‘Green News Report’ – September 24, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: California sues ExxonMobil for lying about effectiveness of plastic recycling; Hurricane John strikes Mexico as a surprise Category 3; Infamous Three Mile Island coming back to power Microsoft’s A.I.; PLUS: Climate Week summit kicks off in New York City… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): The hidden environmental, climate costs of food; Major investigation of ‘zombie’ oil wells; Midwest states struggle to fund dam safety projects despite surge in federal aid; Tugboat powered by ammonia sails for the first time, showing how to cut emissions from shipping; CA governor signs bill to ban all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores; New green aluminum plant could bring jobs and clean energy to Kentucky… PLUS: Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Hurricane John spun up to Cat 3 before landfall in Mexico:
• 2 dead after John hits Mexico’s Pacific coast as major hurricane, degrades to a tropical storm (AP)
• Tropical Storm John triggers warnings of life-threatening floods after slamming into Mexico (CNN):
  John has since weakened to a tropical storm and is slowing as it moves northwest of the coastal city of Acapulco in Oaxaca state. Its slow movement and interaction with nearby mountains will likely contribute to “catastrophic rainfall both along the coast and inland,” according to the National Hurricane Center… [I]t underwent two rapid intensifications in a 24-hour period, ramping up its speed more than three-fold.
• Hurricane John’s rapid intensification catches Mexico tourist hubs of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido off guard (AP)
• Soon-to-be Hurricane Helene threatens US Gulf Coast:
• Tropical Storm Helene forms, will bring catastrophic storm surge to Florida’s Gulf coast as major hurricane (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• When will Hurricane Helene form, when is landfall? Here’s a timeline (Pensacola News Journal)
• “Major” hurricane threat from Helene looms for Florida, Southeast (Axios):
  Any track shift east, even by 10 to 20 miles, would further amplify the already significant surge hazard the heavily populated, low-lying region is facing.
• Study: Hurricanes intensifying faster near coastlines amid warming (Axios, 5/7/2024)
• Climate Week kicks off in NYC:
• Climate Week NYC main site, livestream (Climate Week NYC)
• Climate Week confronts geopolitical hurdles (Axios):
  Rockefeller Foundation president Rajiv Shah told Axios there’s a geopolitical reluctance as elections near for countries to pledge new, major climate finance and other commitments. “I think everybody is absolutely holding their breath and saying, in every single election across this planet, is it going to be more populist withdrawal from global cooperation?”
• Carbon markets capture the spotlight at Climate Week NYC (Politico)
• 6 Things To Be Excited About At NYC Climate Week 2024 (Forbes)
• Biden speaks Tuesday in NYC to draw contrast between Democrats and Republicans on energy and climate (CNN)
• How Climate Week in New York Turned Into ‘Burning Man for Climate Geeks’ (NY Times):
  Mx. Gonia said both the “SAVE HER!” drag shows at Brooklyn’s House of Yes sold out quickly, evidence that there was space in the climate movement for more than doom and gloom. “Gloom is a very inspiring motivator in the short term,” she said. “It’s not an inspiring motivator in the longer term. This is not some toxic positivity movement. This is ‘hey, we know the problems are real.’ So are the solutions, right? Right.”
• Activists Disrupt Biden Adviser at Climate Week Event (Democracy Now!)
• Global strikes across 50 countries demand action as two major climate events begin in New York (EuroNews)
• In NYC And Elsewhere, Climate Protesters Say Action Isn’t Fast Enough (AP)
• Study: Two-thirds of world to see rapid increase in extreme weather disasters:
• Scientists warn 70% of the world’s population to see rapid increase in ‘unprecedented’ weather (EuroNews):
  The new study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, shows how global warming can combine with normal variations in weather to produce decade-long periods with rapid changes in rainfall and temperatures…”The only way to deal with this is to prepare for a situation with a much higher likelihood of unprecedented extreme events, already in the next one to two decades.”
• Microsoft to tap infamous Three Mile Island to power its A.I. data centers:
• Three Mile Island Plans to Reopen as Demand for Nuclear Power Grows (NY Times):
  The infamous plant, closed since 2019, is getting a new lease on life after Microsoft agreed to buy its electricity to supply a growing fleet of data centers…”The symbolism is enormous,” said Joseph Dominguez, chief executive of Constellation, the nation’s largest nuclear operator. “This was the site of the industry’s greatest failure, and now it can be a place of rebirth.”
• Microsoft deal would reopen Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power AI (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: Plan would reopen Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power Microsoft data centers (Bloomberg)
• AI Boom Is Driving a Surprise Resurgence of US Gas-Fired Power (Bloomber/Yahoo News):
  “We were poised to shift away from the energy system of the past, from costly and polluting infrastructure like coal and gas plants. But now we’re going in the opposite direction,” said Kendl Kobbervig, advocacy director at Clean Virginia, which promotes green energy in the state. “A lot of people are feeling whiplash.” In the first six months of the year alone, companies have announced plans to build more new gas power capacity across the US than they did in all of 2020, data from Sierra Club show.
• CA sues Exxon over plastic recycling lies:
• California sues ExxonMobil and says it lied about plastics recycling (AP)
• California sues ExxonMobil for alleged decades of deception around plastic recycling, in first-of-its-kind lawsuit (CNN):
  The complaint accuses the company of using slick marketing and misleading public statements for half a century to claim recycling was an effective way to deal with plastic pollution, according to a press release from Bonta’s office published Monday. It alleges the company continues to perpetuate the “myth” of recycling today.
• California lawsuit accuses Exxon Mobil of misleading the public about plastic recycling (LA Times):
  The lawsuit, filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses Exxon Mobil of falsely promoting plastics as universally recyclable when, in fact, the vast majority of these products cannot be reused. Decades of misleading marketing in newspaper advertisements, social media posts, television commercials and public statements caused consumers to buy and use more single-use plastic than they would have otherwise, Bonta alleged.
• VIDEO: California AG Bonta on lawsuit against Exxon over global plastic pollution (Reuters)

‘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

• The Hidden Environmental Costs of Food (NY Times)
• ABC News: Major Investigation of “Zombie” Oil Wells (This Is Not Cool blog)
• Midwest States Struggle to Fund Dam Safety Projects as Federal Aid Surges (Inside Climate News)
• Americans Most Affected By Climate Crisis Head To Midwest (Guardian)
• Tugboat powered by ammonia sails for the first time, showing how to cut emissions from shipping (AP
• California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores (CNN)
• Newsom’s office announces new California environmental campaign at Climate Week NYC (LA Times)
• New Green Aluminum Plant Could Bring Jobs And Clean Energy To Kentucky (Canary Media)
• Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money (Washington Post)
• In Ohio, drought and shifting weather patterns affect North America’s largest native fruit (AP)
• House Republicans vote to repeal Biden administration tailpipe emissions rules (Reuters)
• North Carolina’s Pro Slavery, Self Described “Black Nazi” is (You Guessed it) a Climate Denier (This Is Not Cool blog)
• DOE Promised Yakama Nation a $32 Million Solar Grant. Bureaucracy Stalls It (Oregon Public Radio)
• How to power your home through an outage without a gas generator (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: John Oliver on Trump’s Project 2025: Blueprint for the Death of Democracy (This Is Not Cool blog)
• Is the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Approaching a Tipping Point? (The Oceanography Society)
• How Oil Companies Manipulate Journalists (Drilled)
• Abrupt reduction in shipping emission as an inadvertent geoengineering termination shock produces substantial radiative warming (Nature)
• How To Spot 5 Of The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Biggest Disinformation Tactics (Guardian)
• The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
• 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 (This Is Not Cool blog)
• 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)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)