‘Green News Report’ – November 19, 2024

Follow @GreenNewsReport…




(Or use “Click here to listen…” link below.)

IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Trump nominates climate science deniers and fossil fuel profiteers to head key federal agencies; Winters are warming up quickly across the U.S.; PLUS: President Biden offers hope for climate action, the first U.S. President ever to visit the Amazon Rainforest… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Click here to listen or download MP3 (6 mins)…

Link:
Embed:

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): The climate fight will continue; Trump might nix America as a climate tech leader. 5 charts show China winning that race; Weather extremes influence illegal migration and return between the U.S. and Mexico, study finds; Why hydropower is failing in Zambia — and could fail others; To protect the ozone layer and slow global warming, fertilizers must be deployed more efficently, UN says… PLUS: EPA in Elon Musk’s crosshairs… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Global CO2 emissions on track to hit new record in 2024:
• Analysis: Global CO2 emissions will reach new high in 2024 despite slower growth (Carbon Brief):
  But a flattening of emissions is far from what is needed to bring global emissions down to zero and stabilise global temperatures in-line with Paris Agreement goals.
• Amid Earth’s heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions (AP)
• Global carbon emissions inch upwards in 2024 despite progress on EVs, renewables and deforestation (Phys.Org/MSN):
  In 2023, the carbon uptake on land dropped 28% from the decadal average. Global record temperatures, drought in the Amazon and unprecedented wildfires in the forests of Canada were to blame, along with an El Niño event.
• World on track for hottest year ever as carbon pollution hits record levels (Yale Climate Connections)
• Winters are warming up quickly the U.S.:
• Our winters are warming faster than our summers (Axios):
  Warm winters can exacerbate drought (because there’s less snowmelt in the spring), wreak havoc on crops and gardens, and spell disaster for towns built around skiing, snowboarding, and similar pursuits.
• VIDEO: Winter Is The Fastest-Warming Season In Most Of US, Updated Analysis Finds (Weather Channel)
• Trump nominates climate science denier Energy Secretary:
• Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary says ‘there is no climate crisis’ (The Verge)
• What to know about Chris Wright, Trump’s choice to run the Energy Department (ABC News)
• Chris Wright, Trump’s pick for energy secretary, is wrong about green energy, experts say (ABC News)
• AUDIO: Trump taps oil executive Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy (NPR):
  CHRIS WRIGHT: There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either. SIMON: That’s Wright in a video he uploaded to LinkedIn last year: WRIGHT: We have seen no increase in the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts or floods, despite endless fearmongering of the media, politicians and activists.
• VIDEO: Trump Picks Climate-Denying Oil & Gas Magnate as Energy Sec. He Once Drank Fracking Fluid on Live TV (Democracy Now):
  There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either. Humans and all complex life on Earth is simply impossible without carbon dioxide, hence the term “carbon pollution” is outrageous. … There is no such thing as clean energy or dirty energy. … These five terms — “climate crisis,” “energy transition,” “carbon pollution,” “clean energy” and “dirty energy” — are not only deceptive, they are in fact destructive deceptions.
• Trump nominates ND Gov. Burgum for Interior Secretary:
• What to know about Doug Burgum, Trump’s Interior secretary pick (Axios)
• Trump picks North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department (NPR):
  Interior is a sprawling department responsible for managing 20% of U.S. surface land, as well as federally owned mineral rights. This gives Interior control over nearly a quarter of all energy development in America, on- and off-shore…The Trump administration is expected to reverse President Biden’s focus on conservation and renewable energy policy enacted by current Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Indigenous Cabinet member.
• Trump taps North Dakota Gov. Burgum to lead Interior Department (Washington Post):
  Burgum’s outlook on climate policy does not align neatly with that of the president-elect. Burgum has said he believes human-caused climate change is real, and he has supported some of the clean-energy subsidies Trump is seeking to jettison.
• Oil Industry Asks Trump to Repeal Major Climate Policies (Inside Climate News)
• How will offshore wind fare under a second Trump term? (Canary Media)
• What does Secretary of the Interior do? A look at the department after Trump taps Burgum (USA Today/MSN)
• ‘Drill, drill, drill’: New energy council signals Trump to prioritize energy production (Tucson Sentinel)
• Trump nominates Fox News TV host to head Transportation Department:
• Trump says he is naming former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary (AP):
  Duffy is a former reality TV star who was one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable news — a prime concern for the media-focused president-elect.
• Trump taps Sean Duffy, Fox host and former congressman, for transportation secretary (NPR):
  Under the current Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the department has handed out billions of dollars in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to build roads and bridges, dig tunnels, modernize airports and more. Buttigieg has also pursued an ambitious agenda aimed at protecting the consumer rights of air travelers, despite some pushback from airlines. And he’s touted efforts to make the nation’s roads safer for pedestrians and other vulnerable users. The future of those initiatives is now in question.
• Biden announces investments in reforestation, in first-ever presidential visit to Amazon Rainforest:
• Joe Biden announces major climate initiatives from Amazon rainforest, says ‘protecting planet a fight for humanity’ (Times of India)
• Biden visits Amazon rainforest en route to G20 summit in Rio (Reuters)
• VIDEO: Biden delivers remarks after making historic visit to Amazon rainforest in Brazil (AP):
  Joe Biden witnessed the devastation of drought up close as the first sitting American president to visit the Amazon rainforest Sunday, declaring that nobody can reverse “the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America” even as the incoming Trump administration is poised to scale back efforts to combat climate change.
• FACT SHEET: President Biden Marks Historic Climate Legacy with Trip to Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest (US Embassy in Brazil)
• Fact Check: Video Does Not Show Biden Wandering Off into Amazon Rainforest (Snopes):
  Online users and some journalists published misinformation about a video-recorded moment from Biden’s visit to the Amazon rainforest in November 2024.
• Amazon: Who should pay for its protection? (Deutsche Welle)

‘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 Climate Fight Will Continue (This Is Not Cool blog)
• Trump might nix America as a climate tech leader. 5 charts show China winning that race (CNN)
• Weather extremes influence illegal migration and return between the U.S. and Mexico, study finds (AP)
• Why hydropower is failing this nation — and could fail others (Washington Post)
• Decreasing confidence that a significant La Nina even will ever unfold over the Pacific (Fox Weather)
• COP29: US Diplomats Notch a Win on Climate Super Pollutants With Help From the Private Sector (Inside Climate News)
• To protect the ozone layer and slow global warming, fertilizers must be deployed more efficently, UN says (Inside Climate News)
• Emergency declared as smog chokes parts of India and Pakistan (NY Times)
• ‘Greenwashing banks raised 1 trillion dollars for fossil fuel giants (Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
• EPA in Elon Musk’s crosshairs (E&E News)
• Who Will Care for Americans Left Behind by Climate Migration? (Pro Publica)
• America’s Climate and Economy Are on the Ballot (The American Prospect)
• 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)