‘Green News Report’ – March 19, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: EPA finally bans all uses of asbestos in US, after decades of trying; President Biden unveils billions for rebuilding struggling communities torn apart years ago by highway construction; Extreme heat wave in Africa forces schools to close; PLUS: Massachusetts coastal town spent big on beach restoration that washed away just days later… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): The U.S. has its first large offshore wind farm; Court temporarily halts S.E.C.’s new climate rules; Fifth Circuit sides with Texas in dispute over nuclear waste storage; Trump’s violent language toward EVs; Oregon’s powerful timber industry loses bid for another massive tax cut; Zombies of the tax code: Why fossil fuels subsidies seem impossible to kill; Your tax dollars may be funding the expansion of the plastics industry… PLUS: You can start applying for the American Climate Corps next month… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Extreme heat in Africa causing widespread impacts:
• South Sudan shutters all schools as it prepares for an extreme heat wave (AP)
• Johannesburg’s water crisis is getting worse – expert explains why the taps keep running dry in South Africa’s biggest city (The Conversation)
• Joburg residents to brave more water cuts, power outages (EWN)
• Is water provision in drought-hit Zambia climate ‘loss and damage’ or adaptation? (Climate Home News)
• Taps Run Dry in Africa’s Richest City (Voice of America)
• South Africa braces for extended heatwave across multiple provinces (The South African)
• 7 of the 10 Hottest Countries in the World Are on 1 Continent (How Stuff Works/Yahoo News)
• Spring is springing earlier and getting warmer in the U.S.:
• You’re not crazy. Spring is getting earlier. Find out how it’s changed in your town. (Washington Post)
• Spring is getting warmer: Climate change is spurring a longer spring, with consequences (Axios/MSN)
• D.C. Cherry blossoms hit near-record early peak, a sign of climate change (Washington Post)
• Cherry blossoms from D.C. to Japan are hitting earlier peaks due to climate change, data shows (Axios)
• As Spring Shifts Earlier, Many Migrating Birds Are Struggling to Keep Up (Audubon):
  As temperature and precipitation patterns shift, and spring’s “green-up” arrives earlier and earlier, a major question for scientists has been: Can birds keep up by changing their migrations? According to a sweeping study published this week in the journal PNAS, a wide range of species may already be falling behind…If migrants can’t find enough sources of food, they may not be able to survive their journeys, or could produce fewer offspring when they arrive.
• How climate change is throwing off key timing for wildflowers and trees in spring (PBS NewsHour, 3/19/2023)
• President Biden unveils initiative to rebuild communities torn apart by highways:
• Biden announces $3 billion project to restore communities split by highways (CNN):
  Special attention will be paid to areas that were split by the construction of the federal highway system decades ago. Such projects decimated predominantly Black and brown communities across the country, which were in some cases leveled completely to make space for roads and highways. Other communities were essentially cut off from the rest of the city by the projects.
• $3.3B in federal grants announced for communities split apart by highways (Government Executive Magazine):
  The mix of projects, though, shows the Biden administration is focusing on fine-tuning existing infrastructure…Community activists in places like New Orleans and Tulsa initially pushed to remove highways that devastated their neighborhoods, but the administration has largely avoided those kinds of proposals.
• VIDEO: This $600k defense against sea level rise could have lasted 3 years. It was destroyed in less than a day (CNN/MSN)
• FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Over $3 Billion to Reconnect Communities That Have Been Left Behind and Divided by Transportation Infrastructure (White House)
• VIDEO: President Biden Remarks in Wisconsin on Community Investment (C-SPAN)
• Biden EPA finally bans all types of asbestos:
• U.S. Bans the Last Type of Asbestos Still in Use (NY Times):
  The rule announced Monday stands in sharp contrast to the position of the Trump administration, which fought legislation that would have banned asbestos and imposed a policy that E.P.A.’s own scientists said would have allowed industries to continue its use…Should Mr. Trump win in November, he could potentially roll back or weaken the ban, although the legal process could take two to three years or longer.
• EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted (AP)
• EPA to ban last form of asbestos used in US (Reuters)
• Congress sends Obama bill to regulate toxic chemicals (AP, 6/7/2016)
• MA coastal town spends big on ‘sacrificial dunes’ that washed away days later:
• Mass. Town Spent $600K On Sand. A Winter Storm Washed It Away Days Later. (AP):
  The Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change group, which facilitated the project and helped raise funds, posted on social media about the project’s completion last week and then again after the storm. They argued that the project still was worthwhile, noting that “the sacrificial dunes did their job” and protected some properties from being “eaten up” by the storm. Tom Saab, president of the group and a real estate broker/developer, said the money was contributed by 150 property owners who said the state has refused to help them protect the beachfront and build up the dunes.
• VIDEO: This $600k defense against sea level rise could have lasted 3 years. It was destroyed in less than a day (CNN)

‘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

• 35 miles east of Long Island, the U.S. has its first large offshore wind farm (AP)
• Court Temporarily Halts S.E.C.’s New Climate Rules (NY Times)
• U.S. Approves $500 Million for Bahrain Oil Project, Despite Opposition (NY Times)
• Fifth Circuit sides with Texas in dispute over nuclear waste storage (Center Square)
• Trump’s Violent Language Toward EVs (NY Times)
• An Oregon Bill to Cut Millions in Timber Taxes Is Dead, Despite Backing (Pro Publica)
• You Can Start Applying For The American Climate Corps Next Month (Grist)
• The U.S. Needs Wildland Firefighters More Than Ever, but Is Losing Them (Pro Publica)
• Zombies of the Tax Code: Why Fossil Fuels Subsidies Seem Impossible to Kill (NY Times)
• Pebble Sues EPA To Revive Southwest Alaska Copper And Gold Mine Prospect (Anchorage Daily News)
• Your Tax Dollars May Be Funding The Expansion Of The Plastics Industry (Grist)
• Sick Because of Roundup? These Bills Could Make Suing Impossible. (The New Republic)
• Chemicals In Plastics Far More Numerous Than Previous Estimates: Report (Reuters)
• Storage, Grid, Critical for Clean Energy Transition (This Is Not Cool blog)
• What will shift to zero-emission trucks cost? $1 trillion for charging alone, study says (LA Times/MSN)
• The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
• Fury After Exxon Chief Says Public To Blame For Climate Failures (Guardian)
• ‘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)