Top Story
Switzerland Tops in 2012 Environmental Performance Index Switzerland leads the world in managing pollution and natural resources, according to the 2012 Environmental Performance Index, which is produced by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, ranks 132 countries based on 22 indicators in 10 major policy categories, including air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity and forest management. The United States places 49th. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.
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- Wakeman Town Farm apprentice program for middle schoolers Feb.-June
- American Farmland Trust names conservation scientist
- A growing legacy, a News Times editorial on local conservation efforts
- Nominations Sought for Connecticut Land Conservation Council Award
- New plant map shows state warming
- Climate change advocacy group targets Connecticut weatherman
- Southington: Phosphorus Fight: Balancing the Costs of Environmental Protection
About this Site
CT Environmental Headlines began in December of 2007 and has since transformed into Environmental Headlines with a broader vision to provide an aggregation of local and hyper local environmental news coverage for communities in Connecticut and around the world. If you are interested in staying abreast of what is happening in Connecticut's environment, please sign up for our news feed, which is an easy way to receive a rundown of all the news updates via email. Please come back and visit the site to see who is sponsoring and, if you would like to support our efforts, please make a donation via the PayPal button in the right hand column. Thank you very much for your interest.
Featured Story
Nominate your favorite Connecticut environmental volunteer Think of a person, non-profit, or company who has made a real difference to our environment. It could be through a volunteer effort to protect our water sources. Improve air quality. Safeguard farmland. Or improve wildlife habitat. You’ll find all the criteria at the link inside. Click on this environmental headline for more information.
CEQ has released its recommendations for legislation, highlighting the need to step up land conservation, both in the amount of land preserved and in the state’s strategy for selecting land for preservation. Ideas for “no-cost” preservation are included. The recommendations also call for more training for members of municipal inlands wetlands agencies, for continued funding of the state Clean Water Fund, and for a financial analysis of how much money will be needed to control pollution from runoff in developed areas of the state. For more about the recommendations and links to all the details, click on this environmental headline. Don’t forget … you can click on the donate button over there on the right hand side to support this website :o) Thanks!
Galapagos tortoise back from extinction? After finding the descendants of a species of giant tortoises believed extinct from the Galapagos Islands for 150 years, Yale researchers are hoping to save the species.
Too Bright, the Night: New Film Tackles City Light Pollution Light pollution has serious health and environmental consequences, and it just might wreak some philosophical havoc as well. These issues are explored in entertaining and insightful fashion in the new documentary “The City Dark,” that opened in New York Jan. 18.
Evicting a Visionary: CJ May leaving Yale’s recycling program | Yale Daily News CJ May has been a part of the Yale community since 1988, when he started as a student at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; since 1990 he has coordinated Yale Recycling. He dresses like a cross between a recycler and office employee: his dark blue pants are constricted at his ankle by a
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The Keystone Pipeline Is No Victory for Environmentalism While we applaud the President’s decision, we realize that the fight against destructive tar sands extraction is far from over. Although this announcement is a big step forward, we fully expect TransCanada and their allies in Congress to attempt to resurrect this project. As such, we will continue to work to make sure the President follows through on his commitment to evaluate new pipeline proposals on their environmental and social impacts. — Colin Bennett, 350ct.org
350.org founder and Keystone XL protest leader Bill McKibben reacting to expected news of pipeline rejection stated: “Assuming that what we’re hearing is true, this isn’t just the right call, it’s the brave call. The knock on Barack Obama from many quarters has been that he’s too conciliatory. But here, in the face of a
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Use of tanning beds linked to skin cancer A team of researchers from the Yale School of Public Health reported that individuals who used tanning beds at least once are at a 69 percent greater risk of developing basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, before the age of 40.
McMahon Is Wrong About Keystone Pipeline | OPED CT News Junkie Recently Linda McMahon declared that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is in the national interest and described it as a “gift horse”. She is wrong. It is neither. A more accurate description of the project would be a “poison pill” or a “dirty needle used to feed our oil addiction.” The jobs figures Ms.
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Owners of New Haven English Station power plant sue UI for cost of multi-million clean up cost The owners of the contaminated English Station power plant have sued United Illuminating Co. in U.S. District Court, claiming UI is responsible for the costs of cleaning up the site, which is expected to be millions of dollars. The New Haven Register reports.
MLK Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice Family Festival Jan. 15-16, New Haven The 16th annual family festival, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice is a free 2-day festival that takes place on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, from noon to 4:30 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. Click on this environmental headline for more on this great event!
State Quietly Laying Plans For a Bear-Hunt Lottery Connecticut wildlife officials have quietly drafted plans for a bear-hunt lottery — a way of deciding who gets to kill a limited number of the animals — and the plan is being reviewed this week by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office. The Hartford Courant reports. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.
Land
Sullivan family proud to preserve farm A dean of New Milford’s farmers and his wife, Beth, 88, to whom he has been married 65 years, still live in the home they built in 1953 alongside the original farm homestead that dates back to the 1840s.Nanci G. Hutson of the Danbury News-Times reports.
Latest Land-Swap Issue: Developers’ Land Valued Lower Than State’s This time, the issue is that the developers’ forest land has been appraised at an amount lower than that of the state’s piece, with the scenic river view, a mile or so away. So, what now? Closed-door talks are said to be underway between the developers and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
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Connecticut Farmland Trust preserves Lebanon farm The 32-acre Skaats Farm at 420 Clubhouse Road has been preserved by the Connecticut Farmland Trust in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. Click on this environmental headline for more of this story from CT Farmland Trust.
260-acre Tulmeadow Farm in Simsbury protected The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the U.S. Forest Service, the Simsbury Land Trust (SLT) and Town of Simsbury have announced completion of a Forest Legacy Conservation Easement on 73-acres of Tulmeadow Farm, Simsbury. The easement, acquired for $2.8 million, is the final phase of an effort to protect 260 acres of
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Water
Southington: Phosphorus Fight: Balancing the Costs of Environmental Protection The town of Southington is about to embark on an expensive project, courtesy of a federal mandate requiring the state to address high levels of phosphorus in its rivers and streams.
Town Settles N. Mianus Sewer LawsuitsThe residents of North Mianus have settled their protracted lawsuits against the Town of Greenwich over who should pay for the installation of sewers in that area of town. Greenwich Patch reports.
Way cleared for fish bypass in Seymour Construction of a fish bypass in the Naugatuck River could finally begin this spring. It has been in the works for 14 years. The Board of Selectmen last week voted on two final components that were holding up the project. The New Haven Register reports.
New tide gates slated along West River in New Haven One of the largest wetlands-restoration efforts in a Connecticut urban area is under way along the West River between Route 1 and Chapel Street, where three new self-regulating tide gates soon will restore more natural salinity to 50 acres of lush tidal marsh. The New Haven Register reports.
Energy
DEEP Announces Hiring of First Energy Procurement Manager Position Focused on Cheaper and Cleaner Electricity for CT The new power procurement manager, Jeffrey Gaudiosi, 39, of Windsor, currently serves as vice president of the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut and a vice chairman of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board. Gaudiosi will start work in his new position Feb. 10.
CT, NYC firms team to build central Pa. wind farmGemma Renewable Power LLC of Rocky Hill is teaming up with a New York company in an $18 million deal to build a wind farm with 15 turbines in central Pennsylvania. The Reading Eagle reports. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.
Photovoltaic array at old North Haven dump to save town millions NORTH HAVEN — The old town landfill soon will have a new addition that is expected to save the town millions of dollars: photovoltaic solar panels. The panels should be installed and start working for the town by the end of 2012, said Bob Landino, chairman of Greenskies Renewable Energy LLC of Middletown, a developer
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Hoffman Engineering plays key role in Gaylord solar project Hospitals are investigating every option to reduce their expenses — from heat pumps in the basement to solar panels on the roof, and engineering firms are competing for their business.
Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Hoffman-Engineering-plays-key-role-in-Gaylord-2433890.php#ixzz1i7RqHTjj
Business
Gulf Oil is looking to become an electricity supplier Northeast fuel distributor Gulf Oil LP plans to open a new division that will buy electricity and resell it in deregulated markets in which customers can shop for power suppliers.
PURA Establishes Docket, Sets Schedule for Review of Proposed NU/NSTAR Merger Final decision expected April 2. In response to an application from Northeast Utilities for approval of a merger with NSTAR, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has established a docket and set a schedule for its review of this proposed transaction. Click on this environmental headline for more of this story.
Three Rivers, Millstone offering scholarships Three Rivers Community College and Millstone Station are offering 16 full scholarships for the nuclear engineering technology degree program. The application deadline for students entering the 2012 fall semester is Feb. 15.
Newington Dairy Manufacturer to Pay $299,999 Civil Penalty For Wastewater Discharge Violations Attorney General George Jepsen and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel C. Esty said a stipulated judgment has resolved a 2008 lawsuit against a manufacturing facility in Newington, charged with repeated wastewater discharge violations.
Transportation
In Downtown Visit, Jobs Honcho Looks To Rails Gubernatorial aide Kip Bergstrom is ready to tell other states, “We will steal your scientists”—but he wants high-speed trains to help him do it. The New Haven Independent reports.
Transportation Officials Discuss The Unspeakable: Highway Tolls And SurchargesA legislative panel weighed implementing tolls and increasing the sales tax as a way to fund future investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure Friday at a forum sponsored by the CT Fund for the Environment.
New Haven road plan tarnishes the TIGER programWith funds from the Obama Administration’s TIGER program and other sources, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. intends to replace the short Rt. 34 expressway with two wide streets—a circulation network that would do more to accommodate heavy flows of vehicular traffic than to make an environment conducive to walking and neighborhood life. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.
Transportation funding forum highlights state needs and roadblocksTransit for Connecticut, a program of Connecticut Fund for the Environment, held a forum at the State Capitol discussing transportation funding and the current needs of the state. Click for more on this event from CFE.
