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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Disaster victims in several states still waiting for FEMA, federal aid; Extreme weather disasters a ‘hidden risk’ that will upend mortgages, new analysis finds; Rising sea levels will trigger ‘catastrophic inland migration,’ scientists warn; PLUS: Wildfires drove record losses in the world’s forests in 2024… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
5/22/2025
‘Green News Report’ – May 22, 2025 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – May 22, 2025 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Senate clears way to block clean air standards in California, including vehicle emission rules; The forecast is in: Hurricane season is going to be active again. America’s weather and disaster agencies are in turmoil; Why killing home-energy tax credits would be bad for the economy; Interior mulls first offshore mineral lease in 30 years… PLUS: How climate change is increasing complication risks for pregnant women… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Trump Admin. accelerates effort to dismantle FEMA:
- FEMA should take new name, states should bear costs, DHS head Noem says (Reuters)
- DHS inserts staffers at FEMA in major shakeup before hurricane season (CNN)
- FEMA rescinds strategic plan less than 2 weeks before hurricane season (CBS News)
- Disaster victims in many states are still waiting for federal aid:
- While Trump overhauls FEMA, Mississippi tornado survivors await assistance (NBC News)
- As Trump Shrinks FEMA, Walthall County Halts Tornado Recovery Efforts While Waiting on Federal Help (Mississippi Free Press)
- AUDIO: Why are more FEMA disaster aid requests being denied? (NPR)
- Trump denies disaster aid, tells states to do more (Arkansas Advocate)
- When billions in emergency funds were stalled, the Trump administration sped FEMA money to some GOP-led states (CNN)
- Exclusive: FEMA is ‘not ready’ for hurricane season, internal agency review shows (CNN)
- GOP Senator Josh Hawley Begs for Disaster Aid as FEMA Snubs Another Red State (Rolling Stone)
- Climate change to upend mortgage markets:
- Climate change could drive surge in foreclosures and lender losses, new study finds (CBS News):
Extreme weather linked to climate change could spell financial ruin for many American homeowners and lead to billions in losses for lenders, a new study finds…A cascade of foreclosures, driven by the mounting costs of repairs and rising insurance premiums stemming from extreme weather, wouldn’t only hurt homeowners. First Street estimates lenders will lose $1.2 billion a year in 2025 “” and up to $5.4 billion in 10 years “” as they are forced to absorb the cost of mortgage defaults.
- Why climate risk could affect your credit score for buying a home (CNN)
- Report: Climate, the Sixth “C” of Credit (First Street):
Rising premiums and the withdrawal of insurers are tightening access to wind and wildfire coverage, while a persistent gap in flood insurance leaves many exposed. As the insurance industry shifts the growing costs of climate disasters onto homeowners, the financial stability of borrowers and the performance of their mortgages are increasingly at risk. In the most severe cases, this escalating burden can ultimately lead to foreclosure.
- Earth is likely already be too hot for the polar ice sheets:
- Sea level rise will cause ‘catastrophic inland migration’, scientists warn (Guardian):
Sea level rise will become unmanageable at just 1.5C of global heating and lead to “catastrophic inland migration”, the scientists behind a new study have warned. This scenario may unfold even if the average level of heating over the last decade of 1.2C continues into the future.
- Earth’s ‘catastrophic’ ice melt problem is worse than previously thought, study says (USA Today):
Huge expanses of ice are melting alarmingly fast, raising new concerns about “catastrophic consequences for humanity,” a study published May 20 says…”Recent satellite-based observations of ice sheet mass loss have been a huge wake-up call for the whole scientific and policy community working on sea-level rise and its impacts,” said study co-author Jonathan Bamber, of the University of Bristol in the UK.
- Record-breaking forest loss in 2024:
- Amazon fires drive unprecedented global forest loss in 2024, report says (Reuters):
Loss of tropical pristine forests alone reached 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres), an 80 percent spike compared to 2023 and an area roughly the size of Panama, mainly because Brazil, the host of the next global climate summit in November, struggled to contain fires in the Amazon amid the worst drought ever recorded in the rainforest. A myriad of other countries, including Bolivia and Canada, were also ravaged by wildfires.
- Fires Drove Record-breaking Tropical Forest Loss in 2024 (World Resources Institute)
- Toxic wildfire pollution infiltrates homes of 1 billion people a year, study finds (Guardian)
- Majority of registered voters want more federal action on global warming:
- A majority of registered voters want federal agencies to increase their efforts to protect people from the health harms of global warming (Yale Climate Communications):
Taken together, 75 percent of registered voters want federal agencies to maintain or increase their efforts to protect people from the health harms of global warming. Overall, a majority of registered voters (55 percent) said federal agencies should increase their efforts to protect people from health problems related to global warming, outnumbering those who said federal agencies should decrease these efforts (15 percent) by more than 3 to 1. An additional 20 percentof registered voters said agencies should do about the same amount as they are doing now.
‘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
- Senate clears way to block clean air standards in California, including vehicle emission rules (AP)
- The forecast is in: Hurricane season is going to be active again. America’s weather and disaster agencies are in turmoil (CNN)
- Why killing home-energy tax credits would be bad for the economy (Canary Media)
- Interior mulls first offshore mineral lease in 30 years (E&E News)
- Delta-area lawmakers vow to fight Newsom’s plans for $20-billion water tunnel (LA Times)
- How climate change is increasing complication risks for pregnant women (CBS News)
- Electricity demand expected to jump by more than 75% by 2050 as costs rise, report says (CBS News)
- New Hampshire budget bill would defund state renewable energy grant program (Canary Media)
- Under Hawaii’s warming blue ocean, many once-colorful coral reefs are bleached white (CBS News)
- A guide to the 4 minerals shaping the world’s energy future (Grist)
- Wall Street Journal: Clean energy transition is unstoppable (This Is Not Cool blog)
- Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech? (David Roberts, Volts)
- Stop emissions, stop warming: A climate reality check (Dr. Andrew Dessler, Climate Brink)
- The Climate Fight Will Continue (This Is Not Cool blog)
- Who Will Care for Americans Left Behind by Climate Migration? (Pro Publica)
- Is the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Approaching a Tipping Point? (The Oceanography Society)
- How Oil Companies Manipulate Journalists (Drilled)
- Abrupt reduction in shipping emission as an inadvertent geoengineering termination shock produces substantial radiative warming (Nature)
- How To Spot 5 Of The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Biggest Disinformation Tactics (Guardian)
- The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
- 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 (This Is Not Cool blog)
- 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)
- Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
“Earth is likely already be too hot for the polar ice sheets: Sea level rise will cause ‘catastrophic inland migration’, scientists warn” – Desi Link upthread
More than is generally known:
(Calculating Port Dangers – 4).
“Earth’s ‘catastrophic’ ice melt problem is worse than previously thought, study says” – Desi link upthread
Not to some researchers (The Saturation Chronicles – 13, The Evolution and Migration of Sea Level Hinge Points, Greenland & Antarctica Invade The United States).
Why is Dr. James Hansen selling the farm (The Exceptional American Denial – 3)?
“Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the budget bill that passed the House of Representatives “” the one that does so many favors for the already wildly wealthy, including offering a “$235 billion tax break to the top two-tenths of 1%” of Americans “” will also spend a whopping $46.5 billion (yes, billion!) to construct more of Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. That includes building it across the San Rafael Valley south of Tucson, Arizona, which, as the Guardian reports, almost no human immigrants ever cross. That area is, however, crucial to a variety of migrant wild animals, including bears, mountain lions, and subtropical species like “the wild pig-like javelina, and rare big cats “” ocelots and jaguars, with natural ranges of hundreds of miles between countries in search of food, water, and mates.” In short, it is (or at least was) “a critical wildlife corridor for animals migrating between Mexico and Arizona.” And as climate change only increases the heat south of the border, it will be even more crucial for such species to be able to migrate across it when needed.” (TomDispatch)