Post Office ordered to rush delivery of mail-in election ballots

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Postal Service to sweep facilities to ensure “no ballots have been held up,” reports said.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ordered the U.S. Postal Service to do a sweep for remaining mail-in ballots by 3 p.m. on Election Day.
By Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff

WASHINGTON, DC — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Postal Service to sweep facilities for any remaining mail-in ballots and to prioritize their delivery as Americans across the country continue to vote ahead of local election deadlines.

Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ordered the Postal Service to conduct the sweep in a number of states by 3 p.m. ET, multiple news outlets including CNN reported.

The Postal Service said in court that about 300,000 ballots had been received but not scanned for delivery.

According to his ruling, Sullivan made the order “to ensure that no ballots have been held up and that any identified ballots are immediately sent out for delivery.”

The ruling affects districts in several key battleground states including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Florida.

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Solid waste industry donates $4.6M during 2020 campaign cycle with a vast majority going to Republicans

Photography by Gage Skidmore / Photo Illustration by Kendall Davis / Industry Dive
By E.A. Crunden@eacrunden, WasteDive

The waste management sector donated at least $4,597,433 to federal candidates, parties and outside groups in 2020  — the vast majority of which went to Republicans. That contrasts to wider trends in other sectors of donating to Democratic entities and candidates, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).

Approximately 78% ($3,151,719) of donations went to Republicans, while 22% ($876,435) went to Democrats. Of those, 84% came from individual donors and 3% came from PACs. The remaining 12% are “soft money” donations, according to CRP, which pulls data directly from Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures. 

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Waste management sector PACs donated more than $145,000 to candidates during the 2020 cycle as of Oct. 23, including political action committees for Waste Management, Republic Services and the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), according to CRP. An estimated 63% of these PAC donations have gone to Republicans. 

NWRA has recently donated to GOP senators facing tough races in states like Colorado, Maine and North Carolina, along with other House and Senate candidates. Waste Management has donated to candidates ranging from the municipal and state level to numerous federal races in the House and Senate. Donations to competitive Senate races include a Democratic candidate in Alabama and Republican candidates in Alaska and Texas. Republic has also donated to state and federal-level races, including a GOP senator facing a challenging race in Arizona. Donations have also gone to federal candidates in relevant committee positions that are either not up for re-election this year or not in close races.

None of the top PAC donations have been to President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden, although the CEOs of Waste Management and Republic have made personal donations to Trump.

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U.S. formally leaving Paris climate accord

By Morgan Clendaniel, Fast Company

Tomorrow, the day after Election Day, the United States will end its participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The technical rules of the treaty hold that a country can only withdraw from the agreement one year after announcing its intention to do so. The Trump administration took that first, fateful step on November 4, 2019.

Because Joe Biden has strongly advocated for returning the U.S. to the Paris accord, the election marks a forking of two possible climate futures. In one of these futures, the U.S. stays on the outside of the international consensus on climate, while China, Europe, and the rest of the world make bolder pledges on carbon reduction and bigger investments in clean technology. In the other, America’s withdrawal is just a brief truancy before the U.S., led by a new administration, rejoins the world in late January, working hard to play catch-up after four lost years.

The Paris Agreement is as much a symbol as it is a treaty: it is not bold enough to prevent the worst possible climate outcomes, but it does represent the start of a global understanding of the need for collective action on climate change, something to serve as the basis for future action. After today, we’ll know whether that action will take place with the U.S.—or in spite of us. Read more here.

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A Pennsylvania woman’s quest to get solar power to the people

By LAURA LEGERE, PIttsburgh Post-Gazette

The roof on Lisa Lewis’ Waynesburg home is unsuitable for solar panels. It’s too small and doesn’t have enough sun exposure, a consultant told her after scanning a satellite image of her rooftop.

Undeterred, the 68-year-old retired psychologist began advocating for a solution beyond her property lines.

She is pushing for bills with bipartisan support in the Pennsylvania House and Senate that would authorize the development of community solar projects. The small solar installations on farms or other open spaces would be supported by community subscribers who then receive credits on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced by the panels.

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The collective projects would allow renters, low- and moderate-income homeowners and those without large sunny roofs to access the benefits of rooftop solar arrays, including cleaner and cheaper energy than is typically available through the electric grid. 

They would also support farmers who would get lease payments for hosting the projects.

The model is already common elsewhere. There are community solar projects in 40 states, and 20 states have laws that specifically authorize them.

A recent study conducted by Penn State researchers for the Coalition for Community Solar Access found that a 3-megawatt community solar facility — the maximum size envisioned by House Bill 531 and Senate Bill 705 is 5 MW — would save its subscribers a combined $90,000 on their electricity bills annually.

For Ms. Lewis, who once explored the possibility of erecting a wind tower with her neighbors when she lived in Kansas, the community aspect of community solar is part of the appeal.

“I want to see living-wage jobs that are good for the environment become available in our area,” she said.

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As Climate Disasters Pile Up, a Radical Proposal Gains Traction

The idea of modifying Earth’s atmosphere to cool the planet, once seen as too risky to seriously consider, is attracting new money and attention.

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland in 2010. Solar geoengineering is meant to mimic the atmospheric cooling that occurs after big volcanic eruptions.
The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland in 2010. Solar geoengineering is meant to mimic the atmospheric cooling that occurs after big volcanic eruptions.Credit…Halldór Kolbeins/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Christopher Flavelle, New York Times

WASHINGTON — As the effects of climate change become more devastating, prominent research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea once dismissed as science fiction: Artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That strategy, called solar climate intervention or solar geoengineering, entails reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that mimics the effects of ash clouds spewed by volcanic eruptions. The idea has been derided as a dangerous and illusory fix, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially menacing side effects.

But as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequences of climate change become so dire that the world can’t wait for better solutions.

“We’re facing an existential threat, and we need to look at all the options,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at the Columbia Law School and editor of a book on the technology and its legal implications. “I liken geoengineering to chemotherapy for the planet: If all else is failing, you try it.”

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NJ To Take Action Against Trump Supporters Blocking Parkway

The governor spoke out about the convoy of vehicles carrying Trump supporters in Holmdel on Sunday, which blocked traffic on the parkway.

By Nicole Rosenthal, Patch Staff

Trump rally held In Augusta, New Jersey on Oct. 14.
Trump rally held In Augusta, New Jersey on Oct. 14. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

HOLMDEL, NJ – Gov. Phil Murphy has two words to describe the convoy of vehicles carrying Trump supporters in Holmdel on Sunday, which caused standstill traffic on the Garden State Parkway yesterday afternoon.

At a Monday afternoon news conference, Murphy said he used two adjectives during an earlier interview to describe the incident: “silly” and “dangerous.”

New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan also said that video footage of the incident is under review, with “enforcement actions” currently being followed up on by detectives in conjunction with the Department of Transportation.

“I want to be clear that that situation on the parkway yesterday was incredibly irresponsible,” said Callahan.

Related: Videos Show Convoy Of Trump Supporters Blocking Parkway Traffic

Videos posted to social media on Sunday showed multiple vehicles parked in GSP express lanes and on the shoulders. Supporters waved Trump flags and honked vehicle horns as one person can be heard saying: “We shut it down, baby. We shut it down.”

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