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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: The rush for new fossil fuel supplies 'delusional,' says U.N. chief; New study finds car tires a surprising source of pollution; New breakthrough promises 'world's first-ever zero emissions cement'; PLUS: Texas' rickety electric grid bailed out by wind and solar energy... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world; Is new EV battery breakthrough too good to be true?; Office building to be covered in 'solar skin' of more than 1,000 panels; Pacific Coast crabs are suffocating; FAA unveils climate rules for commercial planes; Climate groups use Endangered Species Act in suit to stop drilling; Biden tells oil refiners: Produce more gas, fewer profits; U.S. government research project to create tiny nuclear reactors like batteries... PLUS: A Hotter, poorer, and less free America... and much, MUCH more! ...
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...
- Record-shattering heat brings extreme conditions across U.S.:
- Prolonged heat wave baking much of central, eastern Lower 48 (Washington Post/MSN):
High humidity levels are contributing to heat index values pushing 115 degrees in spots...St. Louis had its warmest overnight low on record for June on Monday night into Tuesday morning. Temperatures didn’t dip below 83 degrees...Columbus, Ohio, recorded an unprecedented dew point, which is a measure of humidity, of 84 degrees at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Any dew point over 80 degrees is exceptionally sultry - Heat wave keeps Midwest and South in its sticky grip (AP):
People flocked to pools, beaches and cooling centers in a swath of the Midwest and South spanning from northern Florida to the Great Lakes on Wednesday as a heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s and beyond and may have caused the deaths of at least two people. - Flagstaff wildfire forces evacuations as it steadily grows (Yahoo News)
- Pipeline Fire on the Navajo Nation: A sacred mountain on fire and smoke in their lungs (Arizona Republic)
- Sierra Fire: Brush fire breaks out in Angeles National Forest, homes evacuated (Fox11 Los Angeles)
- Mandatory evacuations as Sheep Fire grows in Southern California (Reuters/MSN)
- Extreme weather slams the U.S., from flooding to fires (Axios)
- Wind and solar energy bail out rickety Texas electric grid amid record demand:
- Wind and solar power are 'bailing out' Texas amid record heat and energy demand (CNN/MSN):
But unlike previous extreme weather events in Texas which led to deadly blackouts, the grid is holding up remarkably well this week. Several experts told CNN that it's owed in large part to strong performances from wind and solar, which generated 27 gigawatts of electricity during Sunday's peak demand --- close to 40 percent of the total needed.
- VIDEO: How Texas got ahead of wind and solar energy production to help power grid (KHOU-Houston)
- New rush to exploit fossil fuels in Russia-Ukraine war 'delusional':
- Climate change: New fossil fuel funding is 'delusional' says UN chief (BBC):
Mr Guterres says that our global energy mix is broken, and more coal will only reinforce the "scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe." - Warning flare lit on the race for more gas (Axios):
The dash for more fossil fuels in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is poised to squelch the last chance the world has to limit the severity of global warming to 1.5°C degrees..."If all of these plans materialize, they will either end up as massive stranded assets or they'll lock the world into irreversible warming," the report states. - Global reaction to energy crisis risks zero carbon transition (Climate Action Tracker)
- VIDEO: Secretary-General's video message to the Sixth Austrian World Summit (United Nations)
- VIDEO: New rush to fossil fuels is 'delusional', leaders say (Daily Climate Show)
- Car tires are a surprising source of pollution:
- Car tires produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show (Grist):
The tire particles pollute air, water, and soil and contain a wide range of toxic organic compounds, including known carcinogens, the analysts say, suggesting tire pollution could rapidly become a major issue for regulators. - Think Car Exhaust Is Bad? Wait 'Til You Hear About Tire Pollution (Earther)
- Biden Energy Department unveils new energy efficiency rules for residential furnaces:
- New federal rule aims to phase out residential furnaces that waste natural gas (CNN):
[U]nlike previous administrations' proposed standards for furnaces, the Biden administration will propose a new national energy efficiency standard that applies to all sizes of home heating furnaces. - Biden Admin Proposes Standards To Increase Home Heating Efficiency (The Hill)
- Los Angeles to phase out natural gas in all new construction:
- L.A. is banning most gas appliances in new homes. Get ready for electric stoves (LA Times):
Citing the climate crisis, the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to ban most gas appliances in new construction, a policy that’s expected to result in new homes and businesses coming equipped with electric stoves, clothes dryers, water heaters and furnaces. - Los Angeles joins movement to ban new natural gas hookups to fight climate change (USA Today)
- Editorial: Don’t fear L.A.’s ban on gas stoves. Electric appliances are the future (LA Times):
Some of the resistance is rooted in attachment to gas stoves and fear of new technology. The fossil fuel industry has for years stoked disinformation about induction ranges, heat pumps and other electric equipment that will make the switch to zero-emission buildings possible. But just like with cars, electric appliances will ultimately become the norm not only because they are our ticket out of a planetary breakdown, but also because they are better. - Breakthrough promises 'world's first-ever zero emissions cement':
- Cambridge engineers invent world’s first zero emissions cement (UK FIRES)
- Cambridge Engineers Develop Zero Carbon Cement (Treehugger):
Dr. Cyrille Dunant also told Treehugger: "although the volumes of steel are not going to change very much going forward, the amount of cement we need is: on the basis of current demand, the slow down in population growth implies we'll need only about 50-60 percent of today's needs. So in effect, blending, which doubles the amount of product, plus population which halves demand, plus material efficiency, which halves it again suggests CEC could cover all future cement needs in 2050 with a margin."
'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 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world (Guardian UK)
- A Hotter, Poorer, and Less Free America (The Atlantic)
- Is This New EV Battery Too Good to Be True? (Climate Crocks)
- Office Building in Australia to Be Covered in ‘Solar Skin’ of More Than 1,000 Panels (Yale e360)
- 'Concerning' Pattern Sets Up in Jet Stream (Climate Crocks)
- Pacific Coast crabs are suffocating (High Country News)
- FAA unveils climate rules for commercial planes (Axios)
- Climate Groups Use Endangered Species Act to Try to Stop Drilling (NY Times)
- Biden tells oil refiners: Produce more gas, fewer profits (AP)
- Climate change: Rising sea levels threaten 200,000 England properties (BBC)
- Inside the U.S. government project to create tiny nuclear reactors like batteries (CNBC)
- Four solutions to mitigate climate change, from the IPCC (Dr. Michael Mann, Penn Today)
- UN warns Earth 'firmly on track toward an unlivable world' (AP)
- Environmental Sacrifice Zones: 8 Places We've Given Up-Probably Forever (Environmental Health Network)
- "Rare Earths" from Coal Waste (Climate Crocks)
- Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
- Green Upheaval: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Foreign Affairs)
- VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
- Guilt, grief and anxiety as young people fear for climate's future (Reuters)
- 99.9 percent Of Scientists Agree Climate Emergency Caused By Humans (Guardian UK)
- An Empire of Dying Wells: Old oil and gas sites are a climate menace. Meet the company that owns more of America's decaying wells than any other. (Bloomberg)
- 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.