‘Green News Report’ – September 12, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: First Greece, now catastrophic Libya floods cause widespread death and devastation; First-ever Africa Climate Summit issues call for global carbon tax on fossil fuels; U.N. report warns world is way off track to curb global warming; PLUS: Climate protesters interrupt U.S. Open Tennis Championship… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): U.S. hits new record for number of billion-dollar weather disasters in a single year; Experts warn of ‘denialism comeback’ ahead of November’s climate talks; Trump border wall caused major cultural and environmental harm; Heat brings Texas grid closest it has been to outages since 2021 Winter; FEMA announces $3 billion for climate resiliency as time runs low for Congress to replenish its disaster fund; Congress enters pivotal week on spending… PLUS: Conspiracy theories falsely link wildfires to ‘smart cities’… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• VIDEO: Climate Pumps Storms Worldwide. Fox News Asks, “Is it Laser Beams?” (Climate Crocks)
• Hurricane Lee churns, breaks new records:
• Hurricane Lee path update: Forecast cone includes part of New England, dangerous surf to impact N.J. (Newark Star-Ledger)
• Here’s why Hurricane Lee is alarming even if it doesn’t make landfall (NBC):
  Lee is the latest storm to accelerate at a breakneck pace partly because ocean temperatures continue to warm, giving hurricanes the energy they need to gain speed and power.
• Hurricane Lee generates big swells along northern Caribbean while it churns through open waters (AP)
• Scientists assess the impacts of a warming ocean (WMO)
• Record rain, floods strike Hong Kong:
• Hong Kong paralyzed by flash flooding after heaviest rainfall since 1884 (CNN):
  Record-breaking rainfall paralyzed much of Hong Kong on Friday, with flash flooding submerging metro stations and trapping drivers on roads, as authorities suspended schools and urged the public to seek safe shelter…The extreme conditions caught many residents by surprise and came just days after Hong Kong was lashed by its strongest typhoon in five years.
• Hong Kong, Shenzhen Deluged By Heaviest Rain On Record (Reuters)
• ‘Bibilical’ rains, floods strike Libya:
• Thousands missing and feared dead after floods submerge eastern Libya (Washington Post):
  The city of Derna has been most acutely affected, after raging torrents of water tore through two dams and swept entire buildings into the sea…”I expect numbers of dead will rise to 10,000,” he told the channel early on Tuesday. The final death toll remains unknown, as many parts of the city remain inaccessible, he said. Derna is estimated to have had around 90,000 residents.
• VIDEO: Thousands Feared Dead in Libya Deluge (Climate Crocks)
• Greece’s agriculture hub lost a quarter of its crop production to two days of rain (Quartz/MSN)
• “Historic flooding event” in Greece dumps more than 2 feet of rain in just a few hours (CBS News)
• First-ever Africa Climate Summit calls for global carbon tax:
• African Climate Summit issues unanimous call for world leaders to support global carbon tax on fossil fuels (AP)
• $23 billion pledged at Africa Climate Summit, but leaders warn of need ‘to act with urgency’ (CNN)
• VIDEO: African Climate Summit issues call for world leaders to support global tax on fossil fuels (AP)
• Africa Climate Summit links ‘unfair’ debt burden with calls to make continent’s green assets pay off (AP)
• G20 summit ends with no agreement to phase out fossil fuels
• Group of 20 countries agree to increase clean energy but reach no deal on phasing out fossil fuels (AP)
• G20 agrees to pursue tripling renewables capacity but stop short of major goals (Reuters)
• Joe Biden Says Climate Deniers A Dying Cohort Of ‘Lying Dog-Faced Pony Soldiers’ (Huffington Post)
• U.N. ‘global stock take’ report warns world is far off track to limit global warming:
• UN Report Says The World Is Way Off Track To Curb Global Warming, But Offers Ways To Fix That (AP):
  The globe has to cut its emissions of heat-trapping gases by 43 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels…To get there, the report said, “the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels is required,” using a phrase international climate negotiators have shied away from before. It also said phasing out the internal combustion engine would be a huge help. And the way money flows — such as investments, subsidies, loans, grants and payments for people and places hurt by warming’s extreme weather — also has to change, the report recommended.
• U.N. Says More Needed ‘On All Fronts’ To Meet Climate Goals (Reuters):
  The world is not on target to curb global warming and more action is needed on all fronts, the United Nations warned on Friday, in the run-up to crucial international talks aimed at stemming the climate crisis.
• What Is The World’s First ‘Global Stocktake’ On Climate Change? (Reuters)
• Climate protesters interrupt U.S. Open, and champion Coco Gauff is okay with that:
• US Open semi-final interrupted as climate protester glues feet to floor in stands (Guardian)
• Coco Gauff ‘can’t really get upset’ at climate protesters who caused 45-minute delay in her US Open semifinal (CNN/MSN)
• VIDEO: Coco Gauff says she believes in climate change & can’t be mad at the protesters (Tennis Letter/Twitter)
• VIDEO: Climate Protests: Productive or No? Protesters interrupt U.S. Open (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

• Number of billion-dollar weather disasters in US blows through annual record with four months left in the year (CNN)
• Experts Warn of ‘Denialism Comeback’ Ahead of November’s Climate Talks (Inside Climate News)
• Trump Border Wall Caused Major Cultural And Environmental Harm: Watchdog (Huffington Post)
• Conspiracy Theories Falsely Link Wildfires To ‘Smart Cities’ (AFPP
• Heat Brings Texas Grid Closest It Has Been To Outages Since 2021 Winter (AP)
• Quarter of Texas businesses say extreme heat negatively impacted revenue and productivity this summer (NBC News-Dallas)
• FEMA announces $3 billion for climate resiliency as time runs low for Congress to replenish its disaster fund (CNN)
• New Heat Pumps Use Sound to Heat/Cool (Climate Crocks)
• A Massachusetts city deluged by ‘catastrophic’ flooding faces more danger as homes near a precarious dam get evacuated (CNN)
• Congress Enters Pivotal Week On Spending (E&E News)
• After Florida, California, Now Louisiana in Insurance Crisis (Climate Crocks)
• Island Nations Hope for Court’s Help on Climate’s Effects (NY Times)
• Red Fire Ant Colonies Found In Italy Could Spread Across Europe: Study (Guardian)
• In Its Push To Build Houses, Ontario Says Energy Efficiency Has To Wait (The Narwhal)
• Feds Delay Decision In Dakota Access Pipeline Environmental Review (E&E News)
• The Summer From Hell Was Just A Warning (E&E News)
• Rising Temperatures Are Wreaking Havoc Year-Round (gift link, Bloomberg)
• Rough years ahead [as new El Nino arrives] (Nature)
• 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.