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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet nominations focus on jobs and climate; Trump Administration declines protections for endangered monarch butterflies; Trump's FEMA moves to slash extreme weather disaster aid; PLUS: WA State Gov. Jay Inslee unveils ambitious new clean energy jobs plan... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Biden picks top North Carolina environmental official to run EPA; Donald Trump Ends Efficient Showerheads' Reign of Terror; In San Francisco: King Tide Gives Glimpse of the Future; The Era of Fossil Fuel Power Plants Is Rapidly Receding. Here Is Their Life Expectancy; Can Joe Biden rebuild the ravaged US Environmental Protection Agency?... PLUS: PFAS and PFOS: The poison found in everyone, even unborn babies – and who is responsible for it... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Trump FWS declines to list monarch butterflies as endangered species:
• U.S. says monarch butterflies deserve protection, but must wait in line (Reuters):
  
  Monarch butterflies deserve federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday, but the black-and-orange insects must wait in line behind 161 other species facing more imminent threats... [T]he Trump administration has listed only 25 species — fewer than any since the act took effect in 1973. The Obama administration added 360. Trump’s team also has weakened protections for endangered and threatened species in its push for deregulation.
• Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly (AP)
• Monarch butterfly denied protection by Trump administration, despite growing extinction dangers (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Trump's FEMA proposes slashing federal disaster aid to states:
• FEMA seeks to slash disaster aid as Trump heads for exit (E&E News):
  
  A FEMA proposal published today would be one of the most significant revisions of federal disaster policy in nearly a half-century and comes as states grapple with massive fiscal shortfalls due to the pandemic. The plan would hit affluent states particularly hard because FEMA would for the first time consider each state's wealth in deciding whether to approve a governor's request for disaster aid.
• Trump’s FEMA Wants to Cut Disaster Aid at the Worst Possible Time (Gizmodo)
• President-elect Joe Biden moves to rebuild US international credibility:
• US to hold world climate summit early next year and seek to rejoin Paris accord (Guardian UK):
  
  The US will hold a climate summit of the world’s major economies early next year, within 100 days of Joe Biden taking office, and seek to rejoin the Paris agreement on the first day of his presidency, in a boost to international climate action.
• VIDEO: As leaders fete Paris climate pact, Biden pledges to rejoin (AP/ABC)
• Biden's cabinet picks to focus on jobs and climate:
• Biden picks former EPA chief Gina McCarthy as White House climate czar (Washington Post):
  
  McCarthy, 66, who spearheaded the Obama administration’s efforts to curb greenhouse gases from power plants and vehicles, will be responsible for implementing Biden’s plan to weave climate policy throughout the federal government as the first-ever “national climate adviser.”
• Biden’s Twin Climate Chiefs, McCarthy and Kerry, Face a Monumental Task (NY Times):
  
  In short, Mr. Kerry must find a way to persuade foreign leaders that the United States has the credibility to once again to drive global climate action — something he can do only if Ms. McCarthy is successful in expanding federal policy to reduce America’s own emissions.
• Biden to tap former Michigan Gov. Granholm to lead Energy Department (Politico)
• Biden's expected Energy Department pick, Granholm, could lead charge on electric cars (Reuters):
  
  When Jennifer Granholm was governor of auto-manufacturing Michigan, she led a charge that secured a whopping $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to make electric cars and batteries in her state.
• Biden to Pick Jennifer Granholm, Former Michigan Governor, for Energy Secretary (NY Times):
  
  Several people close to the transition said advisers had struggled over whether the Energy Department should be led by someone steeped in its core mission, ensuring the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal, or whether Mr. Biden should select someone with a vision for leading a clean-energy transformation.
• Who’s Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s pick for energy secretary? (Grist)
• Biden taps Buttigieg for transportation, Granholm for energy (Washington Post)
• VIDEO and Transcript: Joe Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation Transcript (Rev.com)
• Biden taps former rival Pete Buttigieg for U.S. transportation secretary (Reuters)
• Biden Taps Ex-Rival Buttigieg to Be Transportation Secretary (Bloomberg/MSN)
• Buttigieg would make history if confirmed as Biden's transportation secretary (ABC)
• Buttigieg at Transportation Gives Campaign “Investors” Great Return (Institute for Public Accuracy)
• WA State Gov. Jay Inslee unveils ambitious state level clean energy jobs plan:
• Inslee unveils climate proposals ahead of full budget plan (AP):
  
  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday announced several climate related proposals for the next legislative session, including fully reinstating a plan to cap carbon pollution in the state.
• VIDEO Jay Inslee On The Future of Climate Policy (TIME100 Talks)
• VIDEO: Gov. Inslee discusses his climate and clean energy plan (NBC)
• Washington Gov. Inslee unveils wide-ranging package of climate policy proposals (Bellingham Herald)
• Gov. Inslee announces 'comprehensive climate program' to reduce emissions (NBC-Seattle)

'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

• Biden picks top North Carolina environmental official to run EPA (Washignton Post)
• Meet the N.C. 'star' Biden could tap to lead EPA (E&E News)
• PFAS and PFOS: The poison found in everyone, even unborn babies – and who is responsible for it (Guardian UK)
• Donald Trump Ends Efficient Showerheads' Reign of Terror (Earther)
• In San Francisco: King Tide Gives Glimpse of the Future (KPIX-San Francisco/Climate Crocks)
• Inside Clean Energy: The Era of Fossil Fuel Power Plants Is Rapidly Receding. Here Is Their Life Expectancy (Inside Climate News)
• Can Joe Biden rebuild the ravaged US Environmental Protection Agency? (Nature)
• Biden to Pick Brenda Mallory to Run White House Environment Office (Reuters)
• Feds Fast-Track Plan To Lease Uinta Basin Lands For Tar Sands Mining (Salt Lake Tribune)
• $600 Million Flint Water Settlement Borrowing Plan Approved By Lawmakers (AP)
• 'It's Over For Us': How Extreme Weather Is Emptying Bangladesh Villages (Guardian UK)
• Federal Reserve Joins Climate Network, to Applause From the Left (NY Times)
• How climate change could undo 50 years of public health gains (Grist)
• 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

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).

                 

Article Categories: Environment, Washington State, Democrats, Green News, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Transportation, Electric vehicles, Paris Agreement, Dept. of Energy, Jay Inslee, Infrastructure, Deb Haaland, Pete Buttigieg