'Green News Report' - March 11, 2021

U.S. Senate confirms historic nomination of Michael Regan to head EPA; Biden's COVID relief bill is also sort of a climate bill; First major U.S. offshore wind farm clears key hurdle; PLUS: Ten years since triple disasters devastated Japan...

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Geothermal Could be a Sleeper; European Parliament backs carbon border tax; DOE will spend billions on electric vehicle R&D in jobs fight with China; One bright side of 2020: A surge in battery storage; U.S. lawmakers propose giving USPS $6 billion for electric delivery vehicles... PLUS: Direct Air Capture of CO2 Is Suddenly a Carbon Offset Option... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• Rep. Katie Porter targets oil industry in new oversight role:
  • VIDEO: Rep. Katie Porter Refutes Claim That Oil Industry Doesn't Get Special Tax Breaks (Truthout):

    "You do benefit from special rules. There's a special tax rule for intangible drilling costs that does not apply to other kinds of expenses that businesses have. You get to deduct 70 percent of your costs immediately, and other businesses have to amortize their expenses over their entire profit stream," Porter responded.

  • Democrat Katie Porter says to target Big Oil in new role as natural resources chair (Reuters)
• March 11, 2011: Ten years since triple disasters devastated Japan:
  • Ten years on, Japan mourns victims of earthquake and Fukushima disaster (Reuters)
  • Japan's recovery from tsunami disaster, by the numbers (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
  • Timeline: Events following Japan's worst quake and nuclear incident (Reuters)
  • EXPLAINER: How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today? (ABC News):

    A decade after the accident, Japan doesn't yet have a plan to dispose of the highly radioactive melted fuel, debris and waste at the plant. Technology also isn't advanced enough yet to manage the waste by reducing its toxicity.

  • Q&A: 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and current status (Kyodo News):

    The removal of all fuel rods from the spent fuel pool of the No. 4 unit was completed in December 2014. Rod removal was also completed for the No. 3 unit Sunday. In December 2019, the government decided to delay the start of removal of spent fuel from the plant's Nos. 1-2 reactor pools by up to five years from the initially scheduled fiscal 2023 to take further safety precautions.

  • Fukushima 10 Years On: Radioactive Pigs, and a Father's Heartbreaking Search (Vice)
  • A decade after Fukushima nuclear disaster, contaminated water symbolizes Japan's struggles (Washington Post):

    The idea of releasing the water has infuriated Fukushima's fishing community, only now getting back on its feet.

  • PHOTOS: Japan's decade of struggle since Fukushima's triple disasters (Washington Post)
  • Water leaks indicate new damage at Fukushima nuclear plant (AP, 2/19/2021)
• Michael Regan confirmed as new EPA chief:
  • Senate Confirms Michael Regan As The Nation’s 16th EPA Administrator (Huffington Post):

    (Guardian)

  • VIDEO: Michael Regan, EPA Administrator Confirmation Hearing (C-SPAN)
• Biden's COVID rescue bill contains climate-related provisions:
  • First 100: The American Rescue Plan’s Significant Public Investments (The American Prospect):

    It's not just a rescue bill, it will lay down pieces of lasting infrastructure.

  • The Weekly Planet: Biden’s Stimulus Is a Big Deal for Public Transit (The Atlantic)
  • New COVID Relief Bill Is a Strong Start To a Long Transit Recovery (Streets Blog USA)
• Delaware River Basin Commission bans fracking in crucial watershed:
  • Delaware River Basin Commission votes to ban fracking in the watershed (State Impact PA):

    More than 10 years after the Delaware River Basin Commission imposed a de facto moratorium on gas drilling in the watershed, setting off a battle between natural gas advocates and environmentalists, the commissioners voted to ban fracking at a special meeting.

  • Fracking banned in Delaware River Basin, but commission stops short on water transfers
    (NJ Spotlight News)
• Petaluma, CA city council reins in new gas station infrastructure:
  • First U.S. gas station ban sparks battle (E&E News):

    The nation's first permanent ban on new gas stations was approved last week in California's San Francisco Bay Area, opening another battlefront over fossil fuel infrastructure and spawning fresh questions about the transition to electric cars.

  • Petaluma’s first-in-the-nation gas station ban draws regional interest (San Jose Mercury News)
  • California city believed 1st in US to ban new gas stations (AP)
• First major US offshore wind farm clears key hurdle:
  • Vineyard Wind opens door to more offshore projects (E&E News)
  • First major U.S. offshore wind project moves closer to reality under Biden (Axios)
  • Feds Complete Final Environmental Review Of Vineyard Wind, Set To Be First Major Offshore Wind Project In U.S. (WBUR)

'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

• DOE will spend billions on electric vehicle R&D in jobs fight with China, Granholm says (Utility Dive)
• One bright side of 2020: A surge in battery storage (Grist)
• European Parliament backs carbon border tax (Financial Review)
• President Biden’s second big bill may be China package pushed by top Senate Democrat (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: Geothermal Could be a Sleeper (Climate Crocks)
• Mississippi Mud Might Stop Louisiana from Disappearing (E&E News)
• Direct Air Capture of CO2 Is Suddenly a Carbon Offset Option (Scientific American)
• EPA considers combining 2021, 2022 U.S. biofuel blending proposals - sources (Reuters)
• Biden Delays Trump Changes To Lead And Copper Drinking Water Rule (The Hill)
• U.S. lawmakers propose giving USPS $6 billion for electric delivery vehicles (Reuters)
• VIDEO: Even Before Texas: Disasters Accelerating Energy Storage Deployment (Climate Crocks)
• Biden Administration Wades Into Major Fight Over Green Building Codes (Huffington Post)
• How climate change could undo 50 years of public health gains (Grist)
• Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
• Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
• What Does '12 Years to Act on Climate Change' (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Explainer: The 'Green New Deal': Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):

  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps.

• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):

  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think.

• A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):

  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA Video: If we don't act, here's what to expect in the next 100 years:

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).