GreenEnvironmentNews.com | Wisconsin Environment News

Federal Agencies Seek Input to Update Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Project

Mon, 13 May 2013 07:00:00 +0100

CHICAGO - The federal agencies and departments of the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force today announced opportunities for the public to provide input to a planned update of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan. The updated Action Project would direct Great Lakes restoration for fiscal years 2015-2019. The public may review directly to the federal agencies and to the Great Lakes Advisory Board (GLAB), a panel of experts established to provide recommendations to the fe...

E.P.A. Release Updated Green Power Partner Lists

Thu, 02 May 2013 07:00:00 +0100

The E.P.A. (EPA) Green Power Partnership has released its updated list of the National Top 50 Partners. This list is comprised of the organizations making the biggest green power purchases in the United States. Collectively, the top 50 organizations account for in excess of 17 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power purchased annually. This lis...

Clean Air Act Settlement with Wisconsin Utilities to Reduce Emissions by In excess of 50,000 ...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0100

WASHINGTON - The E.P.A. (EPA), the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL) that will significantly reduce air pollution from 3 coal-fired power plants located near Portage, Sheboygan, and Cassville, Wis. WPL operates the plants that are covered by the settlement, and the other defendants, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC), Madi...

Energy Department Renews Backing for Bioenergy Research Centers

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0100

The Energy Department announced on April four that it would fund its 3 Bioenergy Research Centers for an additional five-year period, subject to continued congressional appropriations. The 3 centers were established by the Department's Office of Science in 2007 as an innovative plan to accelerate fundamental research breakthroughs toward the development of advanced next-generation biofuels. The centers include the BioEnergy Research Center (BESC), led by the Department's Oak Ridge National...

A warming world will further intensify extreme precipitation events

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0100

Heavy precipitation. According to a newly-published NOAA-led study in Geophysical Research Letters, as the globe warms from rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, more moisture in a warmer atmosphere will make the most extreme precipitation events more intense.

Thin, low Arctic clouds played an important role in the massive 2012 Greenland ice melt

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0100

The ICECAPS Mobile Science Facility at Summit Station against a backdrop of Arctic clouds. ICECAPS is short for Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric state and Precipitation.

E.P.A. Declares Membership of Great Lakes Advisory Board

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:00:00 +0100

WASHINGTON - The E.P.A. today announced on behalf of 16 federal agencies the membership of the 1st advisory board to support implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. "Protecting the Great Lakes -- the biggest surface freshwater system on Earth -- is important for the health and well being of millions of people," said E.P.A. Acting Administrator and Acting Interagency Task Force Chair Bob Perciasepe. "Today I'm pleased to declare the membership of the first-e...

State Forests Management Superior to Federal Forests for Job Creation, Revenue Production, ...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:00:00 +0100

WASHINGTON, D.C. , February 26, 2013 - Today the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held a hearing examining, "State Forest Management: A Model for Promoting Healthy Forests, Rural Schools and Jobs." The hearing was an opportunity to hear from state leaders, local land managers and timber experts on the inadequacies and burdens of current federal forest management practices that have contributed to poor f...

Louis W. Uccellini selected as next director of NOAA's National Weather Service

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:00:00 +0100

Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D. Download here (Credit: NOAA) Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., will become the next assistant N.O.A.A. administrator f...

U.S. Declares Clean Air Act Settlement with Wisconsin Utility / Arrangement will reduce ...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 07:00:00 +0100

WASHINGTON - The E.P.A. (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) that requires WPS to invest approximately $300 million in pollution control technology, pay a civil penalty of $1.2 million, and spend $6 million on environmental mitigation plans to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). "EPA is committed to protecting communities from the pollution problems that matter most, including reducing air pollution fr...

South Carolina Johnson Powers Wisconsin Manufacturing Facility with On-Site Wind Power

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 07:00:00 +0100

South Carolina Johnson has announced the commissioning of 2 wind turbines on the premises of its Racine, Wisconsin manufacturing plant. The wind turbines are expected to produce roughly eight million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Coupled with the company's current use of 2 on-site cogeneration turbines, the new wind turbines will now allow the company to generate 100 percent of the electricit...

School Bus Company to Implement Anti-Idling Program, Pay Penalties for Idling Violations in ...

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 07:00:00 +0100

(Boston, Massachusetts - Nov. 26, 2012) - To settle EPA's claims of excessive diesel idling in Connecticut and Rhode Island, a family of bus companies will commit to reduce idling from its school bus fleet of 7,500 buses operating in 16 states. The settlement between E.P.A. and Ocean State Transit and STA of Connecticut, both subsidiaries of Student Transportation of America (STA), will address excessive school bus idling and reduce school children's exposure to diesel pollutio...

Senator Boxer Statement on Sportsmen's Act of 2012

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 07:00:00 +0100

STATEMENT ON SPORTSMEN'S ACT OF 2012 Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairman Committee on Environment and Public Works (Remarks as submitted for the record) Mr. President, I appreciate Senator Tester's leadership in putting together legislation (S. 3525) to address the priorities of sportsmen across the country. This bill has many important provisions that I support, including reauthorization of highly successful conservation...

$5.5 million to support watershed education plans for K-12 students around the country

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0100

N.O.A.A. Office of Education's Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Plan participants. Download here. (Credit: NOAA.)

E.P.A. Awards Grant in Connecticut to Support Healthy Schools

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0100

(Boston, Massachusetts - Oct. 24, 2012) - Connecticut will gain nearly $144,000 in a capacity building grant to help implement comprehensive K-12 school environmental health programs using EPA's new "Voluntary Guidelines for States: Development and Implementation of a School Environmental Health Plan." The grant program, announced in conjunction with Children's Health Month, means that Connecticut is one of only 5 states - the others are Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wis...

Elusive El Ni�o challenges NOAA's 2012 U.S. Winter Outlook

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0100

Download here. (Credit: NOAA) The western half of the continental U.S. and central and northern Alaska...

New University of Wisconsin-led NSF Center for Chemical Innovation taps PNNL expertise

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0100

October 17, 2012

E.P.A. Awards Grant to Protect Women and Children from Mercury in Lake Superior Fish

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0100

Chicago (Oct. 4, 2012) - The E.P.A. today announced a $1.4 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to reduce mercury exposure risk for women and children who live along Lake Superior's north shore. Excessive blood mercury levels have been documented in infants in this area. The backing will be used to enhance health screening and to develop more effective fish consumption advisories. "Many Great Lakes fish are un...

E.P.A. and CRS Declare 2012 Green Power Leadership Awards

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 07:00:00 +0100

The E.P.A. and Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced the 2012 Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the Renewable Energy Markets 2012 conference in Washington DC. The E.P.A. acknowledges exceptional achievement among E.P.A. Green Power partners and green power suppliers, an...

E.P.A. Declares $1.3 Million for Brownfield Cleanups and Job Training in Milwaukee

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:00:00 +0100

(MILWAUKEE - September 20, 2012) E.P.A. Regional Administrator Susan Hedman today joined Mayor Tom Barrett at the Century City business park on the west side of Milwaukee to declare brownfield grants totaling $1.3 million to redevelop contaminated properties, create employment opportunities and provide job training. "These E.P.A. grants are an investment in Milwaukee's future," said Hedman. "They will be used to make the environment healthier and the economy stronger." ...