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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Deadly flooding strikes West Virginia and Texas, as Trump cancels flood control upgrades; Administration scraps settlement to restore salmon in Columbia River; PLUS: U.N. Oceans Summit calls for end to ocean ‘plunder,’ as ‘ticking timebomb’ of ocean acidification reaches critical levels… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
6/17/2025
‘Green News Report’ – June 17, 2025 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – June 17, 2025 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ is a brutal, beautiful wake-up call from the sea; Popular NOAA climate website will be hobbled after Trump cuts entire staff; Climate worsens Rio Grande water war; Study says clean energy rollbacks will cost economy $1.1 trillion by 2035… PLUS: Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee proposes sale of more than 2 million acres of US lands… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Deadly flooding strikes West Virginia:
- West Virginia flash floods kill at least 7 after inches of rain fell in 30 minutes: “It happened so quickly” (CBS News)
- Death toll rises from devastating flash flooding in West Virginia as rain threat continues (ABC News)
- ‘Never seen anything like this’: 6 dead amid devastating West Virginia flash floods (USA Today)
- Hourly rainfall intensity continues to increase (Yahoo News):
Heavy downpours are becoming more intense in the United States as climate change supercharges the water cycle, leading to an increase in rainfall rates.
- Trump Hasn’t Visited A Single Natural Disaster On His Watch As President (Huffington Post)
- Same storm system triggered deadly floods in Texas:
- Devastating flash floods leave more than a dozen dead in San Antonio (USA Today)
- Anderson County judge declares state of disaster after flooding (Yahoo News)
- VIDEO: Survivors recount harrowing escape from San Antonio floodwaters as others face tragic fate (12 News-San Antonio)
- What we know about the victims of last week’s deadly San Antonio flash floods (KENS-TV San Antonio)
- Communities reel as Trump cancels flood control infrastructure funding :
- VIDEO: Cuts to FEMA’s storm prep program hammer communities that voted for Trump (CBS News):
A CBS News investigation found two-thirds of counties that have lost funding from this FEMA program supported President Trump in the 2024 election.
- VIDEO: FEMA pulls $150 million from Miami, Broward flood projects, prompting community outcry (CBS News)
- FEMA cancels resiliency grant program, leaving NC counties, towns at risk (USA Today)
- Head of FEMA’s storm response center leaving agency amid leadership exodus (CBS News)
- Nigeria grapples with deadly, torrential rains and floods:
- More than 700 believed dead in devastating Nigeria floods (BBC)
- Nigeria flash floods: Which is most affected area, what caused the deluge? (Al Jazeera)
- UN Oceans Summit ends with some positive agreements:
- UN ocean summit ends with boost for marine conservation, no mention of fossil fuels (France 24):
The UN Ocean Conference in the southern French city of Nice concludes this Friday with countries taking steps towards marine protection and declaring a battle over deep sea-mining, but slammed for leaving fossil fuels off the agenda ““ the key driver of ocean warming. Nations hoping for new financial pledges to help with battling rising sea levels and overfishing were also left disappointed.
- High Seas Treaty gains momentum as 18 new countries pledge support (AP)
- At UN Ocean Conference, World Leaders Fail to Protect the Ocean from Fossil Fuel Threats (CIEL)
- ‘Madness’: World Leaders Call For Deep-Sea Mining Moratorium at UN Ocean Summit (Mongabay)
- UN ocean summit in Nice closes with wave of commitments (United Nations)
- VIDEO: Guterres calls for an end to ocean ‘plunder’ as UN summit opens in France (United Nations)
- US Skips UN Ocean Conference After Rejecting Development Goals (Bloomberg):
The administration objects to the conference’s focus on a UN goal centered around the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and marine resources, the State Department said in a statement. President Donald Trump’s team has rejected the idea behind the Sustainable Development Goals, a list of aspirations established in 2015.
- Study: ocean acidification has reached critical levels:
- ‘Ticking timebomb’: sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems ““ study (Guardian):
Until now, ocean acidification had not been deemed to have crossed its “planetary boundary”. The planetary boundaries are the natural limits of key global systems… a new study by the UK’s Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), the Washington-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University’s Co-operative Institute for Marine Resources Studies found that ocean acidification’s “boundary” was also reached about five years ago.
- How the ‘evil twin’ of the climate crisis is threatening our oceans (Guardian):
The results show that ocean acidification is rising ““ and it is doing so at an alarming rate. Ocean acidification, often called the “evil twin” of the climate crisis, is caused when carbon dioxide is rapidly absorbed into the ocean, where it then reacts with water molecules leading to a fall in the pH of the seawater.
- Ocean acidification may have crossed ‘planetary boundary’ five years ago (Phys.org)
- VIDEO: The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Pteropod Shells (NOAA)
- Trump Administration ditches landmark Columbia River settlement:
- Trump topples $1 billion Columbia River settlement deal (E&E News):
President Donald Trump declared Thursday that the federal government must pull out of a settlement agreement that had halted the long-running legal battle over 14 dams in the Pacific Northwest, reopening a fight over the future of fish populations in the Columbia River Basin.
- Trump Administration Abandons Deal With Northwest Tribes to Restore Salmon (Pro Publica)
- The river that came back to life: a journey down the reborn Klamath (Guardian)
‘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
- David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ is a brutal, beautiful wake-up call from the sea (AP)
- Popular NOAA climate website will be hobbled after Trump cuts entire staff (NPR)
- PBS Newshour: Climate worsens Rio Grande water war (This Is Not Cool)
- Study says clean energy rollbacks will cost economy $1.1 trillion by 2035 (Inside Climate News)
- Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee proposes sale of more than 2 million acres of US lands (AP)
- Trump EPA Is Telling Some Staff To Stop Policing The Oil And Gas Industry (CNN
- E.P.A. Plans to Reconsider a Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos (NY Times)
- Fourth Power Plant Approved in Newark Despite Residents’ Tearful Protests (Inside Climate News)
- Trump orders merger of wildland firefighting into single force, despite warnings (AP)
- Trump Fires Democratic Commissioner Of Independent NRC (AP)
- US Proposes Listing Pangolins, Most Trafficked Mammal, As Endangered Species (AP)
- 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)
All the “bad stuff” was calculated to become “good stuff” by MOMCOM, so we had to make the choice to invade Greenland (How To Enjoy The End Of Bad Choices- 3).