Tuesday, August 21, 2007

TheDay.com - Seat Ridership Hits A Milestone

TheDay.com - Seat Ridership Hits A Milestone

Ridership on Southeast Area Transit buses has increased by nearly one-third in the past five years, eclipsing the million mark for the first time ever in the 2007 fiscal year, which ended in June.

TheDay.com - New Evidence To Consider

TheDay.com - New Evidence To Consider: "A new scientific study adds to environmental concerns over the proposed Broadwater liquefied natural gas project.

Peter Auster, science director of the National Undersea Research Center at the Avery Point branch of the University of Connecticut and colleagues from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection spent five days earlier this summer studying the seafloor of the Stratford Shoal, an expanse bisecting Long Island Sound that would be the site for the offshore LNG facility and a 22-mile pipeline.

Their research added significantly to the scientific knowledge of marine life and conditions on the bottom of the Sound, and in that location. They found forests of finger sponges and dense communities of northern star coral, along with beds of blue mussels and lobster burrows, none of which is documented in the FERC draft environmental impact statement. That report concludes that the project would not have a significant impact on the marine environment of the Sound."

News Times Live Judge sides with Conn. on L.I. Sound pipeline

News Times Live Judge sides with Conn. on L.I. Sound pipeline

HARTFORD — A federal judge has sided with Connecticut officials in their battle to halt a proposed natural gas pipeline beneath Long Island Sound.

U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport last Wednesday ruled against the U.S. Commerce Department, which three years ago rejected Connecticut’s objection to the proposed Islander East pipeline. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced the decision on Monday.

OTHER LINKS

A federal judge dealt a major setback Monday to the proposed Islander East natural gas pipeline under Long Island Sound, ruling that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce did not fully consider the concerns of state environmental officials before overruling them and permitting the project to proceed.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=7b055d91-9e33-47c5-88d3-2c917754e0fd

Pipeline Project Clubbed In Court

http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-islander0821.artaug21,0,1425970.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout

Monday, August 13, 2007

New Haven Register - SCSU president declares school carbon-neutral

New Haven Register - SCSU president declares school carbon-neutral

An avalanche of post cards, photo petitions and letters and a tempest of telephone calls finally convinced the president of Southern Connecticut State University to make the school carbon-neutral.

It's a victory for the Environmental Futurists, a group of SCSU students who proposed the ambitious plan about six months ago.

The Register Citizen - Audubon marks 40 years in Sharon with festival

The Register Citizen - Audubon marks 40 years in Sharon with festival: "Audubon marks 40 years in Sharon with festival"

U.S. Talks Green, Backs Fossil-Fuel Projects -- Courant.com

U.S. Talks Green, Backs Fossil-Fuel Projects -- Courant.com:

"At the G-8 summit of world leaders in June, President Bush repeated his calls for developing nations to curb their emissions of greenhouse gases. Without their cooperation, he said, drastic measures in the United States to battle climate change would make little sense.

But just weeks earlier, the U.S. government had pledged to help finance one of the world's most advanced oil refineries, taking shape in the city of Jamnagar, India. When the facility is complete by December 2008, it will not only produce petroleum products, it will emit nearly 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide - the major contributor to global warming - into Earth's atmosphere each year."

Norwich Bulletin - www.norwichbulletin.com - Norwich, Conn.

Norwich Bulletin - www.norwichbulletin.com - Norwich, Conn.

Statewide, Connecticut closed or issued pollution advisories at 224 beaches in 2006, a 12 percent jump from similiar actions taken in 2005, according to a report released by Save the Sound this week.

"The increase in closure days is indeed something to worry about," he said. "The report makes it clear that the water is not as clean as it should be."

Case For A Hybrid Energy Bill -- Courant.com

Case For A Hybrid Energy Bill -- Courant.com

The separate energy bills adopted by the House and the Senate have elements of a smarter national policy, one that places a stronger emphasis on conservation.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Connecticut Post Online - Fairfield, Ansonia businesses get governor's OK

The Connecticut Post Online - Fairfield, Ansonia businesses get governor's OK

Gov. M. Jodi Rell showcased new legislation that promotes alternative energy and gives incentives to developers who want to redevelop brownfields at two area appearances Tuesday.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Westport News - Sound Ideas: Leaking Cables Facing Removal

Westport News - Sound Ideas: Leaking Cables Facing Removal

Three new and environmentally improved cables are scheduled for installation between Norwalk and Northport, Long Island, early next year, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced on Wednesday.

The DEP recently issued a permit to Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) allowing the utility giant to remove seven leaking utility cables from Long Island Sound and replace them with three new environmentally improved cables...

Cables -- leaking and otherwise -- in Norwalk as well as New Haven have been contentious issues in recent years. Back in the summer of 2003, Cross Sound had been given permission to operate despite objections by state officials. The federal government and the state battled over whether to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) in some instances to override the Connecticut Siting Council decisions on energy transmission lines....

Thursday, August 2, 2007

civiletti: Tallying LNG savings vs. cost

civiletti: Tallying LNG savings vs. cost

One cost we know for sure: the $850,000 LIPA blew on the Levitan assessment report it was supposed to have two years ago, which LIPA now may or may not use for anything. This makes it a ratepayer-funded PR boondoggle for Broadwater Energy, resulting in headlines about multibillion dollar "savings" that don't factor in costs which may equal or exceed those "savings."

Monday, July 30, 2007

The Advocate - Kayak for a Cause crosses the Sound

The Advocate - Kayak for a Cause crosses the Sound

For paddlers in yesterday's Kayak for a Cause voyage across Long Island Sound, a forecast of scattered thunderstorms held the drama of a nail-biting cliffhanger.

For the 320 paddlers, the weather meant the difference between delight and devastation.

For seven years, participants in the Kayak for a Cause event have raised at least $500 each for charity before propelling themselves across the Sound in a 12.4-mile trip that takes at least three hours in good weather. Last year, the event raised $460,000 for five charities. This year, funds will go to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Outward Bound of Connecticut, Cancer Care of Connecticut, the Courage to Speak Foundation and Save the Sound. ... read more