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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Looks like Infrastructure Week is finally happening; Major U.S. interstate in Colorado shut down indefinitely by wildfire-related mudslide; County in Washington State passes America's first-ever ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure; PLUS: Massive new wildfires force evacuations in Greece, Turkey and Italy... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): The Bipartisan Bill Enters The Amendment Process, Length TBD; Big banks, financial firms hatch plan for Asian coal-fired closures; Western Wildfires Are Sending Carbon Offsets Up in Smoke; Tokyo Olympics may be hottest ever; Biden mileage rule to exceed Obama climate goal; Shell sponsored a museum exhibit on climate solutions, with strings attached; A Geothermal Energy Boom May Be Coming, and Ex-Oil Workers Are Leading the Way; Google is quietly trying to find out if hard drives are recyclable... PLUS: DHL Express buys electric cargo planes for U.S. package delivery... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• I-70 shut down 'indefinitely' due to wildfire-related mudslide:
• Colorado Flash Flood Shuts Down Highway Due to Damage 'Unlike Anything' Seen Before (Earther):
  
  It's the latest example of how weak our infrastructure is in the face of multiple climate catastrophes.
• Mudslides shut down I-70 in Colorado, a major U.S. transportation artery. (NY Times)
• Infrastructure Week is finally happening:
• It’s in - and big: Senators produce $1T infrastructure bill (AP)
• Climate in the infrastructure bill: A substantial investment in resilience. (NY Times)
• Infrastructure Summer: One Deal Forward, One Deal Back (The American Prospect)
• Infrastructure Summer: In Bipartisan Bill, States Must Consider Private Financing for Major Transit Projects (The American Prospect)
• McConnell warns Democrats against 'artificial timeline' for infrastructure deal (The Hill)
• Republicans Want You (Not the Rich) to Pay for Infrastructure (NY Times)
• AOC stresses progressive Democrats won’t back bipartisan infrastructure bill without $3.5 trillion package (MarketWatch/MSN)
• Sinema doesn't support Democrats' $3.5T bill, clinches bipartisan infrastructure deal (Arizona Republic)
• The bipartisan infrastructure bill is good for EVs, bad for the climate (The Verge):
  
  The deal is a mixed bag for non-car modes of transportation.
• Greenland ice sheet sees massive single-day melt event:
• VIDEO: Greenland and Global Update from Glaciologist Jason Box (Climate Crocks)
• Greenland experienced 'massive' ice melt this week, scientists say (Reuters):
  
  With climate change fueling high temperatures across the Arctic, Greenland lost a massive amount of ice on Wednesday with enough melting to cover the U.S. state of Florida in 2 inches (5.1 cm) of water, scientists said. It was the third-biggest ice loss for Greenland in a single day since 1950. The other two records, also within the last decade, happened in 2012 and 2019.
• Greenland Lost Enough Ice in a Single Day to Cover Florida (Earther):
  
  Sunny skies and hot temperatures have contributed to a major meltdown. It's part of a worrying long-term trend of ice loss on the island.
• Six major regions grappling with massive wildfires:
• Here Are the 6 Major Regions Literally on Fire Right Now (Earther)
• Dramatic evacuations by sea as forest fires rage in Italy and Turkey (Euronews)
• Eight dead as wildfires sweep Turkey, Greece and Italy - forcing beach resort and village evacuations (Sky News)
• Thousands flee homes as heat wave fuels Greek wildfire (AP)
• Heat Emergency Brings Record Temperature and Fires to Southern Europe (NY Times):
  
  Greece experienced its hottest day on record this week, and wildfires raged across the region, leaving much of Southern Europe struggling to cope.
• VIDEO: Tourists evacuated as wildfires continue to rage in Turkey, Italy and Greece (NBC News)
• Renewable energy surpasses coal in U.S. electricity mix in 2020:
• Renewables generated a record amount of electricity in 2020, EIA says (PV Magazine):
  
  All forms of renewable energy, including solar, moved into second place in terms of electricity production.
• For First Time on Record, US Renewables Generated More Electricity Than Either Coal or Nuclear in 2020 (Juan Cole, Common Dreams)
• Whatcom Co., WA enacts first-ever ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure:
• An Oil Industry Hub in Washington State Bans New Fossil Fuel Development (Inside Climate News):
  
  The plan brings together local stakeholders, including the oil industry, labor unions and environmental groups...The moves were spearheaded by council members who had won their seats since 2013, and were driven to get into local politics by the coal terminal controversy.
• The U.S.’s First-Ever Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Ban Is Even More Important Than It Seems (Earther):
  
  Whatcom County has been a fossil fuel hub for years, but its council just banned new fossil fuel activity. It could be a game-changer.

'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

• The Bipartisan Bill Enters The Amendment Process, Length TBD (Talking Points Memo)
• National Flood Insurance Program: Congress Should Consider Updating the Mandatory Purchase Requirement (Government Accountability Office)
• Exclusive - Citi, HSBC, Prudential hatch plan for Asian coal-fired closures - sources (Thompson Reuters Foundation)
• Western Wildfires Are Sending Carbon Offsets Up in Smoke (Earther)
• Everyone Knew Tokyo Would Be One of the Hottest Olympics Ever. It’s Still Taking a Brutal Toll (Time/Yahoo News)
• Biden wants to turn America’s auto fleet electric. It’s harder than it seems. (Washington Post)
• Biden mileage rule to exceed Obama climate goal (AP)
• Shell sponsored a museum exhibit on climate solutions. There were strings attached. (Grist)
• A Geothermal Energy Boom May Be Coming, and Ex-Oil Workers Are Leading the Way (Inside Climate News)
• Can you recycle a hard drive? Google is quietly trying to find out (Grist)
• Oil extends losses in volatile trade as Delta variant angst spreads (Reuters)
• DHL Express buys electric cargo planes for U.S. package delivery from start-up Eviation (CNBC)
• Scientists Find New, More Dangerous Climate Threat in Thawing Permafrost (Washington Post)
• Louisiana Trying To Save Island Used By Jean Lafitte (NOLA)
• Crushing climate impacts to hit sooner than feared: draft UN report (AFP/France 24):
  
  Climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can tame planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to a landmark draft report from the UN's climate science advisors obtained by AFP. Species extinction, more widespread disease, unliveable heat, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas --- these and other devastating climate impacts are accelerating and bound to become painfully obvious before a child born today turns 30.
• Nations Must Drop Fossil Fuels, Fast, World Energy Body Warns (NY Times)
• Electric cars: What will happen to all the dead batteries? (BBC)
• Climate Fund Choices for Investors Are Multiplying (Bloomberg/Yahoo)
• 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: Colorado, Environment, U.S. Senate, Washington State, Democrats, Chuck Schumer, Green News, Dick Durbin, Mitch McConnell, Natural gas, Coal, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Transportation, Electric vehicles, Infrastructure