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Disinformation Alert: Fossil Fuel Interests Preparing to Deploy False Claims about New EPA Rules

Union of Concerned Scientists

Fossil fuel power plant owners are facing increased accountability for their air and water pollution, including from a new round of environmental and public health protections that are being rolled out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We’ve heard these lazily disingenuous narratives before.

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Extreme Heat Makes Electricity More Expensive, More Polluting, and Less Reliable

Union of Concerned Scientists

But extreme heat also hits our electricity system in ways that make it more expensive, more polluting, and less reliable. Extreme heat means more expensive electricity Extreme heat can sharply increase electricity consumption as people turn up their air conditioners for relief. One factor is the dirtiness of fossil fuels.

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Florida and California Have This Need in Common: Clean Backup Power

Union of Concerned Scientists

At this point, I’d wager that pretty much everyone in the US either has been affected or knows someone who has been affected recently by a natural disaster-related electric power outage. Indeed, for people who use electric-powered medical devices, a power outage is life-threatening. That doesn’t reduce the hardship of a power outage.

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Can the Electric Grid Handle EV Charging?

Union of Concerned Scientists

As the adoption of electric cars, trucks, and buses gains momentum, many people are wondering if the electric grid is up to the task of charging all of those vehicles. And will the grid be able to handle all of the electric vehicles we will have as we progress toward a highly-electrified transportation future, by say 2040 or 2050?

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Ask A Scientist: What Energy Solutions to the Climate Crisis Are Within Reach?

Union of Concerned Scientists

As electric vehicle charging stations sprout like mushrooms along our roads and clusters of new wind turbines come online, these two clean energy solutions to the climate crisis are becoming more commonplace. But beyond more electric cars and solar panels, what can everyday people do?

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Ask a Scientist: The US Has to Do More to Meet Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals

Union of Concerned Scientists

The legislation committed nearly $400 billion to support, among other things, wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that will make a significant dent in US heat-trapping emissions. It also will save US consumers money because they will spend less on fossil fuels.

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Extreme Summer Weather Threatens Gas Power Plants. Here’s How. 

Union of Concerned Scientists

electricity generation. Renewables are continuing to increase their share of the power sector, rising to almost 23 percent of the nation’s electricity supply last year, which was higher than the generation from both coal-fired and nuclear plants. In other words, when the air is hot, gas power plants cannot generate as much electricity.