Friday, January 28, 2005

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Great Lakes Daily News: 28 January 2005
A collaborative project of the Great Lakes Information Network and the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium.

For links to these stories and more, visit http://www.great-lakes.net/news/


Zebra mussels likely suspects in Great Lakes algae ills
----------------------------------------
A rising tide of stringy, smelly algae on Great Lakes beaches in recent years is a likely result from zebra mussels creating clearer water while also adding nutrients to the lake bottom. Source: Duluth News Tribune (1/28)


Wetlands conference looks at Green Bay
----------------------------------------
The cloudy waters in the bay of Green Bay drew plenty of discussion at this year's 10th annual Wetland Science Forum in Green Bay, where the topic was "Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands." Source: The Green Bay News-Chronicle (1/28)


Clean Water funds sought for Indiana again
----------------------------------------
For six years, strategies to fund the Clean Water Indiana program have not succeeded, with the result that Indiana remains the only Great Lakes state not participating in the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Source: The Muncie Star Press (1/28)


Salt use sparks environmental concerns
----------------------------------------
Road crews and homeowners spread tons of salt each winter to melt snow and ice on roadways, driveways and sidewalks, even as Wisconsin officials look for new ways to improve winter driving safety with the least harm to the environment. Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette (1/27)


Chemical Valley plants in Sarnia ordered to clean up
----------------------------------------
Businesses in and around the industrial stretch of the St. Clair River known as "Chemical Valley" have been ordered to clean up their practices or face stiff fines after an inspection sweep found a series of violations. Source: The Macomb Daily (1/27)


Mohawks, Canadian government to begin talks on Quebec land claim
----------------------------------------
The Canadian government and the Mohawks of Akwesasne are ready to open talks on a claim that the natives were robbed of 4,100 hectares of land in Quebec more than a century ago. Source: National Post (1/27)


COMMENTARY: Buffalo's Outer Harbor development is exciting but plans fall short
----------------------------------------
Anybody familiar with Buffalo will agree that utilizing the waterfront is one of the most important tasks facing the city, but such an enormous project must be undertaken very carefully, and the interests of the public must be seriously considered. Source: Buffalo Alternative Press (1/27)


Dow to argue for reduced cleanup
----------------------------------------
A recently unveiled framework for addressing dioxin contamination in the Saginaw River watershed leaves many unanswered questions. Source: The Bay City Times (1/27)


Healthier Muskegon Lake moving toward new status
----------------------------------------
Muskegon Lake has turned the corner in its tortured environmental history and may be clean enough within a decade to be removed from a list of 42 Great Lakes toxic "hot spots." Source: Muskegon Chronicle (1/26)


Did you miss a day of Daily News? Remember to use our searchable story
archive at http://www.great-lakes.net/news/inthenews.html


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Great Lakes Daily News: 28 January 2005
A collaborative project of the Great Lakes Information Network and the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium.

For links to these stories and more, visit http://www.great-lakes.net/news/


Zebra mussels likely suspects in Great Lakes algae ills
----------------------------------------
A rising tide of stringy, smelly algae on Great Lakes beaches in recent years is a likely result from zebra mussels creating clearer water while also adding nutrients to the lake bottom. Source: Duluth News Tribune (1/28)


Wetlands conference looks at Green Bay
----------------------------------------
The cloudy waters in the bay of Green Bay drew plenty of discussion at this year's 10th annual Wetland Science Forum in Green Bay, where the topic was "Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands." Source: The Green Bay News-Chronicle (1/28)


Clean Water funds sought for Indiana again
----------------------------------------
For six years, strategies to fund the Clean Water Indiana program have not succeeded, with the result that Indiana remains the only Great Lakes state not participating in the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Source: The Muncie Star Press (1/28)


Salt use sparks environmental concerns
----------------------------------------
Road crews and homeowners spread tons of salt each winter to melt snow and ice on roadways, driveways and sidewalks, even as Wisconsin officials look for new ways to improve winter driving safety with the least harm to the environment. Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette (1/27)


Chemical Valley plants in Sarnia ordered to clean up
----------------------------------------
Businesses in and around the industrial stretch of the St. Clair River known as "Chemical Valley" have been ordered to clean up their practices or face stiff fines after an inspection sweep found a series of violations. Source: The Macomb Daily (1/27)


Mohawks, Canadian government to begin talks on Quebec land claim
----------------------------------------
The Canadian government and the Mohawks of Akwesasne are ready to open talks on a claim that the natives were robbed of 4,100 hectares of land in Quebec more than a century ago. Source: National Post (1/27)


COMMENTARY: Buffalo's Outer Harbor development is exciting but plans fall short
----------------------------------------
Anybody familiar with Buffalo will agree that utilizing the waterfront is one of the most important tasks facing the city, but such an enormous project must be undertaken very carefully, and the interests of the public must be seriously considered. Source: Buffalo Alternative Press (1/27)


Dow to argue for reduced cleanup
----------------------------------------
A recently unveiled framework for addressing dioxin contamination in the Saginaw River watershed leaves many unanswered questions. Source: The Bay City Times (1/27)


Healthier Muskegon Lake moving toward new status
----------------------------------------
Muskegon Lake has turned the corner in its tortured environmental history and may be clean enough within a decade to be removed from a list of 42 Great Lakes toxic "hot spots." Source: Muskegon Chronicle (1/26)


Did you miss a day of Daily News? Remember to use our searchable story
archive at http://www.great-lakes.net/news/inthenews.html


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(www.glrc.org), both based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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Thursday, January 27, 2005


::: ENN Daily Newsletter - Thursday, January 27, 2005 :::

READ ALL TODAY'S NEWS

Study Encourages Everglades Land Purchases

MIAMI — The state and federal governments should buy more land, and do so quickly, in order to restore the Everglades before the property becomes developed or too expensive in coming years, according to a new report.

Pataki, Schwarzenegger Urge Congress Not To Weaken States' Environmental Powers

WASHINGTON — New York Gov. George Pataki and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are pressing Congress to protect key parts of the Clean Air Act as lawmakers and the Bush administration seek to change the law.

Alaskan Urges Gas Research Funding

WASHINGTON — Sharp increases in natural gas prices and concern over long-term supply brought dozens of suggested solutions to a special work session of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee on Monday.

Early Settlers Made Australian Desert, Study Finds

WASHINGTON — Settlers who came to Australia 50,000 years ago and set fires that burned off natural flora and fauna may have triggered a cataclysmic weather change that turned the country's interior into the dry desert it is today, U.S. and Australian researchers said Tuesday.

State Logging Plan Draws Objections from Conservation Groups

AUGUSTA — A Maine Department of Conservation plan to raise money by logging state park properties came under fire during a legislative hearing Monday morning.

Federal Officials To Sue after Gas Leak from State Oil Company on Mexico's Gulf Coast

VERACRUZ, Mexico — An unknown amount of liquid gas leaked from a pipeline operated by Mexico's state oil company and spread to at least two rivers in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, prompting the evacuation of 2,000 people, officials said Tuesday.

Phoenix Officials Urge Residents To Boil Water Because of Treatment Plant Problems

PHOENIX — The 1.5 million residents of Phoenix were warned Tuesday to boil their drinking water or use bottled water as a precaution because of problems at treatment plants, and to take conservation measures.

Australian Government Says It Won't Back Anti-Whaling Lawsuit

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia's government will not support a court action by an animal rights group against a Japanese whaling company over allegations it illegally killed hundreds of whales inside an Australian whale sanctuary, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

At Least 14 Killed as Kenyan Tribes Clash over Scarce Water Supplies

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kikuyu and Maasai tribal fighters armed with machetes and spears clashed over scarce water supplies in central Kenya, killing at least 14 people in two days of fighting, police said Monday.

READ ALL NON PROFIT NEWS

Bill Introduced to Boost Water Supplies

State Senator Shannon Robinson (D-17, Bernalillo) and Representative Mimi Stewart (D-21, Bernalillo) introduced the Water Efficient Technology act (WET) today in the New Mexico Senate and House of Representatives.
— By WWF-US



Naked City

Greens Want Texas Clean

The Alliance for a Clean Texas, a broad statewide environmental coalition, met Tuesday at the Capitol to announce their "four steps to a cleaner Texas." The 27-member body is a melting pot of organizations including fishermen, religious leaders, doctors, and consumer and environmental groups. Among their legislative priorities, ACT called for an increase to the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, which mandates the percentage of energy generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and biomass. Since pioneering a successful RPS in 1999, Texas now has one of the nation's least ambitious goals: 5% by 2015 and 10% by 2020. ACT is advocating 10% by 2015, 20% by 2020.

Also announced were recommendations to...

Full story:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-01-21/pols_naked2.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(My biggest question is, how can we get such awesome things out of Texas as Willie Nelson, Stories like the one above and about Austin Biodiesel below, the most clean wind energy production in the country, and they still give us the world's greatest SNAKE OIL PEDDLER G.W. BUSHWACK? <<< liar, liar, pants on fire!)

History’s BIGGEST FISH STORY:

And then you read the appalling little story about how BushCo is now "taking steps" to further the investigation into why their original intelligence on Iraq was so painfully, treasonously, colon-clenchingly wrong, why they thought Saddam had giant Costco-sized warehouses stacked to the rafters with snarling nukes and nasty biotoxins and active warheads when, in fact, he had nothing but a couple Dumpsters full of rusty 20-year-old shell casings and a bucket of stale glue.

And don’t forget the part about how Congress allotted hundreds of millions of dollars for the futile WMD search, with no public accounting of the money, and the entire budget and the expenditures are to remain classified, by order of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Ha ha. Sigh.

This is about the time your head spins all the way around and you shudder in disbelief and you stifle a giggle and hold your sides and restrain yourself from gagging, think happy thoughts about sex and love and trees because otherwise you just smash your head with a brick and throw puppies into paper shredders to numb the pain and quiet the screams.

Because if you’ve been paying any attention at all, this is when you remember that it was at Bush/Cheney’s own order that the CIA intelligence reports be intentionally skewed and rewritten, that they doctor their reports to say what BushCo wanted them to say to justify their vicious and unwinnable little war that is quickly shaping up to be one of the most economically debilitating, socially humiliating, deadly quagmires since Vietnam.

And this is when you remember, furthermore, how BushCo forced poor emasculated Colin Powell to stand up in front of the UN Security Council and shake little vials of anthrax and hold up completely bogus proofs, including satellite images of supposed "mobile biological-weapons labs" which were, instead, tanks of hydrogen for weather balloons. New drinking game: replay the video of Powell’s testimony, take a shot whenever a final spark of his remaining dignity dies.

And you sit there and just let it all sink into your skin for a few seconds before frantically brushing yourself off, as if you were just hit by a swarm of pissy Republican gnats. I mean, get them off me.

Does it bear repeating? Are we too far gone? Do we even care that the WMD search has been quietly, meekly, officially called off in Iraq after two full years of ardent searching and after 1,200 of BushCo’s own highly trained scientists and investigators -- not the U.N., not Democrats, not icky foreigners, not crazy liberals, not gay-marriage advocates -- but Bush’s own people, preprogrammed to dig up the absolute tiniest shred of evidence of Saddam’s gnarly intentions and hold it up and scream in giddy delight, and who found, well, absolutely nothing at all?

Quoted from:

What happens when habitual warmongering and BushCo lies become part of our daily diet?

By Mark Morford, San Francisco Gate Columnist

January 19, 2005

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/01/19/notes011905.DT

NEXT WORLD RECORD WHOPPER = WAR ON FAUX TERROR


::: ENN Daily Newsletter - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 :::

READ ALL TODAY'S NEWS

Feds Adopt Plan for Drilling on Vast New Mexico Grassland; State, Conservationists Vow Fight

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Despite protests by the governor and environmentalists, the federal government decided to open nearly all of New Mexico's vast Otero Mesa for exploratory drilling but vowed that the oil and gas industry won't have a "free-for-all."

Report Warns of Toxins in Baltic Fish

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union should push through restrictions on the industrial use of chemicals to cut pollution affecting fish in the Baltic Sea, a leading environmental group says in a report released Tuesday.

Report Says Global Warming at Critical Point

LONDON — Global warming is approaching the point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure and rising sea levels will be irreversible, an international climate change task force warned Monday.

Court Fight May Spare Blair Pre-Poll Hunt Protests

LONDON — British fox hunters opposing a government ban on their ancient pursuit launched a court challenge on Tuesday that may delay the law but also spare Prime Minister Tony Blair rowdy pre-election protests.

Ecuador Foreign Ministry Says Colombian Anti-Drug Spraying Not Harming Border Region

QUITO, Ecuador — A scientific study shows that Colombia's aerial spraying of drug crops has not contaminated Ecuador's border region, the foreign ministry said Monday.

San Francisco Ponders Ecology Tax for Grocery Bags

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco, which has long prided itself on environmentally friendly policies, is debating whether it should become the first U.S. city to tax grocery bags to encourage recycling.

Jordi Honey-Roses, Butterfly Protector, InterActivates

Today in Grist : Jordi Honey-Rosés of WWF answers Grist's questions -- in InterActivist .

According to Report, River Erosion Lowering Water Levels on Lake Michigan, Lake Huron

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are losing vast amounts of water because of erosion from a decades-old dredging project, according to a new study.

At Least 14 Killed as Kenyan Tribes Clash over Scarce Water Supplies

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kikuyu and Maasai tribal fighters armed with machetes and spears clashed over scarce water supplies in central Kenya, killing at least 14 people in two days of fighting, police said Monday.

READ ALL NON PROFIT NEWS

New Tool Spells End for 'Business as Usual' in the Stream Restoration Industry
— By THI RiverWorks, Inc.

Galapagos Islands in Peril
— By International Galapagos Tour Operators Association

Groups Urge Emergency Standard for Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water
— By Natural Resources Defense Council

Canadian Feds Issue Draft Mine Approval After Backroom Dealing; Alaska Salmon Impact Ignored
— By Transboundary Watershed Alliance



UW-Madison News Release--Fish-odor enzyme and toxic reactions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/27/05
CONTACT: Tania Banak, (608) 263-6914, banakt@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu

FISH-ODOR ENZYME HELPS UW RESEARCHERS UNDERSTAND TOXIC REACTIONS

MADISON - People with a rare enzyme mutation that makes their bodies smell like rotten fish find it devastating. Among those afflicted, suicide rates are high. But can those same enzymes yield desirable effects as well?

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine believe it's possible, so they are studying these enzymes, known as flavin-containing monoxygenases or FMOs.

FMOs cause fish malodor syndrome when they fail to metabolize a dietary constituent (trimethylamine). Adnan Elfarra and Mark Brownfield, both faculty in the veterinary school's Department of Comparative Biosciences, hope that by learning how the enzymes interact with a variety of chemicals in the body, they'll get a better sense of how chemicals can cause disease or toxicity, as well as how they may get detoxified. Their work, which is sponsored by a recently renewed National Institutes of Health grant, could help discover the physiological function of this enzyme.

FMOs are found in both human and animal tissues. They interact with a wide variety of drugs, pesticides and amino acids. The researchers are trying to determine whether these interactions can affect how the body handles certain chemicals, and, if so, whether toxicities occur as a result. The answers they find could lead to better designs of drugs and chemicals to avoid problems, help identify populations at high risk, or lead to development of prevention or intervention methods.

"Several chemical reactions can occur in our body," Elfarra says. "Some are desirable and some are undesirable. The balance between the two determines the difference between a therapeutic and toxic response."

Ultimately, the researchers hope to assess the risks associated with human and animal exposure to certain drugs, chemical products and environmental pollutants.

Fish-odor syndrome also occurs in a breed of dairy cattle in Sweden, where it can impact milk supplies.

###

****************************************************
For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email
news release system, please send an email to:
releases@news.wisc.edu

For more UW-Madison news, please visit:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/

University Communications
University of Wisconsin-Madison
27 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Phone: (608) 262-3571
Fax: (608) 262-2331

UW-Madison News Release--Origin of growth spurts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/27/05
CONTACT: Norman Wilsman, (608) 263-4434, wilsmann@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu; Kenneth Noonan, (608) 263-1344, noonan@orthorehab.wisc.edu

LAMBS AT REST HINT AT ORIGIN OF GROWTH SPURTS, PAINS

MADISON - It has been evident to parents since time immemorial: Children, during their active growth years, gain stature in spurts, often overnight.

But that bit of conventional wisdom has never been documented scientifically - until now. With a bit of help from some resting lambs, a team of biomedical researchers has confirmed that growth - at least in lambs, but very probably in other animals, including humans - does indeed occur when animals are at rest.

That clue may also help scientists peel back some of the mystery of another unproven tenet: that the sudden leg pains experienced by youngsters, frequently at night, are truly growing pains.

"Often, our vision of the growth of children is that it's continuous growth, especially if we just look at annual growth measurements, or the growth charts developed by health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control," says Norman Wilsman, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine and the senior author of a study published in a recent (November/December 2004) issue of the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics.

The study was conducted by surgically implanting tiny sensors in the tibias of lambs. Continuous telemetric measurements showed that at least 90 percent of bone growth in lambs occurred when the animals were sleeping or otherwise at rest.

"We observed this noncontinuous pattern of growth, but what was really interesting was that the bones were growing only when the animals were lying down, and almost no growth occurs when the lambs are standing or moving around," according to Wilsman, a professor of comparative biosciences.

That children grow in spurts over the course of a few days has been documented in recent years by Michelle Lampel, an Emory University anthropologist and one of the new study's authors. But the concept of resting growth, and perhaps a relationship to growing pains, has never been demonstrated.

"This is a study that points out that growth is not a continuum," explains Kenneth Noonan, a UW-Madison Medical School professor of orthopedics and the lead author of the study. "There are growth spurts, which may occur within the daily life of lambs and possibly humans, too."

What may be occurring, says Noonan, is that when an animal is at rest, pressure on the growth plates of long bones such as the tibia is eased, permitting the bones to elongate.

"I can't imagine other bones aren't behaving the same way," Wilsman adds.

Growth plates are soft zones of cartilage near the ends of bones. When a young animal is standing, walking or running, pressure may compact the plate, inhibiting growth.

"Growth plates may be like springs that, during standing and walking, experience compression and tension," says Wilsman. "When these inhibitory strains are eased, as when an animal lies down or goes to sleep, they resume growing. That idea seems to make some sense, especially when one considers that growing pains occur predominantly in the weight-bearing lower extremities."

Humans grow over the course of the first 18 years of life. In lambs, growth is compressed to a few years. Extending the data collected in the new study over a greater number of years helps match it to growth patterns in humans, says Wilsman.

The new study does not provide a definitive link to nocturnal growth and the pain that some children experience, but it does provide new data that may begin to put those phenomena on a scientific footing, Noonan notes.

Growing pains are one of the most common problems seen in pediatric orthopedics.

"The pain usually comes at night and may be somewhat relieved during the day," says Noonan. "It can occur several nights in a row and it can be intense. Kids wake up and they are in pain."

Other than to ease the symptomatic pain, there is nothing clinicians can do to prevent or treat growing pains, says Noonan. "It is a normal thing, but this study brings some interesting ideas (about growth spurts and growing pains) together rather tidily."

In addition to Noonan, Wilsman and Lampel, authors of the new study include Cornelia Farnum of Cornell University, and Ellen Leiferman and Mark Markel of UW-Madison.

###

- Terry Devitt, (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu

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For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email
news release system, please send an email to:
releases@news.wisc.edu

For more UW-Madison news, please visit:
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University Communications
University of Wisconsin-Madison
27 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Phone: (608) 262-3571
Fax: (608) 262-2331

Now Appearing on Local Stages: Willie Nelson and Austin Biofuels


Willie fuels up his tour bus with his own "BioWillie" fuel, a soy-based diesel.
photo by Paul Galland

Austin music icon Willie Nelson has entered the alternative-fuels arena, with the introduction last week of his new partnership, Willie Nelson Biodiesel (aka "BioWillie"), which plans to market the soy-based fuel at truck stops and convenience stores statewide and beyond. Country music's grandaddy of progressivism, a longtime champion of American agriculture, said he hopes his efforts will "put five million farmers back on the land growing fuel and keep us from having to start wars for oil." But the interest in alternative fuels is more than just a...

Full story:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-01-28/pols_feature6.html

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

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Great Lakes Daily News: 26 January 2005
A collaborative project of the Great Lakes Information Network and the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium.

For links to these stories and more, visit http://www.great-lakes.net/news/


EDITORIAL: Lakes drain
----------------------------------------
A mighty hole opening up in the bottom of the St. Clair River reminds us that the Great Lakes system is always in motion, remains poorly understood, and does not always respond as desired to human impositions. Source: Detroit Free Press (1/26)


Renard Isle dredge disposal site has recreational potential
----------------------------------------
Options for Renard Isle include capping it and doing nothing, using it for additional dredge disposal or developing it for recreational uses including a golf course, marina or recreational vehicle park. Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette (1/26)


Rocks proposed to plug drain solution
----------------------------------------
Dumping rocks into the St. Clair River at Sarnia would help to slow the loss of water that has been lowering the level of Lake Huron, according to the president of the Georgian Bay Association. Source: The London Free Press (1/26)


Preview given of lake-level study
----------------------------------------
Rochester residents got a sneak preview of a five-year, $25 million international study that will measure the impact of fluctuating Lake Ontario water levels on houses, beaches, dunes and shoreline protection structures. Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (1/26)


Windsor owns most land for proposed truck route
----------------------------------------
Windsor owns 85 to 90 per cent of the land needed for a new border truck route, Mayor Eddie Francis said Tuesday in predicting the Schwartz border traffic plan would require few expropriation battles. Source: The Windsor Star (1/26)


Group threatens to silence foghorn
----------------------------------------
A disagreement over how Duluth, Minn., spends its tourism tax money could mean the end of the harbor city's iconic foghorn. Source: Duluth News Tribune (1/26)


National tax on drinks would build waterworks
----------------------------------------
Water and sewer agencies want a national tax on beer, soft drinks and other beverages to pay for construction projects across the country. Source: The Plain Dealer (1/25)


Ontario urban sprawl curbs criticized
----------------------------------------
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory slammed the Ontario government's plan to protect a huge swath of land from urban sprawl, saying it is being rushed through to cover up failures in stopping development north of Toronto. Source: The Globe and Mail (1/25)


Shoreline projects gaining ground
----------------------------------------
Traverse City commissioners said they're interested in a plan bandied about by various private and public groups to improve the West Grand Traverse Bay shoreline. Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle (1/25)


Runoff threatens Clinton River
----------------------------------------
Area residents are focusing on improving the quality -- and cut the quantity -- of runoff into the Clinton River in southeast Michigan. Source: The Detroit News (1/21)


Did you miss a day of Daily News? Remember to use our searchable story
archive at http://www.great-lakes.net/news/inthenews.html


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Discussions regarding "The Three Technologies That Will Blow Oil Away":

---------------------------------------------------------------------

A.R. P.,

I would imagine you could easily fly jets on biodiesel - jet fuel is very similar to diesel already. There is vast untapped potential for production. Billions of tons of yard waste go into landfills every year. Billions of tons of used restaurant oil. All the parts of food plants that are not eaten, stalks, leaves, roots. Deciduous tree leaves. Waste animal fats from cooking and agriculture. What remains after pressing for the oils that are converted to biodiesel can still be composted and used to fertilize soils. There are also certain plants that produce a very great amount of oil in their tissues that could be grown strictly for fuel production. I read about one plant that was recently discovered which has a bean-like seed pod that is fully 60% vegetable oil. There are also certain trees with high oil content. Biodiesel production is in it's infancy, but production could be ramped up very quickly if the huge subsidies for coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear were brought to bear on wind, biodiesel, and Stirling cycle solar. It is especially friendly in that diesel-powered vehicles don't even require modifications to run on it. (Although gasoline powered vehicles would require modification or replacement and jet liners might need their fuel systems re-worked to run properly.)

Yes, the solar and wind power in combination can vastly reduce or even replace the use of coal and nuclear power as well as natural gas. I referenced oil in the title of my article for it's high psychological impact, but oil is not alone on the list of fuels that are going to become obsolete.

In discussing solar technology, you are talking PV panels running at around 10-15% efficiency mounted on rooftops or stands out in the yard. The technology I was referencing uses a 38 foot diameter solar concentrator to run a Stirling cycle engine to drive a 25kw generator at roughly a continuous 30% net efficiency. That's something only the most cutting edge PV cells can achieve under optimal laboratory conditions. Not the same animal or cost structure at all.

Additionally, you can not achieve the economy of scale of a utility sized installation with a residential sized installation. The same is true in wind plants. A 1.5 MW or 3 MW wind turbine can produce electricity at a cost of between 3- 14 cents per KWH depending mostly on location. A 1kw-45kw wind installation is going to produce for something closer to 20-30 cents / kwh. Coal-fired utility generation currently achieves between 3-10 cents / kwh with federal subsidies. As you can see, utility scale wind is now producible at rates directly competitive with coal.

These technologies can alleviate many of the problems you describe in your article, if they are invested in early and strongly. In time, the U.S. could actually be exporting electricity and hydrogen. In reading your article, I saw not just the loss of oil you predict - and I agree with you - but the impetus to drive our economy in the direction of these three technologies.

Indeed, it is already happening. There are now twenty biodiesel producers supplying two hundred + fuel stations with biodiesel blends as I write this. There are another twenty producers being started up as I understand it, and more fuel stations being added all the time. Vehicle fleet owners are increasingly turning to biodiesel because of its environmental benefits and how clean it is to run in their engines. The word is spreading faster and faster every year.

Wind farms are popping up all over the country every year and the industry is sustaining international growth rates of 30-35% per year with domestic growth rates of 20-25% per year. The U.S. has incredible potential for producing power from wind, enough to feasibly power the country's entire electric grid from just three states, without even resorting to off-shore wind plants.

You can bet that the oil barons will be wringing every last dime out of the technology they already have in place. You can also bet that at least some of them are well aware that they will need to invest in new technologies if they are going to wring dimes out of people after the oil is gone - and so what do your economic indicators look like as applied to these industries if you go looking at them in depth? I would challenge you to bring a deep analysis of the economic picture of these three technologies and their likely future from a standpoint of full understanding of the technologies and the kind of numbers companies in these sectors are already and have generated. I would be interested in seeing that, very much so. What funds are out there to invest in an energy industry with a strong domestic future instead of an international strong-arm that is unsustainable? What are our prospects for investments like those?

Dan

Agent RED PILL, BPSA wrote:
Hi folks,
I don't know if this is a response to my oil postings, but I note again my article at www.redpill.info/oil.htm. While there are numerous references to producing the amount of electricity currently used in the US, the article does not say "technologies that will replace natural gas and coal," but oil.
There is no controversy as to the utility of biodeisel. It is clearly an interesting technology and will get more and more attention in the future.
However, the stated issue is "blowing away oil." The amount of energy (including in transportation applications) currently derived from petroleum products is significant. If you can fly commercial airliners on electricity and biodeisel, the question is raised of production and conversion: how much can be produced? How quickly can millions of units be converted? Then, once those issuies are covered, can this technology bring the entire population of China up to the energy consumption standards of America and Western Europe? Or- will they be at a huge advantage since they can design their infrastructure around more efficient fuels?
People seem sentimentally attached to ideas like solar power- and it has great potential. I have lived "off the grid" myself. For $15-25k upfront, you can be free of the grid power system for a decade or so before significant repairs and replacements are needed.
However, to produce all the panels and convert all industry to a new fuel source takes time and energy as well. Solar panels require significant amounts of rare metals which are not currently accessible except with oil-using mining machinery. It is not as if we can snap our fingers and have a completely new power system across the US next week or even next year- not without some massive sacrifices, if at all.
Even electrical cars require batteries and thus the chemicals that go in the battery and- oh- what is the battery case made of? Plastic? Yeah, well, you can't make plastic without petroleum, so before we presume that "everything is fine," we might look at the research of those who have accurately predicted energy and oil markets and prices for numerous decades.
"Agent RED PILL"


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Hal,

I am aware that there are scientific teams working on zero point energy. I am also aware of work being done on the Searl and Bifield-Brown effects, and fusion. (Note that Popular Science reported on research being done in national laboratories to modulate gravitic effect on objects through the use of rotating magnetic fields in superconducting magnets two years ago. I believe they are finding a variation of the Searle effect in this research.)

I will quote another similar conversation thaty I think very well explains my reasoning for writing the article as I did. Time will judge if I am right in my assessment of the situation, but the best news is that there are many wonderful things in development for the next century that are going to radically change the way we power our industries and heat our homes and move around the planet, and even beyond. I still believe that the three I wrote of will be here the soonest. See below.

Dan


Geri - I'm not sure about the Joseph Newman thing, as there are some technologies being developed that are in their infancy, like Ben Franklin playing with a kite in a rainstorm, which are just as poorly understood as electricity was back then. He could be hitting on one of them.

The car - you have to put in the energy to compress the air that's stored in the tanks on the car and released to drive it. That means somewhere there is a compressor that runs on electricity or some burning fuel to fill those tanks up. If the energy that drives the compressor is derived from oil in any way, all you are doing is moving the source of the pollution from auto tail pipes to the electric company's generation facilities. If the electric company that supplies the energy to compress the air to fill the tanks uses solar or biofuels or wind, then you are accomplishing something. If it uses coal, natural gas, nuclear power, well, you just have to use more of it to fill all those compressed air tanks - and the car will carry less weight than what a gasoline powered car and only have a range of about 120 miles. Gasoline cars usually can go 350-450 miles on a tank of fuel at faster speeds. IF clean energy is used to fill the compressed air tanks, it might be worth the trade offs in vehicles used mainly for getting people around in the city, but it will benot so good for hauling loads like a pickup truck or travelling the interstate between cities. Add to that you will need compressed air tank stations all over the place to replace conventional gas stations. Biodiesel is a much better solution - you can use the same diesel engines that are used now, you can use the same diesel gas stations there are now, you have the same load hauling capabilities and vehicle range, and you are reducing ozone causing emissions by 75%, reducing volatile organic compound release by a little better than 50%, reducing sulfite emissions by 99% (Acid rain-causing sulfites) and making the fuel carbon neutral. The carbon dioxide it emits was absorbed from the atmosphere by the growing plants the biodiesel was made from instead of being pumped up from under the ground where it had been stored away for millions of years.

Yes, the worlds' oil fields are getting ready to peak and then decline. The thing is, unlike before the oil fields peak where production slowly increases for many years, once production starts to decline, it falls off very very quickly to the point where it's completely uneconomical to recover. The Saudi oil fields, the worlds' largest, are better than 90 years old. We need alternatives to oil for this reason alone, even if global warming, acid rain, ozone, and particulate smog weren't issues.

On the three technologies I outlined in my article, there are currently already around two hundred fuel stations selling biodiesel, at least one in each state in the union, and several states have many. There are more coming online all the time. Most of them sell blends of bidiesel and petroluem diesel - but could be switched to all biodiesel without new hardware. There are currently twenty companies producing bidiesel and at least twenty more in the startup stage. Biodiesel is on the way, and expect to see diesel-electric hybrids start showing up on showroom floors in the near future. Diesels already get better fuel mileage than gasoline cars by about a quarter. Once biodiesel is used in conjunction with fuel-electric hybrid technology, we are going to start seeing a major shift in what new cars run on - and it will be biodiesel hybrids because both technologies are already being embraced by the car manufacturers and fuel makers aon a fairly large scale already. GM makes a gas hybrid pickup truck starting in 2005. Ford is selling a gas hybrid SUV as of 2005. Toyota and Honda have been selling hybrid cars for about four years now. Diesel technology has also been revolutionized by electronic controls and fuel injection - it is much quieter and cleaner now even with petroleum disel, not like the old VW diesels and Mercedes diesels of twenty years ago. Diesel engines also last much longer than gas engines. 300K miles plus is typical.

There are wind farms all across the country and more going up all the time. They make electricity well within the price range of what it can be made for with natural gas, coal, and definitely cheaper than nuclear. I drove by one on the border of IL/WI two years ago in Montfort, WI. Took my son by there to see them. There are two wind farms being built in Illinois now. There are many in Texas, California, and Minnesota with more going up all the time. Texas is the number one state for wind energy now. Cal is second and Minny 3rd. The Dakotas are ramping up too. Native American reservations are putting up wind plants all across the country and selling the power. Farmers are leasing more and more acres to wind farms all the time, because they only lose the use of a very small area for farming and they get something like a $1,000.00 a month to lease the space for the turbines. Growth rate in the wind generation industry is currently averaging 20-25% in the U.S. and 35% in Europe and the Netherlands annually.

The solar dishes are backed by the prestigious Sandia National Laboratory. As more of them are produced and mass production facilities are built, they will become much cheaper and more accepted by utility companies. The desert areas they will be placed in are some of the least habitable lands in the country, with low human populations and less fauna per mile than most habitats.


Barring someone really doing it up with zero point energy, the Searle effect, the Bifield-Brown effect, or fusion energy, these three technologies are the alternatives of least resistance and the most potential for being rapidly ramped up to replace oil. Two of them are already approaching critical mass, and are still being improved upon every year in the areas of quality, consistency, and grid integration.

In the immediate future these three technologies are by far the most likely to be adopted on a large scale and used widely, precisely because it is happening already. The biggest point is that if our government moves it's massive energy subsidy bills into these technologies and away from coal, natural gas, and nuclear. it will happen at a truly prodigious rate because it already makes economic and environmental sense. Additionally attractive to utilities is large-scal public acceptance of the environmental qualities of these technologies.

At some point one of the four alternatives of zero point energy, the Searle effect, the Bifield-Brown effect, or fusion energy will become mature enough for wide adoption and bring another radical change.

However, solar, biofuels, and wind are already up and coming NOW. They have a huge head start and much wider acceptance building. In the next two decades they will expand rapidly. That is why I wrote the article the way I did. There are many wonderful technologies in the pipeline for the future. The three I wrote of are the closest to the spigot with the most support for opening the valve.

Dan

Geraldine Perry wrote: Dan,

i think I asked you before, but have you investigated anything at all about free energy? Specifically stuff by Joseph Newman: http://www.josephnewman.com/

The reason I ask is that I have been having a conversation with my son about HAARP, Tesla, et al and I ran across this recetn BBC article about a new car that runs on air: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/988265.stm

Also, Mike Ruppert has a good article on The beginning of the End of The Oil Age: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/012505_ftw_maps_summary.shtml including links such as:

http://www.ems.org/nws/2004/01/28/oil_supply_short

just wondering,

gerip


Harold Fox wrote:
Date: 25 January 2005
From: Hal Fox
Dear Jean and Friends,
My respects to all, however, Dan is not up to date on the latest
developments in new-energy devices and systems. Here is some
information that should be seriously considered:
SUBJECT: FUNDING FOR NEW-ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
There are dramatic developments being made in new-energy systems.
Definition: New-energy does not include the older forms of
"alternative energy" with sources from sun, wind, tide,
geothermal, or biomass. Also not included are fuel cells and the
use of hydrogen. Fuel cells are a hundred-year-old technology.
The production of hydrogen from water is energy intensive. New-
energy devices are non-polluting and tap into the vast amount of
energy that is everywhere present (so-called "space energy" or
"zero-point energy").
Creating energy from the burning of fossil fuels creates a market
that is approximately $4.5 trillion per year. [Source of data
from Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 2000, computed at
5 cents per kilowatt hour.] The result of fossil fuel combustion
is global warming and the pollution of our atmosphere. These
valuable fossil-fuel resources should be retained for continued
long-term use as chemical feed stocks.
Our group has spent over 15 years searching the world for
new-energy devices. There are now four new-energy devices that
have been invented, tested, and which are in some stage of being
commercialized and are considered to have strong commercial
potential. All four of the new-energy devices are patented (or
have patents pending) and all four appear to pass our stringent
requirements for commercial potential.
It is time for governments (state and national) and, more
important, private industry, to recognize that solutions to the
current polluting, high-cost, energy sources are available. The
required development funds are being provided from corporate and
private investors. No U.S. government funds have been used in
developing these new-energy devices. Furthermore, there is no
need for tax-payers funds to be used.
Any one of the above new-energy discoveries can be commercialized
within two years or less with an estimated $10 million or less.
EEMF is being privately funded for a project to demonstrate that
radioactive wastes can be transmuted to stable elements with a
dramatic reduction in radioactivity. EEMF, Inc. has demonstrated
the capability to dramatically reduce radioactivity from
radioactive liquids. (Paper presented at a meeting of the
American Nuclear Society). This technology is based on the
creation and use of high-density, electron charge clusters
(HDCC). Each HDCC has over 100 billion electrons. The HDCC can
ionize hydrogen and attract the protons. The combined HDCC
(billions of electrons and thousands of protons) become a potent
combination that can be locally accelerated to produce nuclear
reactions in nearby heavy elements.
EEMF, Inc. has been approved for a $40 million grant for the
full-scale demonstration of the on-site, transmutation of high-
level, radioactive, liquid wastes. There is no longer any need
for the packaging, transporting, and storage for 10,000 years of
high-level, radioactive wastes.
Because the process of transmuting radioactive wastes to stable
elements is energy intensive, a fourth of the $40 million grant
has been allocated to the commercialization of one or more of the
available new-energy devices. The end result could be some major
future changes in the way in which energy is produced and
distributed.
Please note: The real problem is NOT that we are running out of
oil. The real problem is that the pollution of our atmosphere by
burning so much fossil fuels has resulted in the extinction of
several sensitive plants and animal species. In addition, many
humans who are sensitive to the increased levels of CO2 suffer
health problems. It is very important that we replace the
burning of fossil fuels with new-energy devices that cause zero
pollution and that are relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Best personal regards, Hal Fox, Editor, J. of New Energy
P.S. You will want to see www.starshipcapricorn.org for the
latest information from Capt. Helena, Starship Capricorn.

Monday, January 24, 2005

The Three Technologies That Will Blow Oil Away

© By Daniel A. Stafford
01/24/2005

There are currently three relatively new technologies poised to put oil to rest in the United States. Each has been years in development, each is reaching a production price range that is directly competitive with traditional power sources. Together, they overcome seasonal limitations on renewables generation and vastly reduce atmospheric pollutants, virtually eliminating carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere in their use. There is enough energy potential in the United States that the U.S. could in effect become an energy exporter.

Biofuels for the heating and transportation sectors:

The first is biofuels - especially biodiesel. ( http://www.biodiesel.org ) Biodiesel is wonderful, because it can be run in conventional diesel engines without modification. Additionally, (unlike even petroleum diesel) just above three units of energy are gained for every unit of energy put in to produce biodiesel. The added energy comes from sunlight stored by plants while they are growing. Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oils. It greatly reduces PAH emissions, nearly eliminates Nitrous PAH emissions, and has no sulfur content. Sulfurous gasses produced by burning petroleum diesel are a major component of acid rain. Ozone production from burning biodiesel is roughly half that of petrodiesel. Carbon dioxide emitted from burning biodiesel is the same carbon dioxide the plants the fuel came from took out of the air while growing. In contrast, the carbon dioxide put into the air from burning petrodiesel had been buried underground for millions of years.

Biodiesel is so clean, burning it will clean out sediments deposited in your fuel system from burning petroleum diesel. Be prepared to replace fuel filters for awhile if you switch from dirty petrodiesel to clean biodiesel. This also greatly extends the life of a diesel engine burning biodiesel. (Diesel engines already are long-lived compared to their gasoline counterparts.)

Biodiesel can also be burned in place of petroleum heating oil. Oil furnace technology could see a significant boost as people become more aware of the benefits of biodiesel over petroleum oil.

There are two other wonderful benefits to using biodiesel. They generate more demand for agricultural products, which will help improve the economics of American farmers. They also require no modifications to existing diesel engines or oil furnaces to use. In fact, using biodiesel that meets ASTM standard D 6751 will not not void the warranty on American-made diesel engines.

Biodiesel is able to be blended with petroleum diesel in any percentage. It is sold in various blends in every state of the nation, with more stations being added all the time. There are currently about twenty producers of biodiesel and twenty proposed production companies within the United States.

Willie Nelson recently started a biodiesel distribution company as a companion to his Farm Aid efforts. You can find his company's site at http://www.wnbiodiesel.com/index.html .

Additionally, ethanol and methanol are useful fuels for transportation purposes, and can supplement biodiesel use.



Wind-generated electricity
:

The second technology is wind energy. Wind energy generation systems are going online at an accelerated rate around the world, including here in the U.S. (See http://www.awea.org ) Wind energy is also cost-competitive with fossil fuels and cheaper than nuclear power when generated with utility-scale turbines in the 1.5 MW to 3 MW size range. There is enough wind energy potential in three states to produce as much electricity as the entire U.S. currently consumes. The U.S. has more potential for wind energy production than any nation on Earth.

Additionally, land-based wind energy production often is owned by cooperatives of farmers, or produced on farmland leased from farmers. The farmers can still grow crops right up to the base of the wind mills. This generates much-needed additional revenue for our farmers.

Wind mills kill less birds by far than stationary communications towers and high-rise buildings, as they make a gentle whooshing sound that scares the birds off, in addition to the slow and usually visible rotation of their huge blades. Yet despite this, their noise levels are so quiet that you almost need to be standing under them to hear them.

Wind is generally more available in winter months than in summer months, although it is available year-round at significant levels. This means that wind power income will tend to go up for farmers precisely when they are growing the least crops.

In time, the U.S. could export great quantities of wind-produced energy to other nations, most likely in the form of burnable hydrogen, whose only exhaust is water and a small amount of nitrous oxide.


Stirling cycle solar power dishes
:

The third major technology development is Stirling cycle solar energy dishes.
( http://eetimes.com/at/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=53700939 ) These systems have been in development by DOE and others for nearly twenty years. Unlike all other solar energy systems, Stirling cycle systems routinely achieve 30% or better efficiency. Once mass production of these systems is begun, they should be producing electricity at prices about in the middle of the production cost range for electricity in the U.S.

It is estimated that an area of the Mojave Desert 100 miles by 100 miles filled with solar Stirling dishes could produce as much electricity as the U.S. currently consumes. Additionally, this power is most available on clear, sunny summer days - at precisely the opposite times as when wind energy is most available.

Used in conjunction with wind energy, Stirling solar dishes could power direct electricity consumption, production of truly clean hydrogen, and increase energy available for export by the U.S.


Major transformation potential for the U.S. economy:

These technologies will all require large amounts of manufacturing capacity, and installation and maintenance crews. There is the potential to create literally millions of U.S. jobs in the energy sector. Additionally, all the U.S. dollars currently spent importing oil and protecting oil resource access would become unnecessary. Large amounts of U.S. dollars would be spent in the U.S. economy instead of elsewhere, and energy exports could add large amounts of income for U.S. energy producers, including our farmers. All of this would drive up U.S. GNP instead of being a drain on GNP as oil has become.


Conclusion:

The time has come for the U.S. government to move it's energy subsidies into these areas of energy technology and away from oil, coal, and nuclear power. The time has come to retrofit existing U.S. vehicle fleets to run on biodiesel or ethanol and methanol.

Our economy desperately needs this. Our farmers desperately need this. Our workers desperately need this. In the light of global warming, our PLANET desperately needs this.

These technologies will become more and more commonplace with or without government subsidies. Requirements for government funds to subsidize our existing fossil fuel energy infrastructure will only increase, as will the disastrous costs in environmental damage and global conflicts over ever-scarcer fossil fuels.

These technologies are the leaders to an energy revolution in our nation and our world, but combined with new technologies for energy conservation and energy efficient building techniques, our energy future could be incredibly brilliant and a wonderful example and benefactor of our entire world.

The time is now for We The People to stand up and demand that our government put their efforts fully behind these technologies.



Daniel A. Stafford publishes the weblog "The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal" ( http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html )
Dan is also a highly experienced telecommunications technician, and advocate of progressive political policies, and an accomplished poet.
Sun catchers tuned to crank out the juice

By R. Colin Johnson
EE Times

November 22, 2004 (10:00 AM EST)

PORTLAND, Ore. — EEs are turning a 19th-century invention into a 21st-century alternative-energy source.

The last leg of a two-decades-long effort by the U.S. Energy Deaprtment to unleash superefficient solar power by 2011 is homing in on the so-called Stirling engine, which is being used to drive solar generators. DOE test site measurements suggest the setup could bring the cost of solar power on a par with traditional fossil fuels and hydroelectric sources — assuming the project engineers can balance the separate power feeds from farms of thousands of simultaneously online 25-kilowatt Stirling solar dishes.

The heart of the design, the engine itself, was invented by the Scottish minister Robert Stirling in 1816.

"The Stirling engine makes solar power so much more efficiently than photovoltaic solar cells can," said Robert Liden, chief administrative officer at Stirling Energy Systems Inc. (Phoenix). "That's because the Stirling solar dish directly converts solar heat into mechanical energy, which turns an ac electrical generator." The bottom line, he said, "is that large farms of Stirling solar dishes — say, 20,000-dish farms — could deliver cheap solar electricity that rivals what we pay for electricity today."

Under a multiyear Energy Department contract that started in 2004, Stirling Energy Systems will supply Sandia National Laboratories with solar dishes for integration into full-fledged power-generation substations capable of direct connections to the existing U.S. power grid. Right now about 20 EEs, including more than a dozen from Stirling Energy Systems, are working full time at Sandia to create the electrical-control systems to manage these sunshine stations.

By the end of 2005, they plan to have six dishes connected into a miniature power station capable of supplying enough 480-volt three-phase electricity to power about 40 homes (150 kW). The next step, in 2006, is a 40-dish power plant that will transform the combined output of the farm from 480 to 13,000 V, for distribution of industrial-level power to an existing substation. From 2007 to 2010, the program proposes mass-producing dishes to create a 20,000-dish farm supplying 230,000 V of long-haul power from its own substation directly connected to the grid.

If the project succeeds, the DOE predicts that by 2011, Stirling solar-dish farms could be delivering electricity to the grid at costs comparable to traditional electricity sources, thereby reducing the U.S. need for foreign sources of fossil fuels.

Full story: (3 pages)

http://eetimes.com/at/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=53700939

Biodiesel Tax Credit Issue Brief


Biodiesel Tax Credit Issue Brief


Dear Biodiesel Supporter:

The National Biodiesel Board just released an industry Issue Brief on the new biodiesel tax credit. This document is aimed at clarifying several basic issues related to the tax credit. The IRS has issued a guidance document and has requested comments by February 14, 2005. NBB will be developing comments and encourages all biodiesel stakeholders to submit comments as well.

Click here to view the pdf document.



Joe Jobe
NBB Executive Director



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UW-Madison News Release--Gas-can exchange

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/24/05
CONTACT: Alan Fish, (608) 262-3488, afish@fpm.wisc.edu; Rob Kennedy, (608) 263-3027, rkennedy@fpm.wisc.edu

UW FUNDS GAS-CAN EXCHANGE TO MAINTAIN AIR QUALITY

MADISON - As part of an effort to maintain air quality, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has offered to fund a program to provide about 4,400 environmentally friendly gasoline containers free to Dane County residents.

The university will pay for the $20,000 gas-can exchange program as part of an agreement to offset emissions at the new West Campus Cogeneration Facility, and in its continuing commitment to control the release of ozone-causing pollutants.

"As a founding member of the Dane County Clean Air Coalition, we have made it a priority to fight ozone and keep our air healthy," says Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities. "This exchange program will help encourage that ethic by replacing old gas cans with low-emission cans."

The funding offer is scheduled to go before the Dane County Board's Finance Committee for action this evening (Monday, Jan. 24). The money would also be used in joint programs with the city of Madison.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk says, "We are delighted to work with the university to help distribute gas cans at annual spring and other events associated with gardening, including the distribution of composters."

Unlike older gas cans, which can leak pollutants, several new models are designed with shutoff valves and closures that can cut the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - an ingredient in ozone - by 75 percent.

Conventional gas cans, like those used by homeowners to store fuel for lawn mowers and other power equipment, account for a significant amount of ozone-forming emissions daily. Estimates show that the exchange program could cut the emission of VOCs by 46.7 tons during the next five years.

The old cans would be disposed of properly to safeguard the environment.

The program fulfills part of an agreement with the community in association with construction of the West Campus Cogeneration Facility, a partnership among the university, Madison Gas and Electric, and the state.

It also fits with the university's commitment to the Dane County Clean Air Coalition, which has brought together government agencies and businesses to voluntarily help reduce emissions and avert stricter regulation that accompanies higher ozone levels.

Last summer, the campus implemented a variety of pollution-fighting practices aimed to assist in the communitywide campaign.

###

- Dennis Chaptman, (608) 262-9406, dchaptman@wisc.edu

****************************************************
For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email
news release system, please send an email to:
releases@news.wisc.edu

For more UW-Madison news, please visit:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/

University Communications
University of Wisconsin-Madison
27 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Phone: (608) 262-3571
Fax: (608) 262-2331

"Nibbled To Death By Guppies"
By PurpleOcean.org

Dear Daniel Stafford,

We've been pretty quiet lately, and it's because we've been working on something big. You're the first to hear. Today, I'm asking you to join me in launching a nationwide, grassroots campaign to spread the real facts on Wal-Mart, person-by-person and city-by-city. No huge ad budgets or television commercials-just the facts about Wal-Mart and working families in America.

http://www.purpleocean.org/walmart

Last week, Wal-Mart launched a million-dollar advertising campaign in an attempt to silence its critics. The company bought hundreds of television ads, newspaper ads, and more to tell you what to think.

Rather than fight back with more slick advertising and giant ad budgets, we think there's a better way to get the real facts out about Wal-Mart- a grassroots way that depends on you for success. Invite your friends to view the facts, then see who accepted your invitations on an animated map that tracks your fact sheet as it spreads across the country.

http://www.purpleocean.org/walmart

Start the chain by passing on the facts, then see how from day to day, your individual influence spreads the word. If you're one of the first 25 people whose chain grows to 500, then you'll receive $1,000 towards your health insurance expenses-or, if you already have health insurance, we'll put it into a fund that will help provide health insurance for Wal-Mart workers who can't afford it. (The official rules are online at: http://www.purpleocean.org/walmart/officialrules)

http://www.purpleocean.org/walmart

When Wal-Mart launched its campaign last week, Wal-Mart's CEO said that he was tired of the criticism of the world's largest retailer-tired of the criticism about its poor pay, bad benefits, sexual discrimination, and poor working conditions. He said he was "tired of being nibbled to death by guppies." Well, it's not over, and it starts with you

Today, with your help, PurpleOcean.org is launching an army of guppies unlike anything Wal-Mart has ever seen. Join me and thousands of Americans across the country in helping to spread the word about how Wal-Mart is leading the low road economy.

In Solidarity,

Andy Stern

P.S. Don't forget to track your fact sheet as it travels around the country:

http://www.purpleocean.org/walmart


Visit the web address below to tell your friends about PurpleOcean.org and encourage them to join our fight:
Tell-a-friend!
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Great Lakes Daily News: 24 January 2005
A collaborative project of the Great Lakes Information Network and the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium.

For links to these stories and more, visit http://www.great-lakes.net/news/


EDITORIAL: Great Lakes plan still not watertight
----------------------------------------
Ending a long and perplexing silence, the Canadian government has joined the chorus of criticism coming from water experts on the plan developed by governors of the eight Great Lakes states and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec for managing the Great Lakes waters. Source: The Toronto Star (1/24)


Farm technology harvests trendy subsidies
----------------------------------------
A project in Ohio aims to produce a fuel additive that is thought to reduces air pollution, provide a market for farm goods, and create scores of jobs - all while not harming the environment. Source: Great Lakes Radio Consortium (1/24)


Enviros tracking Bush's environmental actions
----------------------------------------
While many may be closely watching President Bush's foreign policy, environmental groups are still keeping an eye out for the action he's taking on the environment. Source: Great Lakes Radio Consortium (1/24)


Toronto's aquarium dilemma
----------------------------------------
Although Toronto's aquarium project is at the very early stages, some experts suggest it's heading for trouble, citing high construction and operating costs. Source: The Toronto Star (1/24)


High waters bring high spirits
----------------------------------------
The Great Lakes and connecting waters are up to 16 inches deeper than they were last winter and projected to continue buoying spirits of boaters and the shipping industry this summer. Source: Detroit Free Press (1/24)


Tougher rule urged for freighter ballast
----------------------------------------
One of the gravest threats to the Great Lakes region's $4.5 billion fishery is the invasion of destructive freshwater exotics, yet the New York state attorney general's office and others say the U.S. Coast Guard is not inspecting 80 to 90 percent of foreign ships entering the lakes for the foreign invaders. Source: The Toledo Blade (1/24)


Chicago's port awash in criticism
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The International Longshoremen's Association say the Illinois International Port District does little to keep or entice shipping companies to the Port of Chicago. Source: Chicago Tribune (1/23)


Black bear study yields wealth of information
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Thanks to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and leadership from wildlife biologists in its College of Natural Resources, the state has answers to many of the questions necessary to manage for the future of the state's largest carnivore. Source: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (1/23)


No Lake Erie ferry proposals received
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Although the city of Sandusky has transit funds available to help a business establish a ferry line to run trips to the Lake Erie islands from Sandusky and Port Clinton, no proposals were received by the first deadline. Source: The Lorain Morning Journal (1/22)


Gypsy moths eating their way toward the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
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For the first time, gypsy moths have taken hold in northern Minnesota, posing a threat to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and the region's timber industry. Source: Minnesota Public Radio (1/21)


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Press Room posting correction:

IJC and GLFC praise sport fishers for collecting funds for invasive species barrier
http://www.glfc.org/pressrel/pr050118.pdf
Source: Great Lakes Fishery Commission (2005-01-18)
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GREENBUZZ for January 24, 2005

Taking Care of Business

Last week brought fair warning that corporations' ethical performance will be undergoing closer inspection, and for once Elliott Spitzer had nothing to do with it. The FTSE4Good announced more stringent standards for including companies in its social responsibility index. Key performance indicators? Climate risk management and stakeholder engagement.

Also: Columnist Frank Dixon on maximizing financial and sustainability performance through Total Corporate Responsibility.



Headlines
The Latest News on Business and the Environment

Caterpillar Inches Toward Major GHG Reduction Target
Caterpillar Inc., manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines, has pledged to reduce its global greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2010.

Ethical Index Raises the Bar for Corporate Inclusion
Climate change, stakeholder dialogue, and performance measures may be required by FTSE4Good as the index aims to tighten up its inclusion requirements in 2005-6.

Japanese Burger Chain Powers Steel Mill with Food Waste
The company's food waste is now recycled into methane gas and used as fuel at a steel mill.

Kansas Salt Mine Becomes First to Use 100% Biodiesel
The Hutchinson Salt Co. claims to be the first mine of any kind to use 100% biodiesel, also known as B100.

Fujitsu and Toray Sprout First Plant-Based Plastic for PCs
Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories, Ltd., and Toray Industries, Inc. have announced their joint development of the world's first large-size notebook PC plastic housing made of plant-based plastic.

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More Headlines...



Resources and Tools
A Wealth of Hands-On Help

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility to Internal Stakeholders
Internal communications are vital to the success of corporate social responsibility programs, argues CSR specialist Ryan Lynch.

Business and Biodiversity Resource Center
Web site makes the case for why biodiversity matters to business.

Communicating Ecosystem Services
An online package of toolkits geared toward helping scientists communicate the importance of ecosystem services to a wider public audience.


More Tools... | More Web Sites...



Columns and Features
Insight and Inspiration from the Experts

Total Corporate Responsibility Funds: Maximizing Financial and Sustainability Performance
Frank Dixon, creator of the Total Corporate Responsibility methodology, outlines how the approach can be used to develop investment products that provide superior financial and sustainability performance.

Wanna write for GreenBiz?Let us know if you'd like to write a guest column or feature reflecting your experiences or opinions in the environmental business world. Send a brief query to Editor@greenbiz.com | Read our editorial guidelines

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