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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Humanitarian crisis remains dire in Puerto Rico as U.S. military finally steps up its disaster response; Trump attacks San Juan Mayor on Twitter…from his golf club in New Jersey; PLUS: General Motors announces it will make a big push into electric cars…thanks to China… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
10/3/2017
‘Green News Report’ – October 3, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – October 3, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump becoming real: A real crisis comes and Trump can’t handle it; Tricks that CA can use to move to all-electric cars; Sec. Perry just proposed sweeping new steps to help struggling coal and nuclear plants; Global warming made Europe’s fiery ‘Lucifer’ summer 10 times more likely; Chinese city bans most coal; Tests find toxic chemicals after Texas plant fire; Solar industry split on trade tariffs controversy; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge targeted for drilling in Senate budget… PLUS: 40 Catholic groups announce divestment from fossil fuels…. and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Humanitarian crisis remains dire in wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation:
- Puerto Rico still in crisis as Trump arrives (Politico):
The island has the potential for a worsening public health nightmare two weeks after Hurricane Maria barreled through the American territory.
- The Number Of Puerto Ricans Without Water Grew To More Than Half: DoD (Huffington Post):
The figure hit 55%, more than a week after Hurricane Maria made landfall, the Defense Department reported.
- Army Corps of Engineers takes over Puerto Rico grid recovery (E&E News)
- Trump comes face to face with stricken Puerto Rico (AP)
- Puerto Rico’s Drinking Water Crisis Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon (Mother Jones):
Hurricane Maria caused vast power outages, causing pumps at water treatment plants to fail across the island. After loss of water pressure, especially in a water system that’s as aging and leaky as Puerto Rico’s, there’s an immediate threat of bacteria and other contaminants seeping into the water supply. “The lack of ability to treat the water means that the raw sewage and floodwaters can contaminate the drinking source,” says Erik Olson a lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
- How Hurricane Maria will be more costly for Puerto Rico than Harvey was for Texas (Quartz)
- Trump attacks San Juan Mayor on Twitter from his golf club:
- Tick-Tock: The ‘very big ocean’ between here and Puerto Rico is not a perfect excuse for a lack of aid (Washington Post)
- Trump: Puerto Rico Leaders Want ‘Everything To Be Done For Them’ (Talking Points Memo)
- VIDEO: Here’s @ltgrusselhonore response to Trump in CNN interview (Twitter)
- Trump’s attacks on San Juan’s mayor spark wide condemnation (Business Insider)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda Says Trump Is ‘Going Straight to Hell’ (NY Times)
- ‘Not enough troops’ – U.S. military scales up emergency response:
- VIDEO: Lt. Gen. Buchanan: We’re looking to FEMA to help move supplies throughout Puerto Rico (CNBC)
- VIDEO: After first tour of Puerto Rico, top general calls damage ‘the worst he’s ever seen’ (PBS NewsHour)
- ‘Not enough’ troops, equipment in Puerto Rico, says general in charge of relief (The Hill):
The Defense Department has not sent enough troops and vehicles to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico but will soon send more, according to the three-star general newly in charge of coordinating the military response.
- This is the new top general coordinating military operations with FEMA in Puerto Rico (Washington Post)
- Private companies escalates aid and assistance to Puerto Rico:
- Tesla Is Sending Battery Packs to Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico (Bloomberg):
Tesla Inc. is sending to Puerto Rico hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems that can be paired with solar panels in an effort to help the battered island territory restore electric power, the company said Thursday. Some of the systems are already there and others are en route. The equipment is sorely needed, since the island remains largely without electricity more than a week after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20. The company has employees on the ground to install them and is working with local organizations to identify locations.
- Sonnen pledges to build microgrids in Puerto Rico (Utility Dive)
- Amazon flies cargo plane into hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico, loaded with donated supplies (Geekwire),/li>
- Rebuilding Puerto Rico as renewable energy leader:
- Severe power failures in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean spur new push for renewable energy (Washington Post):
Adding more renewables, and moving away from centralized power grids to more so-called “microgrids,” could lower costs and increase resilience in the face of storms, several energy experts said. And island nations, already at the forefront of pushing for action on climate change, have been moving this way [PDF] for a while.
- General Motors announces big push into electric car sector:
- GM Is Going All Electric, Will Ditch Gas- and Diesel-Powered Cars (NBC News):
General Motors plans to go 100 percent electric, the Detroit automaker announced Monday.
- General Motors to switch to electric vehicles as gas vehicles die a slow death (USA Today)
- G.M. and Ford Lay Out Plans to Expand Electric Models (NY Times)
- General Motors Is Going All Electric (Wired)
- China wants to ban gas and diesel cars (CNN)
- General Motors, with an eye on China, promises at least 20 all-electric vehicles by 2023 (LA Times)
‘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
- Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump becoming real: A real crisis comes and Trump can’t handle it. (Vox)
- The Tricks and Treats California Can Use to Banish Fossil Fuel Cars (Wired)
- Rick Perry just proposed sweeping new steps to help struggling coal and nuclear plants (Washington Post)
- Europe’s Hot, Fiery ‘Lucifer’ Summer Linked to Global Warming – made 10 times more likely, study shows (Inside Climate News)
- In the heart of China’s coal country, a city bans most coal: Xinhua (Reuters)
- Residents: Tests find toxic chemicals after Texas plant fire (AP)
- Shunning Fossil Fuels, 40 Catholic Groups Seek Climate Action Through Divestment (Reuters)
- Split U.S. Solar Industry To Debate Tariffs At Hearing (Reuters)
- An Absent EPA Climate Report, And A Tale Of Two Flooded Superfund Sites (NPR)
- Strips Of Native Prairie Plants Could Reduce Pollution From Farm Fields (Harvest Public Media)
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Targeted for Drilling in Senate Budget (Inside Climate News)
- EPA nominee has ties to WV chemical controversies (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
- Former EPA Chief Gina McCarthy holds out hope on climate policy (High Country News)
- Death of gas and diesel begins as GM announces plans for ‘all-electric future’ (Washington Post)
- Puerto Rican Debt Holders Respond to Catastrophic Hurricane by Offering Puerto Rico More Debt (The Intercept)
- Hidden Costs of Climate Change: weather extremes, fossil fuel pollution cost US $240 billion: study (Reuters)
- The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat (Politico):
Could carbon dioxide have an effect on human health we haven’t accounted for yet? The answer appears to be yes…
- The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak – sooner than you think.
- 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
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