‘Green News Report’ – January 16, 2020

Follow @GreenNewsReport…

(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: GNR Special Coverage: Climate change pervades the final Democratic presidential primary debate before 2020 voting begins… That and more in today’s Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): 2019 was the second-hottest year ever, closing out the warmest decade; Germany to drop coal, nuclear power in landmark energy deal; Dead birds washing up by the thousands send a warning about climate change; Florida plans to buy, protect Everglades land targeted for oil drilling; Racist housing policies in US linked to deadly heatwave exposure; World’s biggest long-term risks are environmental, WEF Says… PLUS: Oil’s slick rebranding is more like disinformation… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Climate Change pervades final 2020 Democratic presidential debate before 2020 voting begins:
  • VIDEO: Watch the full CNN/Des Moines Register Democratic debate (CNN)
  • Democratic Candidates Position Themselves as Climate Hawks Going into Primary Season (Inside Climate News):
    The candidates’ repeated return to the subject of climate change marked a dramatic turnaround from previous election cycles, when it rarely surfaced at candidate forums and routinely ranked far down on the list of voters’ concerns…In Tuesday’s debate, the moderates sought to make clear that they were in synch with the most progressive candidates on climate.
  • At the 7th Democratic debate, candidates took every opportunity to talk climate (Grist):
    When the moderators did finally get around to asking some questions about climate change during the last quarter of the debate, the candidates were ready. But not all of them were successful in relaying their environmental expertise.
  • 1 big thing: A telling debate broke out for a moment (Axios)
  • Democratic Candidates Agree on Climate Change, Except for Role of Natural Gas (Scientific American):
    The six candidates on stage told voters that it’s the most pressing issue, with a mostly unified voice. It came as polls show that climate change is a top concern among Democratic voters as the nation races toward primary contests beginning with the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.
  • Joe Biden skates by again (Vox)
  • The best case for and against a fracking ban (Vox)
  • Weather Channel to talk environmental justice with 2020 candidates, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern (The Hill)

‘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

• 2019 Was the Second-Hottest Year Ever, Closing Out the Warmest Decade (NY Times)
• Germany to Drop Coal, Nuclear Power in Landmark Energy Deal (Reuters)
• Dead Birds Washing Up by the Thousands Send a Warning About Climate Change (Inside Climate News)
• Florida Plans To Buy, Protect Everglades Land Targeted For Oil Drilling (Miami Herald)
• World’s Biggest Long-Term Risks Are Environmental, WEF Says (Bloomberg)
• Environmental Groups Challenge Plastics Complex Permit in Louisiana (AP)
• Oil’s slick rebranding is more like disinformation (Houston Chronicle)
• Emails Show Trump Official Helping Former Chemical Industry Colleagues (Pro Publica)
• BlackRock C.E.O. Larry Fink: Climate Crisis Will Reshape Finance (NY Times)
• Rains are finally arriving in fire-ravaged Australia, but they bring new risks (Washington Post)
• Racist Housing Policies In US Linked To Deadly Heatwave Exposure (Guardian UK)
• The hottest new thing in sustainable building is, uh, wood (Vox)
• California Climate Budget to Include $1 Billion Green Loan Fund (KQED)
• ‘There is no link’: the climate doubters within Scott Morrison’s government (Guardian UK)
• Sunflower Electric abandons proposed Kansas coal power plant (Great Bend Post)
• Judge denies Blankenship request to toss conviction (West Virginia Gazette)
• Climate groups turn up the heat on big banks, insurers (Politico)
• VIDEO: Extreme weather and climate disasters cost the U.S. billions in 2019, NOAA reports (CBS News)
• 2019 Was a Record Year for Ocean Temperatures, Data Show (NY Times)
• 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).