‘Green News Report’ – February 27, 2025

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Trump White House announces arms-for-rare-earths deal with Ukraine; Spring is getting warmer across the U.S. due to man-made climate change; PLUS: Trump E.P.A. moves to ditch scientific finding that climate change endangers public health… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Trump’s seven most anti-environmental moves — and how to push back; Scientists issue warning to public about ‘high-risk’ events that could demolish local economies: ‘Remember the effect on people’; Trump’s reversal of EV program could carry a hefty $1B price tag; Despite historic rains in 2023, aquifers deep beneath L.A. area remain depleted; Trump warned of a “bloodbath” in the auto industry if he wasn’t elected — now he’s engineering one… PLUS: Extreme heat linked to accelerated aging in older adults, study finds… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• VIDEO: Jon Stewart Reworks Trump & Elon’s Sweeping DOGE Budget Cuts (The Daily Show)
• Spring is getting warmer across the U.S. – thanks to climate change:
• Data: U.S. Spring Temperature Trends (Climate Central)
• Mapped: The fastest-warming U.S regions during spring (Axios)
• VIDEO: Spring seasons trending warmer (NBC-Bay Area)
• How Climate Change Will Affect the Seasons (Time):
  Changes to the seasons will also have big impacts on the environment—altering the growing seasons for plants and changing migration patterns for animals. “If you shorten the spring, you’re severely restricting the planting cycle,” says Kirtman.
• Trump’s US AID cuts have grounded international disaster response teams:
• US global disaster response teams unable to deploy following USAID shutdown, sources say (Reuters)
• Exclusive: US global disaster response teams unable to deploy following USAID shutdown,
  sources say. [PDF] (US AID Alumni/Reuters, no paywall):
  In the wake of President Donald Trump’s funding freeze for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the four DARTs currently in operation in Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine can no longer function normally, according to seven current USAID employees who spoke on
  condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution.
• Trump White House announces arms-for-minerals deal with Ukraine:
• Trump’s Ukraine Mineral Deal Is Seen as ‘Protection Racket’ Diplomacy (NY Times):
  Experts cannot recall a precedent for the United States, or any other country, extracting cash or resources from its own allies during a time of war. They say Mr. Trump’s transactional diplomacy sends a message to allies that the United States cannot be trusted to help its friends or honor its obligations. And it tells his adversaries that he is willing to give up long-term strategic interests for short-term wins, experts say.
• VIDEO: US strikes a deal with Ukraine that includes access to its rare earth minerals, officials say (AP):
  [T]the draft does not include a contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv. Instead, the U.S. and Ukraine would have joint ownership of a fund, and Ukraine would in the future contribute 50% of future proceeds from state-owned resources, including minerals, oil, and gas. One official said the deal had better terms of investments and another one said that Kyiv secured favorable amendments and viewed the outcome as “positive.”
• Zelensky calls US-Ukraine minerals deal a ‘framework’ as it emerges agreement has no security guarantees (CNN)
• VIDEO: President Trump Holds First Cabinet Meeting of Second Administration (C-SPAN)
• Why the Trump administration may want Ukraine’s minerals (AP)
• Trump says no significant security guarantees in Ukraine minerals deal (Guardian)
• 5 minerals in Ukraine that may be part of a deal with the U.S. (NPR):
  A draft of the agreement calls for Ukraine to contribute half of all revenues from minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas “and other extractable materials” to a Reconstruction Investment Fund, jointly owned and managed by the U.S. and Ukraine to be “reinvested at least annually in Ukraine to promote the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine.”
• HHS Sec. RFK Jr. halted climate disaster public health funding:
• RFK Jr., Onetime Environmentalist, Kills NIH Climate Change Programs (Mother Jones):
  These NIH programs do not focus on the causes of climate change. Instead, they concentrate on research and training to protect people from the health consequences of extreme weather events.
• EPA chief moves to dtich landmark ‘endangerment finding’ underpinning climate regulations:
• EPA tells White House to strike down landmark climate finding (Washington Post):
  The 2009 “endangerment finding” cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act by concluding that the planet-warming gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. Both the Obama and Biden administrations used that determination to set strict limits on emissions from cars and power plants. By repealing the endangerment finding, the Trump administration would be taking one of its most consequential steps yet to derail federal climate efforts.
• EPA moves to ditch finding that greenhouse gases cause harm (E&E News):
  Yet Goffman acknowledged the Trump administration may not care about the legal prospects given its willingness to expand executive branch authorities. He said it could withdraw the endangerment finding and repeal sectoral greenhouse gas regulations via final direct rule all before any federal court issues a verdict on its endangerment finding policy. “It will be a while for the courts to catch up to them. And it would take even more time for the damage to be repaired,” he said.
• Trump’s EPA Plots Single Strike Against US Climate Change Rules (Bloomberg/Yahoo News):
  “This is the holy grail of the climate agenda,” said Marc Morano, who runs the climate-skeptic website ClimateDepot.com. “If you want to permanently cripple the United States climate agenda you have to go at the heart of it. This is the heart of it: the endangerment finding.”
• EPA declines to publicly release endangerment finding recommendation (E&E News)
• What Happens If EPA Revokes the Endangerment Finding? (Legal Planet)

‘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

• Trump’s seven most anti-environmental moves — and how to push back (Legal Planet)
• Scientists issue warning to public about ‘high-risk’ events that could demolish local economies: ‘Remember the effect on people’ (The Cool Down)
• Trump’s reversal of EV program could carry a hefty price tag: $1B (E&E News)
• Despite historic rains in 2023, aquifers deep beneath L.A. area remain depleted (LA Times)
• ‘Low-hanging fruit’: GOP puts target on green energy after budget win (E&E News)
• Electricity returns to most of Chile after a sweeping blackout, but questions remain (AP)
• Extreme heat linked to accelerated aging in older adults, study finds (NY Times)
• Trump hints at deep cuts at the EPA, alarming workers and environmental groups (CBS News)
• Trump warned of a “bloodbath” in the auto industry if he wasn’t elected. The Wall Street Journal points out that he’s now engineering one. (Media Matters)
• She Lobbied for a Carcinogen. Now She’s at E.P.A., Approving New Chemicals. (NY Times)
• Trump withdraws proposed CO2 pipeline safety regulations (The Lever)
• Pipeline Company’s $300M Lawsuit vs. Greenpeace Heads To Trial In N. Dakota (AP)
• Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech? (David Roberts, Volts)
• 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)