How Powerful Alabama Power Kept Bills Up and Opposition Out
"In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators."

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"In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators."
"A pod of orcas has twice been observed flipping young great white sharks on their backsides to stun them, then slicing their sides open." "Some orcas have a taste for liver — specifically, the livers of great white sharks."
"The race for two seats on the obscure board that regulates Georgia’s utilities is drawing national attention — and could have major implications both for electricity affordability and one of the biggest planned fossil-fuel buildouts in the nation."
"Americans who rely on broadcast networks for honest journalism suffered a painful loss this week, as CBS News — fresh off its acquisition by Skydance Media and the installation of anti-woke opinion writer Bari Weiss as editor in chief — fired most of the reporters who specialize in covering climate change."
"The Washington Supreme Court this week restored a $185 million verdict against the former Monsanto company, now owned by Bayer, over toxic chemicals in a state school building that allegedly poisoned three teachers."
"Municipal sewage sludge was used as fertilizer in the project that began decades ago in Palmerton, where PFAS now taint soil and water."
"Sludge and septage are spread across around half a million acres statewide, but most of it has never been tested for PFAS"
"Even though it delivers airtight data and analysis essential for understanding and managing the risks industrial societies pose to water, land, and health, the U.S. Geological Survey is a federal science agency that rarely attracts public notice."
"Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has quietly retreated from plans to eliminate Energy Star, a popular program whose iconic blue labels help consumers choose energy-efficient dishwashers, refrigerators and other home appliances."
"Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, began to dissipate on Friday after sowing devastation across much of Jamaica, cutting off communities in Cuba, drenching Haiti and leaving at least 50 dead."
"Oil companies have polluted groundwater and the environment by injecting oil field waste deep into the earth at pressures high enough to violate Oklahoma law. ... The regulatory agency says it ... has not fined any company for wastewater leaks in the last five years."
"Earlier this month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported that the global population of green turtles has increased nearly 30 percent since the 1970s, thanks to a suite of international actions aimed at saving the animals."
"Surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence is putting humanity’s climate goals out of reach, extending the life of fossil fuels and driving up emissions in the U.S. power sector while contributing to deadly extreme weather, according to two new reports published Wednesday."
"For decades, some big polluters were allowed to estimate their emissions using methods the government knew were often unreliable. Air monitors at coke manufacturers, chemical plants and other industrial facilities showed far higher emissions than the estimates, records viewed by ProPublica show."
"Emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act shed light on the internal investigation that began within hours of the EPA “Declaration of Dissent” going public on June 30. In the following days, the administration sifted through names of those who had signed the letter, shared legal advice and responded by placing close to 150 employees on administrative leave while their computers and email accounts were searched."