Billings Mayor Ron Tussing announced today that he will run for a seat on the state Public Service Commission. If elected, Tussing said he will step down as mayor for the remainder of his term, which ends in December 2009.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/28/news/local/22-tussing.txt
USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, citing a lack of funding, has informed Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission that it can’t finance the cooperative’s proposed coal-fired power plant east of Great Falls.
SME General Manager Tim Gregori said the news was not a surprise — and doesn’t spell the end of the project.
| |
SME is now pursuing "alternate financing," Gregori said Wednesday. He added it was too soon to be specific, but said he is optimistic about SME's chances of obtaining financing from another source.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280302
BOZEMAN — Climate changes will bring more and bigger wildfires to the Northern Rockies, but there will be fewer firefighters, less equipment for them to use, and more homes to protect, climate and firefighting experts said at a conference here.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/02/28/state/101st_080228_wildfireconf.txt
A new poll suggests Alberta’s Conservatives are offside with most Albertans with their long-range plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but they’re likely to be re-elected anyway.
The Leger telephone survey, commissioned by the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, suggests 57 per cent of Albertans believe the Tory government is not doing enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=61dccc87-5cea-454a-85e2-b92c847fd683&k=89329
KALISPELL – Canadian politicians and industry remain keenly interested in coal-bed methane reserves north of Glacier National Park, despite an announcement last week that such plans were off the table.
“We are still very interested in the potential of the Canadian Flathead,” said Jessica Whiteside, spokesperson for BP Canada. Her company already has begun collecting environmental data there, in anticipation of energy development, “and we do plan to continue those environmental studies.”
The reason BP Canada continues investing in the Flathead, even after British Columbia’s government pulled that drainage out of a broader project, is because the company “will ask for coal-bed methane rights in the Flathead” sometime in the future.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/local/news03.txt
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Facing a bruising fight over climate change, the coal industry is on the political offensive this election year to ensure that no matter who wins in November, so does coal.
Billions of dollars in corporate profits are at stake for the companies that mine, ship and burn the nation’s most abundant domestic fuel.
Some powerful Washington voices, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, have lined up against coal-fired power, which churns out two billions tons of greenhouse gases annually. Not shirking from a fight, coal’s supporters are spending tens of millions of dollars to cement their support among members of Congress and the top presidential candidates.
Read the entire story here:
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore (25 February, 2008) — Applying organic fertilizers, such as those resulting from composting, to agricultural land could increase the amount of carbon stored in these soils and contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research published in a special issue of Waste Management & Research (Special issue published today by SAGE).
Read the entire story here:
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/31734
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The nation’s drive to use more alternative fuel carries a danger many communities have been slow to recognize: Ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline ones and require a special type of firefighting foam.
The Billings Fire Department has the specialized foam, but many fire departments around the country don’t have it, don’t have enough of it or are not well-trained in how to apply it, firefighting experts say. It is also more expensive than conventional foam.
“It is not unusual to find a fire department that is still just prepared to deal with traditional flammable liquids,” said Ed Plaugher, director of national programs for the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/27/news/local/18-firefighting.txt
CLARK — Plans to clean up the groundwater around a gas well that burst in 2006 have been accelerated now that benzene has turned up in a residential water well.
Excess pressure caused the blowout near a small rural subdivision a few miles south of the Montana line. About a dozen residents evacuated amid fear of an explosion or fire.
Workers plugged the 8,000-foot well with mud and homeowners returned after a few days. But concerns lingered about groundwater contamination.
Tests last year showed elevated levels of benzene in the well of Mel and Connie King, who were warned not to drink their water. Oklahoma City, Okla.-based Windsor Energy, which drilled the well, has since installed filtration equipment to remove contaminants and make the couple’s water safe to drink.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/02/27/news/breaking/doc47c59c802d1fb131877132.txt
Feb. 27, 2008 — In connection with his visit to Wyoming this week (Feb. 27-29), Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the EU Commission Delegation to the United States, issued the following statement:
Turning Wyoming’s coal into gold. That could be the end result for this coal-producing state if the world turns to carbon sequestration as this technology brings enormous market opportunities and cleaner energy.
As I visit the State of Wyoming this week, I will be discussing coal production and the link to climate change. Wyoming set another state record in coal production for 2006, producing 446 million tons of coal which amounts to about one third of total U.S. coal production. Wyoming also has the highest level of CO2 emissions per capita of any U.S. state as coal burning is their major source of electricity.
Read the entire story here:
http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/02/27/news/breaking/doc47c5bd482514f705086993.txt