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Green News Report

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

7/28/2026

‘Green News Report’ – July 28, 2026  |  with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – July 28, 2026  |  with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): The strongest El Niño in history is coming – get ready; The Phoenix We Are Choosing: When does reverse migration become the norm?; From wildfires to tornadoes, extreme weather isn’t letting up in the U.S.; Trump is pulling back on energy efficiency just as prices are rising; 25 states sue FEMA and DHS, accusing Trump administration of withholding funding; U.S. military bases delay cleanup of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ … PLUS: Bloated and Gassy: Trump’s energy policy, and what it’s going to cost us all … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Trump reneges on his signed deal with Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear energy:
• Trump adds condition to Saudi nuclear deal after it’s signed, putting its future in doubt (MS Now)
• How Trump upended the Saudi nuclear deal less than 24 hours after its signing (CNN)
• Trump says Saudi nuclear deal contingent on relations with Israel, does not include enrichment (CNBC)
• With the Saudi Deal, Trump Risks Aiding and Abetting a Nuclear Arms Race (The Dispatch)
• Sen. Chris Van Hollen: Trump hit Saudi Arabia with ‘bait and switch’ by tying Israel relations to nuclear deal (The Hill)
• With Saudi Deal, Trump Loosens Nuclear Standards for One Close Ally (gift link, NY times):
  Nuclear experts say it throws fuel on the smoldering fire of atomic proliferation, creating a destabilizing situation that could raise the risk of nuclear war.
• Third heat dome strikes the US:
• Scorching US heatwave to hit 70 million people with third ‘heat dome’ in month (Guardian)
• Heat dome and wildfire smoke to blanket much of US. See map (USA Today)
• Heat index of 130 today at Scott AFB near St Louis (Daily Kos)
• Record heat and humidity will fuel more severe storms in the Midwest (Dr. Andrew Dessler, Balanced Weather):
  These storms are being fueled by an extreme combination of heat and humidity across the central part of the nation, with extreme heat warnings in effect for much of the region as heat index values are expected to climb above 110F in many locations today… In the Southwest, with a low of 95F on Saturday, Phoenix saw consecutive days with a minimum temperature of 95F or higher for the first time on record.
• First Alert: Heat record broken as temperatures soar in Phoenix (KPHO-Phoenix)
• Phoenix heat sets records day and night. Is relief on the way? (Tuscon.com)
• Spain and France battle massive mega-fires:
• Extreme Heat and Strong Winds Fuel New Wildfires in France and Spain (gift link, NY Times):
  Firefighters are tackling fresh blazes while others have been contained, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee. A new heat wave forecast to hit Europe could make conditions worse.
• Devastating European wildfires in maps – and how they’re being tackled (BBC)
• Worst Start to Wildfire Season Raises Alarm as El Niño Threatens (Bloomberg)
• VIDEO: ‘No matter what you do, you can’t put it out’: Spanish firefighters describe record blaze (AP)
• More than 300,000 displaced in France and Spain as exhausted firefighters battle wildfires (CBS News)
• Displaced from wildfires in Spain share their stories of uncertainty and narrow escapes (AP):
  On Friday afternoon, two major fires near Madrid merged into a single, rapidly spreading blaze. It later combined with another that was already burning in Ávila, north of the capital. This forced the government to declare a national fire emergency for the first time. Since then, the flames have also spread to Toledo, a province southwest. In all, the flames have scorched 77,000 hectares in the central part of the country alone.
• VIDEO: John Valliant, “Frontlines of a Burning World”: Climate Change-Fueled “Megafires” Sweep Europe & North America (Democeracy Now)
• Wildfire outbreaks expand across Oregon, Washington, Minnesota:
• Wildfire smoke is blanketing parts of the U.S. again this week. These are the most affected states. (Yahoo News)
• Oregon on track for record fire year after wildfire total hits grim milestone (Oregon Live)
• Fires in Eastern Washington continue to grow in size with little reprieve forecast (Spokane Spokesman-Review)
• 20-plus wildfires currently active in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, officials say (CBS News)
• Trump cut forest management projects in Minnesota:
• VIDEO: How DOGE Cuts Sabotaged Fire Management in Minnesota (This Is Not Cool)
• ‘We were shovel ready’: A Minnesota forest hit by DOGE cuts is now ablaze (gift link, Washington Post):
  They had to redo much of the grant’s parameters to ensure more of the trees they were thinning would go to timber mills to generate revenue…“Our initial proposal was based on the concept of how fire works and the fuel treatment effectiveness,” Kania said. “When you focus on marketable timber sales, it undermines the concept of strategic fuel reduction. What they were asking us to do no longer made sense because we had to program it for timber sales.”
• Trump Admin. admits in court it punished blue states over clean energy grants
• White House admits it scrapped grants to blue states because they didn’t vote for Trump (MS Now):
  Federal officials offered the new details about the grant cancellations as part of an agreement with plaintiffs meant to spare the government an exhaustive, evidence-uncovering process known as discovery, the court filings said. That process could have required federal agencies to hand over more damaging records.
• Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics (AP):
  The statement contradicts repeated assertions by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials that the projects were canceled because they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or had other problems that made them a poor investment of taxpayer dollars.
• Trump Cut $83 Billion In Delayed Or Canceled Clean Energy Projects (Reuters)

‘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

• The strongest El Niño in history is coming – get ready (Ryan Cooper, The American Prospect)
• From wildfires to tornadoes, extreme weather isn’t letting up in U.S. (USA Today)
• The Phoenix We Are Choosing: When does reverse migration become the norm? (Staying Curious)
• Bloated and Gassy: Trump’s…energy policy, and what it’s going to cost us all (Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years)
• The U.S. is pulling back on energy efficiency just as prices are rising (gift link, NY Times)
• 25 states sue FEMA and DHS, accusing Trump administration of withholding funding (CBS News)
• U.S. military bases delay cleanup of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ (USA Today)
• Federal judge orders EPA to administer environmental justice grants (Inside Climate News)
• Water contamination from agriculture is a top issue in Iowa midterms (Civil Eats)
• EPA excuses data centers from acid rain regs (E&E News)
• US environmental groups urge EPA to reject new PFAS to cool datacenters (Guardian)
• As Trump boosts nuclear power, regulators seek to eliminate a longstanding radiation safety practice (AP)
• More snow is falling as rain in Washington, bringing drought to farms (Inside Climate News)
• Here’s how much money EV drivers are saving in your state (Washington Post)
• MIT study finds gas cars aren’t secretly better for the planet than EVs, despite what everyone on Facebook says (Jalopnik)
• The dawn of 24/7 solar power (with battery storage (Financial Times via archive, 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)