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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Brutal Arctic cold likely to persist through February, and yes, it is linked to climate change, not groundhogs; Western states facing a record-setting snow drought; PLUS: Courts have now restarted 5 out of 5 offshore wind farms that Trump tried to block... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump’s EPA rollbacks could harm air and water, and worsen global heating; Trump’s biggest climate rollback stalls over fears it will lose in court; Drastic water shortages and air pollution are fueling Iran's protests; The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse; Russia delivers worst attack this year to Ukraine’s power sector ... PLUS: EIA: 99 percent of new US capacity in 2026 will be solar, wind + storage ... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Groundhog Day: Deep freeze will continue until morale improves:
• Punxsutawney Phil is said to have seen his shadow, forecasting 6 more weeks of wintry weather (AP)
• ‘Historic storm’ delivers biggest snowfall in decades for North Carolina (Washington Post)
• Bomb cyclone brings freezing temperatures and snow to millions in US (Guardian)
• Florida cold snap delivers falling iguanas, snow flurries and record-breaking lows (Yahoo News)
• VIDEO: Polar vortex to keep frigid pattern locked over eastern US through much of February (AccuWeather)
• Rough surf from the bomb cyclone snowstorm sent four vacation homes crashing into the ocean on the Outer Banks. (AccuWeather)
• Yes, climate change intensifies extreme winter weather:
• Polar vortex disruption helps explain this weekend's extreme cold weather, despite climate misinformation (Fast Company):
  
  Climate deniers are quick to say 'I told you so' when the mercury drops. But a warmer planet impacts weather in ways that can seem counterintuitive.
• Climate Change Is Fueling Extremes, Both Hot and Cold (NY Times)
• Meteorologists blame a stretched polar vortex, moisture, lack of sea ice for dangerous winter blast (AP)
• Penn climate scientists warn global warming will 'exacerbate storms' following record snowfall (The Daily Pennsylvanian)
• Explainer: A triple-dip Polar vortex is coming. Will your state feel the chill? (USA Today, 12/3/2025)
• Tens of thousands in the South still without power:
• Fear and Anger Grow as Thousands Remain Without Power in the South (NY Times):
  
  More than 30 people have died across three Southern states in connection with last week's storm, and thousands remain without power.
• The winter storm exposed the grid's real weakness: Lots of old poles (Grist):
  
  Aging infrastructure is to blame for Winter Storm Fern's weather outages - and for recent price spikes.
• Coordinated campaign of disinformation leaps into action after winter storms:
• What really broke on the grid during Storm Fern - it wasn't wind or solar (Electrek):
  
  Disinformation around Fern followed a familiar pattern: broad power system failures were quickly framed as evidence that renewables had "failed," often before operational data was available. In this case, we saw a coordinated wave of social media videos, partisan commentary, and even official statements amplifying the claim that wind and solar weakened the grid.
• CNN hosts climate scientist to explain to President Trump why extreme cold doesn't disprove global warming (Media Matters)
• Right-wing media's cynicism about climate leaves out ongoing global success of renewables (Media Matters)
• Trump-imposed FEMA backlog the largest in US history
• Extra Scrutiny of FEMA Aid to States Has Created a $17 Billion Bottleneck (NY Times):
  
  Additional layers of review ordered by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, have slowed assistance to disaster-struck communities.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency's "backlog of unanswered disaster assistance applications has exploded to the largest in its history." (Politifact)
• Turmoil at FEMA adds to the revolt against Kristi Noem (Grist):
  
  The homeland security secretary has all but halted the agency's disaster spending.
• Tillis becomes first GOP senator to call for "incompetent" Noem to step down (CBS news)
• VIDEO: Tillis cites FEMA backlog in calling for 'incompetent' Noem's removal (WRAL)
• U.S. West in a record 'snow drought':
• Snow Drought in the West Reaches Record Levels (NY Times):
  
  Warm temperatures and extremely low snowfall threaten water resources for the year...The extent of snow-covered ground is at a record low. Instead of the typical winter sports, people across the West are still hiking and biking in 50- and 60-degree weather...[C]ross-country ski events, snowshoeing and snowmobile tours have been canceled. In Montana, the annual Race to the Sky sled-dog event was called off in January.
• Snow Drought Hits the Western United States, Worrying Experts About the Region’s Water Supply (Smithsonian Magazine):
  
  Snow melt from the mountains provides up to 75 percent of the West’s yearly water.
• Western states face 'snow drought' as snowpack hits record lows (NBC News)
• Court restarts 5th of 5 offshore wind farms halted by the Trump Administration:
• Trump's attempts to kill offshore wind aren't working (CNN)
• Yet another judge rejects Trump effort to block offshore wind, saying NY project can resume (AP):
  
  In clearing the way for Sunrise Wind to proceed, Judge Royce Lamberth found that the government had not shown that offshore wind is such an imminent national security risk that it must halt in the United States...Though all five projects have been cleared to resume, the construction pause has cost developers millions of dollars and, along with Trump's sustained attacks on renewable energies of all kinds, injected uncertainty and additional risk into future projects.
• Judge Hands Trump a Fifth Loss in His Effort to Halt Offshore Wind Projects (NY Times):
  
  Judge Lamberth, who was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, said he was unpersuaded by the government's claims about national security after reviewing the classified report under seal. He said the actions of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had caused "irreparable harm" to the developer of Sunrise Wind.
  "Purportedly new classified information does not constitute a sufficient explanation for the bureau's decision to entirely stop work on the Sunrise Wind project," Judge Lamberth said while ruling from the bench after a two-hour court hearing.

'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

• Trump’s EPA Rollbacks Could Harm Air And Water — And Worsen Global Heating (Guardian)
• Trump’s biggest climate rollback stalls over fears it will lose in court (Washington Post)
• Drastic water shortages and air pollution are fuelling Iran's protests (The Conversation)
• The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised (Guardian)
• Small electric cars were said to be the future - here's why SUVs now rule the road (BBC)
• Russia delivers worst attack this year to Ukraine’s power sector (Washington Post)
• After Decades of Deflection, ExxonMobil Moves to Reshape Global Climate Accounting (DeSmog Blog)
• EIA: 99%+ of new US capacity in 2026 will be solar, wind + storage (Electrek)
• Reagan Judge finds Fracker Energy Sec’s Climate Denial Panel Illegal (This Is Not Cool)
• Trump Announces $12B Minerals Stockpile (The Hill)
• Trump Energy Dept. Exempts New Nuclear Reactors From Environmental Review (NPR)
• Undoing Utah National Monument Protections Risks Legal Chaos (Bloomberg Law)
• Feds Greenlight $2B Renewable Energy Project On Yakama Nation Sacred Site (Washington State Standard)
• Experts Call Omaha Coal Plant Clean Bill Of Health Misleading (Flatwater Free Press)
• Texas Petrochemical Plants Emitted 1.6 Million Pounds Of Pollutants In Freeze (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)

                 

Article Categories: Environment, FEMA, Green News, Natural gas, Wind energy, Climate change, Extreme weather, Water, Arctic, Thom Tillis, Electricity, Kristi Noem