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Don’t let the EPA underestimate clean energy

10/10/2014 Nativegrl77

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed rule to reduce global warming emissions from power plants is our best opportunity to address climate change—but it’s not strong enough. The agency is not sufficiently accounting for the rapid expansion of solar, wind, and other renewable energy. New UCS analysis is helping state decision makers and the EPA understand that this technology is expanding rapidly and is increasingly affordable across the country. Help us ensure carbon-free energy plays a critical role in reducing our country’s global warming emissions. —Karla

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Solar power as cheap as local electricity?
UCS’s recent analysis shows that solar power is as cheap as the grid power in 10 states and will be in more than half of states within 1-3 years! Our analysis is already helping to beat back misinformation and build support for solar projects across the country. UCS experts exposed the errors in a recent Economist piece and our staff have been busy using the report to help demonstrate the environmental and public health benefits of solar power to communities considering large solar projects. READ MORE

Angela Anderson: Facebook “Dislikes” ALEC’s Climate Change and Clean Energy Deception

Lisbeth Gronlund: New U.S. Nuclear Warheads? Politically and Technically, a Bad Idea

Doug Boucher: Hershey Bars, Global Warming and Deforestation: a Sweet New Policy

Sam Gomberg: Ohio Senate President Stacks the Deck against Renewable Energy

MORE

Cartoon of the Month
Click to view larger image. Share:			Infographic: rooftop solar in the U.S.

EETV On Point: UCS President Ken Kimmell on clean energy’s role in reducing carbon emissions.

Everything you want to know about the EPA’s new power plant carbon standards.

Get your copy of Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster now.

Ask a Scientist

Laura Wisland, M.P.P.
Senior Energy Analyst,
Climate and Energy Program

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Laura’s blog >> “It would be a lot easier to transition to renewable energy if we had better storage technology. Is there any energy storage technology on the horizon that is likely to succeed?”—H. Bryant, Dandridge, TN.

There are many types of storage technologies in use today—rechargeable batteries, compressed air stored in underground caverns, heat stored in water or molten salts—and most of these technologies can respond within seconds to meet electricity demands. But it’s also important to keep in mind that there are several viable strategies besides storage that can make the electric grid more flexible and enable it to handle more renewable energy. READ MORE

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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Walmart’s Choice

10/10/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Walmart’s Decision To Drop Insurance For Part-Time Workers Could In Fact Help Many (But Not All)

“In the long term, this isn’t really news.”

That’s what Washington & Lee law professor Tim Jost told ThinkProgress, upon hearing that Walmart is dropping insurance coverage for about 30,000 part-time employees. The nation’s largest private employer now joins some other big companies like Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, and Target who have made similar decisions recently. While some in the conservative media have tried to use the Affordable Care Act as a scapegoat, the decision is more likely business as usual — and in fact could be good news for many part-time Walmart employees.

Why business as usual? For one, before this decision Walmart was in the minority offering health insurance to part-time employees: Last year, 62 percent of large retail chains offered no health care benefits to their part-time workers at all. In addition, while Walmart acknowledges that an unexpected rise in healthcare costs prompted the move, company executives say that was in large part due to something called the “woodwork effect” — the national attention given to health care in the past year caused more of their employees to sign up for Walmart’s employer-provided insurance plans. That in turn increased the company’s health care costs more than expected.

Why could this be good news for Walmart employees? Unlike when part-time employees lost their health coverage before the ACA, these workers now have an alternative for affordable coverage: the insurance exchanges. Workers with affordable health coverage provided by employers are ineligible for financial assistance through the ACA. With that option now gone, these Walmart employees qualify for subsidies. Vox’s healthcare guru Sarah Kliff crunches the numbers on whether this is a better deal for Walmart’s part-time employees and finds that, typically, it is: a 36-year-old Walmart employee in Washington, D.C. who works 29 hours each week at Walmart’s average wage of $12.73 per hour would save $104 per month in health care premiums by signing up on the exchange.

At ThinkProgress, Tara Culp-Ressler reports that the retail giant is taking proactive steps in other ways to help their employees get covered:

Earlier this week, the company announced that 2,700 of its locations will be staffed with insurance agents to help customers enroll in new insurance plans, either through Medicare or through Obamacare’s private insurance marketplaces. Part-time workers who now need to enroll in Obamacare polices may have an even more personalized option: Walmart told the New York Times that a health coverage specialist will help guide them “through the process of finding alternative coverage.”

With that said, however, not all employees are going to be better off with Walmart’s decision. Employees who fall into the coverage gap — earning below the poverty line in the conservative states that have refused to expand Medicaid — will be out of luck. Walmart now has an obligation to help them by working to make sure those states’ lawmakers change their minds and make the moral and economic choice to expand health care to low-income workers.

BOTTOM LINE: For the most part, the news that Walmart is dropping health coverage for 30,000 part-time workers is nothing to worry about. It could actually save employees who now qualify for ACA insurance subsidies hundreds of dollars a year. But the newly uninsured Walmart employees who fall into the Medicaid coverage gap are not so lucky: Walmart no longer covers them, and now it needs to help them.

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Millennials … Jessica Schumer, The White House

10/10/2014 Nativegrl77

If you’re known as a “Millennial,” you’re a child of the digital age. You’ve traded in dial-up for wi-fi, nighttime dramas for Netflix, and DVDs (or even VHS tapes) for downloads. You still haven’t given up on vinyl.

But what many don’t realize is that “Millennials” — the tech-savvy, innovative generation that we are — are also already making an impact on our country’s future.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers just finished a deep-dive into the Millennial generation to paint a picture of who we are, the challenges we face, and the role we’ll play in building America’s 21st century economy.

Check out this infographic to get a good look at the Millennial generation and how we fit into America’s new economic foundation — then share it on social media:

Given the way many of us like to consume our news, here’s a breakdown of the key points from the report that you need to know — in list form, of course. (But if you’re old school, you can read the full report here.)

We are now the largest, most diverse generation in the U.S.
We’re shaped by technology, we value creativity, and we’re innovative (see also: Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr).
More of us are going to college, especially women. But when you couple that with rising tuition, we are left with an ever-increasing share of the student loan debt burden.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are much more likely to have health insurance without being job-locked (which means we can pursue that start-up idea we keep telling people about).
We are moving into urban areas and we’re paying rent. We’re less likely to own a home during our 20s than previous generations.

Coming of age during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression means that young Americans face certain obstacles on the path forward. But no generation is better equipped to overcome them.

That is why President Obama is championing policies that will help unleash the creative energy of young Americans so we can break into new sectors of our economy and develop new enterprises.

The President has increased support for higher education and is giving nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap student loan payments at 10 percent of their income. He is pushing Congress to pass fair pay legislation and to raise the national minimum wage. He created initiatives to connect more Americans to the internet and empower innovation.

Whether acting with Congress or on his own where he can, the President will continue to invest in our teachers and schools, make education more affordable and accessible, build on our technology boom, expand health coverage and homeownership, and train every hardworking American with the skills they need to find a job they want.

So share this infographic or peruse the full report to get all 15 economic facts about the Millennial generation.

It’s a bit longer than 140 characters, but I think it’s worth the read.

Thanks,

Jess

Jessica Schumer
Chief of Staff, Council of Economic Advisers
The White House

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

If you’re not outraged...

10/10/2014 Nativegrl77

If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention – or so the saying goes.

Well, we’re paying attention – to the many harmful effects of the low-wage economy – and yes, we’re outraged.

So, on October 16th, we’re taking a stand – and we hope you’ll join us.

What: Low-Wage Rage: Workers Fight Back!

When: Thursday, October 16th at 12pm

Where: Midtown East, meeting location TBA

Why: It’s time to end the financial crisis that the Waltons and other one percenters have created for American families.

RSVP for details and updates: Click here.

Spread the word: Through Facebook.

With nearly half of all NYC residents living near poverty today, we’re at a breaking point. Many of us are burning up with low-wage rage, and it’s time to call out who is responsible: Walmart and the Walton family. If you’re fed up, it’s time to rise up!

Here’s why: Walmart’s worst practices have been adopted by NYC retailers, fast-food chains, and other low-wage employers. Walmart’s harm to NYC’s low-wage retail workers and fast-food workers can be seen and felt in growing poverty, erratic schedules, lack of stable hours and few opportunities for real career advancement among people of color, women, and immigrants.

Retail workers, fast food workers, and other low-wage workers are therefore coming together for a massive march on October 16. We’ll take our issues to employers on the Upper East Side that are perpetrating these Walmart practices, and we’ll culminate at Alice Walton’s new $25m condo, to demonstrate the urgent need to address the dramatic and deepening inequality that the Walmart economy is driving. It’s time to tell Walmart and the Walton family to stop holding America back.

Are you fed up? Then rise up!

Hope to see you then,

Bertha Lewis, on behalf of Walmart-Free NYC & The Black Institute

The Black Institute
http://www.theblackinstitute.org/