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Supporters of a California law to ban oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet of sensitive sites like homes and schools are gearing up to fight a new ballot measure which would invalidate the law. Last week, a referendum qualified for the ballot to overturn Senate Bill 1137, which automatically put the 2022 drilling restrictions on hold. Katie Valenzuela is a member of the Sacramento City Council who grew up in Oildale in Kern County, and she supports the ban. . ....
Gas bills jumped by hundreds of dollars over the past few months for many Californians - and on Tuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission held a hearing to find out why. Some of the reasons cited - high demand during cold weather, and the failure of utilities to store enough gas for the winter or hedge against problems with interstate pipelines. Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo, applauds Gov. . ....
By Francesca Mathewes for Reasons to be Cheerful.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration Take a stroll around Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on a sun-filled spring afternoon and it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll come across Romanesque-style greystones, classic brick three-flats and the sound of children deep in an after-school game of kickball echoing from the back alleys. What you might not be expecting is the brightly-colored mural emerging out of a vast, vacant lot along South Michigan Avenue — and, more significantly, the massive electrical battery that lies behind that painted cinder block wall. That battery is but one part of the Bronzeville Community Microgrid, which combines rooftop solar, natural gas-fired generators and batteries to produce and store energy at a local level. . ....
Environmental groups are pleased with an Iowa Utilities Board ruling that requires MidAmerican Energy to make planning studies public for its Iowa Wind PRIME project. The massive green energy project is expected to add more than 2,000 megawatts of wind energy and 50 megawatts of solar energy to the power grid. But some groups say the public should be able to see the background studies, including what MidAmerican might do with its coal plants. . ....