Students in Lamar can no longer learn about the state of Virginia on their online research database due to the ban

The site previously hosted links to resources on long COVID, vaccines, and testing.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28402969

"The Texas Senate voted 22-9 to pass Senate Bill 819. The bill places restrictions on solar and wind power projects, requiring new permits, assessing fees, adding new regulatory requirements and placing new taxes on the projects.

The legislation “adds onerous requirements to new solar projects that would not apply to other energy sources except wind,” said the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).

Texas has the nation’s largest utility-scale solar market – a $50 billion industry that has enough solar installed to power nearly 5 million homes. The bill is expected to slow development, raise Texans’ utility bills, harm rural economies, worsen grid reliability and encroach on private property rights.

“This bill will kill renewable energy in Texas,” Jeff Clark, CEO of Texas Power Alliance, said during public testimony.

Senate Bill 819 requires solar and wind projects of 10 MW or larger to obtain a permit from the Texas Utilities Commission to interconnect to the grid. It requires projects to report a notice of applications and hold a public meeting for proposed projects.

The bill also places a new environmental impact review by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and established an annual environmental impact fee for permit holders.

SB 819 also requires all permitted facility equipment for solar projects be at least 100 feet from property lines and 200 feet from habitable structures unless it obtains a written waiver from the property owner.

The bill also prohibits property tax abatements for solar or wind projects of 10 MW of capacity or more. Property tax abatements are a common regulatory structure for utility-scale solar projects nationwide.

“We cannot afford to turn away from the pro-energy and pro-business policies that made the Lone Star State the energy capital, but that’s exactly what SB 819 does,” said Daniel Giese, Texas director of state affairs, SEIA. “We urge the Texas House to reject this bill.”

If approved by the House and Governor, the bill is expected to raise electricity costs for Texans. Clean energy is estimated to save ratepayers in the state $11 billion over the last two years.

The restrictions are also expected to lower grid reliability. Solar is the largest source of new generation added to the grid in Texas, and experts from the state’s grid operator ERCOT, the Texas Comptroller’s office, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas credit solar and storage for helping the grid remain stable during heat waves and cold snaps.

For rural economies, a slowed solar and wind power industry means less tax revenues. Research from the University of Texas estimates that existing and planned solar, wind and energy storage projects in that state will contribute $20 billion in local tax revenues and $29.5 billion in landowner payments over the life of the projects.

The bill also claws back the right of landowners in Texas to make land use decisions on their private property.

“The state telling landowners that they can’t use their land in the way they see fit is antithetical to the Texas identity,” said SEIA.

The solar industry employs over 12,000 people in Texas. It is expected to add the most solar among all states over the next 5 years, with a projected growth of 41 GW, according to SEIA. For context, the United States has about 224 GW of solar installed cumulatively in its entire history through 2024.

The bill next heads to the Texas House of Representatives for vote. If approved, it will be sent to Governor Greg Abbott for his signature."

• How much money on big energy causing this through lobbying?

“President Trump has made it clear: the days of reckless spending and blank checks are over,” Mr. Duffy said in a news release. In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul described the Trump administration’s decision as a boon for the state and indicated that she would withdraw more than $1 billion of funding from the project.

This video inspired my posting here, it is really dystopian looking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr107NgoKaE

A comment by White House science adviser Michael Kratsios has gone viral after a speech in which he claimed U.S. technology can “manipulate time and space,” prompting online speculation.

Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, made the remark during a policy address at the Endless Frontiers Retreat in Austin, Texas on April 14.

“Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space. They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow, and improve productivity,” Kratsios said during prepared remarks published on the official White House website.

While the statement was likely intended as aspirational language about technological progress, it has since circulated widely online, with some interpreting the comment literally.

geteilt von: https://50501.chat/post/129110

They are talking about striking in the national media, a conversation started by an Alexander-Hamilton-moderate-conservative. This is it, it has hit the mainstream media and word is getting out to the people that aren't necessarily in the 50501, and like organizations, loop.

Originally Posted By u/doyoulikemyladysuit At 2025-04-17 08:42:23 PM | Source

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28377055

US Vice President JD Vance has called on European states to show greater independence, urging them not to be US "vassals." He also said EU governments could have done more to oppose Washington over the Iraq War.

I don't condone computer related crimes

cross-posted from: https://metawire.eu/post/28912

President Trump says Chinese-made electronics are simply moving to a different levy "bucket".

An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office resulted in a purge of books critical of racism but preserved volumes defending white power.

Gone is “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou’s transformative best-selling 1970 memoir chronicling her struggles with racism and trauma.

Gone is “Memorializing the Holocaust,” Janet Jacobs’s 2010 examination of how female victims of the Holocaust have been portrayed and remembered.

Two copies of “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler are still on the shelves.

“The Bell Curve,” which argues that Black men and women are genetically less intelligent than white people, is still there. But a critique of the book was pulled.

Sort of cross-posted from https://sh.itjust.works/post/35988607