‘Green News Report’ – December 19, 2024

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Biden E.P.A. grants California waiver to phase out sales of new gasoline cars by 2035; New study links microplastics to lung and colon cancers; PLUS: Energy Department finds Republicans’ plan to expand natural gas exports will drive up prices for Americans… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Biden just unveiled America’s ambitious new climate goal. Trump will assuredly undo it; The war against murder hornets is over, officials say. The U.S. won; Global warming can’t be ignored, Montana’s top court says, upholding landmark climate case; ‘Explosive’ demand growth puts more than half of North America at risk of blackouts; Trump transition team plans sweeping rollback of Biden EV, emissions policies; Insurance cracking under climate stress… PLUS: Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech?… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Study links microplastic pollution to lung and colon cancers :
• What we just found out about the possible tie between microplastics and cancer (Washington Post):
  When a car rolls down a freeway, a fine spray of microplastics spews out from its tires. When you wash your clothes, millions of tiny synthetic microfibers spill into waterways. And those tiny pieces of plastic may be harming our health, a new study shows.
• Microplastics in the Air May Be Leading to Lung and Colon Cancers (UC San Francisco):
  Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of plastic into the air, creating a form of air pollution that UC San Francisco researchers suspect may be causing respiratory and other illnesses. A review of some 3,000 studies implicates these particles in a variety of serious health problems. These include male and female infertility, colon cancer and poor lung function. The particles also may contribute to chronic pulmonary inflammation, which can increase the risk of lung cancer.
• Effects of Microplastic Exposure on Human Digestive, Reproductive, and Respiratory Health: A Rapid Systematic Review (ACS Publications)
• Dept. of Energy: US LNG exports will raise energy prices and emissions:
• Biden administration warns natural gas expansion would drive up domestic costs (Guardian)
• Biden throws up a last-minute obstacle to Trump’s natural gas plans (Washington Post):
  “Communities that are living in the shadows of LNG export projects already live among significant industrial development and would be subject to even higher levels of methane” and other harmful pollution, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on a Tuesday call with reporters.
• ‘Unfettered’ gas exports would harm US economy, Energy Secretary warns (NY Times)
• Gas Will Be the First Big Climate Fight of the Trump Era (The Atlantic, no paywall):
  [T]he Biden administration has essentially written a playbook for LNG opponents to use in blocking these projects…The Biden administration just made the case against increasing natural-gas exports. And it suggests that the economic, climate, and national-security arguments for gas exporting don’t hold up. Now when the Trump administration moves to expand the country’s gas-export infrastructure, as the incoming president has promised, opponents have the evidence needed to turn that move into a dragged-out legal fight.
• Biden administration gas export report could upset Trump energy policy (Politico)
• US LNG exports raise electricity bills, gas prices and emissions, DOE report concludes (Utility Dive)
• EPA grants California waiver to phaseout sales of new gasoline cars by 2035:
• California Gas-Car Ban Wins Biden OK in Clash With Trump (Bloomberg, no paywall):
  The EPA’s action sets up clashes over the rules that are likely to shape the auto industry’s decisions about new models, sale strategies and investments for years to come. While Trump’s EPA can move to repeal the waivers administratively, it could take months to fully justify the reversal, much less defend it from expected legal challenges in court.
• EPA grants California authority to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035. Action faces reversal by Trump (AP):
  Any effort by the new administration is likely to spawn a new set of legal challenges that could delay any action…”Naysayers like President-elect Trump would prefer to side with the oil industry over consumers and American automakers, but California will continue fostering new innovations in the market,” [CA Gov.] Newsom said.
• Biden administration greenlights California’s 2035 ban of new gas car sales in move likely to be revoked by Trump (CNN)
• Supreme Court will hear challenge to California’s waiver:
• Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to California’s strict vehicle emissions rules (CNN):
  The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal from conservative states challenging California’s ability to establish strict vehicle emission rules that effectively set the standard for the rest of the nation. The move, which effectively leaves in place a lower court ruling that upheld those regulations, comes days after the court agreed to hear a narrow slice of the fight: Whether fuel companies have standing to sue over the regulations.
• Supreme Court will take up a challenge related to California’s tough vehicle emissions standards (AP):
  The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by fuel producers who object to a waiver granted to California in 2022 by the Environmental Protection Agency during Joe Biden’s presidency. The waiver allows California to set more stringent emissions limits than the national standard.
• Supreme Court spares California auto emissions waiver — for now (E&E News):
  The Supreme Court last week took up a case related to a challenge of California’s Clean Air Act waiver — but rejected the broader question of whether the Golden State has the legal authority to impose the nation’s strongest auto pollution standards.
• CA Gov. Newsom to restore California’s EV tax credit if Trump revokes it:
• Newsom says California could offer electric vehicle rebates if Trump eliminates federal tax credit (AP):
  “Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”
• VIDEO: Gov. Newsom answering questions while in Fresno (KMPH-TV Fresno)
• California approves $1.4B to deploy 17,000 EV chargers, hydrogen fueling infrastructure (Utility Dive)
• VIDEO: Newsom vows to restore California’s EV rebate if Trump ends federal credit program (ABC-San Francisco)

‘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 just unveiled America’s ambitious new climate goal. Trump will assuredly undo it (CNN)
• The war against murder hornets is over, officials say. The U.S. won. (Washington Post)
• Global warming can’t be ignored, Montana’s top court says, upholding landmark climate case (AP)
• ‘Explosive’ demand growth puts more than half of North America at risk of blackouts: NERC (Utlity Dive)
• Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech? (David Roberts, Volts)
• Exclusive: Trump transition team plans sweeping rollback of Biden EV, emissions policies (Reuters)
• PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department (NY Times)
• Why these doctors started writing medical ‘prescriptions’ for solar power (NPR)
• Georgia is installing solar at a record pace in 2024, report finds (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• IPBES nexus report: Five takeaways for biodiversity, food, water, health and climate (Carbon Brief)
• Insurance cracking under climate stress (This Is Not Cool blog)
• 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)