Follow and stream @GreenNewsReport!…
(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)
IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: President Obama suggests re-routing the controversial Dakota Access pipeline; Some major — and some tricky — environment-related ballot measures; China’s top climate official warns Trump about climate science denial; PLUS: Corporate media covered Clinton emails 25 times more than climate change… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
11/3/2016
‘Green News Report’ – November 3, 2016 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – November 3, 2016 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
0:00
0:00
Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.
IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): World On Track For 3C Of Warming Under Current Pledges, Warns UNEP; Oil prices slide 3 percent on record U.S. crude stock build; Global carbon intensity falls, on declining coal use; Oil patch states may have seen the last boom; Is Coal’s Political Heft Plunging? One State May Be Canary in Mine; Hurricane Matthew Took A Big Bite Out Of Southeastern States’ Beaches… PLUS: Bad News for Honey as U.S. Seeks Handle on Glyphosate Residues in Food… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Tragic fossil fuel deaths in China and Alabama:
- Officials identify worker killed in Alabama gasoline pipeline explosion (AL.com)
- China: All 33 miners trapped in blast found dead (Al Jazeera):
Investigation ordered after recovery of the bodies by rescuers at Jinshangou mine where the blast occurred on Monday.
- Largest US oil pipeline shut off after deadly blast (AFP)
- President Obama suggests re-routing Dakota Access pipeline:
- VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: @POTUS on Dakota Access Pipeline protests: “There’s an obligation for authorities to show restraint” (Now this News)
- VIDEO: On Dakota Access, Obama says Army Corps is weighing whether to ‘reroute’ pipeline (Washington Post)
- Dakota Access pipeline company showed ‘lack of transparency’ in reporting artifacts discovery in days leading up to pipeline conflict (Bismarck Tribune)
- Tribal chairman criticizes law enforcement response, calls for pipeline reroute (Bismarck Tribune):
Archambault also said he tried to avert the forcible removal of protesters during a phone conversation with Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Wednesday…”Why are you allowing this company to continue to construct when people’s safety is at risk?” he recalled asking Dalrymple.
- China’s top climate official’s advice for climate-denying Trump:
- In rare move, China criticizes Trump plan to exit climate change pact (Reuters):
China on Tuesday rejected a plan by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to back out of a global climate change pact…a rare comment on a foreign election…”I believe a wise political leader should take policy stances that conform with global trends,” China’s veteran climate chief said.
- Donald Trump would ‘cancel’ Paris climate deal (BBC)
- China Will Start the World’s Largest Carbon Trading Market in 2017 (Scientific American)
- Media Fail: Corporate media ignores policy to cover Clinton emails:
- How The Media’s Email Obsession Obliterated Clinton Policy Coverage (Media Matters)
- Clinton “E-mail” mentions on cable news since Fri: 2,322 “climate change” mentions on cable since Fri: 96.” (Eric Boehlert, Media Matters)
- Important – and tricky – environment-related ballot measures acoross the nation:
- Solar companies are suing over Florida’s deceptive solar initiative (Climate Progress)
- Support for the Anti-Solar Amendment 1 Is Plummeting, Poll Says (Miami New Times)
- How voters can save California’s plastic bag ban (Sacramento Bee):
Two deceptive measures on California’s Nov. 8 ballot would kill the statewide law banning throwaway plastic bags and would punish grocers who support the ban. Bag makers from Texas, South Carolina and New Jersey are spending millions promoting the measures.
- The left vs. a carbon tax: The odd, agonizing political battle playing out in Washington state. (Vox)
- Fossil fuel interests spend big to defeat Washington carbon tax (Climate Porgress):
Washington state’s carbon tax is doing better in the polls – and fossil fuel interests have taken notice.
- Messy Battles Over Energy Are on Ballot Across States (Bloomberg):
As if choosing the next president of the U.S. wasn’t confusing enough, states from Nevada to Florida have energy measures on the ballot this year that have left many voters befuddled.
- Climate hawk vs. climate hawk: State carbon tax divides national environmental leaders (Grist)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- World On Track For 3C Of Warming Under Current Pledges, Warns UNEP (Guardian UK):
The commitments made by governments on climate change will lead to dangerous levels of global warming because they are incommensurate with the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said that pledges put forward to cut emissions would see temperatures rise by 3C above pre-industrial levels, far above the the 2C of the Paris climate agreement, which comes into force on Friday.
- VIDEO: The Weekend Wonk: Jason Box — Faster than Forecast (Climate Crocks):
Full length video of ‘Science and Cocktails’ talk given by glaciologist Jason Box.
- Oil prices slide 3 percent on record U.S. crude stock build (Reuters):
“This is very, very, very bearish. Nothing else in the report matters,” said James L. Williams, energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas.
- Denmark May Hold the Key to Integrating Large Amounts of Intermittent Renewables (Green Tech Media):
[S]urprisingly, integrating all this wind energy has been a breeze. “The grid operators are finding it hasn’t been as difficult as they thought it would have been,” said Gerdes. “Denmark with a much higher share of renewables…has much less downtime on the grids than we do.”.
- Global carbon intensity falls, on declining coal use (Climate Home):
The amount of carbon needed to power the global economy fell to record lows in 2015, as coal consumption in major economies plummeted.
- Oil patch states may have seen the last boom (E&E News):
[T]his oil bust could be different. A growing body of research says that changes in the international oil market, rapid advances in wind- and solar-powered generation and regulations aimed at curbing climate change may hold down the price of oil and natural gas for years or even a decade.
- Climate change? Alabamians in Congress bet on doing nothing (AL.com):
Scientists overwhelmingly agree that climate change is caused in part by humans, yet — according to that “Climate change denier” study — some 60 percent of Americans are represented by politicians with their heads stuck in the sand. Because the science is “not settled.”
What is settled is where Alabama’s congressional delegation’s bread is buttered. - Is Coal’s Political Heft Plunging? One State May Be Canary in Mine (NY Times):
The American coal industry, with its billions of dollars and army of lobbyists, has a storied history of muscle and might. But in this northwest corner of Washington, people like Christopher Grannis, a 69-year-old building contractor and stalwart in local civic causes, are standing up to coal. And coal is losing.
- Hurricane Matthew Took A Big Bite Out Of Southeastern States’ Beaches (NPR):
Beaches in the Southeastern U.S. took a tremendous beating last month from Hurricane Matthew. The U.S. Geological Survey has found that the storm washed over and damaged 15 percent of sand dunes on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, 30 percent along Georgia’s coastline and 42 percent of the dunes on South Carolina beaches.
- Bad News for Honey as U.S. Seeks Handle on Glyphosate Residues in Food (Huffington POst):
Testing for residues of an herbicide developed by Monsanto Co. that has been linked to cancer has turned up high levels in honey from the key farm state of Iowa, adding to concerns about contamination that have triggered at least two lawsuits against honey industry players and prompted scrutiny by regulators.
- German Cabinet Approves Draft Law Banning GMO Crops:
The German cabinet has approved a draft law banning cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
- Coal doesn’t help the poor; it makes them poorer (Guardian UK):
A dozen international poverty and development organizations published a report last week on the impact of building new coal power plants in countries where a large percentage of the population lacks access to electricity. The report’s conclusions are strikingly counter-intuitive: on the whole, building coal power plants does little to help the poor, and often it can actually make them poorer.
- 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
“No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously” – Desi
We need some fixes YESTERDAY (The Warming Science Commentariat – 10).