‘Green News Report’ – June 7, 2022

Follow @GreenNewsReport…

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

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: While we were out — Hurricane season kicks off on both coasts with Alex and Agatha; CO2 levels in the atmosphere hit highest level in human history; PLUS: Biden makes big moves on solar tariffs and clean energy under the Defense Production Act… 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): Cambridge engineers develop zero carbon cement; Biden delivers a ‘break glass’ moment for clean energy; Judge greenlights more NEPA reviews on Western oil leases; Undoing Trump, EPA to empower states and tribes to oppose pipelines; Meet the group lobbying against climate regulations — using your utility bill; Ship pollution rising as world waits for leaders to act; Ukraine migration maps ‘what’s possible’ for the climate displaced; Avian flu takes growing toll on wildlife; Glyphosate weedkiller damages wild bee colonies; PLUS: Ninth Circuit orders fracking moratorium off California coast… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hurricane season kicks off on both coasts:
• Tropical Storm Alex heads toward Bermuda after leaving record rainfall in South Florida (Palm Beach Post):
  “This is always a good reminder that with tropical systems, there’s a lot more hazards than just wind,” Hadi said Sunday. “There’s storm surge, tornadoes and, in this case, the system was primarily a flooding threat. Flooding can be just as dangerous and damaging as wind. You see all the damaged vehicles in Miami. That’s not cheap to fix.”
• The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season floods Florida (NPR)
• Hurricane Agatha Made Historic Landfall (Weather Channel)
• Hurricane Agatha: 11 dead and dozens missing in Mexico (BBC)
• Waters with high heat content expected in Gulf of Mexico this hurricane season (Yale Climate Connections)
• NOAA forecasts seventh straight busy Atlantic hurricane season (Washington Post/MSN):
  Major hurricanes are of particular concern, as they tend to rapidly intensify, or increase by 35 mph or more in wind strength in 24 hours — leaving coastal residents with little time to prepare. These major storms are responsible for the overwhelming majority of damage because of wind and ocean surge, the rise of water above normally dry land at the coast…Every year since 2016 has generated above-average activity in the Atlantic.
• Ocean Warming Doubles Odds for Extreme Atlantic Hurricane Seasons (Inside Climate News):
  New research shows vulnerable communities need to prepare for more years like 2017-2020, with devastating storms like Harvey, Irma, Maria and Laura.
• Big energy moves in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
• E.U. agrees to phase out Russian oil but exempts pipeline deliveries (Washington Post)
• EU leaders agree to Russian oil ban after compromise with Hungary (Al Jazeera)
• Hungary’s Orban wins exemption in EU Russian oil embargo (AP)
• The EU’s Russian oil ban is a big achievement, but the limits of Western unity will face further tests down the road (CNN)
• What Does Europe’s Ban On Russian Oil And Gas Mean For The West? (Yahoo Finance)
• Exclusive: Russia hikes oil exports from major Eastern port to help offset EU ban (Reuters)
• Atmospheric CO2 levels now highest in all of human history:
• Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels (NOAA)
• Carbon dioxide levels are now 50% higher than during the pre-industrial era (Guardian UK):
  CO2 has not been so high since before hominids walked upright – and are not dropping fast enough to avert catastrophe.
• Earth’s carbon dioxide levels hit record high (Axios)
• Biden EPA sets new smog rules for PA coal plants:
• EPA to rein in smog-forming emissions at Pa. power plants (Politico):
  EPA, seeking to pick up the pieces after a lacerating court opinion two years ago, is moving to tighten limits on smog-forming pollution from a handful of coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania.
• Interior Dept. approves crucial high-voltage transmission line:
• Interior approves big power line for renewables in U.S. West (E&E News):
  The project will help integrate up to 2,000 megawatts of new renewable resources, according to Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. That’s enough to potentially power 600,000 average homes…In announcing final approval of the Gateway South line, BLM said it has developed an “innovative and collaborative approach” to mitigating effects from construction of the line on wilderness, vistas and wildlife, including the threatened greater sage grouse.
• Biden Administration waives solar tariffs for two years amid Commerce probe:
• Biden orders emergency steps to boost U.S. solar production (AP):
  President Joe Biden ordered emergency measures Monday to boost crucial supplies to U.S. solar manufacturers and declared a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels from Southeast Asia as he attempted to jumpstart progress toward his climate change-fighting goals.
• Biden to delay new solar tariffs in bid to boost industry (The Hill/Yahoo News)
• VIDEO: Tiny, Slipshod Solar Company Threatens US Industry (Climate Crocks)
• BNEF says Auxin misinterpreted its research in calling for solar tariffs (Canary Media):
  Those factories take materials that are incapable of turning sunlight into electricity and transform them into finished products that are capable of doing so.
• Can Biden end the Auxin solar tariff investigation? (Canary Media)
• Here are the stocks getting a ‘tailwind’ from White House’s pause on solar tariffs (MarketWatch)
• Trade Group Driving Solar Controversy Includes Slave-Labor Companies (The American Prospect)
• Biden invokes the Defense Production Act to boost US clean tech manufacturing:
• Biden Order Will Boost Heat Pumps and Building Insulation (E&E News):
  Invoking the Defense Production Act could help reshape the economics around building decarbonization.
• Biden invokes Defense Production Act to boost domestic manufacturing in clean energy, grid sectors (Utility Dive)
• FACT SHEET: President Biden Takes Bold Executive Action to Spur Domestic Clean Energy Manufacturing (White House)
• AUDIO: This Machine Fights Fascism: ‘Heat Pumps for Peace and Freedom!’: ‘BradCast’ 3/17/2022 (The BRADBLOG)
• Enormous Thanks to All Who Helped Win a Big Heat Pump Victory Today (Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years)
• Heat Pumps for Peace and Freedom (Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years):
  Joe Biden Could Damage Putin Badly–and He Doesn’t Have to Ask Joe Manchin… President Biden should immediately invoke the Defense Production Act to get American manufacturers to start producing electric heat pumps in quantity, so we can ship them to Europe where they can be installed in time to dramatically lessen Putin’s power. [emphasis in original]

‘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

• Biden delivers a ‘break glass’ moment for clean energy (E&E News)
• Cambridge Engineers Develop Zero Carbon Cement (Treehugger)
• New panels want to talk ethics, rules of climate tinkering (AP)
• Judge greenlights more NEPA reviews on Western oil leases (E&E News)
• Undoing Trump, EPA to empower states and tribes to oppose pipelines (Washington Post)
• Oil tops $120 a barrel on Saudi pricing despite OPEC+ deal (Reuters)
• Meet the group lobbying against climate regulations — using your utility bill (Grist)
• Biden’s EPA finalizes ethanol, biodiesel blending requirements, requiring largest amount on record (Des Moines Register)
• Agency Ruling Delivers Big Setback To Okefenokee Mining Plan (AP)
• EPA Reaches Tandem Deals Over ‘Cancer Alley’ Pollution (E&E news)
• Ship Pollution Is Rising As The U.S. Waits For World Leaders To Act (Washington Post)
• Climate Groups Coordinating $100M In Ad Spending Ahead Of Midterms (The Hill)
• Ukraine Migration Maps ‘What’s Possible’ for Climate Displaced (Bloomberg)
• 1st Nation Reclaims Territory By Declaring Indigenous Protected Area In B.C. (Mongabay)
• Fracking Moratorium off California Coast Ordered by Ninth Circuit (Santa Barbara Independent)
• Geese, Skuas, Cranes, Foxes: Avian Flu Takes Growing Toll On Wildlife (Guardian UK)
• Glyphosate Weedkiller Damages Wild Bee Colonies, Study Reveals (Guardian UK)
• Four solutions to mitigate climate change, from the IPCC (Dr. Michael Mann, Penn Today)
• UN warns Earth ‘firmly on track toward an unlivable world’ (AP)
• Environmental Sacrifice Zones: 8 Places We’ve Given Up-Probably Forever (Environmental Health Network)
• “Rare Earths” from Coal Waste (Climate Crocks)
• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• 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.