With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 4/20/2017, 11:06am PT  


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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Saudi Arabia invests $50 billion in renewable energy projects; Wildfires are getting bigger and more frequent, thanks to global warming; The Arctic now has a plastic pollution problem; EPA moves to scuttle more air pollution regulations; PLUS: Scientists fight back in the March for Science and the People's Climate March... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Scientists have discovered vast systems of flowing water in Antarctica; Fossil Fuel Industry Steps in to Help Save Paris Climate Deal for All the Wrong Reasons; Europe's coal-fired power plants are shutting much faster than predicted; Southern Company Says Kemper Not Viable as Coal Plant; EPA Chief Visits Indiana Waste Site Amid Proposed Budget Cuts... PLUS: While Flint waits, Nestle pumps Michigan water on the cheap.... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

  • Saudi Arabia invests $50 billion in renewables to wean itself off oil:
  • Exxon asks Trump Admin. for a waiver from Russia sanctions:
    • Exxon Seeks U.S. Waiver to Resume Russia Oil Venture (Wall St. Journal) [emphasis added]:
      Exxon has been seeking U.S. permission to drill with Rosneft in several areas banned by sanctions and renewed a push for approval in March, shortly after its most recent chief executive, Rex Tillerson, became secretary of state on Feb. 1, according to one of these people. The company originally applied for a waiver to gain access to the Black Sea in July 2015 but its application wasn't approved, the person said...Under the terms of its deal with Rosneft, Exxon needs an oil discovery in the Black Sea by the end of this year to obtain a Russian government license to drill.
    • Exxon Mobil Seeks U.S. Sanctions Waiver for Oil Project in Russia

  • The Arctic now has a plastic pollution problem:
    • Trillions of Plastic Bits, Swept Up by Current, Are Littering Arctic Waters (NY Times):
      "This plastic is coming from us in the North Atlantic," he said. "And the more we know about what happens in the Arctic, the better chance we have" of solving the problem.
    • The pristine Arctic has become a garbage trap for 300 billion pieces of plastic (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
      “It’s only been about 60 years since we started using plastic industrially, and the usage and the production has been increasing ever since,” said Carlos Duarte, one of the study’s co-authors and director of the Red Sea Research Center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. “So, most of the plastic that we have disposed in the ocean is still now in transit to the Arctic.”
    • Arctic meltdown: Sea and land ice are cracking up at a record pace (Climate Progress):
      The images from the Arctic ice death spiral are haunting. The impacts will be terrifying...Last month set records for the lowest Arctic sea ice extent ever in March, as well as the lowest sea ice volume and lowest sea ice thickness.

  • Get used to it: Wildfires will get bigger and more frequent:
  • State of the Air Report: 125 million Americans live with polluted air:
    • 'State of the Air 2017' - Who's Best and Worst? (Huffington Post):
      The American Lung Association's 18th annual "State of the Air" report, released today, couldn't be more important, because the Clean Air Act - the law that works to make the air we all breathe clean and healthy - is under relentless attack.
    • State of the Air 2017 (American Lung Association):
      The American Lung Association State of the Air 2017 report grades U.S. counties on harmful ozone (smog) and particle pollution recorded over a three-year period, and details trends for metropolitan areas over the past decade. The report ranks also both the cleanest and most polluted areas in the country.
    • 125 million Americans breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution where they live, 2017 'State of the Air' report says (Accuweather):
      While that number has decreased from the previous report, and the report card found continued improvement in air quality, it was found that there is a continued increase in dangerous spikes in particle pollution.

  • EPA moves to scuttle more air pollution rules:
  • March for Science April 22nd, People's Climate March on April 29th
  • Kentucky: Coal company builds solar farm on reclaimed coal mine:
    • Coal company plans huge solar farm on strip mine (Louisville Courier-Journal):
      The Berkeley Energy Group and EDF Renewable Energy are exploring what they're billing as the first large-scale solar project in Appalachia. They're focused on two mountaintop-removal mining sites outside Pikeville, where engineering and feasibility studies are underway for a 50- to 100-megawatt project.

'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


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

  • NASA Video: If we don't act, here's what to expect in the next 100 years:
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