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Consumers Energy trying to build new coal plant on coastal wetlands

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(MI) Bay City Times – Consumers Energy Co. is trying to strike a deal with state and federal regulators to build a new power plant on up to 170 acres of coastal wetlands in Bay County, environmental groups contend. The Lone Tree Council, a Bay City-area environmental group, obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act showing negotiations have been going on for a number of months between the company and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers. More

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Energy plants to fuel big jobs rally

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Aggressive lobbying for and against two proposed coal-fired power plants in Michigan is to begin today with a rally at the state Capitol expected to draw up to 2,000 hard hat-wearing construction workers eager for work. The “Put Us to Work” rally at 3 p.m. today was organized to show support for the power plants sought for Rogers City and Hampton Township near Bay City. More

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Utility defends rate proposal

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – We Energies says a lawsuit challenging the coal plants it is building in Oak Creek could be revived if regulators don’t authorize $5 million in funding for environmental initiatives as part of the utility’s rate increase proposal. The possibility of a renewed lawsuit was among several reasons the utility provided in a regulatory filing supporting its request for a 7% rate increase in 2010. More

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Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention

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(NY) The New York Times – Poking out of the ground near the smokestacks of the Mountaineer power plant here are two wells that look much like those that draw natural gas to the surface. But these are about to do something new: inject a power plant’s carbon dioxide into the earth. A behemoth built in 1980, long before global warming stirred broad concern, Mountaineer is poised to become the world’s first coal-fired power plant to capture and bury some of the carbon dioxide it churns out. More

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Solar energy moving in Michigan, but slowly

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By Joe Vaillancourt
Capital News Service
The University of Michigan competes with a prestigious solar car team. Start-up solar projects in Lansing and at Michigan State University (highlighted in the video to the right) show the potential of solar power in the state. Even signs along Michigan’s freeways are powered by the sun. Despite such advances in efficiency, experts say solar energy and self-sufficient homes aren’t in Michigan’s near future–and not because of weather. Costs, among other concerns, remain too high for most consumers.

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Departments to Toughen Standards for Mining

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(NY) New York Times – The Obama administration said Thursday that it would toughen standards for mountaintop-removal coal mining but would not end the practice as some environmental groups had hoped. Officials from four agencies said they had agreed to order a more rigorous legal and environmental review of pending and future applications for mountaintop mining in Appalachia. The technique involves blasting the tops off mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams. The practice has buried hundreds of miles of streams and has polluted water throughout the region. More

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With Billions at Stake, Trying to Expand the Meaning of ‘Renewable Energy’

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(NY) The New York Times – The definition of renewable energy seems clear cut: The sun continues to shine, so solar energy is renewable. The wind continues to blow, so wind turbines churn out renewable power. But industries are now pushing to have a growing number of other technologies categorized as renewable – or at least as environmentally advantageous. They include nuclear power plants and the burning of garbage and even the waste from coal mines. More

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Public comment period on new Bay County coal plant ends Wednesday

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(MI) Bay City Times – Wednesday is the last day for public comment on a draft air permit for a new coal-fired power plant in Bay County. So far, more than 1,000 comments have been received about the proposed Consumers Energy project, said Mary Ann Dolehanty, with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in Lansing. “The majority of them are form letters, that are probably 50-50 split,” for and against the new plant, a proposed $2.3 billion, 800-megawatt expansion to the Karn-Weadock complex in Hampton Township, said Dolehanty, acting permit section supervisor for the DEQ Air Quality Division. More

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Energy standards could reap economic benefits

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(MI) The Detroit News – Legions of lobbyists in Washington are doing battle over energy and climate change plans that will have profound impacts on Michigan families. One dynamic is clear — advocates of the status quo (big oil, gas and coal companies and their Capitol Hill allies) will bang the drum about increased energy costs for the already beleaguered American consumer. It’s frightening and has a powerful populist ring to it. But it’s not true.  More

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Great Lakes groups urge passage of Obama cleanup plan; cite jobs, environment benefits

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By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
May 14, 2009

Regional environmental and economic groups on Thursday urged Congress to quickly approve President Barack Obama’s proposed allocation of $475 million to restore and protect the Great Lakes. “This initiative, from our perspective, is the exact priorities the Great Lakes need, and the right amount,” said Andy Buchsbaum, co-chair of Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. The proposal allocates the most money – $146 million – to cleaning toxic substances from contaminated sediments. Other funding would go to keeping out and removing invasive species, preventing pollution, improving near-shore health and protecting habitat and wildlife. The president has not identified specific geographic regions that would receive the funding.