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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Tropical Storm Cristobal takes aim at the U.S.; Study confirms global warming is increasing extreme rainfall events in North America; Building new wind and solar projects now cheaper than running existing coal plants, new study finds; House Dems propose major infrastructure bill with a focus on climate resilience; PLUS: University of California divests from all fossil fuels... 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 is no climate justice without defunding the police"; Arctic fuel spill prompts Russia’s Putin to declare emergency and slam slow response; Judge rejects Bernhardt's Alaska Izembek refuge land swap; How to speed up the clean energy transition; Our infrastructure is being built for a climate that's already gone; U.S. court overturns EPA approval of Bayer's dicamba weedkiller; Epidemic of wipes and masks plague sewers, storm drains... PLUS: Renewables surpass coal in US energy generation for first time in 130 years... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Record-breaking Tropical Storm Cristobal takes aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast:
• Cristobal becomes the earliest third Atlantic named storm on record (CNN)
• Cristobal Crawls Through Mexico and Will be a Tropical Storm Threat to U.S. Gulf Coast This Weekend (Weather Channel)
• Governor John Bel Edwards: Tropical Storm Cristobal takes direct aim at Louisiana (The News Star)
• Tropical Depression Cristobal could bring heavy rainfall to West Michigan next week (WWMT-Kalamazoo)
• Low-Cost, Last-Minute Prep for an Approaching Hurricane (Disaster Safety)
• Global warming increasing the frequency of extreme rainstorms in U.S.:
• New Study Shows Global Warming Intensifying Extreme Rainstorms Over North America (Inside Climate News):
  
  At the current level of warming caused by greenhouse gases—about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the pre-industrial average—extreme rainstorms that in the past happened once every 20 years will occur every five years, according to the study. If the current rate of warming continues, Earth will heat up 5.4 degrees by 2100. Then, 20, 50 and 100-year extreme rainstorms could happen every 1.5 to 2.5 years, the researchers concluded... "The changes in the return periods really stood out," she said. "That is a key contributor to flash flooding events and it will mean that flash flooding is going to be an increasing concern as well."
• Yes, we're getting more extreme rainfall, and it's due to climate change, study confirms (CBC)
• 15,000+ dams listed as potentially "high hazard" in U.S.:
• Thousands of run-down US dams would kill people if they failed, study finds (Guardian UK):
  
  17% of 91,000 US dams classified with ‘high hazard’ potential...“Unfortunately, some state programs don’t have the resources they need to follow through,” Ogden said. “These can be very expensive repairs … so if the owner is unable or unwilling to do that, it takes a lot of time and resources to go through the enforcement process.”
• House Democrats unveil plan to upgrade nation's infrastructure, including climate resilience:
• House Democrats unveil $500 billion transportation package with focus on buses, rail and the environment (Washington Post)
• House Democrats to unveil green infrastructure bill this week (E&E News):
  
  The plan, dubbed "Moving Forward," would specifically provide $434 billion for highway and transit programs, $55 billion for rail, $34.3 billion for clean energy, and $25.4 billion for drinking water. The clean energy provisions could finally offer some relief to the renewables sector, which has been patiently awaiting congressional action after shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Renewable energy supporters running out of patience with Congress, Trump (E&E News)
• Building new wind and solar plants cheaper than running existing coal plants:
• Plunging cost of wind and solar marks turning point in energy transition: IRENA (Reuters):
  
  More than half of the renewable capacity added in 2019 achieved lower power costs than the cheapest new coal plants, the report found.
• Energy firms urged to mothball coal plants as cost of solar tumbles (Guardian UK)
• Univ. of California divests from fossil fuels:
• UC becomes nation’s largest university to divest fully from fossil fuels (LA Times):
  
  The UC milestone capped a five-year effort to move the public research university system’s $126-billion portfolio into more environmentally sustainable investments, such as wind and solar energy. UC officials say their strategy is grounded in concerns about the planet’s future and in what makes financial sense.
• University Of California Completes Fossil Fuel Divestment (AP)

'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 Is No Climate Justice Without Defunding the Police (Earther)
• As Floyd Protests Rage, Climate Activists Embrace Racial Justice (Inside Climate News)
• Judge rejects Bernhardt's Alaska refuge land swap (E&E News)
• Is Puerto Rico About to Give Another Terrible Energy Contract to an American Company? (The New Republic)
• Arctic fuel spill prompts Russia’s Putin to declare emergency and slam slow response (Washington Post)
• Judge: Oil Spill Responses Should Consider Harm Caused By Dispersants (NOLA)
• Renewables surpass coal in US energy generation for first time in 130 years (Guardian UK)
• How to Speed up the Clean Energy Transition (EcoWatch)
• Our Infrastructure Is Being Built for a Climate That’s Already Gone (VICE)
• Bayer Faces More Weedkiller Trouble as U.S. Court Bans Dicamba (Bloomberg)
• US Ranks 24th In The World On Environmental Performance (Guardian UK)
• Epidemic of Wipes And Masks Plague Sewers, Storm Drains (AP)
• Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
• What Does '12 Years to Act on Climate Change' (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (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: California, Louisiana, Environment, Democrats, Republicans, Green News, Natural gas, Coal, Oil, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Infrastructure, John Bel Edwards