While some faith groups decry the notion of global warming, St. John’s recently received a $1,000 grant from Interfaith Power and Light, a San Francisco-based national multi-faith organization that promotes religious groups’ responses to global warming. St. John’s had replaced original lighting and cut electricity use by more than 20 percent. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.

CT NOFA is supporting this effort, as is so far, The Ledgelight Health district and the United Church of Christ. The CT League of Conservation Voters will support it as soon as we have a bill to show them. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.

This is one of the best weeks I’ve had in a long time. Right on the heels of today’s landmark court decision upholding European laws to reduce airplane pollution, we got another historic moment for the environment and public health. Today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson unveiled the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which will
[continue reading...]

Apple, ranked the least green of the big tech companies earlier this year, is moving quietly to repair its reputation by switching its vast east coast data centre from coal to solar power. Local officials in North Carolina say the company is preparing to build a solar farm adjacent to its $1bn data centre in
[continue reading...]

GUILFORD — Residents of three coastal neighborhoods learned Monday that piping public water to their properties could cost the 287 households more than $10,000 each. The news raised a heap of questions about the proposal. If the project comes to fruition, all home and property owners in Tuttles Point, Indian Cove and Mulberry Point would
[continue reading...]

As of Monday, Jan. 9, about 18 Metro-North Railroad trains that operate between Grand Central Terminal and New Canaan, Danbury, Waterbury and New Haven, will have quiet cars during select peak times, according to a statement from the railroad. For more on this story, visit: Greenwich Train Riders to Get Peace and Quiet. Blog this!
[continue reading...]

With the conclusion of the United Nations climate talks in Durban, the focus is back on states and municipalities to ensure that measures are being taken to address the problem of climate change. The Durban talks have generally been regarded as positive — negotiators agreed to continue working to identify a greenhouse gas reduction goal
[continue reading...]

The town will begin a new single-stream recycling program using tipper barrels after the New Year — a $1.2 million project several years in the making. For more on this story, visit: Enfield Rolls Out New Recycling Program – Courant.com. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin share
[continue reading...]

Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra says the Connecticut Bond Commission’s approval of $5 million for the Coltsville Historic District is another boost in Hartford’s efforts to win National Park designation for the South End site. For more on this story, visit: Hartford’s Coltsville gets $5M boost | Hartford Business. The State Bond Commission’s approval of
[continue reading...]

The Norwalk River Watershed Initiative, which has won a grant of $897 from Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas to support environmental initiatives, will use the money to design and build a hands-on, interactive working model of a rain garden. It will be used to teach homeowners how a rain garden can filter storm
[continue reading...]

Preliminary plans endorsed by the region’s chief elected officials last month call for development of new drinking water supplies of up to 10 million gallons per day, with several potential new sources identified for further investigation. [wh-reservoir]

Collinsville has discovered that it had not been collecting on the state’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes for the upper dam and related infrastructure. The Payment in Lieu of Taxes program gives municipalities funds for state land for which it cannot collect taxes.

Register today for our Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference to be held Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the CT Forests and Parks Association in Middletown, CT. The Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference draws both beginning farmers who choose to farm organically and established farmers who are converting their operations to organic.

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Salem officials are scrambling to find alternative sources of revenue as the city’s coal- and oil-fired power station gradually shuts down because of new federal air pollution regulations, a move that will eliminate the historic town’s largest single taxpayer. For more on this story, visit: Federal pollution regs threaten Salem power
[continue reading...]

All seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Act of 1972, which was enacted to protect and manage marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions. If you are seal watching on your own, be sure to stay at least 50 yards from all wild seals.

SHELTON — In the Valley, one company has gone to great lengths to make sure hundreds of kids whose families are going through tough times will find a bicycle under their Christmas tree this year. For more on this story, visit: Shelton company donates hundreds of bikes – Connecticut Post. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious
[continue reading...]

Residents want reassurance new development will be sustainable over time without having a dramatic impact on the character of their towns. Smaller local businesses feel they should be supported and larger corporations should be kept at bay. Governments are facing an epic struggle to attract sustainable businesses in the face of declining tax rolls. And
[continue reading...]

Finding the proper balance between protecting sensitive habitats on conservation land and giving the public an opportunity to enjoy those lands is one of the thorniest issues conservation organizations deal with. At the Aspetuck Land Trust’s 1,009-acre Trout Brook Valley Preserve, Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation scientists are working to help find that proper balance. Located
[continue reading...]

By thinking more broadly and strategically, Connecticut could turn its view forward instead of backward and become a trailblazer in how power is created and distributed while driving new job creation.

With federal funding to protect Long Island Sound set to expire this month, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Joe Lieberman, Richard Blumenthal, and Charles E. Schumer today introduced legislation to continue to support the restoration of Long Island Sound through 2016.