April 17, 2009

Carbon legislation is sweeping through the House. But the passage of any such bill must still climb a long way before it would become law.

Most House Democrats favor mandatory greenhouse gas reductions. And while key committee chairs want a fully hashed out bill by Memorial Day, it is unlikely to happen given critical differences that need time to mend. The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, must still debate the issue. Its proposal will be far more tempered than that of the House given that any measure it produces will require 60 votes and Republican support. Any climate bill that is introduced to the full Congress would therefore be subdued.

April 03, 2009

The Obama administration may clip the wings of mountaintop mining. Long a highly contentious issue, the White House is parting ways with that of its predecessor by ordering its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review all of those pending permits -- a matter that clearly pits economic and environmental interests against one another.

At issue are roughly 200 applications that seek to get at underlying low-sulfur coal beds that rest inside the Appalachian Mountains. Mining operators must now shear off the tops of those mountains and put the resulting refuse aside, typically in the streams and valleys below. It's a mining form that divides the coal-rich region and now one that could be outlawed under federal legislation.

March 27, 2009

It's part of the great ideological divide. And any bridge that would help close the gap will remain elusive. It's about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has been at the forefront of a national discussion over whether to allow more oil and gas drilling in areas that are now off limits to production.

Times have changed since the issue first gained prominence in 1980. While the nation has long professed a desire to wean itself from dependence on foreign energy sources, it had little reason to do so. Oil and gas prices have been relatively cheap until this century. But now such prices are gyrating with the cost of natural gas going up from about $2.50 per million BTUs in 2000 to -- at one point -- as much as $13 per million BTUs.

March 20, 2009

Since the Department of Energy was founded in 1977, it has been headed by an economist, a businessman, a retired admiral, an engineer turned financier, and several lawyers and politicians. It has been part of the presidential spoils -- a home for a defeated senator like Spencer Abraham -- and a safe way to diversify the cabinet with an African-American, a Lebanese-American and a couple of Hispanics.

It has been a province of Washington insiders. The first two secretaries, James Schlesinger and Charles Duncan, had been secretary of defense, and several others held another cabinet position before or after serving at Energy. Journeyman politician Bill Richardson -- a congressman, an ambassador, a governor, presidential candidate and almost-secretary of commerce -- served a stint.

Tue, Mar 3, 2009
BY KYLE MORONEY

GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP — Officials in Grand Haven Township are closer to voting on a proposed wind energy turbine ordinance, which could lead to a major retailer erecting six small structure-mounted wind turbines to its building.

The township's Planning Commission on Monday fine-tuned the proposed ordinance and scheduled a public hearing on the matter for March 16.

After an initial discussion early last month, planning commissioners wanted more discussion on the proposed ordinance before it reached a public hearing. Since then, language in the drafted ordinance has been changed multiple times, and is still undergoing revisions.