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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Florida Republicans ban local efforts to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat exposure; Fossil fuel industry still not plugging climate-warming methane leaks; Republicans' Project 2025 would withdraw U.S. from Paris Climate Agreement again, and block re-entry; PLUS: California's snowpack is back, but too late to help struggling salmon... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): As heat becomes a national threat, who will be protected?; Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in metro Phoenix last year; Taps run dry in Johannesburg amid record heat wave; Methane emissions are triple government estimates, study finds; ‘Invisible’ water losses in California’s agricultural heartland now match volume of giant reservoir; 7 of the 10 hottest countries in the world are on 1 continent; MA town spent $600K on sand, one winter storm washed it away days later... PLUS: The oceans we knew are already gone... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Florida Republican lawmakers ban local ordinances protecting workers from heat exposure:
• Florida passes 'cruel' bill curbing water and shade protections for workers (Guardian):
  
  Industry pressure has led state to prevent any city, county or municipality from adopting laborer protections amid extreme heat...At present, there are no federal standards to protect outdoor workers in the US from heat and humidity – which can be deadly and is getting worse due to global heating. Protections therefore vary greatly from state to state.
• Florida Senate passes bill blocking local rules protecting workers from heat, after the planet notched its hottest year in recorded history in 2023 (NBC News)
• AUDIO: After record summer, Florida looks set to ban local heat protections for workers (WLRN-Miami)
• Blocked by lawmakers, Florida farmworkers seek help on heat protection from food industry (Miami Herald/MSN)
• As heat becomes a national threat, who will be protected? (Grist):
  
  Extreme heat affects everyone. But in Florida, the hottest state in the country, only one group is legally protected...Florida is the hottest state in the country and has some of the highest rates of hospitalization due to heat illness...[T]he disparities in who lawmakers choose to protect are telling.
• IEA: Fossil fuel industry still not plugging methane leaks:
• Fossil fuel firms must plug methane leaks to meet climate targets, warns watchdog (Guardian):
  
  Spending to clean up their operations would be equivalent to only 5% of profits made last year, IEA estimates.
• Planet-heating methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to near-record highs in 2023 (Oman Observer):
  
  Paris - Planet-heating methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to near-record highs in 2023 despite technology available to curb this pollution at virtually no cost, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
• Texas sues Biden EPA to block new methane pollution restrictions:
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues EPA over federal rule limiting methane pollution (Houston Chronicle/MSN):
  
  "We have the technology to dramatically, and cost-effectively, cut pollution. Why on Earth wouldn’t we use it?" said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas. "It’s incredibly disappointing, albeit not surprising, that rather than work to reduce pollution, the state of Texas is actively fighting efforts to do so."
• Texas Sues Biden Administration Over Finalized Methane Rule (The Hill)
• Republicans' Project 2025 requires U.S. withdrawal from Paris Agreement --- again:
• How Trump could exit the Paris climate deal — and thwart reentry (E&E News):
  
  The plan has support inside Trump’s orbit and is included in a 920-page policy road map [pdf] that prominent conservatives drafted for the next Republican to win the White House. It could prevent the next Democratic president from simply reentering the Paris agreement, which President Joe Biden did when he took office in 2021. It’s one of many ways Trump’s allies are planning to push second-term climate policies that are more enduring than some of his first-term efforts.
• Voters Need to Know About Project 2025 (Covering Climate Now):
  
  Drafted by The Heritage Foundation, the agenda would “institutionaliz[e] Trumpism” and dismantle US climate policy.
• California: good news on snowpack, bad news for salmon:
• Storms recharge California snowpack, easing drought fears (Washington Post):
  
  Significantly, the storms have all but guaranteed an extended break from punishing drought conditions that gripped the state for years.
• California snowpack now above average, but will it last? (Reuters/MSN)
• California relaxes controversial new water conservation rules (San Jose Mercury News)
• 'Catastrophic': California Salmon Season To Be Restricted Or Shut Down — Again (CalMatters):
  
  California’s fishing industry is bracing for another bad year as federal managers today announced plans to heavily restrict or prohibit salmon fishing this year, following a complete ban last year...While more Chinook salmon returned from the ocean to spawn last year than in 2022, fishery managers said the population is expected to be so small that they must be protected to avoid overfishing.
• March Snow Survey Shows Improvement for Sierra Snowpack (CA Dept. of Water Resources)
• VIDEO: DWR Snow Survey Live Stream at Phillips Station - March 2024 (CA Dept. of Water Resources)
• California Reservoirs Topping Off, Quelling Drought Fears (California Globe)
• U.K. greenhouse gas emissions fall to lowest levels since 1879:
• Analysis: UK emissions in 2023 fell to lowest level since 1879 (Carbon Brief):
  
  The last time UK emissions were this low, Queen Victoria was on the throne, Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister...Apart from brief rebounds after the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 lockdowns, UK emissions have fallen during every year for the past two decades.

'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 Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
• As heat becomes a national threat, who will be protected? (Grist)
• Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in metro Phoenix last year (AP)
• Methane emissions are triple government estimates: study (Axios)
• ‘Invisible’ water losses in California’s agricultural heartland now match volume of giant reservoir: Study (The Hill/Yahoo News)
• Mass. Town Spent $600K On Sand. A Winter Storm Washed It Away Days Later. (AP)
• Taps Run Dry in Africa’s Richest City (Voice of America)
• South Africa braces for extended heatwave across multiple provinces (The South African)
• 7 of the 10 Hottest Countries in the World Are on 1 Continent (How Stuff Works/Yahoo News)
• VIDEO: Dams being removed from California river, hoping to restore salmon population (CBS News)
• US grants $750 million for hydrogen projects across 24 states (Reuters)
• Climate change matters to more and more people – and could be a deciding factor in the 2024 election (The Conversation)
• Old power lines plus climate change mean a growing risk of utilities starting fires (NPR)
• Nine More States Sue SEC Over Climate Disclosure Rule (The Hill)
• Miss. Senate Votes To Change Control Of Jackson’s Troubled Water System (AP)
• Judge Finds Flint In Civil Contempt For Failures In Lead Pipe Replacement (Michigan Public Radio)
• Fury After Exxon Chief Says Public To Blame For Climate Failures (Guardian)
• 'In A Word, Horrific': Trump's Extreme Anti-Environment Blueprint (Guardian)
• Plug-in hybrids vs. electric cars: We did the math on which is better for you (Washington Post)
• How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
• Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
• Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here's How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
• Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)

                 

Article Categories: Florida, California, Texas, United Nations, Environment, Joe Biden, Green News, Donald Trump, Natural gas, Coal, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, U.K., Paris Agreement, Pollution, Project 2025