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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.

Is Third Time a Charm for an Arkansas Clean Energy Act?

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Friday, January 11, 2013   

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Advocates for renewable energy in Arkansas will try again this year to get a new Clean Energy Act through the legislature, and they say there's more momentum now than in the past two sessions.

Frank Kelly, who chairs the Arkansas Renewable Energy Association, says Walmart is among the businesses that are busy embarking on solar and other renewable energy projects, but it's doing so at its stores in other states – hanging back on its home turf, for lack of incentives here.

"Oh, it's all policy – nothing happens without policy. Everybody wants a quick payback. In Louisiana, the payback for solar is five years; in Tennessee, the payback for solar is 10 years. In Arkansas, the payback for solar is 20 years."

Kelly says the Clean Energy Act goals are modest but important, and he blames the state's major electric utility, Entergy, for not getting behind it. This week, a new national poll says 86 percent of Americans want some leadership in Congress on shifting away from coal and nuclear energy to wind and solar, and on protecting water and air.

Most Arkansas solar installations are small in scale, but Rory McIlmoil, energy program manager for the environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies, says the price of building a solar power plant is nearing the point at which it's competitive with a similar sized coal plant. He says both cost more than a natural gas plant, but points out that solar has the advantage of using free fuel.

"Natural gas peaker plants have other costs associated with their operation that solar power does not. High fuel and, depending on the size, high maintenance costs for your traditional power plants versus solar power plants."

A sharp decrease in the price of solar cells has led The Economist magazine and others to declare that in sunny areas with high electric prices, solar power can now compete even without government subsidies.






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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

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A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

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Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

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Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

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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 …

Social Issues

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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 …

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Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

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A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

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