‘Green News Report’ – March 7, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: After 20 years, world governments reach historic deal to protect marine biodiversity on the high seas; France to cover parking lots with solar panels; North Dakota may sue to stop Minnesota’s new clean electricity standard; PLUS: Another Norfolk Southern train derails in Ohio… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Winter storm will stretch 1,800 miles from Plains to Northeast; Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target; ‘Silicon Valley of Lithium’: controversial Nevada lithium mine breaks ground; Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022; What is ‘Cop City?’; Oil CEO who will head 2023 climate talks calls for change [but not phaseout of fossil fuels]; Billion-dollar power lines finally inching ahead to help US grids; What to know about the ‘Red Tide’ hitting Florida beaches … PLUS: Mapping California’s ‘Zombie’ Forests … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• World governments reach historic deal to protect the high seas:
• VIDEO: Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seas (AP):
  For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas – representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.
• VIDEO ‘It’s a great day’: WWF’s Simon Walmsley on historic UN Oceans Treaty (Channel 4 UK)
• Countries agree on historic oceans treaty to protect the high seas (CNN):
  Human activity on the ocean is adding pressure, including industrial fishing, shipping, the nascent deep sea mining industry and the race to harness the ocean’s “genetic resources” – material from marine plants and animals for use in industries such as pharmaceuticals.
• High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (Guardian):
  The historic treaty is crucial for enforcing the 30×30 pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in December, to protect a third of the sea (and land) by 2030. Without a treaty, this target would certainly fail, as until now no legal mechanism existed to set up MPAs on the high seas… Monetary and non-monetary benefits would be shared and an initial upfront fund would be set up under the treaty…The adoption of the “common heritage of humankind” as a key principle for the high seas…was a red line for many developing states
• Another Norfolk Southern train derails in Ohio:
• 20 cars of Norfolk Southern cargo train derail in Ohio (AP):
  U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, released a statement Saturday criticizing Norfolk Southern. “Sandusky, Steubenville, East Palestine, and now Springfield – four Norfolk Southern derailments in less than five months because this corporation has been more concerned with its profit margin than with Ohioans’ safety. Ohio communities should not be forced to live in fear of another disaster,” Brown said.
• VIDEO: Moment Norfolk Southern train derails in Ohio caught on dashcam video (MSN)
• Ohio train derailmant disaster: EPA orders testing for dioxin:
• EPA orders Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins in Ohio train derailment (Axios)
• Did dioxins spread after the Ohio train derailment? (AP)
• Plan to incinerate soil from Ohio train derailment is ‘horrifying’, says expert (Guardian)
• East Palestine train disaster has nearby towns questioning their own safety (Grist):
  When Laderer’s team arrived, alongside the fire departments from roughly 80 other towns across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, they found 38 cars of a 150-car train splayed along the tracks, with some emitting flames that smelled, as Laderer described it, of burning plastic. They would learn in the days that followed that 11 cars contained hazardous chemicals, including the highly toxic compounds vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate, which are used in the manufacturing of common plastics.
• Rail unions tell Biden officials workers have fallen ill at Norfolk Southern derailment site (NBC News),
• Railroad CEO to testify in Congress about Ohio derailment; union says workers are ill at site (Columbus Dispatch/MSN)
• Rail safety plans likely to hit wall of industry lobbying (E&E News)
• Norfolk Southern To Pay For Temporary Relocation During Soil Cleanup (The Hill)
• North Dakota may sue over Minnesota’s clean electricity standard:
• Why North Dakota is preparing to sue Minnesota over clean energy (Grist):
  The law, North Dakota regulators said, infringes on North Dakota’s rights under the Dormant Commerce Clause in the United States Constitution by stipulating what types of energy it can contribute to Minnesota’s energy market. ““This isn’t about the environment. This is about state sovereignty.”
• MN governor trusts energy law will survive ND suit threat (AP)
• France to cover all large parking lots with solar canopies:
• New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels (Washington Post):
  The measure could add 10 nuclear power plants’ worth of solar panels atop parking lots…The law also makes it easier to build solar panels alongside highways and eases restrictions on wind power.
• Why Not Cover Ugly Parking Lots With Solar Panels? (Wired):
  [T]here’s a clear benefit to having more solar energy generated closer to where people are—and a clear need to find a way to do this that doesn’t get tripped up by Nimbyism. Using parking lots for solar farms gets around this problem, and on these grounds, France’s legislation is a huge, though aggressive, step in the right direction. “You’re taking advantage of what’s essentially free real estate.”

‘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

• Winter storm will stretch 1,800 miles from Plains to Northeast; ‘miracle’ in Kentucky town after tornado: Weather updates (USA Today/MSN)
• Meat, Dairy And Rice Production Will Bust 1.5C Climate Target: Study (Guardian)
• ‘Silicon Valley of Lithium’: Nevada Mine Breaks Ground (E&ENews)
• Texas energy company paying $3.4B for nuclear plant owner in federal corruption case (AP)
• Oil CEO who will head 2023 climate talks calls for change [not really] (AP)
• Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022 (AP)
• What is ‘Cop City?’ Why activists are protesting police, fire department training center in Atlanta. (USA Today/MSN)
• Householder trial: ‘He was at the top’ of pay-to-play scheme, federal prosecutor says (Columbus Dispatch)
• Green Groups Sue Biden Administration Over Gulf Offshore Oil Lease Sale (The Hill)
• Billion-Dollar Power Lines Finally Inching Ahead to Help US Grids (Bloomberg)
• Colorado Lawmakers Seek Suspension Of Utah Oil Train Project (Colorado Newsline)
• Mapping California’s ‘Zombie’ Forests” (NY Times)
• EPA Fires Back Against Texas Challenge of Biden’s Waters Rule (Bloomberg)
• What To Know About The ‘Red Tide’ Hitting Florida Beaches (NPR)
• Environmentalists: Maine Dam Operator Not Protecting Salmon (AP)
• Kentucky Residents Angered by USFS Logging Plan That Targets Mature Trees (Inside Climate News)
• Why It’s Time to Officially Get Over Your EV Range Anxiety (Inside Climate News)
• Building Steam in Lithium Valley (The American Prospect)
• Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here’s How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: See what three degrees of global warming looks like (The Economist/YouTube)
• The 7 climate tipping points that could change the world forever (Grist)
• The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world (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)
• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
• 99.9 percent Of Scientists Agree Climate Emergency Caused By Humans (Guardian UK)
• 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)
• 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.