‘Green News Report’ – February 20, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Record marine heat wave decimated Florida’s coral reefs; Plastics industry knew for 50 years that recycling didn’t work, and deceived the public about it; PLUS: Nearly half the world’s migratory species in decline, U.N. study finds… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Biden administration advances 2-pronged clampdown on toxic air pollution; 5 ways El Niño is wreaking havoc in South America; A collapse of the Amazon could be coming ‘faster than we thought’; Judge revokes Florida wetlands permitting authority; Biden administration weighs slowing the shift to electric vehicles; Pesticide linked to reproductive issues found in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other oat-based foods; Massive geothermal potential found offshore, where the Earth splits… PLUS: A climate reckoning is coming for the next president… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• California grapples with another atmospheric river:
• Wet winter storm hits California, closing regional airport and trapping people in swollen rivers (AP)
• Fresh atmospheric river disrupts travel in storm-hit California (Axios)
• Record prolonged marine heat wave decimated Florida’s coral reefs:
• Big blow to Florida reef recovery: First survey after record heat finds coral graveyards (Miami Herald)
• Hot seawater killed most of cultivated coral in Florida Keys in setback for restoration effort (AP):
  “It’s really horrible to witness,” Lesneski said in an interview just two days after the dives finished. “Besides thinking about the economic and the ecological benefits reefs and these corals provide, there’s the loss of intrinsic beauty that many people come to the Keys to see and experience. And just to take in the loss of that is also very upsetting.”
• Florida Keys coral reefs devastated by 2023 heat wave (Axios)
• Preliminary survey shows impact of summer heatwave on coral in the Florida Keys (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
• Researchers assess Florida Keys coral health following marine heat wave (NOAA)
• Ocean heat hit new, all-time record highs globally:
• Scientists: Ocean Heat Waves Stunning, Persistent, and Worrying (This Is Not Cool blog)
• Ocean Temperatures Keep Shattering Records—and Stunning Scientists (Wired):
  Sea surface temperatures have been skyrocketing beyond expectations. That may be a bad sign for hurricane season—and the health of ocean ecosystems…For nearly a year now, a bizarre heating event has been unfolding across the world’s oceans. In March 2023, global sea surface temperatures started shattering record daily highs, and have stayed that way since.
• February on course to break unprecedented number of heat records (Guardian):
  Rapid ocean warming and unusually hot winter days recorded as human-made global heating combines with El Niño.
• February headed for global heat record as North Atlantic hits summer-like temperatures (Axios/MSN)
• U.N. report: migratory species in shocking state of decline:
• Landmark UN report: The world’s migratory species of animals are in decline, and the global extinction risk is increasing (UN Environment Programme)
• UN: Nearly half of migratory species are in decline as global extinction risks rise (Axios/MSN)
• Humans have altered the Earth so much that migratory animals are facing extinction (CNN)
• Mild winter in U.S. crashes natural gas prices:
• Natural gas prices plunge as US set for warmest winter on record (Financial Times)
• Warm Winter Drags U.S. Natural Gas Prices to Three-Decade Low (Oil Price International)
• Slumping US gas prices cause hedge funds to despair (Reuters)
• Biden visits site of East Palestine train derailment, one year later:
• Biden visits site of the train derailment that became a culture battle (Washington Post):
  [C]onservative activists seized on it as a symbol of a community supposedly abandoned by powerful elites, saying that if the accident had unfolded in an urban area or one with a minority population, the response would have been different. Administration officials forcefully rejected this account, noting that they dispatched environmental experts to the region immediately and saying they approached the derailment as they would any similar event. Biden rarely visits the site of an accident that results in no deaths or widespread destruction, especially because his presence can interfere with the cleanup.
• VIDEO: Biden visits East Palestine, Ohio, one year after deadly train derailment (PBS NewsHour)
• EPA Begins a Review Process That Could Bring an End to Toxic, Flammable Vinyl Chloride (Inside climate News)
• Plastics industry knew for 50 years that recycling didn’t work, and lied about it:
• The Fraud of Plastic Recycling (Center for Climate Integrity):
  How Big Oil and the plastics industry deceived the public for decades and caused the plastic waste crisis
• Report: Plastics, Oil Industry Deceived Public on Recycling Use for More Than 50 Years (DeSmog Blog):
  Industries knew plastics could not be recycled, yet they promoted it to boost disposability profits, echoing Big Tobacco’s campaigns of deception.
• Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf (NPR):
  [T]he industry appears to have championed recycling mainly for its public relations value…”We are committed to the activities, but not committed to the results,” a vice president at Exxon Chemical said during a meeting in 1994 with staff for the American Plastics Council, a trade group.
• ‘They lied’: plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals (Guardian):
  Companies knew for decades recycling was not viable but promoted it regardless, Center for Climate Integrity study finds.
• The Plastics Industry Would Like A Word With Your Kids (Washington Post)

‘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

• Biden Admin Advances Two-Pronged Clampdown On Toxic Air Pollution (E&E News)
• Five Ways El Niño Is Wreaking Havoc in South America (Washington Post)
• Judge Revokes Florida Wetlands Permitting Authority (E&E News)
• A Collapse of the Amazon Could Be Coming ‘Faster Than We Thought’ (NY Times)
• Biden administration weighs slowing the shift to electric vehicles (Washington Post)
• Pesticide linked to reproductive issues found in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other oat-based foods (CBS News)
• A Climate Reckoning Is Coming for the Next President (The Atlantic)
• Massive geothermal potential found offshore, where the Earth splits (New Atlas)
• Boston’s first networked geothermal project will electrify 7 public housing buildings (Utility Dive)
• The Biden administration announces $970 million in grants for airport improvements across the US (AP)
• Supreme Court Watchlist: Agency Power, Air Rules, Water Rights (E&E News)
• ‘In A Word, Horrific’: Trump’s Extreme Anti-Environment Blueprint (Guardian)
• Plug-in hybrids vs. electric cars: We did the math on which is better for you (Washington Post)
• 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)