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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Donald Trump calls for killing the EPA; West Virginia votes to kill climate science education; China works to kill off coal; PLUS: Leo DiCaprio uses his Oscar acceptance speech to call for global action on climate change... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Warren Buffett: Solar and Wind Could ‘Erode the Economics of the Incumbent Utility’; Chemical Safety Bill Could Help Protect Monsanto Against Legal Claims; Here’s How Electric Cars Will Cause the Next Oil Crisis; Russian coal mine accident kills 36, including 5 rescuers; Top Scientists Insist Global Warming Really Did Slow Down In The 2000s; Flint Crisis: Governor Could Have Declared Disaster Sooner, Emails Show...PLUS: Scientist Claims USDA Tried To Hide His Pesticide Research... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• GOP Debate: Donald Trump Calls For Killing the EPA:
• VIDEO: CNN Republican Debate from Houston (US Presidential Election News)
• Transcript: The CNN-Telemundo Republican debate (Washington Post):
  
  TRUMP: We're going to make many cuts in business. We're getting rid of --- we're going to get rid of so many different things...Environmental protection --- we waste all of this money. We're going to bring that back to the states. And we're going to have other (inaudible) many things. We are going to cut many of the agencies, we will balance our budget, and we will be dynamic again.
  BLITZER: Mr. Trump. If you eliminate completely the Department of Education, as you have proposed, that's about $68 billion. If you eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency, that's about $8 billion. That's about $76 billion for those two agencies. The current deficit this year is $544 billion. Where are you going to come up with the money?
  TRUMP: Waste, fraud and abuse all over the place. Waste, fraud and abuse.
• West Virginia votes to kill climate science education
• West Virginia votes to block science standards because they teach global warming (Climate Progress):
  
  Adopted in 2015, the new science curriculum, which was based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), has long been a divisive issue for the second-largest coal producing state in the country.
• Coal-Loving West Virginia House Blocks Teaching Climate Change In Schools (Talking Points Memo):
  
  "In an energy-producing state, it's a concern to me that we are teaching our kids potentially that we are doing immoral things here in order to make a living in our state," Republican Del. Jim Butler said of the standards, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. "We need to make sure our science standards are actually teaching science and not pushing a political agenda."
• China's coal consumption crashing faster than predicted:
• China confirms 2015 emissions fall as solar, wind break records (Climate Change News)
• China Redoubles Its War On Coal (Climate Progress):
  
  “In a nutshell, Beijing has been watching this play out just like all of us, and now they are stepping in to fix it. So much of this is top-down policy so we often see them turn one dial, watch what happens, then realize they need to turn another one to get what they want. They were already dialing up on the shut-down of existing inefficient plants. Now they are dialing down the new-construction pipeline.”
• Chinese coal use, power sector emissions fell in 2015 (The Hill):
  
  China continued to see declining coal consumption in 2015, the government announced on Monday, with analysts saying the reduced reliance on the fuel likely led to a drop in emissions as well.
• China's coal use falling faster than expected (Reuters)
• Monarch Butterfly population surges:
• Monarch butterflies and manatees, oh my! These two animals are on a big rebound. (Washington Post):
  
  Each group put out a call to homeowners to do the same to give monarchs as much comfort as possible in a world of farm and household insecticides that are wiping them out. Wildlife officials greeted the recent monarch windfall as good news, but were still fairly grim about their overall outlook.
• Monarch butterflies rebound in Mexico (CBS News)
• Leonardo DiCaprio calls for global climate action:
• VIDEO: Leonardo DiCaprio Uses Oscars Speech To Call For Climate Action (Climate Progress):
  
  “Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history — our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow,” he said. “Climate change is real, it is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”
• VIDEO: Leonardo DiCaprio Calls For Climate Action At Oscars, Deniers At Fox News Quickly Object (Media Matters)

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

• Warren Buffett: Solar and Wind Could ‘Erode the Economics of the Incumbent Utility’ (Green Tech Media):
  
  "Historically, the survival of a local electric company did not depend on its efficiency. In fact, a 'sloppy' operation could do just fine financially," wrote Buffett. "That’s because utilities were usually the sole supplier of a needed product and were allowed to price at a level that gave them a prescribed return upon the capital they employed. "That’s all changing," he wrote.
• Chemical Safety Bill Could Help Protect Monsanto Against Legal Claims (NY Times):
  
  The House also voted to preserve the right to sue if individuals or local governments believe they have been harmed by a chemical, regardless of future federal regulations of the substance. But a critical paragraph added to the House bill in late May made sure past regulatory requirements by the E.P.A. would continue to disqualify legal claims, and it specifically referred to the section of the 1976 toxic chemical law governing PCBs, giving Monsanto clearer authority in the future to ask judges to dismiss lawsuits filed against it.
• Here’s How Electric Cars Will Cause the Next Oil Crisis (Bloomberg):
  
  A shift is under way that will lead to widespread adoption of EVs in the next decade.
• Russian coal mine accident kills 36, including 5 rescuers (AP):
  
  A methane gas leak at a coal mine in Russia's far north triggered three explosions that ignited fires and partially collapsed the mine, killing 36 people, officials said Sunday.
• Top Scientists Insist Global Warming Really Did Slow Down In The 2000s (Washington Post):
  
  You could be forgiven for not being able to keep up with whether scientists do, or don’t, think global warming “paused” during the early 2000s.
• US Exports 1st Shale Gas As LNG Tanker Sails From Sabine Pass Terminal (Reuters):
  
  The United States has exported its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from the lower 48 states, after a tanker set sail from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana.
• USDA Rejects Scientist's Claim It Tried To Hide His Pesticide Research (Guardian UK):
  
  Federal officials have rejected a complaint by an entomologist who charged that the government has tried to suppress negative research findings about a widely used pesticide, in a complex case involving monarch butterflies, scientific freedom and the safety of the nation’s food supply.
• Flint Crisis: Governor Could Have Declared Disaster Sooner, Emails Show (Guardian UK):
  
  Rick Snyder previously said he became aware of severity of the lead problem on 1 October, but emails show he initially aimed to avoid a disaster declaration".
• Artificial Turf: Does Crumb Rubber Cause Cancer in Athletes? (LA Times):
  
  Synthetic turf manufacturers say more than 60 studies over the past two decades have shown no elevated health risks associated with their products, but not everyone is convinced.
• NY: "Fears About Water Supply Grip Village That Made Teflon Products (NY Times):
  
  One resident called 911 asking whether the village’s water would burn his skin off. Families have lined up to have their blood drawn and their wells tested. Banks stopped giving out mortgages, and some local residents stopped washing their dishes, their clothes and themselves. Erin Brockovich has been to town.
• NY: Plan to Expand a Natural Gas Pipeline at Indian Point Nuclear Plant Raises Concern (NY Times):
  
  Elected officials, residents and environmental activists have criticized the project, saying that a rupture of the pipeline could unleash a nuclear catastrophe.
• Former NJ Gov. Christie Whitman scorches Christie over Trump, prefers Hillary (NJ.com):
  
  First, she says she's planning to vote for Hillary Clinton if Trump gets the nod. She's keeping her options open, in case we find out something new and horrible about Hillary.
• EPA head: Flint water crisis is personal (The Hill):
  
  The EPA has taken heat for its reaction to — and role in — both incidents: a team of EPA contractors was responsible for the toxic waste spill in Colorado and agency officials knew about the dangers facing Flint months before the information went public. But Flint, McCarthy said, is a bigger, more personal problem because of the impact the drinking water will have on citizens.
• Pennsylvania PUC dubious over Ohio plant subsidy case (Utility Dive):
  
  American Electric Power's proposal to guarantee income from coal facilities in Ohio has caught the attention of regulators in Pennsylvania, indicating they are concerned over the potential market implications, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
• Increased flooding in US coastal cities caused by climate change, study says (Guardian UK):
  
  Climate Central sounds ‘warning bells’ of human impact on rising sea levels with report that coastal flooding days have more than doubled in US since 1980s.
• Want to fight climate change? Here are the 7 critical life changes you should make (Grist) [emphasis added]:
  
  So, given the imperfections of this world, what is a lone wolf such as yourself to do? Here are some conclusions gleaned from this study: 1. Buy the most fuel-efficient car you can afford, then drive it as little as possible....

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a 'Hoax'!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



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

                 

Article Categories: West Virginia, Environment, Republicans, Green News, EPA, Donald Trump, Coal, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Election 2016, China, Mining