Echo
Municipal utilities hike rates for electricity
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Municipal electric utilities plan gradual rate increases this winter, and some have already implemented them to comply with federal environmental regulations and to keep local jobs.
Echo
Great Lakes utilities downsize workforce with shift from coal
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The closure of coal-fired power plants in Great Lakes states has utilities looking at options for workers.
New rules require new pollution control equipment, switching to cleaner energy sources or shutting down coal plants.
Echo
Trout brouhaha brews in Michigan’s U.P.
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Brook trout experts have asked the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to put on hold a proposal to double the brook trout creel limit in 10 streams in the Upper Peninsula.
They claim the proposal is more political than scientific.
Wildlife
Scraping the Internet for sales of Great Lakes invasive species
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Researchers are developing software to track the sale of invasive species on the Internet.
Often sellers and buyers of these plants and animals that can harm the environment are unaware that such sales are illegal.
Echo
Low water, high electric costs and cuts to Great Lakes shipping profits
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Low Great Lakes water means shippers have to lighten their loads. Vessels have run aground this summer and utility officials say operational costs increase when they have to import lighter and more numerous loads of coal.
Echo
Low water means low revenue for Great Lakes boating businesses
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Dropping water prompted some boaters to quit the season five weeks early.
That’s hurt Great Lakes marinas.
Some with plenty of water are isolated from customers who cannot reach them.
Climate
Climate change: Forest warming forces warming
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A Wisconsin forest was among the test sites where scientists found that warming temperatures will more rapidly release carbon dioxide stored in soils.
Such an increase of the greenhouse gas could make the climate heat even faster.
Echo
Heftier passengers cut tour boat, ferry capacity
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Tour and ferry boat operators this summer must consider the average weight of each passenger is 25 pounds more than last year.
The new regulation costs them passengers on capacity trips or expensive boat modifications.
Echo
Shoreline residents won’t go with flow on Lake Ontario plan
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A binational commission is planning more natural fluctuations of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
Supporters say it benefits wetlands. Others worry it will cause flooding and erosion.
Air
China second largest source of Great Lakes mercury pollution
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China is second to the U.S. in terms of contributing mercury into the Great Lakes basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.