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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Another new record-breaking hurricane in an already record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season; Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals due to warming oceans; The first-ever all-climate Presidential campaign ad; PLUS: The Hummer is back, and it’s all-electric… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
10/22/2020
‘Green News Report’ – October 22, 2020 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – October 22, 2020 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): How the US could lead on climate change — in 8 simple steps; Amy Coney Barrett Won’t Discuss Ties To Country’s Biggest Oil Lobby; Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout; Democrats push expansion of offshore wind, block offshore drilling with ocean energy bill; Japan will pledge to reach net zero by 2050; “A conservation tragedy”: Trump environmental rollback spurs mining near Okefenokee; Satellites Put the World’s Biggest Methane Emitters on the Map… PLUS: Will Cheap ‘Green Hydrogen’ From Renewables Transform Fuel Economy?… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Hurricane Epsilon: Another record-breaking storm in record 2020 Atlantic hurricane season:
- Epsilon shatters records as it rapidly intensifies into major hurricane near Bermuda (Washington Post)
- Hurricane Epsilon Is the Seventh Atlantic Storm to Rapidly Intensify in 2020 (Weather Channel)
- Hurricane Epsilon to deliver glancing blow to Bermuda on Thursday; US East Coast may see ‘dangerous’ surf (USA Today)
- The climate science behind this year’s wildfires and powerful storms, wtih Dr. Michael Mann (60 Minutes/CBS News)
- Two new studies find ocean warming accelerating:
- Atlantic Ocean’s hottest temperatures in nearly 3,000 years were seen in the last decade, researchers say (Boston Globe)
- Recent Atlantic ocean warming unprecedented in nearly 3,000 years (Science Daily)
- Ancient Lake Sediments Show That Recent Atlantic Ocean Warming Is Unprecedented in Nearly 3,000 Years (SciTech Daily)
- Research: the deep sea is slowly warming (American Geophysical Union)
- Observed Ocean Bottom Temperature Variability at Four Sites in the Northwestern Argentine Basin: Evidence of Decadal Deep/Abyssal Warming Amidst Hourly to Interannual Variability During 2009—2019 (American Geophysical Union)
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals due to ocean wamring:
- Warming has killed half the coral on the Great Barrier Reef, study finds. It might never recover. (Washington Post):
Bleaching events in back-to-back years so thoroughly wiped out coral that it cannot easily reproduce.
- Climate Change Has Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef’s Corals (Smithsonian Magazine)
- As Waters Warm, Ocean Heatwaves Are Growing More Severe (Yale e360):
With oceans absorbing more than 90 percent of global warming, marine heatwaves are becoming hotter and larger and are lasting longer. Scientists say the trend has major ecological consequences, from altering fish and plant populations to forcing whales into hazardous waters.
- Poll: Two-thirds of Americans support Joe Biden’s $2 trillion climate/stimulus plan:
- Poll: two-thirds of voters support Biden climate plan (The Hill)
- Voters Prefer Biden Over Trump on Almost All Major Issues, Poll Shows (NY Times)
- Fox & Friends is furious that the second presidential debate will feature a question about the climate crisis (Media Matters)
- The Hidden, Eat-Your-Vegetables Side of Biden’s Climate Policy (Politico)
- Trump’s re-election could doom global climate action:
- US election 2020: What the results will mean for climate change (BBC):
Scientists studying climate change say that the re-election of Donald Trump could make it “impossible” to keep global temperatures in check. They’re worried another four years of Trump would “lock in” the use of fossil fuels for decades to come – securing and enhancing the infrastructure for oil and gas production rather than phasing them out as environmentalists want. Joe Biden’s climate plan, the scientists argue, would give the world a fighting chance.
- High stakes for Earth’s climate future in US vote (AFP)
- Denying climate change is only part of it: 5 ways Donald Trump spells doom for the environment (Salon)
- US Senate races will help determine fate of U.S. climate policy and the planet:
- These 4 toss-up Senate races might determine the fate of the planet (Grist)
- How Does the Climate Crisis Impact the 2020 Senate Races? (EcoWatch)
- In the Battle Over the Senate, Both Parties’ Candidates Are Playing to the Middle on Climate Change (Inside Climate News)
- Are 2020 Democratic candidates ready to scrap the filibuster to fight climate change? (David Roberts, Vox, 2/19/2020)
- Anatomy of a Senate Climate Bill Death (Center For American Progress, 10/12/2010)
- Biden releases first-ever presidential campaign ad devoted solely to climate change:
- VIDEO: Joe Biden’s new climate ad addresses the plight of American farmers (Grist)
- Biden launches climate change ad in Michigan (Axios)
- Carmakers get ready for electric vehicles, and Hummer is ready:
- Less carbon, more electric vehicles: automakers prepare for potential Biden win (Reuters)
- VIDEO: Hate the electric Hummer? That’s because it’s not for you. (Girst)
- The 2022 GMC Hummer EV: Here’s All Of It (Jalopnik)
- The Hummer EV Is the Last Thing We Need (Earther):
[T]he Hummer is the perfect analog for late-stage capitalism: a waste of space…The world does not need an electric truck, the first edition of which costs $112,595. The scale of the climate crisis requires us to electrify everything, fast. A luxury monster truck that goes 0-60 mph in 3 seconds is cool and all, but it’s not going to meaningfully speed up electrifying transportation.
- GM sells out first-year production of GMC Hummer EV electric pickup in an hour (Electreck)
- Volvo wins $21.7M in grants to deploy electric trucks in California (Utility Dive)
‘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
- How the US could lead on climate change — in 8 simple steps (Grist)
- Amy Coney Barrett Won’t Discuss Ties To Country’s Biggest Oil Lobby (Huffington Post)
- Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout: “An engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.” (David Roberts, Vox)
- Democrats push expansion of offshore wind, block offshore drilling with ocean energy bill (The Hill)
- Will Cheap ‘Green Hydrogen’ From Renewables Transform Fuel Economy? (Guardian UK)
- EGEB: Japan will pledge to reach net zero by 2050 (Electreck)
- “A conservation tragedy”: Trump environmental rollback spurs mining near Okefenokee (AP)
- Disintegration Fears Grow As Worsening Rifts and Fractures Spotted at Two of Antarctica’s Most Important Glaciers (SciTech Daily)
- Promise or Peril? Importing Hydropower to Fuel the Clean Energy Transition (The Revelator)
- Industry Lawyers Resist Relying on Trump Environmental Rollbacks (Bloomberg)
- BP Market Value At 26-Year Low As Investor Confidence Shaken (Guardian UK)
- Cat And Mouse On The High Seas: On The Trail Of China’s Vast Squid Fleet (Guardian UK)
- Satellites Put the World’s Biggest Methane Emitters on the Map (Bloomberg)
- Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
- 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
The new Antarctica (Antarctica 2.0 – 8).
Great Barrier Reef – the main ailment of the GBR is nonsense reporting. It is a relatively cold water reef ( warming would aid growth, not hinder it ) which has been studied by a Dr. James Ridd for 35 years. He became involved in a wrongful dismissal suit with James Cook University over scornful commentary he made about ‘reports’ made by people pushing what he said were nonsense. Dr. Jennifer Mahrosay took up the challenge and did her own reef exploration. It is fine.
s/b Dr. Peter Ridd
John Farnham – Your comments denying the copious scientific and photographic evidence of coral reef damages and death are not based in reality. Dr. Jennifer Mahrosay is not a coral reef expert. She works as a scientist-for-hire for Australia’s powerful sugarcane industry, which is a major source of pollution contributing to adverse environmental impacts on rivers and coastal reefs.
The evidence is abundantly clear of the vast, negative impacts of ocean warming, ocean acidification, and pollution, and the impacts on the GBR are extremely well-documented over hundreds of scientific studies conducted by actual coral scientists. Please post links to peer-reviewed studies in well-established scientific journals that support your claims. Assertions are not evidence.
The GBR is in deep trouble. Deny that fact, and denying the causes — well-supported by scientific evidence, inconvenient though they may be — only helps ensure that Australia damages one of its most valuable assets, perhaps irreversibly. Tourists don’t spend dollars visiting dead reefs. A restored and protected GBR will provide sustainable revenue in perpetuity. Coal will not.