Echo

Muskegon Area Environmental Excellence Awards handed out for environmental work

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(MI) Muskegon Chronicle – The 2009 Muskegon Area Environmental Excellence Awards presented by the Muskegon County Environmental Coordinating Council went to three individuals and one educational program. The winners are Susan Tate, adviser of the Whitehall Middle School Environmental Club; Jack Kennedy of river&woods DESIGNS; and the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Sarah Pregitzer, who for 32 years was a science instructor at Grant Middle School. She began an environmental science class and had her students involved in a yearlong study of human effects on the Muskegon River watershed, among other activities. More

Waste

Mural represents Carman-Ainsworth school’s growing interest in recycling

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(MI) Flint Journal – A little paint, creativity and a “garbage tree” are going a long way toward making the Flint area a more beautiful place. Students at Carman-Ainsworth’s Academic Acceleration Academy incorporated those elements into a mural to promote recycling in Flint. Their effort so impressed a grant committee that they received money from a fund usually reserved for outdoor projects. The students received $500 from the Ruth Mott Foundation, said Laura Hammond, educational specialist at AAA. More

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Waukesha prepares reply to queries on Lake Michigan water plan

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – After nearly five months, environmental groups monitoring the Water Utility’s bid for Lake Michigan water should get further details this week on the proposal to annually pipe billions of gallons to this city. On Jan. 7, six environmental agencies submitted several dozen questions to the utility seeking details of how it plans to replace its well water with water from Lake Michigan. The groups say the answers have been slow in coming, while city officials say it takes time to answer the detailed questions the groups have posed. Some environmentalists claim the utility has more interest in self-promotion than revealing details of its plans.

Echo

Up North utilities are giving more of their attention to renewable energy

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – In downtown L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula, a dormant 50-year-old coal plant smokestack is operating again. Instead of coal, the L’Anse Warden Electric Co. plant creates electricity and steam by burning biomass, such as old railroad ties, recycled tires and sawmill waste. The biomass plant is the first such plant to open in Michigan since the state passed a requirement for renewable energy last fall. More

Echo

Heading to Texas, Hudson’s Toxic Mud Stirs Town

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(NY) New York Times – There are not many towns in America that would welcome the 2.5 million cubic yards of toxic sludge being dredged from the bottom of the Hudson River in New York, but to hear Mayor Matt White tell it, Eunice is one of them. Storing waste nobody else wants means more jobs, Mr. White said, and the oil workers here are used to living with hazards. After all, there are several oil wells in the town itself. One of them is a block from City Hall.

Echo

Homeowner finds it’s not easy being green

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Daniel Hall said he wanted to put solar collection panels on the roof of his Canton home as a green way to generate hot water and cut his utility bill for his 3,600-square-foot home. The township gave him the permits, but the Pheasant View Homeowners’ Association turned down his project, saying that it wouldn’t be aesthetically compatible with the rest of the neighborhood. He can’t install the panels without the association’s approval because the township requires it. More

Echo

High-stakes carbon debate

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(IN) The Indianapolis Star – The stakes are high. On one side are leaders such as Gov. Mitch Daniels and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence who warn of the high cost to Indiana of a cap-and-trade program that would mean higher utility bills and job loss. Indiana, with its 90-percent dependency on coal for generating electricity, would be among the states hardest hit. On the other side are officials and experts, such as the four Purdue University professors writing on this page, who support giving industry incentives to find the cheapest ways to reduce emissions and warn of the high cost of doing nothing. More

Echo

Whitmore Lake company’s Mag-Lev train concept: Mass transit solution or idea that won’t get off the ground?

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(MI) Ann Arbor News – Picture a rail service in southeastern Michigan that runs along a track suspended above the freeway, traveling at speeds up to 200 mph. Imagine getting from Ann Arbor to Detroit in 10 minutes – and taking your car with you on the rail. And envision that service with on-demand cross-country travel that has personal suites with kitchens, as well as the ability to rent onboard space for commercial offices and private parties. Such a service also could have the ability to dispatch medical equipment and full teams to the scene of a car accident by rail. More

Echo

Pollution lightens wallets

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – Our national energy system is actually highly inefficient. In fact, for every unit of energy that’s produced, two units are thrown away — usually in the form of waste heat that power plants just vent into the atmosphere. That’s why Congress is considering a measure that would improve the efficiency of how power is generated. The result would be reduced demand on our electric grid, leading to a cleaner environment and more money in our pockets. More

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City cycling is a challenge and a treat

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – The owners of Wheelhouse Detroit, a year-old all-purpose biking outfit, have something else to prove — that riding on two wheels is the best way to get to know a place, even somewhere considered unfriendly to cyclists like the Motor City. Throughout the spring and fall, and occasionally in the summer, the store — run by Detroiters Karen Gage and Kelli Kavanaugh — hosts bike tours that range from about 10 miles to 30 miles or more. More