‘Green News Report’ – June 20, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Blackouts and deadly storms slam troubled Texas grid, amid early extreme heat wave; Another insurer ditches Florida as hurricane season gets underway; U.S. wind and solar energy hit major new milestone; PLUS: United Nations adopts first-ever treaty to protect marine life on the high seas… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): What you should know about buying a used EV; Brazil seizes world’s biggest illegal shark fin consignment; Offshore wind foes in New Jersey gathering force legally and politically; Sweltering heat, power cuts in Northern India as death toll climbs; Biden announces $600 million in climate investments during California trip; US Government toughens rules on chemicals used to break up oil slicks; Power companies spend millions to fight Maine’s proposed non-profit utility; Sharks are at much greater risk of extinction than previously thought… PLUS: Inside the black box of Amazon returns… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Yes, Fox News, it’s climate change:
• VIDEO: In response to wildfire smoke choking New York City, Fox News trots out tired climate denial script (Media Matters)
• Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened (CNN/MSN)
• Early, extreme summer heat hits the U.S. South:
• “Blistering” heat wave fuels deadly storms and power outages across southern U.S. (Axios)
• 5 dead, more than 640,000 without power after storms rip through southern U.S. (NBC News)
• Death toll from Southern storms rises to 6 after a likely tornado, with more extreme weather ahead (NBC News)
• Perryton, TX: An ‘angel on earth’ and 11-year-old boy among those killed by tornado that flattened a Texas town (NBC News)
• Extreme heat, storms slam Texas grid – clean energy races to the rescue:
• Texas is in the thick of a brutal and prolonged heat wave (Washington Post)
• Swaths of East Texas without power amid a heat wave after severe storms (Texas Tribune)
• Triple-digit temperatures continue to bake Texas and other parts of the South (NBC News)
• Texas, Louisiana heat wave comes amid record global warmth (Axios):
  Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at UT Austin, told Axios that while this heat wave may not cause major problems with the grid, it is a reminder of the type of early summer heat the state needs to get used to because of climate change. “The unusually hot weather is a reminder that we need to prepare our grid for the climate of the future, and not the climate of the past.”
• VIDEO: Why a Texas nuclear power plant stopped producing electricity Friday (WFAA-Dallas):
  Almost immediately, the grid manager deployed a new backup power system. This ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service depends mostly on battery storage, allowing the state to tap long-lasting electricity soon after an unexpected problem. The new storage system launched June 10, six days before the nuclear outage. ERCOT also tapped the system on June 14. The reserve helped ERCOT stabilize grid frequency while electricity demand was still relatively high.
• Texas power use to break records in heat wave, prices soar – ERCOT (Reuters/MSN)
• Mexico grapples with extreme heat:
• In Mexico – Heat Extreme Killing Children, Birds (Climate Crocks)
• Mexico Bakes Under Killer Heat Wave (VOS News)
• Mexico swelters as atypical heat wave grips nation (Reuters/MSN)
• Kansas drought decimating state wheat crop:
• Kansas farmers brace for worst wheat crop production in 60 years as drought cuts yield (USA Today)
• Kansas farmers abandon wheat fields after extreme drought (Reuters)
• VIDEO: Kansas wheat harvest looks to be historically small (KCTV-Wichita)
• Tropical Storm Bret brews in the hot Atlantic Ocean:
• Atlantic Looking Like August with Hurricane “Brett” About to Form (Climate Crocks)
• Spike in ocean heat stuns scientists: Have we breached a climate tipping point? (Jeff Berardelli, WLFA)
• Bret forecast to become hurricane this week; second system developing (Washington Post)
• The world’s oceans are extremely hot. We’re about to find out what happens next. (Vox)
• More insurance companies ditch Florida:
• Two more property insurance companies scaling back coverage in Florida (Yahoo News),/li>
• Farmers Insurance bans new business in Florida after Hurricane Ian ‘blindside,’ agents say (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
• Where to get new home insurance in Florida now that Farmers doesn’t offer it (Business Insider)
• U.K.’s North Sea suffering major marine heat wave:
• The North Atlantic is experiencing a ‘totally unprecedented’ marine heat wave (CNN):
  Parts of the North Sea are experiencing a category 4 marine heat wave – defined as “extreme” – according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In some areas, water temperatures are up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) hotter than usual….Risks are high for marine species, such as fish, coral and seagrass – many of which adapted to survive within certain temperature ranges. Hotter water can stress and even kill them.
• UK Marine Heat Wave Now a Category 5 Heat Event (Climate Crocks)
• Hundreds of lakes in U.S., Europe are losing oxygen (AP)
• United Nations adopts first-ever treaty to protect marine life on the high seas:
• Beyond borders: Why new ‘high seas’ treaty is critical for the world (United Nations)
• UN Adopts World’s First Treaty To Protect High Seas Biodiversity (Reuters):
  The U.N. has adopted the world’s first treaty to protect the high seas and preserve marine biodiversity in international waters, marking a milestone after nearly 20 years of effort, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Monday. The adoption followed an agreement reached in March by more than 100 countries on the of text of the High Seas Treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty, after more than 15 years of discussions and five rounds of U.N.-led negotiations.
• What does the UN high seas treaty mean for protecting the ocean? (Yahoo News)
• UN passes first-ever high seas treaty protecting marine life (Yahoo News)
• U.N. members adopt first treaty to protect marine life in the high seas (LA Times/MSN)
• VIDEO: Ocean conservation: Why the first-ever high seas treaty matters (France 24)
• Renewable energy hits major milestone in U.S.:
• US wind and solar combined produced more electricity than coal in Q1 2023 (Electrek)
• Renewables Reach Milestone in First Half of ’23 (Climate Crocks)

‘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

• What you should know about buying a used EV (Vox)
• Brazil Seizes World’s Biggest Illegal Shark Fin Consignment (Reuters)
• Offshore Wind Foes In New Jersey Gathering Force Legally And Politically
  (AP)
• Sweltering Heat, Power Cuts In Northern India As Death Toll Climbs (AP)
• Young People in Historic Climate Trial Rest Their Case (Scientific American)
• Montana officials downplay first-of-its-kind climate trial (AP)
• Inside the black box of Amazon returns (The Conversation)
• Roger Payne, Biologist Who Heard Whales Singing, Dies at 88 (NY Times)
• Biden announces $600 million in climate investments during California trip (CNBC)
• Power Companies Spend Millions To Fight Maine’s Proposed Non-Profit Utility (Floodlight)
• The New War on Bad Air (E&E News)
• UN Chief To Fossil Fuel Firms: Stop Trying To ‘Knee-Cap’ Climate Progress (Reuters)
• US Government Toughens Rules On Chemicals Used To Break Up Oil Slicks (Guardian)
• Bayer OKs $6.9 Million Settlement With New York Over Roundup Safety Claims (Pro Publica)
• Once-Shuttered California Mine Trying To Transform Rare Earth Industry (Grist)
• Sharks Are At A Much Greater Risk Of Going Extinct Than Previously Thought (Washington Post)
• 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.