‘Green News Report’ – January 4, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Happy 2024! While we were out…December 2023 was the hottest December on record, and 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded; Warm winter causing snow drought in U.S.; Landmark youth climate lawsuit to finally proceed to trial; PLUS: Some good news, including the historic Endangered Species Act turning 50… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Big oil ‘fully owned the villain role’ in 2023, the hottest year ever recorded; Brace Yourself For A Blockbuster Year On Energy And Climate; West Australia bans commercial native logging; Europe Escaping Russia’s Gas Blackmail with Clean Energy; A flood-prone historic site decides to live with rising water rather than fight it; What If Farmers Had to Pay for Water?; Polar Bear Dies From Bird Flu As H5N1 Spreads Across Globe… PLUS: Floatovoltaics Could Help The Southwest Generate Power And Conserve Water… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• 2023 was the hottest year on record:
• Graphs of the Day: 2023 Hottest Year in Japanese Data (Climate Crocks)
• VIDEO: Dr. Michael Mann: The only obstacle to climate action is political obstacle (Climate Crocks)
• December 2023 was the hottest December ever recorded:
• December 2023: US warmth is one for the record books (Accuweather)
• It’s official: Minnesota, Twin Cities experienced the warmest December on record (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)
• Warm December causing a snow drought in US West:
• Snow Shortages Are Plaguing the West’s Mountains (NY Times):
  Some ski areas remain closed. But an even greater concern amid a changing climate is whether enough snow will fall to meet water needs for the summer.
• ‘Snow drought’ grips California and western United States, despite recent storms (LA Times):
  Although recent storms have thrashed the California coastline and boosted reservoir levels, the downpours have so far failed to deposit significant snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which experts say is in the grips of a severe, early season “snow drought.”
• VIDEO: Western states seeing snow drought this year (CBS News)
• Warm winters are causing broad impacts:
• Calgary sees warmest December on record, with water shortages possible this summer (Calgary Herald)
• Winter activities feel the effects of warm weather woes (MSN):
  With above-average temperatures, and our lack of snow, many outdoor winter activities have been placed on hold, and for those who make a living out of our usually abundant snowfall and frigid temperatures, it’s become a waiting game.
• Ski resorts battle for a future as snow declines in climate crisis (Guardian):
  International Ski Federation urged to cut emissions, while activists warn of damage through heavy use of snowmaking.
• How will this warmer winter weather affect the survival of pests like emerald ash borer? (Univ. of Minnesota)
• Mild weather, little snow could spell trouble for farmers in the spring: experts (Manitoba News)
• Winter temperatures play a role in controlling pests (Ag Update)
• VIDEO: What our mild December could mean for native plants (WWMT-Kalamazoo)
• Mild winter is hammering global natural gas futures:
• A No-Show Winter Is Upending the US Gas Market (Bloomberg):
  Mild weather has curbed demand for heating fuel, pulling down prices by about 35% in a year.
• Gas prices collapse in U.S. and Europe (RBC)
• Balmy Winter Will Persist From Northeast to California, US Predicts (Bloomberg):
  The balmy outlook has hammered natural gas futures, sending US prices of the heating fuel down almost 10% so far this month. Meanwhile, a deepening drought across the Midwest would mean that many soy and corn growing areas would enter the spring planting season dry, threatening supply.
• France, Canada close out 2023 with climate action:
• Canada: all new cars, SUVs, light trucks sold by 2035 must be zero-emission vehicles (Reuters/MSN)
• VIDEO: Canada Accelerates Zero-Emission Vehicle Goal to 2035 (CBC/MSN)
• France Mandates Green Roofs and Solar Panels on New Commercial Buildings (BNN)
• France enacts new climate law, including several measures to support PV (PV Magazine)
• Youth climate lawsuit finally to proceed to trial:
• Federal judge in Oregon denies efforts to dismiss climate lawsuit filed by young people (Oregon Public Radio)
• ‘Hope is a discipline’: youth climate case plaintiff on why he’s suing the US government (Guardian)
• How youth lawsuit could upend US climate rules (Straits Times)
• U.S. Judge Sends Landmark Youth Climate Case to Trial (The Energy Mix):
  “This catastrophe is the great emergency of our time and compels urgent action,” Aiken wrote in her 49-page judgement. “As this lawsuit demonstrates, young people—too young to vote and effect change through the political process—are exercising the institutional procedure available to plead with their government to change course.”
• Multnomah County filed a nearly $52 billion lawsuit against big oil companies for their role in the deadly 2021 heat dome event. (Portland Mercury)
• First large offshore wind farm in U.S. begins generating clean electricty:
• Vineyard Wind, country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, is producing clean electricity (WBUR):
  The Vineyard Wind project achieved “first power” late Tuesday when one operating turbine near Martha’s Vineyard delivered approximately five megawatts of electricity to the grid. The company said it expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity in early 2024.
• The Endangered Species Act turns 50:
• AUDIO: The Endangered Species Act turns 50 (NPR)
• As the Endangered Species Act turns 50, those who first enforced it reflect on its mixed legacy (AP):
  The Act was so sweeping that, in retrospect, it was bound to become controversial, especially since it allowed species to be listed as endangered without consideration for the economic consequences. In that way it pitted two American values against each other: the idea that Americans should preserve their incredible natural resources (the United States invented the national park, after all) and the notion that capitalism was king and private property inviolate.
• Saving Animals From Extinction Is a Climate Strategy, Too (Bloomberg)

‘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

• Big oil ‘fully owned the villain role’ in 2023, the hottest year ever recorded (Guardian)
• Brace Yourself For A Blockbuster Year On Energy And Climate (E&E News)
• West Australia bans commercial native logging in move state says could save 20,000 sq km of forest (Guardian)
• Europe Escaping Russia’s Gas Blackmail with Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• A flood-prone historic site decides to live with rising water rather than fight it (Washington Post)
• Strawberry Case Study: What If Farmers Had to Pay for Water? (NY Times)
• Biden Air Rules Face Tough 2024 in Courts After Ambitious Year (Bloomberg)
• Polar Bear Dies From Bird Flu As H5N1 Spreads Across Globe (Guardian)
• Water Increasingly At The Center Of Conflicts From Ukraine To Middle East (LA Times)
• Floatovoltaics Could Help The Southwest Generate Power And Conserve Water (Yale Climate Communications)
• Biden Admin Unveils Tax Rules For ‘Clean’ Hydrogen (E&E News)
• How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
• 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)
• Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here’s How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• 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)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist’s Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)