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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Alaska’s pristine National Wildlife Refuge now one step closer to oil drilling; African-Americans bear the brunt of U.S. fossil fuel pollution; Global carbon dioxide emissions are increasing for the first time in years; PLUS: France will cover U.S. funding responsibilities for U.N. climate science… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
11/16/2017
‘Green News Report’ – November 16, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – November 16, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Here’s a road map for solving 3 of the world’s biggest problems; 15,000 scientists warn it will soon be too late to avoid climate catastrophe; At U.N. climate conference, treading lightly around the Americans; Trump reverses ban on trophies from elephant hunts in Zimbabwe; GOP senators come out against Trump EPA toxic chemicals nominee; Documents show undisclosed EPA health concerns on fracking chemicals; Arkema documents show planning, mechanical failures led to chemical fires after Hurricane Harvey; Hundreds of dams in Texas could fail in worst-case flood; Plastics found in stomachs of deepest sea creatures; Virginia plans to join RGGI to cut emissions; Climate change and drought drove ISIS recruiting in Iraq… PLUS: Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what?… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Pristine ANWR moves closer to oil drilling:
- At Stake in Arctic Refuge Drilling Vote: Money, Wilderness and a Way of Life (Inside Climate News):
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to polar bears and caribou. For many Alaskans living here, subsistence hunting is a way of life.
- The GOP dream of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling might come true (Vox)
- Arctic Refuge Drilling Moves Closer to Reality With Senate Vote (Bloomberg)
- VIDEO: Business Meeting to consider Reconciliation Legislation (U.S. Senate Comittee on Energy and Natural Resources):
SEN. CANTWELL: I am amazed that people want to throw away such an unbelievable ecological jewel of our planet. I don’t even just mean our nation, I mean our planet,” Cantwell said. “We think that it’s a critical habitat that should be protected and that it is not consistent with oil and gas development.
- VIDEO: New ANWR legislation passes by vote of 13-10 (KTUU Anchorage)
- To See How Oil Drilling Would Transform the Arctic Refuge, Look Next Door to Prudhoe Bay (Audubon Society):
Drafted legislation in the House and Senate promise that any drilling infrastructure built on the refuge’s coastal plain will cover no more than 2,000 acres of surface area. But anyone who’s been to Alaska’s northern coast doesn’t have to look hard to find evidence that even 2,000 surface-area acres of infrastructure would irrevocably transform the area. “What it faces is very real,” says Susan Culliney, Audubon Alaska’s policy director. “You just have to look next door to Prudhoe Bay to see what that might mean for the landscape.”
- Republicans Want to Allow Drilling in an Alaskan Wildlife Refuge. But Oil Companies Might Not be Interested (Time):
But the oil and gas industry is markedly less excited and that lack of enthusiasm has opened up a whole new angle to criticize the possibility of opening the refuge. “They’re in a hurry for something that the industry hasn’t been excited about,” Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington told Politico. “In 50 years, [we] are going to be dead and the only thing that’s going to matter is whether we’ve preserved a place as unique as this.”
- Drilling opponents outline battle plan (E&E News)
- Annual global carbon dioxide emissions on the rise again:
- CO2 Emissions Were Flat for Three Years. Now They’re Rising Again. (NY Times):
The link between economic development and emissions growth seemed inextricable. Then came an unexpected twist: From 2014 to 2016, industrial emissions barely grew at all, even as the global economy continued to expand…This year’s rebound in emissions suggests that it’s too soon to celebrate.
- Global carbon dioxide emissions are increasing for the first time in three years (Climate Progress):
After three years without any growth in global carbon dioxide emissions, levels of the potent greenhouse gas are spiking again.- Carbon Emissions Had Leveled Off. Now They’re Rising Again (National Geographic):
There are many reasons, but the biggest is that China is burning more coal again.- Methane leaks in New Mexico contributing to global warming:
- Natural gas has no climate benefit and may make things worse: Methane leaks in New Mexico’s oil and gas industry equal 12 coal-fired power plants (Climate Progress)
- Environmental group disputes state’s claim that methane levels plunged (Santa Fe New Mexican)
- Environmentalists Target Methane Emissions in New Mexico (US News):
Environmentalists say methane emissions from oil and natural gas production in New Mexico are higher than what state and federal regulators have measured.
- African-Americans bear the brunt of oil industry pollution:
- African-Americans Taking Brunt Of Oil Industry Pollution: Report (Reuters)
- Near Refinery’s Hum, Neighbors Cry: Get Us Out Of Here (Detroit News)
- France to cover U.S. funding for UN climate science:
- France and UK vow to make up for Trump’s withdrawal of climate change funding (Independent UK):
President Emmanuel Macron says France aims to close down all coal-fired power plants by 2021
- Macron: France will cover US share of funding for UN climate panel (The Hill)
- Macron: France will replace US funding for UN climate science (Climate Change News):
French president said Europe must step into the leadership role the US had abandoned, while Angela Merkel struggled with Germany’s political uncertainty
‘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
- 15,000 scientists warn it will soon be too late to avoid climate catastrophe: “Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory.” (Climate Progress)
- At U.N. Climate Conference, Treading Lightly Around the Americans (NY Times)
- Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what? (Vox)
- Trophies from elephant hunts in Zimbabwe were banned in the U.S. Trump just reversed that. (Washington Post)
- GOP Senators From NC Come Out Against Trump EPA Nominee (AP)
- Documents Show Undisclosed EPA Health Concerns On Fracking Chemicals (Marketplace)
- Arkema Documents Show Planning, Mechanical Failures Led To Chemical Fires (Houston Chronicle)
- Plastics Found In Stomachs Of Deepest Sea Creatures (Guardian UK)
- Virginia Launches Plan to Join E Coast Carbon Market, Cut Emissions 30% (Inside Climate News)
- An Open Door for Pesticide Lobbyists at the U.S.D.A. (NY Times)
- Hundreds of Dams In Texas Could Fail In Worst-Case Flood (Austin American-Statesman)
- Grand Staircase-Escalante monument will be pruned by half, Hatch official says (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Climate Change and Water Woes Drove ISIS Recruiting in Iraq (National Geographic)
- U.S. Steel dumps more toxic chromium near Lake Michigan, faces lawsuit (Chicago Tribune)
- 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 Video: If we don’t act, here’s what to expect in the next 100 years:
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Reader Comments on
‘Green News Report’ – November 16, 2017
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- Global carbon dioxide emissions are increasing for the first time in three years (Climate Progress):
Our tide gauge station measurements are quite good (On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction – 27).
Our ocean temperature measurements are concentrated and need a balanced selection in order to present the real picture (Oceans: Abstract Values vs. Measured Values, 2).