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Rival Gaza protest groups clash at UCLA; IL farmers on costly hold amid legislative foot-dragging; classes help NY psychologists understand disabled people's mental health; NH businesses, educators: anti-LGBTQ bills hurting kids, economy.

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Ukraine receives much-needed U.S. aid, though it's just getting started. Protesting college students are up in arms about pro-Israel stances. And, end-of-life care advocates stand up for minors' gender-affirming care in Montana.

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More rural working-age people are dying young compared to their urban counterparts, the internet was a lifesaver for rural students during the pandemic but the connection has been broken for many, and conservationists believe a new rule governing public lands will protect them for future generations.

U.S., Va. Utilities Accepting Climate Change Plan

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Monday, April 11, 2016   

RICHMOND, Va. - The utility industry now seems willing, maybe grudgingly, to accept CO2 (carbon dioxide) limits designed to slow climate change.

A recent survey of 500 electric-utility executives asked about an Environmental Protection Agency plan to limit carbon from existing power plants.

It found more than two-thirds of those who responded favored keeping or tightening emission targets as written.

American Electric Power spokeswoman Melissa McHenry says the company did join a legal challenge to the plan. But adds after EPA changes at the request of industry, the company is recommending that states comply.

"We feel like what the EPA did made the Clean Power Plan much more workable," she says. "And it's a trajectory that the industry and AEP is on already, making a transition in our generation fleet."

AEP has been at times one of the largest consumers of coal in the world, but McHenry says they've cut carbon emissions by 30 percent since 2005, much by shifting to cheap natural gas and renewables, whose price also is falling.

McHenry says much of their initial concern with the Clean Power Plan had to do with the timetable. But she says they're satisfied they can meet its goals.

"We have been factoring in future carbon regulations for some time, and it's a path that the industry is going on already," she says.

AEP subsidiary Appalachian Power serves much of western Virginia.

The state's largest utility, Dominion, filed a legal brief in favor of the Clean Power Plan. The brief says the plan's "effects on power plants and customers can be successfully managed."

In a state like this, where the price of electricity is regulated, the financial risk for a utility is greatly reduced because much of the cost of transition can be passed on to rate payers.

"Having a clear mandate allows us to make investments with the approval of a regulatory agency," says McHenry. "A transition from one type of generation to another type."

Fossil-fuel industries and 27 states are challenging the regulations in a suit now before the D.C. circuit court. They argue the plan will be devastating for the economy.


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