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FEMA Could Still Lose More Jobs Despite Court Ruling

A plan to halve the agency’s sprawling work force was illegal, a judge ruled. But the court is not blocking other FEMA cuts.

Β© Al Drago for The New York Times

The headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C.
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Reform Council Hires Private Security Guards to Counter Male Migrants Who Make Town Centre a β€˜No-Go’ Zone for Women

A Reform council has hired private security guards in three town centres to ward off "gatherings of male migrants" after reports they were intimidating locals and making the town centre a 'no-go' zone for women.

The post Reform Council Hires Private Security Guards to Counter Male Migrants Who Make Town Centre a β€˜No-Go’ Zone for Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Alex Bores Wants Democrats to Make AI Safety a 2028 Election Issue

Alex Bores, who lost a congressional primary contest that revolved around A.I. regulation, is trying to position himself at the center of the conversation for the next presidential election.
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What Is Driving Diesel Prices Up? Energy Chaos Caused by Two Wars.

President Trump recently blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries for causing a spike in diesel prices, but analysts say the Iran war is probably a bigger factor.

Β© Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Diesel prices in the United States are up about 65 percent since Feb. 28, when the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran began.
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No Rolling Power Outages for California Since 2020 - Thanks to 17,000 MW of New Battery Storage

"Californians just made it through the hottest August on record without having to endure any rolling power outages," reports the Los Angeles Times. In fact, the state hasn't implemented rotating power outages since 2020. Because "Over the last few years, California has quietly but dramatically increased the resiliency of its electrical grid through a significant expansion in battery energy storage." These batteries hold onto solar energy captured during the day, so it can be sent to the grid as demand peaks in the evening and morning, when most people are at home running air conditioners and other appliances. During the August heat wave of 2020, the California Independent System Operator, which manages the flow of electricity for most of the state, declared a Stage 3 Emergency and hundreds of thousands of households lost power in rolling outages. At the time, the system had less than 100 megawatts of battery storage available, according to system spokesperson Jayme Ackemann. Today, it has more than 17,000 megawatts available.... According to Ackemann, the system seeks to add 20,000 to 25,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity by 2045 β€” the same year it has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality. That means the state would remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits. In recent years, California has steadily grown the share of electrical power generated by renewable sources β€” such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower β€” which bolstered the resiliency of the grid by increasing the overall amount of energy available. An uptick in people installing rooftop solar panels has provided an additional power boost, Ackemann said. In May, California became the first known large-scale power system in the world to have relied on more than 50% solar power for an entire month.... California's grid is also now integrated with electrical systems across much of the Western United States. This means that if there is an extreme heat event in Southern California, energy from a cooler area such as the Pacific Northwest can be imported to help meet regional demand. All of this has collectively helped the state's electrical system weather this year's long-lasting heat. "Southern California continued to break temperature records this week when Long Beach and Anaheim reached a blistering 107 degrees and Escondido hit 112 degrees..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Court Strikes Down Trump Order to Keep an Aging Coal-Burning Plant Running

The 64-year-old Michigan power plant was set to retire. Then the Trump administration intervened in a way that overstepped its authority, a court ruled.

Β© JuliΓ‘n Trejo Bax/Associated Press

The J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Mich.
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