Good morning — and happy Friday! Here are some of the stories we’re reading as we push toward the weekend…

Fight starts next week –> At MoJo, Tim McDonnell previews the Obama administration’s new greenhouse gas rules coming on Monday. ALSO: Jonathan Cohn writes at TNR that states are likely to respond with cap-and-trade schemes. AND: At New York Mag, Jonathan Chait says the Chamber of Commerce’s scare campaign about clean energy has utterly failed.

Edward Snowden’s email –> Snowden tells The Washington Post about his email correspondence with NSA officials about the legality of the agency’s surveillance program. The NSA had denied that the whistleblower raised concerns about the program before going public.

Pathetic –> That’s the best word to describe yesterday’s House Science Committee hearing on climate change featuring a bunch of climate cranks skeptics. Jason Keobler reports for Vice that the hearing’s live feed mysteriously cut out “when sane lawmakers were discussing their disgust with the proceedings.”

NRA remained neutral –> Cristina Marcos writes for The Hill that the House passed an amendment adding around $20 million to beef up the federal background check system — and that it only passed because the gun lobby stayed on the sidelines.

Nice payday –> Donald Sterling will do well after former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer won a “frenzied bidding war” with a record-setting $2 billion offer for the LA Clippers, reports James Rainey for the LAT.

Innovation –> TAP’s Monica Potts writes about a real-world experiment in improving the health of poor people that’s being conducted in Maryland thanks to the ACA. ALSO: Kentucky Governor Steve Bashear hits back at Mitch McConnell’s bizarre claim that the state’s Obamacare exchange has nothing to do with Obamacare.

Thank the anti-vaxxers –> The CDC reports that measles cases in the US hit a 20-year high.

The soft bigotry of low expectations –> The Nation’s Rick Perlstein argues that there are no longer any thoughtful conservative journalists but liberal and mainstream publications keep looking for one.

Militarized police –> A family in Atlanta says that a SWAT team critically injured a sleeping baby when they threw a stun grenade into a house during a drug raid in the middle of the night.

Wal-Mart moms striking –> Sarah Jaffe reports for In These Times that “hundreds of mothers who work at Wal-Mart stores throughout the country will begin walking off the job” today.

We’re all saps –> Enjoy the heartwarming and viral story of Mr. G, a rescued goat who refused to eat until he was reunited with a burro named Jellybean.