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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's State of the Union was low on facts, but high on oil; Democrats bring climate science back to the U.S. House; PLUS: It's official: we've just lived through the five hottest years on record... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): There’s now an official Green New Deal. Here’s what’s in it; The Green New Deal takes its first Congressional baby step, as Pelosi mocks “Green Dream or whatever”; Concern about climate change among conservative Republicans hits highest level ever; Native American tribe displaced by sea gets land to relocate; Federal government steps in to handle Colorado River drought crisis; Climate change hidden driver of Central American migration; DOE move to weaken light bulb efficiency standards could cost consumers $12B; Appeals court allows quick-take of land for Mountain Valley Pipeline... PLUS: If property rights were real, climate-destroying companies would be sued out of existence... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• It's official: 2018 4th hottest year on record:
• Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2018 (NOAA):
  
  Warm temperatures and significant precipitation round out 2018.
• 2018 Was One Of Hottest Years On Record — This Year Could Be Hotter (LA Times)
• It’s Official: 2018 Was the Fourth Warmest Year on Record (NY Times):
  
  The data means that the five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five, and that 18 of the 19 warmest years ever recorded have occurred since 2001. The quickly rising temperatures over the past two decades cap a much longer warming trend documented by researchers and correspond with the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activity.
• Earth just experienced one of the warmest years on record (CNN):
  
  Nine states in the eastern United States had their wettest years on record: Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
• Five-year forecast indicates further warming (UK Met Office)
• Wildfires, hurricanes and other extreme weather cost the nation 247 lives, nearly $100 billion in damage during 2018 (Washington Post):
  
  Experts say that climate change might already be fueling an increase in the number of billion-dollar disasters... The number of billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States has more than doubled in recent years, as devastating hurricanes and ferocious wildfires that experts suspect are fueled in part by climate change have ravaged swaths of the country, according to data released by the federal government Wednesday.
• VIDEO: 2018 was one of the warmest years on record – and the next 5 years could be even hotter (CBS)
• Trump's State of the Union high on oil, omits climate change:
• Transcript: Trump’s State of the Union, Annotated (NY Times)
• The glaring hole in Trump’s State of the Union address: Climate change (Washington Post)
• Why Trump ignored climate change and gun violence during the State of the Union (Vox)
• At State of the Union, guests signal growing 'Green New Deal' and climate momentum (Climate Progress)
• Transcript: Democrat Stacey Abrams' response to Trump's State of the Union address (Yahoo)
• Trump's SOTU Ghosted Climate Change the Same Week We Learned There's a Giant Hole in Antarctica (Esquire)
• VIDEO: CNN's John King: Trump is a 'disgrace' for omitting climate change from SOTU address (Fox News):
  
  “Well, all Americans should want our President, whatever the disagreements are, just look at his own national security review. Every leader, whatever his party should be talking about climate change. You can have a debate about what to do about it. But that the President of the United States, at this moment in the world, did not mention climate change in even a sentence is, just frankly, a disgrace- any president, Democrat or Republican.”
• Trump State of the Union speech: what climate change experts say (Guardian UK):
  
  Top scientists condemn State of the Union address and say future presidents must confront climate change as urgent priority
• Democrats bring climate science back to the U.S. House:
• As Congress Launches Month of Climate Hearings, GOP Bashes Green New Deal (Inside Climate News):
  
  In the simultaneous hearings, the minority Republicans seized the moment to bash the so-called Green New Deal, a legislative platform that has been embraced by brash new Congress members as well as seasoned climate hawks. It seeks a rapid, wholesale transformation to a zero-carbon economy that would also be prosperous and equitable.
• House Democrats turn up the pressure on Trump with onslaught of climate hearings (Climate Progress)
• House Dems Kickstarting Their Climate Agenda with Flurry of Hearings (Mother Jones)
• Climate change on front burner after 8 years of GOP rule (The Hill)
• VIDEO: The House --- finally --- cares about climate change again (All In With Chris Hayes, MSNBC)
• Rightwingers intensify bad-faith attacks on a 'Green New Deal':
• House Republicans reveal how they’ll attack the growing popularity of a Green New Deal (Climate Progress)
• VIDEO: Fox News attacks upcoming 'Green New Deal' (Fox News)
• The Republican Assault On The Green New Deal Begins (Huffington Post):
  
  Polls show the Green New Deal appeals to voters from both parties. The GOP apparently hasn’t heard.

'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

• There’s now an official Green New Deal. Here’s what’s in it. (David Roberts, Vox)
• AUDIO: Ocasio-Cortez To Unveil Ambitious Plan To Combat Climate Change (NPR)
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Releases Green New Deal Outline (NPR)
• The Green New Deal Takes Its First Congressional Baby Step, as Pelosi Mocks “Green Dream or Whatever” (The Intercept)
• Concern about climate change among conservative Republicans hits highest level ever (Climate Progress)
• In first, Native American tribe displaced by sea gets land to relocate (Thompson Reuters News Trust)
• Federal Government Steps In to Handle Colorado River Drought Crisis (KQED)
• Climate Change Is The Overlooked Driver Of Central American Migration (PRI)
• California Utility PG&E Vows More Power Shutdowns To Prevent Wildfire (Reuters)
• DOE move to weaken light bulb efficiency standards could cost consumers $12B (Utility Dive)
• Air Permitting Violations May No Longer Be an EPA Priority (Washington Post)
• Appeals Court Allows Quick-Take Of Land For Mountain Valley Pipeline (Roanoke Times)
• EPA Confirms Sterigenics Emits Cancer-Causing Gas, But Still Won't Act (Chicago Tribune)
• If Property Rights Were Real, Climate-Destroying Companies Would Be Sued Out Of Existence (Current Affairs)
• Here’s what happened in Death Valley during the shutdown, according to staff logs (Climate Progress)
• Resolutions in support of Bears Ears National Monument discussed at San Juan County commission meeting (Canyon Echo Journal)
• Michigan Governor Revamps Environmental Agency After Flint (AP)
• Fourth National Climate Assessment, Vol. 2: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States [PDF] (U.S. Global Change Research Program)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• 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.

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: CNN, U.S. House, Environment, SOTU, Democrats, Republicans, Green News, Donald Trump, Natural gas, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, NASA, NOAA, Paul Tonko, Stacey Abrams, Green New Deal