‘Green News Report’ – December 5, 2023

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Big breakthrough on Loss and Damage funding at COP28 U.N. climate treaty negotiations in Dubai; Fossil fuel industry works to stop phase-out of fossil fuels; PLUS: Biden EPA’s new rule would force removal of all of America’s lead water pipes… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high in 2023; West Virginians could get stuck cleaning up the coal industry’s messes; From Pennsylvania to Texas, tracking vinyl chloride production in the U.S.; EPA is aiming to get rid of lead pipes in 10 years, but not in Chicago; ‘Forever Chemical’ in English tap water samples carcinogenic, WHO rules; Hundreds of new oil and gas projects approved despite climate crisis… PLUS: The environment: another victim of Russia’s invasion … and much, MUCH more! …

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

• November 2023 is the hottest November on record:
• VIDEO: Earth’s Warmest November On Record Continues Path To Its Hottest Year (Weather Channel)
• November 2023 Marks the Warmest November on Record (BNN)
• COP28: UAE host Sultan Al Jaber sparks outcry with anti-science comments
• VIDEO: COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber Claims There’s “No Science” to Back Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels (Democracy Now!):
  “There is no science out there or no scenario out there that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5. One-point-five is my North Star.”
• Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels (Guardian):
  Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world ‘back into caves’.
• VIDEO: Outcry At COP28 President “No Science” Remarks (Climate Crocks)
• COP28 President Ahmed Al Jaber says he was misrepresented in comments on fossil fuels (UPI)
• COP28: Surge of positive announcements kicks of global climate treaty negotiations:
• COP28: 120 countries back goal to treble renewables capacity, but fears grow over 1.5C goal (Business Green)
• Curbing powerful methane emissions is big focus at COP28 climate summit (Axios)
• The asterisks on COP28’s climate pledges (Politico)
• 2023 Global Methane Pledge Ministerial: decisive action to curb emissions (European Commission)
• At COP28, the Role of Food Systems in the Climate Crisis Will Get More Attention Than Ever (Inside Climate News)
• COP28: UN climate talks take aim at planet-warming food (BBC)
• Climate Group responds to new COP28 declaration on food and agriculture (Climate Group)
• 50 major oil companies pledge to stop methane leaks:
• At COP28 meeting, oil companies pledge to combat methane. Environmentalists call it a “smokescreen” (AP):
  [O]il and gas companies could have taken such measures years ago but largely have not, instead focusing more on expanding production than focusing on the byproduct of it. In that way, the methane deal represented a potentially significant contribution to combatting climate change that also largely maintained the status quo for the oil and gas industry. Many environmental groups were quick to criticize it.
• COP28: Methane pledge by the ‘giants behind the climate crisis’ falls short, says Guterres (United Nations)
• COP28: Global Stocktake makes this COP unique:
• Climate crisis: UN says world off course to meet Paris goals (DW News)
• Climate: What is the global stocktake? (DW News, 9/15/2023):
  A two-year evaluation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement goals found the world’s efforts are falling woefully short. The UN warns “the window of opportunity” to tackle global warming “is rapidly closing.”
• WTF is the ‘Global Stocktake’? We explain the ‘heart’ of COP28 (Politico):
  In short, it’s about drawing up a report card on where the world stands eight years after signing the Paris Agreement, and how countries plan to fix their inevitable shortcomings. That plan coming out of COP28 will help determine whether the world can stave off the worst impacts of climate change or careen toward unlivable temperatures.
• COP28: Draft text of global stocktake released; calls for orderly and just phase (Economic Times of India)
• COP28 talks hinge on a single word: Fossil fuel phase out vs. phase down’:
• How a single word could hold up global talks to save the planet (Washington Post):
  The COP28 climate talks in Dubai feature a big fight over whether to phase ‘out’ or phase ‘down’ fossil fuels…Observers of the talks have long expected fossil fuel-dependent Saudi Arabia and Russia to try to block the “phaseout” language. But China’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, surprised some observers by declaring in September that it is “not realistic” to eliminate fossil fuels.
• VIDEO: #COP28 World Climate Action Summit Opening (UNFCCC/YouTube)
• More Than 100 Countries at COP28 Call For Fossil Fuel Phaseout (Inside Climate News)
• Draft text at COP28 shows negotiators considering fossil fuel ‘phase out’ (Reuters)
• Nations agree to operational framework for Loss and Damage Fund:
• COP28 Climate Delegates Agree to Loss and Damage Fund with “Deficiencies” (Democracy Now!)
• Nations pledge millions to new climate damage fund at COP28, US criticized for its small contribution (CNN):
  Global delegates at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai formally adopted a damage fund that was decades in the making, and several countries pledged millions of dollars to it to help nations hit hardest by the climate crisis – an early success on the first day of talks that allows more time to discuss the thorny issues around slashing fossil fuels…Tom Evans, a policy adviser at international climate think tank E3G, noted the US delegation to COP is under considerable political pressure from dynamics at home, with a Republican-controlled US House of Representatives.
• Nations pledge millions to new climate damage fund at COP28, US criticized for its small contribution (CNN)
• ‘Loss and damage’ — the most controversial words in climate finance today (Nature)
• VP Harris announces US $3 billion to U.N.’s Green Climate Fund:
• Kamala Harris announces new $3 billion US pledge to global climate action at Dubai summit (CNN):
  Harris said the US would pledge another $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund – the main finance vehicle to help developing nations adapt to the climate crisis and cut fossil fuel pollution. The US has previously delivered $2 billion to the fund. The announcement comes after the US was criticized by some climate experts and advocacy groups earlier this week for contributing what they said was an “embarrassing” amount of money – $17.5 million – to a newly created damage fund to help developing countries cope with climate disasters.
• VIDEO: VP Kamala Harris: $3 billion to assist developing countries in resiliency, green energy and nature-based solutions (Twitter)
• US announces rule to slash powerful planet-warming methane by nearly 80% from oil and gas (CNN)
• EPA Casts Wide Net To Slash Methane From Oil And Gas Operations (E&E News)
• EPA’s new rule would force removal of all of American’s lead water pipes:
• ‘Game changer’: EPA rule would force removal of America’s lead pipes (E&E News):
  EPA is calling on utilities to eliminate the largest source of lead contamination in drinking water with a proposal to require removal of all lead pipes within the next decade.
• VIDEO: EPA proposes rule to replace all lead water pipes in U.S. within 10 years: “Trying to right a longstanding wrong” (CBS News)
• Biden administration proposes strictest lead pipe rules in more than three decades (NPR)
• Could the US actually get rid of lead water pipes? (BBC)

‘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

• Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high in 2023 -report (Reuters)
• West Virginians Could Get Stuck Cleaning Up the Coal Industry’s Messes (Mountain State Spotlight)
• The environment: another victim of Russia’s invasion (France24)
• From Pennsylvania to Texas, Tracking Vinyl Chloride Production in the U.S. (Inside Climate News)
• Chevron, Exxon Opt Out Of Funding COP28 Methane-Reduction Fund (World Oil)
• Alaska Tribal Council Greenlit Gold Mine. Some Tribal Members Aren’t Happy (Grist)
• EPA Is Aiming To Get Rid Of Lead Pipes In 10 Years. But Not In Chicago. (Grist)
• ‘Forever Chemical’ In English Tap Water Samples Carcinogenic, WHO Rules (Guardian)
• US Judge Tosses Lawsuit Alleging Environmental Racism In St. James Parish (NOLA)
• In Some Neighborhoods In Drought-Prone Kenya, Clean Water Is Scarce (AP)
• Ohio Fails to Pass Restrictions on College Teaching About Climate Policies (Inside Climate News)
• US Proposes Plan To Help The Snow-Dependent Canada Lynx Amid Warming (AP)
• Hundreds Of New Oil And Gas Projects Approved Despite Climate Crisis (Phys.org)
• How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
• The trillion-dollar quest to make green steel (Canary Media)
• Rising Temperatures Are Wreaking Havoc Year-Round (gift link, Bloomberg)
• 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.