‘Green News Report’ – June 5, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Deadly volcano erupts in Guatemala; Trump Administration moves toward unprecedented bail-out of failing coal plants; Canada’s prime minister nationalizes controversial Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline; New renewable electricity surpasses new fossil fuel generation; PLUS: G7 nations subsidize fossil fuels to the tune of $100 billion a year, despite climate pledges… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Hurricane Season 2018: Experts warn of super storms, call for new Category 6; Battery pioneer unveils surprising new breakthrough; Coal miners’ fund set for deep cuts as black lung epidemic grows; Zinke presses to keep Navajo Generating Station online; Pruitt had aide do personal tasks, hunt for a used Trump Hotel mattress; New Mexico, Colorado wildfires force hundreds to evacuate; After the storm, Puerto Rico misses a chance to rebuild with renewables; Endangered mountain gorilla population recovers to over 1,000… PLUS: Park officials consider whether non-native lake trout ‘swam’ to Yellowstone… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hawaii’s Kilauea volcanic eruption surges:
• Property losses mount on Hawaii’s Big Island as lava flow spreads (Reuters):
  A river of lava spewing from the foot of Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano swallowed about three dozen more homes on the Big Island during a weekend of destruction that brought to nearly 120 the number of dwellings devoured since last month, officials said on Monday.
• Kilauea lava inundates Kapoho Bay (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• Kilauea Volcano Eruption Filled In Hawaii’s Biggest Lake In Hours, And Is Now Reshaping Coastline (Forbes)
• Volcanoes National Park’s most important facility damaged by quake (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupts suddenly and violently:
• ‘No survivors’: Guatemala rescuers battle boiling ash to recover Fuego’s dead (Guardian UK):
  In San Miguel Los Lotes close to Guatemala’s most active volcano, firefighters are working hard, but hope is slim.
• Guatemala Fuego: Search after deadly volcano eruption (BBC)
• Why Guatemala’s Volcano Is Deadlier Than Hawaii’s (National Geographic)
• Trump Administration moves toward unprecedented bailout of failing coal, nuclear plants:
• Trump Orders Action to Stem Coal, Nuclear Plant Shutdowns (Bloomberg):
  “National security is being invoked by people who once favored markets,” observed John Shelk, president of Electric Power Supply Association, at a conference in New York. “Everybody loses in a fuels war.”
• Trump throws ailing U.S. coal, nuke plants a lifeline, triggers backlash (Reuters)
• Trump orders Energy Secretary Perry to halt shutdown of coal and nuclear plants (Washington Post):
  One likely plan, laid out in a 41-page draft memorandum posted online by Bloomberg News and Utility Dive, would favor certain power plants in the name of national security. Those plants are owned by some of the president’s political allies in the coal industry…promoted by the chief executives of the coal-mining firm Murray Energy and the Ohio utility FirstEnergy, both of whom have contributed heavily to Trump’s political activities.
• Trump’s Latest Energy Insecurity Plan: Propping up coal and nuclear power plants makes no sense, either for national security or economics. (Bloomberg)
• How Trump’s ‘Soviet-style’ coal directive would upend power markets (Utility Dive)
• Canada buys controversial tar sands pipeline, contradicting climate pledges:
• AUDIO: Trump, Trudeau Fossil Fuel Nationalization Schemes Reveal They’re ‘More Alike Than Hoped’: ‘BradCast’ 6/1/2018 (The Brad Blog):
  “[T]hey’re both willing to step in and nationalize parts of the fossil fuel industry to keep the dollars flowing to the petro-state… Pretending that the tar sands is a long term industry, is the same thing that’s happening in the U.S. — lying to coal miners that coal is going to make a comeback, that we’re going to make coal great again. It’s not going to happen.”
• Canada Buys Kinder Trans Mountain Pipeline for $3.5 Billion (Bloomberg):
  “It must be built and it will be built,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in Ottawa…The purchase marks a stunning development for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government — effectively nationalizing the country’s highest-profile infrastructure project until an operator can be found. The project has been beset by legal uncertainty and rising protests from environmental groups and the province of British Columbia.
• Protesters rally across Canada over Trans Mountain pipeline decision (CBC)
• Oil Change Int’l Responds to Canada’s Deal to Purchase Kinder Morgan Assets (Oil Change International)
• Could Trudeau’s “wilful self-delusion” on climate rip Canada apart? (Oil Change International)
• Did Canada buy an oil pipeline in fear of being sued by China? (Guardian UK)
• 2 Kinder Morgan Canada executives each get $1.5M bonus as part of Trans Mountain deal (CBC)
• Canada’s Dirty $20-Billion Pipeline Bailout (The Tyee)
• G7 nations subsidize fossil fuels to the tune of $100 billion a year:
• G7 fossil fuel subsidy scorecard (Overseas Development Institute):
  Our feature report tracks the progress all G7 countries are making to end fossil fuel subsidies, and makes recommendations for much needed reform.
• Rich nations spend $100 billion a year on fossil fuels despite climate pledges (Reuters):
  The world’s major industrial democracies spend at least $100 billion each year to prop up oil, gas and coal consumption, despite vows to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, a report said on Monday ahead of the G7 summit in Canada.
• Big investors urge G7 to step up climate action, shift from coal (Reuters):
  Institutional investors with $26 trillion in assets under management called on Group of Seven leaders on Monday to phase out the use of coal in power generation to help limit climate change, despite strong opposition from Washington.
• Subsidizing The Fossil Fuel End Game – Beyond Incoherence (Huffington Post):
  The world’s richest governments are throwing taxpayer money at well-connected oil, gas and coal companies.
• More new renewable energy capacity built last year than new fossil fuel generation:
• Record amount of renewable energy installed in 2017 – research (Reuters):
  A record amount of renewable power capacity was installed worldwide last year as the cost of wind and solar became even more competitive with fossil fuels, research by renewables policy organisation REN21 showed.
• 2017 Was Another Record-Busting Year for Renewable Energy, but Emissions Still Increased (Green Tech Media):
  The global power sector had a banner year, while clean energy gains in transportation, heating and cooling remain minimal.

‘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

• Hurricane Season 2018: Experts Warn of Super Storms, Call For New Category 6 (Inside Climate News)
• Battery pioneer unveils surprising new breakthrough (Axios)
• Coal Miners’ Fund Set For Deep Cuts As Black Lung Epidemic Grows (NPR)
• Zinke presses to keep Navajo Generating Station online (Utility Dive)
• American Airlines warns of fare increases if oil remains high (Reuters)
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige signs 3 bills combating climate change into law (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• Pruitt Had Aide Do Personal Tasks, Hunt For A Used Trump Hotel Mattress (Washington Post)
• A Courtside View of Pruitt’s Cozy Ties With a Billionaire Coal Baron (Washington Post)
• Cabinet heads ordered to praise Paris exit. ‘No exceptions’ (E&E News)
• Toxic Drinking Water Becomes Top Campaign Issue for Midterm Candidates (The Intercept)
• New Mexico, Colorado Wildfires Force Hundreds To Evacuate (Reuters)
• Officials Consider Whether Non-Native Lake Trout
  ‘Swam’ To Yellowstone (AP)
• Endangered Mountain Gorilla Population Recovers To Over 1,000 (Reuters)
• E.P.A. Takes a Major Step to Roll Back Clean Car Rules (NY Times)
• After the Storm, Puerto Rico Misses a Chance to Rebuild with Renewables (Yale e360)
• How the Nordic countries outsmarted us again (CNN)
• How More Carbon Dioxide Can Make Food Less Nutritious (NY Times)
• The world’s bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• 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).