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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's proposed budget cuts go deepest on climate change; Extreme rains trigger catastrophic deadly flooding in Peru; U.S. Supreme Court nominee blocked environmental lawsuits; PLUS: Defense Secretary Mattis calls climate change a national security threat --- at least in writing... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Did You Even Hear About These Crazy Wildfires in the Midwest?; Repeal Of Obama Drilling Rule Stalls In The Senate; Trump Repeal of Climate Rules Means US Paris Target Now Out of Reach; Teens Suing U.S. Over Climate Ask for Exxon's 'Wayne Tracker' Emails; New Flame Retardant Threat Documented In Great Lakes; The Wonder Material That May Make Spray-On Solar PV Reality... PLUS: Trump's budget "will cut science off at the knees," and hurt American industry tooTrump's budget "will cut science off at the knees," and hurt American industry too and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Trump touts new executive action to 'save coal jobs' (Reuters):
  
  "As we speak we are preparing new executive actions to save our coal industry and to save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. The miners are coming back," Trump told a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, without providing any details.
• Trump's Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch blocked environmental lawsuits:
• How Trump's Supreme Court Pick Quietly Wipes Out Environmental Cases (Mother Jones):
  
  Throughout his career, Gorsuch has found creative ways of throwing judicial roadblocks in front of environmental litigation. In many instances, Gorsuch has ruled that environmentalist groups don't have what is called "standing" to bring a case. Denise Grab, a senior attorney with the New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity, found several examples where Gorsuch went "way beyond what's the traditional consensus-type views on standing. He's gone out of his way to take bolder steps than the Supreme Court has taken so far."
• Predicting How Neil Gorsuch Would Rule on Environmental Issues (Legal Planet)
• Gorsuch and the Environment: A Closer Look (Legal Planet)
• The Fate of Environmental Law in a Trump-Era Supreme Court (Scientific American)
• Trump's proposed budget eliminates climate, energy programs, hurts rural America:
• VIDEO: OMB Director: 'Climate Change Is A Waste Of Money' (Washington Post)
• Fighting climate change isn’t a ‘waste of money’ — it’s a good investment (The Verge)
• Trump's budget would torpedo Obama's investments in climate change and clean energy (Washington Post):
  
  The budget cuts climate and clean energy research, international climate aid, and more.
• The Trump budget's bizarre move to cut the weatherization of homes (Washington Post)
• President Trump Wants to Kill This Clean Energy Program Even Though It Has Bipartisan Support (TIME)
• Def. Secretary Mattis says climate change a national security threat:
• Trump's Defense Secretary Cites Climate Change as National Security Challenge (Pro Publica):
  
  James Mattis' unpublished testimony before a Senate panel recognizes a threat others in the administration reject or minimize.
• AUDIO: Climate Change As An Issue Of National Security (NPR)
• Peru: extreme rains and 'localized El Nino' trigger catastrophic flooding:
• VIDEO: Heavy downpours leave 72 dead (Euronews)
• The unnamed phenomenon behind Peru’s extraordinary flooding (Washington Post):
  
  It looks a whole lot like El Niño in Peru, but you won’t be hearing that description from climate forecasters anytime soon.
• Abnormal El Nino in Peru unleashes deadly downpours; more flooding seen (Reuters)
• Drastic swings in extreme weather slams U.S. crops:
• Severe freeze damage in portions of the southeast U.S. (WLKY Kentucky)
• Georgia blueberry crop "devastated" by freezing temperatures and frost (WALB Georgia)
• Deep South freeze means fewer blueberries and peaches (AP):
  
  While mid-March freezes aren't unusual in much of the Southeast, many crops were blooming up to three weeks early because of the unusually mild winter.
• Trump Admin allowing offshore wind energy to go foward - for now:
• Despite Trump, U.S. Wind Energy Blasts Forward With New $9 Million Offshore Lease (Triple Pundit)

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

For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page

• Trump's budget "will cut science off at the knees," and hurt American industry too (Quartz):
  
  President Donald Trump's proposed budget for next year makes big cuts to US government science funding. But it's not only government scientists who will suffer: It's American high-tech industries that, in recent decades, have come to rely on those scientists' basic research to seed their innovations.
• Did You Even Hear About These Crazy Wildfires in the Midwest? (Mother Jones):
  
  Science says a warming climate means more wildfires in southern plain states-which are all governed by deniers.
• Repeal Of Obama Drilling Rule Stalls In The Senate (The Hill):
  
  The GOP’s effort to roll back contentious Obama-era regulations is hitting a snag. Some Republican senators are coming out against a resolution that would repeal an Interior Department regulation governing oil and natural gas drilling on federal land. The rule is designed to cut down on the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
• White House: Trump Aides Cause Friction at EPA, Other Agencies (E&E News):
  
  White House political appointees are clashing with U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Staffers installed on the Trump administration's 'beachhead team' at EPA have been at odds with the agency's new chief since Pruitt and his aides arrived at headquarters last month.
• Trump Repeal of Climate Rules Means US Paris Target Now Out of Reach (Inside Climate News):
  
  The U.S. would have had to ramp up its climate ambitions to help slow global warming to the 2 degrees C goal, but under Trump, it's going in the opposite direction.
• Teens Suing U.S. Over Climate Ask for Exxon's 'Wayne Tracker' Emails (Reuters):
  
  Lawyers for a group of teenagers suing the U.S. government in a climate change case have asked the government and the oil industry's leading trade group to turn over emails sent and received by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson using an alias address while he was running Exxon Mobil.
• New Flame Retardant Threat Documented In Great Lakes (Great Lakes Echo):
  
  A flame retardant has been discovered in sediment of the Great Lakes for the first time, and researchers say it may be here to stay.
• The Wonder Material That May Make Spray-On Solar PV Reality (Bloomberg):
  
  Imagine a future when solar cells can be sprayed or printed onto the windows of skyscrapers or atop sports utility vehicles --- and at prices potentially far cheaper than today’s silicon-based panels.
• To Protect Climate Money, Obama Stashed It Where It's Hard to Find (Bloomberg):
  
  President Donald Trump will find the job of reining in spending on climate initiatives made harder by an Obama-era policy of dispersing billions of dollars in programs across dozens of agencies --- in part so they couldn't easily be cut.
• Climate Change Financing Dropped From G20 Draft Statement (Reuters):
  
  Opposition from the United States, Saudi Arabia and others has forced Germany to drop a reference to financing programs to combat climate change from the draft communique at a G20 finance and central bankers meeting.
• U.S. Judge Signs Peabody Bankruptcy Exit After Environmental Deal (Reuters):
  
  A U.S. judge formally approved Peabody Energy Corp's plan to emerge from bankruptcy late Friday after the coal producer struck a settlement with the U.S. government over legacy environmental claims at a gold and metal mining subsidiary.
• Maryland Governor Throws Support Behind Permanent Fracking Ban (Bay Journal):
  
  In a stunning reversal, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Friday called for lawmakers to pass legislation permanently banning the natural gas drilling technique known as 'fracking' in Maryland.
• Climate Deniers, You're Climate Deniers--Deal with It (Scientific American):
  
  The Freuds wrote the playbook, and you're following it to the letter.
• 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

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

                 

Article Categories: North Carolina, Alaska, National Security, Environment, Republicans, U.S. Supreme Court, Green News, EPA, Coal, Wind energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Agriculture, Electric vehicles, Dept. of Energy, James Mattis, Neil Gorsuch