Also on today’s menu:
More Affordable Housing
Supreme Court Decision Could Lead To Increased Costs
Americans’ attention has been focused on the shooting of July 4 celebrants in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, but that was only one of many incidents: More than 220 Americans were killed by people with guns this past weekend. There was even a shooting in Concord, New Hampshire, although that “only” resulted in “serious injuries”. Common Sense provides a state-by-state breakdown of gun violence over the weekend, and for a more comprehensive list, the Gun Violence Archive provides an ongoing tally of shooting incidents.
The timing could not have been worse, then, for House GOP Leader Jason Osborne, a fourth-term representative of Auburn, Chester, and Sandown, to have tweeted a message urging people to buy more ammunition for their AK-47, instead of hot dogs, for Independence Day. Facing backlash for his tweet, Osborne doubled down on July 5, posting on Facebook, “This is America. Last I checked, owning a rifle is a legal, normal, responsible thing to do —not to mention a Constitutionally enumerated right. If you agree, remember to vote in November.”
Representative Rosemarie Rung (D-Merrimack) responded with a tweet of her own: “This is your daily reminder that this guy is the leader of NH House Republicans and he is on the ballot in November.”
Governor Chris Sununu, who signed into law House Bill 1178, prohibiting the state from enforcing any federal statute, regulation, or Presidential Executive Order that restricts or regulates the right of the people to keep and bear arms, has not commented on Osborne’s tweet. “New Hampshire has a proud tradition of responsible firearms stewardship, and I’ve long said that I’m not looking to make any changes to our laws,” the governor said during the bill-signing ceremony. “This bill will ensure that New Hampshire’s law enforcement efforts will be on our own State firearms laws — and that’s where I believe their focus should be.”
Sununu did order all flags on public buildings and grounds in the state to fly at half-staff in response to President Joe Biden Jr.’s proclamation: “As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of gun violence perpetrated on our Independence Day, July 4, 2022, in Highland Park, Illinois, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, July 9, 2022. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”
More Affordable Housing
The InvestNH Housing Fund is taking applications from developers and small landlords interested in converting single-family homes into multiple units to provide affordable housing for workers throughout the state, using federal American Rescue Plan Act money. There also is money for municipalities to tear down old structures and upgrade zoning laws to promote workforce housing.
Online applications at www.Invest603.com call for a “broad universe” of projects for the state to consider. Governor Sununu said he hopes to see the money going to every county in the state, but that depends upon who applies. He said the state expects to choose which projects to approve by September, and the recommendations will go to the Executive Council for final approval.
There will be a webinar on July 7 to help answer questions about the grant program, and questions also may be directed by email to investnh@livefree.nh.gov.
Supreme Court Decision Could Lead To Increased Costs
Following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency could write more restrictive carbon regulations, requiring technologies like carbon capture that would be far more expensive than the cap-and-trade approach that the court rejected. The court found that the EPA can only impose limitations on emissions at individual power stations.
The think tank Resources for the Future has analyzed how the EPA could impose regulations limiting carbon emissions per megawatt-hour at coal power plants through technologies such as installing natural gas turbines on-site — a strategy known as “co-firing” that some plants already have adopted to save money or address smog-forming pollutants. The agency could go further, finding that carbon capture and storage is viable and cost-effective and requiring that coal or natural gas plants install such technology to reduce their emissions.
“This approach that’s left under the Clean Air Act, while it can be quite effective still, is going to be less flexible, potentially,” said David Doniger, senior strategic director for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “And it could have the unexpected effect of making the control of these emissions more expensive than it needed to be.”
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