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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Trump plan to dismantle FEMA means states must kowtow to Trump; Hurricane season off to a fast start — at least in the Pacific; EPA to revoke fossil fuel power plant pollution rules; PLUS: Republican majority in Congress succeeds in killing off California’s clean car standards… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 6/12/2025

‘Green News Report’ – June 12, 2025  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...  |  OUR 1,500th EPISODE!   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – June 12, 2025  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...  |  OUR 1,500th EPISODE!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): How ocean acidification, the ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis is threatening our oceans; Canada has already surpassed a year’s worth of charred land from wildfires; DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments; Why rooftop solar could crash under the GOP tax bill; Developers propose more than 1– new gas power plants in Texas… PLUS: The War on Science in overdrive… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hurricane season off to a fast start, in the Pacific:
• Hurricane season is off to a fast start “” at least in the Pacific Ocean (Washington Post)
• Trump Administration plan to dismantle FEMA means states must kowtow to Trump:
• “We’re going to give it out directly”: Trump plans to scrap FEMA, have White House distribute aid (Salon/MSN):
  President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he planned to start “phasing out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the hurricane season and that states would receive less federal aid to respond to natural disasters. Trump also said he planned to distribute disaster relief funds directly from the president’s office…Distributing funds directly from the White House would also mark a departure from current protocols.
• Trump’s plan to begin ‘phasing out’ FEMA after hurricane season burdens states, experts warn (AP):
  Declaring fewer major disasters or giving less federal support could put an untenable financial burden on states, said Sara McTarnaghan, principal research associate at the Urban Institute. “Very few of them would have had enough funds set aside to anticipate the federal government stepping back from its historic role in disaster recovery for major events,” McTarnaghan said.
• Trump says his administration wants to “wean” states off FEMA aid after hurricane season (CBS News)
• Trump wants to end FEMA, says governors can handle disasters (Washington Post):
  In remarks to reporters, the president said the administration plans to “wean” states off FEMA assistance after hurricane season ends.
• VIDEO: President Trump and Cabinet Secretaries Speak in Oval Office (@10:00, C-SPAN)
• VIDEO: Karoline Leavitt, White House Daily Briefing (@11:00, C-SPAN)
• Head of FEMA’s storm response center leaving agency amid leadership exodus (CBS News)
• Congressional Republican majority succeeds in killing off California’s clean car rules:
• Trump targets California with bill blocking ban on sales of new gas cars by 2036 (Washington Post)
• Trump to sign resolutions nixing California’s EV rules, sources (MSN)
• Trump is expected to sign a measure blocking California’s nation-leading vehicle emissions rules (AP):
  “If it’s a day ending in Y, it’s another day of Trump’s war on California,” Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseà±or said in an email. “We’re fighting back.”
• Trump Signs Illegal Attack on California’s Clean Car Authority (Center for Biological Diversity)
• The Senate just voted to block California’s gas car ban (Grist, 5/22/2025):
  Legal experts say Congress misused a federal law to do so, potentially “opening up a Pandora’s box it cannot close.”
• Trump EPA moves to revoke fossil fuel power plant pollution and emissions rules:
• EPA Says Power Plant Carbon Emissions Aren’t Dangerous. Scientists Disagree. (AP)
• Trump EPA rollbacks would weaken rules projected to save billions of dollars and thousands of lives (AP):
  What Lee Zeldin didn’t mention: how ending the rules could have devastating consequences to human health. The EPA-targeted rules could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect, according to an Associated Press examination that included the agency’s own prior assessments as well as a wide range of other research./div>
• EPA proposes rollback on rules limiting carbon and air pollution from fossil fuel power plants (CBS News)
• EPA proposes rolling back clean air rules for power plants: What to know (ABC News):
  In a statement to ABC News, Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator and White House national climate advisor during the Biden administration, wrote “The key rationale Zeldin is using to justify the dismantling of our nation’s protections from power plant pollution is absolutely illogical and indefensible.” She added,…The Sierra Club estimates that these changes would allow some power plants to release nearly seven times as much CO2 as they currently put into the atmosphere.
• EPA seeks to roll back regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants (LA Times):
  The EPA’s own 2024 analysis found that the rules currently on the chopping block would deliver $390 billion in total climate and health benefits. By the agency’s accounting, that is more than 20 times the amount that those same rules would cost the industry to comply with the laws.

‘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

• How the ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis is threatening our oceans (Guardian)
• Canada has already surpassed a year’s worth of charred land from wildfires (Washington Post)
• DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments (Washington Post)
• War on Science in Overdrive (This Is Not Cool)
• Why rooftop solar could crash under the GOP tax bill (NY Times)
• Developers propose more than 100 new gas power plants in Texas (Inside Climate News)
• Greenland and Iceland saw record heat in May. Here’s what it means for the world (AP)
• ‘Forever chemicals’ industry aims to capitalize on AI boom (E&E News)
• Toxic truth? The cookware craze redefining ‘ceramic’ and ‘nontoxic’ (Guardian)
• Scientists fear pesticides are raising resistance to antifungal drugs (The Hill)
• EPA drops complaint vs. major Trump donor over disinfectant in ICE facility (Pro Publica)
• Summer staffing crunch hits national parks after Trump cuts (Reuters)
• Trump’s Second Term Is Creating ‘A Limbo Moment’ For US Battery Recyclers (Grist)
• The river that came back to life: a journey down the reborn Klamath (Guardian)
• What’s missing from the U.S. debate on electric vehicles (CSIS)
• 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)