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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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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.

WV: Environment

According to the U.S. Forest Service, West Virginia has more than 15,000 acres of state-owned lands. (Adobe Stock)<br />
Concerns voiced about language in WV forest management bill

The West Virginia Senate has passed a bill to allow private forest fire management on state lands but environmental groups said they are concerned its…

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The New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. In 2023, the U.S. Forest Service and AmeriCorps signed a five-year agreement to establish the Forest Corps, to create job opportunities that reduce wildfire risk, support reforestation and make national forests and grasslands healthier and more resilient. (Adobe Stock)
American Climate Corps: Building more climate-resilient WV communities

A Biden administration program, the American Climate Corps, aims to hire and train 20,000 people in conservation, climate and clean energy jobs…

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Federal data show millions of people live in counties lacking adequate air monitoring, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. (Adobe Stock)<br />
WV bill threatens community air monitoring efforts

After West Virginia House lawmakers advanced a bill to ban residents from using citizen air monitoring data in lawsuits, community groups said they …

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In 2021, approximately 368 stream miles throughout West Virginia and Virginia were designated as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the endangered candy darter. (Adobe Stock)
WV groups sue Forest Service over Cherry River watershed protections

West Virginia environmental groups have sued the Forest Service for failing to protect streams in the Cherry River watershed from the impacts of coal …

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Nationwide, in the second quarter of 2022, residential solar set its fifth consecutive quarterly growth record, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. (Adobe Stock)
Pressure mounts on WV’s utility regulator to preserve solar net-metering

Residents and advocacy groups will rally in Charleston this Saturday to protect net-metering for solar customers. Two of West Virginia's major …

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Appalachia is home to 26.3 million people and covers 206,000 square miles, encompassing 423 counties in 13 states, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission. (Adobe Stock)
Clean-energy sector manufacturing may jumpstart West Virginia’s economy

Manufacturers in West Virginia employ around 7% of the state's workforce, and advocates say the state's Appalachian region could bolster its economy …

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More than half of West Virginians live within a mile of an oil and gas well, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. (Adobe Stock)<br />
New federal methane rules expected to improve WV air quality

The Environmental Protection Agency is clamping down on methane emissions, and environmental groups say West Virginians' health will benefit…

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In the second quarter of 2022, nationwide residential solar set its fifth consecutive quarterly growth record, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. (Adobe Stock)<br />
WV utilities propose slashing energy credit in half for customers with solar panels

Major utilities in West Virginia, Mon Power and Potomac Edison, want to reduce the credit their solar customers get for producing power the utilities …

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Streams play a critical role in carrying sediments, nutrients and other materials into rivers and lakes and on to the ocean, according to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. (Adobe Stock) <br />
EPA cites hundreds of WV streams as impaired

The federal Environmental Protection Agency says West Virginia isn't accurately keeping track of how many of the state's streams are polluted…

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Virginia and West Virginia residents say they're worried about the safety of a natural-gas pipeline that, once built, will run for more than 300 miles through their communities. (Facebook/Appalachians Against Pipelines)
Communities concerned about MVP pipeline water pollution, explosion risk

After a federal appeals court this week denied a request from a group of Virginia landowners to stop construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline on t…

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Nationwide, experts say aging fossil-fuel-based energy infrastructure isn't designed to withstand the extreme weather conditions driven by climate change over the next decade. (Adobe Stock)<br />
West Virginians Could Face Higher Energy Bills Under Proposed Rate Hike

West Virginia residents' electricity rates have nearly doubled over the past decade - and may soon climb higher, under a nearly $650 million rate …

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Cumulative community solar capacity has grown by about 121% year over year since 2010, more than doubling in capacity on average, according to research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (Adobe Stock)<br />
As Utility Cost Burden Increases, WV Counties Look to Community Solar

Interest in community solar is on the rise, as a greater share of West Virginians' household incomes go toward utility bills. Federal data show …

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