Monthly Archives: September 2011

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will visit a construction site at the Jones Island sewage treatment plant Friday morning to discuss how President Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act could help unemployed Wisconsin residents get back to work. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/130787943.html
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Save $100 and up to 16,500 gallons of water a year when you buy a Kohler high-efficiency toilet. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/130780448.html
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A proposal to create an indoor fish farm, and greenhouses for raising organic vegetables, near the Story Hill neighborhood on Milwaukee’s west side will be reviewed Monday by the Plan Commission. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/130718873.html
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On October 18 celebrate the unveiling of UWM’s latest green roofs.Several green roof extensions were added to Sandburg Hall as well as a 50,000 sq ft green roof addition to Golda Meir Library. The Library has also received a new 30kW solar photovoltaic system! See for yourself how renewable energy, stormwater management, and energy...
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Top EHSnews.org Headlines (New extension of this blog “People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.” – Anne Tyler Environmental EPA Scientists Receive Presidential Honor  – WASHINGTON –Today two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists were named recipients of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE),...
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Daily Journal – “It’s a pretty unbelievable statistic, but each year, nearly one out of every 10 construction workers on our state highway construction projects injured on the job.”
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Here are the EHSnews.org headlines of the week: Environment Water Problems Are Solvable GoingGreen Top 200 identifies the top emerging companies EPA Bans CFC-Based Asthma Inhalers H.R. 2250, EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 H.R. 2681, Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 Water: The New Oil EPA attack bill headed for House floor...
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A typical U.S. family got poorer during the past 10 years in the first decade-long income decline in at least a half-century, new federal data show. By Bob Andres, AP People wait in line during a job fair in August at Atlanta Technical College in Atlanta. The weak economy has driven median household income...
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Under the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issues licenses and regulates hydroelectric facilities, regardless of size. H.R. 795 would exempt certain small hydroelectric facilities with less than 1.5 megawatts of generating capacity from FERC’s licensing requirements. In addition, the bill would require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to report...
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After many years of waiting… better late than never The turbine spins at 0.5 mph and generates energy at two mph of wind. Honeywell Wind Turbine is rated at 1,500 watts in 31 mph winds, according to WindTronics materials. In terms of noise, an important factor tied to location, the turbine has “negligible” vibration...
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State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) is the key science broker for information on the Great Lakes ecosystem. Conference Highlights include: Most up-to-date information on the status of the Great Lakes using an improved, updated and representative indicator suite New presentation format that better illustrates the linkages between the condition of the ecosystem...
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AFP – German industrial giant Siemens is turning the page on nuclear energy, “We will no longer be involved in overall managing of building or financing nuclear plants. This chapter is closed for us,” he said, explaining that Siemens would restrict its activity to dual-use technology. “We will from now on supply only conventional...
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The median income fell last year, and the poverty rate rose to the highest level since 1993. Shaded areas represent recessions. The number of Americans who have fallen into poverty rose to 15.1 percent in 2010, the highest level in nearly two decades, the  Census Bureau said Tuesday in a report. The report, which showed the poverty rate...
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Under special nuclear cooperation agreements, the United States sent 38,580 pounds of enriched uranium and plutonium to more than two-dozen foreign agencies and is unable to account for 36,000 pounds of the material. The Government Accountability Office report says these 27 cooperation agreements, set up to facilitate cross border research, have no accountability and...
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The U.S. is coming to Europe’s financial rescue. So far, America’s role is fairly limited. But if the crisis continues to grow and the U.S. takes on a wider role, U.S. consumers and taxpayers could feel a bigger impact. The biggest exposure could come from America’s status as the single largest source of money...
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BBC – The number of children under five who die each year has plummeted from 12 million in 1990, to 7.6 million last year, the UN says. The reasons for the change include better access to health care and immunisation, says a report by Unicef and the World Health Organization.
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SMBC – Enjoy
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“One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Peace starts at home...150,000 people have been murdered in the...
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WashingtonExaminer:  They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Unfortunately, that notion is news to environmentalist groups who, for years, have been dipping into a bottomless, untraceable money pit to push their political agendas in court and grind the work of land management and other federal agencies to a halt. It may...
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The U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO)  can’t figure out what benefits taxpayers are getting from the many billions of dollars spent each year on policies that are purportedly aimed at addressing climate change. A May 20 report noted that while annual federal funding for such activities has been increasing substantially, there is a lack...
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“It’s now been six months since an earthquake and tsunami sparked a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. New data from the Japanese government is now allowing a closer comparison of the fallout from the disaster with the Chernobyl. In terms of Cs-137, the contaminant of greatest concern, Fukushima appears to be...
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(PhysOrg.com) – SilverEagles Energy say they have developed a way to make ammonia that is cheap enough so that it could be used as fuel for cars. If their claims turn out to be true, many consumers might consider switching over because ammonia, when burned in an engine, emits nothing but nitrogen and water...
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NBC – The major outage knocked out power in a region of almost 6 million people in the Southwest, bringing San Diego to a near-standstill and leaving people in the surrounding desert to swelter in late-summer heat. Latimes – PHOTOS: Blackout leaves 1.4 million without power
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Duncan Bury will speak on Tuesday, September 13th at 12:00PM EDT.  His talk entitled “Canadian Approaches to EPR: The Road from Shared Stewardship to Full Producer Responsibility” is organized by the Industrial Environmental Management (IEM) Program of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The talk is the sixth of a special 2011/2012...
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Receive a free copy of the digital edition of the September Ethical Corporation magazine. Click here to get your complimentary copy of the magazine The magazine contains: A 10-page briefing on the PR industry A feature article that outlines the business case for being a responsible and sustainable company – featuring company examples An...
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http://ed.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/13/6851987-poll-who-won-tonights-gop-debate
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We may as well say it out loud: Not only is fiscal and monetary policy running into limits in the advanced industrial (or OECD) countries, so that growth and jobs increasingly seem a question of luck; energy policy also is running into a brick wall. Everywhere in the rich countries of Europe, North America,...
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 The qualifications for the Project Management position available to interview as soon as possible. -40 hour OSHA Certification -CDL Class A -2+ years in a management position leading emergency response groups (anything hazmat related; oil, gas, vapors, etc…) -Paying $20-$25 per hour -Full time %30-%40 travel. If you meet these qualifications please contact Douglas...
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MADISON – World Water Monitoring Day is Sept. 18, 2011, and will potentially be marked by hundreds of Wisconsin schoolchildren and citizens testing water quality on their favorite Wisconsin lakes and streams. Wisconsin boasts some of the nation’s most abundant water resources — 15,081 inland lakes, 44,000 miles of streams and rivers, part of...
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MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released a study describing what is currently known about the sources, emissions and health effects from exposure to crystalline and amorphous forms of silica. Studies generally do not indicate the existence of any wide-spread significant concern about airborne crystalline silica exposures to individuals not living...
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The Bikes Belong Foundation requests proposals for research that examines the economic impact of additional or improved bicycling facilities or bike-related events, and for special opportunities and innovative or unique research efforts considered on a case-by-case basis.  Grant range $5K to $10K.For more info, go to: www.bikesbelong.org/bikes-belong-foundation/foundation-grants/research-grants
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The U.S. Agency for International Development in India announces its intent to request proposals for a new energy and climate change program titled Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Deployment (PACE-D).  The contract will assist in deploying clean energy technologies, systems and solutions and will accelerate India’s transition to a high performing, low emissions and...
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The U.S. Department of Energy today released a report – 2011 U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry – detailing U.S. biomass feedstock potential nationwide. The report examines the nation’s capacity to produce a billion dry tons of biomass resources annually for energy uses without impacting other vital U.S. farm...
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“Smart power grid monitoring that lets you pick the exact cheapest time to run the dishwasher or recharge your electric car may put too much power (so to speak) in the hands of the consumer, according to a new study by MIT. Researchers say that users receiving minute-by-minute pricing information might cycle off-peak power...
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The “Energy Catalyser” (E-Cat) is a device that has been reported by two Italian scientists to be able to solve the world’s energy problems by means of a nuclear fusion reaction. Unfortunately, there are serious doubts about these claims. In the figure above (from a paper by Peter Ekstrom ) you see one of...
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(EHS News) After Gibson’s Environmental Violations… it seems that the Department of Justice wasn’t satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without going out of business. Now,...
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We are living in an era of global “triple unsustainability” — economic, social and environmental. The indisputable evidence is on the front pages every morning: the never-ending aftershocks from the financial crisis of 2007-2009, events like this year’s North African rebellions and the now undeniable, acute effects of global warming. Taken together, it represents...
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Forbes – The world’s biggest oil companies put in a pretty pathetic performance in the second quarter of 2011. Not in terms of earnings — those were great, with Exxon posting $10.7 billion and Royal Dutch Shell doing $8 billion. Just what you’d expect with Brent crude at a lofty $120 a barrel. Where...
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US economy created no job growth in August, data show: First time since 1945 that government has reported net monthly job change of zero Labor Day by Gary Varvel
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The latest cyborg insects have generally been powered by batteries.  But now Aktakka and coauthors Hanseup Kim and Khalil Najafi from the University of Michigan (Kim is currently with the University of Utah), have developed an energy scavenger that generates power from the wing motion of a Green June Beetle during tethered flight. Two...
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AP - T he risk of an earthquake causing a severe accident at a nuclear power plant is up to 24 times greater than previously believed, according to an AP analysis of preliminary government data, and the nation’s nuclear regulator believes that a quarter of reactors may need modifications to make them safer.   ...
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“Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar energy firm, subsidized to the tune of $500 million and held as a ‘gleaming example of green technology,’ announced bankruptcy yesterday. 1,100 employees fired.” The company will likely file for bankruptcy in Delaware next Wednesday, Spokesman David Miller said in an e-mail, while it evaluates options including selling itself...
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Congressional Budget Office:  S. 1000 would authorize appropriations for a variety of programs and activities aimed at promoting energy efficiency, particularly within residential and commercial buildings and the industrial sector. The bill also would reduce several existing authorizations of appropriations for related activities. Taken as a whole, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1000 would...
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BloomBerg – U.S. exports of solar products climbed 83 percent last year to $5.63 billion as increasing production in China drove up sales of manufacturing equipment and raw materials, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
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