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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: President Biden pushes for unified climate action at U.N.; China vows to end international financing of coal plants; 2021 wildfires set new record for carbon dioxide emissions; OSHA will protect workers from extreme heat; PLUS: Illinois passes landmark clean energy and climate justice law... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): EPA to cut HFCs, thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide; Entergy Resisted Upgrading New Orleans' Power Grid. Residents Suffered; WHO Slashes Guideline Limits on Air Pollution From Fossil Fuels; California's Reliance on Dams Puts Fish in Hot Water; Will Taxpayers Bear Cost Of Cleaning Up America's Abandoned Oil Wells?... PLUS: Nitrogen: The Environmental Crisis You Haven't Heard Of Yet... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• President Biden pushes for unified climate action at U.N.:
• At the United Nations, Biden is still trying to convince the world America is back (Vox):
  
  But the test isn’t whether America is back — it’s whether it can help build the world Biden says it wants to build.
• At U.N., Biden calls for unity in addressing pandemic and climate change (Washington Post):
  
  He pledged additional support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change and said the challenges of the future require leaving old conflicts in the past.
• Biden challenges UN to act together on pandemic, climate change (ABC News)
• Biden vows to double aid for vulnerable nations dealing with climate change (Washington Post):
  
  Proposed $11.4 billion in annual U.S. financing would help “support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest," the president said, but critics say it’s still not enough...Earlier this year, an analysis by the independent international think tank Overseas Development Institute found the United States ideally should be contributing $31.9 billion to $49.4 billion a year toward climate help for developing nations.
• Biden vows to double aid to developing countries vulnerable to climate crisis (Guardian UK)
• VIDEO: Joe Biden UN General Assembly Speech Transcript: Climate Agenda, COVID-19 Vaccines (Rev.com)
• U.N. Chief, UK PM Increase Pressure On Leaders For Climate Change Funds (Reuters)
• China pledges to end international financing of coal-fired power plants:
• China, US unveil separate big steps to fight climate change (AP):
  
  "It’s a big deal. China was the only significant funder of overseas coal left. This announcement essentially ends all public support for coal globally,” said Joanna Lewis, an expert on China, energy and climate at Georgetown University. “This is the announcement many have been waiting for."...What also matters is when China stops building new coal plants at home and shutters old ones, Tsang said.
• Xi says China will stop building new coal-fired power plants abroad (NBC News)
• Analysis: China's pledge to cut project finance is the 'new normal' for coal (Reuters)
• VIDEO: China overseas coal project funding halt 'will help the world': Greenpeace (AFP?Yahoo News)
• 2021 Wildfires set new record for CO2 emissions:
• Global wildfire carbon dioxide emissions at record high, data shows (Guardian UK):
  
  Figures from EU monitoring service for August are highest since it began measurements in 2003...[S]cientists are concerned that areas with dense vegetation are becoming a source rather than a sink of greenhouse gases.
• Global CO2 emissions from wildfires reached record highs this summer, satellite data shows (Independent UK)
• Western U.S. fires burning at higher elevations thanks to climate change:
• California fires are burning at higher elevations than ever, creating new dangers (LA Times):
  
  "What we’re seeing is that these fuels at high elevations that typically weren’t able to carry a fire now are able to carry fire," said John Abatzoglou, an associate professor of climatology at UC Merced and coauthor of a recent study about wildfires at higher elevations. "That’s allowing these fires to effectively reach new heights."
• Warming enabled upslope advance in western US forest fires (PNAS)
• Biden OSHA to protect workers from extreme heat:
• Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Protect Workers and Communities from Extreme Heat (Inside Climate News):
  
  With climate change warming the planet, the president’s move comes after hundreds died this summer in the Pacific Northwest’s record-breaking heat.
• Biden Confronts Extreme Heat, A Silent Climate Killer (Washington Post):
  
  The Labor Department will undertake an initiative "to protect outdoor workers, including agricultural, construction, and delivery workers, as well as indoor workers, including those in warehouses, factories, and kitchens" from heat exposure...
• Michigan to build nation's first wireless EV charging road:
  • Michigan to have nation's first electrified road to wirelessly charge EVs, Whitmer says (Detroit Free Press):
    
    Imagine being able to charge an electric vehicle without stopping to plug in. It’s the kind of technology that could help ease worries like range anxiety and could really boost the transition to electric vehicles.
  • Whitmer wants EV charging circuit around Lake Michigan (MSN/Detroit Free Press):
    
    Electric vehicle owners who want to explore some of Michigan’s most popular tourist destinations could do so more easily as soon as next year, according to officials with the Whitmer administration.
  • VIDEO: Gov. Whitmer launches initiative for electrified roadway in Michigan (WJRT-TV Detroit)

• Ford Motor Co. to create closed-loop electric vehicle battery supply chain:
• Michigan plans 1st U.S. charging road for electric vehicles (AP)
• Ford, Redwood form 'circular' supply chain for EV battery materials (Reuters/Yahoo News):
  
  Ford Motor Co and startup Redwood Materials said on Wednesday they are partnering to form a "closed loop" or circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, from raw materials to recycling. The aim is to lower the cost of EVs by reducing the dependence on imported materials, while also narrowing the environmental impact from mining and refining of battery materials.
• Ford partners with battery recycling and materials startup Redwood Materials amid EV push (TechCrunch)
• Illinois signs landmark clean energy and climate justice bill:
• Illinois’ new climate bill is ambitious, justice-focused and a model for the nation (David Roberts, Canary Media):
  
  Illinois is now the first state in the Midwest to commit to net-zero carbon emissions, joining over a dozen other states across the country. It is also a model for how a diverse group of stakeholders can reach consensus."
• Gov. J.B. Pritzker hails energy plan with ambitious climate goals, nuclear bailout as 'a giant leap forward' (Chicago Tribune/MSN)
• Pritzker Signs Climate Plan To Get Illinois On Path To 100% Clean Energy With Help From Ratepayer Hike (NPR)
• >VIDEO: Gov. JB Pritzker signs energy bill into law (WSIL-TV Chicago)

'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

• EPA to cut greenhouse gases thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide (Washington Post)
• Entergy Resisted Upgrading New Orleans' Power Grid. Residents Suffered (NPR)
• WHO Slashes Guideline Limits on Air Pollution From Fossil Fuels (Guardian UK)
• Trump FWS Broke The Law In Refusing To Protect Joshua Trees, Court Rules (Huffington Post)
• California’s Reliance on Dams Puts Fish in Hot Water (The Revelator)
• Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Its 12th-Lowest Minimum Extent On Record (Arctic Today)
• Water Usage In S. Calif. Rose, Despite Newsom's Call To Cut Back: Data (The Hill)
• Nitrogen: The Environmental Crisis You Haven’t Heard Of Yet (Mongabay)
• Will Taxpayers Bear Cost Of Cleaning Up America’s Abandoned Oil Wells? (Guardian UK)
• Hawaii to remove forbidden staircase due to ‘rampant trespassing’ (Guardian UK)
• Will this metal recycling startup revolutionize the battery and clean energy sectors? (Electrek)
• Tracking the Big Climate Bills - An Infrastructure/Reconciliation Breakdown (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• 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 9 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• 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.

                 

Article Categories: Illinois, United Nations, Environment, Michigan, Joe Biden, Green News, Natural gas, Coal, Wind energy, Solar energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, China, Electric vehicles, Paris Agreement, Infrastructure, J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, OSHA