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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Syria joins Paris Climate Agreement, leaving U.S. alone in climate denial; U.S. cities, states and businesses are picking up the slack; Tuesday's election results in a big 'Blue Wall' for climate action on the U.S. West Coast; PLUS: The ozone hole is the smallest on record, thanks to a 28-year old global climate treaty... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Emissions Gap: Why the post-Paris climate challenge is even harder than we thought; CA Gov. Jerry Brown delivers a blunt climate change message in Germany; Homeland nominee questions human role in climate change; Trump environmental nominee doesn’t believe science should ‘dictate policy’; Shell Enchilada oil platform in Gulf of Mexico shut after fire; Paradise Papers: Coal-fired plant pocketed $117m from Australian taxpayers; End may be nearing for CA's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant; A new group of kids are taking Trump to court over his climate denial; Republican-controlled Congress ordered destruction of vital sea-ice monitoring satellite; WHO to farmers: stop giving your animals so many antibiotics... PLUS: Media can't let Puerto Rico become the next Flint.... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Election victories could portend a Big Blue Wall of climate action on U.S. West Coast:
• Election Winners Promise Climate Action in Nationwide Pushback on Trump (Inside Climate News)
• On election night, Democratic voters erect ‘big blue wall’ on the West Coast (San Jose Mercury News):
  
  Trump got a wall – just not the one he wanted...On an election day when Democratic candidates unseated their Republican rivals in races from Virginia to Maine to New Jersey...Dhingra’s victory in Washington state over Republican Jinyoung Englund means the West Coast is now the solid center of the resistance, with Democrats controlling legislatures and governorships from Seattle down to San Diego.
• Big Oil loses big in Washington (Climate Progress):
  
  The fossil fuel industry poured over a million dollars into two local races in Washington State. It lost both of them.
• Gov. Inslee plans ambitious climate-change plan if Manka Dhingra prevails in state Senate race (Seattle Times):
  
  The governor said he won’t wait until 2019’s budget-writing legislative session to resume his push for ambitious legislation to combat climate change. For the 2015 session, Inslee proposed a carbon cap-and-trade proposal, and for this year’s session he offered a carbon tax plan. Both those ideas were dead on arrival in Olympia under a GOP-held Senate.
• COP23: Syria joins UN Paris Climate Agreement, leaving U.S. alone:
• As Syria embraces Paris climate deal, it’s the United States against the world (Washington Post):
  
  At an international climate conference in Bonn on Tuesday, Syria announced its plans to join the Paris climate accord — an agreement forged in 2015 for nations to band together to slash global carbon emissions. That now leaves the United States as the only country to disavow the deal.
• Trump not invited to Paris climate summit next month, French officials say (USA Today):
  
  French authorities said President Trump is not among more than 100 world leaders invited to Paris for a climate summit next month. French President Emmanuel Macron plans a summit to push his “Make our Planet Great Again” agenda on Dec. 12, the anniversary of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
• America is officially the world's climate pariah. Syria joins Paris Climate Agreement (New Republic)
• Here's How Far the World Is From Meeting Its Climate Goals (NY Times)
• US state, cities, picking up the slack despite the Trump Administration:
• U.S. Cities and States Try to Keep Washington’s Climate Promises (Scientific American):
  
  Mayors, governors and CEOs tell world leaders the Trump administration does not speak for them...The pavilion is the home base for an alliance of more than 2,500 leaders from America’s cities, states, businesses, universities, faith organizations, tribes and other groups. Stymied by the slow pace of the negotiations—which they are not even allowed to participate in—these so-called “subnationals” have worked on the sidelines for years, using political will, economic leverage and the celebrity status of prominent politicians to advance their climate goals.
• Massachusetts Represented At Global Climate Conference in Germany (WGBH)
• Anti-Trump U.S. coalition tells U.N. climate talks: 'we're still in' (Reuters)
• Forget Trump, it's all about local climate action: US cities, states and businesses are picking up the slack (Deuschte-Welle)
• Some progress in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria:
• Thousands in Puerto Rico still have no running water. That’s making people sick. (Miami Herald)
• New 'day one' for Puerto Rico grid repair, 7 weeks after storm (E&E News):
  
  The disaster of Hurricane Maria was twofold: first, a natural disaster. Second, a bungled human response to a humanitarian crisis and the longest blackout in American history. Grid restoration work is finally picking up speed nearly seven weeks after the hurricane's strike. But the faltering response has still not been resolved into a unified campaign to bring power back.
• Six weeks after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans still waiting for help from FEMA (Guardian UK):
  
  Federal agency still hobbled by lack of electricity and reliable cell and internet service – stopping Puerto Ricans from getting the help they desperately need
• Puerto Rico Needs as Much as $21 Billion in Aid, Oversight Official Says (Bloomberg)
• FEMA offers to airlift Puerto Ricans to mainland U.S. (CBS News)
• ‘Nuclear nightmare’: Trump’s speech to the South Korean National Assembly, annotated (Washington Post)
• Houston officials seek federal funding in Hurricane Harvey recovery:
• Texas unveils $61B plan to rebuild following Harvey (Construction Dive)
• Texas-size $61 billion Harvey plan includes 'Ike Dike,' new reservoirs, buyouts (Houston Chronicle):
  
  A nearly $61 billion state plan to rebuild Houston and the Texas coast after Hurricane Harvey includes funding for three "coastal spines" to control flooding, new reservoirs and buyouts of thousands of properties.
• NASA: Ozone hole shrinks to smallest size since 1988, thanks to climate treaty:
• Earth’s Ozone Hole Shrivels To Smallest Since 1988 (AP)
• VIDEO: The Earth’s ozone hole is shrinking and is the smallest it has been since 1988 (Washington Post):
  
  Warmer-than-usual weather conditions in the stratosphere are to thank for the shrinkage since 2016, as the warmer air helped fend off chemicals like chlorine and bromine that eat away at the ozone layer, scientists said. But the hole's overall reduction can be traced to global efforts since the mid-1980s to ban the emission of ozone-depleting chemicals.
• VIDEO: Margaret Thatcher - UN General Assembly Climate Change Speech (1989) (YouTube)

'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

• Why the Post-Paris Climate Challenge Is Even Harder Than We Thought (Yale e360):
  
  As international negotiators convene in Bonn, they must confront the stark conclusion of a new UN report: The national commitments under the Paris Agreement will not come close to providing the emissions reductions needed to avoid the most severe effects of climate change.
• California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers a blunt climate change message in Germany (LA Times)
• Homeland nominee questions human role in climate change (ABC News)
• Shell Enchilada oil platform in Gulf of Mexico shut after fire (Reuters)
• End may be nearing for CA's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant (SF Chronicle)
• Paradise Papers: Coal-fired plant shifted $1bn offshore while pocketing $117m from Australian taxpayers (Guardian UK)
• Media can't let Puerto Rico become the next Flint (Media Matters)
• Trump’s choice for No. 2 at EPA admitted he saw coal baron’s action plan to dismantle agency (Climate Progress)
• Trump environmental nominee doesn’t believe science should ‘dictate policy’ (Climate Progress)
• Sen. Carper eviscerates Trump’s Homeland Security pick for her climate science denial (Climate Progress)
• U.S. Subpoenas Icahn Over Biofuel Action While Trump Adviser (Bloomberg)
• A new group of kids are taking Trump to court over his climate denial (Climate Progress)
• Trump accused of obstructing satellite research into climate change, after Republican-controlled Congress ordered destruction of vital sea-ice probe (Guardian UK)
• Durbin Blocks Interior Nominees From Confirmation (The Hill)
• WHO To Farmers: Stop Giving Your Animals So Many Antibiotics (NPR)
• California Cracks Down On Weed Killer As Lawsuits Abound (Kaiser Health News)
• Climate Preview? Pacific Ocean ‘Blob’ Seems To Take Toll On Alaska Cod (Seattle Times)
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps.
• 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

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

                 

Article Categories: California, Texas, United Nations, Environment, France, Washington State, Democrats, Green News, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Climate change, NASA, Syria, Paris Agreement, Election 2017, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Maria, Margaret Thatcher, Jay Inslee