‘Green News Report’ – January 13, 2022

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Offshore wind leases are on the horizon for the East Coast; World’s oceans were the warmest in recorded history in 2021, for the third year in a row; Weather extremes in Brazil are spiking global food and commodity prices; PLUS: Biden EPA cracks down on toxic coal ash waste pits contaminating groundwater… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Feeling hopeless about the climate crisis? Try this 30-day action plan; New extreme temperature Records set in the U.S. in 2021; Here’s how California plans to spend $37 billion fighting climate change; Energy storage is not just lithium anymore; Communities of color more likely to be exposed to air pollution; Nepal’s blossoming honey industry crushed by wild weather; UK Government invites oil companies to help write environmental rulebook; 6 in 10 Americans now ‘alarmed’ or ‘concerned’ about climate change; Warming puts key Arctic pipelines, roads at risk; DOE blew $1.1B on carbon capture projects that were mostly failures … PLUS: The future of fashion is justice and sustainability… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Fed’s Jerome Powell more concerned about climate action than inaction:
• VIDEO: Jerome Powell is worried about “unexpected government policy change” on climate (Evergreen Action)
• Climate stress scenario (Brad Johnson, Hill Heat):
  “With financial stability, the issue really is, can something from climate change rise to the level that would threaten the stability of the entire financial system. That sounds more like something in the nature of transition risk, where some unexpected government policy change happens, which could potentially create disruption.” To me, that sounds like he’s more worried about the “transition risk” of climate action than the “civilizational collapse risk” of inaction.
• Powell Says Climate Stress Tests Likely A ‘Key Tool Going Forward’ (The Hill)
• Powell likely won’t do what green activists want most (Axios/Yahoo News)
• World’s oceans were the warmest in recorded history:
• Another Record: Ocean Warming Continues through 2021 despite La Nina Conditions (Springer/Advances in Atmospheric Sciences)
• Oceans were the warmest on record in 2021, for the 3rd year in a row (CNN):
  “Warm ocean provides fuel to storms, so ocean warming will naturally support stronger and longer-lasting storms,” Cheng said. The rapid rise in ocean temperature threatens marine life and is a significant contributor to sea level rise.
• Oceans Hotter in 2021 Than Any Time in Recorded History (Common Dreams):
  “Ocean warming keeps breaking records, which is a reminder that the world needs action to combat climate change.”
• The last 7 years have been Earth’s 7 hottest (Axios)
• 2021 was among the costliest years for natural disasters globally:
• Global Cost of Natural Disasters Rose to $280 Bln in 2021, Munich Re Says (MarketWatch)
• Globally, Hurricane Ida, Europe Floods Made 2021 Costly For Disasters (AP):
  Damage wrought by Hurricane Ida in the U.S. state of Louisiana and the flash floods that hit Europe last summer helped make 2021 one of the most expensive years for natural disasters, reinsurance company Munich Re said Monday.
• U.S. saw second-most billion-dollar weather disasters on record in 2021 (Washington Post)
• Weather extremes in Brazil contributing to global food price inflation:
• Brazil’s Extreme Weather Is Flooding Mines, Drying Up Crops (Bloomberg/Yahoo News):
  Dryness and heat in the nation’s south have caused crop losses, clipping what was supposed to be record oilseed production in the world’s largest grower. Meanwhile, the northern half of the country has the opposite problem: too much water. Heavy rains have led Vale SA, the world’s second-largest iron ore producer, to halt some mine production in Minas Gerais.
• Biden EPA cracks down on toxic coal ash waste pits:
• In Orlando, A Mountain Of Coal Ash Evades EPA Rules. One of Many. (NPR)
• Cleanup of ‘Legacy’ Coal Ash Subject of New EPA Regulations (Bloomberg):
  The EPA plans to write new regulations for toxic coal ash impoundments and deny some requests to extend deadlines to close some existing coal ash storage sites, the agency announced Tuesday.
• EPA begins enforcement on clean up of toxic coal-ash ponds (CNN)
• Midwest power plants face shutdown after EPA proposes denying requests to keep using unlined coal ash ponds (Utility Dive)
• Interior Dept. holds first offshore wind lease sale:
• Interior to hold auction for offshore wind power in NY, NJ (AP)
• U.S. to hold record offshore wind auction next month in clean energy push (Reuters):
  “We’re at an inflection point for domestic offshore wind energy development,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said on a call with reporters. “We must seize this moment.”
• Interior Department announces New York Bight lease auction for up to 7 GW of offshore wind (Utility Dive)
• VIDEO: Dept. Of Interior Announces Wind Energy Auction (CBS2 New York()

‘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

• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• A Vivid View of Extreme Weather: Temperature Records in the U.S. in 2021 (NY Times)
• Here’s how California plans to spend $37 billion fighting climate change (LA Times)
• Energy Storage: Not Just Lithium Anymore (Climate Crocks)
• VIDEO: Communities with large Black, Asian and Hispanic or Latino populations more likely to be exposed to air pollution, new research suggests (ABC News)
• Nepal’s blossoming honey industry crushed by wild weather (Reuters)
• California’s Drought Reckoning Could Offer Lessons for the West (Pew Trusts)
• UK Government invites oil companies to help write rulebook on whether new fossil fuel drilling is green (Independent UK)
• The Future of Fashion Is Justice [and sustainability] (Atmos)
• Six in 10 Americans ‘alarmed’ or ‘concerned’ about climate change – study (Guardian UK)
• EPA To Review Rules For Largest Source Of Lead In Air (E&E News)
• An Alabama Town’s Sewage Woes Test Biden’s Infrastructure Ambitions (NY Times)
• EPA OKs Weedkiller ‘Cocktail’ With New Wildlife Protections (E&E News)
• US Navy To Drain Hawaii Tank System Blamed For Tainted Water (AP)
• Warming Permafrost Puts Key Arctic Pipelines, Roads At Risk: Study (Washington Post)
• DOE Blew $1.1B on Carbon Capture Projects That Were Mostly Failures: GAO (Earther)
• New York City says goodbye to gas, establishing a blueprint for other communities (Utility Dive)
• Green Upheaval: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Foreign Affairs)
• VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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.