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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Democrats win U.S. Senate majority, paving the way for crucial climate legislation; Trump Administration, amid attempted coup, auctions off drilling rights in pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Massachusetts to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035; PLUS: Britain achieves new record in offshore wind energy generation... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Disproportionate protest response: Capitol Hill vs. Standing Rock; Trump Admin Clears the Way for Bird Slaughter; For First Time In 5 Years, US Gas Mileage Down, Emissions Up; Exxon Discloses Full Scope of Fuel Emissions for First Time; New Study on Regenerative Grazing Complicates Climate Optimism; For First Time In 5 Years, US Gas Mileage Down, Emissions Up... PLUS: Things to watch in a 50-50 Senate... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Democrats win Senate majority, altering landscape of climate action:
• How the Georgia election results just raised Biden's climate ambitions (Washignton Post):
  
  But with razor-thin margins in both chambers of Congress, the incoming administration will still have to navigate the demands of climate activists who expect Biden to live up to his bold environmental promises and the reality of a Senate split 50-50, with ties broken by a Democratic vice president.
• Democrats flip the Senate - illuminating a path forward on climate (Grist):
  
  So, what does this mean for the future of climate policy in this country?The short answer is: a whole lot.
• Democrats win control of US Senate, boosting prospect of climate action (Climate Change News)
• Analysis: Thin Democratic control of Senate offers Biden chance for steps on climate (Reuters)
• Is Joe Manchin America's most powerful senator: What really happens with 50-50 Senate tie? (Independent UK)
• Senate flip elevates Manchin to Energy chair (WV Sentinel)
• Joe Manchin Faces Opposition From Left Over Top Senate Committee Post (Huffington Post)
• 117th Congress opens to new energy, environment fights (E&E News)
• Trump Admin. races to deliver AZ Native Americans' land to developers:
• Trump to approve land swap for Rio Tinto's Resolution Copper project (Reuters):
  
  U.S. President Donald Trump's outgoing administration plans to approve a land swap on Jan. 15 that Rio Tinto Ltd and partners need to build a copper mine in Arizona, clearing a long-time hurdle for the project that is opposed by many Native Americans.
• Explainer-What's next for Rio Tinto's Arizona copper project after U.S. land swap (Reuters):
  
  Developers will continue their effort to obtain a series of regulatory approvals, including construction permits, for the Resolution copper project after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The local San Carlos Apache tribe and several environmental groups have said they may sue to stop the land swap.
• Revealed: Trump officials rush to mine desert haven native tribes consider holy (Guardian UK)
• Trump/GOP succeed in opening up ANWR for fossil fuel industry:
• Trump auctions Arctic refuge to oil drillers in last strike against US wilderness (Guardian UK)
• Trump auctions Arctic refuge to oil drillers in final major decision affecting US wilderness (The Hill)
• Alaska judge sides with Trump administration, allows first oil and gas lease sale in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (AP)
• "It was a joke": Major Oil Companies Take A Pass On Controversial Lease Sale In Arctic Refuge (NPR):
  
  The amount raised is nowhere near what was projected when a Republican-led Congress officially opened the coastal plain to drilling in 2017 as part of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill ordered two lease sales, the first by the end of this year, with the revenue aimed at offsetting massive tax cuts.
• ANWR lease sale fizzles for Trump administration, with revenue falling far short of hopes (Anchorage Daily News)
• Trump Interior Finalizes Plan To Open 80 Percent of NPRA To Drilling (The Hill)
• State-run corporation will consider making bids on oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Alaska News Source, 12/22/2020)
• Democrats can use Congressional Review Act to undo Trump/GOP rollbacks:
• Senate Democrats eye quick repeal of Trump rules (E&E News)
• Recent and Forthcoming Environmental Rules and Guidance Could Be Reversed Under Congressional Review Act: Three Steps for Stakeholders to Consider (National Law Review)
• Joe Biden should do everything at once (Vox, 12/1/2020)
• The new Republican plan to deregulate America, explained (Vox, 4/25/2018)
• Michigan: Judge invalidates key wetlands permit for controversial mine:
• Michigan judge denies wetland permit for Back Forty mine along Menominee River (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel):
  
  A Michigan judge Monday denied a wetland permit for a large open-pit ore mine that for years has drawn pushback from both local residents and opponents from across Michigan and Wisconsin.
• Michigan judge nullifies crucial permit for mining project (AP):
  
  In another twist, the state agency that sided with Aquila two years ago said Tuesday that it agreed with the judge's ruling. The former Department of Environmental Quality, then part of the administration of former Gov. Rick Snyder, approved the permit despite the misgivings of staff water experts. But the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy - renamed after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in 2019 - said Pulter's reasoning was correct.
• Massachusetts to mandate ZEVs by 2035:
• Mass. to require all new cars sold to be electric by 2035 as part of climate-change measures (Boston Globe)
• Massachusetts to require 100 percent of car sales to be electric by 2035 (The Hill):
  
  Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides released a plan last week that outlined the state's goals for 2030 and beyond...Massachusetts will seek to have 30 percent of all trucks and bus sales be ZEVs by 2030, hoping to reach 100 percent of sales by 2050.
• Massachusetts climate legislation is 'roadmap' to decarbonization, say clean energy groups (Utility Dive)
• With An Eye Toward Net-Zero Emissions, Mass. Officials Propose Roadmap To 2030 (WBUR)
• Britain achieves wind energy record:
• Storm Bella helps Great Britain set new record for wind power generation (Guardian UK):
  
  More than half of Great Britain’s daily electricity came from wind turbines for the first time on Boxing Day, as the country headed for its “greenest year on record”, due in part to the coronavirus.
• Great Britain Set a Wind Energy Milestone (Earther)
  
  It’s the latest astounding milestone as the country decarbonizes. Last year, it went a week without coal for the first time in 137 years and generated more power from renewables than fossil fuels for the first time.

'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

• Protest response: Capitol vs. Standing Rock (Indian Country Today)
• Transportation Secretary Chao resigns in protest after mob storms Capitol (The Hill)
• Trump Admin Clears the Way for Bird Slaughter (Earther)
• Things to watch in a 50-50 Senate (E&E News)
• For First Time In 5 Years, US Gas Mileage Down, Emissions Up (Phys.org)
• Exxon Discloses Full Scope of Fuel Emissions for First Time (Bloomberg Green)
• A New Study on Regenerative Grazing Complicates Climate Optimism (Civil Eats)
• FirstEnergy Faces Another Audit As Advocates Press For Investigations (Eye On Ohio)
• Two Florida Panthers Dead In First Week Of 2021 (Orlando Sentinel)
• Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Tesla, Bank of America, solar companies & more (CNBC)
• Washington state adopts rules to guide utilities to coal-free status by 2025, carbon-free by 2045 (Utility Dive)
• 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: Arizona, Georgia, Alaska, Massachusetts, Environment, U.S. Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Michigan, Joe Biden, Green News, Donald Trump, Natural gas, Oil, Wind energy, Climate change, U.K., Electric vehicles, Mining, Native Americans, Dept. of Interior, Public lands, Jon Ossoff, Election 2020, Raphael Warnock