‘Green News Report’ – October 26, 2021

Follow @GreenNewsReport…

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

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Historic storm slams drought-stricken Western U.S., as climate-intensified extreme weather threatens 90 million Americans across the nation; U.N. study finds greenhouse gas emissions hit new record highs in 2020; PLUS: New reports warn man-made climate change poses a serious and growing threat to national and global security… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Click here to listen or download MP3 (6 mins)…

Link:
Embed:

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): 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis; The world needs to cut its emissions 7x as fast to hit climate goals, UN report finds; EPA deems ‘forever chemical’ toxic to humans; Total Oil accused of downplaying risk from fossil fuel for decades; Manchin pushes for more climate cuts from budget bill; Natural gas leaks in homes vastly under-reported; Unchecked oil and gas wastewater threatens CA groundwater… PLUS: Plastic’s GHG emissions could outpace those from coal by 2030, report warns … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Weather whiplash in California, as extreme weather sweeps across the nation:
• ‘Atmospheric river’ drenches drought-stricken California (AP)
• Following Fire and Drought, Torrential Record Storm in West (Climate Crocks)
• A nor’easter slams the East Coast, spurring flash flooding and water rescues in northern New Jersey (CNN/MSN)
• VIDEO: Bomb cyclone slams Western U.S. (CBS News)
• ‘Take this seriously’: New York, New Jersey declare emergencies as California ‘bomb cyclone’ storms move east (USA Today)
• ‘A Big Drop in the Bucket’: After Drenching Northern California, Massive Storm Heads South (KQED)
• Record-breaking California bomb cyclone linked to climate change (Yahoo News)
• Flood of studies warn world governments are not cutting emissions fast enough:
• Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit New Record Despite Lockdowns, UN Reports (Guardian)
• Latest National Climate Plans Still Fall Far Short, U.N. Report Warns (NY Times):
  But those new pledges, the report found, would collectively produce just one-seventh of the additional emissions cuts needed this decade to help limit total global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels…The report estimates that even if countries achieve their newest round of near-term climate promises, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, the world would be on track to warm roughly 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, compared with preindustrial levels. That broadly aligns with what outside analyses have found.
• Emissions gap report a “thundering wake-up call,” UN chief says (Axios)
• UN says Greenhouse gas levels hit a new record, cuts fall short (AP)
• UN Says Portions of Amazon Rainforest Now Contribute to Gas Emissions Due to Deforestation (Newsweek/MSN)
• Clean Energy Growth Is Too Slow, Says IEA (Treehugger)
• Yes, There Has Been Progress on Climate. No, It’s Not Nearly Enough. (NY Times)
• Key federal agencies focus on climate risk to national security:
• Fact Sheet: Prioritizing Climate in Foreign Policy and National Security (White House)
• White House unveils landmark reports on climate change’s threat to national security (Axios):
  The Biden administration on Thursday released a sweeping set of assessments on climate change’s threat to national security and its role in fueling migration…One of the key products, a formal National Intelligence Estimate on climate change, marks the first time all 18 elements of the U.S. intelligence community have released a consensus report on the topic.
• White House targets economic risks from climate change (PBS NewsHour):
  The report lays out steps that could potentially alter the mortgage process, stock market disclosures, retirement plans, federal procurement and government budgeting.
• AUDIO: The Pentagon says climate change is having a negative impact on national security (NPR)
• Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security (NY Times):
  Intelligence and defense agencies issued reports warning that the warming planet will increase strife between countries and spur migration.
• VIDEO: Dir. of the Center for Climate and Security Erin Sikorsky (CNN/Twitter)
• ‘Disappointing’: The US’s first climate migration report falls flat (Grist)
• Industrialized nations agree to climate funding for developing nations:
• COP26 delegates agree on need to deliver on $100 billion climate finance pledge (Reuters)
• World set to miss goal of $100 billion climate aid pledged to poor (PBS Newshour)
• Poorest countries to gain from new climate funding plan to break Cop26 impasse (Guardian UK)
• COP26: Document leak reveals nations lobbying to change key climate report (BBC)
• Fossil fuel use ‘will peak by 2025’ if countries meet climate pledges, says IEA (Carbon Brief)

‘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

• VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
• The world needs to cut its emissions seven times as fast to hit climate goals, U.N. report finds (Washington Post/MSN)
• EPA deems ‘forever chemical’ haunting N.C. toxic to humans (E&E News)
• Total Accused of Campaign to Play Down Climate Risk From Fossil Fuels (Inside Climate News)
• Manchin Pushes For More Climate Cuts From The Budget Bill (NY Times)
• Natural Gas Leaks In Boston Vastly Underreported — Could Be Inside Homes (Washington Post)
• Unchecked Oil and Gas Wastewater Threatens California Groundwater (Inside Climate News)
• Hawaii Has A One-Year Deadline To Ditch Coal. Can It Keep Lights On? (Canary Media)
• Biden Crafts a Climate Plan B: Tax Credits, Regulation and State Action (NY Times)
• Judge Issues Injunction Blocking Wisconsin Fall Wolf Hunt (AP)
• Big Ag Pays Farmers For Control Of Their Soil-Bound Carbon (AP)
• Plastic’s GHG emissions could outpace those from coal by 2030: report (Waste Dive)
• The West’s Torrential Rains, Drought, and La Nina (Climate Crocks)
• Tesla’s market value tops $1T after Hertz orders 100K cars (AP)
• PM accused of ‘losing the plastic plot’ after saying recycling doesn’t work (PA Media-UK)
• Court strikes down Trump EPA water permitting rule (E&E News)
• DOE study details ‘supergrid’ for high levels of renewables (E&E News)
• Guilt, grief and anxiety as young people fear for climate’s future (Reuters)
• 99.9 percent Of Scientists Agree Climate Emergency Caused By Humans (Guardian UK)
• How Chemical Companies Avoid Paying for Pollution (NY Times)
• An Empire of Dying Wells: Old oil and gas sites are a climate menace. Meet the company that owns more of America’s decaying wells than any other. (Bloomberg)
• Tracking the Big Climate Bills – An Infrastructure/Reconciliation Breakdown (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Will this metal recycling startup revolutionize the battery and clean energy sectors? (Electrek)
• Climate Fund Choices for Investors Are Multiplying (Bloomberg/Yahoo)
• How climate change could undo 50 years of public health gains (Grist)
• Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
• Exxon’s Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
• What Does ’12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ (Now 9 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• 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.