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SEC under fire over new climate policy; Google signs largest offshore power deal; 24 US states sue the EPA over an eco-policy; the EU eyes big oil; NOAA warns of a fourth mass coral bleaching event.
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SEC under fire over new climate policy; Google signs largest offshore power deal; 24 US states sue the EPA over an eco-policy; the EU eyes big oil; NOAA warns of a fourth mass coral bleaching event.
About EarthxNews:
A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
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TVTranscript
00:00The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues new auto rules with the hope of speeding up America's transition to electric vehicles.
00:10What it could mean for gas-powered cars in the future, we'll explain.
00:14Plus, Wall Street's top regulatory body is taking some heat over its new environmental policy.
00:20And Google inks a landmark renewable energy agreement.
00:24We'll have more on the company's efforts to find carbon-cutting solutions.
00:30Hello and welcome to EarthX News, where we focus on sustainability, conservation, and the environment.
00:41I'm Christina Thompson.
00:42Let's get into some of the biggest headlines facing our planet.
00:45The Biden administration announced regulations that could lead to the phase-out of new gasoline-powered cars.
00:51The EPA created new limits on tailpipe emissions that calls for a 56 percent reduction in fleet-wide average carbon emissions by 2032.
01:00Industry analysts say the move, which is set to begin in the model year 2027, constitutes the strictest-ever limit on pollution from the nation's cars and light trucks.
01:10The new standards do not mandate the sale of particular kinds of vehicles, but by 2032, the EPA says latest regulations will mean EVs will make up 35 to 56 percent of sales.
01:24Now, that's a big jump, considering electric vehicles made up just 7.6 percent of new car sales last year.
01:30Senior administration officials say by the time the rule is fully implemented in 2055, it will have cumulatively slashed over 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
01:41Federal officials also say the new rules will help combat toxic pollution, slashing fine particulate emissions by 95 percent and emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds by 75 percent.
01:54The regulations are expected to be promptly challenged in court by a coalition of fossil fuel companies and Republican attorneys generals, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
02:05Oil and gas industry groups are looking to take the Securities and Exchange Commission to court.
02:10Companies in the fossil fuel sector are filing a federal lawsuit against the SEC over its new climate disclosure policy in federal court.
02:19The legal challenge comes just after Wall Street's top regulatory body issued a corporate emissions reporting mandate on March 6th.
02:27The new rules would, for the first time, force companies to disclose their direct emissions and the emissions linked to their energy purchases.
02:35The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance filed the petition seeking a review of the SEC's rules.
02:43The lawsuit calls into question the agency's authority to create regulations without Congress's authorization.
02:50It's currently one of three suits against the SEC that's pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit over the Climate Policy.
02:57The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments recently over whether to freeze a U.S. environmental policy called the Good Neighbor Plan.
03:05Logan Ratnick has more.
03:06The EPA's Good Neighbor Rule restricts smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources.
03:12The EPA says that in the 10 states enforcing the rule, power plant emissions fell 18% in 2023.
03:20But three energy-producing states, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, are challenging the rule, calling it costly and ineffective.
03:29In their suit in the D.C. Court of Appeals, they argue that the EPA violated a federal law aimed at ensuring that agency actions are reasonable.
03:38The states challenging the rule argue that the EPA's plan to provide a national solution to ozone pollution relies on the assumption that all 23 states targeted by the rule would participate.
03:51The conservative-majority Supreme Court has increasingly reined in the powers of federal agencies, including the EPA, in recent years.
03:59And if you listen to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court appears set to do so again.
04:05The EPA understood the comment and came back and said, even if we have fewer states, we're going to plow ahead anyway.
04:12And then the question I think that's raised is why and how.
04:18And that's just kind of pretend nothing happened.
04:21Just go ahead with the 11 states.
04:23Industry groups argue that the EPA's rule has an anti-coal bias that will drive up the cost of electricity.
04:30And they believe that the Supreme Court will take that into account when it casts a decision later this year.
04:37Logan Raddick, Washington.
04:40Logan, thank you.
04:42The Environmental Protection Agency is facing some pushback over its new standards for soot pollution.
04:4824 states and a number of business groups have filed lawsuits against the agency trying to block that rule.
04:55The EPA's policy, which was finalized in February, aims to cut particulate matter by 25 percent, from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9.
05:04The joint lawsuit from the states argued the new policy would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities, and families,
05:12and could also block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
05:17The agency says the stricter policy could help prevent hundreds of thousands of health-related lost workdays.
05:24Under the rule, states will have to implement policies to improve air quality in parts of the country
05:29that currently don't meet the limit for soot pollution set by the new requirements.
05:34Meantime, the EPA says it expects that 99 percent of U.S. counties will be able to meet the revised annual standard by 2032.
05:42However, industry groups and some officials dispute that, arguing a lower soot limit could put hundreds of U.S. counties out of compliance.
05:51A California man was charged with smuggling greenhouse gases from Mexico into the U.S. in a first-of-a-kind case.
05:59According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California,
06:03this is the first such prosecution in the U.S.
06:07The San Diego man was charged with smuggling hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs,
06:12greenhouse gases normally used in refrigeration and air conditioning, from Mexico.
06:17HFCs are also used in building insulation, fire extinguishing systems, and aerosols.
06:23In 2016, several nations agreed to cut down on the use of HFCs to try and curb greenhouse gases.
06:28So now, HFCs can only be imported into the country with permission from the Environmental Protection Agency.
06:36He allegedly smuggled them into the U.S. by hiding them under a tarp and tools in the back of his truck.
06:42He then allegedly sold them through websites such as Facebook Marketplace.
06:47The man pleaded not guilty to 13 charges that carry a potential prison sentence ranging from 5 to 15 years.
06:54An EV charging station company goes bankrupt.
06:57Charge Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 in order to create a restructuring plan
07:02that will transfer control of the business to lender, Arena Investors.
07:06Now, as part of the deal, the asset management firm agreed to provide financing worth as much as $10 million
07:11to facilitate the bankruptcy process.
07:15Charge Enterprises attributes its bankruptcy to issues dealing with investment advisor Core Acquisitions Group.
07:21The EV maker claims it was supposed to have access to $10 million to repay debts in November,
07:27but the funds were not available.
07:28Charge Enterprises has since filed a lawsuit against the financial firm and its former chairman.
07:34The Acquisitions Group argues the complaint lacks legal merit.
07:38The public company's move marks the fourth bankruptcy filing within the electric vehicle sector in recent years.
07:43You might remember, electric vehicle maker Lordstown Motors Corporation and EV parts maker Proterra filed for Chapter 11 last year,
07:52as well as EV startup Electric Last Mile Solutions, who went bankrupt in 2022.
07:58Turning now to international news.
08:00The European Union is urging the fossil fuel sector to fork over some cash to help developing nations fight climate change.
08:07In an attempt to address the spiraling costs of deadly heatwaves, droughts, and rising sea levels,
08:13the bloc's ministers of foreign affairs issued a joint statement saying the EU, quote,
08:18calls for additional new and innovative sources of finance from a wide variety of sources,
08:24including from the fossil fuel sector and other high-emission sectors,
08:28to be identified and utilized to provide climate finance.
08:31France's top economic official is blasting some of the European Union's methods to achieving its climate goals.
08:39Bruno Le Maire, the country's finance minister, recently criticized the European Commission's renewable energy targets,
08:45plus the bloc itself, saying, quote,
08:47France will continue to develop renewables and seek to further curb fossil fuels through energy-saving measures.
09:06Le Maire's comments come after Paris signed on to EU's legislation,
09:09which says the bloc must collectively reach a 42.5 percent share of renewable energy by 2030.
09:16Under the terms agreed to last March, France was to achieve a renewable share of at least 44 percent.
09:22And though it has said to be missing the renewable target,
09:25the country's heavy reliance on nuclear power means it is more than hitting overall carbon reduction goals.
09:31France derives 65 percent of its energy from nuclear and is continuing to build more reactors.
09:37The European Commission has warned the country to reconsider its plans.
09:41Le Maire's response was, quote,
09:42We will find a solution with the European Commission.
09:46Singapore is incorporating some innovative ways for local cities to beat the heat.
09:52In a series of moves to reduce temperatures in urban areas,
09:55the island country has linked together a network of green spaces within a major park in the city, Bichon.
10:02Officials say the network helps keep the recreation area three degrees cooler
10:06than the high-density residential blocks in the middle of the city.
10:10In another residential district, media reports say the island nation constructed buildings to avoid directly facing the sun in order to cool indoor temperatures.
10:19And in Singapore's Marina Bay, multiple buildings are cooled down at once by running chilled water through a network of insulated pipes.
10:26Singapore is also offering incentives to incorporate greenery, like rooftop gardens and vertical green exteriors, into buildings.
10:34Officials say the added foliage would work as natural blinds, shading the structure and insulating the building's material from the heat,
10:42reducing the need for air conditioning.
10:44Some amazing work going on there.
10:47Google is bolstering its commitment to renewable energy.
10:50The tech giant recently announced it signed its largest offshore power purchase agreement with offshore wind projects in the Netherlands.
10:57Under the terms of Google's biggest PPA to date, the company agreed to take 478 megawatts of power from two new wind farms developed by two Dutch companies,
11:09which are joint ventures between energy companies Shell and Dutch utility Enico.
11:14The company said the move was part of its efforts to green its power supply and hit climate targets.
11:21Google also announced smaller renewable PPAs in Italy, Portland and Belgium, but did not disclose any financial details of those deals.
11:30Coming up, new research may offer some hope when it comes to restoring degraded coral reefs.
11:36Stay tuned. That story is just ahead.
11:51A dire warning about the risk of a mass coral bleaching event has marine biologists on high alert.
12:13The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the world is on the verge of a fourth mass coral bleaching event,
12:21which could see wide swaths of tropical reefs die, including parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
12:27The scientific agency issued the warning after months of record-breaking ocean heat, which has some scientists fearing the worst.
12:35Derek Manzello, the coordinator of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch, said,
12:39Quote, We are literally sitting on the cusp of the worst bleaching event in the history of the planet.
12:45Scientists say the seasonal El Nino weather pattern, which leads to warmer ocean waters, may be a contributing factor.
12:52Researchers say when corals are subjected to heat stress, they expel the colorful algae living in their tissues.
12:59Without these helpful algae, the corals become pale and are vulnerable to starvation and disease.
13:05Now, to merit a global mass bleaching event, a certain percentage of reefs need to reveal a level of heat stress in the ocean basins of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian.
13:15However, NOAA says they're still waiting for final confirmation from Indian Ocean scientists to officially raise the flag for the fourth mass bleaching event.
13:24The last global mass coral bleaching event happened from 2014 to 2017.
13:29Preliminary results suggest during that time frame, about 15% of the world's reefs saw large coral die-offs in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, lost nearly a third of its corals.
13:42Previous global bleaching events occurred in 2010 and 1998.
13:46While concerns are growing, the world could see a fourth mass coral bleaching event.
13:51A recent study may offer some hope when it comes to coral restoration.
13:55In a new paper, scientists from the University of Exeter, in conjunction with a group of international researchers, revealed planting new coral in degraded reefs can lead to rapid recovery, with restored reefs growing as fast as healthy reefs within just four years.
14:12Joining us now to discuss is the report's lead author, marine biologist, coral reef ecologist, and senior research fellow at the University of Exeter in the UK, Dr. Inez Lang.
14:23Dr. Inez, thank you so much for coming on.
14:25So, this study, it was a collaborative effort between your team and others.
14:29Who else was involved, and what did this study tell you about coral's resiliency?
14:35So, our team consisted of Indonesian researchers and UK-based researchers from different universities.
14:40And we all went out together to Kulau Buntusua, which is a small island off the coast of South Sulawesi in Indonesia, to study a very successful reef restoration program out there and to have a look if reef restoration can bring back the important functions of a coral reef.
15:00So, what's really incredible is, as part of this study, scientists said they were able to successfully restore a 50-meter-long section of a reef in Indonesia.
15:10Can you tell us about that effort and whether there were any signs of recovery until now?
15:14Yeah, so the reef area we saw recovered is, like, much bigger than that.
15:20It's several hectares already, and we studied smaller sections of the reefs to see the trajectory.
15:26So, we studied reefs that were restored only a few months ago, a year ago, two years ago, four years ago.
15:31So, we really could see the timeline of recovery on these reefs.
15:35And it's incredible to see that after four years, it's difficult to distinguish the restoration sites from the healthy reefs nearby.
15:43There's only an occasional glimpse of some steel structure looking out, but otherwise, it's as diverse and colorful and full of fish as nearby healthy reefs.
15:52So, NOAA issued a warning that the world could be on the verge of a fourth mass coral bleaching event.
15:57Are you concerned about this, given the positive results that you were seeing in Indonesia?
16:03Of course, I'm very concerned.
16:07As everyone else, the climate change and bleaching is the major threat to coral reefs worldwide.
16:14And the scale of damage that it causes cannot be repaired by reef restoration projects.
16:20However, we think that that doesn't mean we shouldn't put effort and research into restoration projects,
16:26because they can have an immense impact locally and on a regional scale.
16:30So, the reefs that were restored in Indonesia, for example, they have massive benefits for the local communities.
16:36So, we shouldn't not put research into reef restoration just because we don't think it can help all the reefs around the world.
16:43One of the reefs restored spelled out the word hope.
16:47What are your expectations for the future of the world's coral reefs?
16:51That is very hard to say.
16:57Unfortunately, despite seeing these glimpses of hope, and I've also seen very fast recovery from the last bleaching event.
17:04So, there is pockets of hope and reefs that are doing better and positive stories to tell, and I think it's important.
17:10But, in general, the situation for reefs worldwide is very dire, and we are seeing more and more mass bleaching events.
17:18And if we don't manage to get temperatures in control and manage our CO2 emissions,
17:23then reefs will not have a good chance to survive in a meaningful scale.
17:28Dr. Nesling, thank you for joining us, and thank you for the work that you're doing with coral reefs.
17:33Thank you for having me.
17:34Coming up, an update on the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.
17:43Stay tuned. That story is just ahead.
18:04The UN nuclear chief recently went to Japan and got a first-hand look at the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
18:17Chris Gilbert has more.
18:20Rafael Grossi has visited Fukushima four times, but this is the first inspection of Japan's wastewater discharge since it began in August last year.
18:29The project got the green light from the IAEA, which says it meets international regulatory and safety standards.
18:36Japan's government says it's committed to cooperating with the watchdog,
18:40as it monitors the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant, which is expected to take decades to complete.
18:47The decommissioning is a long-term effort that is unprecedented in the world.
18:51In order to complete it, the operators need to take thorough measures to prevent more problems
18:56and to further improve safety with a sense of urgency.
19:00The assurances have not comforted Japan's neighbors.
19:03China remains opposed to the water discharge and has placed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood in response.
19:09It's concerned about a radionuclide called tritium, which cannot be cleaned from the water.
19:14So, the treated waste is diluted, with a thousand times as much seawater before release.
19:19The mixture is tested before and after discharge for tritium levels,
19:24and the results corroborated by the IAEA and independent labs around the world.
19:29The IAEA says its satisfied test results show tritium levels well within international safety standards.
19:36But not everyone is convinced, and some say the water should have been turned into roding or evaporated.
19:42In Tokyo, locals have protested against the discharge and the government's pro-nuclear policies.
19:48My parents were A-bomb survivors in Nagasaki,
19:53and I believe if we don't stop this as soon as possible, it will lead to a terrible disaster.
19:59We do not know whether our descendants will be healthy after 30 years of contaminated water.
20:04The government is arguing nuclear power is a vital energy source for Japan to meet its Carbon Zero 2050 goals,
20:11and it's set to begin booting up idled reactors on the very same coastline as the stricken Fukushima plant
20:17as early as September.
20:19For EarthX, I'm Chris Gilbert.
20:22Chris Gilbert, thank you.
20:24And before we leave you, EarthX TV's top bee expert created lots of buzz
20:29for his heroics at a big-time tennis tournament in California.
20:33Lance Davis, star of the show The Killer Bee Catcher on EarthX TV,
20:38was called an American hero on social media after he removed a swarm of bees hovering around a piece of camera equipment
20:45with a vacuum cleaner.
20:48And as fans of the show are familiar with, he did so without any protective gear.
20:53Lance's actions became the talk of the internet and news organizations around the globe,
20:57and even caught the attention of actor Ben Stiller, who posted,
21:01The scene of Lance sucking up the bees was part of a larger bee invasion that halted play during the quarterfinals match
21:10between Carlos Alcarez and Alexander Zverev for nearly two hours.
21:15Davis said a small swarm of roughly 3,500 bees took over a portion of the stadium
21:20because it's swarming season, so they go everywhere.
21:25And for all you bee lovers out there, not to worry.
21:27The bees Lance vacuumed up are set to be rehomed in one of the hundreds of beehives he maintains.
21:33Nice job, Lance.
21:35That's it for this edition of EarthX News.
21:37Please join us again next week.
21:38I'm Christina Thompson.
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