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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Vote Could Come Today on Ohio's Clean-Energy Freeze

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Thursday, December 8, 2016   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It doesn't make sense for business, employment or the climate - that's what opponents are saying about a measure under consideration by the Ohio Senate.

House Bill 554 would make Ohio's renewable energy and energy-efficiency standards optional for the next three years, essentially extending the freeze enacted on the measures in 2014.

That's a step backward, said Kristen Kubitza, conservation program coordinator with the Ohio Sierra Club. She said the standards were tremendously successful when they were in effect.

"They reduced 2.2 million tons of air pollution in just two years, they saved consumers $1 billion on their electric bills annually, and they created thousands of jobs and grew the Ohio economy by $160 million GDP annually,” Kubitza said.

Proponents of the bill argue that the standards are costly for utilities, which will lead to higher electric bills for consumers.

According to Michael Bevis, professor of Geodynamics at Ohio State University, renewable energy policies are essential to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. His research on the impacts of climate change have revealed dramatic ice loss in Greenland. He said Ohio is experiencing milder winters and changing growing seasons, and he warned that climate warming can escalate other environmental problems.

"Agricultural runoff causes algae blooms, for example, and then when it's warmer, that gets worse," Bevis explained. "So, you can have a preexisting problem, like algae growth, and it's getting exacerbated by global warming."

He added that clean energy technologies also are important for business and jobs, saying solar and wind capacity are expanding rapidly and will only become cheaper to produce.

"By suppressing these renewable energy technologies, all you're doing is disconnecting yourself from a technology that is going to win," Bevis said. "And the countries and states that detach themselves from that are doing themselves an enormous disservice."

Gov. John Kasich, who approved the initial freeze, has said he would veto any extension, but has not commented on the optional rules. The Senate could vote on the bill as early as Thursday.



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