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Archive of Environment on Monday November 02, 2009
OR: State lowballed cost of green tax breaks
State officials deliberately underestimated the cost of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's plan to lure green energy companies to Oregon with big taxpayer subsidies, resulting in a program that cost 40 times more than unsuspecting lawmakers were told, an investigation by The Oregonian shows. Read More
MD: Study calls Md. smart growth a flop
An innovative policy to fight suburban sprawl catapulted Maryland into the national spotlight a decade ago and became then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening's principal legacy. Read More
AL: Destructive cogongrass threatens crops, timber
An invader is on the march in the Deep South, wreaking ecological havoc, cutting production in timber and agricultural crops and creating an extreme fire danger along the way. Read More
AZ: DEQ director seeks higher business fees
Facing a cutback in state funding, the state's top environmental regulator wants businesses to pay more for the permits they need from his agency. Read More
CA: California may pull the plug on power-guzzling flat-screen TVs
SAN FRANCISCO -- The state that first championed the ban on energy-hogging refrigerators in the 1970s now has its sights set on power-hungry TVs. Read More
CO: Aspen biz group eyes taking on U.S. Chamber for its climate-denying ways
More Colorado companies and business organizations are piling on with the Obama administration in an escalating war of words with the rigidly conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate change and other points of contention. Read More
CT: State targets invasive plants
Connecticut authorities are hoping that new projects in four towns will help stop the spread of fast-growing invasive plants. Read More
FL: Endangered status sought for loggerhead sea turtles
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The number of loggerhead sea-turtle nests has plunged in recent years, prompting calls to reclassify the turtles as ``endangered.'' Read More
IA: DNR investigates manure runoff into NW Iowa stream
HALBUR, IOWA -- Department of Natural Resources officials are investigating a manure runoff from an open feedlot in Carroll County that affected at least five miles of a stream. Read More
ID: Doors slam on Idaho renters with companion animals
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Many Idaho landlords are breaking federal housing laws that involve renters with doctor-prescribed companion animals, an official with the Intermountain Fair Housing Council says. Read More
ID: Visitors to Idaho's state parks will notice the cuts made at the Department of Parks and Recreation
At a time when state recreational facilities are seeing an 11 percent increase in visitors, the department is cutting staff and pinching every penny. Read More
KS: Kansas high court backs ban on wind farms
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that Wabaunsee County commissioners have the right to prohibit the construction of commercial wind farms in their county. Read More
MA: Nantucket scallopers hope for bumper crop
NANTUCKET, Mass. — Fishermen motoring into Nantucket Harbor today for opening day of commercial scalloping season hope bountiful harvest projections will pan out, and wipe from memory last year's acrimonious winter of paltry catches and controversial regulations. Read More
MA: Tribes seek halt to proposed Cape Cod wind farm
MASHPEE, Mass. — From a blustery perch over a Cape Cod beach, Chuckie Green gestures toward a stretch of horizon where he says construction of the nation's first offshore wind farm would destroy his Indian tribe's religion. Read More
MA: Legislature eyes crackdown on toxics
Massachusetts lawmakers are considering tighter restrictions on the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products as a way to encourage the use of safer alternatives. Read More
MD: Climate change poses rising threat to marshland
BLACKWATER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Md. -- Tens of thousands of migrating waterfowl, one of the nation's largest populations of breeding bald eagles and the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel all call Cambridge's Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge home. And all are vulnerable to the rising sea levels that threaten coastal marshland. Read More
ME: Ground beef recall linked to illness in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine -- A New York-based manufacturer is recalling about 456,00 pounds of ground beef products after people become ill in Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts, according to the federal Food Safety and Inspection Service. Read More
ME: Maine's cranberry growers find their healthy product under siege
BANGOR, Maine -- This wasn't such a good summer for cranberries, a niche crop in Washington County, experts and berry farmers agree. Too much rain caused the cranberry vines to grow like crazy, putting all their energy into vines and none into berries. Read More
MN: Protected aquifer feared at risk
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Pooling underneath the Twin Cities area is drinking water so old and pristine that it's protected by state law. It can't be used for industrial purposes in the seven-county metro area. Read More
MO: Study will review purposes of Missouri River dams
A Missouri River study ordered by Congress will provide a long overdue review of the 1944 law that spelled out the purposes of the river's six dams, officials from states along the Missouri said Thursday. Read More
MS: $3.3M provided for Greenville port
The Port of Greenville has received $3.3 million in state grants to begin upgrades. Work will begin in 2010. Read More
NM: Lawmakers say governor using scare tactics on budget cuts
To some, it sounds like the latest in a list of Halloween-type scares: If Gov. Bill Richardson signs the budget cuts lawmakers approved last week, state parks could close, firefighters could get less training, public employees could be furloughed and there could be "an inability to provide sanitary conditions in parks statewide." Read More
NV: Companies vying to power Nevada's future
NV Energy's plan to build a transmission line to move electricity between the northern and southern parts of the state could unnecessarily stick ratepayers with a half-billion-dollar bill, the state's consumer advocate warns. Read More
OH: Global-warming bill to cost Ohio jobs, Voinovich says
To nobody's surprise, Sen. George V. Voinovich last week announced his firm opposition to a global-warming bill co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California. Read More
OR: Attorney general calls his justice agenda ambitious
John Kroger said he is busy in his first 10 months as attorney general trying to keep campaign promises to step up enforcement of consumer and environmental protection, and to redirect the criminal justice system. Read More
PA: Eligibility for LIHEAP slashed; 20,000 families may be left out
With Pennsylvania's unemployment rate at its highest in more than 20 years, fewer low-income residents will be able to receive help paying their heating bills this winter. Read More
RI: R.I. to distribute $2.3 million in federal aid for energy-efficiency projects
Help is finally on the way for middle-class people who want to make their houses more energy-efficient and save on heating bills. But the assistance is not quite here yet. Read More
SC: How the Boeing deal was done
A week before North Charleston landed a new Boeing jet assembly line, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham thought South Carolina had lost the deal. Read More
SC: Bringing Boeing to S.C. -- The art of the deal
Boeing had considered locating its first 787 Dreamliner assembly line on that chunk of property near Charleston International Airport in 2003. Unable to woo the aerospace giant from its home near Seattle at that time, state business leaders immediately looked toward a second chance. Read More
SD: Missouri River faces potential flooding threats next spring
FORT PIERRE, S.D. -- As the rain fell outside, there was no need to show drought-severity maps to the representatives of state, tribal and federal governments gathered Thursday to discuss management of the Missouri River. Read More
SD: Rounds -- River navigation must be part of talks
FORT PIERRE -- Gov. Mike Rounds called Friday for governments to take a 21st century approach for uses of the Missouri River. Read More
TN: Flood damage still not tallied
Officials from two of the Northwest Georgia counties hardest hit by flooding last month say they still are not sure just how much damage was done, even though state and federal emergency workers are gone. Read More
US: A bid to cut emissions looks away from coal
WASHINGTON — As Congress debates legislation to slow global warming by limiting emissions, engineers are tinkering with ways to capture and store carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping gas. Read More
UT: The highs and lows of Utah taxes
Imagine two homes with exactly the same $250,000 value, except that one is in the canyonlands country of Blanding and the other is near the crystal blue waters of Bear Lake. Read More
UT: Funds dwindling to oversee Utah's hazardous waste
Businesses that handle some of Utah's most dangerous materials are being inspected less often because of dwindling funds to pay for the work. Read More
VA: Forecast bad for Virginia apple orchards
Virginia's apple farmers are tasting the start of a rotten year. Read More
WA: In eastern Washington, big plans for solar power
CLE ELUM, Wash. -- Coal -- one of the dirtiest sources of energy around -- was once king in this Upper Kittitas County town. Now the vision is cleaner and greener because of a massive solar installation proposed for 580 acres of logged timberland about four miles northeast of the city limits. Read More
WI: Wis. officials consider waste-to-energy project
State environmental officials are considering plans for a new waste-to-energy project. Read More
WY: Study finds west is best for sleep
If you're feeling well rested this morning, it might be because you live out West. Read More
Spending limits, gambling top fiscal 2009 ballot measures
 The national spotlight may be focused Nov. 3 on elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, but voters elsewhere could take action to profoundly change the way their states get and spend taxpayers’ money.
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