Solar panels still generate electricity on cloudy days and in cold weather, albeit less.
Clouds cut output as less sunlight reaches the panels, but they continue producing power from indirect light. Snow cover can temporarily block light, though it is typically not obstructed by thin layers of snow. Additionally, most solar panels in the U.S. run more efficiently in cooler weather, as heat lowers performance.
Winter generation can be lower due to shorter days, notably at middle latitudes; cities like Denver receive nearly three times more solar energy in June than December. This mainly affects what share of a home’s electricity solar covers, especially where heating raises demand. Average winter electricity use of U.S. homes is estimated to be six times that of summer use.
Despite seasonal dips, solar still displaces fossil fuel electricity over the year, delivering large net emissions reductions across a panel’s multi-decade lifespan.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Do solar panels work in cold or cloudy climates? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Republican lawmakers have heard farmers’ concerns about President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda. Their response? Short-term pain, long-term gain.
Farmers faced a shrunken export market and operating costs after Trump enforced steep tariffs on key trading partners and farm materials last year. In response, the Trump administration will begin disbursing a $12 billion bailout to farmers due to “unfair market disruptions” at the end of this month.
Republican lawmakers from Wisconsin, a major agricultural producer, acknowledge the 2025 to 2026 crop season challenges, which resulted in an estimated $34.6 billion in losses for the industry, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. But they’re arguing that the success of specialty crops and rosier-than-expected economic indicators are evidence farmers can withstand any turmoil the tariffs have caused.
“Our farmers understand that we have to level the playing field. And how do you do that? You do that with these tariffs,” U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden said. “In order to get to the long term, you have to get through the short term, and that’s the reason that this money’s going back to people in the agriculture industry.”
A bipartisan group of agricultural experts said the Trump administration’s policies have “significantly damaged” the American farm economy in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leadership this month, as first reported by The New York Times.
“It is clear that the current Administration’s actions, along with Congressional inaction, have increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag research and staffing,” they wrote.
Wisconsin agriculture experts told NOTUS the administration’s bailout is undesirable and insufficient to cover many farmers’ lost revenue this year.
“They don’t solve the long-run problem of higher input costs and low prices; they are a Band-Aid to get us through this short-term problem,” said Paul Mitchell, the director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Agriculture professor and economist Steven Deller, also of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had a similar view.
“We’re hemorrhaging thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, and they’re giving us pennies,” Deller said, adding that farmers want “fair markets” and a “level playing field.”
Republicans in the state, however, are standing behind the president’s agenda, pointing to the administration’s stated goal to boost the manufacturing industry through baseline tariff rates for all countries, reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
“Wisconsin, at the end of the day, is going to benefit as we bring manufacturing back to the state,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the likely GOP nominee for governor.
He blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement for sending manufacturing companies packing for cheaper operations in China. Trump replaced NAFTA during his first term in office with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a deal Tiffany applauded.
Trump administration officials have defended tariffs in cable television appearances and in congressional hearings as key to transforming the American economy, even as some agricultural industries languish. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on whether instability in the agricultural markets is a result of Trump’s tariff policies.
“It has nothing to do with the tariffs,” Bessent said.
Still, there are some signs the administration could be responsive to the backlash. The Trump administration is planning to roll back tariffs on some steel and aluminum goods due to concerns the tariffs are hurting consumers, the Financial Times reported.
The soybean industry is one of the hardest hit by tariffs, which temporarily cost farmers the U.S.’ largest soybean trading partner, China. Although China fulfilled its initial purchase agreement last month and has agreed to purchase tens of millions more metric tons over the next few years, American soybean producers withstood an unprecedented five consecutive months without purchases by China.
This story was produced and originally published by Wisconsin Watch and NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute.
Republicans are looking past the short-term pain of Trump’s tariffs is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
A new utility-backed study finds it may cost the city of Superior around $300 million to move ahead with a contested takeover of electric, water and gas utilities run by a privately-owned company.
The post Superior wants to take over a private utility’s assets. One study puts the price around $300M appeared first on WPR.
Since 2024, there's been a bit of a migration into northern Wisconsin's sprawling 7th Congressional District by people hoping to represent its residents in Washington D.C. Voter registration records show half of the eight candidates running to succeed Republican Tom Tiffany of Minocqua recently listed primary voting addresses outside the 7th district and even outside Wisconsin.
The post Half the candidates for Wisconsin House seat recently lived outside district or state appeared first on WPR.
The ultimate goal of the city’s Vacant to Value program is to remove neighborhood blight by making old homes new again, with the nearly free properties potentially netting significant savings to the buyer.
The post Superior looks to fight housing blight — a dollar at a time appeared first on WPR.
Aerius Benton-Banai grew up going to protests with her late grandfather, who was a cofounder of the American Indian Movement of the 1960s. Now, she is sharing jingle dress dances on social media in solidarity with immigrants.
The post Jingle dress dancer goes digital to carry on family legacy of Ojibwe activism appeared first on WPR.
For weeks, it looked like a deal might be struck between legislative Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers to use some of the state’s $2.5 billion surplus to provide both tax relief and money for schools.
But those talks fell apart early last week.
The post Wisconsin’s state Assembly adjourned without changes to school funding appeared first on WPR.
After a transformational 15 years as head coach of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls football team, Matt Walker is leaving for Drake University.
The post Matt Walker leaves UW-River Falls after national championship to coach at Drake University appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin had its fair share of athletes representing the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Including Jordan Stolz who took home two gold medals and one silver.
The post Athletes with ties to Wisconsin bring home gold at 2026 Winter Olympics appeared first on WPR.
A psychologist visited WPR's "The Larry Meiller Show" to troubleshoot ideas on how we can cut back on our screen time.
The post How to disconnect from your phone appeared first on WPR.
The sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago will end Monday afternoon, after spearers got close to hitting the harvest cap for adult female sturgeon.
The post Sturgeon spearing season ending early on Lake Winnebago appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin feels more like winter than it has in years. The weather has been colder than normal so far, and big storms dumped a lot of snow on the state. That’s boosted winter businesses and events that have struggled with recent warm winters.
The post Snowy season boosts northern Wisconsin tourism, but winters are becoming unreliable appeared first on WPR.
A veteran school bus driver is being hailed as a hero after her quick thinking helped keep dozens of students safe during a crash that took place on the way to a basketball game.
Linda Christophersen, 75, affectionately known as “Miss Linda” to students at Vernonia High School, was driving the boys and girls basketball teams to a game at Nestucca High School Feb. 13. An oncoming vehicle crossed the center line and struck the bus on Highway 101, about five miles from the teams’ destination.
Christophersen’s daughter Tonya Langley told local news reporters that her mom saw the vehicle edging into her lane and reacted immediately.
“She could see the vehicle coming at her was crowding the center line, so she started crowding the fog line as much as she could,” Langley recounted. “She yelled, ‘Hold on,’ and then when it hit, the bus tried to go to the left and then immediately went to the right into the bank. She did everything she could to try to hold it.”
Despite the impact, Christophersen brought the school bus to a controlled stop. Langley said her mother’s first concern was not her own injuries, but the students on board.
“She goes, ‘I’m fine but it’s not about me.’ She immediately [turned her attention] to the kids. It was all about the kids and how the kids were,” Langley said.
In a statement to families, Jim Helmen, superintendent of the Vernonia School District, confirmed that the student-athletes, coaches and the Christopherson were safe following the school bus crash.
One student experienced a seizure during the school bus crash and was transported to Tillamook Hospital for evaluation. Another student sustained an injury but did not require hospital transport. Emergency responders evaluated Christopherson and all her passengers at the scene.
Helmen also praised Christophersen’s actions.
“I would like to recognize our bus driver, Linda, for her professionalism and composure in responding to a very difficult situation. Her training and steady response helped maintain stability and student safety during the incident,” he wrote.
The superintendent thanked first responders, including the Oregon State Police, who responded to the scene and took statements.
Helmen also expressed gratitude to the Nestucca School District for assisting students and staff after the crash. Nestucca administrators worked with law enforcement to help transport Vernonia students from the scene to Nestucca High School, where parents provided food and counseling support for students who were understandably shaken. The school also opened its library as a quiet space for students and staff.
“It was shared with me by Nestucca administration that our students were very respectful, thankful and represented the Vernonia community extremely well,” Helmen wrote. “That is something we can all be proud of.”
The superintendent further thanked Girls and Boys Basketball coaches David Weller and Ken Ellis, Athletic Director Justin Ward, and Principal Nate Underwood for their leadership during the incident, as well as Shelley H. and Rob Curl of Curls Transportation Co. for their quick response in dispatching another bus.
Friday evening’s basketball games were canceled.
A few days after the school bus crash, Christophersen was sore but recovering well. She declined an interview request, but her daughter said the recognition is well-deserved.
“My mom has never known her own worth, and she’s never put herself out there,” Langley said via local news reports. “It just made me very, very proud.”
Christophersen began driving a school bus after her husband passed away because she wanted to stay active and involved in the community. Her experience behind the wheel stretches back decades — from driving dump trucks for the family business to navigating rugged logging roads long before it was common to see women in the industry.
Today, she’s known for decorating her bus, bringing treats for students and even chaperoning prom. And despite the frightening crash, Langley said her mother is eager to return to work.
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The post Oregon School District Honors School Bus Driver for Composure During Crash appeared first on School Transportation News.
Most school days start the same way: Students waiting for a ride to school. One
student might use a wheelchair, while another could be autistic and communicates
with an Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) device, and a third might be medically fragile. The school bus driver is trying to keep everyone safe while staying on schedule. Transportation is more than logistics. It is the first and last part of the school day, and adaptive technology is now part of how teams make that work.
On the bus, adaptive technology means tools or systems that adjust to students’ needs so they can ride safely, communicate and stay included with their peers. This might look like a wheelchair lift and securement system, an AAC device or communication board mounted where a student can reach it, a driver tablet with live routing, or an app that lets a family know the bus is three minutes away instead of “sometime soon.”
For many students with disabilities, these supports are not extras. They extend the services districts already provide under the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, so students can get to the learning they are entitled to.
Safety By Design, Not Just Experience
Anyone who has driven a route knows skill and instincts matter. But safety cannot rest on skill alone. It has to be baked into how routes are planned, how roles are defined, and what information drivers and aides have in front of them. The right technology links what drivers, aides, schools, students and families see, so people are not guessing when something changes or goes wrong.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, ridership tracking and stop-arm cameras give leaders a clearer picture of what actually happens on the road. For students who use mobility devices, need extra time or cannot easily explain what happened if there’s an incident, that level of visibility can be the difference between “we think” and “we know.”
Access, Dignity and Communication On Every Ride
Safety comes first, but anyone who has stepped onto a bus after a rough morning knows the atmosphere matters, too. The ride can either calm a student and get them ready to learn or drain them before they ever reach the building. Transportation is only truly accessible when students with disabilities can ride with safety, comfort and dignity, not just a seat.
Lifts and securement systems let students who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices board, ride and exit safely without being lifted or handled in ways that feel unsafe or embarrassing. Predictable routes and consistent routines help students who rely on structure know what comes next. This reduces anxiety and the kind of “acting out” that is often really “I don’t understand what is happening.”
But here is the part that often gets overlooked: Communication is a daily pain point for drivers and aides, and it shows up as child misbehavior. When a student loses or is denied their usual way of communicating on the bus, whether that is with an AAC device, a picture board, or a simple yes/no system, they do not stop needing to communicate. They have to show it in other ways. In addition to speech, many students need AAC devices, communication boards, or simple response systems to ask for the bathroom, say they feel sick, or tell an adult another student is bothering them.
When these tools are turned off, taken away or never offered on the bus, frustration builds. Keeping a student’s communication system available on the bus and making sure drivers and aides know the basics of how it works changes that dynamic. It lets staff respond before a situation boils over and gives students a safer, more respectful way to say what they need. Simple visual supports, such as clear signage, visual schedules, or symbols on seats or stops, paired with clear directions, also help students track where they are in the routine, reducing escalation and confusion.
Supporting the Workforce and Improving Retention
Safety stands on the shoulders of people who plan and provide this vital service. Adaptive technology can make their jobs clearer and more sustainable, or it can feel like one more thing dumped on an already heavy load. When used well, routing software and driver tablets cut down on last-minute radio calls and trying to read paper directions in the dark. New or substitute drivers can see turn-by-turn directions, key student information and alerts in one place instead of piecing it together from memory and sticky notes. Ridership tracking and telematics, when used for coaching and recognition, give supervisors a fairer, more accurate picture of driver performance than a handful of complaints. In a world of driver shortages, tight budgets and aging buses, the way technology is rolled out can either support retention or undermine it. Drivers notice whether tools are there to support them in keeping students safe while managing complex routes.
What’s Coming Next and Where to Start?
Adaptive technology is moving fast and getting more affordable. School districts are starting to see smarter video analytics that flag repeated problems at the same
stop, deeper integration of student plans and transportation platforms, and cleaner, more connected fleets that change what is possible on long or complex routes. These
changes bring new questions about safety, privacy, staff expectations, and they demand clear leadership rather than one-off purchases. The good news is that transportation leaders do not need to adopt everything at once.
A practical starting point is to pilot one adaptive tool, especially one that directly supports communication, on a small set of routes and gather feedback. Pair that with
hands-on training, not just a memo, so staff can try the technology in a low-stakes condition before using it in rush-hour traffic.
Most importantly, work with special education and school teams so communication tools and behavior plans on the bus match what is happening in the classroom. The question is no longer whether adaptive technology will shape student transportation, but how transportation teams will direct that change so rides are safer, staff feel supported and every student arrives at school with their dignity and communication intact.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the February 2026 issue of School Transportation News.
Glenna Wright-Gallo served as the assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 2023 to 2025, overseeing the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. She currently is the vice president of the office of strategic research and policy for Everway, an education and workplace technology provider for
people with disabilities.
Related: (STN Podcast E286) End of Year Review: Safety & Technology Trends of 2025
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The post School Bus Adaptive Technology: Safer Rides, Stronger Teams, Better Access appeared first on School Transportation News.
Students boarding and exiting school buses in the loading zone are critical safety moments with the potential for tragedy. At STN EXPO East, longtime school transportation professional Derek Graham will break down safety strategies to mitigate student injuries and fatalities alongside two transportation directors.
Following Graham’s session presenting the illegal passing trends and federal safety recommendations on Sunday, March 30, he returns Monday to moderate the panel “Strategies to Remove Danger from the Loading/Unloading Zone.” Joining Graham are panelists Keba Baldwin from Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, the 2026 STN Transportation Director of the Year, and Kris Hafezizadeh, executive director of transportation and vehicle services at Austin Independent School District in Texas.
Graham will review data from the Kansas Department of Education’s annual survey of school bus loading zone fatalities, looking at incidents where either students were struck by oncoming vehicles or killed by being hit or dragged by the bus itself. With recent headlines of autonomous vehicles either illegally passing school buses or hitting student pedestrians, there are new modern technology concerns for students in the loading zone.
The panelists will discuss how these school bus loading zone incidents need to be viewed in the greater student safety discussion with visuals to illustrate the areas of high concern. They will also cover the integral aspects of tackling this issue, including education, engineering, and enforcement. This will broach topics such as driver training, motorist awareness, predictive lighting and signage technology and working with law enforcement incorporating automatic enforcement systems.
The panelists will discuss the need to present a unified message of safety training to students, drivers, parents and.
Register for the STN EXPO East conference today and receive access to five days of educational sessions, hands-on training, unique networking events, product demonstrations and updates on the latest industry happenings. Find the full agenda and register at stnexpo.com/east.
Related: NTSB to Provide School Bus Investigation Updates at STN EXPO East
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Related: STN EXPO East to Share Importance of School Bus Video Review
The post STN EXPO East Addresses Safety Concerns in School Bus Loading Zone appeared first on School Transportation News.
Denver Fire Department crews battle flames in Boulder County, Colo., on Dec. 30, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a climate lawsuit brought by the city and county of Boulder, in which oil companies are seeking to avoid being tried in state court. (Photo courtesy of Denver Fire Department)
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a significant climate lawsuit in which oil companies are seeking to avoid being tried in state court.
The fate of several dozen climate lawsuits brought against oil companies by state and local governments could hinge on the decision, which could determine whether the cases should be tried in state or federal court. The suits seek to force oil companies to pay billions of dollars to help governments grapple with the costs of climate-related damages, such as natural disasters, rising sea levels and drought.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc., which have been sued by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, are attempting to move the suit to federal court. That would allow them to argue that they followed national regulations when extracting and selling their products. Oil companies have claimed that federal rules around greenhouse gas emissions should preempt efforts to sue them under state laws — and they think they have a better chance of winning in federal court.
But the roughly three dozen state and local governments that have sued oil companies in recent years argue that the cases belong in state court. Many of the lawsuits cite state consumer protection and fraud laws, along with evidence that the companies knew about the risks of climate change while downplaying it in public.
The states of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as many more cities, counties and tribes, have all filed lawsuits against oil companies over climate change.
Previous efforts to move such lawsuits to federal court have been denied by federal judges, with the Supreme Court declining to hear challenges to those rulings.
If the Supreme Court were to move the Boulder case to federal court, it would be a major win for oil companies, who have long claimed that national regulations such as the Clean Air Act should supersede state laws. Such a ruling could open the door for many of the other cases to be removed from state courts, where the state and local governments feel they have stronger leverage.
The case could also be complicated by the Trump administration’s recent repeal of the endangerment finding, the scientific determination that underpinned the federal government’s regulations of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. With the feds stepping back from climate regulation, some observers believe the oil companies will have a harder time claiming that state lawsuits fall under the scope of federal policy.
In a written statement to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prior to the repeal of the endangerment finding, a group of investor-owned electric utilities raised that concern. The Edison Electric Institute, in its letter to the agency, said that federal greenhouse gas emissions helped “protect the power sector” from legal claims by “displacing” lawsuits over companies’ role in contributing to climate change.
“Should EPA remove its regulation of [greenhouse gases], it increases the likelihood that environmental non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, citizen groups, and other parties will seek to bring new tort suits and other litigation to test the bounds of continued [Clean Air Act] displacement of federal common law,” the group wrote.
Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
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