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Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

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Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

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Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

National Report Finds Arizona Ranks Third In Public School Solar Use

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Tuesday, September 23, 2014   

TEMPE, Ariz. - A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association titled Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools, finds Arizona ranked third in the nation in terms of solar energy use in public schools.

Steven Church, energy education coordinator at Tempe Elementary School District Three, says using solar as an energy source is a valuable teaching tool for students, and saves some money.

"The kids can monitor on a video monitor how much the solar's producing," he says. "On a cloudy day they could see it's producing less. On a sunny day it's producing more. In the winter when days are shorter, it produces less, and in the summertime when days are longer it produces more."

The report concludes that 226 public schools in Arizona have some type of solar unit. The research also shows solar savings in the Grand Canyon State amount to more than $9 million per year.

Church says schools using solar in Tempe Elementary School District Three are saving at least 10 percent on their energy bill, and he adds solar can account for nearly half of all energy being used in some school buildings. Beyond using renewable energy in schools, Church says the city of Tempe has a culture centered on sustainability.

"We're reducing our carbon footprint by recycling our cardboard," he says. "We recycle as much of the classroom trash as we can. We recycle stuff from the cafeteria. It's all part of the culture of Tempe to be sustainable like that."

The Solar Energy Industries Association study ranks California and New Jersey first and second in the U.S. for solar energy use in public schools. Nevada and Massachusetts round out the top five states.


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