1. The Daily Green asks, Is everything you know about being green wrong? Here’s the scoop: it’s not about what car you drive or whether you eat meat, but the stuff you buy.
2. Marine sponges are getting a better image, no thanks to that Sponge Bob Square Pants guy. A new study shows that sponges gulp huge quantities of ocean carbon and transform it into food for corals, making them integral to the survival of reefs in these warming times.
3. Is an apple that won’t rot for 4 months somehow better for the planet than traditional apples? The Australian scientists behind the new RS103-130 think so. Only in Oz.
4. On the other side of the equator, the Dutch have cooked up their own crazy scheme: a driving tax designed to cut traffic and transportation emissions. The tax would be imposed on a per-mile basis, although steeper fees apply to driving during rush hour and driving a big car.
5. Rising seas, warmer temperatures, increased rainfall… now here’s a new effect of climate change: more wind. Scientists have observed increased wind over Lake Superior as a result of changing water and air temperatures caused by less winter ice.

Good news about cow poop. Good news (?) about Copenhagen. Good news for those of you who’ve always dreamed of a dress made of LED lights. Happiness is the smell of a new Cool Green Morning, to paraphrase Don Draper…

1. The rehabilitation of poop continues: The Netherlands has opened its second cow-dung power plant, reports CleanTechnica — to make biogas that will heat more than 1,000 homes.
2. In case you missed it yesterday, President Obama has endorsed a plan to push an ultimate climate change agreement sometime beyond December’s UN meeting in Copenhagen, reports The New York Times. Grist’s Dave Roberts says that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
3. Charlie the Tuna muzzled? Dot Earth says last week’s meeting among fishing countries to reach an agreement on restoring depleted numbers of tuna, shark, turtles and other marine life was missing one thing — a basis in science.
4. Count on Inhabitat to render us speechless — with a dress made of 24,000 LED lights (plus “4,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals and 40-layers of pleated silk organza crinoline.” When’s it going to hit the shelves at Target?!)
5. Always like to end on good news — this time from the Brazilian Amazon, where deforestation dropped nearly 46 percent from August 2008 to July 2009, says AP. But the “why” is a chicken and egg problem — is it because of the Brazilian government’s promotion of sustainable livelihoods in the region (coupled with enforcement of laws against deforestation), or just a drop in ag commodity prices worldwide?

1. The Daily Green weighs in on the “real vs. artificial” Christmas tree debate. Is it really that time of the year already?
2. There’s a green building boom underway in post-Katrina New Orleans, reports Bright Green Blog.  Within the next few years, the city will welcome LEED-certified schools, community centers and homes, as well as America’s first LEED platinum certified apartment building, which will be reserved for low-income residents.
3. Do we all need to become vegetarians to battle climate change? According to this Science Channel post, it would probably help, but it doesn’t sound like we’ll be collectively giving up our steaks and cheeseburgers anytime soon.
4. Want a job in 10 years? (I know I do!)  Then we all better get on board with climate legislation right now, says The Daily Green.
5. The U.K. wastes about $20 billion worth of food every year, reports Treehugger.  As if the price tag wasn’t scary enough, that wasted food also equals 22 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

1. Seems fishy, but overall U.S. water consumption has declined in the past 25 years — despite a growing population and increasing water use. Huh? Tina Casey at CleanTechnica says it’s because of more efficient ag irrigation systems and better cooling schemes for power plants (which still amount to 50% of U.S. water use).
2. Barcelona climate talks update: Jeff Tollefson at Climate Feedback says the E.U. might accept a political agreement on climate at Copenhagen rather than a binding legal treaty. (Trust me: You need to know what that means.) Grist reports that European climate negotiators say success at Copenhagen is up to President Obama.
3. In case you missed it, a U.S. Senate committee passed a climate bill yesterday, with all Republican committee members boycotting the vote.  The Vine yawns, saying the real action on the bill will be separate negotiations between Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham.
4. Where could coastal wetlands go when sea level rises? Um…nowhere, says a new report in Environmental Research Letters — more than 50% of the land along the U.S. Atlantic coast that could have been used for inland wetlands migration is developed or soon will be. (Hat tip: Journal Watch Online.)
5. Speaking of on the move, half of 36 Atlantic Ocean fish stocks have moved north as ocean temps have warmed, says a new study by NOAA researchers. Some species have left U.S. waters altogether! Just wait until Glenn Beck gets wind of these treasonous climate-change dodgers!! (Hat tip: Yale Environment 360.)

1. The Conservancy’s very own Duncan Marsh was quoted in this Associated Press article about an unfortunate hold-up at the U.N. climate talks happening right now in Barcelona.  Marsh says that further delays could be “tragic,” preventing necessary discussion on emissions targets.
2. It might be toxic to your wallet, or to your emotional and physical well-being, but the city of Las Vegas is the least toxic of 40 major metropolitan areas, reports GreenBiz.  Based on its number of Superfund sites, facilities that release toxic chemicals and air quality ranking, it turns out it’s Atlanta we’ve got to be really worried about.
3. Strange bedfellows Glenn Beck and PETA (yes, really) are ganging up on climate warrior Al Gore, claiming the former VP’s a hypocrite for his meat-eating ways.  Huffington Post Green says new BFFs Beck and PETA prez Ingrid Newkirk called Gore a “baby” and “steakaholic” on Beck’s Fox News show last night.  BURN!
4. German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the goal of encouraging the U.S. to “to fall in line with Europe” on climate change issues and legislation, according to Twilight Earth.  Hey, if Glenn Beck and PETA can team up for a cause, anything’s possible.
5. Treehugger reports that super-high-end fashion houses Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga have pledged to significantly reduce their carbon footprints by December 2010 by reducing the amount of paper they use, avoiding fiber from high conservation value forests, and purchasing only recycled or FSC-certified products.  Let’s celebrate by you buying me a Balenciaga handbag!

1. Can long-range climate forecasting get good enough to help us adapt climate change? That’s the vision of Jane Lubchenco, head of NOAA. But other scientists say it’s pie in the sky, reports Climate Feedback. (Not that anyone’s predicting actual pie floating in the sky…)
2. Are exaggerated claims about the risks of global warming undercutting efforts to stop it? Indubitably, say some British scientists in a Times of London piece. (Hat tip: Dot Earth, who asks: Can world leaders and climate campaigners tout a low-emission energy future instead of shaking the climate change boogie man?)
3. Certified sustainable palm oil is a booming business, reports Environmental Leader — rising from only about 15,000 tons sold worldwide in May to more than 100,000 in the last two months. (Somewhere in Indonesia, an orangutan — maybe a bunch — say thank you.)
4. Mon Dieu! Why are vandals putting a big dent in Paris’ bike-sharing program? They see the bikes as bourgeois, reports The New York Times — maybe because you have to present a credit card to own one? (Hat tip: Triple Pundit.)
5. Why worry about energy sprawl when feeding Rover chews up so much more real estate? A new study in New Scientist says that it takes over two square acres of land to feed a medium-sized dog — and, with Americans owning about 75 million dogs and 88 million cats, that takes a land mass bigger than Texas, says Wired Science!

1. The Royal Botanic Gardens in England announces that it’s collected seeds from almost 10 percent of the 300,000 seed-bearing plants on Earth…the first phase of a project to create a seed bank of every plant known to man. (Hat tip: Yale Environment 360.)
2. The Oregonian newspaper reports on controversial scientific findings that Chinook salmon might be adapting to survive dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest…by delaying their trips up the river a year and growing bigger. (Hat tip: WaterWired.)
3. Could solar panels really be contributing to climate change by reradiating heat because they’re so dark? (Come again?) Ask Pablo of Treehugger punctures the myth, started (Pablo says) by the authors of the book Freakanomics.
4. Climate change reported on TV? Not likely, says a new report in the journal Communications Research, which states people who use the Internet and read newspapers are much more likely to be concerned about global warming. (Hat tip: Mongabay.)
5. Here’s a new one on Cool Green Science: Are conservationists too optimistic? A new study in the journal Biological Conservation says “conservationists are setting population targets too low to give species a decent shot at long-term survival,” reports Journal Watch Online. (You need a miminum of 5,000 adults, say the authors.)

1. Over at The New Republic, Daniel Pauly takes a long look at the sorry state of fish in our oceans, leading off with this great opener: “Our oceans have been the victim of a giant Ponzi scheme…”
2. Need another reason to go vegetarian? A new study predicts that as the planet warms, cuts of meat will deterioriate – pork chops will become soggy and pale, steak dark and smellly (sounds appealing, heh?). The reason is that meat quality is influenced by whether an animal experiences heat stress. (Hat-tip: The Vine.)
3. The tiny island nation of Palau is now home to the world’s first shark sanctuary. The challenge will be in enforcing protection — the country only has one patrol boat to cover 237,000 square miles.
4. Planting roofs with greenery is great for a number of reasons — saving energy and improving biodiversity — but a new study shows green roofs could have another benefit, too: sequestering carbon.
5. New environmental laws are having unexpected consquences – Elisabeth Rosenthal reports in The New York Times about the growing business of illegal exportation of waste to poor countries.

We take the morning’s green news by the horns here at Cool Green Science — including a great story about Central Asia’s saiga antelope (above), being brought back from the brink of extinction by good old-fashioned conservation:

1. European leaders are openly questioning whether the United States has the political will to address climate change, reports The New York Times. Todd Stern, the U.S. chief negotiator on climate, says the Euros just don’t understand our system.
2. Climate change a bigger business than military spending? So says a new report from the investment bank HSBC — which also says climate might be a great way to boost job growth…or just be terribly inefficient, says Environmental Capital. (Hat tip: Yale Environment 360.)
3. Maya Lin (who of course designed the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, DC) has a new memorial called “What is Missing?” honoring lost species…and those at risk of extinction. (Hat tip: Triple Pundit.)
4. Will increasing U.S. biofuel production mean a bigger “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico? Yes, says a new study in Environmental Science and Technology. (Hat tip: Journal Watch Online.)
5. Finally, a success story! The Saiga antelope of the Central Asia steppes has recovered from the brink of extinction with a concerted conservation effort. Read Mongabay for an interview with the founder of the Saiga Conservation Alliance.

(Image: Saiga antelope. Credit: jamasca66/Flickr through a Creative Commons license.)

1. Andy Revkin over at Dot Earth asks if, um, family planning might be the “ultimate green technology.” Researchers at the London School of Economics and  the Optimum Population Trust think so — they’re saying that contraception is the greenest technology out there, and that keeping the global population in check is one of the cheapest ways to combat climate change.
2. The University of Georgia Research Foundation has developed a way to turn dead trees into liquid fuel, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle (via CleanTechnica)– and it could be powering your car as soon as next year.  Hooray!  A biofuel that depends on rising temperatures, droughts and invasive species infestations!
3. The Associated Press reports that Italian authorities are using a robot submarine to explore a shipwreck that may be carrying radioactive waste dumped by the mob. A former mobster claims that millions of dollars were made by illegally dumping toxic waste in Calabrian waters for northern Italian businesses.  Seriously. (Hat tip: Huffington Post.)
4. Grist’s Ask Umbra offers up helpful tips on combating climate change denial. We may have had a cooler-than-usual summer, but there’s a difference between weather and climate, people!
5. While some claim the bubble has burst, GreenBiz says the concept of “going green” is growing — and it’s more important than ever.