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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Devastating floods in the Upper Midwest, as Missouri River blows through levees; Powerful Cyclone Idai plows across Mozambique, kills as many as 1,000; Two refinery fires spread toxic smoke in Houston; PLUS: The kids’ Climate Strike that was heard around the world… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 3/19/2019

‘Green News Report’ – March 19, 2019  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – March 19, 2019  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Stomach Of Dead Whale Contained ‘Nothing But Nonstop Plastic’; U.S. Wants to Keep the UN in the Dark About Geoengineering Efforts; Poll: America Cares About Climate Change Again; A utility regulatory process for the 21st century gets a test run in Hawaii; Warning to Investors: Fossil Fuels Nearing Peak; D.C. girds for Exxon climate battle; Pentagon Pushes for Weaker Standards On PFAS Chemicals In Drinking Water; The US Is Responsible For 26% Of Global Warming Emissions & Is Morally Responsible To Help Solve It… PLUS: Why Won’t These 2020 Democrats Reject Fossil Fuel Money?… and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• GOP Congressman: Green New Deal is “Genocide”� (Climate Crocks)
• Powerful Cyclone Idai plows across Southeastern Africa:
• Mozambique races to save stranded survivors after killer storm (AFP)
• VIDEO: Cyclone Idai may have killed more than 1,000 in Mozambique, President says (CNN):
  He called the situation a “real humanitarian disaster of large proportions…Waters from the rivers Pungue and Buzi have broken their banks, wiping out entire villages, isolating communities and we could see, as we flew above, bodies floating,” the President said.
• VIDEO: Major Damage in Mozambique Following Rare Cyclone (Climate Crocks)
• Mozambique cyclone: “90 per cent”� of Beira and surrounds damaged or destroyed (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent)
• Cyclone Idai: Wake-up call to climate change (Zimbabwe Herald):
  For doubting Thomases, Tropical Cyclone Idai brings vital lessons that climate change is now with us. The deadly cyclone, whose effects were mainly felt in Manicaland, left death and destruction of property in its wake…Sheila Loudon Ross in her book “Weather and Climate: An Introduction”� published in 2017, names climate change as “climate disruption, climate chaos and climate crisis”�. This definition fits well with Cyclone Idai’s crisis-induced weather, which has been preceded by unpredictable weather patterns, frequent droughts, floods, high temperatures and many other disruptive weather conditions in recent past.
• Devastating flooding in the Upper Midwest as Missouri River blows through levees:
• Historic floods cause widespread damage in Nebraska, Iowa (Axios):
  In many areas, rivers are hitting levels that are historically unprecedented, and the old records are being exceeded by several feet, which is an unusually high margin for such milestones…These floods are, in parts of Nebraska in particular, worse than longtime residents have experienced and in many cases are downright unprecedented in historical records.
• Flooding continues to ravage parts of Nebraska, Iowa; communities brace as water heads downstream (Omaha World-Herald):
  Let Fremont be a warning. Floodwaters there cut off all roads in and out of town starting Friday. Two levees were breached Saturday.
• More evacuations in Midwest as floodwaters head downstream (AP)
• Record snowfall, ‘historic’ bomb cyclone are forces behind Nebraska floods, blizzard (Omaha World-Herald)
• AUDIO: Nebraska Governor: ‘We Have The Most Widespread Flooding Damage In Our State’s History’ (NPR/WBUR)
• One-third of Offutt underwater; at least 30 buildings damaged in flood (Omaha World-Herald)
Bacon said it took a massive effort, overcoming opposition from some who questioned whether the higher levees really were needed. Now that question appears settled. “Clearly we could’ve used two more feet,”� Bacon said.
• Army Corps of Engineers: “Numerous” levee breaches on Missouri River (KETV-Omaha)
• Nebraska nuclear plant still at full power as floodwaters recede (Reuters)
• Massive Flooding Follows in Bomb Cyclone’s Wake, With Nebraska Floods Possibly Worst in 50 Years (Earther):
  A bomb cyclone occurs when”�as happened last week when a storm that began to form in the Southwest swept across the Central U.S.”�pressure drops dramatically in a short period of time, a phenomenon known as “explosive bombogenesis.”� It’s rare for one to happen in the inland U.S., and this week’s storm resulted in severe weather across a massive stretch of the country.
• Petrochemical refinery fire sends toxic smoke across Houston:
• Texas petrochemicals blaze blankets Houston area in black smoke (CNBC):
  The blaze ripped through the Intercontinental Terminals facility for a third day, worsening after a drop in water pressure hampered attempts by first responders to contain the fire. By Tuesday morning, flames had engulfed eight of the facility’s 242 tanks, though two were empty.
• Texas Chem Plant Fire Still Burns; Air Quality a Concern (Houston Chronicle)
• Timetable for Deer Park fire indefinite after blaze intensifies overnight (Houston Chronicle)
• Fires Hit Exxon, Phillips 66 Refineries in Texas, California (Bloomberg)
• Refinery fires could drive rising gas prices higher (Houston Chronicle)
• Massive Fire Erupts at Oil Refinery in Carson (KTLA-Los Angeles)
• Officials investigating cause of fire at ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown (ABC13-Houston)
• The kids’ Climate Strike heard ’round the world:
• School climate strikes: 1.4 million people took part, say campaigners (Guardian UK)
• ‘Worse than Voldemort’: Global students’ strike targets climate change (Reuters):
  Tens of thousands of school students around the world walked out of classes on Friday in a global strike to protest against government inaction on climate change.
• VIDEO: Greta Thunberg inspires global climate protests (CNN):
  “I think we should continue until they do something,” she said.
  “This is not a one-time thing. We are not just protesting to let them see that we care, we are protesting until they do something. We are going to put pressure on them and just keep on going.”
• Pictures From Youth Climate Strikes Around the World (NY Times)
• Climate strikes: Greta Thunberg calls for ‘system change not climate change’ “� here’s what that could look like (The Conversation)
• Youth climate strikers: ‘We are going to change the fate of humanity’ (Guardian UK)
• The climate strikers should inspire us all to act at the next UN summit (op-ed, UN Secretary General Ant�nio Guterres, Guardian UK)
• It’s the Green News Report’s 10th anniversary!
• Thank you for keeping the Green News Report alive on your public airwaves by supporting our work!

‘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 Won’t These Democrats Reject Fossil Fuel Money? (The New Republic)
• The US Is Responsible For 26% Of Global Warming Emissions & Is Morally Responsible To Help Solve It (CleanTechnica)
• The U.S. Wants to Keep the UN in the Dark About Geoengineering Efforts (Earther)
• America Cares About Climate Change Again: For the first time in years, a broad spectrum of climate advocates is playing offense (The Atlantic)
• Historic Missouri River Flood Damages Water Infrastructure (Circle Of Blue)
• A utility regulatory process for the 21st century gets a test run in Hawaii (Utility Dive)
• A Warning to Investors: Fossil Fuels Nearing Peak (Climate Crocks)
• D.C. girds for Exxon climate battle (E&E News)
• Minnesota Cities Look To Reduce Chloride From Water Plants (AP)
• Jay Inslee Is Running For President To Fight Climate Change (Guardian UK)
• EPA’s Pruitt Faced Hill Pressure on Glider Truck Rule Repeal (Bloomberg)
• Pentagon Pushes for Weaker Standards On PFAS Chemicals In Drinking Water (NY Times)
• Stomach Of Dead Whale Contained ‘Nothing But Nonstop Plastic’ (NPR)
• Coca-Cola admits it produces 3m tonnes of plastic packaging a year (Guardian UK)
• EPA bans consumer use of deadly paint stripper, in rare step (AP)
• SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Explainer: The ‘Green New Deal’: Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
• 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).