Rural

Several Connecticut environment groups and companies are taking the state to federal court over the legislature’s decision to remove money from state energy funds in the two-year budget passed in October. The Connecticut Fund for the Environment and 11 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Tuesday in order to stop the $165 million sweep.Using the funding for other than its intended purpose is a breach of the contracts clause of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs argue. [node:read-more:link]

The outdoor recreation industry is a critical engine for the national economy, larger in size than the agriculture and fossil fuel mining and drilling sectors, according to a recent Department of Commerce report. The report also said that rural communities and small business owners are a key ingredient in the growing economic engine. [node:read-more:link]

NeighborWorks America announced today that in 2017, members of the NeighborWorks network leveraged nearly $3.6 billion of investment in rural communities. A total of 166 NeighborWorks organizations – 67.5 percent of the network – serve rural America. In 2017, NeighborWorks members created or maintained more than 35,000 jobs in rural communities. Facilitating access to financial services and other programs that create ladders of opportunity is critical for people in rural communities. A recent NeighborWorks America consumer finance survey found that 46 percent of U.S. [node:read-more:link]

According to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there has been significant increase in instances of vector-borne diseases across the U.S., with reported cases of diseases transmitted through the bites of blood-feeding ticks, mosquitos, and fleas nearly tripling nation-wide over a 13-year span. [node:read-more:link]

Rural entrepreneurship can help stimulate local economies by creating local jobs and providing goods and services that improve the quality of life of nearby residents. However, as Reynolds et al. (1995) note, rural entrepreneurs can face difficulties through lack of sufficient capital, infrastructure, and access to educated labor. These hardships often result in lower firm entry rates when compared to urban areas and businesses characterized as low-income and low-growth. [node:read-more:link]

Trump administration officials are worried about a Health and Human Services report on a class of chemicals that could be a "public relations nightmare." The HHS study indicated that the chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, present a risk to health at levels far lower than EPA previously determined. The chemicals have already been found in drinking water and groundwater at levels beyond what EPA says is safe near 126 U.S. military locatio [node:read-more:link]

With dangerously low snowpack levels across the state, Colorado is facing a severe water shortage. We take a look at what that means for rivers, wildfires, and the future of water use in the West. [node:read-more:link]

Community health centers in Texas that helped thousands of people during and after Hurricane Harvey have new crisis-response tools from Facebook that could enhance their ability to reach victims when a hurricane hits. The hurricane season officially starts next month. [node:read-more:link]

This county-level picture of the food retailing landscape also provides a starting point for measuring access to healthy, affordable food—a measure explored in more detail in another ERS mapping tool, the Food Access Research Atlas. The Food Access Research Atlas allows users to investigate multiple measures of access at the census tract level. These measures include a population’s distance from residence to a large grocery store, supermarket, or supercenter; household availability of a vehicle to drive to the stores; and the poverty rate and median family income for census tracts. [node:read-more:link]

The Maryland Legislature approved the Fiscal Year 2019 State Operating Budget that includes funds to support the Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF), a key step forward in addressing disparities in the State’s rural areas.  The Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund will receive $6,000,000 in funding for targeted investment to promote economic prosperity in Maryland’s traditionally disadvantaged and undeserved rural communities. [node:read-more:link]