New Deal Electric Coops Struggle to Democratize and Make Green Transition
"FDR program to electrify rural America is now beset by expensive coal plants and often-hidebound governing boards, as members clamor for transparency and renewables."
"FDR program to electrify rural America is now beset by expensive coal plants and often-hidebound governing boards, as members clamor for transparency and renewables."
"When the city of Austin drafted a plan to shift away from fossil fuels, the local gas company was fast on the scene to try to scale back the ambition of the effort." "The fossil fuel industry is using the same playbook to fight city climate plans around the country".
"An increasing number of states are looking to follow the precedent set by California and adopt stricter vehicle emissions standards as the Biden administration appears poised to green light those efforts."
"Citrus greening has decimated Florida’s industry and the infection is spreading in California. But a novel treatment, still in the testing phase, may suppress the disease and give trees immunity."
"President Biden and congressional Democrats are already bracing for the next big legislative fight — a major infrastructure package that may aim to bolster clean energy."
"The Biden administration is reverting to an Obama-era method of calculating the cost of greenhouse gases—a move that industry is almost certain to challenge."
"Increasing waste, full landfills and shuttered recycling programs mean more cities are paying to send their trash out-of-state."
"As U.S. cities struggle to rein in garbage while propping up pricey recycling efforts, more companies are profiting from America’s growing waste problem and leaving local communities to face the environmental consequences.
"As oil companies go out of business, they are leaving a legacy of abandoned wells that leak huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere".
"Millions of people in the US are drinking water that fails to meet federal health standards, including by violating limits for dangerous contaminants. Latinos are disproportionately exposed, according to the Guardian’s review of more than 140,000 public water systems across the US and county-level demographic data."
"The US House of Representatives has passed a historic public lands preservation bill that pledges to protect nearly 3m acres of federal lands in Colorado, California, Washington and Arizona."