landmark global warming legislation pits a coalition of about 400 local business, civic, labor and environmental organizations against a smattering of out-of-state oil refiners and connected groups.

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The GOBP is sounding more and more like Roseanne Roseannadanna ever day.  In this cross-post, Think Progress has the story of the latest conservative politician to blurt her pro-Big-Oil philosophy and follow it with a quick “nevermind” retraction after the handlers weight in.

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