Click map to see facilities that use wood as a fuel source in Wisconsin.
By Rachael Gleason
Feb. 8, 2010
The Great Lakes region receives 4 percent of its energy needs from biomass resources, according to a regional biomass energy program. But some estimates put the potential for biomass at 15 to 20 percent.
Biomass resources include wood and other organic materials. People switch to wood energy to replace fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The University of Tennessee mapped industrial facilities using biomass power. For the Great Lakes region, see: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. And in Canada, see Ontario.
Read more…
By Alice Rossignol
Feb. 7, 2010
The IDEA Shanty uses Innovation, Design, Energy and Art to mix art and science. Photo: Joseph Rand
Each year as Medicine Lake thickens with ice, artists from across the nation flock here for a four-weekend celebration of art, science and the winter season.
Inspired by traditional ice-fishing houses, selected artists build unique temporary shanties on this Minnesota lake for a festival called the Art Shanty Projects. The shanties themselves are art, but they also house interactive art and science activities and performances for weekend visitors. This year’s exhibition ends today.
“We’re trying to raise the thought of who can be an artist and what art can be,” said Caitlin Hargarten, this year’s director.
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By Brandon Howell
Feb. 7, 2010
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan environmental agencies hope Monday’s White House Asian carp summit will prompt the closing of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal to the invaders.
Read more…
More Headlines
By Laura Fosmire
Feb. 6, 2010
LANSING, Mich. — The state has already approved one controversial mine in the Upper Peninsula, and now other companies are poised to start a similar lengthy permit application process. Read more…
Too many Lake Ontario Chinook salmon threaten the survival of the alewives they eat. Photo: GLERL
By Jeff Gillies
Feb. 5, 2010
(UPDATE: Michael Connerton, co-author of the research written about here, responded by email Monday to points he thought were omitted or exaggerated. Specific criticisms have been added in italics below. See more discussion of this article at Lake Ontario United.)
A biological balancing act between the premier Great Lakes sportfish and its prey could be at a tipping point in Lake Ontario.
Chinook salmon are the foundation of the Lake Ontario recreational fishery, which is worth $76 million to New York alone. But new research shows that the popular predators could be so abundant in the lake that there may not be enough alewives – the Chinook’s main prey fish – to go around.
Read more…
Resource managers are cracking down on anglers who leave trash on the ice. Photo: Minnesota DNR
By Rachael Gleason
Feb. 04, 2010
Resource officials in northern Great Lakes states are warning litterbug ice anglers to clean up their act.
Enforcement officers finding trash near favorite ice fishing spots are not pleased.
“It’s illegal to leave any garbage or litter on public lands or waters,” said Ken Soring, northeast regional manager at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “It’s a total lack of concern for the environment.” Read more…
By Haley Walker
Feb. 3, 2010
Surfer at Lake Michigan's Grand Haven Pier. Photo: Ingrid Lindfors.
As a father and as a resident of Grand Haven, Mich., Vince Deur said it’s natural for him to care about the future of the Great Lakes.
But that’s not what brought him in front of Congress last year to talk about water quality.
Deur is a surfer and founder of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit group linking surfers to environmental causes.
The organization has 90 chapters and 50,000 members worldwide. Deur’s chapter represents those who surf miles from any ocean.
Last February, Deur was asked by the Healing Our Waters Coalition, a group working to restore the Great Lakes, to lobby in Washington, D.C. on Great Lakes Day. He was the only surfer among 100 business leaders, lobbyists and activists discussing the restoration and protection of the lakes on Capitol Hill. (See surfing video below) Read more…
By Josh Garvey
Feb. 2, 2010
LANSING – Amid concern and confusion over Asian carp possibly finding their way into the Great Lakes, many experts involved in the controversy agree that other invasive species are likely to show up too. Read more…
Click map to see Pennsylvania's Superfund sites.
By Rachael Gleason
Feb. 1, 2010
Hazardous waste sites in Great Lakes states make up a third of the nation’s total, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity.
The Washington-based watchdog journalism group compiled a series of mashups to illustrate the spatial extent of Superfund sites.
Here are links to each state’s mashup: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Read more…
By Sarah Coefield
Jan. 30, 2010
This rover collects data in areas too shallow for boats and too dangerous for people. Photo: Tom Consi
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of stories on how new technology is giving researchers a glimpse of the critical nearshore area of the Great Lakes
When the water is too shallow for a boat and too dangerous for a person, it’s time to send in a robot researcher.
At least, that’s what Tom Consi hopes will be the mindset when he launches the remote operated vehicle he’s worked on for the past year.
“People need fundamental data in the surf zone, and our robot’s designed to go out and get it,” he said. Read more…
Great Links
(IL) Chicago Tribune – Every day, kids in the Chicago Public Schools district throw out nearly a quarter of a million lunch and breakfast trays made of polystyrene foam. That’s more than 1 million a week, about 5 million a month.
(MI) The Flint Journal - Here are the major contaminants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says are polluting the south part of Buick City complex (south of Leith Street, east to the Flint River and south to Harriet Street).
(WI) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - The Canadian and U.S. operators of the St. Lawrence Seaway have begun requiring freighters to flush their ship-steadying ballast tanks with ocean saltwater to kill or expel any unwanted organisms before they arrive in the Great Lakes.
(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - The focus of Monday’s White House Asian carp summit is to stop the giant, ecosystem-ravaging fish from slipping in the Great Lakes’ back door – the Chicago canal system that links the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
(IL) Chicago Tribune – A critical week in the battle against Asian carp kicks off Monday when Gov. Pat Quinn plans to meet with governors from Michigan and Wisconsin at the White House to hash out a plan to keep the invasive species out of the Great Lakes.
(WI) Green Bay Post-Gazette - As Midwestern governors prepare an “Asian carp summit” today at the White House, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox continues to sound the alarm. His voice must be heeded to avert what could be an ecological disaster across the world’s largest freshwater lakes system.
(MN) Duluth News Tribune - Visitors to this summer’s tall ship festival in Duluth will have the opportunity to not only tour replica ships at dock but also to sail aboard them.
(OH) Cleveland Plain Dealer - The Cleveland Cavaliers have removed all water fountains from The Q. To get a drink of water at the arena, you must stand in line at a concession stand, where you can get a small courtesy cup of water for free or pay $4 for bottled water.
(MN) Minneapolis Star-Tribune - Three Rivers Park District want an all-star cast of federal, state and local leaders to determine the future of the aging and money-draining Coon Rapids Dam.
(MI) The Detroit News - It was around 11 p.m. and Kathy Rinaldi had just let her Havanese, Lola, out for the last time that night. The dog let out a howl so violent it was more like a scream, Rinaldi said. She ran to the door and locked eyes with a coyote that had just attacked her 13-pound dog standing near the side door of her home on Belle Meade.
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