Tue.Aug 29, 2023

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Where Do Electric Trucks Charge?

Union of Concerned Scientists

We are about to enter the era of the electric truck. Sure, there are already a few thousand electric trucks and buses on US roads already. Now, with the California Air Resources Board’s passage of the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule in May and with the potential for a (hopefully) stronger-than-proposed greenhouse gas standard for heavy-duty trucks passed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the coming months, we will begin to see a significant switch from highly-polluting diesel trucks

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Income-Based Electric Bills: Fact and Fiction

Legal Planet

Under new legislation, California is moving to a novel system that includes income-based fixed charges for electricity. Some critics contend that this is a giveaway to incumbent utilities. It’s not. Others have implied that the charges reflect new costs to ratepayers on top of existing rates. This is also not accurate. There are, however, important questions regarding how the new rate structure will be designed and implemented.

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California Must Extend Zero Emission Vehicle Funding from “AB 8 Fees”

Union of Concerned Scientists

If you have been in a Sacramento coffee shop over the past few years, you have probably heard something about AB 8 reauthorization, AQIP, CPT, or EFMP. Unless you are a clean transportation wonk or are in a deeply sad place with your social life, you probably don’t know what the heck that alphabet soup means, so let me translate. For California to achieve its climate goals and federal air quality obligations, the state legislature must approve the extension of a modest portion of vehicle registr

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Will the Fixed or Floating Suits Ever End?

Energy & the Law

Rhetorical Question: When will Texas be done with fixed/floating royalty cases such as Johnson et al v. Clifton et al ? Rhetorical Answer: When scriveners of deeds that are open to eight conceivably plausible meanings have completed their remedial scrivening courses. How did it happen? In 1951 Young and others conveyed to Clifton and others several thousand acres in Reeves County by a deed reserving a 1/128 interest in oil, gas and other minerals.

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Manufacturing Sustainability Surge: Your Guide to Data-Driven Energy Optimization & Decarbonization

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets.

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New Air-Conditioning Technology Could Be the Future of Cool

Scientific American

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

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Ancient humans may have worn shoes more than 100,000 years ago

New Scientist

Three archaeological sites in South Africa feature impressions that might have been made by ancient footwear, but pinpointing when humans first wore shoes is challenging

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Physicists create bizarre quantum Alice rings for the first time

New Scientist

Researchers manipulated thousands of extremely cold atoms to make a ring-like defect that can change the properties of quantum objects that pass through it

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Will the Universe Ever Stop Expanding?

Scientific American

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

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Drinking alcohol doesn't give people 'beer goggles' after all

New Scientist

Drinking alcohol does not give people "beer goggles" that make others seem more attractive, but it may give them the confidence to approach those they already found attractive

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??Armstrong Conservation District Hosts Sept. 24 Armstrong River Run & Watershed Walk To Benefit Local Watershed Groups

PA Environment Daily

On September 24, the Armstrong County Conservation District will host the Armstrong River Run and Watershed Walk to support five local watershed groups. Sign up now to run or walk a 5K on the Armstrong Trail on behalf of your favorite watershed organization-- -- Cowanshannock Creek Watershed Association -- Crooked Creek Watershed Association -- Kiskiminetas Watershed Association -- Roaring Run Watershed Association Don’t like to run or walk?

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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Will the Universe Ever Stop Expanding?

Scientific American

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

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PUC Safety Division Continues Investigation Into Deadly House Explosion In Plum Borough, Allegheny County

PA Environment Daily

On August 29, the Public Utility Commission provided this update on its investigation of a deadly August 12th house explosion in Plum Borough, Allegheny County, by the Safety Division. The investigation remains active and ongoing, exploring whether public utility infrastructure or operations contributed to the cause and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.

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Statement on Premier Ford’s First Public Admission that Greenbelt Removals May Be Reversed

Enviromental Defense

Statement by Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager, Environmental Defence, on Premier Ford’s First Public Admission that Greenbelt Removals May Be Reversed Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation – This morning, after weeks of mounting public outrage about his $8.3 billion giveaway of public rights to land speculators, Premier Ford admitted clearly, for the first time, that his go

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Hurricane Idalia Is Turning into a Monster Storm because of Heat in Gulf of Mexico

Scientific American

Abundant warm ocean waters are set to cause Hurricane Idalia to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane before striking the Gulf Coast of Florida and bringing significant impacts

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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Chicago’s Historic Environmental Justice HUD Settlement

NRDC

HUD reached a first-of-its-kind settlement agreement with the city of Chicago and three Southeast Side environmental justice organizations in May 2023.

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India's Chandrayaan-3 moon rover swerves to avoid crater

New Scientist

The six-wheeled Pragyan rover had to change course to avoid a 4-metre-wide crater on the surface of the moon, as the Vikram lander has returned temperature readings from the lunar surface

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Endangered California Condors Get Bird Flu Vaccine

Scientific American

After avian influenza killed 21 endangered California Condors, government officials are testing a vaccine that could protect the massive scavengers from infection

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Massive crater found on distant world far beyond Neptune

New Scientist

An object in the Kuiper belt named 2002 MS4 has a depression 45 kilometres deep and 320 kilometres across, unlike anything seen before on such a small world

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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Why Delays in Delivering Justice Lead to Harsher Sentencing

Scientific American

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

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Toughest known structure discovered by autonomous robot lab

New Scientist

A robotic laboratory that can run 50 experiments a day without human supervision has discovered the most energy-absorbing structure ever recorded, claim researchers

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DCNR Awards $1.3 Million To Support 10 ATV, Snowmobile Trail And Facility Projects; New Applications Due Sept. 29

PA Environment Daily

On August 29, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced new grant funding totaling $1,397,400 for 10 all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile facilities and trails in Pennsylvania. “Thousands of avid ATV and snowmobile riding enthusiasts recreate in Pennsylvania annually and DCNR supports projects that improve upon and expand these types of motorized recreation opportunities across the Commonwealth,” Dunn said.

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Is an enormous shield the worst way to protect Earth from asteroids?

New Scientist

There are several reasonable ways to protect Earth from any potential asteroid threats, but in this episode of Dead Planets Society, reason loses out to the idea of a huge orbiting shield

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Protecting Clean Water Together: Talking Dirt And Downpours In Monroe County

PA Environment Daily

By Carol Hillestad for the Brodhead Watershed Association With some of the downpours we’ve had this summer, you may have noticed creeks and streams running muddy brown, looking like dark beer. It’s easy to think, “oh well, that’ll clear up.” But it’s not natural, or normal, for rain — even quite a lot of rain — to erode enough soil into a creek to make it run muddy.

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Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. Scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.

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Nature At Risk: North American Least Shrews In Monroe County

PA Environment Daily

By Carol Hillestad for the Brodhead Watershed Association We humans love to be awed by size. The blue whale, for instance. It’s the largest animal that ever lived on the planet. Its heart — just its heart! — weighs more than half a ton. At the other end of the scale, consider the North American least shrew. At birth, they weigh basically nothing — about as much as one pea.

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Sustainable mobility planning supported by doughnut thinking

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story from the University of Helsinki. A new scientific article shows how the donut model, which examines the overall sustainability of societies, can be applied to transport.

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PA Resources Council: Permanent Glass Recycling Station Soon Available In Township Of Pine, Allegheny County

PA Environment Daily

Township of Pine residents can soon drop off glass bottles, jars and jugs at a permanent recycling station in the Municipal Building lot thanks to a grant provided by the Department of Environmental Protection. The blue recycling bin will be located at the Township of Pine Municipal Building, 230 Pearce Mill Road, Wexford, Allegheny County and available for self-serve drop off around the clock.

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Clearcut logging leads to more frequent flooding, including extreme floods

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story from the University of British Columbia. Loss of forest cover is associated with more frequent extreme flooding, as well as more frequent floods of any size, according to new research.

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How the JUICE mission will look for habitability on Jupiter's moons

New Scientist

ESA’s JUICE mission will help us better understand whether Jupiter’s icy moons are habitable.

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New method has promise for accurate, efficient soil carbon estimates

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. Earth’s soil contains large stocks of carbon — even more carbon than in the atmosphere. A significant portion of this soil carbon is in organic form (carbon bound to carbon), called soil organic carbon (SOC).

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Why is it so difficult to make an effective vaccine against dengue?

New Scientist

The dengue virus has four subtypes, which each circulate at different levels in different countries, regularly fluctuating in prevalence.

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5 ways tech leaders can power environmental sustainability

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story at TechTarget. IT contributes significantly to the overall carbon footprint of an organization, according to the new Forrester Research report "The State of IT Environmental Sustainability, 2023.

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The 10 best science and technology podcasts right now

New Scientist

What science and technology podcasts should you be listening to?