‘Green News Report’ – April 6, 2017

Follow @GreenNewsReport…

(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Corporate media failed to inform the public on climate change right when we needed it most; Even Fox News pushing back on Trump Administration’s climate denial; EPA sued for refusing to ban toxic pesticide that harms children and farm workers; PLUS: Scientific integrity on trial and under attack in the U.S. House of Representatives… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): National Geographic Articles in the Year 2030; Trump EPA Moves To Dismantle Programs That Protect Kids From Lead Paint; Trump Boosts Coal As China Takes The Lead On Climate Change; New York, Other States Challenge Trump Over Climate Change Regulation; Australia Could Be Set To Receive New Wave Of Climate Refugees; India’s Ganges Clean-Up In A Shambles, Modi Intervenes; U.S. Would Slash EPA Vehicle Testing Budget Under Trump Plan; Lead Exposure Alters Course Of Children’s Lives Decades Later: Study… PLUS: Just four years left of the 1.5C carbon budget…. and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Scientific integrity on trial and under attack in the House of Representatives:
  • VIDEO: Inconceivable – The lastest theatrical hosue science committee hearing (Guardian UK)
  • Dr. Michael Mann just spent 2 hours debating the biggest global warming deniers in Congress (Mother Jones)
  • Dr. Michael Mann: The point in my congressional testimony where (upon a prior dare) I did indeed draw reference to #ThePrincessBride (Dr. Michael Mann, Twitter)
  • House Republicans vote to curb the EPA’s use of science (Climate Progress):
    Critics say the HONEST Act would seriously chill science.
  • The Creeping, Quiet Gaslighting of the EPA (Wired)
  • The House just passed two bills that would stifle science at the EPA (Vox):
    Republicans are using the language of science reformers to obstruct the EPA.
  • EPA Leaders Trashed Staff Comments Critical of Data Overhaul Bill: Officials (Bloomberg):
    EPA staff comments on extensive burdens linked to a controversial House-passed bill never made it to the Congressional Budget Office.

• EPA sued for refusing to ban toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos:
• Groups Appeal EPAs Refusal to Ban Major Pesticide Linked to Brain Damage in Children (Earthjustice.org)
• Environmentalists sue EPA for reversing Obama-era move to ban pesticide (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:
  The new complaint, filed by lawyers with advocacy group Earthjustice, asks a panel of three federal appeals court judges to order the EPA to permanently ban chlorpyrifos based on its own science. Dow Chemical, which manufactures the pesticide under the name Lorsban, has aggressively lobbied to keep the product in use and claimed that the science is not conclusive.
• Environmental groups sue EPA to force ban on controversial pesticide (Climate Progress):
  The chemical has already been banned for residential use…Late last month, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt rejected a petition by environmental groups to stop the use of chlorpyrifos, which has been shown in peer-reviewed studies to risks to fetal development and neurotoxic poisoning. At the time, he declined the decision on the basis that the agency needed to provide regulatory certainty for U.S. farms that rely on chlorpyrifos but called for further study on the issue.

• These U.S. Kids Have Higher Autism Risk Under New EPA Rule (Bloomberg):
  Scott Pruitt’s rejection of an organophosphates ban may endanger the children of those who harvest produce.
• 2016 campaign: TV media failed American voters right when they needed it most:
• How Broadcast Networks Covered Climate Change In 2016 (Media Matters) [emphasis added]:
  In 2016, evening newscasts and Sunday shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as Fox Broadcast Co.’s Fox News Sunday, collectively decreased their total coverage of climate change by 66 percent compared to 2015, even though there were a host of important climate-related stories, including the announcement of 2015 as the hottest year on record, the signing of the Paris climate agreement, and numerous climate-related extreme weather events.
• TV coverage of climate fell 66 percent during a record-setting year for global warming (Climate Progress) [emphasis added]:
  During the campaign, the major networks spent no time examining the climate policy differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – despite their vast disagreement on domestic action, the Paris climate agreement, and whether the entire body of scientific inquiry is a hoax. ABC, CBS, and NBC made up for this glaring omission by devoting an hour and 40 minutes of coverage to Hillary Clinton’s emails, as Media Matters reported in November.
• VIDEO: Ex-EPA chief: Trump climate policy ’embarrassing’ (CNN Amanpour)
• Even Fox News’ Chris Wallace pushing back against Trump Admin’s science denial:
• VIDEO: Even Fox News slams EPA chief’s climate denial: ‘All kinds of studies contradict you’ (Climate Progress):
  Chris Wallace utterly debunks Scott Pruitt’s lies about the central role carbon pollution plays in warming.
• Despite Trump’s efforts, electric utilities not turning back to coal:
• Trump declares end to ‘war on coal,’ but utilities aren’t listening (Reuters):
  Reuters surveyed 32 utilities with operations in the 26 states that sued former President Barack Obama’s administration to block its Clean Power Plan, the main target of Trump’s executive order. The bulk of them have no plans to alter their multi-billion dollar, years-long shift away from coal, suggesting demand for the fuel will keep falling despite Trump’s efforts.
• Coal Is on the Way Out at Electric Utilities, No Matter What Trump Says (NY Times):
  Across the country, at least six other coal-fired power plants have shut since November, and nearly 40 more are to close in the next four years.

‘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

• National Geographic Articles in the Year 2030 (McSweeney’s):
  + Hey, Remember Forests? I Miss Forests
  + These Striking Photographs Show the Best On-Fire Lakes from Around the World
  + Did Lemurs Have Personalities? If So, Were They Bummed Out When They Became Extinct?…
• Analysis: Just four years left of the 1.5C carbon budget (Carbon Brief):
  Four years of current emissions would be enough to blow what’s left of the carbon budget for a good chance of keeping global temperature rise to 1.5C.
• Trump EPA Moves To Dismantle Programs That Protect Kids From Lead Paint (Washington Post):
  Environmental Protection Agency officials are proposing to eliminate two programs focused on limiting children’s exposure to lead-based paint, which is known to cause damage to developing brains and nervous systems.
• Trump Boosts Coal As China Takes The Lead On Climate Change (AP):
  For years, cutting carbon emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change was routinely near the top of the agenda at talks between the leaders of the United States and China. Not anymore.
• New York, Other States Challenge Trump Over Climate Change Regulation (Reuters):
  A coalition of 17 U.S. states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging energy policies.
• Australia Could Be Set To Receive New Wave Of Climate Refugees (Guardian UK):
  Australia could be on the frontline of a new wave of “climate refugees” displaced by extreme weather.
• India’s Ganges Clean-Up In A Shambles, Modi Intervenes (Reuters):
  India’s $3 billion plan to clean the holy Ganges river is badly behind schedule with large stretches contaminated by toxic waste and sewage, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene, according to government officials and documents seen by Reuters.
• U.S. Would Slash EPA Vehicle Testing Budget Under Trump Plan (Reuters):
  The Trump administration would virtually eliminate federal funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for vehicle emissions and fuel economy testing but will seek to raise fees on industry to pay for some testing, a government document shows.
• Lead Exposure Alters Course Of Children’s Lives Decades Later: Study (Washington Post):
  Children with elevated blood-lead levels at age 11 ended up as adults with lower cognitive function and lower-status occupations than their parents, according to new research that offers one of the clearest looks yet at the potential long-term health impact of the potent neurotoxin.
• What happens if the EPA is stripped of its power to fight climate change? (Climate Progress):
  If Congress passes a law banning the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide, climate action will go to the courts…Every year since 2009, a member of Congress has introduced a bill aimed at revoking or delaying the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases…The landscape is different now. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
• No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously (Vox):
  If we mean what we say, no more new fossil fuels, anywhere.

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).