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Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Government takes first-ever action to restart domestic nuclear site: 'Yet another step'
A plant in Michigan could be the first nuclear plant in the U.S. to restart operations after shuttering. That's the aim of the Holtec Palisades nuclear plant. According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Energy announced on March 17 that it had "disbursed $57 million of an up to $1.52 billion loan guarantee for Holtec's Palisades nuclear plant." The "conditional loan guarantee" was part of the previous administration's efforts to support nuclear energy to keep up with demand for electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and digital currency. The $57 million is the second disbursement of the loan guarantee. The first disbursement of about $38 million occurred in January. Power Magazine stated that the loan guarantee is part of the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program under the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress in 2022. According to the power company Entergy, the plant was shut down on May 20, 2022, after generating electricity for 50 years. In June, Entergy sold the plant to Holtec International "to ensure a safe and timely decommissioning of the nuclear site." In a press release, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, "[This] action is yet another step toward advancing President [Donald] Trump's commitment to increase domestic energy production, bolster our security, and lower costs for the American people." One benefit of nuclear energy is job creation, according to the DOE. It said, "Domestic nuclear power plants can employ up to 800 workers with salaries that are 50% higher than those of other generation sources." Nuclear energy can also add money to the local economy. Plus, nuclear energy is better for the environment than dirty energy sources. Almost half the United States' pollution-free electricity comes from nuclear. That prevents more than 471 million metric tons of toxic gases from being released into the atmosphere each year. The DOE said that is "the equivalent of removing 100 million cars off of the road." Which of these factors would most effectively convince you to support nuclear energy projects in your area? Lower energy bills Safety and reliability More local jobs Environmental benefits Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California's San Mateo County celebrates trans people, fights bullying
At a time of attacks on transgender people and immigrants, San Mateo County in Northern California is standing up for them. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday OK'd a resolution confirming the county's commitment to fight bullying of young people, Local News Matters reports. The county is located just south of San Francisco. '[Donald] Trump's bullying tactics have swept across our schools, causing immigrant children to fear being deported and LGBTQ+ children to fear having their long-fought for rights to be trampled upon,' Board President David Canepa, the resolution's sponsor, said in a statement released Monday night, according to the site. The resolution 'directs each county department and employee to engage in efforts that prevent bullying, provide education and intervene if bullying occurs,' the site notes. The board also voted Tuesday to recognize March 31, next Monday, as Transgender Day of Visibility. It raised the trans Pride flag Wednesday on the county flagpole in anticipation of the day. 'For everyone that is a part of this community, we see you, we are here with you, and we are committed to celebrating your beauty, your love, our pride, and your joy,' Supervisor Noelia Corzo, the new liaison to the county's LGBTQIA+ Commission, said at the ceremony, according to local paper The Daily Journal. 'San Mateo County does lead the way, but that doesn't mean that we don't have more work to do,' Corzo added. 'I want to thank the commission for their ongoing work in pushing us to be more welcoming, be more affirming, provide a safer community for every LGBTQIA+ community member in our county.' People attending the ceremony waved their own small trans Pride flags. Ishani Dugar, lead trainer and peer group coordinator at the San Mateo County Pride Center, spoke at the event on the importance of visibility. 'Wear flags or raise them if you have them, share your pronouns with folks, correct assumptions about identity that people will hold, push back on folks who assume that others in their space will be comfortable with transphobic language or with assuming that trans people are not present,' Dugar said. The Pride Center will hold an online Trans 101 Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, it will host a mixer for families of trans kids from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration law experts raise concerns over DHS registry for migrants in the country illegally
Immigrant rights groups and immigration law experts are raising concerns after the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is creating an online database designed to keep track of migrants over the age of 14 who are living in the country illegally. Migrants who are in the United States without authorization must register their information in a database that tracks them in an effort to "compel" self-deportation, the DHS said in a press release on Tuesday. However, the registry had not been set up as of Wednesday. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage instructed migrants who are required to register to create an online account with the agency. Vowing to "use every available tool to compel illegal aliens to self-deport," a DHS statement said people who fail to register and submit fingerprints could face fines and imprisonment. "President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now. If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. "The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws—we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce. We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans." The DHS said it's invoking a decades-old section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires registration from migrants over the age of 14 who are in the United States, who have not been fingerprinted or registered, and who have been in the country for more than 30 days. MORE: Trump administration directing ICE to track down unaccompanied minors: Source "Historically, we know that we have to sit up and pay attention anytime a government says it's going to set up a registry on the basis of national origin or race or religion or any other immutable characteristic, because dramatic losses of civil liberties and civil rights are sure to follow and potentially worse," said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center. Following the 9/11 attack, President George W. Bush's administration set up a system known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which required registration from certain noncitizens -- mostly from Muslim-majority countries and North Korea. "Like the registry system that Trump is envisioning here, it was set up under a guise of national security or public safety concerns that, in the end, only served to eviscerate civil rights for the communities that were targeted and to separate communities," Altman said. "There were about 83,000 people who were forced to register through NSEERS and many thousands of them were put in deportation proceedings." Parents and legal guardians of undocumented immigrants who are under 14 years of age and have not previously registered would also have to sign up to the database. Under the Trump administration's registry, immigrants over the age of 18 would be issued proof that they've registered that they "must carry and keep in their possession at all times," the USCIS website said. That requirement is stoking fears that this would be a new "show me your papers" type of law, said Michelle Lapointe, legal director for the American Immigration Council. "There are some real civil liberties issues here," Lapointe told ABC News. "It will end up ensnaring people based on law enforcement's perceptions of their race and assumptions that law enforcement makes about people's immigration status based on that." "So, there's real opportunity for abuse, because this is essentially setting up a system where people have to produce their papers -- show their papers to law enforcement to prove their status," she continued. MORE: Americans voted for Trump, but don't support his agenda Lapointe said that the DHS is also threatening jail time for failing to register, even though being in the country without authorization isn't always punishable by imprisonment. "An alien's failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both," Tuesday's press release said. In many cases, being in the country without authorization is a civil offense and would typically be punishable by removal instead of incarceration. As the Trump administration continues to ramp up its deportation efforts, Greg Chen, senior director of Government Relations for American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that few people may choose to register. "I don't think many people are going to come forward and register, because they're going to be too afraid that if they register, they're simply going to be deported rapidly, given the aggressive mass deportation plan that administration is setting up," Chen said. Immigration law experts raise concerns over DHS registry for migrants in the country illegally originally appeared on
