‘Green News Report’ – April 13, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Biden EPA kicks off next phase of electric vehicle revolution, with strongest-ever emissions rules for cars and trucks; Crunch time in contentious negotiations over water cuts from the declining Colorado River; Plastics are responsible for a wide range of negative health impacts; PLUS: Massive plastics fire in Indiana forces evacuations, expected to burn for several days… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Wheat disease’s global spread concerns researchers; Judge temporarily blocks clean water rule in 24 states; Massive New Jersey Pine Barrens fire now fully contained; Record clean-power growth in 2023 to spark ‘new era’ of fossil fuel decline; US becomes first major fishing nation to ratify subsidies deal; Interior OKs massive power line key to distributing West’s renewables; Proposed plastic recycling plant could send toxic PFAS Into Susquehanna River; Rich people’s swimming pools are fueling water crises in cities, study finds… PLUS: Buy an electric vehicle now or wait? Here’s how to decide… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Massive, toxic plastics recycling plant fire expected to burn for days:
• A fire is still burning at an Indiana recycling plant that had been cited for fire and safety hazards (CNN/MSN):
  While the cause of the inferno is still unknown, local leaders had expressed concerns since at least 2019 that the recycling plant was riddled with fire hazards and building code violations, records show.
• VIDEO: Massive inferno billowing toxic smoke from recycling plant known as a ‘fire hazard’ forces evacuation orders for thousands, officials say. It could burn for days (CNN)
• Some debris from Indiana plastics fire may contain asbestos, EPA warns as particulate matter enters the air (NBC News)
• VIDEO: Indiana industrial fire that started evacuation order “grew with intensity,” says local fire chief (CBS News)
• For the First Time in Nearly Two Decades, the EPA Announces New Rules to Limit Toxic Air Pollutants From Chemical and Plastics Plants (Inside Climate News)
• E. Palestine Not Alone: Communities Around US Grapple With Toxic Exposure (The Hill)
• Study: Plastics responsible for widespread negative health impacts:
• Plastics cause wide-ranging health issues from cancer to birth defects, landmark study finds (Guardian):
  First analysis of plastics’ hazards over life cycle – from extraction to disposal – also shows ‘deep societal injustices’ of impact.
• Plastics at all stages detrimental to human health, analysis finds (CTV News)
• The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health Report (Annals of Global Health):
  It is now clear, however, that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth’s environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted.
• Intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on plastic pollution (United Nations Environment Programme)
• No good options in allocation negotiations for the declining Colorado River:
• Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other major cities could face huge water cuts in feds’ proposed plan to save the Colorado River (CNN)
• Interior offers extremes on Colorado River cuts to spur compromise (E&E News):
  Instead, agency officials presented their emergency plan — which includes contrasting proposals that would either force California to forfeit a significant portion of its flows or concentrate the pain of cuts on Arizona and Nevada — as a set of “bookends” to motivate state officials to collaborate…Interior is in the process of overhauling those rules, which dictate how much water is withdrawn from Lake Powell and Lake Mead based on their current surface elevations, in a bid to save hydropower production…
• White House Proposes Evenly Cutting Water Allotments From Colorado River (NY Times)
• Colorado River cities and farms face ‘dire’ tradeoffs with new federal review (Washington Post)
• U.S. Presents Proposals for Major Water Cuts on Colorado River (Los Angeles Times)
• EPA unveils strongest ever pollution and emissions rules for cars and trucks:
• VIDEO: EPA releases new emissions rules: 60% EV by 2030, saves US trillions (Electrek):
  The EPA has announced expected new emissions rules today that will save Americans trillions of dollars in health and fuel costs, avoid nearly 10 billion tons of emissions, and which the EPA projects will result in an EV market share of about 60% by 2030 and 67% by 2032…[T]hey’re also far ahead of what many automakers are planning, leaving millions of EV sales up for grabs come 2030.
• New EPA rules would cut car emissions 56% by 2032 (Ars Technica)
• The big reason why the U.S. is seeking the toughest-ever rules for vehicle emissions (NPR)
• The EPA says Americans could save $1 trillion on gas under its auto emissions plan (NPR)
• Biden torched for cracking down on gas cars, pushing electric vehicles: ‘Biden’s newest power grab’ (Fox News)
• Boosting EV market share to 67% of US car sales is a huge leap – but automakers can meet EPA’s tough new standards (The Conversation)

‘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

• Wheat disease’s global spread concerns researchers (Nature)
• Judge temporarily blocks clean water rule in 24 states (AP)
• Massive New Jersey Pine Barrens fire now fully contained (AP)
• Record clean-power growth in 2023 to spark ‘new era’ of fossil fuel decline (Carbon Brief)
• US Becomes First Major Fishing Nation To Ratify Subsidies Deal: WTO Chief (Reuters)
• Buy an electric vehicle now or wait? Here’s how to decide. (Washington Post)
• Interior OKs Massive Power Line Key For West’s Renewables (E&E News)
• Biden Releases $1B For Urban Trees (E&E News)
• Proposed Plastic Recycling Plant Could Send Toxic PFAS Into Susquehanna River (Inside Climate News)
• Rich People’s Swimming Pools Are Fueling Water Crises In Cities; Study (Washington Post)
• To Fight Cancer, EPA Wants Sterilizer Companies To Emit Less (AP)
• Greens Sue EPA Over Refinery Water Pollution, Including In Louisiana (NOLA)
• Southwest Tribes Push For New National Monument Near Grand Canyon (Huffington Post)
• Firm restarting oil pipeline involved in California spill (AP)
• New climate paper calls for charging big US oil firms with homicide (Guardian)
• 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.