‘Green News Report’ – September 10, 2019

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Trump’s repeated lies about Hurricane Dorian balloon into full-blown credibility crisis for NOAA; Dorian’s death toll in The Bahamas potentially in the thousands; PLUS: Trump DoJ opens dubious anti-trust probe into automakers’ deal with California… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Ban rich white guys from writing about their thoughts on climate change; Beginner’s guide to the debate over nuclear power and climate change; How Big Oil blocked the nation’s greenest governor on climate change; Lost among the scandals, Saudis begin enriching uranium; Tesla battery researcher unveils new breakthrough cell; San Francisco offers to buy PG&E’s electric grid; Utility: early closure of WY coal plants saves $599 million… PLUS: State rejects natural gas pipeline permit. Utility pushes back. One result: new buildings to go all-electric… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hurricane Dorian’s final death toll could be in the thousands:
• “Fully extra-tropical” Dorian is out to sea – finally (CBS News):
  The U.S. National Hurricane Center declared what was Hurricane Dorian “fully extra-tropical” in what the center said would be its last advisory on the storm.
• Hurricane Dorian grows deadlier as more fatalities confirmed in Bahamas (NBC News):
  Thousands of people remain missing, and relief efforts were underway on the battered Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama.
• VIDEO: ‘Grand Bahama right now is dead’: A firsthand look at Dorian’s destruction (CNN)
• Hurricane Dorian victims could climb beyond 3,000 in Abaco alone… GB hundreds… (Bahamas Press)
• Dorian ranked among longest-running storms in the Atlantic (Charlotte Observer)
• Hurricane Dorian Rips Roofs Off Bahamas Oil Storage Tanks, Causes ‘Catastrophic’ Spillage (Time)
• Hurricane Dorian devastation in Bahamas could cost $7 billion (Reuters)
• VIDEO: Dorian leaves tens of thousands homeless (CBS News)
• How to help the Bahamas: 7 things you can do for Hurricane Dorian victims right now (Fast Company)
• Trump Admin. denies US entry to Bahamian evacuees without documentation:
• VIDEO: Trump says Bahamas full of ‘very bad gang members’ as he doubles down on not letting Hurricane Dorian refugees in to US (Independent UK)
• Trump contradicts CBP head on Bahamian refugees, argues they might have been infiltrated by ‘very bad people’ (Washington Post):
  “This is a humanitarian mission,” Morgan assured. “If your life is in jeopardy and you’re in the Bahamas … you’re going to be allowed to come to the United States, whether you have travel documents or not.” He said the processing would be handled expeditiously. Then President Trump offered a very different message.
• In Dorian’s Wake, Bahamian Refugees Are Greeted by Trump’s Cruelty (Truthout)
• Trump’s lie about Alabama balloons into full-scale credibility crisis for NOAA
• Donald Trump’s Bad Tweet Is Tearing NOAA Apart (Earther):
  We are now into the second week of Donald Trump’s dumb tweet. I want to stop writing about this. You want to stop reading about this. And yet, because the president cannot be wrong, here we are, watching a federal agency rip apart at the seams.
• NOAA picked Trump over science. Here’s why that’s a big deal. (Grist)
• NOAA assailed for defending Trump’s Hurricane Dorian claim (AP):
  “This rewriting history to satisfy an ego diminishes NOAA,” Elbert “Joe” Friday, former Republican-appointed director of the National Weather Service, said on Facebook. He told The Associated Press on Saturday: “We don’t want to get the point where science is determined by politics rather than science and facts. And I’m afraid this is an example where this is beginning to occur.”
• NOAA’s chief scientist will investigate why agency backed Trump over its experts on Dorian, email shows (Washington Post):
  “The NWS Forecaster(s) corrected any public misunderstanding in an expert and timely way, as they should,” McLean wrote. “There followed, last Friday, an unsigned news release from ‘NOAA’ that inappropriately and incorrectly contradicted the NWS forecaster. My understanding is that this intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political.”
• Commerce Chief Wilbur Ross Threatened Firings at NOAA After Trump’s Dorian Tweets, Sources Say (NY Times)
• Inspector General investigating NOAA’s statement backing Trump on Dorian: report (The Hill)
• NOAA chief defends unsigned Dorian statement, but praises Alabama office that contradicted Trump (NBC News)
• NOAA Chief Scientist Says Move To Contradict Agency And Back Trump Was ‘Political’ (NPR)
• Inspector General investigating NOAA’s statement backing Trump on Dorian: report (The Hill)
• NOAA staff warned in Sept. 1 directive against contradicting Trump (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: National Weather Association President Backs Forecasters Who Contradicted Trump’s Claim (AP)
• VIDEO Uccinnelli
• Trump suggested his Alabama deception was a big joke. But NOAA isn’t laughing – and neither should we. (Washington Post)
• Trump DOJ opens anti-trust investigation in 4 carmakers over deal with California:
• Trump deepens legal war against California, automakers (Politico):
  The administration’s tactics include an expected effort to strip away California’s authority to set its own air pollution standards for cars and trucks, as well as a new Justice Department antitrust probe into four automakers that are voluntarily cooperating with the state’s clean air goals. The administration also warned California on Friday that its attempt to circumvent the administration’s rollback of federal rules is illegal.
• Justice Dept. launches antitrust probe of automakers over their fuel efficiency deal with California (Washington Post):
  “The U.S. Department of Justice brings its weight to bear against auto companies in an attempt to frighten them out of voluntarily making cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks than EPA wants,” Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement. “Consumers might ask, who is [EPA Administrator] Andy Wheeler protecting?”
• U.S. launches antitrust probe into California automaker agreement (Reuters)
• U.S. House Judiciary Committee to review DOJ automaker antitrust probe (Reuters)
• Feds Look to Strip California of Its Own Vehicle Efficiency Laws for Being Too Clean: Report (The Drive)
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce splits with Trump over car rules (E&E News)
• Many businesses oppose Trump’s deregulatory agenda. Here’s why. (David Roberts, Vox)
• Marriott Hotels to ditch tiny plastic bottles:
• Hotel giant goes green: Marriott banning small plastic shampoo bottles by 2020 (USA Today):
  Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel chain, said Wednesday it will eliminate small plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel from its hotel rooms worldwide by December 2020. They’ll be replaced with larger bottles or wall-mounted dispensers, depending on the hotel.
• Marriott says it’s done with tiny, plastic toiletry bottles (Washington Post)
• Marriott International to Eliminate Single-Use Shower Toiletry Bottles From Properties Worldwide, Expanding Successful 2018 Initiative (press release, Marriott International)

‘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

• Ban Rich White Guys From Writing Their Thoughts About Climate Change (Earther)
• A beginner’s guide to the debate over nuclear power and climate change (David Roberts, Vox)
• How Big Oil Blocked the Nation’s Greenest Governor on Climate Change (Inside Climate News)
• Lost Among the Scandals, Saudis Begin Enriching Uranium (Climate Crocks)
• Tesla battery researcher unveils new cell that could last 1 million miles in ‘robot taxis’ (Electrek)
• San Francisco offers PG&E $2.5B for city’s grid (Utility Dive)
• PacifiCorp: early closure of Wyo coal plants saves $599 million (WYO File)
• Study: Shoppers overestimate perishable grocery habits, causing food waste (Waste Dive)
• Portable air sensors are changing the way we see air pollution (Grist)
• Watchdog Warns EPA Is Failing To Enforce Lead Paint Abatement Rules (NPR)
• ‘Forever Chemicals’ Now Found In Massachusetts Schools (Boston Globe)
• More Than 100 Australian Bushfires ‘Omen’ Of Severe Summer Fire Season (Reuters)
• After State Rejects Gas Pipeline Permit, Utility Pushes Back. One Result: New Buildings Go Electric. (Inside Climate News)
• Bernie Sanders’s $16.3T climate plan promises major waste and recycling shifts (Waste Dive)
• What Does ’12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• This Is How Human Extinction Could Play Out (Rolling Stone)
• SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Explainer: The ‘Green New Deal’: Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist’s Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• 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)
• 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.

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).