Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump hosts UK prime minister at White House for critical talks on Ukraine; Low marks for NC Congress members in 2024 conservation scorecard; Why carbon offsets often don't work, explained; Ohio regional transit group plans shift to 'green' hydrogen for bus fleet; 'Egg-citing' ID bill lowers barriers for raising backyard chickens.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily newscast, February the 28th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Trump said that he and UK Prime Minister Kirstein Damer discussed steps to achieve a ceasefire in the Ukraine war today at the White House.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with Trump tomorrow to sign a minerals deal.

That was CNN.

In other White House news, they report GOP senators who met with Elon Musk said the Department of Government Efficiency was open to more coordination with Capitol Hill and that Republicans encouraged DOJ to be more transparent.

CNN notes that Trump said tariffs at 25 percent on Mexican and Canadian goods will take effect on March the 4th, also threatening to impose an additional 10 percent on Chinese imports on the same date.

Next to North Carolina, where lawmakers in the Congress received mixed reviews.

In the new League of Conservation Voters scorecard.

The scorecard ranks members of Congress on their 2024 votes.

North Carolina senators received 0 percent.

House members fared better at 47 percent.

Dan Crawford with the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters says 2024 was the tale of two leaders for the state and Congress.

You have ones that care about clean air, clean water, and protecting the North Carolina natural landscape.

And then you have other types of leaders that wanna protect the profits of polluters and choose not to support democracy.

Votes considered in the scorecard broke down into five categories, climate, conservation, democracy, dirty energy, and healthy communities.

The organization looked at other votes such as judicial confirmations, including that of Nicole Berner in the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which includes North Carolina.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

And there's a growing consensus among experts that carbon offsets, which are meant to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, are not an effective tool for fighting climate change, and in some cases, may do more harm than good.

Meaning they're paying someone else to reduce emissions in some other way, explains Tina Swanson, a senior scientist at the environmental nonprofit Project Drawdown.

She adds there are major issues with the way the system, now an estimated $800 billion market, works.

There's the math problem, there's the credibility problem, and there's the moral hazard problem.

As a result of these problems, Swanson says many carbon offsets provide few to no benefits.

Others actively make climate change worse by enabling polluters like the meat and dairy industry to avoid making any changes.

In Kentucky, a new carbon credit program is aiding forest landowners by financially rewarding them for carbon reduction initiatives.

Nadia Ramlegon reporting.

A 2017 study by the European Commission found 85 percent of offsets used by the European Union under their clean development mechanism did not reduce carbon emissions.

This story produced with original reporting from Seth Milstein for Sentiment.

This is public news service.

One of the nation's largest hydrogen powered transit fleets wants to switch to a cleaner and locally produced fuel source as part of a federally funded clean hydrogen hub.

The Stark Area Regional Transit Authority plans to produce renewable green hydrogen for its fuel cell buses.

The authority's 22 hydrogen powered buses provide about 5,000 rides daily in the Canton area.

Authority CEO, Kurt Conrad, says they currently use what's known as gray hydrogen, made from natural gas, imported from Canada and delivered by diesel trucks.

He says the goal is to make their own hydrogen.

Earlier on, we wanted green hydrogen, but it wasn't available in the marketplace.

At some point in time, you've got to move forward, but probably 10 years into it now, where actually the technology and that stuff has caught up, they were able to do on-site green.

He says the authority is partnering with Enbridge and the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub to make a green hydrogen on site.

Project involves installing 1,000 solar panels to generate about a megawatt of electricity.

I'm Mark Richardson.

This story produced in original reporting by Kathy and Kowalski for Canary Media.

And Alabama lawmakers are weighing a proposal to overhaul the state's bail system.

House Bill 42, sponsored by Senator Christopher England of Tuscaloosa, would amend the Alabama Bail Reform Act, allowing courts to accept a partial cash deposit from a defendant instead of requiring the full bell amount if approved by a judge.

Senator England says the change would keep more money within the court system, which would benefit both the state and people who are owed restitution.

It affords a defendant an opportunity to get out and pay cash directly to the court.

And what that does is in the event that that person then does not return, the court keeps the cash, pays fines, pays court costs and also pays restitution.

Under the current law, a defendant must pay the full cash bail amount up front in order to be released before trial, Shantia Hudson reporting.

Finally, a bill in the Idaho legislature would lower restrictions for allowing chickens in residential areas.

The impetus for the legislation from Senator Tammy Nichols, a Republican from Middleton, is in part high prices and the shortage of eggs at the grocery store.

Senate Bill 1026 would ensure that homeowners associations could not bar residents from raising up to four chickens per one fifth of an acre.

Ariel Agenbrod focuses on food systems and small farms at the University of Idaho Extension.

Most people eat more than four chickens a year, but for egg laying, if a chicken is laying an egg every other day, that can be a significant number of eggs that can be used by that family or that household.

Critics of the bill have said the chickens could potentially disrupt neighbors.

Other concerns have been raised, including the spread of diseases like salmonella, noise, and odor.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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