‘Green News Report’ – October 26, 2023

Follow @GreenNewsReport…



(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Powerful Category 5 Hurricane Otis slams into Mexico and the history books; Demand for fossil fuels will peak by 2030, IEA projects; Big Oil doubles down, acquiring new fossil fuel reserves; PLUS: New Republican House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson is a climate science denier (of course)… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Click here to listen or download MP3 (6 mins)…

Link:
Embed:

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Cyclone Tej causes dramatic flooding in Yemen; Debunking 21 misleading myths about EVs; Inside the campaign to put an oil boss in charge of the COP28 climate summit; Earth’s vital signs worse that at any time in human history; Company works to replace fossil fuel heating with batteries; Fossil fuel firms spent millions on US lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest bills… PLUS: The trillion-dollar quest to make green steel… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hurricane Otis rapidly intensifies, slams into Mexico and the history books:
• Hurricane Otis strikes Acapulco as one of the strongest storms ever to hit Mexico (USA Today)
• Hurricane Otis Caused 27 Confirmed Deaths and Left 4 Missing, Mexican Authorities Report (AP)
• Hurricane Otis slams Acapulco, Mexico, as Category 5 storm, breaking multiple records (Axios)
• Why did Hurricane Otis get so strong, so fast? (Yale Climate Communications):
  [T]he most heavily developed areas of Acapulco (population just over 1 million) received the more powerful right-front winds of Otis, perhaps setting a record for the largest number of people ever to experience the eyewall of a Cat 5 storm.
• Turbocharged Otis caught forecasters and Mexico off-guard. Scientists aren’t sure why (AP)
• Hurricanes are now twice as likely to zip from minor to whopper than decades ago, study says (AP)
• Mexico Has Had a Hot Year Culminating in the Landfall of Otis (Guy Walton, Extreme Temperature Diary)
• Republicans select oil-and-gas Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as House Speaker:
• Election denier, climate skeptic, anti-abortion: seven beliefs of new US House speaker Mike Johnson (Guardian)
• New House Speaker Champions Fossil Fuels and Dismisses Climate Concerns (NY Times):
  Representative Mike Johnson comes from Louisiana oil country and has said he does not believe burning fossil fuels is changing the climate.
• Sierra Club Statement on the Election of Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House (Sierra Club):
  Since he first launched his House campaign in 2015, Johnson has received more money tied to the oil and gas industry than any other industry. At the same time, Johnson has a long track record of downplaying and being dismissive of the climate crisis. In 2017, Johnson remarked, “The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.”
• Mike Johnson, a climate science skeptic, is speaker nominee (E&E News):
  Even Johnson’s 2 percent lifetime rating with the League of Conservation Voters, which scores lawmakers on their environmental votes in Congress, isn’t that much of an outlier: He shares that score with 23 other Republicans, and 24 Republicans have scores of 1 or zero percent.
• VIDEO: U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson denies climate science at town hall meeting (USA Today), 5/31/2027)
• Chevron doubles down, acquires Hess Corp. and its oil reserves:
• Chevron buys Hess for $53 billion, 2nd megadeal in the oil patch this month as energy prices soar (AP):
  And even with alarms being raised over climate change after a summer of record-smashing temperatures, elevated energy prices have driven more exploration and more drilling, and big payouts for investors.
• Chevron buys Hess for $60B as Big Oil deals reshape industry (Axios):
  Exxon and Chevron are making big bets on robust and enduring oil and gas demand despite climate policies…While Hess is based in the U.S., the real prize in the portfolio is Guyana…
• How Chevron and Exxon’s Latest Fossil Fuel Deals Compare To Their Green Spending (Time):
  [A] closer look at both companies’ spending plans reveals just how much, or more accurately, how little they intend to invest in lower carbon initiatives compared to how much they spent on their latest shopping spree.
• IEA predicts demand for fossil fuels will peak then fall by 2030:
• New IEA outlook: With renewable energy ‘unstoppable,’ fossil fuels will peak by 2030 (Grist):
  The International Energy Agency also warns of a natural gas glut that could threaten the world’s ability to meet Paris Agreement targets.
• Global shift to clean energy means fossil fuel demand will peak soon, IEA says (NPR):
  “The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable. It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s just a matter of ‘how soon’ – and the sooner the better for all of us,” said Fatih Birol, IEA executive director, in a statement. The agency represents countries that make up more than 80% of global energy consumption.
• The energy world is set to change significantly by 2030, based on today’s policy settings alone (IEA):
  World Energy Outlook shows there are set to be almost 10 times as many electric cars on the road, with renewables nearing half of the global power mix, but much stronger policies needed for 1.5 °C.
• Key Messages from the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2023 (Renewable Revolution)
• VIDEO: Press conference, World Energy Outlook 2023 (IEA/YouTube)

‘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

• Red Crescent Calls for Assistance as Cyclone Tej Causes Dramatic Flooding in Yemen (Yahoo News)
• This Company Wants To Replace Fossil Fuel Heating With Batteries (Time)
• Factcheck: 21 misleading myths about electric vehicles (Carbon Brief)
• Inside the Campaign That Put an Oil Boss in Charge of a Climate Summit (The Intercept)
• Earth’s Vital Signs Worse Than At Any Time In Human History, Scientists Warn (Guardian)
• Companies Capture A Lot Of CO2. Most Of It Is Going Into New Oil. (Washington Post)
• Scientists Discover Why Dozens Of Endangered Elephants Dropped Dead (Guardian)
• Prudence Demands We Act’: Bank Regulators Unveil Climate Rules (E&E News)
• Inside Poland Spring’s Hidden Attack on Water Rules It Didn’t Like (NY Times)
• Fossil fuel firms spent millions on US lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest bills (Guardian)
• The trillion-dollar quest to make green steel (Canary Media)
• Michigan’s Governor Whitmer Faces Key Test on Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• VIDEO: EV Battery Recycling Goes Mainstream (Climate Crocks)
• Warning Light? GM Will “Moderate” EV Push. (Climate Crocks)
• Living With Rural Water Scarcity In Southwest Colorado (Colorado Public Radio)
• PA Gas Firms Used 160 Million Lbs. of Secret Chemicals From 2012 to 2022 (Inside Climate 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.