Credit: David Koranyl
Driving gasoline cars is costing California $15 billion a year in health expenses and impacts to the environment, but the state has a chance to reduce the effects of air pollution through its zero emission program, the American Lung Association says.
A shift to electric cars and other zero-emission vehicles could save Californians $13.5 billion in health and climate costs by 2050, the American Lung Association in California says in a new report released Wednesday night.
More importantly, a reduction in pollution would improve health in communities, said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, senior director for air quality and climate change. And the San Joaquin Valley would stand to benefit more than many places in the state.
Cities in the Valley consistently rank among the most polluted in California on the Lung Association’s annual air pollution report card, Holmes-Gen said. “The Valley is a region that desperately needs this cleanup from zero emissions.”
The Valley is a region that desperately needs this cleanup from zero emissions.
Bonnie […]
Credit: torbakhopper/flickr, CC BY
When Donald Trump repeatedly claims the election is “rigged,” it doesn’t just undermine voter confidence at home. It can also hurt the country’s standing around the world, where people have been closely following the presidential race.
Because of the United States’ predominant role in geopolitics and global economics, foreign governments and their citizens scrutinize the candidates and their positions, which can hint at future American policies. The campaign also acts as a snapshot of American democracy. According to political scientist Joseph Nye, America’s soft power—its ability to persuade foreign leaders and exert influence abroad—partly depends on how the rest of world interprets our political process, values and outcomes.
In order to assess what the world has been thinking about the ongoing election, we’ve been tracking global media coverage via 60 different news outlets in regions that represent over 1.5 billion people. Using the Media Monitoring System, which captures and translates foreign language content, we’re able to harvest large amounts of news media from multiple languages and read machine-generated translations (which […]
Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Every country has a founding myth, a narrative that serves as the foundation of its national identity. Often, such stories don’t hold up to historical scrutiny, but that is beside the point. Such stories help nations determine who belongs — and who does not.
The US has always been an outlier. In America, the founding myth does not focus on […]
Credit: Rob Hyrons
On Nov. 11, 2013, Victorville, California, sheriff’s deputies and a coroner responded to a motorcyclist’s report of human remains outside of town.
They identified the partially bleached skull of a child, and later discovered the remains of the McStay family who had been missing for the past three years. Joseph, 40, his wife Summer, 43, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, had been bludgeoned to death and buried in shallow graves in the desert.
Investigators long suspected Charles Merritt in the family’s disappearance, interviewing him days after they went missing. Merritt was McStay’s business partner and the last person known to see him alive. Merritt had also borrowed $30,000 from McStay to cover a gambling debt, a mutual business partner told police. None of it was enough to make an arrest.
Until they turned to Project Hemisphere.
Hemisphere is a secretive program […]
Energy and environmental issues matter to US voters much more than many candidates and party officials are aware — or than they let on, or than the mainstream press is reporting. American voters voice strong support for raising the priority of renewables on the White House agenda and expect it of the next president.
The seventh annual Sense & Sustainability® Study of US adults by G&S Business Communications has found that about 4 of every 5 Americans (78%) say the next US president should quickly prioritize renewable energy.
Specific benefits cited in the report:
- Energy efficiency cost savings (26%)
- Energy security (23%)
- Government tax revenues (19%)
Ron Loch, G&S managing director and sustainability consulting leader, points out:
“Even the contentious nature of this year’s presidential campaign [cannot] distract Americans from recognizing the importance of renewable energy to future economic growth and their own personal well-being. It’s clear that public interest is served when there are discussions about the broader financial impact of fossil energy and the need to improve both energy efficiency and the infrastructure investment required to build a resilient power grid.”
More than 4 in 5 […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
