‘Green News Report’ – January 9, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: 2017 shatters record for costliest year ever for weather disasters in the U.S.; Oil tanker collision off the coast of China threatens to become major environmental disaster; Opposition mobilizes against Trump’s expansion of offshore drilling; PLUS: Norway hits an inflection point on electric cars… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Trump plan to expand oil and gas leasing in West draws, for the most part, a big yawn from industry; FERC: Trump-appointed regulators reject plan to rescue coal and nuclear plants; Solar panels have gotten thinner than a human hair. Soon they’ll be everywhere; Trump Admin. building ‘Road to Nowhere’ through Alaska wildlife refuge; Climate change turns most Great Barrier Reef sea turtles female… PLUS: NASA just made a stunning discovery about how fracking fuels global warming… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Oil tanker collision threatens to become major environmental disaster:
• Sanchi: Burning tanker off Chinese coast ‘in danger of exploding’ (BBC):
  Dr Boxall said the best hope was to put out the fire and stop the ship from sinking. “If she sinks with a lot of cargo intact, then you have a time bomb on the sea bed which will slowly release the condensate.” He added: “There could be a long-term exclusion of fishing for many hundreds of kilometres in this area.”
• Extreme weather: ‘Bomb cyclone’ breaks Boston high-tide record:
• It’s official: Boston breaks tide record (Boston Globe)
• VIDEO: Boston Set Record For Highest Tide Ever During Blizzard Of 2018 (CBS Boston)
• California: new evacuations ordered in burn areas amid major storm:
• Mudslide and flood threat prompts evacuations in burnt Southern California as major storm looms (NBC News)
• NOAA: 2017 costliest year for extreme weather disasters in U.S. history:
• US shatters record for disaster costs in 2017 (CNN)
• VIDEO: Natural disasters cost U.S. a record $306 billion last year (CBS News):
  Costs are adjusted for inflation and NOAA keeps track of billion-dollar weather disasters going back to 1980. Three of the five most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history hit last year. NOAA said the 16 billion-dollar disasters included eight severe storms, three tropical cyclones, two flooding events, one wildfire event, one drought and one freeze event. These events resulted in the deaths of 362 people and had significant economic effects on the areas they affected, the NOAA said.
• 2017 Shatters Records With $306 Billion In Damages From Climate-Linked Disasters (Huffington Post):
  Sixteen $1 billion-plus weather- and climate-related events killed at least 362 people.
• Does Record Snowfall Disprove Global Warming? ‘Exactly the Opposite,’ Scientist Says (EcoWatch)
• Opposition mobilizing against Trump’s expansion of offshore drilling:
• Gov. Jerry Brown: Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling is ‘reckless, short-sighted’ (LA Times):
  “For more than 30 years, our shared coastline has been protected from further federal drilling and we’ll do whatever it takes to stop this reckless, short-sighted action,” Brown said in a joint statement with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee…“We won’t forget history or ignore science,” the statement said.
• Only one Atlantic Coast governor has supported opening up the region to offshore drilling (Climate Progress)
• Trump administration to expand drilling off U.S. continental waters (Washington Post)
• Trump administration to overhaul safety-monitoring rules for offshore drilling (Washington Post):
  The Trump administration is overhauling how federal officials monitor safety procedures on offshore drilling operations, revising a pair of rules enacted in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill on the grounds that they are overly burdensome on industry.
• Trump’s offshore drilling expansion, deregulation is deadly combo (The Hill)
• Gov. Jerry Brown Already Expanded Offshore Oil Drilling in State Waters (sort of) (Counterpunch):
  California regulators under Brown have expanded offshore oil drilling by 17 percent in state waters… in existing leases within three nautical miles of shore.
• Norway crosses inflection point on electric vehicles:
• In Norway, Electric and Hybrid Cars Outsell Conventional Models (NY Times)
• Electric cars reach new 52% market share record in Norway thanks to Tesla’s record deliveries (Electrek):
  It means that if a passenger car is sold in Norway today, it’s more likely going to be a plug-in electric (BEV or PHEV) than a gas-powered vehicle.
• More Than Half Of New Norway Car Sales Now Electric Or Hybrid (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

• Trump plan to expand oil and gas leasing in West draws, for the most part, a big yawn from industry (LA Times)
• FERC: Trump-appointed regulators reject plan to rescue coal and nuclear plants (Washington Post)
• NASA just made a stunning discovery about how fracking fuels global warming: Natural gas is not part of the climate solution, it’s part of the problem. (Climate Progress)
• Solar panels have gotten thinner than a human hair. Soon they’ll be everywhere. (Vox)
• Trump administration forges ahead with building ‘Road to Nowhere’ through Alaska wildlife refuge (Climate Progress)
• Without fanfare, oil companies just received a tax break on New Year’s Day (Washinton Post)
• Dark Snow Project Fieldwork Findings Published (Climate Crocks)
• Interior rescinds climate, conservation policies because they’re ‘inconsistent’ with Trump’s energy goals (Washington Post)
• Climate change turns most Great Barrier Reef sea turtles female (NY Daily News)
• Cliven Bundy Walks Free As Federal Judge Dismisses Ranch Standoff Case (Arizona Republic)
• The Nation’s Rivers And Streams Are Getting Dangerously Saltier (Washington Post)
• Maine Town Wins Round in Tar Sands Oil Battle With Industry (Inside Climate News)
• Puerto Rico Energy Commission Lays Out Rules for Future Microgrids (GreenTech Media)
• Final Verdict On Oroville Dam: ‘Long-Term Systemic Failure’ (Sacramento Bee)
• Nearly 200 nations promise to stop ocean plastic waste (Reuters)
• Colorado oil and gas regulators face flak from communities as they refine pipeline rules (Denver Post)
• More equipment, crews head to Puerto Rico for power boost (AP)
• Utah’s top coal producer is fighting to reverse a California city’s ban on exporting coal and open new markets for local mines (Salt Lake Tribune)
• AUDIO: An Inconvenient ‘BradCast’ with Al Gore (The BRAD BLOG):
  Guest Host Angie Coiro’s exclusive interview with the former Vice President on elections, pollution, persuasion, activism, and hope…
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate – so every reduction in emissions helps.
• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak – sooner than you think.
• A beginner’s guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it’s possible for the whole world to run on renewables – we merely lack the “political will.” So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
• 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).