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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Group Launches Ballot Initiative to Require 50% Renewable Energy by 2030

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Thursday, February 22, 2018   

PHOENIX — A coalition of community groups and health organizations is throwing its support behind a ballot initiative, filed on Tuesday, that would force investor-owned utilities such as Arizona Public Service, Tucson Electric Power and electric cooperatives to get 50 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Right now, the Arizona Corporation Commission only requires a standard of 15 percent by 2025. Pita Juarez with the Clean Energy for Healthy Arizona ballot initiative said the move is necessary to clear the air in Arizona's biggest cities.

"We're trying to protect air, water and the land, but we've also seen the asthma, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease,” Juarez said. “Phoenix has the fifth highest ozone levels of any area in the country."

Arizona utility commissioner Andy Tobin has asked for a cost-benefit analysis. Opponents claim the mandate would result in more expensive, less reliable electricity. Surrounding states already have increased their renewable energy standards.

Juarez said the Legislature has shown no interest in raising the standards, so it is time to let the voters weigh in.

"I think that this has been long overdue. I don't think that there has been any representation for the voters who have been wanting this,” she said. “So we're excited to see that in November we'll put it on the ballot and we'll leave it to the voters."

The campaign will now set out to collect 226,000 signatures by July 5. Supporters include the Asthma Coalition, the Arizona Public Health Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Mi Familia Vota, Chispa Arizona, and the Energy Future Project.

The ballot initiative can be read in full at CleanHealthyAZ.com.


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