News items for April 24, 2024
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1. How 14 tribes plan to use federal solar grants
A coalition of 14 tribes received $135,580,000 for solar energy, part the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program to help more households run on renewable energy.
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2. OR awarded nearly $87M for solar in low-income communities
Oregon is set to receive nearly $87 million in federal funds from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program to boost solar adoption for low-income and rural Oregonians over the next five years.
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3. WA solar energy projects getting $156M in federal funds
Washington state will receive more than $156 million to launch programs to provide rooftop solar and other forms of solar energy to people with lower incomes and on the front lines of climate change. The funding is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All grant program.
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4. AK groups awarded $125M for solar projects
Several Alaska organizations are set to share in $125 million in federal funding for solar projects for low-income and disadvantaged communities as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program.
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5. Solar farm in BC expected to cut on diesel usage
A First Nation in central British Columbia says it will take a step toward “energy sovereignty” when it builds what officials say will be the largest off-grid solar farm in Canada.
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6. Why OR’s homelessness Supreme Court case matters to CA
The Supreme Court case, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, asks whether fining homeless people for sleeping outside when there isn’t adequate shelter space for them amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Though the case originated in Oregon, it is being watched across the country, perhaps nowhere more closely than in California.
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7. More bus, bike lanes in Seattle’s new transportation plan
The Seattle City Council unanimously signed off on a 20-year transportation plan Tuesday. It’s an aspirational document meant to guide planners, but which lacks new dollars and specific timelines.
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8. Op-Ed: Reclaiming Tacoma’s historic streetcar network
With Sound Transit planning on continuing the extension of the T Line streetcar westward, it might be a good idea to consider what was and what could be in a renewed vision of public transit in Tacoma.
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9. How achievable is BC’s net-zero emissions goal?
At the start of April, BC Hydro put out a call for help to add five per cent to its current power supply. Setting a September deadline, it’s asking for ready-to-go projects to apply for electricity purchase agreements it will award in December. Its goal is to acquire an additional 3,000 gigawatt hours per year of electricity.
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10. Younger people are planning composting funerals in WA
The green burial movement continues to grow.
More News from April 24, 2024
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WA to launch EV rebate program
Washington state will launch an electric vehicle rebate program this summer in an effort to make EVs affordable for between 6,500 and 8,000 low-income residents, state officials announced Tuesday.
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Seattle mayor proposes design review exemption for downtown housing projects
Last Thursday, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) issued draft legislation to exempt qualifying new residential, hotel, and laboratory construction projects from design review in most of the greater downtown core.
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Tribal leaders host summit to share climate change solutions
About 500 people representing at least 120 tribal nations, environmental organizations, researchers, energy developers and state, federal and local agencies converged in Muckleshoot last week to learn and collaborate on climate solutions.
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Survey shows WA wolf total steadily increasing
For the 15th consecutive year, the wolf population in Washington has grown, according to a survey published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Saturday.
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First big-rig hydrogen fuel station in US opens in CA
The first commercial hydrogen fuel station for big-rig trucks in the US is up and running at the Port of Oakland, a baby step toward what hydrogen proponents see as a clean new future for long-haul trucking.
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130 million Americans breathe unhealthy air, report finds
Over one-third of Americans, or about 130 million people, routinely breathe in unhealthy air, according to the newest State of the Air report from the American Lung Association (ALA).
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Breaking down new rules about ‘forever chemicals’
Lisa Friedman, who covers climate change, discussed the fight to regulate toxic chemicals found in nearly half of America’s tap water.
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Charting the rise of plastic pollution, and solutions
Scientists have detected microplastics from the peak of Mount Everest and the depths of the Marianas Trench to the air we breathe and the water we drink. The challenge for humanity, then, is how to clean up our own mess. Hence today’s theme for Earth Day: planet versus plastics.
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Shipping industry is exploring alternative fuels in rush to decarbonize
The shipping industry is finally embracing greener fuels, but which one, or ones, will they land on?