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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Bad news for consumers: Trump's EPA rolls back fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks; Department of Justice sues California for blocking sale of federally-owned lands in California; Exxon's lawsuit to prevent states from investigating its climate change denial is thrown out of court; PLUS: Environmental groups launch campaign to 'Boot Pruitt'... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): CA mountain snowpack will be 64% smaller by the end of this century. We need to prepare now; Americans tell Interior to take a hike over proposed national park fee increase; DOE - sort of - kills 'SunShot Initiative'; Human role in climate change removed from federal science report; 'Extreme' changes underway in major Antarctic glaciers; Trump's pick to head Superfund spent decades fighting cleanups for polluters; Foe Of Endangered Species Act lands gig overseeing wildlife; Fact Check: Science contradicts EPA global warming memo; Renewable energy battle brewing in Arizona, with confusion as a weapon... PLUS: Trump endorses states' rights - but only when he agrees with the state... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Trump's EPA moves to rollback Obama-era fuel economy standards:
• EPA Moves to Cut Obama's Auto Mileage Rules (Bloomberg):
  
  "The Obama EPA's determination was wrong," Pruitt said in a news release. "Obama's EPA cut the midterm evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn't comport with reality and set the standards too high."
• AUDIO: Trump Admin's Own New Report Debunks the Great GOP Deregulation Con - Guest David Roberts of Vox ('BradCast' 3/8/2018, The BRAD BLOG)
• Looser Emissions Standards Will Hurt the Auto Industry (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  
  Selling gas-guzzling cars and trucks might continue to drive short-term profit, as some in the auto industry believe, but abandoning the standards now in place would run counter to the longer arc of consumer demand, state regulations and international market forces.
• Trump to allow more car pollution. But by how much? (E&E News)
• The EPA wants to get rid of gas mileage regulations, even though it makes no sense (Salon) [emphasis added]:
  
  The Trump administration eliminates a regulation that essentially brought all cars to the same level.
• Automakers Turn to Climate Deniers in Quest to Lower Fuel Economy Regulations (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• DOJ sues California over state law restricting sale of federal public lands:
• Justice Dept. sues California again, this time over state law on transfer of federal lands (Washington Post):
  
  The law was meant to preempt the Trump administration from possibly selling land state leaders felt worthy of conservation, such as national parks or monuments...
• Trump administration moves on two fronts to challenge California environmental protections (LA Times)
• Big green groups launch campaign to fire EPA Chief Scott Pruitt:
• Boot Pruitt: (BootPruitt.com):
  
  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is threatening our health, wasting taxpayer dollars on luxury travel, and is under investigations for his actions.
• Environmental groups launch ads on Fox & Friends to 'boot Pruitt' (ABC News)
• Why the campaign to force Scott Pruitt out of the EPA could backfire (Vox)
• EXCLUSIVE: EPA chief Pruitt joined by family in condo tied to lobbyist 'power couple' (ABC News)
• VIDEO 'I don't know how you survive this one': Chris Christie on Pruitt's condo deal (ABC News This Week)
• Pruitt Had a $50-a-Day Condo Linked to Lobbyists. Their Client's Project Got Approved. (NY Times)
• As new details emerge, Scott Pruitt's housing arrangements come under scrutiny (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:
  
  [Hart] represents multiple firms and organizations, including the Houston-based Cheniere Energy Inc. and the American Automotive Policy Council. Cheniere also is one of the few exporters of liquefied natural gas in the United States. Last December, Pruitt spent part of a visit to Morocco promoting U.S. natural gas exports.
• #ExxonKnew: Judge dismisses Exxon's attempt to block state-level investigations:
• Judge Rejects Exxon's Attempt to Shut Down Climate Fraud Investigations (Inside Climate News):
  
  The federal judge called Exxon's claim that its free speech rights were being violated by the state investigations 'a wild stretch of logic.'
• U.S. judge dismisses Exxon lawsuit to stop climate change probes (Reuters):
  
  The case is one of several, including shareholder and employee lawsuits, centered on whether Exxon has for decades lied about climate change, including its impact on energy prices and the environment and its ability to develop reserves, and taken public positions inconsistent with what it knew.
• Judge dismisses Exxon's 'nonsensical lawsuit' against climate investigations (Climate Progress) [emphasis added]:
  
  [NY AG Eric] Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) are both looking into whether Exxon mislead shareholders about the risks that climate change posed to the company's business.The investigations began in 2015, after a series of investigative reports published by Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times revealed that the company's internal scientists were aware of the risks of burning fossil fuels as early as the 1970s. Despite that information, however, Exxon continued to fund a public campaign aimed at undermining the scientific consensus around climate change, and maintained an official position of climate denial for years.

'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

• Trump endorses states' rights - but only when he agrees with the state (Politico)
• No one wins in a war over ending clean car policies (SF Chronicle)
• The Sierra Nevada snowpack will be 64% smaller by the end of this century. We need to prepare now (LA Times)
• Americans tell Interior to take a hike over proposed national park fee increase (Washington Post)
• Zinke's Interior Dept Disproportionately Reassigned Native American Workers (Talking Points Memo)
• Lobbying firm tied to Pruitt helped oil companies on environmental regulations (Houston Chronicle)
• DOE - sort of - kills 'SunShot Initiative' (E&E News)
• Wipeout: Human role in climate change removed from science report (Reveal, Center for Investigative Reporting)
• Extreme' Changes Underway in Some of Antarctica's Biggest Glaciers (Inside Climate News)
• Trump Pick to Head Superfund Spent Decades Fighting Cleanups for Polluters (The Intercept)
• AP Fact Check: Science Contradicts EPA Global Warming Memo (AP)
• Renewable Energy Battle Brewing in Arizona, with Confusion as a Weapon (Inside Climate News)
• Foe Of Endangered Species Act Lands Gig Overseeing ...Wildlife (Huffington Post)
• Utilities Look To Electric Cars As Savior Amid Decline In Demand (NPR)
• 5 Western Penn. Plants Dump Toxics Into Rivers, Often Without Punishment (Environmental Health News)
• Most PCBs Are Decreasing Near The Great Lakes --- But One's Not. Why? (Environmental Health News)
• Foxconn Complex Would Be Major New Source Of Air Pollution In Wisconsin (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• Most Homes Damaged By Harvey Were Outside Flood Plain, Data Show (Houston Chronicle)
• Tougher Climate Policies Could Save 150 Million Lives, Researchers Find (Washington Post)
• AUDIO: An Inconvenient 'BradCast' with Al Gore (The BRAD BLOG):
  
  Guest Host Angie Coiro's exclusive interview with the former Vice President on elections, pollution, persuasion, activism, and hope...
• 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, Environment, Green News, EPA, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Oil, Climate change, Exxon Mobil, Transportation, Electric vehicles, Mining, Scott Pruitt, Eric Schneiderman, Public lands