‘Green News Report’ – August 1, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: July 2023 is the hottest month in all of recorded history; President Biden enacts new heat protections for workers; Canada takes first steps to eliminate taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels; PLUS: An Australian state bans natural gas in new homes and buildings… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Climate anomalies are emerging around the globe; Turns out paving over everything makes heat waves worse; America’s first new nuclear reactor in years starts operations after massive cost overruns; Scorching summer heat curtailing operations at oil refineries; Republicans threaten to derail Biden NEPA permitting reform talks; Zero oil companies bid in BLM’s Nevada lease sale; Big Business lobbies against heat protections for workers as US boils; Fungal disease spreading fast in U.S – hotter climate could be to blame … PLUS: Alaska’s newest gold rush: Seaweed… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• July 2023 hottest month in all of recorded history:
• State of the climate: 2023 now likely hottest year on record after extreme summer (Carbon Brief)
• July 2023 Is Hottest Month Ever Recorded on Earth (Scientific American):
  Preliminary analyses show that this July is virtually certain to be the hottest month on record for the planet by a wide margin, largely because of global warming.
• Congrats, July 2023! You Were the Hottest Month in 120,000 Damn Years (Popular Mechanics/MSN)
• This month is the planet’s hottest on record by far – and hottest in around 120,000 years, scientists say (CNN)
• Heat waves in US and Europe would have been ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change, new report finds (CNN)
• Climate records tumble, leaving Earth in uncharted territory – scientists (BBC)
• Relentless extreme heat in U.S. ongoing, shattering records:
• Endless-seeming heat wave to keep broiling the southern U.S. this week (Washington Post/MSN)
• Phoenix is first U.S. city with a monthly temperature above 100°F (Axios)
• Phoenix just endured the hottest month for any US city as historic heat streak comes to an end (CNN/MSN)
• Phoenix’s Month in Hell: A 31-Day Streak of Record Heat Ends (NY Times):
  A continuous stretch of days reaching or exceeding 110 degrees has filled emergency rooms. On Monday, the city hit 108 degrees, breaking the run, but setting a new, brutal record.
• An Arizona wildlife center is receiving up to 120 animals a day suffering from the relentless heat (CNN)
• Winter Down Under also seeing record warmth:
• Unseasonably warm winter weather sweeps eastern Australia as Sydney reaches 25C [77F] (Guardian):
  One of the main factors contributing to the unusually high temperatures is the warm ocean conditions, a BoM meteorologist says.
• Why is Australia having such a warm winter? A climate expert explains (The Conversation)
• Antarctica is missing an Argentina-sized amount of sea ice – and scientists are scrambling to figure out why (CNN)
• UN chief excoriates governments for slow-walking transition from fossil fuels:
• “The Era of Global Boiling Has Arrived”: July on Track To Be Earth’s Hottest Month Ever (Mother Jones)
• VIDEO: Taking on Record Temperatures: UN Chief’s Call to Action – Hottest July on Record (United Nations/YouTube)
• Transcript: Secretary-General’s opening remarks at press conference on climate (United Nations)
• VIDEO: As the U.N. Warns “The Era of Global Boiling Has Arrived,” Biden Resists Declaring a Climate Emergency (Democracy Now!)
• Extreme heat is a major drag on U.S. economy:
• Heat Is Costing the U.S. Economy Billions in Lost Productivity (NY Times):
  From meatpackers to home health aides, workers are struggling in sweltering temperatures and productivity is taking a hit.
• Extreme Heat Could Cost The U.S. Economy $100 Billion A Year — Here’s How (Forbes)
• President Biden, Democrats address extreme heat impacts for workers:
• Biden unveils new measures aimed at addressing extreme heat as US swelters (CNN)
• Biden unveils worker-safety and other measures in response to extreme heat (Washington Post/MSN)
• Biden announces first-ever heat wave “hazard alert” for workers (Axios/MSN)
• Congressional Democrats move to ramp up heat safety protections for workers (NBC News)
• Extreme heat merits federal major disaster status, local leaders say (Smart Cities Dive)
• VIDEO: President Biden Announces Actions for Extreme Heat (C-SPAN)
• As Texas swelters, local rules requiring water breaks for construction workers will be nullified (Texas Tribune)
• Canada takes first steps to eliminate ‘inefficient’ government fossil fuel subsidies:
• Canada releases framework to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies (Reuters)
• Canada makes good on promise to end fossil fuel subsidies, with exceptions (Yahoo News)
• Victoria, Australia bans natural gas connections in all new buildings:
• Victoria announces ban on gas connections to new homes from January 2024 (Guardian)
• VIDEO: Goodbye, gas stoves: Victoria to ban gas from new homes by 2024 (The Age):
  The changes apply to all homes, subdivisions and knock-down rebuilds that require a planning permit from that date. Under the plan, the new dwellings will have to be fitted with electric or induction stove tops instead of gas appliances. Solar or electric hot water systems will also have to be used instead of gas heating.
• Gas to be banned in all new Victorian homes from January (9 News Australia)
“We know that with every bill that arrives, gas is only going to get more expensive.”

‘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

• It’s Not Just Hot. Climate Anomalies Are Emerging Around The Globe. (Washington Post)
• Turns Out, Paving Over Everything Only Makes Heat Waves Worse (Jalopnik/MSN)
• Alaska’s newest gold rush: Seaweed (Washington Post)
• America’s first new nuclear reactor in nearly seven years starts operations (CNBC)
• Scorching Summer Heat Is Curbing Gasoline Output and Adding Pain at the Pump (Bloomberg)
• NEPA ‘Phase 2’ Revamp Aims To Reverse Trump, Boost Renewables (E&E News)
• Republicans Slam Biden NEPA Revamp, Threaten Permitting Talks (E&E News)
• Zero Oil Companies Bid In BLM’s Nevada Lease Sale (E&E News)
• Virginia Enviros File Notice They Will Challenge Youngkin’s RGGI Withdrawal (States Newsroom)
• Big Business Lobbies Against Heat Protections For Workers As US Boils (Guardian)
• Fungal Disease Spreading Fast In US. A Hotter Climate Could Be To Blame. (Grist)
• Climate Education Suffers From Partisan Culture Wars (The Revelator)
• A Climate Warning from the Cradle of Civilization (NY Times)
• One In Five Texans Lives In A Floodplain, State’s First Analysis Shows (Texas Tribune)
• ‘Vicious Cycle’: Heat Waves Ramp Up Global Burning Of Fossil Fuels (Washington Post)
• Rough years ahead [as new El Nino arrives] (Nature)
• How Ocean Warming Is Killing a Prime Alaska Crab Fishery (Hakai)
• Russia’s Arms Buildup In Barents Sea Creating Toxic Legacy (Guardian)
• Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
• 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.