Echo

Deal struck to exempt some ships from pollution regulations

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(MI) The Detroit News – Congressional negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that would effectively exempt 13 shipping companies that haul iron ore, coal and other freight on the Great Lakes from a proposed federal rule meant to reduce air pollution. The Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents the 55 U.S.-flagged vessels that operate on the lakes, had asked for at least a partial exemption from rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that would require large vessels operating within 200 miles of a U.S. coast to use cleaner — and costlier — fuel and improve engine technology. More

Echo

DTE Energy planning major ‘smart grid’ investment

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(MI) Ann Arbor.com – Electricity customers in the Ann Arbor region will receive an infusion of “smart grid” technology for their power-monitoring equipment within five years. Detroit-based DTE Energy today landed an $83.8 million grant to accelerate expansion of its SmartCurrents program, which involves installing various high-tech power monitoring technologies to replace outdated analog meters. More

Echo

Local MSU programs may be in peril

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(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – Some officials expect Gov. Jennifer Granholm to line-item veto funding for Michigan State University’s research and extension offices. “I think it’s a safe assumption,” said Patrick Cudney, north region director of MSU Extension. The state allocates $64 million a year to MSU Extension and Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station. But October’s payment was $5 million short, and no one seems to know why. More

Energy

New industry promises jobs and greener cars

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(ON) The Toronto Star – Tiny nano-crystals derived from forest-industry wood waste are added to car paint. They make the coating more resistant to scratches, chips and sunlight. Changing their alignment alters their colour, without toxic dyes or pigments. The technology, being developed in Ontario, is at least several years away. But it’s part of a new industry that promises jobs here and greener vehicles around the world.

Echo

Food, Humanity, Habitat and How We Get to 2050

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(NY) The New York Times – According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, feeding humanity in 2050 – when the world’s population is expected to be 9.1 billion – will require a 70 percent increase in global food production, partly because of population growth but also because of rising incomes. The organization hopes that this increase can be brought about by greater productivity on current agricultural acreage and by greening parts of the world that aren’t now arable. It is also “cautiously optimistic” that, even with climate change, there will be enough land and probably enough water to do so. It’s important to look at this projection in light of another United Nations goal – preserving biodiversity – and ask whether the two are compatible. More

Echo

Indiana University awarded $5 million for Great Lakes environment project

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(IN) Indiana University – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Indiana University a $5 million grant to continue a project that measures levels of airborne toxic chemicals being deposited in the Great Lakes. The Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) project is led at IU by Ronald Hites, Distinguished Professor, and by Ilora Basu, a research scientist in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The project began in 1990 under an agreement between the U.S. EPA and Environment Canada. Indiana University has been in charge of the U.S. portion of the study since 1994. The grant announced today continues the project for five years.

Echo

For all the ‘global cooling’ people out there …

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(MI) The Mudpuppy – Almost every time there’s a post on Mlive about climate change or global warming, one or more people usually chime in about “global cooling.” The Associated Press also has heard the talk about global cooling, it seems, and has done some checking. Not true, folks. More

Echo

Man’s best friend, mankind’s worst enemy?

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(ON) The Toronto Star – A new book on sustainability suggests there is an environmental disaster lurking in your home. Maybe he’s looking at you right now, tongue hanging out, waiting for you to put down the newspaper and take him for his morning walkies. According to New Zealand-based researchers Robert and Brenda Vale, large household pets chew up more resources than over-sized cars. And they are ever-so-gently suggesting that you might want to get rid of them. More

Echo

Anhydrous ammonia leak at Dow AgroSciences under control

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(MI) Bay City Times – A small chemical leak caused about 15 minutes of excitement here today. About 2:45 p.m., a 10,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank sprung a leak at Dow AgroSciences, 305 N. Huron (M-25), said Harbor Beach Fire Chief John Lermont. “There was a malfunction on a tank and a small leak,” Lermont said. “They have precautionaries set up and a deluge system so everything was contained to the area. Everything worked out fine.” More

Land

Welcome to Milliken State Park

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – This park is the perfect way to honor the former governor, who was devoted to protecting Michigan’s natural resources and to ensuring public access to them — at the same time championing the state’s cities, especially Detroit; hence his “odd couple” relationship, as he called it, with Coleman Young. Milliken said he was far happier to have a park named after him than a building somewhere in Lansing. But he was at his best discussing how bad various kinds of divisiveness have been for Michigan and for metro Detroit. More