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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Officials warn of toxic smoke from Southern California wildfires; New bad news for the Arctic; New good news for Tesla; At global summit, the world fights climate change without the U.S.; PLUS: French president makes good on promise to fund U.S. climate scientists, after Trump drops out… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
12/14/2017
‘Green News Report’ – December 14, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – December 14, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): NOAA: The Arctic shows “no sign” of returning to a “reliably frozen region.”; Avocados and lemons also victims of CA fires; Babies born near fracking sites face low birth weight; U.S. meat industry is the largest source of drinking water pollution throughout the Midwest; Trump Admin wrongly withheld funds from ARPA-e; Final GOP tax bill would ANWR drilling; Climate change made Harvey rainfall 15 percent more intense; Exxon to disclose climate risks to shareholders; Former EPA chiefs blast Pebble Mine project; Trump EPA chemical safety nominee withdraws; New discoveries on increase in earthquakes in KS, OK; Puerto Rico object to new excise tax in GOP tax bill… PLUS: United States of Petroleum: Government’s secret alliance with Big Oil… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- ‘Hazardous’ air quality from Southern California’s wildfires:
- Live Updates: Southern California fires live updates: Homes burn in Bel-Air as new fire erupts in heart of L.A. (LA Times):
Multiple fires are raging in Southern California. A series of Santa Ana wind-driven wildfires have destroyed at least 180 structures, forced thousands to flee and smothered the region with smoke in what officials predicted would be a pitched battle for days.
- VIDEO: Amid Worst Winter Wildfires in California History, Farmworkers Are Laboring in Hazardous Air (Democracy Now!)
- Thomas Fire’s toxic smoke creates worst-ever air quality in Santa Barbara County (San Luis Obispo)
- Smoke From California’s Wildfires Will Only Get Worse (Slate)
- California fires have exposed 1.6 million people dangerous amounts of smoke that could be lethal for some (UK Daily Mail)
- 3 Reasons Why California’s Fire Risk Won’t Dampen Anytime Soon (NPR)
- A dire forecast for Southern California wildfires: ‘No significant relief in sight’ (Washington Post)
- Disturbing news for the melting Arctic:
- Arctic Report Card: Arctic shows no sign of returning to reliably frozen region of recent past decades (NOAA Arctic Program)
- Arctic Report Card: Lowest Sea Ice on Record, 2nd Warmest Year (Inside Climate News):
“These changes will impact all of our lives,” Mathis said. “They will mean living with more extreme weather events, paying higher food prices and dealing with the impacts of climate refugees.” The sea ice in the Arctic has been declining this century at rates not seen in at least 1,500 years.
- At One Planet Summit, French President Macron pushes accelerated climate action:
- One Planet Summit: Public and private finance in support of climate action (One Planet Summit)
- VIDEO: Leaders ramp up climate fight, with “momentum” from Trump (CBS News)
- Macron Holds a Climate Summit, and Trump Casts a Shadow (NY Times):
Money was on everybody’s mind at the climate summit meeting organized here on Tuesday, as President Emmanuel Macron of France tried to shore up support for the Paris climate deal by urging heads of state, chief executives and investors to commit more funding to the fight against global warming…”We are losing the battle,” Mr. Macron said in his speech opening the talks…[W]e are not going fast enough,” Mr. Macron said. “What we are starting today is the time of action, because the urgency has become permanent and the challenge of our generation is to act.”
- “One Planet,” Many Voices: Climate Progress Continues in the Absence of US Involvement (Atlantic Council)
- Macron awards US scientists grants to move to France in defiance of Trump (Guardian UK)
- Schwarzenegger: Trump Pulled Out of the Paris Climate Accord, the US Hasn’t (CNS News)
- World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas extraction (Guardian UK):
Bank announces in Paris it ‘will no longer finance upstream oil and gas’ after 2019 in response to threat posed by climate change
- UK Vows At One Planet Summit To Lead Coal Phase-Out & Support World’s Poorest In Addressing Climate Change (Clean Technica)
- One Planet Summit: two French multinationals, three big new commitments to tackling climate change (The Climate Group)
- Climate commitments at the ‘One Planet Summit’ in Paris (Phys.org)
- Major corporations really like Tesla’s all-electric semi-truck:
- PepsiCo makes biggest public pre-order of Tesla Semis: 100 trucks (Reuters):
PepsiCo Inc. has reserved 100 of Tesla Inc’s new electric Semi trucks, the largest known order of the big rig, as the maker of Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips seeks to reduce fuel costs and fleet emissions, a company executive said on Tuesday.
- PepsiCo makes the biggest public pre-order of Tesla Semis to date: 100 trucks (CNBC)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Daily Headlines page
- United States of Petroleum: Government’s secret alliance with Big Oil (Center for Public Integrity)
- More Victims of the California Wildfires: Avocados and Lemons (NY Times)
- NOAA: The Arctic shows “no sign” of returning to a “reliably frozen region.” (The New Republic)
- Babies born near fracking sites face low birth weight, new study finds (Climate Progress)
- The U.S. meat industry is the largest source of drinking water pollution throughout the Midwest (The New Republic)
- Trump Admin Wrongfully Withheld Funds From Popular Energy Program, ARPA-e: GAO (Washington Post)
- Final GOP Tax Bill Would Allow Arctic Refuge Drilling (The Hill)
- Russian Nuclear Plant Says It Emits Leaked Nuclear Isotope (AP)
- The tax bill is a massive gift to the oil industry””that it may not want. (The New Republic)
- Pipelines: Atlantic Coast Project Stopped Short By Unexpected Va. Vote (E&E News)
- Senate Panel Clears Trump’s Nominee For NOAA (The Hill)
- Trump’s Mining Nominee Once Dropped by the Agency for Doing “Junk” Work (Pro Publica)
- Climate change made Harvey rainfall 15 percent more intense (Phys.org)
- Exxon Agrees to Disclose Climate Risks Under Pressure from Investors (Inside Climate News)
- U.S. Steel Didn’t Test For Toxic Metal After Spill Into Lake Michigan Tributary (Chicago Tribune)
- Pebble Mine: Former Republican EPA Chiefs Blast Controversial Alaska Mining Project (The Hill)
- Trump’s E.P.A. Chemical Safety Nominee Withdraws (NY Times)
- More than 700 employees have left the EPA since Scott Pruitt took over (Climate Progress)
- Minnesota Joins U.S. States Limiting Controversial Farm Chemical (Reuters)
- Pruitt, Crew of EPA Aides Spent 4 Days In Morocco Promoting Natural Gas (Washington Post)
- Geologists report new discoveries about Kansas, Oklahoma earthquakes (Phys.org)
- Puerto Rican Officials Protest ‘Devastating’ GOP Excise Tax Measure (McClatchy)
- After Tax Cut, Trump Looks To Localities To Fund For Infrastructure (Washington Post)
- Here’s a road map for solving 3 of the world’s biggest problems (Vox)
- Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what? (Vox)
- The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate – so every reduction in emissions helps.
- The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak – sooner than you think.
- A beginner’s guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it’s possible for the whole world to run on renewables – we merely lack the “political will.” So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
- No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously (Vox):
If we mean what we say, no more new fossil fuels, anywhere.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
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