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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Humanitarian disaster looms in Jamaica, following monster Hurricane Melissa; Extreme rainstorm shatters records in New York City; Shocking glacial retreat in Antarctica; PLUS: Trump Administration used mob-like tactics to scuttle first-ever emissions rules for international shipping… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 11/4/2025

‘Green News Report’ – November 4, 2025  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – November 4, 2025  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Jamaica rushes to prepare for peak tourism season as it digs out from Hurricane Melissa; RFK backs down on Tylenol, moves on to wind turbines; Bill Gates: Climate “super-important” but not “super bad”; Major American LNG exporters habitually break air pollution laws: report; Exxon-funded think tanks to spread climate denial in Latin America, documents show; Dept. of Energy directs $100 million to modernize declining coal plants; After decades, green sea turtles have been saved from extinction — for now… PLUS: How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Humanitarian disaster looms in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa:
• ‘We need food, we have no food’ – desperation takes hold in Jamaica after hurricane (BBC)
• Hurricane Melissa death toll rises to 67 as insured losses in Jamaica could top $4 billion (NBC News)
• After Hurricane Melissa, Jamaica Faces Destruction as Far as the Eye Could See (NY Times):
  The storm ‘totally destroyed” the port of Black River, the prime minister said. At least five people died in Jamaica, and the hurricane killed at least 30 in Haiti. Officials expect the toll to rise./div>
• Hurricane Melissa leaves trail of destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica (AP)
• VIDEO: Jamaica Digs Out After Most Powerful Hurricane in its History (This Is Not Cool)
• AUDIO: How will the dismantling of USAID affect U.S. relief efforts in Jamaica? (NPR):
  “USAID would have been working with governments and embassies in the region on preparing for hurricane season”…Heidel says the cuts to programs and staff limits the capability for the U.S. to respond to new disasters that can happen anywhere, “because they’re spread so very thin on all of the pre-existing disasters. Obviously, there’s so much going on worldwide and in the Middle East and in Africa,” he says. And with all the cuts, he says that there’s simply “no way that the U.S. government is going to be able to provide a major level of support that they have provided in the past.”
• How to help those impacted by Hurricane Melissa (AP)
• DONATE: Hurricane Melissa is the strongest storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season (UNICEF)
• Global warming increased the odds of monster storms like Hurricane Melissa:
• Climate Change Made Hurricane Melissa Four Times More Likely, Study Suggests (Inside Climate News):
  an analysis from science nonprofit Climate Central.
• Intense storm shattered NYC rainfall records:
• Deadly storm shatters NYC rainfall records. Central Park sees highest total in more than 100 years (CBS News)
• VIDEO: 2 die after rooms flood during heavy rain in New York City (NBC News)
• VIDEO: Flooding aftermath: storms inundate NYC, soaking basements and cars (NBC News)
• Over 5,000 flights delayed or canceled after dangerous storm slams Northeast (ABC News)
• Heavier Rainfall Rates in U.S. Cities (Climate Central)
• Climate Change Indicators: Heavy Precipitation (EPA)
• Antarctic glacier’s retreat shocks scientists:
• VIDEO: Hektoria Glacier in Antarctica shrinks at fastest rate recorded in modern history (ABC Australia):
  The report noted that ice plains have been detected in other parts of Antarctica, including the Ross Ice Shelf and the so-called “doomsday” Thwaites Glacier. “Therefore, it is imperative to document the bedrock geometry beneath the glaciers around Antarctica to evaluate the potential for this type of instability to occur, and incorporate rapid buoyancy-driven retreat in models predicting the fate of the Antarctic ice sheet.”
• Antarctic glacier saw the fastest retreat in modern history; it could spell trouble for sea levels, report finds (CNN):
  “This is astonishing; the rate of retreat is just crazy,” said Ted Scambos, a study author and senior research scientist for the Earth Science and Observation Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. Understanding more about why this happened is vital; if larger glaciers retreat at similar rates, it could have “catastrophic implications for sea level rise,” the authors wrote in a statement accompanying the report. Antarctica holds enough ice to raise global sea level by around 190 feet… As one iceberg calves, it exposes the glacier behind it to the same pressures and calving happens again. Scambos likens the process to “dominoes toppling backwards, their feet slipping out from under them, one after the other.”
• CBS News fired its climate reporting team:
• The fall of the CBS News climate team (Heated):
  David Ellison, the new pro-Trump chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has dismantled the best climate change reporting team in cable news…In a memo announcing the cuts on Wednesday, Ellison said he was “phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities.”
• CBS News just gutted its climate team (Sammy Roth, Climate Colored Goggles):
  Paramount and Bari Weiss aren’t off to a great start. Here’s why David Ellison should change course.
• CBS News Guts Climate Team as New Conservative Management Takes Charge (Truthout)
• Trump Admin. used mob-like tactics to derail global shipping emissions rules:
• US accused of ‘bully-boy’ tactics to sink climate deal (Financial Times, no paywall):
  The intimidation included approaching country officials during coffee breaks to warn them they might not be able to transit via the US, or that they and their families could face restrictions on entering the country if they acted against American interests, according to five people at the talks, including two from countries that were directly threatened.
• The entire world was ready to reduce shipping emissions. Then Trump stepped in. (Grist)

‘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

• Jamaica rushes to prepare for peak tourism season as it digs out from Hurricane Melissa (AP)
• RFK backs down on Tylenol, moves on to wind turbines (This Is Not Cool)
• VIDEO: Bill Gates: Climate ‘super-important” but not “super bad” (This Is Not Cool)
• After decades, green sea turtles have been saved from extinction — for now (Inside Climate News)
• Major American LNG exporters habitually break air pollution laws: report (DeSmog Blog)
• Poultry plants consistently violate Salmonella standards, report finds (Civil Eats)
• Emergency language in wildfire bill splits environmentalists (E&E News)
• Exxon-funded think tanks to spread climate denial in Latin America, documents show (Guardian)
• Carbon offsets are failing. Can a new plan save the rainforests? (Yale Environment 360)
• Mussels reveal growing microplastic pollution in Greece’s prized seas (Reuters)
• Dept. of Energy directs $100 million to modernize declining coal plants (Inside Climate News)
• How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country (Inside Climate News)
• Energy bills are rising nationwide. In Georgia, they’re on the ballot (Canary Media)
• Washington court restores $185 million verdict for teachers poisoned by PCBs (The New Lede)
• EPA: Superfund cleanup ‘likely’ fouled Pennsylvania town’s water (E&E News)
• Traces of old farm chemicals contaminate water across the US (Circle of Blue)
• EPA retreats from plans to end the Energy Star program (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)
• AI is pushing climate groals out of reach, new reports say (Inside Climate News)
• Climate change is accelerating, scientists find in ‘grim’ report (Yale Climate Connections)
• How Trump’s War on Climate Science impacts all Americans (Bloomberg)
• Solar Is Liberation (Rolling Stone)
• Governments legally required to address climate change, global court says (Inside Climate News)
• David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ is a brutal, beautiful wake-up call from the sea (AP)
• 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)
• 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)
• How To Spot 5 Of The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Biggest Disinformation Tactics (Guardian)
• The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
• 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)