Democratic midterm wins in 11 states lead to a wave of clean energy legislation

State legislatures have introduced at least 329 climate change bills this year that address greenhouse gas emissions, up from 188 in 2018 and 255 in 2017, according to an Associated Press tally of energy legislation monitored by the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. About 30% of the bills come from states with new Democratic governors or legislative majorities such as Illinois and Connecticut, the AP tally found.

“There’s definitely a lot of push following the elections of folks wanting to really pursue renewable portfolio standards as a way to expand renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions,” said Michael Bueno, energy and climate coordinator at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, a nonpartisan network of more than 1,000 state legislators nationwide.

Maine’s new governor, for example, has vowed to get 100% of the state’s energy from renewables by 2050 and has announced subsidies to put 1,000 more electric vehicles on Maine roads.

In New Mexico, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation requiring the state to get all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. California and Hawaii were the first states to commit to such carbon-free goals.

In Illinois, one of the nation’s top producers of emissions, lawmakers are considering a bill to bring the state to 100% renewable energy by 2050 — a target Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker endorsed on the campaign trail.
New Hampshire’s Democratic-controlled Legislature passed bills allowing towns and other entities to build larger solar projects and shifting more than $12million from a regional cap-and-trade program into energy efficiency programs. A separate bill requiring utilities to procure 60% of their power from renewables by 2040 passed the Senate.

New York, where Democrats now wield large majorities in both legislative bodies for the first time in a decade, is considering several initiatives to reduce climate-changing carbon emissions, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to move to 100% renewables by 2040.


https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-clean-energy-states-20190427-story.html

NC-03: Former Greenville mayor, Allen Thomas, wins Democratic primary for special election

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Allen Thomas, a former North Carolina mayor, has won the Democratic primary in the race to fill the seat of the late North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones Jr.

Thomas, the former mayor of Greenville, won the special election primary Tuesday in the 3rd Congressional District, avoiding a runoff by capturing well over 30% of the vote.

Retired Marine Corps colonel Richard Bew placed second in the six-candidate race.

Thomas will take on candidates from the Republican, Libertarian and Constitution parties in the general election.

Seventeen Republicans were on Tuesday's GOP ballot.

Jones died in February after serving 24 years in the House as a Republican in the eastern North Carolina district.


https://www.wnct.com/news/local-news/former-greenville-mayor-allen-thomas-wins-democratic-primary/1968060008

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg accused of insider trading

Breaking on my phone.

Race, Not Economics, Drove Former Democrats to Trump

Some disproven theories simply refuse to die. Among them is the notion that President Donald Trump's 2016 victory was largely due to economic anxiety on the part of blue-collar whites.

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has made that argument repeatedly of late, citing "the failure of this enormous American prosperity to reach so many people in so many communities," and Trump's promises of radical change, as the reasons for the president's upset win.

But a major study published a year ago found that Trump's support among non-college-educated whites—arguably the key to his Electoral College success—was driven far more by sexism and racism than by economic anxiety.

Now, a new study that focuses on one key constituency—white people in Iowa who voted for Barack Obama, and later for Trump—comes to that same conclusion.

"Economic distress is not a significant factor in explaining the shift in Iowa voters from Democrat to Republican between 2008 and 2016," write Iowa State University sociologists Ann Oberhauser, Daniel Krier, and Abdi Kusow. "The election outcomes do not signify [a revolt] among working-class voters left behind by globalization."

Rather, in 2016, "the nativist narrative about 'taking back America' and anti-immigrant sentiment became stronger forces than economic issues," Oberhauser said in announcing the findings.




https://psmag.com/news/new-study-confirms-again-that-race-not-economics-drove-former-democrats-to-trump

Enten: Sanders should worry less about catching Biden right now and more on falling behind Warren