Follow @GreenNewsReport...

(Or use "Click here to listen..." link below.)

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Long road to recovery for Louisiana after Hurricane Laura's devastation; California and Colorado burn, while Phoenix bakes; PLUS: Amid multiple record-breaking weather disasters, Republicans ignore climate change at Republican National Convention... 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): Hurricane Laura and the California Fires Are Part of the Same Crisis; An Oil Giant’s Wall Street Fall: The World is Sending the Industry Signals, but is Exxon Listening?; Trump E.P.A. Relaxes Rules Limiting Toxic Waste From Coal Plants; Trump administration proposes easing oil and gas permitting in national forests; US South could save money by cleaning up its power grid; Microplastics in Farm Soils A Growing Concern; Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic... PLUS: Sea level rise from ice sheets track worst-case climate change scenario... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Hurricane Laura leaves wake of destruction in Louisiana:
• How to help Hurricane Laura victims (WAFB-TV Baton Rouge)
• Suffocating heat torments hurricane-ravaged areas of Louisiana and Texas, where more than 300,000 lack power (Washington Post):
  
  Now the areas hit hardest by the storm are dealing with dangerous levels of heat and humidity that could last several more days, according to the National Weather Service. One extreme weather event layered atop another makes the region’s arduous recovery process even more difficult. Many residents lack air conditioning and running water while the stifling heat, among the most lethal weather hazards, is unrelenting.
• What it looked like after Hurricane Laura struck the Gulf Coast (Grist)
• A post-Laura heat wave has no name (Heated.World)
• 'Devastating' Laura is tied as the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the continental U.S. (Yale Climate Connections)
• Chemical Fire Burns Near Lake Charles, La., In Aftermath Of Hurricane Laura (NPR)
• Louisiana Chemical Plant Fire Still Smolders; Residents Told to Remain Indoors (Weather Channel)
• Oil, Chemical Plants Released Tons of Pollutants While Shutting Down for Hurricane Laura (Weather Channel):
  
  As part of their safety procedures, the facilities used a process called flaring to burn off fuel and chemicals that can't remain in the pipes. That burning releases extra pollution into the air.
• Millions Of Pounds Of Extra Pollution Were Released Before Hurricane Laura's Landfall (NPR)
• Some Areas Damaged By Hurricane Laura See Spikes In Air Pollution (NPR)
• Climate change is causing more rapid intensification of Atlantic hurricanes (Yale Climate Connection)
• Firefighters gain ground against massive Northern California fires:
• California fires live updates: Fire crews battle huge LNU fires to 69% containment in North Bay (SF Chronicle)
• California fire crews, aided by cooler weather, report 'great progress' against LNU, SCU lightning complex fires (USA Today)
• Scope of California Wildfires Is Staggering (NY Times):
  
  Fires have chewed through 1.4 million acres in the state this year. By this point in 2019, 56,000 acres had burned.
• California, Colorado Fires May Show Climate-Driven Transformation (Inside Climate News)
• Extreme wildfires make their own dangerous weather. And climate change is making it even worse. (High Country News)
• Climate Change Has Doubled Riskiest Fire Days in California (Scientific American)
• Colorado's Pine Gulch Fire now largest in state history:
• Colorado wildfires update: Latest on Pine Gulch, Grizzly Creek, Cameron Peak and Williams Fork fires (Denver Post)
• Pine Gulch Fire Is Now The Largest In Colorado History (Colorado Public Radio)
• California, Colorado Fires May Show Climate-Driven Transformation (Inside Climate News)
• Phoenix, AZ shatters old record with 50 days straight above 110F:
• A Long, Hot Summer Worsened Drought Conditions Across The U.S. (Forbes):
  
  It’s been an exceptionally hot summer in the Southwest. Phoenix recorded a whopping 50 days with high temperatures at or above 110°F, shattering the previous record of 33 days set during the summer of 2011.
• Northern Arizona sees sweltering heat as Flagstaff breaks heat records four days in a row (Arizona Star)
• August just replaced July as Tucson's hottest month ever recorded (Arizona Star)
• Report: costs of climate-change natural disasters in U.S. has quadrupled since 1980:
• The rising cost of climate change-fueled extreme weather (Environmental Defense Fund)
• Paying for Extreme Weather: Wildfire, Hurricanes, Floods and Droughts Quadrupled in Cost Since 1980 (Inside Climate News):
  
  The report details how the financial impacts of fires, tropical storms, floods, droughts and crop freezes have quadrupled since 1980. "It shows what happens if we don't do anything about global warming," said EDF's Elgie Holstein. "There's no denying the trends and the fact this all becomes more expensive going forward."
• Republicans lie and fear-monger about Biden's climate policies, and ignore climate change:
• With Wild and Dangerous Weather All Around, Republicans Stay Silent on Climate Change (Inside Climate News):
  
  The party made clear its calculation that voters do not require any more response from the GOP other than allegiance to Trump and his signing of emergency orders, seasoned with invective toward Democrats. Trump himself provided plenty of the latter.
• Trump and the RNC ignore the biggest crisis of all (Washington Post)
• Fact-Checking Night 2 of the Republican National Convention (NY Times)
• Biden Pushes Back On Trump Claims: 'I Am Not Banning Fracking'" (The Hill)
• VIDEO: Mike Pence 2020 RNC Speech Transcript (Rev)
• VIDEO: Donald Trump 2020 RNC Night 4 Speech Transcript (Rev)
• VIDEO: Sen. Joni Ernst - 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC) Night 3 Transcript (Rev)
• VIDEO: Mitch McConnell 2020 RNC Speech Transcript (Rev)
• Norway: Painting wind turbine blades black cut bird deaths 72%:
• Study: Black turbine blades reduced bird mortality by 72% (E&E NEws)
• Black turbine blade 'can cut bird deaths' (BBC):
  
  Painting one blade of a wind turbine black could cut bird strikes at wind farms by up to 70%, a study suggests...Dr May said that the findings were encouraging but further testing at different wind farms was needed in order to make the findings more robust. He observed: "Although we found a significant drop in bird collision rates, its efficacy may well be site- and species-specific.
• No, Mr. Trump — ‘windmills’ are not going to ‘destroy the bird population.’ Here’s what will (Electrek)

'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

• Hurricane Laura and the California Fires Are Part of the Same Crisis (Bloomberg)
• An Oil Giant’s Wall Street Fall: The World is Sending the Industry Signals, but is Exxon Listening? (Inside Climate News)
• Trump administration proposes easing oil and gas permitting in national forests (Reuters)
• E.P.A. Relaxes Rules Limiting Toxic Waste From Coal Plants (NY Times)
• Sea level rise from ice sheets track worst-case climate change scenario (Phys.org)
• The US South could save money by cleaning up its power grid (Vox)
• Appeals Court Tosses Trump Bid To Roll Back Fuel Efficiency Penalties (Reuters)
• Microplastics in Farm Soils: A Growing Concern (Environmental Health News)
• Feds To Ship Toxic Radioactive Metal Out of SC After Years Of Disputes (The State)
• US Wildlife Officials Aim To Remove Wolf Protections in 2020 (AP)
• EPA: Pruitt's Phone Booth Revealed (E&E News)
• Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic. (NY Times)
• 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, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Environment, Republicans, Donald Trump, Natural gas, Coal, Oil, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Oceans/Sea Level Rise, Mike Pence, Election 2020, Green New Deal, Pollution, Coronavirus/COVID-19, Hurricane Laura