‘Green News Report’ – January 30, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Debunking President Trump’s latest lies and disinformation on climate science; The U.S. is now importing less oil than ever before, thanks to Obama; EPA reversal on Pebble Mine is qualified good news for Alaskans; PLUS: Thanks to Trump, the Doomsday Clock has been moved up to 2 minutes to midnight… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): FEMA ends food and water aid to struggling Puerto Rico; Germany condemns emissions tests on monkeys, humans; Scientists saved a burned bear with fish skins; EPA ends clean air policy opposed by fossil fuel interests; Treating contaminated household water costly for cities; Seine River bursts its banks in Paris after days of non-stop rain; Why climate change is worsening public health problems; New Jersey’s new Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy directs state to re-enter Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; New emails reveal Scott Pruitt was personally involved in erasing climate data from EPA website; Trump’s pre-Harvey rollback of flood protections was a priority for his real-estate mogul friend… PLUS: SunPower puts U.S. expansion on hold over Trump tariff… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Debunking President Trump’s lies and disinformation on climate science:
• VIDEO: Donald Trump appears to misunderstand basic facts of climate change in Piers Morgan interview (Independent UK):
  US President also expressed willingness to ‘go back in’ Paris climate agreement, but only if US is given ‘a good deal’
• AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s half-baked claims on climate, economy (AP):
  President Donald Trump tried to play it both ways on climate change in describing a warming-but-cooling planet Earth. The unequivocal response, according to data and climate scientists: wrong.The president’s claims about ice caps, from an interview heard Sunday on Britain’s ITV News, also were off the mark.
• AP FACT CHECK: Data melt Trump’s cooling, ice claims (AP)
• Frank Luntz’ Memo exposes Bush’s new green strategy (Guardian UK)
• 2017 record
• “Do you believe?” is the wrong question to ask public officials about climate change; Policy, not the contents of hearts and minds, is what matters. (Vox)
• Reporters, stop asking whether Trump believes in climate change. (The New Republic):
  [J]ournalists no longer need to force Trump to admit whether he accepts the scientific fact. We have passed that point. It’s time for reporters to force Trump to defend and explain his denial.
• EPA reverses course on controversial Pebble Mine:
• In reversal, EPA deals setback to controversial gold mining proposal in Alaska (Washington Post):
  Bob Irvin, president of the advocacy group American Rivers…”What they figured out is that you can’t just immediately reverse actions that were taken by the previous administration if those actions” were done legally, he said. “You actually have to be able to justify your decision. . . . They are learning they can’t just run roughshod over the legal requirements.”
• EPA reverses course, opts to maintain protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed (Climate Progress):
  The move, however, is not a categorical win for opponents of the mine. Pruitt did not outright block the proposed mine, which has been stalled for years by regulatory issues. Instead, the agency said that the decision “neither deters nor derails the application process of Pebble Limited Partnership’s proposed project.”
• Citing risks to fisheries, EPA retains proposed development limits on Pebble mine (Anchorage Daily News)
• In Reversal, EPA Leaves Restrictions On The Table As It Considers Alaska Mine Permits (NPR)
• The Pebble Mine Is Too Toxic Even for the Trump Administration (EcoWatch)
• VIDEO: In-depth: Company seeks approval to mine near Alaskan salmon fishery (CNN)
• VIDEO: Alaska Gold (Frontline PBS):
  FRONTLINE travels to Alaska to probe the fault lines of a growing battle between those who depend on this extraordinary fishery for a living, the mining companies who are pushing for Pebble, and the political framework that will ultimately decide the outcome.
• Alaska Republicans ask to be exempted from offshore drilling expansion:
• Trump’s offshore drilling plans rattle coastal communities across Alaska (Alaska Public Radio)
• Senator asks Interior chief to shield parts of Alaska from offshore drilling (Reuters)
• Murkowski wants some Alaska waters closed to offshore drilling (The Hill)
• US on verge of being world’s largest oil producer, hits record low on net oil imports:
• America’s oil exports are booming — and lifting prices (CNN) [emphasis added]:
  The resurgence of the oil industry can be traced back to what happened in Congress one day in December 2015. That’s when lawmakers ended the 40-year ban on U.S. oil exports. Crude pumped in Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota could suddenly be shipped overseas…But that glut is disappearing, thanks in part to booming oil exports from the United States. Crude that was once trapped inside the country is now going to Europe, Latin America and even China.
• The Dark Side of America’s Rise to Oil Superpower: It sounds good, but be careful what you wish for. (Bloomberg)
• U.S. Could Pass Saudi Arabia to Become the World’s Largest Oil Producer in 2018 (Deutsche-Welle)
• VIDEO Rick Perry at World Economic Forum in Davos: US isn’t just exporting energy, we’re exporting freedom (Fox Business News)
• The United States could become the world’s biggest oil producer. It’s been a while (Salon):
  Now we’ve moved on to 3D printers, but we’re still stuck with petroleum technology.
• Doomsday Clock moved up to 2 minutes to midnight – climate change included:
• ‘Doomsday Clock’ ticked forward 30 seconds to 2 minutes to midnight (Guardian UK):
  In the face of nuclear weapons and climate change, scientists moved the clock forward, putting much of the blame on the Trump administration.
• VIDEO: Doomsday Clock Announcement and Press Conference, 2018 (The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
• Doomsday Clock – Timeline | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists):
  The failure of world leaders to address the largest threats to humanity’s future is lamentable—but that failure can be reversed…citizens around the world can use the power of the internet to improve the long-term prospects of their children and grandchildren. They can insist on facts, and discount nonsense. They can demand action to reduce the existential threat of nuclear war and unchecked climate change.
• Have nuclear war dangers increased under President Donald Trump? (Cleveland.com)

‘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 can’t drop climate from his speech [but he will]. Here’s why (E&E News)
• Republican senators are rebranding the entire mission of the EPA: According to Republican senators, the mission of the EPA should be to create jobs. According to the EPA, that’s not true. (Climate Progress)
• FEMA ends food and water aid to struggling Puerto Rico (Climate Progress)
• Germany Says Emissions Tests On Monkeys, People Are Unjustifiable (Reuters)
• Scientists Saved a Bear With Fish Skin—And Stumbled on a Game-Changing Idea (The New Republic)
• EPA ends clean air policy opposed by fossil fuel interests (Washington Post):
• Treating contaminated household water costly for cities – and consumers (CBS News)
• Seine River bursts its banks in Paris after days of non-stop rain (NBC News)
• SunPower puts U.S. expansion on hold over Trump tariff (Reuters)
• Why climate change is worsening public health problems (The Conversation)
• New Jersey’s new Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy directs state to re-enter Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (USA Today)
• New emails reveal Scott Pruitt was personally involved in erasing climate data from EPA website (Climate Progress)
• Trump’s pre-Harvey rollback of flood protections was a priority for his real-estate mogul friend (Climate Progress)
• Top Trump Environment Pick, a Fossil Fuels Evangelist, May Be in Trouble (Inside Climate News)
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Rejects Vancouver Oil Terminal (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Trump’s failing war on green power: Wind and solar energy may have come too far for even a pro-fossil-fuel administration to stuff back into the barrel. (Politico)
• 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).