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.

FL Leaders Push for Climate Action at Mayors' Conference in Miami Beach

play audio
Play

Monday, June 26, 2017   

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – If the federal government won't take the lead on climate change - local cities will. That's the message from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, wrapping up today in Miami Beach.

Hundreds of mayors from across the U.S., including more than a dozen from Florida, swapped ideas on many topics, including how to reduce their cities' carbon footprint.

Mayor Frank Ortis of Pembroke Pines, which borders the Everglades, says Floridians see that the effects of climate change are very real, especially for low-lying areas of south Florida.

"If the federal government doesn't want to do it, we're certainly going to do it," he says. "Our residents need protection. In Miami Beach, they've done this huge project about raising the streets because of water intrusion, and having new sewers and pumps. I kind of believe that, in the years to come, the Florida peninsula may be underwater."

President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change last month.

A new Sierra Club study says if the 1,400 cities belonging to the U.S. Conference of Mayors were to reach 100-percent renewable energy targets by 2025, the U.S. would come close to meeting its goals under the Paris agreement.

Now, cities large and small are purchasing electric vehicles and buses, buying renewable energy when possible, installing solar panels on municipal buildings, redesigning more walkable neighborhoods, and promoting mass transit.

Ortis says Pembroke Pines is focused on holding rising waters at bay.

"We've got to make sure that we have adequate drainage; we've got to get infrastructure needs for our aging sewers; we need to have LEED-certified buildings to make sure that we don't have emissions," he adds. "All cities are doing that, and we need to do that."

Mayors at the conference also discussed the importance of saving the Community Development Block Grants, a program that pumps about $3 billion a year into cities and towns. President Donald Trump has proposed zeroing out its funding.


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