skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 27, 2024

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

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

NV conservation group supports FERC's transmission planning rule

play audio
Play

Friday, May 24, 2024   

A new plan for updating the power grid is being applauded by a Nevada conservation group. The goal is a path toward a more resilient and cost-effective energy grid.

Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said the rule is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's first step in more than a decade to modernize and expand the electrical grid to meet increasing energy demands and the climate crisis. Prior to the rule, Kuhlman said, transmission lines were being patchworked, which he said hasn't been good enough.

"We can build and build and create all the energy in the world, but our system to deliver that to households and individuals is still stuck in the 20th century," he said. "So, what this plan is going to do is really address that, and not only figure out what to do now but also account for our energy uses for the next 20 years."

The rule requires grid operators to plan over a 20-year time period, with regular updates. As the nation depends more on renewable energy, Kuhlman said, the rule will ensure transmission planning gives more groups a seat at the table to address local needs, including how the lines affect wildlife and public lands.

A Department of Energy study finds the U-S will need to double its existing regional transmission capacity to meet its renewable energy goals by 2035. But experts say there aren't enough high-voltage power lines being built.

Veronica Ung-Kono, a staff attorney with the National Wildlife Federation, argued that operators need to build that infrastructure responsibly, especially with so many wildlife species already at risk.

"This is the first time that we are really starting to ask ourselves, 'What is the cost of climate change?' And we are actually starting to see that with wildlife," she said.

Critics of the rule have argued it would allow for states that want more renewable energy to unjustly pass the costs on to neighboring states. However, Ung-Kono said states that don't benefit from a transmission project would not be expected to pay for it.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

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