NY
Gov. to Expand Clean Energy Sources, Vehicles
(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 1/10/03)
New York will be a leader in promoting clean energy under a policy
Gov. George Pataki announced in this week's State of the State
address. Pataki pledged that NY will increase the share of electricity
coming from renewable sources such as wind or solar power from 17
percent to 25 percent over the next 10 years. Thirteen other states
have similar goals, but New York's is one of the most aggressive,
the group Environmental Advocates said. Pataki's policy is
expected to primarily boost wind energy. But it will likely also
spur investment in solar energy, biomass – which involves burning
organic matter – and fuel cells, which involve combining hydrogen
and oxygen. In his annual speech laying out his legislative agenda,
Pataki also said New York will follow California's future
limits on carbon-dioxide emissions from cars. Pataki can accomplish
both the clean-energy and emissions changes through rules and does
not need legislative approval. For more on clean energy, visit http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.html.
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Local
Municipality Refuses Corporate Claims to Civil Rights
(www.celdf.org)
Last month, the elected municipal officials of Porter Township,
Clarion County – a municipality of 1,500 residents an hour
north of Pittsburgh in Northwestern Pennsylvania – became the first
local government in the U.S. to eliminate corporate claims to civil
and constitutional privileges. The Township adopted a binding law
declaring that corporations operating in the Township may not wield
legal privileges – historically used by corporations to override
democratic decision-making – to stop the Township from passing laws
which protect residents from toxic sewage sludge. The Sludge and
Corporate Personhood Ordinances were developed by the Community
Environmental Legal Defense Fund in partnership with the Program
on Corporations, Law, and Democracy (POCLAD) and communities across
Pennsylvania impacted by land applied sewage sludge and corporate
factory farms. |
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Farmland
"Security Perimeter" Growth Strategy Used in California
(High Country News 12/9/02)
Local governments have struggled for years to contain development
by drawing urban growth boundaries, but developers often pressure
them into expanding those boundaries. At the same time, groups such
as the American Farmland Trust have tried to preserve agricultural
land by using conservation easements to buy farmers' rights to develop
their property. But on a larger scale, easements don't always work:
A farm here and a farm there may be protected from development,
only to be surrounded later on by suburbia. But a new concept called
a "farmland security perimeter," coordinates several easements
where much of the city's new growth was anticipated to occur,
making it economically infeasible for developers to run infrastructure
– new roads or sewer lines for example – through the protected area.
It's not cheap. A program in California's Central Valley
had about half the money came from the California Farmland Conservancy
Program, a state program that provides grants for agricultural easements,
and another million came from the federal Farmland Protection Program.
Landowners donated over a million dollars of the value, about half
of which they'll make back in federal tax credits. But the
plan will only work if the buffer is thick enough and wide enough
to make the cost of extending infrastructure to the far side uneconomical.
For more on how your state can reduce sprawl, see http://www.serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html.
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Virginia
Delegate Files Forestry BMP Bill
(Bristol Herald Courier 12/26/02)
Virginia Forest Watch has asked the General Assembly to strengthen
laws governing logging on private land, and one state lawmaker has
agreed to submit the necessary legislation. Del. Jim Dillard, has
pre-filed a bill for the January session that, if approved, would
require all logging to be done following Best Management Practices
– a method designed to prevent pollution of streams. It now
is a voluntary program recommended but not required by the state
Dept. of Forestry. Best Management Practices include anti-erosion
measures such as building logging roads on a gradual grade and leaving
trees along creeks to prevent sedimentation runoff that can kill
fish and other aquatic life. "We think that this legislation
will reward the good actors in the timber industry ... the guys
who take the time and make the effort to do things right,"
Dillard said. "It will level the playing field economically.
We're looking forward to working with those stewards of forestry
in getting this bill passed." Dillard's bill would strengthen
the 1993 Virginia Silvicultural Water Quality Act. Virginia Forest
Watch was successful last session in getting legislation approved
that imposes a $1,000 fine on loggers who fail to notify the Dept.
of Forestry of the location of logging operations. Dillard sponsored
that bill as well. The group also has had success with its Neighborhood
Forest Watch program, which has residents reporting logging jobs
to the department. According to VA Forestry Dept. figures, the number
of logging site notifications has doubled since the new law went
into effect. For more on state forestry legislation, visit http://www.serconline.org/forestrystateinfo.html. |
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Auto
Fleets Critical to Fuel Economy Improvements
(GreenBiz.com 1/8/03)
Fleets can play an important role in introducing more fuel-efficient
vehicles into the U.S. passenger vehicle stock. But governments
and businesses that purchase large numbers of cars need some encouragement
to do so, according to a new study by the American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy. "Greener Fleets: Fuel Economy Progress
and Prospects" finds that few fleets have attempted to maximize
the fuel economy of their vehicles to date. Fleets are influential
due to the sheer number of vehicles that they buy as well as their
role as laboratory and showcase for new approaches to the selection
and use of automobiles. The report finds that local governments
have taken the lead thus far in setting fleet fuel economy policies,
and that business fleets represent a large untapped potential for
efficiency. Hybrids are appealing to fleets that want to be green,
but their higher cost and the fact that they don't currently bring
credits towards meeting alternative fuel vehicle requirements make
large-scale purchase difficult for the government and fuel provider
fleets subject to mandates. The report recommends steps to promote
acquisition of advanced technology vehicles, but also emphasizes
the fuel savings that fleets could achieve by choosing the most
fuel-efficient conventional vehicle that can do the job. |
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Boosting
Colorado Fuel Efficiency
(Denver Post 1/10/03)
Boulder State Sen. Ron Tupa wants the state and Colorado residents
to increase their use of fuel-efficient electric/gas hybrid vehicles.
Tupa is proposing a bill that would require that 10 percent of the
vehicles in the state-owned fleet use alternative fuels by the end
of the decade, and that would allow hybrid-vehicle drivers to use
the high-occupancy vehicle lanes even if they are driving alone.
For more on energy efficiency, see http://www.serconline.org/efficiencystandards/index.html.
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Wider
Arizona Gasoline-Tax Uses Pushed
(Arizona Daily Star 1/9/03)
The Arizona Conservation Alliance, a coalition of environmental
organizations, has proposed a change in the state constitution to
allow gasoline tax proceeds be used for mass transit. A constitutional
provision currently requires all funds from fuel taxes and vehicle
registration fees, totaling about $1 billion annually, be used for
state roads but funding any other method of getting around, including
public transportation and bike paths, is illegal. Any move to permit
diversion of funds will surely see opposition from state lawmakers
looking to balance the budget any way possible and the trucking
industry and its legislative allies, who have guarded the highway
funds. They opposed prior moves that diverted less than $50 million
to the Dept. of Public Safety, something permitted by the state
constitution. |
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Arkansas
Mayor Urges "Bottle Bill" Legislation
(Northwest Arkansas Times 11/28/02)
Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody has asked the City Council to approve
a resolution supporting a "bottle bill" being sponsored
by the Arkansas Municipal League in the 2003 General Assembly, but
aldermen said they would like to review the proposed legislation
before issuing an endorsement. The League has agreed to sponsor
the bill in the upcoming legislative session, and the organization's
staff is currently researching similar laws in 11 states that require
deposits for glass and plastic bottles. Hawaii is the most recent
state to join the ranks, and Arkansas should be the twelfth, the
mayor asserted. Deposits on beverage containers have significantly
reduced litter and injuries related to broken glass in other states,
the mayor said. The bottling industry and larger grocery store chains
will likely oppose the legislation, but that shouldn't discourage
support for what is otherwise a worthwhile effort, the mayor maintained.
"We've needed this for years. What we're doing now is not working."
For more on Bottle Bills, visit: http://www.serconline.org/bottlebill/index.html.
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Michigan
Town "Bootstraps" Economic Development
(Great Lakes Bulletin News Service 12/17/02)
Hillman, MI, a town of 700 people in the land of elk herds and vast
state forests, is a rural community that is beginning to build new
wealth from its own resources rather than waiting for big employers
that may never come. More so than any other small city in northern
Michigan, Hillman is now marketing itself as an innovative incubator
for environmentally-sensitive businesses, and the host of one of
the Midwest's only "eco-industrial" parks. The park's
center is the community's wood-burning power plant. For years the
locally-owned Precision Millworks Company has used the plant's surplus
heat to power high-efficiency, wood-drying kilns that produce higher
value wood products. Now that same heat and steam will be deployed
by a new aquaculture company, and plans are in the works for a greenhouse,
a plant nursery, and even a microbrewery. National experts tout
Hillman as an emerging model for rural sustainable development.
The job and business creation now taking shape in this small town
is measured not only in dollars but also in civic vitality and the
preservation of local resources, including the region's natural
beauty. As more communities struggle with the fallout of economic
recession, Hillman's experience developing homegrown entrepreneurs
offers a guiding light to those seeking stability in rocky times.
The community has even developed a label, North Country Pride, to
promote local products produced in the eco-park. Much of the energy
and brains behind the work are the result of a creative collaboration
of local citizens, the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments,
Michigan State University Extension, and the nonprofit Northern
Innovative Communities initiative. |
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Cyanide
Use in Colorado Mining Targeted
(Denver Post 1/10/03)
Farmers, business interests, local governments and environmentalists
want to ban cyanide in gold-mining operations in Colorado because
they believe it poisons streams, wildlife and people. But others
stand behind the practice for the sake of future gold-mining jobs,
they say. Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, introduced a bill this week
to ban open-pit cyanide mining in Colorado. Heap leaching, as it's
called, douses ore with cyanide to flush out the last remaining
bits of gold from the rocks. For more on cyanide mining bans, visit
http://www.serconline.org/mining/index.html.
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Report
Documents Decline in Air Travel: Calls for Integrating Air, Rail
and Bus (CNT 1/9/03)
According to a new report, air travel will be unable to play its
traditional role in the national transportation portfolio, as airlines
continue to cut service to small and medium sized markets. "Missed
Connections: Finding Solutions to the Crisis in Air Travel"
is the first in a series of reports from the Reconnecting America
project which examines the current crisis in intercity travel in
the United States. Reconnecting America seeks to redefine national
policies for intercity travel in order to integrate our separately
functioning aviation, passenger rail and intercity bus systems into
a more convenient, secure, financially viable and sustainable network.
For more information on the report, visit http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/.
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Washington
Environmentalists Suggest Budget Remedies
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer 1/9/03)
Environmentalists in Washington State proposed some solutions to
the state's 2 million dollar budget deficit, in an effort
to keep natural resource protection in place and work around budget
cuts. Environmentalists suggested ways to avoid cuts in the state's
natural resources budget, including a list of possible permit and
user fees. Finally, they discussed other legislative priorities
including phasing out mercury-containing thermometers, especially
toxic to pregnant women and children; creating a state transportation
package that allocates a third of the money for mass transit and
other alternatives to highway driving; and resisting efforts at
"permit streamlining" long sought by the business community
which would undermine environmental protections. For more on environmentally
friendly budget cutting, please visit http://www.serconline.org/greenscissors.html.
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