skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, January 2, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

White House has seen no evidence of foreign direction in New Orleans attack; MI's $1B EV push falls short on jobs, as experts urge patience; Report: Only half of phone companies use required anti-robocall technology; Livestock undercover: How good people do bad things to animals.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Federal officials present more information about the New Orleans terrorist attack and the Las Vegas cybertruck explosion. Mike Johnson prepares for a House speakership battle, and Congress' latest budget stopgap leaves telehealth regulations relaxed.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The humble peanut got its '15 minutes of fame' when Jimmy Carter was President, America's rural households are becoming more racially diverse but language barriers still exist, farmers brace for another trade war, and coal miners with black lung get federal help.

NH groups celebrate planned closure of New England’s last coal plant

play audio
Play

Monday, April 1, 2024   

Environmental activists in New Hampshire are celebrating the planned closure of New England's last coal-fired power plant.

Granite Shore Power said it will close Merrimack Station in Bow by 2028 and turn the site into the state's first renewable energy park with solar power and battery storage systems.

Rebecca Beaulieu, organizer for the group 350NH Action, said years of litigation and community protests helped convince the utility to change course.

"The fact that this will now mean the region is going to be coal-free, and nobody's power is going to get shut off as a result of that, is an important distinction," Beaulieu emphasized.

Granite Shore Power said it is a "voluntary closure," but the plant was the focus of a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and Conservation Law Foundation, alleging it repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act.

For years, environmental groups sought to draw attention to what they say are the costly and toxic effects of the coal plant on the Merrimack River and surrounding communities. They said the company needs to ensure environmental justice for the town of Bow and live up to its clean energy commitments.

Beaulieu hopes groups working for cleaner energy in other parts of the country will be inspired by the plant's closure and realize change is possible.

"These companies that are running our energy grid have a choice that they can make," Beaulieu pointed out. "And if we all work together, we have the power to force them into the choices that are going to be better for us, and better for our planet."

Granite Shore Power said it will also close the Schiller Station in Portsmouth next year, although the coal units have not operated for several years. The closures will make New Hampshire the sixteenth state to go coal-free and New England the nation's second coal-free region, following the Pacific Northwest.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Wisconsin's gun violence rate is near the national average, with more than 740 people dying from gun violence each year, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As the new year begins, state lawmakers and officials will continue to grapple with how to prevent school shootings, like the one just two weeks ago …


Social Issues

play sound

"Deported veterans" may sound like an oxymoron. But it is not, and those veterans are working to get pardons in the last days of President Joe …

Social Issues

play sound

Starting this year, changes to California's "lemon law" will make it harder for consumers to get a refund or a replacement vehicle. The changes mean …


The National Weather Service reports an EF-1 tornado struck Athens at 11:15 p.m., packing peak winds of 100 mph. It remained on the ground for five minutes, carving a 3.87-mile path that was up to 160 yards wide. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Athens, Alabama, is bouncing back after an EF-1 tornado ripped through its downtown late Saturday night, leaving devastation but sparing lives. Now…

Environment

play sound

It has been just over three months since Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, leaving communities to rebuild and recover. As the …

Environment

play sound

Consumers are unhappy with increasing food prices and blame inflation. In reality, natural disasters have a direct link to grocery costs, with no end …

Environment

play sound

A law signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul takes effect this week to penalize polluters for emissions. The Climate Change Superfund Act puts a fine …

 

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