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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Republicans hold another Presidential primary debate on national security, but host CNN skips right over energy and climate change; House Republicans lift crude oil export ban; 90 percent of disasters caused by extreme weather; PLUS:: November 2015 was the hottest November on record… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
12/17/2015
‘Green News Report’ – December 17, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – December 17, 2015 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Toxic firefighting foam has contaminated U.S. drinking water; San Diego vows to go 100 per cent renewable in 20 years; Lakes are warming at an alarming rate; UK PM Cameron urged to rethink solar subsidy cuts; Denied: UK court rejects Trump’s wind farm block; Cheap gas spurs SUV sales… PLUS: 2016 set to be hottest year on record … and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- 5th Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas Bypasses Climate Change:
- VIDEO: FULL CNN 5th GOP MAIN DEBATE Part 10, 5th Republican Presidential Debate, December 15, 2015 (Latest News Youtube Channel)
- VIDEO: Part 4 CNN 5th GOP Debate Round 1 Pataki, Huckabee, Santorum & Lindsey Graham Dec.15th 2015 (Youtube)
- Cruz, Rubio battle while Trump pledges GOP loyalty at debate (CNN)
- 5th Republican debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant (Washington Post)
- Transcript: CNN undercard GOP debate (Washington Post)
- VIDEO: Here’s Why Fox News Is Wrong To Dismiss The Link Between Climate Change And Terrorism (Media Matters)
- If you blinked, you would have missed the only time the Paris climate talks came up in the GOP debate. (The New Republic):
Every one of America’s allies has worked hard to see this deal come to fruition. How does a Republican president plan on leading the world if he insists we should be the only nation to stand on the sidelines?
- The Major National Security Issue CNN Didn’t Raise During The GOP Debate (Climate Progress)
- The Question No One Dared Ask at the Debate – Why didn’t CNN bring it up? (Mother Jones)
- Republican Voters Are More Pro-Climate Than You Might Think: It’s the big donors who are driving the party’s do-nothing policies. (Mother Jones):
[A]nother possible explanation for the GOP’s intransigence in accepting and addressing climate change: the overwhelming influence of its donors, which stifles the preferences of the party’s majority.
- Congressional Republicans Lift U.S. Crude Oil Export Ban:
- Big Oil Just Won Another Round In Congress (Climate Progress):
While the oil industry is certainly expected to benefit from the ban’s repeal, American consumers are not expected to reap much advantage.
- Congress Reaches Fiscal Deal That Ends U.S. Oil Export Ban (Bloomberg):
Republicans have been pushing hard this year for an end to the ban, which was established to protect American energy security after the oil embargo of the 1970s. …”This is a powerful reminder of just how powerful Big Oil and the Koch brothers are,” Radha Adhar, a federal policy representative for the Sierra Club, told ThinkProgress. She said it had become clear that the Republican leadership was willing to shut down the government over the issue, and that Democrats in the Senate worked hard to get clean energy tax breaks in return.
- Funds for Obama Climate Deal Survive in Spending Bill (The Hill):
In a victory for the Obama administration, the spending package released by congressional leaders on Wednesday won’t block American financial contributions to an international climate fund for poorer nations.
- November 2015, Hottest on Record Globally:
- The Globe’s Hottest Year Just Keeps Getting Hotter (Climate Central):
On Monday, NASA released its latest monthly temperature data for the globe. And it’s perhaps no surprise that this November was the warmest on record for the planet. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s dataset also shows the same record warmth for the month. (These stories seem to write themselves, don’t they?)
- As December Heat Ends History’s Warmest Year, Media Still Shy Away From the Cause (FAIR.org):
As wave after wave of record-breaking high temperatures grips huge swaths of America, media coverage of the December warmth has rarely been willing to discuss its cause. Reporters may be willing to point to a monster El Niño, but hardly have mentioned it’s launching its assault off a higher baseline temperatures from human-caused climate change, resulting in some jaw-dropping record highs.
- UN: 90 Per Cent of Disasters Caused By Extreme Weather:
- UN report finds 90 per cent of disasters are weather-related (United Nations):
A new report [PDF] issued today by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) shows that over the last 20 years, 90 per cent of major disasters have been caused by 6,457 recorded floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts and other weather-related events. The report, entitled The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters finds that the five countries hit by the highest number of disasters are the United States, China, India, Philippines, and Indonesia.
- U.S. hardest-hit nation for weather-related disasters (USA Today):
If there has ever been a finding that exemplifies the need for additional investments in weather resiliency and adaptation measures, the United Nations put it forth this week. Over the past 20 years, 90% of major disasters have been caused by weather, and the United States was the hardest-hit country, according to a new U.N. report.
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- Toxic Firefighting Foam Has Contaminated U.S. Drinking Water (The Intercept):
A foam to fight burning jet fuel made by 3M and the U.S. Navy smothers fires, but massive use has contaminated drinking water around the U.S. Huge amounts of the foam have been found in soil and water.
- San Diego Vows to Move Entirely to Renewable Energy in 20 Years (NY Times):
Last weekend, representatives of 195 countries reached a landmark accord in Paris to lower planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. On Tuesday, local leaders in San Diego committed to making a city-size dent in the problem.
- Globally, Lakes Warming At An Alarming Rate, Study Finds (Oregon Public Broadcasting):
It’s not in your head. Seattle’s Lake Washington is getting warmer and more comfortable to swim in every year. And it’s not the only lake experiencing a rapid rise in temperature.
- Cameron Urged To Rethink Solar Subsidy Cuts After Paris Climate Deal (Guardian UK):
Critics say the PM should make no move to cut subsidies until he knows how it would affect the UK’s ability to meet its Paris accord obligations.
- 2016 Set To Be Hottest Year on Record Globally (Guardian UK):
UK Met Office estimates 2016 will be at least as hot as 2015, which would mean the three hottest years ever had occurred in a row/
- British Court Rejects Donald Trump’s Attempt to Block Wind Farm (NY Times):
Britain’s highest court unanimously rejected on Wednesday an attempt by Donald J. Trump, the real estate developer and Republican presidential candidate, to block the construction of a wind farm near his luxury golf resort in northeast Scotland.
- Cheap Gas Spurs SUV Sales And Puts U.S. Climate Goals at Risk (Reuters):
Surging demand for trucks and SUVs fueled by cheap gasoline is holding back improvements in U.S. fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions, a government report due out on Wednesday is expected to show.
- Arctic Gets Check-Up: Temperature Highest on Record (Climate Central):
The Arctic has been warming at more than twice the rate of the globe…”We know this is due to climate change,” Rick Spinrad, chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said. Temperatures from October 2014 to September 2015 this year were 2.3°F (1.3°C) above average – the highest in an observational record going back to 1900.
- AUDIO: ‘End of the Age of Fossil Fuels’: Dr. Michael E. Mann on Historic U.N. Paris Climate Agreement: ‘BradCast’ 12/14/2015 (The BRAD BLOG):
“It’s difficult to understate the significance of this agreement. I think we are witnessing the end of the age of fossil fuels and the beginning of a new age of a clean global energy economy.”
- How US Negotiators Ensured Paris Climate Deal Was Republican-Proof (Guardian UK):
U.S. diplomats spent much effort, time, and political capital engineering a Paris climate agreement that could not be derailed by Congressional Republicans.
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.
The fingerprints are in (SLC Fingerprints R Us – 2).