skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

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.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

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.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

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.

World Leaders Bring Hope to the Sunshine State?

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 24, 2009   

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - As leaders of the world's largest economies begin the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit today in Pittsburgh, many in Florida are watching for discussion of climate change. Groups such as Audubon of Florida are monitoring the negotiations, saying low-lying Florida is at great risk from the potential effects of climate change.

Eric Draper, policy director, says the United States currently leads the world in greenhouse gas emissions, and now should be leading the way out of the crisis.

"The United States can't insist that other countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions until we've taken our own steps to solve it, and that's the thing that's most important to our children's future."

Draper says the Environmental Protection Agency's just-announced requirements that large greenhouse gas emitters report to the agency is a step in the right direction to control and reduce climate change pollution. Some critics argue a too-sudden switch to alternative energy would be expensive and difficult to manage. They point to the higher costs of renewable energy, as well as their intermittency, which currently limits renewable sources from reliably meeting all the nation's needs.

Audubon hopes to see a greater investment on the part of the United States and the rest of the world in alternative, renewable energy and energy efficiency, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, says Draper.

"Anything short of that, and Earth faces a catastrophic future with warmer temperatures, melting ice caps, sea level rises, acidification of the oceans; just a cascading set of problems that humanity may not even survive."

The good news, says Draper, is the great potential in alternative energy development, although incentives are needed to push the sector along.

"We haven't even gotten close to where we could be on tapping the power of the sun to create electricity, and tapping the power of our landscapes to create alternative fuels."

World leaders will meet in December in Copenhagen to try to hammer out an international treaty to work together to slow the pace of climate change.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021