‘Green News Report’ – December 17, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Cyclone Chido unleashes “apocalyptic” devastation on Indian Ocean archipelago; Malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases on the rise around the world, thanks to worsening extreme floods; Warming winters force closure of historic Swiss ski resort; PLUS: Biden’s EPA finally succeeds in banning cancer-causing chemicals TCE, PCE… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): ‘Unfettered’ gas exports would harm US economy, Energy Secretary warns; Why Biden might defy Trump with stronger climate goals; Mountains of unused coal causing financial headaches for US power sector; Stricken oil tankers show risks of Russia’s ageing ‘shadow fleet’; Supreme Court NEPA ruling could target landmark climate case; DOE nixes 7 national transmission corridors, refines 3… PLUS: Three years after huge sewage spill, El Segundo still stinks. Why can’t L.A. fix it?… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Cyclone Chido unleashes ‘apocalyptic’ devastation on the island of Mayotte:
• France rushes aid to Mayotte after Cyclone Chido leaves hundreds feared dead (AP)
• Possibly ‘A Thousand’ Dead In French Territory Mayotte From Powerful Cyclone Chido (Forbes)
• VIDEO: Cyclone Chido hits Mayotte with hundreds feared dead (BBC)
• International Criminal Court of Justice wraps up historic climate hearings:
• International Court of Justice Hears Climate Pleas Ahead of Issuing an Advisory Opinion (Inside Climate News):
  Developing countries are asking 15 international judges to clarify the legal obligations of rich nations whose high emissions have driven the greatest warming…Since many smaller developing countries are bearing the brunt of climate damages that they did little to cause, the United Nations General Assembly in March 2023 asked the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion clarifying what obligations U.N. member countries have to protect the climate system from damaging greenhouse gas pollution.
• World Court Judges Pose Additional Questions In Climate Change Opinion (Forbes)
• VIDEO: “Tuvalu May Soon Be Uninhabitable”: Plaintiffs Lay Out Urgent Crisis as ICJ Climate Hearings Wrap Up (Democracy Now!)
• ICJ Set to Decide Whether Fueling Climate Change Violates International Law (Truthout)
• This Indigenous attorney is fighting for climate justice in the world’s highest court (Grist)
• Malaria on the rise again globally, due to worsening extreme floods:
• After Long Decline, Malaria Cases Rising Amid Worsening Floods (Yale e360):
  Malaria killed almost 600,000 people in 2023, as cases rose for the fifth consecutive year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization. Biological threats such as rising resistance to drugs and insecticides, and climate and humanitarian disasters continue to hamper control efforts, world health leaders warned.
• Malaria cases surged to 263 million last year amid stalled progress to stop mosquito-borne illness (Euronews)
• Historic Swiss ski resort closes due to lack of snowfall:
• Climate Change Closes Small Swiss Ski Area for Good (Powder Magazine):
  Other lower-elevation ski areas throughout Europe have faced similar difficulties…”I’m a realist, I think in 10 years we won’t be in business,” Michael Kegel — who runs Rüschegg Eywald — told the BBC. “Climate change is clear; we can see it. The days with snow are fewer and fewer.”
• Ski resort announces immediate closure after facing insurmountable conditions: ‘We too can no longer defy the forces of nature’ (The Cool Down)
• How climate change threatens to close ski resorts (BBC)
• Europe’s crackdown on pollution reduced deaths from heart disease:
• Europe’s crackdown on air pollution found to cut heart disease deaths (Financial Times, no paywall):
  Fatalities increasing in many parts of world less successful in reducing dangerous pollutants, says research…”The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease in Europe as a result
  of air pollution has fallen sharply as countries have cracked down on harmful emissions. The World Heart Federation said that between 2010 and 2019, deaths in the region from heart disease attributed to pollution fell by 19.2 per cent, and from strokes by 25.3 per cent. This amounted to 88,880 fewer heart disease deaths and 34,317 fewer stroke deaths.
• EU says one in eight deaths is linked to pollution (BBC)
• Biden EPA finally bans cancer-causing chemicals TCE, PCE:
• VIDEO: Cancer-causing chemical TCE to be banned nationwide (WCCO-Minneapolis)
• How 17 years of pollution in White Bear Township was finally stopped (Pioneer Press)
• Timeline: Water Gremlin’s pollution violations and WCCO’s investigation (WCCO-Minneapolis):
  The business was supposed to have pollution control equipment in place to remove the chemical from the air before it left the building, but that equipment hadn’t been working since at least 2009 at the time.
• How Minnesota passed the country’s first ban on trichloroethylene (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency)
• Biden Admin. releases $700 million+ to replace polluting diesel-powered heavy trucks:
• Biden Authorizes $735 Million for Electric Truck Purchases (Bloomberg)
• US funds replacement of over 2,400 ICE trucks and buses with ZEV alternatives (Electrive)
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces $735 Million for Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Including Over $82 Million for Massachusetts (Sierra Club)
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $735M in Selections for Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles as Part of Investing in America Agenda (EPA)
• CA awarded $135 million: Funds will replace gas-power with electric (LAist)

‘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

• ‘Unfettered’ gas exports would harm US economy, Energy Secretary warns (NY Times)
• Why Biden might defy Trump with stronger climate goals (E&E News)
• Mountains of unused coal causing financial headaches for US power sector: Report (The Hill)
• Stricken oil tankers show risks of Russia’s ageing ‘shadow fleet’ (Reuters)
• Supreme Court NEPA ruling could target landmark climate case (E&E News)
• Energy states wrestle with methane rules as they await Trump (E&E News)
• ‘Good riddance’ says Oklahoma governor as DOE nixes 7 national transmission corridors, refines 3 (Utility Dive)
• Goodwill leverages expansive network in bold new initiative with textile experts: ‘We are building the ecosystem’ (The Cool Down)
• ‘Bioweapons’ and cover-ups: The untruths behind RFK Jr.’s disease claims (E&E News)
• 3 years after huge sewage spill, El Segundo still stinks. Why can’t L.A. fix it? (LA Times)
• Stop emissions, stop warming: A climate reality check (Dr. Andrew Dessler, Climate Brink)
• The Climate Fight Will Continue (This Is Not Cool blog)
• Who Will Care for Americans Left Behind by Climate Migration? (Pro Publica)
• 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)