North Carolina is taking action to address environmental injustice, specifically targeting areas disproportionately affected by pollution and climate change. Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 292 to establish an Environmental Justice Advisory Council, made up of 11 people from state agencies and 11 appointed by the governor. .
Food shelves across Minnesota continue to adapt to record demand, that isn t showing any immediate signs of slowing down. This month, Hunger Solutions released formal data showing there were more than 7.5 million visits to food selves in 2023. That s 1.8 million more visits than what was recorded in 2022, also a record year. .
In Tennessee, almost a half million people won t be able to vote in any upcoming elections because of a past felony conviction, and one organization says the state s process to restore those rights is too complicated. More than 420,000 Tennesseans with felony convictions cannot vote, according to research from The Sentencing Project. Dawn Schluckebier - advocacy and government relations director at ThinkTennessee - said voting rights can be restored after a person completes their sentence, including any probation or parole. .
A proposed power plant in Chesterfield County is meeting with the ire of local residents. Dominion Energy s Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center would be a gas-powered plant near the James River. However, residents are worried about the environmental and health effects of the plant. .
A coalition of advocacy groups has helped defeat a bill in the Idaho Legislature which would have given the pesticide industry blanket immunity from liability lawsuits. The Pesticide Immunity Bill, Senate Bill 1245, was defeated 15-to-19 Friday by the Republican-controlled state Senate. The coalition was led by the Idaho Conservation League and included the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association and the Idaho Association of Resource Councils. .