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291 results
CLEAN ENERGY ISN’T DRIVING POWER PRICE SPIKES
The report finds that U.S. residential electricity rates have generally kept pace with economy-wide inflation since 2010, and that states with high clean energy growth often see rates rise slower than inflation. Instead, the report identifies natural gas price volatility, wildfire mitigation and liability costs, aging coal plant investments, and rising transmission and distribution costs as the primary drivers of rate spikes. It further argues that the regulated utility business model incentivizes capital-heavy investments over more cost-effective operational solutions, which compounds these costs for consumers.
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Document type: Report
HELTER SHELTER: How Blackstone Contributes To and Profits From California’s Broken Housing System
The report argues that Blackstone, the largest landlord in the U.S., exploits the affordable housing shortage to maximize returns. In San Diego, Blackstone increased rents by 38% across 66 properties acquired in 2021, nearly double the market average. The document details Blackstone's use of RealPage's YieldStar software for rent setting, its financial contributions to defeat California rent control initiatives, and its shift toward resuming evictions after August 2022 to increase 'economic occupancy'.
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Document type: Report
Navigating the EV Transition: 4 Emerging Impacts on Auto Manufacturing Jobs
The transition to electric vehicles in the U.S. is expected to significantly disrupt auto manufacturing jobs, particularly those tied to internal combustion engine components. While battery manufacturing and software-related roles are poised for growth, the shift requires a transition from mechanical to electrochemical production processes, necessitating new digital and chemical skills. The document also highlights risks to job quality, noting a trend of EV investment in non-union Southern states and the impact of AI and vertical integration on the supply chain.
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Document type: Briefing
Recommendations for Improving Election Data Transparency
The report argues that decentralized election administration in the US has created a patchwork of transparency policies that can undermine democratic legitimacy and disproportionately affect marginalized communities. It provides specific recommendations for improving the accessibility and accuracy of voter files, the transparency of ballot processing and tracking, and the implementation of robust ballot curing and risk-limiting audit procedures.
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Document type: Report
Longer, More Intense Fire Weather Seasons
An analysis of 476 weather stations from 1973 to 2023 shows that fire weather seasons are lengthening and intensifying across the contiguous United States, with the most significant increases occurring in the West. While the East has seen more modest increases, both regions are experiencing a notable rise in fire weather days during the spring. The Southwest has seen the most dramatic growth, with some areas experiencing fire weather twice as often as they did 50 years ago.
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Document type: Research paper
Extreme Precipitation in a Warming Climate
Climate change is increasing the intensity of extreme precipitation across the U.S., with the Northeast and Midwest seeing the largest increases since 1958. Under 2°C of global warming, 85% of U.S. counties are projected to experience a 10% or higher increase in precipitation on the heaviest 1% of days. This intensification contributes to flash flooding and landslides, disproportionately affecting racial minorities and those in mobile homes, particularly in the South and rural areas. Between 1988 and 2021, warming-induced rainfall intensification caused an estimated $84 billion in inland flood damages.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Weather-related Power Outages Rising
Between 2000 and 2023, 80% of major U.S. power outages were caused by weather, with a significant increase in frequency during the last decade. Severe weather, winter storms, and tropical cyclones are the primary drivers, with Texas and the Southeast region among the most affected. The document highlights the vulnerability of aging infrastructure and the disproportionate impact on marginalized and medically vulnerable populations, while suggesting grid hardening, microgrids, and emissions reductions as paths toward resilience.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Reportando sobre el clima y las elecciones estadounidenses de 2024
The document argues that climate change is a critical electoral issue in the 2024 US elections and urges journalists to move beyond 'red-blue' political binaries to report on the scientific consensus and local impacts. It provides specific questioning frameworks for candidates, methods for debunking common climate myths, and suggestions for localizing climate stories across sectors like infrastructure, housing, and energy. The guide emphasizes that reporting on the climate crisis is a matter of professional journalism rather than activism, citing the role of the press in holding power accountable during historical crises.
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Document type: Guide
Reporting on Climate and the US 2024 Elections
The document advises journalists to treat climate change as a factual urgency rather than a partisan debate, urging them to proactively question candidates on specific plans for emissions reduction and infrastructure resilience. It highlights a disconnect between political discourse and public sentiment, noting that 62% of registered US voters prefer candidates who support climate action. The guide also provides a framework for debunking common climate myths and suggests local reporting angles such as the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, green job programs, and climate-driven insurance rate increases.
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Document type: Guide
Solar and Wind Power 2024
The report details a decade of significant growth in U.S. solar and wind power, noting that solar generation increased more than eight-fold and wind more than doubled between 2014 and 2023. It highlights the leading roles of states like California and Texas, the emergence of small-scale solar, and the potential for these technologies to drive the U.S. toward its 2035 goal of 100% carbon pollution-free electricity, although current projections suggest the 2030 emissions target may be missed.
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Document type: Report
As Alarm Grows Over Crypto Mining’s Energy Consumption, Bitcoin Lobbyists Peddle State Bills
Earthjustice warns that a new 'model' bill for cryptocurrency mining, promoted by the Satoshi Action Fund, would shield miners from local zoning and noise ordinances and interfere with utility regulators' ability to set fair electricity rates. The briefing details how proof-of-work mining strains electric grids, increases electricity costs for residents, causes significant noise and environmental pollution, and fails to deliver promised economic benefits.
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Document type: Briefing
Testimony for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing: Healthcare Accessibility and Hospital Closure Impacts
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) testifies that private equity firms use extractive financial tactics—such as high leverage, sale-leasebacks, and debt-funded dividends—to maximize returns, often resulting in the bankruptcy or closure of hospitals. The document highlights specific cases including Prospect Medical Holdings, Steward Health Care, and Apollo Global Management's Lifepoint/ScionHealth, noting severe impacts on patient safety and staffing. PESP proposes state-level policy solutions including stricter merger reviews, financial transparency, anti-looting measures, and joint and several liability for investors.
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Document type: Statement
DASD Caroline Baxter on Integrating Climate Change into Professional Military Education
DASD Caroline Baxter describes the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) efforts to integrate climate literacy into professional military education (PME). She argues that climate change acts as a "threat multiplier" affecting installations, mission demand, and budgets. The DoD's approach focuses on making climate information mission-relevant, integrating it into existing curricula to avoid task saturation, and emphasizing readiness and lethality over political terminology. Key initiatives include the Climate Literacy Sub-Working Group, a new outcomes-based PME instruction, and a dedicated online portal for authoritative climate information.
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Document type: Statement
What Makes Yale Climate Connections Stories Work
The document details how Yale Climate Connections (YCC) utilizes personal narratives, evidence-based 'climate framing', and diverse voices to bridge the psychological distance of climate change. It emphasizes the use of the 'Six Americas' segmentation to tailor content, the importance of centering hope through problem-solution narratives, and the strategic use of succinct 90-second radio stories to reach a broad national audience, including conservatives and opinion leaders.
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Document type: Guide
TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS
The report examines various legislative attempts to curb the growth of corporate landlords in the US, focusing on strategies to deconsolidate the housing market. It analyzes proposed and enacted measures such as ownership caps in North Carolina, excise taxes in California and Ohio, and right of first refusal laws in California and Colorado. While many of these bills failed in committee due to political opposition, the report highlights successful examples like Los Angeles's 'mansion tax' and Colorado's protections for manufactured housing residents as models for future housing justice efforts.
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Document type: Report
The Impacts of Cryptomining
Cryptocurrency mining in Texas has grown rapidly, with five of the ten largest Bitcoin mines located in the state as of April 2023. These operations consume vast amounts of energy, which the document claims drives up electricity prices for consumers and increases emissions from gas and coal plants. The report highlights how miners profit from Texas's deregulated energy market and ERCOT's demand-response programs, often receiving subsidies and tax exemptions while providing few local jobs. Additionally, the document notes negative local impacts, including significant noise pollution and the diversion of water resources in drought-stricken areas.
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Document type: Fact sheet
aug-2023-letter-to-treasurer-folwell-2-19d4fb10d9bfc6d8.pdf
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Action NC urge the North Carolina State Treasurer to implement guidelines for housing investments to protect residents from corporate landlord practices. The letter highlights that the North Carolina Retirement System (NCRS) has invested billions in private equity firms like Landmark Partners, Blackstone, Meadow Partners, and Brookfield Asset Management, which are linked to aggressive evictions, poor maintenance, and steep rent hikes in North Carolina and other U.S. cities.
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Document type: Statement
Mitigación del Metano del Sector Agroalimentario Una Estrategia Global de Salud
The report identifies livestock fermentation, rice cultivation, and land-use changes as primary drivers of agri-food methane emissions. It argues that transitioning to plant-rich diets, improving livestock management, and adopting sustainable rice farming can reduce greenhouse gases while improving public health by reducing air pollution and non-communicable diseases.
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Document type: Report
Mitigating Methane from Food and Agriculture
The report identifies livestock production, rice cultivation, and land use as primary methane sources in agriculture, highlighting that the sector accounts for approximately 42 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions. It argues that mitigating these emissions provides significant health co-benefits, such as reducing tropospheric ozone and respiratory illnesses caused by biomass burning and manure management. Proposed solutions include transitioning to plant-rich diets, implementing alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in rice farming, and adopting regenerative agricultural practices. The document emphasizes the need for systemic policy changes, including the reform of agricultural subsidies and the implementation of mandatory emissions regulations, while noting that livestock remains a critical nutritional and economic resource in the Global South.
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Document type: Report
POLICY PRIORITIES TO ENSURE OFFSHORE WIND PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN OUR NET-ZERO FUTURE
The report argues that the U.S. must implement ambitious long-term capacity targets, holistic transmission planning, and strategic infrastructure investments to achieve a net-zero future. It emphasizes the need for coordinated site identification, streamlined permitting, and the development of a domestic supply chain and workforce to support a potential build-out of 250 to 750 GW of offshore wind by 2050.
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Document type: Report