‘Green News Report’ – February 20, 2025

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Top federal prosecutor resigns over improper Trump order to claw back EPA grants for clean energy; Fossil-fueled extreme weather has tripled the price of cocoa and coffee; PLUS: ‘King’ Trump cancels New York City’s successful, first-in-the-nation congestion pricing… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Trump moves to claw back almost 50 years of NEPA regulations; Electricity demand surges for the worldâ€™s two biggest polluters; New EV batteries are making electric cars cheaper and safer; We may be able to trap climate pollution in ordinary rocks; Trump clamps down on independent agencies’ power… PLUS: Hurricane Heleneâ€™s profound impact on N.C. farms is only now coming into clearer focus… and much, MUCH more! …

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

Climate-intensified extreme weather spiked prices of cocoa and coffee:

Extreme weather expected to cause food price volatility in 2025 after cost of cocoa and coffee doubles (Guardian):
In an apparent confirmation of warnings that climate breakdown could lead to food shortages, research by the consultancy Inverto found steep rises in the prices of a number of food commodities in the year to January that correlated with unexpected weather. The highest price rises were for cocoa and coffee, up 163% and 103% respectively, due to a combination of higher than average rainfall and temperatures in producing regions, according to the research.
Food prices expected to remain volatile (Inverto)
Why chocolate is ridiculously expensive right now (Grist):
Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and other climate impacts are throttling cocoa production and driving up chocolate prices.
With cocoa prices at 50 year high, how experts see the state of chocolate (ABC News)

Trump hiring freeze is degrading services at national parks:

Long lines and canceled rentals: Firings bring chaos to national parks (Washington Post):
Trump’s purge of federal employees is already harming the visitor experience at national parks across the country.
Trump Fires 1,000 National Park Workers, Raising Operational Concerns (AP)
The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government.
After landing his dream job as a park ranger, he’s ‘heartbroken’ to be let go in federal cuts (CNN)
Yosemite National Park delays summer reservations (ABC News)
‘Crisis’ at Zion as mandated job cuts hit popular national park (Fox 13-Salt Lake city)

Trump purges threaten viability of US science research:

NASA and NSF layoffs raise alarm about future of U.S. science (Axios)
National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues (Wired)

Firings at the NSF included permanent employees who had already completed their one-year probationary period, as well as at-will workers.

â€˜You screwed peopleâ€™: Inside the National Science Foundationâ€™s firing of 168 workers (Politico)
10% of NASA Workforce Laid Off Amid Trump Administration Cuts: Report (Newsweek)
Trump officials signal potential changes at NOAA, the weather and climate agency (NPR)
Mass firings strike USDA across agencies, including field staff (Agri-Pulse):
The Trump administrationâ€™s mass firing of probationary federal employees has swept out workers across USDA, including loan analysts in Farm Service Agency field offices, ag scientists and about 1,200 staff of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, according to sources.
USDA probationary staff fired at three agencies, sources say (Reuters)
EPA fires nearly 400 workers after OPM order (The Hill)
NOAA imposes limits on scientists, sparking concerns over global forecasts (Guardian)

Trump mass firing purge endangers public health and safety:

DHS: Trump Ends Climate Work Inside Agency That Responds to Disasters (Bloomberg/Yahoo News)
FDAâ€™s food safety head resigns over mass layoffs (The Hill)
Trump administration trying to rehire USDA bird flu officials it fired (BBC)
Delayed CDC report shows increased evidence of bird flu spread to people (Washington Post)
Trump’s US AID cuts halt Agent Orange victims program in Vietnam (NY Times):
As Mr. Trump and Elon Musk gut U.S.A.I.D., this can now be added to the list of effects: Two months before the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Warâ€™s end, with ceremonies already planned, they have demolished the main American outlet for making amends, shaking the foundation of a partnership meant to be a bulwark against China…Bulldozers that were cleaning up contamination at a former American air base in southern Vietnam â€” which both countries might eventually want to use â€” have gone silent. Around 1,000 mine-removal workers in central Vietnam have been sent home.
Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says (CNN)

Top federal prosecutor resigns over improper Trump order to claw back EPA grants

High-ranking D.C. federal prosecutor resigns in protest (Washington Post):
The head of the criminal division in the U.S. attorneyâ€™s office in D.C. resigned Tuesday morning after declining to comply with a Trump administration demand to freeze the assets of a multibillion-dollar Biden administration environmental grant initiative, according to two sources familiar with the matter…Cheungâ€™s resignation came in connection with a Justice Department effort to assist President Donald Trumpâ€™s new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who said last week that he would try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean energy projects.
Senior DOJ prosecutor quit after being told to investigate Biden climate spending, sources say (CNN):
Cheungâ€™s departure revolves around the implementation of stopping some funding from the EPA to non-profit groups… Zeldin has suggested the funding was rushed to eight non-profits to distribute at the end of the Biden administration through the Inflation Reduction Act, but a former EPA official responsible for implementing the funding told CNN last week it wasnâ€™t rushed or set up nefariously. EPA had worked with the Treasury Department to set up a financial agent arrangement with Citibank to distribute funding to grantees…a longstanding process that Treasury has used for years.
Top US prosecutor quits over pressure to investigate Biden climate spending (Guardian):
A top federal prosecutor has quit after refusing to launch what she called a politically driven investigation into Biden-era climate spending, exposing deepening rifts in the USâ€™s premier law enforcement agency.
VIDEO: EPA Admin. Lee Zeldin misleads public regarding deceptive video (Lee Zeldin/Twitter)
EPA chief seeks to claw back $20 billion in climate funding (Reuters)