‘Green News Report’ – June 30, 2016

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: US, Canada and Mexico sign major clean energy pact; New report finds millions of Americans may be exposed to lead in drinking water; Germany bans fracking; PLUS: LED streetlights are keeping the American Medical Association up at night… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Florida’s coral reef system in rapid decay; Conservative to Fund Republicans Who Back Climate Change Action; Stinging Lionfish Are Invading The Mediterranean; Arsenic, Other Toxins Found At Three Georgia Power Plants; Coal Ash Bedevils Oklahoma Town, Revealing Weakness Of EPA Rule; Should Pacific Bluefin Tuna Be Listed As An Endangered Species?; U.S. Virgin Islands To Withdraw Subpoena In Climate Probe Into Exxon; In California, Study Finds Drilling and Fracking into Freshwater Formations… PLUS: Fossil Fuel Industry Ramps Up Anti-Divestment Strategy… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• NRDC report finds nearly 18 million in U.S. may be exposed to lead in drinking water:
• What’s In Your Water?: Flint and Beyond [PDF] (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Millions exposed to dangerous lead levels in US drinking water, report finds (Guardian UK):
  These violations include the failure to properly test water for lead or inadequate treatment of water to prevent lead from leeching from old pipes into the drinking supply…Olson said that water utilities are routinely “gaming the system” to underplay the amount of lead found in water. The Guardian has revealed that at least 33 US cities have used various methods that can mask the true level of lead when conducting tests.
• Water departments to change lead-testing methods after investigation (Guardian UK)
• House of Representatives building shut off water due to lead contamination:
• Congressional Office Building’s Water Is Contaminated With Lead (Climate Progress):
  Lead contamination in a congressional building may drive home a problem to lawmakers that was brought to public attention with the water crisis in Flint but is national in scope.
• U.S., Canada, Mexico sign ambitious joint clean energy agreement:
• Three Amigos Summit: What Trudeau, Obama and Pena Nieto agreed on (CBC)
• Three Amigos Unveil Climate and Energy Plan, Nafta Changes (Bloomberg):
  The U.S., Canada and Mexico put climate change at the center of efforts to deepen the North American alliance, pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, boost the development of clean power and build new cross-border transmission lines.
• US, Canada and Mexico pledge 50% of power from clean energy by 2025 (Guardian UK):
  It is a jump from the current collective clean power levels of about 37% and will require the most work from the United States, which produces about 75% of the countries’ power.
• American Petroleum Institute to re-tool anti-climate science campaign:
• API exploring new climate strategy (Politico):
  Caught between a president looking to make climate action his legacy and an energized “Keep it in the ground” environmental movement, the American Petroleum Institute is forming an internal task force to review climate change policy and messaging.
• Germany bans fracking:
• German government agrees to ban fracking after years of dispute (Guardian UK):
  Fracking has been largely unregulated in Germany until now, and the current coalition government under Angela Merkel has been working for months to draw up new rules…But the government revived the proposal at the last minute as companies, tired of waiting for a legal framework, last week said they would push ahead with fracking projects that had been on hold for five years.
• German government agrees to ban fracking indefinitely (Reuters)
• Germany Bans Fracking But Does It Go Far Enough? (Eco Watch)
• AMA says LEDs may be keeping Americans up at night:
• Doctors issue warning about LED streetlights (CNN):
  The American Medical Association (AMA) has just adopted an official policy statement about street lighting: cool it and dim it…An AMA committee issued guidelines on how communities can choose LED streetlights to “minimize potential harmful human health and environmental effects.”

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Fossil Fuel Industry Ramps Up Anti-Divestment Strategy (E&E News):
  During a breakfast he recently hosted in a K Street bar, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Chet Thompson leaned forward in his seat and said his industry isn’t sweating the fossil fuel divestment movement.
• Stinging Lionfish Are Invading The Mediterranean (Washington Post):
  The long-finned, tiger-striped lionfish may be one of the most stunning swimmers in the sea — but it’s also becoming one of the most problematic.
• Conservative to Fund Republicans Who Back Climate Change Action (NY Times):
  A self-described conservative North Carolina businessman has promised to spend at least $5 million through his political action committee to back five Republican congressional candidates who have supported taking action to curb climate change.
• Arsenic, Other Toxins Found At Three Georgia Power Plants (Atlanta Journal-Constitution):
  Georgia Power said it found arsenic and other toxic chemicals in a handful of test wells near coal ash ponds at three of its power plants near Newnan, Rome and Savannah.
• Coal Ash Bedevils Oklahoma Town, Revealing Weakness Of EPA Rule (Center for Public Integrity):
  After a billion-gallon spill in Tennessee, the agency sought to regulate the often-toxic byproduct of burning coal. It largely failed.
• Should Pacific Bluefin Tuna Be Listed As An Endangered Species? (NPR):
  Environmentalists are demanding that one of the most prized fishes on the planet be listed as an endangered species.
• U.S. Virgin Islands To Withdraw Subpoena In Climate Probe Into Exxon (Reuters):
  The U.S. Virgin Islands’ attorney general on Wednesday agreed to withdraw a sweeping subpoena issued against Exxon Mobil Corp as part of a push by a coalition of state prosecutors to try to investigate whether the world’s largest publicly traded oil company misled the public about climate change risks.
• European Commission To Extend Glyphosate License For 18 Months (Reuters):
  The European Commission is extending by 18 months its approval for weed-killer glyphosate, used in Monsanto’s Roundup, Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said on Tuesday.
• In California, Study Finds Drilling and Fracking into Freshwater Formations (Inside Climate News):
  The overlap of oil and gas development and water sources underscores the vulnerability of California’s groundwater, and the need for monitoring, the authors said.
• Warning from the past: Future global warming could be even warmer (Niels Bohr Institute):
  “The research shows that climate sensitivity was higher during the past global, warm climate than in the current climate. This is bad news for humanity as greater climate sensitivity from warming will further amplify the warming…”
• UK ministers to approve world-leading carbon emissions target (Guardian UK):
  Fears had been raised that EU referendum would result in deadline being missed but sources say carbon budget will be agreed
• Florida’s coral reef system in rapid decay, scientists say (CNN):
  “We didn’t think this would happen for another 50 or 60 years,” said Chris Langdon, a marine biologist at the University of Miami, who published a new report on the health of the reef in May. “This study showed a whole new thing we didn’t even know was threatening them.”
• 7 Things You Should Do After Watching ‘How to Let Go of the World’ (Eco Watch):
  ‘How to Let Go of the World’ is unlike any other documentary you’ve ever seen on climate change. Traveling to 12 countries on six continents, the film acknowledges that it may be too late to stop some of the worst consequences and asks, what is it that climate change can’t destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away?
• Want to fight climate change? Here are the 7 critical life changes you should make (Grist) [emphasis added]:
  So, given the imperfections of this world, what is a lone wolf such as yourself to do? Here are some conclusions gleaned from this study: 1. Buy the most fuel-efficient car you can afford, then drive it as little as possible….

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).