Today on BradCast: I don't care what he says, no President has the power to cancel American elections. Period. Even if that definitive statement of fact is unlikely to be the end of that story. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Now, officially, one year into his final term as President, Donald Trump's "Golden Age for America" is a complete --- if wholly predictable --- failure. His approval ratings have tanked; he has terrorized a great American city by placing it under siege by his hapless, if deadly, militarized immigration goons from ICE and CBP (with some 1,500 U.S. military troops said to be standing by, should he decide to fraudulently invoke the Insurrection Act); NATO, the largest and most successful alliance in world history is now on the brink of collapse, thanks to his threats to steal the peaceful, semi-autonomous nation of Greenland from our ally Denmark; and, oh yeah, the stock market tanked today amid Trump's new tariff trade war threats against our friendly European allies who disagree with him regarding Greenland.

The November midterm elections can't come soon enough. But they will come, despite Trump's various impotent threats or suggestions to the contrary. A President has no power --- none, zero --- to cancel elections in the approximately 10,000 jurisdictions around the country which run them independently of the federal government.

Nonetheless, his Administration's fraudulent abuse of the legal system to try and make it more difficult for legal voters to vote continues. As does his Administration's failures in court, where their attempted legal fraud is not going well --- even in cases overseen by Trump-appointed judges.

Among today's coverage...

• A federal Judge late last week dismissed the Dept. of Justice's pathetic lawsuit against California, seeking to force it to turn over state voter roll data. The Democratically-controlled Golden State is just one of 23 states and the District of Columbia being sued by the DOJ for refusal to turn over private voter information --- including Social Security numbers, birth dates and Drivers License details --- as part of the performative Trump campaign to ferret out supposed fraudulent voter registrations by millions of non-citizens. In tossing the case, the judge found DOJ has no basis, nor legal authority, to demand CA turn over its voter file. Similar DOJ suits against the other states who refused to violate their own voters privacy rights are likely to be similarly unsuccessful.

• At the same time, the New York Times reports that federal officials have been unable to find any evidence of widespread fraud or mass non-citizen registrations among nearly 50 million state records examined so far. The records, from mostly Republican jurisdictions, have been run though a Dept. of Homeland Security database which was not designed for this purpose, under the DOJ ruse of assuring that voter registration databases are "clean". To date, just 0.02% of records checked have revealed even potential evidence of registration by non-citizens. That tiny number includes registrants who never voted or even knew they were registered, and/or naturalized citizens that triggered false positives in the DHS database.

• Of course, one of the reasons that 23 states are refusing to turn over state voter data to Trump's federal government, is for fear that sensitive information (Social Security numbers, etc.) will be misused. As we've learned today, those states were right to be concerned. The DOJ admitted in a "Corrections" court filing last Friday, that members of Elon Musk's failed DOGE team stole and misused sensitive, personal data from the Social Security Administration. At least one of the DOGE Bros apparently discussed an agreement with a Republican voter fraud group to share personal SSA data with the aim of somehow overturning election results.

• But the Trump Administration fraud doesn't stop there, of course, as even a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled today. In the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge David Novak ruled that Lindsey Halligan --- Trump's former tax lawyer --- and the DOJ, were unlawfully identifying Halligan in court documents and elsewhere as the District's U.S. Attorney. Back in November, a different judge in the District ruled that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. As such, the indictments Halligan secured against former FBI Director James Comey and NY A.G. Letitia James were dismissed. Judge Novak recently gave Halligan seven days to explain why she was still representing herself as USA after the court, last November, found her unlawfully appointed. He demanded to know why that didn't represent a sanctionable fraud against the court. Last week, Halligan responded with an obnoxious, over-the-top, Fox "News"-like explanation (most likely written by Trump's former defense attorney turned Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who signed the document along with Bondi and Halligan). Today, Novak called them all out in a blistering 18-page order [PDF], forcing them to strike Halligan's use of USA in legal filings and elsewhere, while giving Halligan and the others fair warning that further ignoring orders from District judges may result in sanctions, including referral to the Bar Association.

• But wait, there is still more waste, fraud, abuse and court losses for the Trump Administration today, as we close with Desi Doyen and our latest Green News Report, detailing yet another court ruling that has blocked Trump's attempt at shutting down construction of new off-shore wind farms --- many of them nearly completed --- set to offer clean, cheap, renewable energy for millions of Americans. Trump tried to shut down five such projects. Judges have, so far, restarted three of them. The other two are still being adjudicated...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Insured losses from wildfires, storms and floods hit new record high in 2025; National disaster declared as wildfires ravage southern Chile; Torrential rains and deadly floods inundate parts of South Africa; PLUS: Federal courts continue to reject Trump's irrational attack on American offshore wind energy... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Why your power bill is spiking faster than a nearby data center’s; Trump Is Winning the Fight Against Offshore Wind Despite Court Losses; Clean Energy Advocates Criticize ‘Glaring’ Omission in White House Plan to Fuel Data Centers in PJM Region; After Helene, rural North Carolina turns to solar and battery hubs... PLUS: The past is an underused tool': An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: 2025 was the second (or third) hottest year on record, as new climate reports show 'unprecedented run of global heat'; The oceans are getting hotter, too; California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years; PLUS: Court rules Trump Administration illegally blocked clean energy grants to 'blue' states... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Venezuela suffers from a century-long curse --- will the U.S. inherit it?; New EPA proposal would strip states and tribes of authority to block oil and gas pipelines; Trump administration moves to reverse mining ban near Boundary Waters; RFK Jr. and flouridated water 'skeptics' turn to obstructing access to other sources; Maine adopts tougher limits on PFAS in drinking water; Why Greenland matters in a warming world... PLUS: This battery is about to change the world in 3 months, or make this guy a fool... and much, MUCH more! ...

Some of the weirdness has been completely predictable, if not to many of his duped supporters. Some of it is a surprise. All of it underscores, yet again on today's BradCast, that we have a full-blown loser serving as President of the United States. [Audio link to the full show follows this summary.]

Among the many many stories supporting those points, as covered on today's program...

• Grocery prices see biggest spike in three years (Axios)
• Court finds Trump illegally blocked renewable energy grants to 16 "blue" states (AP)
• Bipartisan Senate Budget Committee restores almost all science funding cut by Trump (NYT)
• 5 Repubs join all Senate Dems in vote to block more military action in Venezuela (WaPo)
• 17 Repubs join all House Dems to pass bill restoring ACA health care subsidies (AP)
• Boebert slams Trump for veto of unanimously-approved CO drinking water project (DKos)
• 35 Repubs join all House Dems in failed effort to override Trump's CO water project veto (CO Politics)
• Treasury Sec. Bessent told Trump he's furious about DOJ's criminal probe of Fed Chair Powell (Axios)
• Six top Civil Rights Division criminal prosecutors resign over DOJ refusal to investigate ICE killing of Renee Good in MN (MS NOW)
• Six top DOJ prosecutors in MN resign over attempt to investigate Good's wife (NYT)
• Unhinged Trump warns: "DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING" in MN (Politico)

And, if all of that isn't enough for ya, we close with Desi Doyen and our latest Green News Report, with Trump losing his weird fight against wind power yet again in another federal court, among many other items of note...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Australia battles record heat and extreme bushfires; Trump withdraws U.S. from bedrock United Nations climate treaty; Trump EPA will no longer consider benefits like lives saved when calculating the cost of pollution rules; PLUS: Trump loses again on offshore wind... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump’s EPA could limit its own ability to strengthen air pollution rules; Court rules Trump illegally blocked clean energy grants to Dem states; Alito’s recusal in oil case renews questions about justice's investments; White House finalizes overhaul of environmental permitting rules; Ocean warming breaks record for ninth straight year... PLUS: Congress is rejecting Trump's steep budget cuts to science... and much, MUCH more! ...

If the first week of the new year is any indication of what's to come, Year Two of the second Trump Presidency is going to be even more nightmarish than many of us have been warning. Several fresh nightmares along those lines are unfolding on today's BradCast, as the President of the United States' obliteration of the Constitutional Order and Rule of Law grows more violent and grotesque by the day. It may only be outpaced by his determination to destroy what is left of our livable planet [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]

With Donald Trump's federal immigration thugs now shooting and murdering Americans at point blank range in American cities with impunity (by the dozens), it's clear that the Rule of Law at the federal level no longer exists. We're all gonna have to get used to that idea for a while I'm afraid. We've got several examples of that today.

FIRST... we're joined by JEAN SU, Senior Attorney and Director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biological Diversity. She joins us today on the heels of last night's White House announcement Trump is withdrawing the United States from the nearly 30-year old bedrock international climate agreement that forms the basis for virtually every climate pact since then meant to stave off or mitigate the effects of our quickly accelerating climate crisis.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a treaty to which every single nation in the world is a member. It was originally signed by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and ratified unanimously by the U.S. Senate. On Wednesday night, however, Trump unilaterally declared he is withdrawing the U.S. from that pact and 65 other international organizations and treaties which, the White House said, "no longer serve American interests."

Su and the Center for Biological Diversity describe Trump's unilateral withdraw from the UNFCCC as unlawful and unconstitutional. "It is an illegal exit from the treaty," Su argues today. "The Constitution is crystal clear about how we can, as a country, enter treaties" with a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate for ratification. "But the Constitution is silent on the withdrawal of treaties. It's our legal view, along with other international law organizations, that no, it is not legal for a President to unilaterally undo what a unanimous Senate passed."

She characterizes the UNFCCC as "the 'mother ship' of all collective climate bargaining and negotiations around the world." The Paris Climate Agreement, for example, which is not a treaty, but a voluntary pact, was created in 2016 under that "mother ship" treaty in hopes of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Trump already pulled the U.S. from the Paris Agreement last year. Withdraw from the UNFCCC however, as Su tells me, would be even far more devastating to both the climate AND U.S. economic interests.

"The global climate treaty ends up being a place where different governments can negotiate economic deals and band together and say, 'We want the world to move off fossil fuels and towards a renewable energy future.' When you have the entire world and the global economy making those moves, the U.S. suffers by being a pariah on that. And in that way, U.S. consumers, citizens, we all suffer economically by being the odd-man out."

But other nations are quickly filling that vacuum. Trump's failure to lead on renewable energy and electric vehicles has allowed China to become the world's top manufacturer of both, as Trump tries instead to revive the dirty, deadly, dying coal and oil industries. "He has these partnerships with deeply entrenched corporate monopolists in this country, and he is literally going around the world pillaging it for those interests," says Su. "And it is an international security threat."

When she last joined us on the show just after Trump's second election victory in November of 2024, Su described him as a "climate-denying fascist" who would "strip the Environmental Protection Agency [and] the Civil Rights Division of the Dept. of Justice" until the "administrative apparatus" at both were "entirely smothered, stripped bare, and not functional in any way, in terms of actually protecting our environment and our health and safety." She couldn't have been more right about that, as evidenced over the past year. She also described, at the time, several "bright spots" she saw nonetheless. Today, we discuss some of those bright spots again to see if they remain as bright as she'd hoped they would back in late 2024.

Please tune in for a really informative conversation on all of the above and more.

THEN... Speaking of disrespect for our Constitutional Order and Rule of Law, a fifth U.S. District Court Judge today has now ruled that a fifth U.S. Attorney appointed by the Trump Administration is serving in the role unlawfully and in violation of the Constitution. John Sarcone III, the nation's top prosecutor in the Northern District of New York is "not lawfully appointed" as U.S. Attorney, according to the federal judge, who issued her opinion in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, attempting to quash grand jury subpoenas obtained by Sarcone seeking information on the two massive civil fraud cases James successfully brought against Trump and the National Rifle Association.

Meanwhile, over in the Eastern District of Virginia this week, a federal judge --- one appointed by Trump himself! --- took it upon himself to issue an order to Lindsey Halligan, giving her seven days to explain why she is still serving in the role of U.S. Attorney after a different federal judge, last November, found that she was unlawfully serving in the post. The judge's ruling last year resulted in the dismissal of revenge indictments obtained by Halligan at Trump's orders against both James and former FBI Director James Comey. Nonetheless, Halligan is still serving in the position, with one judge in the District even including an asterisk by her name whenever she is mentioned in court documents, denoting last year's ruling of her unlawful appointment.

With five top federal prosecutors illegally heading up the DOJ facilities in major jurisdictions (the others are New Jersey, Nevada and Los Angeles), it is clear that the Trump Administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi believe they have no legal requirement to follow any of the nation's laws.

FINALLY... With more lawlessness and ill-considered climate-related actions by the Administration, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, as Trump's unlawful Venezuela attack becomes even more unlawful; as the Administration announces thousands of layoffs at FEMA amid ever-worsening climate disasters; and as Los Angeles struggles to rebuild following two deadly, devastating climate change-fueled wild fires that destroyed thousands of homes one year ago this week...

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It's five years to the day since January 6, 2021, when the then President of the United States got away with one of the most audacious crimes ever attempted in the U.S.: a failed attempt to have his own supporters violently overthrow the U.S. Government in order to help steal a Presidential election. Today on The BradCast, we hear from the federal prosecutor who tried --- and almost succeeded --- in holding him to account for those crimes and others. [Audio link to full show follows below.]

Donald Trump really didn't want you to hear about those crimes. Especially from the guy who meticulously investigated them before obtaining two federal grand jury criminal indictments against the disgraced, then-former President for both the attempted election theft and his theft of thousands of pages of highly classified national security documents upon leaving office, and for his obstruction of the investigations into both matters.

It was likely no coincidence that Trump invaded Venezuela just hours after his lackeys and co-conspirators in the U.S. House, on New Years Eve, released video of more-than-eight-hours of closed-door testimony, in hopes it would stay buried there. We attempt to unbury it a bit today.

BUT FIRST UP... a few choice, incisive and amusing takes on Trump's wildly unlawful invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its leader, from comedian Jamie Kaler and the hilariously satirical Rep. Jack Kimble (R-CA) social media account.

Also today, news on Tuesday's sudden passing of 65-year old Rep. Doug LaMalfa, an actual Republican Congressman, for seven terms, from California and a major Trump supporter. His surprise death, along with yesterday's resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and the hospitalization of another Republican Congressman, Indiana's Jim Baird, following a recent traffic accident, renders Speaker Mike Johnson's caucus perilously close to losing their House majority as another deadline for a government shutdown looms on January 30.

THEN... It's on to the December 17, 2025 closed-door testimony of Special Counsel Jack Smith before the GOP-controlled U.S. House Judiciary Committee which, no doubt, regrets the fact they had to take his testimony in order to convince Trump they were actually investigating the now-second term President's absurd claims that Joe Biden's Dept. of Justice was weaponized to prevent Trump from running for President again.

Though Smith requested public testimony in the House, as per tradition for special prosecutors following a Presidential probe --- and, in this case, two historic criminal indictments --- Republicans balked. They forced the closed-door testimony before attempting to hide the 255-page transcript and more than eight hours of video-taped testimony from Smith over a holiday.

With the aid of coverage and insight from former senior federal prosecutor Randall Eliason, independent journalists Marcy Wheeler and Parker Malloy, and a bit from the New York Times, we share audio from some of the notable testimony and revelations from the three-decade veteran DOJ prosecutor who Republican interrogators on the Committee failed to lay a glove on. But, how could they? You'll have trouble finding a more by-the-book prosecutor than Smith.

In audio clips from the hearing that we share today, Smith speaks to...

• The lack of "weaponization" of the DOJ under Joe Biden, and the actual weaponization and death blows that the new Trump Administration is now reigning down on it over the past year since returning to office.
• His "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump committed --- and would have been convicted of --- both the crimes related to January 6 and the classified documents case, had Smith not been forced to dismiss both cases after Trump's reelection.
• How the witnesses he would have presented at trial on the attempted theft of the 2020 election were all Republican allies of Trump.
• How Trump "exploited" violence on January 6th.
• How it was Trump himself who "chose" which Senators' phone call toll records would be probed in the investigation, and how none of those members were "spied" on, as now falsely claimed by Trump and Congressional Republicans. (Toll records detail only what number was called, when, and how long the call lasted. As Eliason explains, it would have been prosecutorial malpractice to not subpoena those records. Smith's investigation never "wire-tapped" any member of Congress, as recently and falsely claimed by Trump and his fellow GOP scam artists.)
• How Trump was entitled, under the First Amendment, to lie about a "stolen" election. But that he was not legally allowed to use those lies in furtherance of inducing his followers to commit crimes, such as storming the Capitol to obstruct the certification of Biden's victory or attempting to kill the Vice President.

FINALLY... Desi Doyen joins us for our first Green News Report of the new year, with a collection of "while we were out" headlines to get us caught up for the new year following the warmest Christmas in recorded U.S. history...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: While we were out: Donald Trump deposed Venezuela's president to gain control of the country's oil reserves; Trump Administration halted five offshore wind projects already under construction; PLUS: The U.S. saw its warmest Christmas on record, thanks to fossil fuels... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): 'Trump's EPA' in 2025: A fossil fuel-friendly approach to deregulation; Pollution from coal plants was dropping. Then came Trump and AI; EPA says it will propose drinking water limit for perchlorate, but only because court ordered it; Trump Has Left The US Less Prepared For Natural Disasters, Experts Say... PLUS: Trump says cost was behind his water pipeline veto, but some say it's retribution... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: U.S. seizes sanctioned oil tanker off coast of Venezuela; Trump EPA deletes mentions about humanity's role in causing climate change; Oil giant Exxon asks U.S. Supreme Court to halt state-level climate liability lawsuits; PLUS: U.S. court strikes down Trump's Executive Order blocking wind energy... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Bill McKibben: A low point of human inaction on climate change? Not really; Deadly November Asian storms 'supercharged' by climate change: researchers; Chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2 trillion a year: report; Key Senate Democrats oppose permitting bill; Rising electric bills drive DIY solar in the US; What caused a massive die-off of penguins off the South African coast? ... PLUS: Greenpeace scrutinizes environmental record of the company that sued them... and much, MUCH more! ...

Today on The BradCast: For years, we've called out the authoritarian petrostates working to block the fight against fossil fuels and our existential battle against climate change that has been exacerbated by them. Even as the U.S. has long been the world's worst per capita emitter, I think today, under this particular President, is the first time we've had to include the U.S. government itself as one of those "authoritarian petrostates." [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

FIRST UP... It's another win for New York Attorney General Letitia James against Donald Trump. As you know, she successfully oversaw several fraud cases (both civil and criminal), against him and his company in the Empire State last year. Since re-taking office, Trump has weaponized his Justice Dept. to try and exact his revenge against James. He continues to fail. Hilariously.

First he had to find someone willing to seek an indictment against James after his own U.S. Attorney in Virginia refused to do so. He appointed his personal insurance lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, to the job. She was able to obtain a grand jury indictment related to supposed mortgage fraud. But two weeks ago, a judge tossed out the indictment after finding Halligan was unlawfully serving as U.S. Attorney. Last week, Trump found a federal prosecutor from Missouri who was willing to re-indict James. But the grand jury rejected the indictment! (In an amusing side note, yesterday ProPublica found that Trump himself appears to have committed the very same "crime" that he has been trying to indict James for!)

Then, on Monday night, a federal judge in Massachusetts found in favor of a group of some 18 state Attorneys General, led by James, who had sued to block Trump's "Day One" Executive Order shutting down virtually all wind farm projects on federal lands and waters. The EO was tossed out by the judge as "arbitrary and capricious" and a violation of U.S. law. James wins again! So do the residents of those states and all the rest of us who pay the price for dangerous, climate killing fossil fuel energy, rather than clean, cheap renewable energy like wind power.

SPEAKING OF PAYING THE PRICE FOR FOSSIL FUELS... The 30th annual U.N. Climate Summit (COP30) wrapped up in Brazil a couple of weeks ago. For the first time, the United States, under the Trump Administration, didn't even bother to send a delegation. Ultimately, progress toward the world's transition away from fossil fuels to meet the 10-year old Paris Climate Agreement targets --- to keep temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times --- was stymied by fossil fuel industry lobbyists and authoritarian petrostates like Saudi Arabia, Russia and now, sadly, the U.S. The conference's final statement, which must be agreed upon by all parties, did not even mention fossil fuels.

Today, as the European Union's climate change service announced that 2025 would be either the second or third-hottest year ever recorded globally, after 2024 smashed all previous records, we are joined by one of the world's premier climate scientists.

Dr. MICHAEL E. MANN is the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science and Director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the group awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Price, author of some 160 peer-reviewed and published papers, and of more than half a dozen books on climate science. His latest, with vaccine scientist Dr. Peter J. Hotez, is Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World.

Today, Mann joins us to share, among many related things, his thoughts on the disappointment of COP30 in Brazil, and how that "Bad COP" suggests that it may be time for a new format for the annual climate conferences. "The U.N. needs to show some backbone," he urges today.

As to the U.S. under Republican/Trump rule, he tells me: "The problem is that you have a small number of bad actors, authoritarian petrostates, leading among them, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and now the United States. We have to view the United States as part of what I sometimes call the 'Coalition of the Unwilling.' A small number of fossil fuel-driven countries that are doing everything they can to block a global agreement."

Mann warns, during our broad discussion, that the time for action to prevent the worst effects of climate change is now quickly running out. "It is sometimes said that 'Nature bats last,'" he quips today. "The Earth's system, the global climate, doesn't care about the politics of fossil fuel countries, and the bickering between the petrostates and the rest. The climate system doesn't care. It will continue to warm up as long as we burn fossil fuels. And all of these impacts will continue to get worse."

"We have a finite budget, a finite amount of carbon that we can burn and keep the planet below 1.5 Celsius --- for Americans, it's 3 degrees Fahrenheit, basically --- a level of warming beyond which we will see far worse consequences than we've already witnessed," Mann explains. "We can actually calculate, with some uncertainty, how much carbon is left in that budget. The calculations show that three years of business as usual --- if we don't begin to ramp down those carbon emissions dramatically, if we just continue with business as usual for three or more years --- then we burn through that budget."

"What's so tragic is if we had acted decades ago, if politicians around the world, governments around the world, had listened to the scientists decades ago, we could have fairly gently decarbonized our societal infrastructure. A fairly gentle reduction of carbon emissions, and a relatively slow, steady move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. We could have afforded that, if we had started acting decades ago. We can't afford that now. We have got to undergo that transition in a matter of years. Right now, we are clearly not meeting the moment when it comes to these annual climate summits. Something's gotta change."

We also discuss his continuing feud with Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates, who Mann charges with now spreading climate disinformation at an alarming rate by suggesting that somehow a 'technological fix' will be found to solve these problems; how climate scientist Mann found common ground with virus scientist Hotez to co-write their new book, Science Under Siege on "the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World" (and what those forces now are); and how --- and if --- he remains optimistic that the world can overcome the quickly worsening climate challenges we now face with so little time left before impacts become irreversible.

"This is Tolkien-esque battle. It's a battle not for Middle Earth, but for Earth itself," he tells me, referencing the Lord of the Rings novels. "There are so clearly forces of good and evil that are involved. I think framing it in those terms can be helpful and clarifying. There's a line...'There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.' It's about fighting the good fight. Even if the odds don't seem in your favor, and the forces against which you are fighting seem overwhelming, the only way you're going to prevail is if you fight the good fight. And that's what we've got to do."

Tune in for much more worth hearing from Mann today...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: New study warns that climate impacts are accelerating across the volatile Middle East; Congressional Republicans give another big gift to Big Oil in Alaska; Feud between MAGA and MAHA grows over Trump EPA's rollbacks of toxic chemical rules; PLUS: Despite Trump, U.S. utility-scale solar deployment hits new record... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Deadly Asian floods are no fluke. They’re a climate warning; Days after COP30, Brazil weakened Amazon safeguards; Federal judge strikes down Trump's anti-wind directive; Science journal retracts widely cited study that claimed Monsanto's Roundup is safe; States push to end secrecy over data center water use; Plastic pollution could more than double by 2040, report finds... PLUS: Trump climate policies are driving up insurance costs for homeowners... and much, MUCH more! ...

It's our last BradCast today before our Thanksgiving break. And, frankly, it was a very different show than the one I went to bed last night pondering for today. Blame the pathetic, desperate, criminal coward in the White House. Again. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Today, in several posts to his failing social media site, an increasingly unhinged Donald Trump, the President of the United States, called for six Democratic members of Congress --- four House members and two Senators, all distinguished veterans of the U.S. armed forces or intelligence services --- to be killed.

Their "crime"? Advising U.S. service members, in a 90-second video on Tuesday, that they may --- indeed, they must --- "refuse illegal orders."

It's not particularly controversial. But today, Trump, who is floundering in virtually every aspect of his job, pretended to be outraged, repeatedly describing the comments from those Democrats as "SEDITIOUS", describing them as "TRAITORS" and calling for them to be put to "DEATH!" (That, even though he pardoned actual seditionists that he incited to try and overthrow the U.S. Government on January 6, 2021.)

In addition to his own words, Trump also elevated another wingnut loon on his social media site who declared: "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!"

Just two months ago, Republicans pretended to be furious about political violence and words that might lead to it following the murder of a far-right Republican activist. But, since Trump is now calling for the deaths of Democratic members of Congress, his lackeys and quislings at both the White House and in Congress are joining Dear Leader. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, pretending to be furious today, for example, falsely charged that those six elected officials and distinguished veterans "encourage[d] young troops to disobey orders". He forgot to mention that the orders in question are unlawful ones, as the Dems repeated over and again while reminding those "young troops" of their oath to defend and follow both the Constitution and rule of law, and encouraging them: "Don't give up the ship."

I had a word or two to say about all of this on today's program. So did a lot of other folks both in and out of Congress, some of which we share as well.

In not unrelated news on today's show...

• NBC News reports that the senior military attorney for the U.S. Southern Command, which has, so far, killed more than 80 people in boats off the Caribbean and Pacific coasts near Venezuela, determined that U.S. strikes on small boats said to be carrying supposed "narco-terrorists" (as the Administration describes them) were unlawful. His opinion, however, was overruled by Trump's political appointees in D.C. The service members who participated in those extrajudicial killings could, as the lawyer reportedly warned, eventually face accountability under U.S. and/or international law.

• TPM's Josh Kovensky reports that federal prosecutors in Chicago have dropped a whole bunch of supposed "domestic terrorism" cases against people who protested against Customs and ICE agents in Chicago in recent months. Among those who saw their charges dropped: A woman who was shot five times by a CBP officer who bragged to colleagues about it afterwards, and who falsely claimed the woman participated in a convoy of cars that "rammed" and "boxed" the federal agents in. And a 70-year old Air Force vet initially charged with felony assault, which was later downgraded to a misdemeanor and finally dropped all together by Trump prosecutors on Thursday.

• Last week, we told you about the Trump Administration's draft plan, reported by Washington Post, to open up off-shore oil drilling along the entire coast of California, off the West Coast of Florida (in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, not on the Atlantic side near Mar-a-Lago, of course), and off of Alaska in the pristine High Arctic region, where responding to a spill or a Deepwater Horizon-like disaster would be all but impossible. Today, the Administration officially unveiled the proposal and elected officials --- including both Democrats in California and Republicans in Florida --- vow to fight the effort.

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, as this year's U.N. climate summit wraps up in Brazil; as Iran faces an historic drought in Tehran that could result in the evacuation of some 10 million people; and as the developing world is now turning to China for billions of dollars of investment and development in clean, cheap, renewable energy, since the Trump Administration has taken the U.S. out of that increasingly lucrative industry.

As noted, we'll be taking some much-needed downtime in the week ahead. But, while we're "gone", please have a happy and safe Thanksgiving --- and remember the advice from those six Dems in their video yesterday: Don't give up the ship!

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Crunch time in the UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil, as coalition proposes roadmap to phase out fossil fuels; Iran faces historic, unprecedented water shortages; PLUS: The developing world is turning to China for clean energy technology... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump’s anti-green agenda could lead to 1.3 million more climate deaths; Trump administration makes major changes to a report it commissioned on FEMA reforms; Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane 'would avoid nearly 1C of global heating'; Energy Dept. loans $1 billion to restart Three Mile Island nuclear reactor; AI boom threatens to entrench fossil fuels and compromise climate goals; Sodium-ion battery storage for ultra-low temperatures; How to lower energy costs: break up the electrical-grid cabal... PLUS: Rare GM EV1 saved from the crusher is going to be driveable again... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Democrats win in key climate races in the 2025 Elections; Climate change raised in Supreme Court oral arguments over Trump's 'emergency' tariffs; PLUS: Brazil's fight against deforestation is paying climate dividends... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): India’s Ganga River drying at unprecedented levels; What the last gas boom (and bust) says about today’s rush to build; Trailer: The White House Effect; Fishermen missing in Vietnam as Philippines mourns dead from Typhoon Kalmaegi; FAA reducing air traffic by 10% across 40 ‘high-volume’ markets during government shutdown; Brazil launches plan to scale climate finance to $1.3 trillion a year... PLUS: Australia has so much solar that it’s offering everyone free electricity... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Hurricane Melissa leaves a path of climate-fueled destruction, impacts will last long after the storm has passed and news cameras leave; PLUS: States send out SOS amid federal government shutdown to keep millions of Americans from freezing this winter... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): How to help those impacted by Hurricane Melissa; 'Millions of avoidable deaths': Climate change health harms reach unprecedented levels; Archaeological site in Alaska reveals artifacts from impacts of ex-Typhoon Halong; NOAA Hurricane Hunter crews, researchers flying without pay; Annual climate change report finds 'planet on the brink'; Energy prices seize spotlight in Virginia, New Jersey races... PLUS: Despite Trump troubles, Hyundai charges ahead with green steel project... and much, MUCH more! ...