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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Biden unveils economic recovery plan with focus on climate; Also plans blitz of actions to undo Trump's environmental rollbacks; Trump unleashes last last-minute spree of rollbacks and polluter giveaways; PLUS: It may finally be the end of the line for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline... 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): Toyota to Pay a Record Fine for a Decade of Clean Air Act Violations; Climate scientists sound the alarm on a climate 'tipping point'; 'Cautious optimism' about fighting climate change: Dr. Michael Mann; Weakened 'forever chemical' assessment sets hurdle for Biden; 'Unrig the data.' How utilities embellish carbon cuts; PNW: A Thin Green Line with Global Impact; Los Angeles Lifts Air-Quality Limits For Cremations As Covid Deaths Double... PLUS: The Capitol Riot and Climate Disinformation... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Trump unleashes his last last-minute spree of environmental rollbacks and giveaways:
• In Trump’s last days, a spree of environmental rollbacks (Washington Post):
  
  Rules affect oil and gas drilling, mining and logging, along with energy efficiency standards and restrictions on toxic chemicals...In the past week, for example, the Interior Department overturned an Obama-era measure that increased royalties that oil, gas and coal companies pay the federal government; cut 3.4 million acres in critical habitat for the northern spotted owl, which faces extinction...[The Energy Department granted the natural gas industry’s petition to ensure less energy-efficient furnaces and water heaters remain on the market...“It’s a legal trick that is designed to tie the hands of the Biden administration,” he said. “This really matters for the climate.”

• Trump Admin Slashes Critical Habitat For Northern Spotted Owl (Oregon Public Radio)
• Trump EPA aims to tie Biden's hands with rulemaking surprise (E&E News)
• A Late Burst of Climate Denial Extends the Era of Trump Disinformation (NY Times)
• Trump Admin's Climate Denial Left Its Mark on The Arctic Council (Inside Climate News)
• Column: Surprise attack on the spotted owl is Trump team’s parting shot at the Northwest (Seattle Times)
• Biden Blitz of orders in first 10 days to undo Trump rollbacks:
• Biden outlines 'Day One' agenda of executive actions (AP):
  
  The opening salvo would herald a 10-day blitz of executive actions as Biden seeks to act swiftly to redirect the country in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency without waiting for Congress. On Wednesday, following his inauguration, Biden will end Trump's restriction on immigration to the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, move to rejoin the Paris climate accord and mandate mask-wearing on federal property and during interstate travel.
• Biden indicates plans to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit on 1st day in office, sources confirm (CBC)
• Facing opposition from Biden, Keystone pipeline developer pledges zero emissions (MarketWatch)
• Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. Here’s what happens next (CNBC)
• Biden unveils emergency economic relief plan with a focus on climate, clean energy:
• Biden unveils $1.9 trillion economic and health-care relief package (Washington Post):
  
  The proposal is aimed at addressing the nation’s immediate needs. A larger recovery package will follow...Biden’s plan also contains new initiatives aimed at buoying the ailing U.S. economy, such as a combined 14 weeks of paid sick and family medical leave for millions of workers. It would provide grants to more than 1 million small businesses, and approve about $35 billion toward making low-interest loans available, particularly for clean-energy investments...Of those polled, 83 percent said they supported creating a jobs program that would hire unemployed coal workers, shut down old coal mines safely, and restore the natural landscape. The same percentage said they supported a jobs program that would shut down the thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells around the nation, which pollute water and leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
• VIDEO: Joe Biden Speech Transcript on COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan (Rev.com)
• Biden's climate long shot in the Senate (E&E News):
  
  The $2 trillion climate plan promised by President-elect Joe Biden is about to collide with the meat grinder of the Senate.
• Majority of Americans support aggressive efforts to address climate change:
• Politics & Global Warming, December 2020 (Yale Climate Communications)
• Survey Finds Majority of Voters Support Initiatives to Fight Climate Change (NY Times):
  
  A survey carried out after the November election found that 66 percent of respondents said that developing sources of clean energy should be a high or very high priority.
• Majority of Democrats and Republicans Support Policies to Combat Climate Change, Survey Finds (Courthouse News Service):
  
  When asked about specific policies, an overwhelming 82% said they support tax rebates for those who buy energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels. Another 82% support an increase of funding for research into clean energy sources.

'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

• VIDEO: Climate scientists sound the alarm on a climate 'tipping point' (CBS News)
• 'Cautious optimism' about fighting climate change: Salon talks with Dr. Michael Mann, author of 'The New Climate War' (Salon)
• EU Aims to Curb Carbon Footprint via Breakthrough in Space Program (EcoWatch)
• Weakened 'forever chemical' assessment sets hurdle for Biden (E&E News)
• Toyota to Pay a Record Fine for a Decade of Clean Air Act Violations (NY Times)
• 'Unrig the data.' How utilities embellish carbon cuts (E&E News)
• Democrats Eye Action On Range Of Climate Bills (The Hill)
• Senate majority offers Biden new avenues on Trump environmental rollbacks (The Hill)
• A Thin Green Line with Global Impact (Investigate West)
• The Capitol Riot and Climate Disinformation (NY Times)
• Los Angeles Lifts Air-Quality Limits For Cremations As Covid Deaths Double (Guardian UK)
• Montana’s National Bison Range Transferred To Tribes (AP)
• Hounded by Wildfires, Californians Rethink Their Willingness to Rebuild (NY Times)
• Analysis: Mississippi Pump Fight Unresolved As Trump Departs (AP)
• 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, Democrats, Green News, EPA, Donald Trump, Natural gas, Coal, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Keystone XL, Electric vehicles, Mining, Paris Agreement, Dept. of Interior, Dept. of Energy, Election 2020, Infrastructure, David Bernhardt, Pollution