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.

Possible Detour for "Cap & Trade" Auction Revenues

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 29, 2013   

Gov. Jerry Brown wants to redirect money from California's "cap-and-trade" program to help balance the state budget. Many groups say the money should be used as the law intended - to help fight climate change, boost the clean-energy economy, and clean up air pollution.

Vien Truong, director of environmental equity for The Greenlining Institute, said Brown's proposal violates the state's promise to spend the money on greenhouse gas-reducing activities, especially in disadvantaged communities.

"We believe it should be invested in things that have triple bottom-line benefits," she said, "like creating good jobs, reducing pollution and creating investments into areas that have been sorely underinvested for a long time."

Truong said Brown's proposal reminds her of a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"And that's more true now than ever before, especially in communities of color where people are battling to breathe, where our neighbors have been looking for jobs for years now and we now see a surplus," Truong said. "Instead of using it where we need to invest it most, Gov. Brown wants to sit on it for a year. That's just not tolerable."

Holly Smithson, president and chief operating officer of CleanTECH San Diego, said a lot of clean-energy businesses have been planning based on these funds.

"This has been in the making for several years," Smithson said. "And then for this to be completely redirected really smacks in the face of the businesses. What do all businesses despise more than anything? It's uncertainty."

The Legislative Analyst's Office has suggested there isn't a need to take the money from cap and trade because tax revenues are expected to be higher than what Brown has predicted. A spokesman for the state Environmental Protection Agency says the delay will give the state more time to identify which projects to select.


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