‘Green News Report’ – July 19, 2016

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Surprise! Donald Trump’s running mate is also a climate science denier; UK’s new conservative prime minister abolishes climate department on her first day; Heat wave breaks records in Alaska; PLUS: India breaks record for most number of trees planted in a single day (you’ll never guess how many!)… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): June marks 14 consecutive months of record heat for the globe; Inside the diabolical Ukrainian hack that put the U.S. grid on high alert; France decrees new rooftops must be covered in plants or solar panels; Canada to Introduce National Carbon Price in 2016; You’ll never believe how cheap solar is now; China’s $22 billion flood now the 5th costliest non-U.S. disaster in history; Crowd harasses Alaskan mountain goat to death… PLUS: Oil refiners agrees to pay $425 million to settle air pollution violations… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Extreme heat kills inmate in Washington DC prison:
• Inmate Dies At D.C. Jail Amidst Sweltering Heat (DCist):
  NBC 4 reports that advocates are skeptical of DOC’s claims, with Deborah Golden, the director of the DC Prisoners’ Project, calling it “a matter of time” before conditions inside the jail led to an inmate’s death.
• Dangerous heat wave to scorch U.S. (USA Today)
• Extreme heat wave breaks Arctic record in Alaska:
• Alaska’s heat wave goes from noteworthy to ridiculous with Deadhorse record (Mashable):
  Normally, one high temperature record would not be worth calling out, but this one helps demonstrate the rapid changes taking place in the northernmost reaches of the planet, as air and sea temperatures increase, sea ice retreats and snow cover melts earlier each season.
• Two Flavors of Record Heat: Deadhorse and Houston (Weather Underground)
• Alaska Bakes In Heat Wave While Arctic Sea Ice Continues To Melt (Climate Progress):
  One record showed Fairbanks’ airport reaching 96 degrees Wednesday.
• Trump’s running mate Gov. Mike Pence is a climate science denier:
• Mike Pence’s loose grip on reality is almost as bad as Trump’s (Grist):
  “Global warming is a myth,” Pence declared in a Kyoto-era op-ed on his website, dug up by BuzzFeed. “The global warming treaty is a disaster. There, I said it … The chant is ‘the sky is warming! the sky is warming!’. The only problem is that many Americans, including Vice President Al Gore, didn’t learn of their deceit the last time around and are buying this new bit hook, line and sinker.”
• What Media Should Know About Trump’s Reported VP Pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (Media Matters)
• Mike Pence, Cigarette Truther (Think Progress):
  Over his political career Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) has consistently carried the tobacco industry’s water, denying the dangers of cigarettes, opposing government regulation, and slashing smoking cessation efforts. In return, they rewarded him with more than $100,000 in campaign donations.
• Poll: Americans’ concern about climate change increasing:
• Americans Are Becoming More Worried About Climate Change. Here’s Why. (Climate Progress):
  Another major public opinion analysis confirms that Americans are growing substantially more “Alarmed” and “Concerned” about global warming, while at the same time becoming less “Doubtful” and “Dismissive.”
• Number of Americans “alarmed” by climate change rises in latest poll (Inside Climate News)
• New UK Prime Minister Theresa May abolishes climate change department on first day:
• UK Government axes climate department (BBC):
  Ed Miliband, the former energy and climate secretary under Labour, called the move “plain stupid”. It comes at a time when campaigners are urging the government to ratify the Paris climate change deal.
• The British Climate Department Is Gone – But It Could Have More Power Than Ever (Climate Progress):
  Under the new departmental structure, oversight of universities was moved out of the former Business and Industrial Strategies Department, so merging the formerly small DECC with business perhaps makes more sense than skeptics might think.
• The Fate Of Britain’s Environment Rests On A Cabinet Tug Of War (Guardian):
  The cast has changed following Theresa May’s reshuffle, but the play remains the same. It’s a struggle pitching free-market red tape slashers against those backing a clean, green economy as the UK’s best long term bet. The big question is whether this performance will have a different ending.
• India breaks world record for most trees planted in one day:
• India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day, Smashing World Record (National Geographic):
  Although the feat has yet to be certified by Guinness World Records, Indian officials have reported that volunteers planted a whopping 49.3 million tree saplings on July 11, blowing past the previous record for most trees planted in a single day.

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

• June marks 14 consecutive months of record heat for the globe (NOAA):
  Persistent heat on land and in the sea this June shattered records, yet again.
• Inside the diabolical Ukrainian hack that put the U.S. grid on high alert (E&E News):
  Ukraine’s battle to wrest control from the hackers elevated the story of frequent blackouts in a poor country to the latest in a series of cyberattacks with implications for the United States. Months in the making, it represented an escalation in attack methods that frightened U.S. authorities and executives. The hack methodically corrupted standard programing and subverted controls. It laid bare the work of persistent planners.
• France decrees new rooftops must be covered in plants or solar panels (Guardian UK):
  All new buildings in commercial zones across the country must comply with new environmental legislation
• Canada to Introduce National Carbon Price in 2016, Minister Says (Bloomberg):
  The federal government will publish an emissions reduction plan this fall that could include expanded, standardized emissions disclosure requirements for companies, McKenna said in an interview with Danielle Bochove on Bloomberg TV Canada.
• You’ll Never Believe How Cheap New Solar Power Is (Climate Progress):
  BNEF projects that by 2040, the world will invest an astonishing $3.4 trillion in solar. That’s more than the projected cumulative investment of $2.1 trillion for all fossil fuels – and $1.1 trillion in new nuclear – combined. The result of these investments and the continued learning by solar (and wind) makes “these two technologies the cheapest ways of producing electricity in many countries during the 2020s and in most of the world in the 2030s.”
• Earth’s 5th Costliest Non-U.S. Weather Disaster on Record: China’s $22 Billion Flood (Weather Underground)
• Oil Refiners Agree To Pay $425 Million To Reduce Air Pollution In West (LA Times):
  Concluding a long legal climb to cleaner air, the federal government Monday announced a record $425-million settlement with two oil refiners that is expected to reduce pollution emissions in the West by almost 43,000 tons annually.
• A lost Alaskan mountain goat drew a crowd hungry for photos. Within an hour, it was dead. (Washington Post):
  Around 6:30 p.m., Alaska State Troopers caught wind of the goat’s journey. It was being harassed by a group of people who wanted to photograph it, the officers said in a news dispatch.
• Fuel Targets Threatened by Demand for Big Autos (NY Times):
  “Despite praising automakers for recent gains in fuel economy, two federal agencies said on Monday that surging consumer demand for pickups and sport utility vehicles made it unlikely that the industry could meet the government’s ambitious projections a decade from now.
• 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?

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).