‘Green News Report’ – March 13, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Trump doesn’t want you to know his own report shows that benefits of environmental regulations far outweigh the costs; Colorado Republicans kill bill prioritizing public health in oil and gas development; Interior Secretary Zinke pulls lands in his own home state from oil and gas auction; PLUS: 3rd major storm in 10 days pummels the Northeast, underscoring need to invest in electric grid resilience… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Mike Pompeo may be the first climate-denying secretary of state; Schwarzenegger to sue Big Oil for ‘first degree murder’; EPA is openly promoting a climate denial think tank; Federal court orders EPA to implement smog rules; Trump Administration eliminates animal welfare rule; Where does all the leaking coal waste go?; WI wants break from ozone rules in advance of Foxconn; Dakota Access Pipeline leak technology can’t detect all spills; Almost all sea turtles born in Florida are female… PLUS: Supreme Court asked to open public lands near the Grand Canyon to uranium mining… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• One-two-three punch: 3rd major storm in 10 days hammers Northeastern US:
• Third nor’easter in 2 weeks to slam New England: What’s going on here? (Mashable):
  [A]s the Arctic warms, the odds of heavy snows in the Northeast somewhat paradoxically goes up. “So though a heavy snowfall in March is not unheard of or rare, it is the frequency of the heavy snowfalls that seems to be changing”…[T]he impact of nor’easters, including the recent ones, is getting worse due to global warming. This is particularly the case with coastal flooding, since sea level rise is providing storms with a higher launching pad for floods than was the case in previous years.
• Keep out the snow shovel. Another nor’easter, ‘bomb cyclone’ expected (CNN):
  A third powerful nor’easter in less than two weeks is expected to arrive late Monday in the Northeast as thousands of people dig out from the other fierce storms this month and continue to wait for their power to be restored.
• Nor’easter: 1,500+ flights already canceled through Wednesday (USA Today)
• Study: More Downpours: Increase in Heaviest Precipitation Events (Climate Central)
• Powerful Winter Storm Shows Damage High Tides With Sea Level Rise Can Do (Inside Climate News):
  “There is roughly $6 billion of construction planned or occurring in Boston’s Seaport District, known as the ‘innovation district’, but in fact it’s the ‘inundation district,’ and very little of that construction is designed to contend with climate conditions that are already here let alone those that lie in the near future,” Campbell said.
• Trump’s own OMB report: Benefits of environmental regulations far outweigh the costs:
• AUDIO: Trump Admin’s Own New Report Debunks the Great GOP Deregulation Con: ‘BradCast’ 3/8/2018 (The BRAD BLOG) [emphasis added]:
  “The reason Republicans hate this is because, when you see it in aggregate like this, it’s almost enough to convince you that government can be an agent of good, that it can improve public health and welfare while still maintaining economic growth.”…The costs fall on industrialists, fall on executives at energy companies, and the benefits are borne by average people… [I]t’s taking income out of corporate pockets and putting it into the pockets of average people who have to breathe the air… [R]eversing or getting rid of these regulations is an upward income redistribution. You’re taking money out of the pockets of ordinary people , in the form of health costs, and missed work… and you’re putting it in the pockets of industrialists are who already wealthy. It’s absolutely in line with and of a piece with the rest of GOP policies.
• Trump White House quietly issues report vindicating Obama regulations (David Roberts, Vox):
  It was easy to miss, but OMB demolishes the GOP’s deregulatory claims.
• OMB Report: Net Benefit of Regulations Is Huge (Mother Jones)
• Colorado Republicans kill state bill to prioritize public safety in oil and gas:
• Colorado lawmakers kill bill to require protecting people and the environment as oil and gas operations move closer (Denver Post):
  Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones reminded the lawmakers that oil and gas development last year led to four deaths, 14 explosions and 619 spills, including six where contaminants flowed directly into surface waterways. “The demise of HB 1017 sends a clear message,” Jones said after the vote. “If you are concerned about the impacts of oil and gas drilling on your kids or the environment, your best hope is the November ballot box — not this legislature.”
• Fracking, public safety bills fail (Grand Junction Sentinel) [emphasis added]:
  [R]ecent explosions at gas wells, including one in Firestone last year that killed two people, are a good example of why public health and safety must come first in approving new drilling wells. “This bill has to do with the health issues,” Sonnenberg said. “Being killed is a health issue,” Sen. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, countered. “This bill’s all about protecting people and making that a priority.”
• Internal emails show oil was primary motivation for reducing Utah Bears’ Ears NM:
• Oil Was Central in Decision to Shrink Bears Ears Monument, Emails Show (NY Times):
  Even before President Trump officially opened his high-profile review last spring of federal lands protected as national monuments, the Department of Interior was focused on the potential for oil and gas exploration at a protected Utah site, internal agency documents show.
• At Bears Ears, Trump and Zinke ignored everyone but industry (High Country News) [emphasis added]:
  Newly released documents show that locals had little voice in monument decisions…Here are the top 8 nuggets HCN has gleaned so far from the tens of thousands of documents: 1. The shrinkage of Bears Ears hurt Utah schools more than it helped.
• Rich Fossil Trove Found on Land Removed From Bears Ears Monument (National Geographic)
• Zinke pulls land in his home state from oil and gas lease auction:
• Zinke suddenly pulls land in home state of Montana from oil and gas lease sale (Washington Post):
  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who before joining the Trump administration represented Montana in Congress, decided to withdraw 26 parcels from consideration, along with portions of two others. A cadre of local and national environmental groups had filed formal protests against the sale, contending that drilling would adversely impact the Yellowstone River and other areas.
• Zinke abruptly postpones lease sale near New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon (Washington Post)

‘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

• Mike Pompeo may be the first climate-denying secretary of state. (The New Republic)
• Schwarzenegger to Sue Big Oil for ‘First Degree Murder’ (Politico)
• The EPA is openly promoting a climate denial think tank. (The New Republic)
• Federal Court Orders EPA To Implement Smog Rules (Reuters)
• Trump Administration Eliminates Animal Welfare Rule (Newsweek)
• Wisconsin Wants Break From Ozone Rules In Advance Of Foxconn (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• Supreme Court asked to open public lands near the Grand Canyon to uranium mining (Climate Progress)
• Where does all the leaking coal waste go? Fun fact: We don’t actually know. (The New Republic)
• The U.S. just hit a major milestone for energy storage — which is also great news for solar (Washington Post)
• Pruitt Wanted Red Team Climate Science Debate. Kelly Stopped Him. (NY Times)
• Tribe: Dakota Access Pipeline Leak Technology Can’t Detect All Spills (Inside Climate News)
• Climate Change: Almost All Sea Turtles Born In Florida Are Female (USA Today)
• Trump Rollbacks Target Offshore Rules ‘Written With Human Blood’ (NY Times)
• Michigan: “DEQ Ignored Crucial Warning On Wolverine Dump Plume (Grand Rapids Press)
• The EPA’s New Environmental Justice Adviser Has a Plutonium Problem (The New Republic)
• 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).