The Maumenees, who both work at the University of Montana, wanted to live more lightly on the earth, use less energy, pollute less, feel less implicated in climate change.
“We really wanted to reduce our carbon footprint as a family,” said Zia, who has two young sons. “The second part was that we wanted whatever we did to serve as an educational tool, for our kids and others.”
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http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/16/news/top/news01.txt
Canada’s Big Five banks have woken up to the impact their financing has on climate change, according to a report released Wednesday by The Ethical Funds Company.
But some are doing better than others, says the report by the socially responsible mutual fund.
TD Bank and Royal Bank come out on top of the ratings, with policies and practices on lending that address climate change. Bank of Montreal is at the bottom, offering little evidence it considers the environment in its lending portfolio.
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Environmental critics of a cap-and-trade system worry carbon traders, like other derivatives traders, will get carried away and game the system to produce excessive profits for themselves. But the biggest issue as the US contemplates its first national climate bill is the how to allocate the emissions under the cap.
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http://alternet.org/environment/78900/
Montana is beginning to ramp up its efforts to capitalize on the energy potential carried in winds rolling off the Rockies and whipping east across its plains.
But it’s been slow in coming. Despite Montana’s No. 5 ranking in wind potential by the American Wind Energy Association, statistics from the Department of Energy have Montana accounting for only 145 megawatts of wind power out of a total of 16,596 MW nationwide.
On Tuesday, Governor Brian Schweitzer announced that German wind turbine manufacturer Fuhrlander AG plans to construct a new manufacturing facility near Butte, with the expectation that turbine demand will greatly increase in the coming years.
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http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/montana_windustry_poised_for_growth/C38/L38/
A public survey on recommendations in a climate change report found recycling to be among the most popular ideas, and boosting ethanol production among the least popular.
The recommendations come from the governor’s Climate Change Advisory Committee. More than 50 ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are now in front of a legislative interim committee.
That committee is looking at the recommendations to see which they would like to support in legislation next year.
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http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/03/07/state/80st_080307_globalwarming.txt
Small wind-power producers in Montana said Thursday that NorthWestern Energy wants to overcharge them for adding their power to the system that serves NorthWestern electric customers.
Small power-project developers said if the state Public Service Commission doesn’t force NorthWestern to come up with a more realistic charge, wind-power producers likely will take their business to other states.
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http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/03/07/top/55st_080307_wind.txt
Over the past 30 years, Montana has experienced increased occurrence of fire, decreasing winter snow pack, high summer time temperatures and retreating alpine glaciers, at least partially as a result of human-induced climate change. Taking action on the causes of climate change must start right here in Montana and will be most effective if those actions are taken now.
Taking a proactive stance on climate change, Gov. Brian Schweitzer appointed a Climate Change Advisory Committee in December 2005 to help develop policy recommendations that would decrease Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions (the primary cause of climate change) and simultaneously “save money, conserve energy and bolster the Montana economy.”
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http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/06/opinion/guest/guest03.txt
CHEYENNE — Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed two measures into law Tuesday that resolve ownership and regulation issues critical to the state’s effort to lead the way on developing technologies to capture carbon gas and other emissions from coal-fired power plants.
One of the bills signed by Freudenthal specifies that owners of the land surface also have underground storage rights. The other bill sets up a state regulatory framework for carbon sequestration projects. Both laws will take effect July 1.
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http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/03/05/legislature/news/doc47ce2159ca2c3455411165.txt
A German company intends to build a manufacturing plant near Butte to assemble wind turbines for wind power machines, Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the chief executive officer of Fuhrlander AG announced Tuesday.
Construction of the $25 million plant will begin this fall at a 40-acre site about five miles southwest of Butte. The factory is expected to be open next year. The plant will assemble wind turbines, the three-by-10 meter boxes that Schweitzer described as “the brains of the operation.”
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http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/03/05/state/85st_080305_butte.txt
One would think that living in a region with some of the best renewable energy potential in the nation would encourage western lawmakers to start looking to the future. But a vote last week in the U.S. House of Representatives shows that many including Montana’s Rep. Denny Rehberg n are still mired in that old coal and petroleum mind-set.
The wisdom of continuing to spur the quickening growth of renewable energy n the wind energy sector has grown 22 percent a year over the past five years was lost on 17 out of the 28 House members from the Rocky Mountain states. Unfortunately, the divide came along party lines.
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http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/03/opinion/guest/aguest96.txt