‘Green News Report’ – June 15, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Raging Canadian wildfires threaten ‘summer of smoke’ on both sides of the border; Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up on a Texas beach; PLUS: Montana kids’ landmark climate lawsuit gets underway, putting the state on trial for failing to address climate change… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened; Spike in ocean heat stuns scientists: Have we breached a climate tipping point?; Oil producers say tech will soon handle climate-wrecking fumes. US envoy Kerry says be skeptical; DOE nuclear docs central to Trump’s indictment; Every stage of plastic production and use is harming human health; Summer intern commutes by plane, because it’s cheaper than rent in NYC; Could Mother Nature cut off California’s water guarantee?; How Arizona stands between tribes and their water… PLUS: This all-electric neighborhood may be the future of green living… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Canadian wildfires threaten ‘summer of smoke’ on both sides of the border:
• Live updates | Canada Wildfires (AP)
• Why Canada’s wildfires are extreme and getting worse, in 4 charts (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in US (AP)
• VIDEO: Calgary in the Smoke: “No Safe Level” (Climate Crocks)
• ‘How Could This Happen?’: Canadian Fires Burning Where They Rarely Have Before (NY Times)
• New round of smoke from Canada fires prompts air quality alerts across the Upper Midwest (CNN/MSN)
• ER Visits for Asthma in New York City Soared as Wildfire Smoke Blanketed the Region (Inside Climate News)
• In Smoke Emergency, Fossil Fuel “Expert” Insists Dirty Air is ‘no Health Risk’ (Climate Crocks)
• Canada’s Wildfires Are a Warning of the East Coast’s Smoky Future (E&E News)
• Wheat farmers in Canada, Kansas warn of imminent crop failure:
• VIDEO: Extremely dry spring leaves southern Albertan farmers on the road to ‘zero production’ (Global News):
  “They are dying essentially. It’s something that we’ve never experienced before. We’ve had dry conditions later in the season but to have it at the end of May, beginning of June like this is unprecedented,” said Stephen Vandervalk, a fourth generation farmer in southern Alberta and the vice president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.
• Alberta farmers already battling ‘extreme’ drought this growing season (Calgary News/MSN)
• Scientists alarmed at rapid ice loss in the Arctic, Antartica:
• The Arctic may be sea ice-free in summer by the 2030s, new study warns (CNN)
• Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2030s, with global, damaging and dangerous consequences (Phys.org):
  Predictions of an ice-free Arctic Ocean have a long and complicated history, and the 2030s is sooner than most scientists had thought possible (though it is later than some had wrongly forecast). What we know for sure is the disappearance of sea ice at the top of the world would not only be an emblematic sign of climate breakdown, but it would have global, damaging and dangerous consequences.
• The Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by the 2030s. What experts say it could mean. (USA today)
• New alarms over consequences of Antarctic ice melt (Axios)
• Ocean Currents Are Slowing, With Potentially Devastating Effects (Wired)
• Antarctic ocean currents heading for collapse – report (BBC):
  Rapidly melting Antarctic ice is causing a dramatic slowdown in deep ocean currents and could have a disastrous effect on the climate, a new report warns. The deep-water flows which drive ocean currents could decline by 40% by 2050, a team of Australian scientists says. The currents carry vital heat, oxygen, carbon and nutrients around the globe.
• Mass fish kill closes Texas beach:
• VIDEO: Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up on a Texas beach due to low oxygen levels (AP)
• Visitors warned away from Texas beach after thousands of dead fish wash up (Guardian)
• Warming lakes are losing oxygen:
• Hundreds of lakes in U.S., Europe are losing oxygen (AP):
  Oxygen levels have dropped in hundreds of lakes in the United States and Europe over the last four decades, a new study found. And the authors said declining oxygen could lead to increased fish kills, algal blooms and methane emissions.
• Pumping Oxygen In A Lake To Try To Save Fish Facing Climate Change (WGBH)
• Widespread deoxygenation of temperate lakes (Nature)
• House GOP passes gas stove messaging bill. Manufacturers hid solution:
• Stove wars: Republican-controlled House approves bills to protect gas stoves (AP):
  A bill passed Tuesday would prohibit use of federal money to regulate gas stoves as a hazardous product, while a separate measure endorsed on Wednesday would block an Energy Department rule setting stricter energy efficiency standards for stovetops and ovens. The White House said the administration “has been clear that it does not support any attempt to ban the use of gas stoves,” but GOP lawmakers say rules on gas stoves represent classic government overreach.
• Industry Knew About Gas Stoves’ Air Pollution Problems in Early 1970s (DeSmog Blog):
  The American Gas Association is trying to discredit research on the health impacts of gas stoves today. But newly revealed documents show it was discussing indoor air pollution concerns five decades ago.
• Gas stove makers have a pollution solution. They’re just not using it (NPR):
  Four decades ago, the gas industry and appliance manufacturers developed a partial solution for this problem. They created a cleaner and more efficient burner. But you can’t buy ranges with those burners because the industry never manufactured those appliances for sale.
• Landmark kids’ climate lawsuit now underway in Montana:
• Young Activists Testify At US’s First Constitutional Climate Trial (Guardian)
• Landmark ‘kids’ climate trial begins: how science will take the stand (Nature)
• VIDEO: These Montana Kids Are Suing the State Over the Environment (Vice News)
• Young athlete in Montana climate change trial testifies he uses inhaler due to forest fire smoke (AP):
  A high school athlete who along with 15 other young people took Montana to court over climate change testified Tuesday that increased smoke from forest fires makes it difficult for him to compete and that a doctor prescribed an inhaler to help his breathing problems…State officials have sought to downplay Montana’s contributions to global warming as the trial is being closely watched for possible legal precedents.
• Who is ‘Held’ of Held v. State of Montana? (Montana Free Press)
• Montana calls UN climate report “hearsay” at landmark youth-led climate trial (Ars Technica):
  Montana’s lawyers also downplayed the most recent climate assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—urging there was no shortage of actions that could be taken at every level—calling it “hearsay.” It seems to be Montana’s view that the report was irrelevant because it reflected data collected for the United Nations, not for the state of Montana.

‘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

• Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened (CNN/MSN)
• Spike in ocean heat stuns scientists: Have we breached a climate tipping point? (Jeff Berardelli, WLFA)
• Oil producers say tech will soon handle climate-wrecking fumes. US envoy Kerry says be skeptical (AP)
• This All-Electric Neighborhood May Be the Future of Green Living (KQED)
• DOE nuclear docs central to Trump’s indictment (E&E News)
• VIDEO: Kansas wheat harvest looks to be historically small (KCTV-Wichita)
• Santos wells have been leaking gas into the ocean off WA for a decade (West Australia Today)
• Every stage of plastic production and use is harming human health: Report (Environmental Health News)
• Summer intern’s commute goes viral: She flies from South Carolina to New Jersey because it’s cheaper than renting (CNN)
• Could Mother Nature cut off California’s water guarantee? (E&E News)
• North Carolina Republicans send green investment ban to governor (AP)
• How Arizona Stands Between Tribes and Their Water (Pro Publica)
• Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• The US clean energy manufacturing boom has begun. Now what? (Canary Media)
• Hansen: Earth on Track for Catastrophic Warming (Climate Crocks)
• These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
• 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)
• 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.