Ghostwriting gas companies, how EVs became 'normal' and free rides during bad air quality
Welcome to The Planet You Save May Be Your Own, a weekly newsletter on local climate action.
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I've just gotten back from a short break and traveling, so this week's newsletter is all about the best stories I've seen this week. I'm also have a short reader survey for you as I plan stories for this summer. It's only three quick questions and will help me decide how to spend my time making this newsletter more interesting and useful to you. Tell me more here.
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Your local climate links
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A new Texas law that penalizes financial institutions trying to go green is full of loopholes, and is straight up ignored. But other states are following Texas’s punitive approach all the same. Plus: Climate-concerned investors were drubbed yesterday in their first bid to push Wall Street banks to end financial support for new fossil fuel development. But proponents say they’re just getting started.
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For the past several months, local officials in Virginia and North Carolina have been peppering federal regulators with glowing letters in support of gas projects in their states. These letters all had something in common: They were ghostwritten by lobbyists and consultants of the two major pipeline firms behind those projects.
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Colorado is about to spend $28 million to fund free summer bus and train trips, in a bid to improve air quality. It remains unclear if riders will flock.
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How banning new gas car sales went from radical idea to reality in some states (plus: an alternative idea for avoiding EV subsidies going primarily to wealthy car buyers: direct them to people who drive the most)
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Advocates say climate wins this year in Connecticut were driven by last year's big defeat.