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EPA doubles money for electric school buses as demand soars

WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to "overwhelming demand," the Environmental Protection Agency is nearly doubling the money available to states to buy electric models of the familiar yellow school buses that millions of children ride every school day. The EPA made $500 million available for clean buses in May, but is increasing that to $965 million for districts across the country. An additional $1 billion is expected to be available in the budget year that begins Saturday. In the current year, the agency said it has received about 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for ...

In one tiny German town, nobody worries about energy bills

FELDHEIM, Germany (AP) — Europeans are opening their energy bills with trepidation these days, bracing for hefty price hikes as utility companies pass on the surging cost of natural gas, oil and electricity tied to Russia's war in Ukraine. Many are trying to conserve by turning down the heat and shutting off lights this winter. Not so the people of Feldheim, population 130. Located about an hour and a half south of Berlin, this modest but well-kept village has been energy self-sufficient for more than a decade. A bold experiment launched in the mid-1990s saw Feldheim erect a ...

Washington kills 2 wolves to prevent preying on cattle

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Biologists working for the state of Washington have killed two members of the Leadpoint wolf pack this week in an effort to stop the pack from preying on cattle in Stevens County, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday. An adult male wolf was killed on Tuesday and an adult female was killed on Wednesday. "With the removal of two wolves, the lethal removal authorization and lethal removal permit are now expired," the agency said in a news release. Agency director Kelly Susewind last week authorized the killing of up to two members of the ...

Small protests appear in Cuba over islandwide blackout

HAVANA (AP) — The widespread power outage caused by Hurricane Ian prompted several hundred people to protest in Havana, and a monitoring group said the island's internet service shut down again Friday in what appeared to be an attempt to curb information about the demonstrations from spreading. An Associated Press journalist saw about 400 people gathered Thursday night in at least two spots in the Cerro neighborhood shouting, "We want light, we want light," and banging pots and pans. It appeared to be the first public display over the electricity problems that spread from western ...

Panama launch of futuristic oceanfront home goes sideways

COLON, Panama (AP) — The unveiling of a futuristic luxury model home on Panama's Caribbean coast tanked Thursday when the SeaPod Eco prototype perched above the water on a column slumped onto an adjacent dock. Developer Ocean Builders said in a statement that the sleek white home began to "destabilize" at the end of the launch event. It said no one was injured and the cause was being investigated. The home that is reminiscent of a space ship sits well above the water and features expansive views from a row of windows. The developers had planned to begin offering the homes for sale ...

Tiny Oregon town hosts 1st wind-solar-battery ‘hybrid’ plant

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A renewable energy plant in Oregon that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there officially opened Wednesday as the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America. The project, which can generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when ...