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The World’s Happiest People already Have a Green New Deal, and they Love it

The World’s Happiest People already Have a Green N...

According to the latest report from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Nordics are once again in the top tier of the World’s Happiest People. This year’s report, which came out March 20, pulled together the scores from the last three years to build a composite score, revealing that the four happiest countries from 2016-2018 are Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, with Sweden coming in...
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What a Real Coal Ash Cleanup Looks Like

What a Real Coal Ash Cleanup Looks Like

The toxic mess left behind from burning coal is a growing, nationwide problem. But we’re seeing that state governments can be convinced to do the right thing and clean it up. Recently, North Carolina joined its neighboring state to become a trendsetter in the proper disposal of coal ash waste. Following on the heels of similar news in Virginia, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on April 1...
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After a decade of research, here’s what scientists know about the health impacts of fracking

After a decade of research, here’s what scientists...

“This should be of serious concern to policymakers interested in protecting public health.” Fracking has been linked to preterm births, high-risk pregnancies, asthma, migraine headaches, fatigue, nasal and sinus symptoms, and skin disorders over the last 10 years, according to a new study. Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a process of extracting oil and gas from the Earth by drilling deep wells...
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How this (Iowa) bill pits utilities against solar businesses and pork producers at Iowa Capitol

How this (Iowa) bill pits utilities against solar ...

Todd Miller gets the question at random times, day and night. It’s usually some variation of the same basic inquiry, said Miller, the co-owner of a solar installation company in Ankeny: “Any update?” The curious ones — other solar business owners, clients and Miller’s own employees — are asking about a bill moving through the Iowa Capitol that some believe will squash a small but growing industry in the state....
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Revised Ohio nuclear ‘bailout’ bill raises more questions

Revised Ohio nuclear ‘bailout’ bill raises more qu...

An updated version of the bill would still exclude most wind and solar from clean air credits, while allowing payments to unspecified “reduced emissions resources” that could include gas and coal. COLUMBUS — Republican lawmakers in the Ohio House introduced legislation Friday that would provide subsidies for two Ohio nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, while at the same time defunding decade-old renewable...
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NAACP Reveals Tactics Fossil Fuel Industry Uses to Manipulate Communities of Color

NAACP Reveals Tactics Fossil Fuel Industry Uses to...

The fossil fuel industry regularly deploys manipulative and dishonest tactics when engaging with communities of color, often working to co-opt the respect and authority of minority-led groups to serve corporate goals. That is according to a new report, “Fossil Fueled Foolery,” published today by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which outlines the top 10 manipulation tactics that the...
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Radioactive road deicer rules under review by Ohio legislature; debate over public safety continues

Radioactive road deicer rules under review by Ohio...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio Department of Transportation snowplows had been spreading AquaSalina, a deicing solution, on the state’s roadways for years when an environmental group last year obtained an unreleased Ohio Department of Natural Resources report that found high levels of radioactivity in the product. After the 2017 report became public, state government and company officials attempted to debunk it, criticizing the...
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OTHER VOICES: Solar bill: A ‘blatant attempt to destroy Iowa’s solar industry’

OTHER VOICES: Solar bill: A ‘blatant attempt...

Solar energy is booming here in Iowa. I am proud to say that Iowa’s solar industry grew by 4 percent last year and the industry supports nearly 1,000 jobs in communities across the state. Less than a quarter of those jobs are driven by utility-scale solar. Private investment is the driving factor of Iowa’s solar growth. The industry is now at risk. MidAmerican Energy is pushing a new utility energy bill, House File 669. The...
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Commentary: Ohio conservatives take energy message to D.C.

Commentary: Ohio conservatives take energy message...

As a young conservative, the thought of Republican-led policies that pursue innovation-driven advances in renewable energy is exciting. Ohio conservatives recognize the importance of traditional energy sources, such as coal, natural gas and nuclear. We also must embrace the benefits of renewable energy, generated right here in Ohio — such benefits conservatives support as economic growth and job creation. A recent poll from...
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CDC, state officials investigating multiple cases of rare cancer in southwestern Pa.

CDC, state officials investigating multiple cases ...

Many in the Canon-McMillan School District first learned about Ewing sarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer, when Luke Blanock of the village of Cecil was diagnosed on Dec. 5, 2014. The media did stories about the community rallying around the smart, handsome teenager and his family, then returned on Feb. 19, 2016, to cover Mr. Blanock — pale, thin and having just been told he had only two weeks to live — when he married his...
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New TV ad targeting solar consumers creates controversy in Iowa

New TV ad targeting solar consumers creates contro...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) — A TV spot is advocating for a new fee for people with Solar panels in Iowa. The Iowa Senate this week approved the bill at the center of the ad, Senate File 583. The bill would let utility companies charge solar energy users a fee. The ad says that is because those customers do not pay to support the electrical grid. A group called the ‘REAL Coalition’ is running the ad...
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Can 100 Percent Renewable Energy Cope With a Polar Vortex?

Can 100 Percent Renewable Energy Cope With a Polar...

When a polar vortex hit parts of the Midwest and Northeast at the end of January, it brought temperatures cold enough to cause frostbite on exposed skin in just five minutes and closed down schools and businesses. Demand for power was intense, and the internet erupted in arguments about whether transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy would leave people in the lurch in periods of extreme weather. The conventional power...
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Fracking 2.0 Was a Financial Disaster, Will Fracking 3.0 Be Different?

Fracking 2.0 Was a Financial Disaster, Will Fracki...

Two years ago, the U.S. fracking industry was trying to recover from the crash in the price of oil. Shale companies were promoting the idea that fracking was viable even at low oil prices (despite losing money when oil prices were high). At the time, no one was making money fracking with the business-as-usual approach, but then the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming all of this was about to change because the...
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Report: Cabot pulls the plug on drilling exploratory wells in Richland and Ashland counties

Report: Cabot pulls the plug on drilling explorato...

MANSFIELD – Cabot Oil and Gas is pulling the plug on drilling exploratory wells in Ashland and Richland counties, according to a recent company conference call and media reports. On Feb. 22, Cabot President and CEO Dan Dinges said during a fourth-quarter earnings call that the company incurred dry-hole costs resulting from unsuccessful drilling results in a second exploratory area. “As a result, we do not expect...
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The Good News About a Green New Deal

The Good News About a Green New Deal

Last month’s rollout of the Green New Deal, a fourteen-page legislative resolution, sponsored by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, that called for “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions” through a ten-year “national mobilization,” has sparked a good deal of controversy. The resolution was larded with goals not directly tied to the environment, such as guaranteeing everyone a job, affordable housing,...
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