America’s Low-Carbon Transition Could Improve Employment Opportunities for All

Prospects for green industry jobs

By IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON 

The United States is expected to experience steady job growth as it moves towards a net-zero economy, but this growth will not be evenly distributed, according to recent research.

This research, carried out by a team from Imperial College London and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, highlights the necessity for specific states to implement new policies to guarantee a fair and equitable transition.

The USA, alongside many countries, is planning for a low-carbon future, where energy production releases little to no carbon dioxide, and what is released is removed from the atmosphere, creating net-zero carbon emissions. This has been backed by new policies, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes large investments into domestic clean energy production.

This move to renewable energy sources is essential to curb global heating, but its impact on employment is uncertain. Now, researchers from Imperial College London have carried out an analysis to understand what kinds of jobs are likely to be created at a state level, and the societal implications of different scenarios for low carbon transitions in the US electricity system.

New Biden transit rule is good news

New Biden rule calls for transit dollars to be spent on sustainable projects that create local jobs

By LeeAnn Hall 

Biden's been an AMTRAK fan since he was first elected
to Congress

The climate crisis isn’t coming — it’s here now. We’ve seen it all around us on a near daily basis. It’s impacting our economy and nearly every aspect of our daily lives.

While President Biden signed historic climate crisis legislation in 2021 and 2022, many may not have noticed a more recent action that will help cities and states across the country take action. 

Late last year, Biden’s Department of Transportation finalized an important rule that will protect our environment and limit greenhouse gas emissions when it comes to public transit.

The rule will unify a hodgepodge of incomplete data from across the country into a unified standard, so cities, states, and the federal government can make informed decisions about which transportation projects to invest taxpayer dollars in to reduce climate emissions.

This vital rule could not have come at a more critical time for both our planet and transit in our country.

Batty

Mark Parisi

Losers by any other name

Sen. Gu attends White House Communities in Action event

Celebrating federal funding for local projects including infrastructure, green energy 

From left, Sen. Victoria Gu, Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairwoman Dawn Euer, Sen. Pamela
J. Lauria and Senate Finance Committee Chairman
Louis P. DiPalma at the White
House event Wednesday.

Sen. Victoria Gu attended an event with local officials from Rhode Island and Connecticut at the White House on Wednesday. Entitled “Communities in Action: Building a Better Rhode Island and Connecticut,” the event is part of a White House series that features local elected officials and community leaders discussing how key investments and programs are improving their state and communities.

“I am excited to participate in this event that highlights the ways in which the American Rescue Plan Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and Inflation Reduction Act have brought much-needed community programs and investment to our state. Together we can maximize this investment and work to solve some of our biggest challenges in Rhode Island,” said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown). 

“Of particular interest to me are the investments we’ve made in green building standards, which are investments that will continue to pay off for Rhode Islanders for years to come. Not only will they lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions in our state, they will also save new homeowners and all occupants of new buildings money on utility bills.”

According to a fact sheet from the event, “the average new homeowner in Rhode Island will save $814 annually -- or 18.5% on their utility bills -- if state and local governments use new grants (from the Inflation Reduction Act) to adopt the latest building energy codes.” 

Senator Gu sponsored legislation (2023-S 0855) that became law last year that sets Rhode Island on track to be among the first states in the nation to adopt these codes. 

Over 47 million people in the United States have had Long COVID

Another reason to get the latest version of the vaccine

By UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 

A new study found that one in seven people in the US had long Covid by the end of 2022, with symptoms including anxiety, low mood, and cognitive and mobility challenges. 

The study, which analyzed responses from over 460,000 people, highlighted the need for further research on long Covid’s impact, particularly regarding the role of vaccinations and the mechanisms behind its symptoms.

By the end of 2022, approximately one out of every seven individuals in the United States had experienced long Covid, suggests a large-scale investigation of long Covid and symptom prevalence by academics at UCL and Dartmouth.

Having had long Covid is associated with anxiety and low mood, as well as an increased likelihood of continued physical mobility problems and challenges with memory, concentration, or understanding, according to the findings published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The risk of anxiety and low mood appeared to be lower for those who have been vaccinated, including for those who have had long Covid.

NRA's dirty laundry about to get a major airing

Secret recording shows NRA treasurer plotting to conceal extravagant expenses involving Wayne LaPierre

by Mike Spies, The Trace

Mike Luckovich

At a meeting in June 2009, the treasurer of the National Rifle Association worked out a plan to conceal luxury expenses involving its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Trace and ProPublica. 

The recording was unknown to New York’s attorney general, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds. It shows, in real time, the NRA’s treasurer enlisting the group’s longtime public relations firm to obfuscate the extravagant costs.

Captured on tape is talk of LaPierre’s desire to avoid public disclosure of his use of private jets as well as concern about persistent spending at the Beverly Hills Hotel by a PR executive and close LaPierre adviser.

During the meeting, which took place in the Alexandria, Virginia, office of PR firm Ackerman McQueen, executives agreed that Ackerman would issue a Platinum American Express card to Tyler Schropp, the new head of the NRA’s nascent advancement division, which was responsible for bringing in high-dollar contributions from wealthy donors. Ackerman would then cover the card’s charges and bill them back to the NRA under nondescript invoices.

“It’s really the limo services and the hotels that I worry about,” William Winkler, Ackerman’s chief financial officer, said. “He’s going to need it for the hotels especially.”

Stop complaining

Sofia Warren 

Finally, realization grows that Trump is a Nazi

 

Some Local Squirrels Can Fly

Plentiful but rarely seen

By Frank Carini and Colleen Cronin / ecoRI News staff

This little one got into our Charlestown home, probably
through the chimney. I easily caught him/her for a return
to the woods. Since then, I have seen them often, usually
 at our sunflower seed feeder. They had a nest in our
chimney two winters ago. - Will Collette

A rare habitat that only grows in the right conditions in southern New England is the perfect home for a secret squirrel. No, not the trench-coat/hat-as-a-mask-wearing Agent 000 who hung around with a mole called Morocco. 

This squirrel can fly, kind of. No, not the aviator-hat-wearing rodent from Frostbite Falls, Minn., who shared adventures with a moose named Bullwinkle.

Unlike its cartoon brethren, however, the southern flying squirrel is real. The little mammal glides from tree to tree using a special membrane between its front and back legs. Flying squirrels are nocturnal, but you may be lucky enough to see one glide overhead if you take a walk in the Simmons Mill Pond Management Area around dusk.

“If you’re not out at night, you wouldn’t be seeing them,” Roger Greene told ecoRI News last year.

He should know. Roger and his wife, Gail, have lived in the stone farmhouse next door to the management area off Coldbrook Road for decades. Their stewardship of the land, which has been owned by the state since 1995, is legendary and generous. (To read a story about the couple’s tireless work, click here.)

Roger and Gail place nest boxes around the management area for wildlife to make their homes, and for flying squirrels it is suggested to hang them between 10 and 25 feet off the ground. Since the squirrels glide rather than fly, they need some height to get from tree to tree.

Get your shot: There’s a New Covid-19 Variant and Cases Are Ticking Up.

What Do You Need to Know?

Julie Appleby, KFF Health News 

It’s winter, that cozy season that brings crackling fireplaces, indoor gatherings — and a wave of respiratory illness. 

Nearly four years since the pandemic emerged, people are growing weary of dealing with it, but the virus is not done with us.

Nationally, a sharp uptick in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for covid-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, began in mid-December and appears to be gaining momentum.

Here are a few things to know this time around:

Cost to Americans is billions due to climate change

2023, Earth's hottest year on record, caused 28 huge disasters in the US 

Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton

Flood water filled streets in downtown Montpelier, Vt.,
on July 11, 2023. Kylie Cooper/Getty Images

National weather analysts released their 2023 billion-dollar disasters list on Jan. 9, just as 2024 was getting off to a ferocious start. A blizzard was sweeping across across the Plains and Midwest, and the South and East faced flood risks from extreme downpours.

The U.S. set an unwelcome record for weather and climate disasters in 2023, with 28 disasters that exceeded more than US$1 billion in damage each.

While it wasn’t the most expensive year overall – the costliest years included multiple hurricane strikes – it had the highest number of billion-dollar storms, floods, droughts and fires of any year since counting began in 1980, with six more than any other year, accounting for inflation.

Rep. Magaziner blasts GOP attempt to cut Social Security

Magaziner Speaks on House Floor in Opposition to Attempts to Cut Social Security

Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) spoke on the House Floor to condemn attempts by House Republicans to cut Social Security benefits and instead urged his colleagues to support legislation to increase benefits to help seniors keep up with the cost of living. Excerpts from his speech below: 

Why Trump loves the poorly educated

Charlestown public safety training