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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Bernie Sanders finds a potential new way to block the Dakota Access Pipeline; Republican Senate Majority Leader admits U.S. coal jobs may not be coming back; Mercury contamination in fish is declining — thanks to pollution regulations; October 2016 was not the hottest October on record; PLUS: U.S. climate negotiators say climate action is unstoppable, even in the Age of Trump… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 11/17/2016

‘Green News Report’ – November 17, 2016  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – November 17, 2016  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): China clarifies for Trump: uh, no, global warming is not a Chinese hoax; Interior Department Issues New Rule To Limit Methane From Oil and Gas; World CO2 emissions stay flat for 3rd year, helped by China falls; Plastic Polluting the Oceans Smells Like Lunch to Marine Life; Tests Show Monsanto Weed Killer in Cheerios, Other Popular Foods; Clean Water Rule: WOTUS ‘Ultimately Doomed.’ What Happens Next?… PLUS: Trump’s Top Environmental Adviser Says Pesticides Aren’t Bad for You… and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• October 2016 was only the 2nd hottest October on record:
• Second-Warmest October Cements Hottest Year (Climate Central):
  October was 1.6°F (0.89°C) warmer than the 1951-1980 average that NASA uses as a baseline, but well below October 2015, which was the first month in NASA records to reach 1°C above average.
• The March Continues for 2016 to be Record Hot (Climate Central)
• Global warming record crumbles due in part to freak Arctic warmth (Mashable)
• Bernie Sanders suggest a new way to block the Dakota Access Pipeline:
• More info and how to help: Sacred Stone Camp (Sacred Stone Camp)
• VIDEO: Bernie Sanders’ Surprise Speech Outside the White House on Rejecting Dakota Pipeline & Trump (Democracy Now!):
  “Today we are saying it is time for a new approach to the Native American people, not to run a pipeline through their land,” Sanders said.
• Dakota Access pipeline protests go global Tuesday (Mashable)
• Army Corps of Engineers Says Pipeline Construction Can’t Continue Without Tribe Input (NBC News)
• Statement Regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline (US Army Corps of Engineers):
  The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation’s dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property.
• Dakota Access pipeline decision unlikely until early 2017 (AP)
• Dakota Access pipeline protests spread, firms fight back (Reuters)
• North Dakota regulators accuse company of failing to disclose the discovery of Native American sacred artifacts in oil pipeline’s path (Guardian UK)
• Dakota Access Pipeline Builder Ignored Obama Admin Request to Halt Construction (DeSmog Blog)
• CEO behind Dakota Access to protesters: ‘We’re building the pipeline’ (PBS):
  [T]he company building the pipeline is pushing back, filing suit in federal court yesterday to get its last permit issued.
• Corps requests Dakota Access to stand down for 30 days (Bismarck Tribune)
• U.N. experts call for halt in Dakota Access pipeline, blast “excessive force” against protesters (Salon)
• Trump’s stake in the Dakota access pipeline builder: a conflict of interest? (CS Monitor)
• Senate Leader McConnell admits U.S. coal jobs unlikely to return:
• McConnell: It’s ‘hard to tell’ if ending ‘war on coal’ will bring back jobs (Lexington Herald-Leader):
  So how will Trump and McConnell help ailing communities where high-paying coal jobs have evaporated? McConnell’s solution isn’t a stimulus plan.
• The Coal Industry Isn’t Coming Back (NY Times):
  Many in Appalachia and other coal-mining regions believe that President Obama’s supposed war on coal caused a steep decline in the industry’s fortunes. But coal’s struggles to compete are caused by cheap natural gas, cheap renewables, air-quality regulations that got their start in the George W. Bush administration and weaker-than-expected demand for coal in Asia. Nationwide, coal employment peaked in the 1920s.
• Mercury contamination in fish is declining thanks to pollution regulations:
• Burning Less Coal Means Less Mercury in Your Tuna (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
  The tuna were caught over a nine-year period, allowing them to assess whether mercury concentrations changed over that time, which they did. “We found it somewhat surprising that for all aged fish, there was a consistent decline in mercury concentrations over time,” Fisher said. “We also found it striking that this decline in tissue concentrations of mercury was nearly identical to declines reported for mercury emissions from North America over the same time period as well as declines in mercury concentrations in North Atlantic air and in seawater.”
• Mirroring a drop in emissions, mercury in tuna also declines (Phys.Org):
  [A]s industry cuts down on its mercury emissions, research has found mercury concentrations in some fish are dropping…The finding suggests that reductions in mercury emissions could rapidly lead to reduced mercury concentrations in some marine fish, the researchers say.
• UN COP22: Climate action is unstoppable despite Trump, delegates say:
• VIDEO: Sec. Kerry’s Remarks at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (U.S. Dept. of State)
• If Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement, Europe could institute a “carbon tax” on US imports (Quartz)
• China will soon trump America: The country is now the global leader in climate change reform (Climate Central)
• China may leave the U.S. behind on climate change due to Trump (Mashable)
• Germany, EU Commission dismiss call for carbon tax on US under Trump (India Express)
• With appeal to Trump, Kerry (and US) leave climate leadership (Climate Home)
• Paris Climate Deal Is Too Weak to Meet Goals, Report Finds (NY Times)
• VIDEO: Jeffrey Sachs: The U.S. Will Become a Pariah State If Trump Pulls Out of Paris Climate Accord (Democracy Now!)
• U.S. Companies to Trump: Don’t Abandon Global Climate Deal (NY Times)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• China clarifies for Trump: uh, no, global warming is not a Chinese hoax (Vox):
  “If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s,” Liu told reporters, according to Bloomberg (which points out that this history is, in fact, correct).
• US cancels energy leases in Montana area sacred to Blackfeet (AP):
  “It should not have been leased to begin with,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in announcing the cancellations at her agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “This sets the right tone for how business should be done in the future.”
• Interior Department Issues New Rule To Limit Methane From Oil and Gas (Washington Post):
  The Interior Department on Tuesday finalized a much anticipated new regulation aimed at the oil and gas industry, one that seeks to capture flared natural gas and corral “fugitive” emissions of methane that are escaping drilling operations on public and Native American lands.
• World CO2 emissions stay flat for 3rd year, helped by China falls – study (Reuters):
  World greenhouse gas emissions stayed flat for the third year in a row in 2016, thanks to falls in China, even as the pro-coal policies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump mean uncertainty for the future, an international study said on Monday.
• The Plastic Polluting the Oceans Smells Like Lunch to Marine Life (Take Part):
  Researchers discover that algae growing on plastic trash tricks seabirds into eating the garbage.
• Trump’s Top Environmental Adviser Says Pesticides Aren’t Bad for You (Mother Jones):
  To lead the transition of the Environmental Protection Agency, President-elect Donald Trump settled on notorious climate change denier Myron Ebell. The decision rattled climate activists … Farm chemicals, too, would likely flow unabated if Ebell’s agenda comes to dominate Trump’s EPA.
• Clean Water Rule: WOTUS ‘Ultimately Doomed.’ What Happens Next? (E&E News):
  The Obama administration’s controversial Clean Water Act jurisdiction rule was already on life support before the election.
• Tests Show Monsanto Weed Killer in Cheerios, Other Popular Foods (Huffington Post):
  Independent testing on an array of popular American food products found many samples contained residue levels of the weed killer called glyphosate, leading the nonprofit organization behind the testing to call for corporate and regulatory action to address consumer safety concerns.
• Dwindling Salmon And Treaty Rights In The Puget Sound (Environmental Health News):
  The flat-bottom boat weaves across bends in the broad, mud-colored Qwuloolt Estuary, scaring up squawking blue herons and geese along the sloping banks of muck. Scattered log booms poke out.
• Obama Said to Block Selling New Drilling Rights in U.S. Arctic (Bloomberg):
  The details were confirmed by people familiar with the plan who were not authorized to speak publicly before it is issued, something that is expected within days. It is subject to a 60-day congressional review and could be rewritten by President-elect Donald Trump, in a process that could take months or years.
• Rule Would Boost Solar And Wind Energy On Public Lands (Missoulian):
  The Obama administration took action Thursday to boost development of solar and wind energy on public lands, part of President Barack Obama’s strategy to develop cleaner domestic energy and reduce emissions blamed for global warming.
• 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

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).