The Environmental Protection Agency is beginning to send nearly 5,000 electric buses to school districts around the country after a nearly two-year ramp-up. A few Midwestern districts weigh in on how the new buses are working so far. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s60/audio/2024/01/electricbuses-featureweb.mp3 The yellow buses lined up after school in the Ralls County School District look nearly identical….
State’s top utility regulator up for Senate confirmation vote.
Freezing rain expected. Total ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch.
Below are some weather-related closures and resources you may need. This post will be updated at various times.
Very cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 10 to 20 below zero.
“I’m continuing to watch a more significant storm system that’s expected to impact the Midwest during the middle of next week, roughly January 9-10.” – Chambana meteorologist Andrew Pritchard.
Earth last year shattered global annual heat records, flirted with the world’s agreed-upon warming threshold and showed more signs of a feverish planet, the European climate agency said Tuesday. The European climate agency Copernicus said the year was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s barely below the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit…
Legislation in Congress would expand a federal grant and loan program that helps producers of biofuels and other biomanufactured products build and expand their facilities. A Congressional bill proposed by Midwestern representatives from both parties is aimed at spurring innovation in biofuel technology and increasing its production. The Agriculture Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity Act, or…
The National Weather Service in Lincoln issued a Winter Weather Advisory for central Illinois, including Champaign-Urbana and Danville.
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law Friday that will lift the three-decade moratorium on developing nuclear reactors. The law, which takes effect in June 2024, will allow the development of generation IV power plants, which are also known as small modular reactors or SMRs. Currently Illinois, and most other states, use generation II reactors. Illinois generates…
It adds a study on the risks of new nuclear technology and puts a state agency in charge of oversight, issues missing from the original plan.
From NWS Lincoln: Minor disturbances will affect the area tonight and Monday night, bringing a mix of light rain and snow. No snow accumulation or travel impacts are expected.
After seven years of construction, less than half of the 24-mile Kickapoo Rail Trail in east-central Illinois has been completed. But now, the project could be finished in the next two years, thanks to a state grant. An $11.2 million grant, awarded through the state’s Rebuild Illinois Capital plan will pay for the completion of the walking and bike path.
As world leaders gather at COP28, the annual climate change negotiations held in Dubai this year, one number will be front and center: 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s the amount countries have agreed to limit warming to by the end of the century. The world is already perilously close to that number. Since…
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Lincoln are forecasting the first snow of the season Sunday for parts of central Illinois. The accumulation will range from a dusting to an inch of snow. Below are the latest forecasts and updates from the NWS, meteorologist Andrew Pritchard, and IPM News team members.