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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Houston rocked by 3rd major industrial fire in two weeks; Climate change a key driver of migration to the U.S.-Mexico border; ExxonMobil loses potentially significant court battle in Massachusetts; Trump lies that wind energy causes cancer; PLUS: Burger King launches meatless "Impossible" Whopper in major market test... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): The Senate is rushing to confirm Trump NOAA nominee despite ethics concerns; Mozambique’s cholera cases top 1,000 in the wake of Cyclone Idai; “Innovation” is the latest GOP smokescreen on climate change policy; Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz who wants to ban the EPA just pitched an alternative to Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal; The toxic consequences of America’s plastics boom; Arab states face water emergency, urgent action needed; Colorado lawmakers pass dramatic drilling rule changes... PLUS: What remains of Bears Ears National Monument... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Trump makes up a new lie about wind energy:
• We Checked President Trump’s Dubious Claims on the Perils of Wind Power (NY Times):
  
  The suggestion that turbine noises cause cancer is completely unfounded. “The American Cancer Society is unaware of any credible evidence linking the noise from windmills to cancer,” a spokeswoman for the group said in an email.
• VIDEO: ‘Course windmills cause cancer — that’s why everyone in Holland is dead’: Trump mocked for his wind energy attack (Washington Post):
  
  Trump’s claim about cancer drew even harsher rebuke from Colbert. "'Course windmills cause cancer,” the host said. “That’s why everyone in Holland is dead.”
• VIDEO: Trump Claims Wind Turbines Cause Cancer (Late Night With Seth Meyers)
• CHART: How Many Birds Are Killed By Wind, Solar, Oil, And Coal? (Climate Progress)
• Grassley: Trump's claim that noise from wind turbines causes cancer was 'idiotic' (CNN):
  
  According to the Iowa Wind Energy Association, the state is home to more than 4,000 wind turbines that provide 37% of the state's electricity. The industry also provides the state with some 9,000 jobs, according to the group.
• VIDEO: White House staffer refuses to contradict one of the president’s most outrageous lies (Vox)
• Reliance on coal linked with lung cancer incidence (Harvard School of Public Health)
• Climate change a key driver of migration from Central America:
• VIDEO Climate change is killing crops in Honduras — and driving farmers north (PBS NewsHour):
  
  In Honduras, where agriculture sustains many people, long-term drought, caused in part by climate change, is forcing many to leave.
• State Department says US cutting off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras (CNN)
• US aid cuts will spur Central America migration, experts say (AP):
  
  “It’s illogical and it’s irresponsible. ... You’re talking about long-term challenges that are going to require long-term, sustainable solutions,” said Adriana Beltrán, a Central America specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America. “So rather than helping to stabilize the situation and try to address these long-term challenges, the cut in assistance will only make the situation worse. Gutting important programs,” she added, “will eventually lead to more migration, more insecurity, more corruption, more impunity in these countries.”
• Houston rocked by 3rd major industrial fire in 2 weeks:
• KMCO identifies worker killed in explosion at Crosby chemical plant (Houston Chronicle)
• KMCO Crosby plant fire: Facility poses high potential for harm, long history of safety violations (Houston Chronicle)
• Second Houston Chemical Plant Fire Spews Thousands of Pounds of Toxic Pollutants Into the Air (Earther)
• Federal agency to investigate Texas chemical fire (AP)
• After The Second Fire In A Month, Residents Near Houston Chemical Plants Want More Government Action (KUT)
• KMCO fire probe stretches Harris County resources (Houston Chronicle)
• KMCO contractors, deputy describe chemical fire explosion in Crosby (Houston Chronicle)
• 2nd Texas chemical fire in about 2 weeks kills worker (AP)
• ExxonMobil loses potentially significant court battle in Massachusetts:
• Exxon suffers a big setback in climate-change case involving its Everett oil terminal (Boston Globe):
  
  The closely-watched lawsuit could have ripple effects that influence the broader oil industry and how it prepares for future storms...Wolf said the permit’s provisions make it clear Exxon needs to plan for the kinds of climate-induced storms that CLF claims put the terminal at risk. For example, CLF says the permit requires the company to use “good engineering practices.” Wolf said he considers “good engineering practices” to include preparation for foreseeable severe weather events.
• The Fight Against Exxon Mobil (Conservation Law Foundation)
• Conservation Law Foundation v. ExxonMobil Corp. (Climate Case Chart):
  
  Citizen suit alleging violations of RCRA and Clean Water Act for failure to take action to prepare marine terminal for climate change.
• Burger King to market test of meatless "Impossible Whopper":
• Behold the Beefless ‘Impossible Whopper’ (NY Times):
  
  The Impossible Whopper, as it will be known, is the biggest validation — and expansion opportunity — for a young industry that is looking to mimic and replace meat with plant-based alternatives...[A] national rollout at Burger King’s 7,200 locations would dwarf those previous announcements and more than double the total number of locations where Impossible’s burgers are available.
• Burger King is rolling out a meatless Whopper. Can McDonald’s be far behind? (Washington Post)
• Everything is Possible: Burger King to Test Meatless Whopper (Climate Crocks)
• Have we hit ‘peak beef’? (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

• The Senate is rushing to confirm this Trump NOAA nominee despite ethics concerns (Washington Post)
• Mozambique’s cholera cases top 1,000 in the wake of Cyclone Idai (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz who wants to ban the EPA just pitched an alternative to Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal (CNBC)
• “Innovation”: the latest GOP smokescreen on climate change policy (Vox)
• A California tax to clean up toxic drinking water has lawmakers jumpy (LA Times)
• The Toxic Consequences of America’s Plastics Boom (The Nation)
• Iran reports massive flood damage to farms (Reuters)
• Arab states face water emergency, urgent action needed: U.N. (Reuters)
• Bernhard's Former Lobby Firm Making Millions Lobbying Interior (Washington Post)
• Colorado Lawmakers Pass Dramatic Drilling Rule Changes (AP)
• Duke: North Carolina coal ash pond excavation order to cost up to $5B (Utility Dive)
• Utilities Starting to See Green in the EV Charging Business — and Competition (Inside Climate News)
• 'Asthma alley': why minorities bear burden of pollution inequity caused by white people (Guardian UK)
• What Remains Of Bears Ears (Washington Post)
• Media Launders Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Through "Branded Content" (The Intercept)
• 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).

                 

Article Categories: Texas, Massachusetts, Environment, Green News, Donald Trump, Coal, Oil, Extreme weather, Exxon Mobil, Agriculture, Oceans/Sea Level Rise, Dept. of Interior, Harris County