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Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 6/2/2026

‘Green News Report’ – June 2, 2026  |  With Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – June 2, 2026  |  With Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): It’s not just high gas prices – inflation is now spreading through the US economy; Trump Administration to dismantle ocean monitoring system; Federal judge blocks breakup of NCAR in Boulder while blasting Trump for enacting political revenge on Colorado; 2026 World Cup will feature a villainous player: extreme heat; Facing a Western water crisis, Trump turns to Democrats’ climate law… PLUS: As seas rise, Louisiana faces a choice: plan to move or let crisis decide… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Snarky: Trump Admin’s Hassett dismiss higher prices caused by Trump’s Iran War:
• VIDEO: Kevin Hassett higher prices are good, actually (Dr. Michael Mann/Twitter)
• War for Oil Siphoning from Middle Class to Rich (This Is Not Cool)
“The question is, of course, who is the U.S.?” said Isabella Weber, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “If we look at the different income groups in the United States, it’s really the richest of the rich who benefit from this. The majority of people hardly have any benefit from it and are in fact carrying a much larger cost burden.”
• Iran War stalemate continues:
• Iran stops talking to mediators over Israel fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian reports say (AP)
• Iran halts ceasefire talks with US, says it will keep Strait of Hormuz closed (The Hill/MSN)
• US bombs Iranian military sites, then downs missiles Tehran fired at troops in Kuwait (AP)
• Oil industry warns inventories are running dangerously low:
• Exxon warns oil inventories will hit dangerously low levels in weeks, forcing prices to shoot higher (CNBC):
  “We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” said Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman at a conference hosted by Bernstein in New York. “I mean really, really low levels,” Chapman warned. “You can debate whether that’s going to hit, those really low levels, in two weeks or three weeks. Once you get to that point, then you’ll see price shoot up.”
• VIDEO: When Oil Tanks hit Bottom, All Bets are Off (This Is Not Cool)
• Shrinking Oil Inventories Raise Fears of Prolonged Energy Crisis (Oil Price):
  Global oil inventories are rapidly approaching “minimum operational levels,” with Asia already facing acute shortages.
• Goldman Sachs Sees Oil Demand Destruction Offsetting Supply Shock Risks (Oil Prices)
• It’s not a recession. But Goldman says your paycheck is acting like it (Fortune)
• VIDEO: Rory Johnston: Iran war wiped out 1.5 billion barrels of oil – so far (Financial Post)
• Iran war rapidly wiping out the world’s oil stockpile cushion (Economic Times)
• Iran energy shock supports boom in renewables and electrification (Bloomberg, no paywall)
• UK and Europe broil under record-shattering heat wave:
• Exceptionally early heat wave shatters records and brings deaths in Europe (AP)
• Europe’s Heat Wave Has the ‘Fingerprints of Climate Change All Over It’ (NY Times):
  “This record-breaking heat has the fingerprints of climate change all over it,” Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, said in a statement. The broiling temperatures represented an early start to the heat season in Europe. Last year, almost all the continent was unusually hot, according to the annual European State of the Climate report. Europe is warming faster than any other continent, and researchers estimate that in recent years it has seen tens of thousands of heat-related deaths annually.
• High temperatures in the May 2026 Western European heatwave exacerbated by human-driven climate change (Climameter)
• VIDEO: Europe experiencing record heat for May as heat dome settles in (DW News)
• Extreme heat in Europe ‘a brutal reminder’ of climate crisis, UN chief says (Guardian)
• Chemical industry accidents in WA State and California:
• Victims identified in Washington chemical explosion, death toll at 11 (USA Today)
• All evacuation orders tied to Southern California chemical tank lifted after ‘worst-case scenario’ averted, officials say (ABC News)
• Garden Grove’s chemical crisis: Thousands flee as conditions worsen at damaged tank (LA Times)
• Federal Chemical Safety Board Sends Warning on Trump Disaster Policy (NY Times/SEJ):
  The board’s two remaining members – Steve Owens, the chairman, and Sylvia E. Johnson — warned publicly in a letter this week that the administration was taking “a significant step backwards” in preventing catastrophic chemical incidents. The letter urged the Environmental Protection Agency not to eliminate mandatory audits at plants with prior accidents or measures encouraging the use of safer chemical alternatives.
• Dangerous Chemical Plant Disasters Spotlight Trump’s Deregulatory Efforts (The Hill)
• Trump Administration accelerates climate, pollution rollbacks:
• Trump Lifts Restrictions on Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands (NY Times):
  It was the latest move by the Trump administration to prioritize recreation, oil and gas drilling, logging and mining on public lands and waters across the country. The Biden administration, in contrast, had prioritized their use for conservation and renewable energy development.
• Trump repeals rules governing off-roading on public lands (Center for Western Priorities):
  President Donald Trump rescinded two executive orders on Friday evening that aimed to balance off-road vehicle (OHV) use on public lands. The 1972 and 1977 orders, signed by Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, required federal agencies to minimize ecological damage, harassment of wildlife, and recreational conflicts due to OHV use on public lands. Repealing the orders prioritizes motorized recreation and resource extraction over conservation, increasing the risk of widespread environmental degradation.
• SEC moves to repeal rule that requires companies to report greenhouse gas emissions and climate risk (AP)
• Smog rules: US EPA proposes delaying enforcement of Biden vehicle pollution rule (Reuters)
• Trump Quietly Weakened Heat Rules? Just in Time for a Broiling Summer (The New Republic)
• Worst-case climate scenario no longer plausible:
• Trump calls a climate projection ‘wrong!’ Turns out, climate action is working (CBC)
• Solar, wind, and EVs have knocked out a doomsday climate scenario (Yale Climate Communications):
  Explosive growth in clean technologies has pushed an old coal-heavy scenario out of the realm of plausibility, according to a recent study. But there’s more work to be done…
  That study made headlines in May when President Donald Trump falsely claimed that climate scientists had admitted that their projections had been wrong, a claim akin to an anti-vaxxer gloating that the official end of the pandemic proved that COVID was never a problem.
  And the study contained sobering news: The best-case climate scenario is close to slipping out of reach, and a business-as-usual scenario is still a very dangerous one
• The worst climate future is less likely, but the best one is slipping away (AP)
• Explainer: The high-emissions ‘RCP8.5’ global warming scenario (Carbon Brief)

‘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

• It’s not just high gas prices – inflation is now spreading through the US economy (The Conversation)
• Trump Administration to dismantle ocean monitoring system (NY Times)
• As seas rise, Louisiana faces a choice: plan to move or let crisis decide (Inside Climate News)
• Federal judge blocks breakup of NCAR in Boulder while blasting Trump for enacting political revenge on Colorado (Colorado Sun)
• The 2026 World Cup will feature a villainous player: extreme heat (Inside Climate News)
• House Dems seek GAO probe on Trump’s disaster declarations after denials (The Hill/SEJ)
• Facing a Western water crisis, Trump turns to Democrats’ climate law (Politico)
• Report: Alaska LNG project could cost Municipality of Anchorage millions (Anchorage Daily News)
• Erin Brockovich takes aim at data center secrecy (Tech Crunch)
• Report calls for stricter fertilizer rules as nitrate pollution grows (The New Lede)
• EPA rollbacks could raise AC, refrigeration costs, not promised savings (Inside Climate News)
• Think it’s hot now? The next five years will smash records, UN says (AP)
• Water shortages worsen across Cuba as oil supplies dwindle (AP)
• Interior proposes opening 95% of wildlife refuges to hunting (E&E News)
• The dawn of 24/7 solar power (with battery storage (Ghost Archive: Financial Times, no paywall)
• It’s the Age of Electricity and America isn’t ready (NY Times)
• Stop emissions, stop warming: A climate reality check (Dr. Andrew Dessler, Climate Brink)
• How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
• 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)