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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Virginia’s Governor sets up statewide carbon cap-and-trade system; Bears Ears National Monument targeted for repeal on behalf of oil and gas industry; EPA gets an earful on which pollution regulations to repeal — or not; PLUS: See it while you still can — Glacier National Park’s glaciers are going, going… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
5/18/2017
‘Green News Report’ – May 18, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – May 18, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): 5 reasons why the Regulatory Accountability Act is bad for science; Vulnerable communities lash out as companies sway climate talks; Nearly half of CA salmon species face extinction; Loggers hope to fire up chain saws in Trump era; Iowa senator slams Rick Perry for undermining wind energy; Pesticide sickens workers one month after Trump EPA refuses to ban it; Scientists identify another coral reef devastated by warming; Is the era of nuclear power coming to an end?… PLUS: Blood tests significantly underestimate blood levels, CDC warns… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Virginia governor sets up statewide cap-and-trade program:
- Virginia Moves to Regulate Power Plants’ Carbon Pollution, Defying Trump (Inside Climate News):
We have a shared responsibility to confront climate change, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in ordering regulators to begin designing a state carbon cap-and-trade system.
- McAuliffe proposes statewide carbon cap (Washington Post):
McAuliffe, hoping to have new rules in place before he leaves office in January 2018, said states cannot wait any longer for the federal government to act, especially when the sea-level rise predicted in coastal communities as a result of global warming is already threatening Hampton Roads. Half of Virginia’s inland counties face increased risk of water shortages in the next 30 years because of climate change, he said.
- McAuliffe: Virginia will regulate carbon emissions; ‘the threat of climate change is real’ (Richmond Times_Dispatch)
- China, India on track to beat Paris Agreement targets:
- Climate Action Tracker: China, India slow global emissions growth, Trump’s polices will flatten US emissions (Carbon Tracker):
“Five years ago, the idea of either China or India stopping””or even slowing””coal use was considered an insurmountable hurdle…Recent observations show they are now on the way toward overcoming this challenge.” The positive developments in India and China significantly outweigh the potentially negative effects on emissions from the Trump Administration’s proposed rollbacks in the US.
- China, India to Reach Climate Goals Early, as U.S. Falls Far Short (Inside Climate News):
While Trump administration rolls back emission controls, the other top emitters are moving quickly to fight climate change by cutting coal and boosting renewables.
- See Glacier National Park’s glaciers while you still can:
- Visit Glacier National Park (National Park Service):
As the Crown of the Continent, Glacier is the headwaters for streams that flow to the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and to Hudson’s Bay. What happens here affects waters in a huge section of North America.
- Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers (Climte Central):
Of the 150 glaciers that existed it the park in the late 19th century, only 26 remain. “The trend is consistent, there’s been no reversal,” Daniel Fagre, the U.S. Geological Survey scientist who led the research, said.
- Glacier National Park’s Glaciers Will Be Gone In Our Lifetime (USA Today):
In order for the glaciers to survive, the area would need to experience ‘significant cooling,’ he said. But it’s likely too late. “Their fate is sealed,” forecasted Farage, who has studied the glaciers since 1991. The trend, he argues, could have an impact on the park and animal life.”
- Glacier National Park is losing its glaciers, and the rate that they’re disappearing is increasing (Salon)
- Visit Glacier National Park (National Park Service):
- EPA gets an earful on repealing pollution regulations:
- EPA asked the public which regulations to gut “” and got an earful about leaving them alone (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
More than 55,100 responses rolled in by the time the comment period closed on Monday “” but they were full of Americans sharing their experiences of growing up with dirty air and water, and with pleas for the agency not to undo safeguards that could return the country to more a more polluted era….”So here are my thoughts on doing away with existing EPA regulations, or doing away with the EPA itself: ARE YOU BLOODY CRAZY?????” wrote another. One commenter simply wrote the word “No” over and over, 1,665 times.
- Interior Department seeking your input on which monuments to keep:
- COMMENT NOW: Review of Certain National Monuments Established Since 1996; Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment (Regulations.gov):
Note: Regulations.gov will undergo scheduled maintenance and will be unavailable Saturday, May 20, from 6:00 am through 6:00 pm (ET).
- Interior Department Seeks Public Comment on National Monuments (New West):
Environmental and conservation groups decried the executive order as retaliatory and shortsighted, adding they were concerned the review was part of a larger assault on the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the power to create national monuments. The Act allows presidents to also downsize monuments; it does not allow them to void them, however.
- Bears Ears National Monument targeted for repeal:
- AUDIO: Meanwhile…In Utah…Trump’s Scheme to Sell Off Sacred Tribal Public Lands: ‘BradCast’ 5/11/2017 (The BradCast):
Guests: Carleton Bowekaty & Matthew Campbell of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
- Native Americans, Non-Natives, at Odds Over Future of Bears Ears National Monument (VOA News)
- Bears Ears Monument Is A Win For Tribal Food Sovereignty. Will Trump Undo It? (NPR)
- My view: Bears Ears National Monument is our shared future, and it’s time to get to work (Deseret News)
- Interior Secretary meets with extremist politicians while ignoring tribes on monument rollbacks (Center for Western Priorities)
- Short public comment period for Bears Ears review could prove difficult for some Native families (Navajo-Hopi Observer)
‘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
- 5 Reasons Why the Regulatory Accountability Act is Bad for Science (Union of Concerned Scientists):
It imposes significant (and new) burdensome requirements on every single federal agency…requires agencies to finalize the most “cost effective” rule…a backdoor attempt to put the interests of regulated industries ahead of the public interest…the Portman RAA weakens the ability of agencies to implement these laws by rewriting the entire process by which safeguards for Americans are enacted.
- Vulnerable Voices’ Lash Out as Companies Sway Climate Talks (NY Times):
Developing nations and environmental groups are challenging some of the world’s biggest companies and wealthiest countries over the role corporate lobbyists play in United Nations climate change negotiations.
- Report: Nearly Half Of California Salmon Species Face Extinction (SF Chronicle):
Nearly half of the salmon and trout species that live in California will be extinct in 50 years if nothing is done to improve water quality, protect wetlands and stream habitat, and fight climate change, scientists warned Tuesday in a wide-ranging study of native fish.
- Iowa Senator Slams Energy Chief For Grid Study Undermining Wind Energy (Reuters):
Iowa’s Republican senator on Wednesday raised concerns that U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has commissioned a ‘hastily developed’ study of the reliability of the electric grid that appears ‘geared to undermine’ the wind energy industry.
- Loggers Hope To Fire Up Chain Saws With Help Of Trump, GOP Congress (McClatchy DV):
Western timber industry leaders have new hope for easier logging in national forests, aided by their Capitol Hill allies and perhaps the still-shorthanded Trump administration.
- Blood Tests Significantly Underestimated Lead Levels, FDA and CDC Warn (Washington Post):
Federal officials are warning that some blood tests may have ‘significantly” underestimated lead levels, and they are urging the retesting of some children, as well as pregnant and breast-feeding women.
- Pesticide Trump’s EPA Refused To Ban Blamed For Sickening Farm Workers (Guardian UK):
Nearly 50 farm workers experienced nausea and vomiting apparently caused by a pesticide whose scheduled ban was overturned by the Trump administration.
- Scientists Discover Another Coral Reef Devastated By Global Warming (Washington Post):
As concerns grow over the condition of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which has endured widespread coral bleaching in the past several years, scientists are finding similar damage on reefs all over the world, including in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Now, a recent expedition to the Chagos Archipelago, a collection of at least 60 small islands in the Indian Ocean, has revealed devastating coral bleaching and coral death there, too.
- Industry Meltdown: Is the Era of Nuclear Power Coming to an End? (Yale e360):
From Europe to Japan to the U.S., nuclear power is in retreat, as plants are being shuttered, governments move toward renewables, and key companies face financial troubles. Even some of the industry’s biggest boosters believe nuclear is on the way out.
- Bannon is pulling one over on Trump. There is zero reason to exit the Paris climate accord. (Vox):
Even if, like Trump, you think climate change is a hoax; even if, like Trump, you think pollution regulations kill jobs; even if, like Trump, you want to Make America Great Again – there’s just no reason to do it. It will cause serious damage in exchange for absolutely no practical advantage. The only person who stands to gain from it is Bannon. If the US leaves Paris, it will be because he played Trump for a fool.
- A beginner’s guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it’s possible for the whole world to run on renewables – we merely lack the “political will.” So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
- 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
Halloween – it’s not just for October any more (On The Origin of Ghost Heat & Temperature).