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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: California gas company agrees to nearly $2 billion settlement after largest methane leak in U.S. history; 23 species dropped from the U.S. endangered list because they’re officially extinct; Poll shows dramatic increase in Americans’ concern about climate change PLUS: Ford Motor Company makes an $11 billion bet on electric vehicles… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 9/30/2021

‘Green News Report’ – September 30, 2021  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – September 30, 2021  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Why Some Utilities Support, and Others Are Wary of, the Federal Clean Energy Proposal; Climate change is ‘a freight train’ making some places too dangerous to live in; NC Civil Rights Groups Say Hog Waste ‘Biogas’ Harms Communities of Color; Enbridge: Line 3 Replacement Complete; Oil Will Flow Friday; USDA pledges billions for climate-smart farm projects, resilience; Report Alleges Conflicts Of Interest Among Texas Oil And Gas Regulators… PLUS: China’s Power Cuts Shut Down Factories, Fuel Climate Goal Pushback… and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• Sempra Energy agrees to pay $1.8 billion in record CA gas leak:
• SoCalGas agrees to pay up to $1.8 billion in settlement for 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak (LA Times/MSN)
• Families Harmed By A Gas Blowout Near Los Angeles Reach A $1.8 Billion Settlement (NPR):
  The Aliso Canyon blowout led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history and was blamed for sickening thousands of residents who moved out of homes near the San Fernando Valley to escape a sulfurous stench and maladies including headaches, nausea and nose bleeds.
• VIDEO: Lawyers discuss $1.8B Aliso Canyon gas leak settlement (Fox 11 Los Angeles)
• Editorial: A billion-dollar settlement can’t erase the Aliso Canyon methane blowout (LA Times):
  What was initially reported as a small routine leak at a little-known underground natural gas storage field turned out to be the largest methane leak in U.S. history – right next to a residential community…The state has estimated the effects of the leak were equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions released from burning more than 1 billion gallons of gasoline.
• Poll shows dramatic increase in Americans’ concern about climate change:
• Americans’ concern about climate hits all-time highs (Axios):
  The number of Americans who said they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about global warming has reached an all-time high of 70 percent, the Yale group found as part of a survey it has been conducting since 2008.
• Dramatic increase in public beliefs and worries about climate change (Yale Climate Communications):
  American views about climate change have shifted significantly in the past 6 months…Americans’ belief that global warming is happening has increased six percentage points since March. Americans who think that global warming is happening now outnumber those who think it is not happening by more than 6 to 1.
• 23 species dropped from the U.S. endangered species list — because they’re extinct:
• The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker And More Than 20 Other Species Have Gone Extinct (NPR):
  Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.
• Ivory-billed woodpecker officially declared extinct, along with 22 other species (Washington Post):
  Even the scientist who wrote the obit cried….Amy Trahan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who reviewed the evidence and wrote the report concluding that the ivory bill “no longer exists”…”Nobody wants to be a part of that,” she added, choking up in a Zoom interview. “Just having to write those words was quite difficult. It took me a while.”
• Protected Too Late: U.S. Officials Report More Than 20 Extinctions (NY Times):
  The extinctions include 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish, a bat and a plant. Many of them were likely extinct, or almost so, by the time the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, officials and advocates said, so perhaps no amount of conservation would have been able to save them.
• Biden Administration rolls back more Trump rollbacks:
• Interior restores migratory bird protections (E&E News):
  The Biden administration today set a new course for migratory bird protections, combining a revived ban on unintentional killing with the possibility of future permits that could allow companies some leeway in exchange for mitigation or other actions.
• Biden Administration Says it Will Revoke Trump Rule that Let Companies Kill Birds (Audubon Society)
• Biden admin revokes Trump-era fossil fuel royalty regs (E&E News):
  The Interior Department will ax Trump-era regulations this week that would have eliminated millions in federal revenues each year from coal and oil extraction. The Obama rule had eliminated controversial practices in the coal industry like “arms-length” sales of coal to subsidiaries at a discount, which depress royalty costs. It had also tightened oversight of the oil and gas sector’s royalty dues.
• Statement on Interior rule to close Trump-era royalty loopholes for oil and gas companies (Center for Western Priorities)
• Federal flood insurance to increase to reflect actual individual flood risk:
• Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action (FEMA)
• The Cost of Insuring Expensive Waterfront Homes Is About to Skyrocket (NY times):
  New federal flood insurance rates that better reflect the real risks of climate change are coming. For some, premiums will rise sharply.
• Flood insurance rules are changing, but some say not enough (Houston Chronicle)
• AUDIO: Many Homeowners Will See Flood Insurance Rates Go Up Starting Friday (WBUR)
• Sen. Hyde-Smith, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Delay Flood Insurance Premium Hikes (Insurance News Net)
• Flood Insurance Rates To Be Reduced For Some Utahns (Utah Public Radio)
• Ford Motor Co. makes $11 billion bet on electric vehicles:
• VIDEO: Ford’s 11 Billion Dollar Bet on EVs (CNBC/Climate Crocks)
• Ford Unveils Record $11B Bet On Sprawling EV Factories (E&E News)
• Ford goes all-in on electric vehicles with massive multibillion-dollar investment (Detroit Free Press/MSN):
  Ford Motor Co. on Monday night announced a historic investment in its future that will pump more than $11 billion into manufacturing a strong, dependable supply of essential parts for electric vehicles, creating nearly 11,000 jobs along the way.
• VIDEO: New Ford Ad: “For the Good of this Planet” (Climate Crocks)
• Review: Rivian’s R1T electric pickup truck took me to the top of the mountain (The Verge)

‘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

• Inside Clean Energy: Here’s Why Some Utilities Support, and Others Are Wary of, the Federal Clean Energy Proposal (Inside Climate News)
• Climate change is ‘a freight train’ making some places too dangerous to live in, experts say (USA Today)
• Kerry Says Climate Talks Must Produce New Level Of Transparency (Reuters)
• NC Civil Rights Groups Say Hog Waste ‘Biogas’ Harms Communities of Color (Inside Climate News)
• Enbridge: Line 3 Replacement Complete; Oil Will Flow Friday (AP)
• EPA’s ‘Scientific Integrity’ Program Lacks Teeth, Group Alleges (EHN)
• Tribes Want ‘Immediate Action’ On Bears Ears National Monument (Washington Post)
• USDA pledges billions for climate-smart farm projects, resilience (E&E News)
• China’s Power Cuts Shut Down Factories, Fuel Climate Goal Pushback (Washington Post)
• As Oregon Plans To Protect Homes From Wildfire, Homebuilders Push Back (NPR)
• Swimming With Spinner Dolphins to End in Hawai’i Over New NOAA Rule (Big Island Now)
• Report Alleges Conflicts Of Interest Among Texas Oil And Gas Regulators (Texas Public Radio)
• Canadian Dam Owner Sues Maine Over Effort To Remove 4 Kennebec Dams (Portland Press Herald)
• Energy Firms See ‘Lithium Valley’ Riches in S. California’s Salton Sea (Guardian UK)
• Biden FWS Finalizes Rule Protecting Migratory Birds, Reversing Trump (Washington Post)
• Tracking the Big Climate Bills – An Infrastructure/Reconciliation Breakdown (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Will this metal recycling startup revolutionize the battery and clean energy sectors? (Electrek)
• 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.