skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

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

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

How Texas Could Benefit from "Build Back Better"

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 30, 2021   

HOUSTON -- How much would the Lone Star State benefit from the Biden administration proposals for clean energy and infrastructure? More than most, according to an environmental advocacy group that said it is counting on the legislation to fix problematic power networks and provide new jobs.

An analysis finds Texas, California and New York could be the biggest winners if the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes its way to President Joe Biden's desk.

Colin Leyden, Texas political director for Environmental Defense Fund Action, said for starters, funding could improve Texas' power grid, knocked out of commission last February by Winter Storm Uri.

"People who were living in inefficient homes were the ones who bore the brunt of the worst of what we saw," Leyden recounted. "There's money for that."

According to Leyden, Texas is ranked second in the nation for clean-energy employment, with more than 223,000 jobs. The Environment Defense Action Fund estimates further transition to clean energy could create more than a million more jobs in Texas over the next 25 years.

The Biden proposals have big price tags, but they include incentives for wind and solar power, and funding to develop clean cars, trucks and buses.

Leyden pointed out they would also provide resources to improve air quality in communities fighting harmful air pollution. He believes the pandemic has provided a glimpse of what that might look like.

"In the early shutdown days, there were lots of photos around of just perfectly clear blue skies in areas you just haven't seen," Leyden observed. "This is actually a set of solutions that can deliver on that kind of clean air."

Leyden added more solar adoption could further help air quality and noted Texas ranked second in the nation in 2020 for solar installations.

Disclosure: The Environmental Defense Fund contributes to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy, Environment, Environmental Justice, and Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

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