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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.

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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.

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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.

Report: Arkansas Utility Delivering On Its Climate Promises

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Monday, November 14, 2022   

A report by the Sierra Club rates utility companies for what they say they're doing to transition to cleaner energy sources - versus what they're actually doing.

In the analysis, Entergy Corporation - the parent company of Entergy Arkansas - says it's planning for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

And by adding new renewable power to its portfolio, Entergy Arkansas improved its grade from a 'C' in the previous report to an 'A.'

Report Co-author and Sierra Club Energy Campaigns Analyst Noah Ver Beek said many of the companies aren't meeting their climate and emission-reduction goals.

"We're still not seeing the level of transition that we need to see," said Ver Beek. "And we're not seeing companies really step up to the challenge that they have committed to in their net-zero climate pledges."

In the same report, the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation receives a 'C' grade, in part for a lack of specific climate or emissions-reduction goals.

We reached out to AECC by email and got no response. But the company's website touts hydroelectric and wind power, and a small amount of solar power.

The company says the total makes up more than 20% of its portfolio.

The report grades utilities based on their commitments through to 2030 to phasing out coal, any plans to build gas plants that the Sierra Club says negatively affect the climate, and their plans for clean energy.

And despite pledges from more than 70 utilities nationwide to stop reliance on coal, Ver Beek said most are still hanging on to their fossil-fuel resources.

"The companies that we looked at are only committing to retire 28% of their coal," said Ver Beek. "We know it's critically important that they retire all of their coal capacity by 2030. And we also know for the health of our communities, for the environment, it is critically important that we retire coal generation as quickly as possible."

The report calls on the utility companies to take advantage of incentives in the bipartisan infrastructure law designed to help with the transition to renewable power.



Disclosure: Sierra Club contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, Environmental Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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