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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Hillary Clinton pledges to go big — very big — on solar; Jeb Bush calls for eliminating all energy subsidies; PLUS: New study suggests worst case sea level rise may happen much sooner than previously thought… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
7/28/2015
‘Green News Report’ – July 28, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – July 28, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Thousands of salmon die in hotter-than-usual Northwest rivers; Offshore Wind in the Atlantic Would Provide Twice the Number of Jobs, Energy as Offshore Drilling; Alaska’s terrifying wildfire season and what it says about climate change; Only 30,000 Chevy Bolts A Year Because….?; More And Bigger Drilling-Linked Earthquakes Rattle Oklahoma; Louisianans Blind to Mercury Contamination in Water, Fish Due to Budget Cuts… PLUS: Enbridge Anniversary: Profiles From the Frontlines of an Oil Spill… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Jeb Bush: Eliminate All Energy Subsidies!:
- Jeb Bush Wants to Eliminate All Energy Subsidies (Mother Jones) [emphasis added]:
Michael Dworkin, an environmental law professor at Vermont Law School, praised Bush’s comments. “If he really means it, great,” said Dworkin in an email. “Just lets be sure that it’s ALL of the traditional energy subsidies, not just a few symbolic ones.”
- Jeb Bush tries to be really, really fair (Grist) [emphasis added]:
This kind of narrow discussion ignores the indirect ways that we’re subsidizing fossil fuels outside the tax code – with policies that encourage sprawl and driving, with military spending that protects oil supplies, with below-market rate leasing of federal land for coal mining, and by letting fossil fuel companies stick everyone else with the cost of their pollution. Given the social cost of carbon, those subsidies are far larger than any tax credit – but Bush certainly isn’t talking about getting rid of them.
- VIDEO: Gov Jeb Bush on Fossil Fuel & Renewable Subsidies (350 Action)
- Triumph of the Drill: A brief history of oil subsidies, 1916-2013 (Mother Jones, April 2014) [emphasis added]:
Over the past century, the federal government has pumped more than $470 billion into the oil and gas industry in the form of generous, never-expiring tax breaks. Once intended to jump-start struggling domestic drillers, these incentives have become a tidy bonus for some of the world’s most profitable companies.
- Hillary Clinton Pledges to Go Big on Climate Action, Big on Solar:
- Hillary Clinton Lays Out Climate Change Plan (NY Times):
With many Republican candidates saying they do not believe that climate change is a threat or requires government intervention, Mrs. Clinton assailed their logic, saying, “The reality of climate change is unforgiving no matter what the deniers say.”
- VIDEO: Hillary Reveals Climate Plan (MSNBC)
- Hillary Clinton is calling for a 700% increase in solar power. Is that realistic? (Vox.com)
- Hillary Clinton Just Went Big on Clean Energy. That Was the Easy Part. (Slate):
Exactly how Clinton would get us to her goal remains unclear. But the broad brushstrokes suggest she’d rely heavily on tax incentives to spur the growth of renewables-particularly solar, which she says would see a 700-percent increase in U.S. capacity under her plan.
- Hillary Clinton Refuses to Take a Position on the Keystone Pipeline (Mother Jones)
- Disturbing New Study Warns of Dangerously Rapid Sea Level Rise:
- Study: Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms: Evidence from Paleoclimate Data, Climate
Modeling, and Modern Observations that 2°C Global Warming is Highly Dangerous (James Hansen, et al, Columbia Univ.) - Atlantis awaits: melting ice and rising water for coastal cities
- Dire Climate Warning Raises Questions, Not Answers (Climate Central):
NASA’s former climate chief has issued a stark new study that finds that the world’s current climate goal could be inadequate and may not prevent catastrophic losses from rising seas, ocean temperatures and changes in global weather. But the extreme nature of his projections has some scientists questioning the methods he used and the results he reached.
- VIDEO: Experts make dire prediction about sea levels (CBS News)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- Enbridge Anniversary: Profiles From the Frontlines of an Oil Spill (INsideClimate News):
The 40-mile tainted stretch of river that was closed when more than 1 million gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into it has recovered better than expected, environmental officials say. But even as the river flows clear and wildlife flourish, many of the people who woke to the stench of oil flowing past their homes say their lives will never be the same.
“When your life is turned inside out by something that runs you from your home you never really get over it,” said John La Forge, who had to flee when oil backed up to his patio door.”
- Thousands of salmon die in hotter-than-usual Northwest rivers (Reuters):
Unseasonably hot water has killed nearly half of the sockeye salmon migrating up the Columbia River through Oregon and Washington state, a wildlife official said on Monday.
- Offshore Wind in the Atlantic Would Provide Twice the Number of Jobs, Energy as Offshore Drilling (Oceana):
The report not only critiques the flaws in the oil and gas industry’s estimates, but also points towards a more than viable alternative: wind energy. The report explains how offshore wind would create 91,000 more jobs than those offered by the oil and gas industries – which would double the job creation potential of offshore drilling in the Atlantic.
- Alaska’s terrifying wildfire season and what it says about climate change (Washington Post):
The pace of the burn has moderated in the last week, but scientists say the fires are just the latest indicator of a climatic transformation that is remaking this state – its forests, its coasts, its glaciers, and perhaps most of all, the frozen ground beneath – more than any other in America.
- Only 30,000 Chevy Bolts A Year Because…. (EV Obsesssion):
One of the biggest electric vehicle announcements of the year so far was the surprise Chevy Bolt announcement from GM in January, the revealing of an affordable, long-range electric car from a major manufacturer. This is the second “affordable” and “long-range” electric car announced by anyone, only trailing the Tesla Model 3.
- More And Bigger Drilling-Linked Earthquakes Rattle Oklahoma (Reuters):
“Several earthquakes shook Oklahoma on Monday as the state experiences a sharp increase in the frequency of tremors linked to wastewater disposal from gas and oil drilling, including from fracking, state and federal officials said.
- Testing Cuts Blind Louisianans to Mercury Contamination in Water, Fish (The Advocate):
Seven years after the end of a much-lauded program to monitor mercury in Louisiana’s waterways, state officials lack updated data to warn people about any potential contamination in the fish they catch and eat.
- Obama Unveils Ivory Rules To Protect Elephants (Huffington Post Green):
Poachers killed 100,000 elephants between 2010 and 2012, and Obama’s rule seeks to crackdown on the illegal trade of ivory.
- Opinion: “Bad News for Climate-Change Deniers (NY Times):
Republican presidential candidates have generally refused to acknowledge the reality of climate change. New polls and a report issued last week show they aren’t helping themselves with business or voters.
- Green Groups Come Out Against Senate Energy Overhaul Bill (The Hill):
Eleven major environment and conservation groups came out against a Senate energy policy overhaul bill on Monday.
- Florida Leads Nation in Property at Risk From Climate Change (Miami Herald):
Florida has more private property at risk from flooding linked to climate change than any other state, an amount that could double in the next four decades, according to a new report by the Risky Business Project.
- Every country is now pledging to tackle CO2 emissions. It’s still not enough. (Vox.com):
In other words, if the world wants to stay below 2°C of global warming – which has long been considered the danger zone for climate change – these pledges are only a first step. Countries will have to do a whole lot more than they’re currently promising. And the IEA has a few ideas for what “do a whole lot more” might entail.
…
1. Increase energy efficiency in the industry, buildings, and transport sectors.
2. Progressively reduce the use of the least efficient coal-fired power plants and banning their construction.
3. Increase investment in renewable energy technologies in the power sector from $270 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2030.
4. Gradually phase out fossil fuel subsidies to end-users by 2030.
5. Reduce methane emissions in oil and gas production. - Now’s Your Chance to Help Save the Imperiled Monarch Butterfly-and Get Paid to Do So (Take Part) [emphasis added]:
Another threat, according to Grant, has been well-intentioned individuals who have planted a tropical form of milkweed, which competes with native varieties and is not beneficial to monarchs or other pollinators.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
But exactly how bad is still an open question, and a lot depends not only on how we react, but how quickly. The rate at which humans cut down on greenhouse gas emissions–if we do choose to cut them–will have a large bearing on how the world turns out by 2100, the forecasts reveal.
Restraining global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius will require changing how the world produces and uses energy to power its cities and factories, heats and cools buildings, as well as moves people and goods in airplanes, trains, cars, ships and trucks, according to the IPCC. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people’s behavior.
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