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.

100 Percent Renewables? Analysis Shows It's Possible in Michigan

play audio
Play

Monday, December 7, 2015   

LANSING, Mich. – Global leaders in Paris are hammering out the details of a pact to reduce emissions spurring climate change, and here at home new research highlights the feasibility of a transition to 100 percent renewable energy in Michigan and other states.

Stanford engineering professor Mark Jacobson explains that it's technically and economically possible for every state and 139 countries to switch to 100 percent wind, water and solar energy by 2050.

"Most people aren't aware that it's possible,” he points out. “There's very little downside. It's technically feasible. We can do it at low cost. The main barriers are social and political."

The analysis found the transition would save money and add about 147,000 jobs in Michigan in construction and operation by mid-century.

Critics of renewable energy argue it would raise the price of electricity. Jacobson says that's only true if you ignore the negative health impacts of air pollution.

According to the research, savings from reduced pollution could cover the cost of Michigan's transition in less than three-and-a-half years.

He adds that fossil fuel health costs are real, even if they don't show up on power bills.

"We are all paying higher taxes, higher insurance rates, higher workmen’s compensation rates, because of coal, oil and gas air pollution health problems – asthma, cardio-vascular disease, respiratory illness," Jacobson stresses.

And Jacobson argues there is too much at stake to not make a transition, including threats to national security.

"We'd see international conflicts growing because we still have fights over fuels that are overseas, whereas we could have just transitioned to local fuels,” he states. “And we'd have a higher terrorism risk because we still have centralized facilities where we'd have fewer with wind, water, solar."




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