“It should be like another utility,” said John Phetteplace, the solid waste manager for the Town of Stonington. “You pay for your water; you pay for your electricity; you pay for your trash.” If you want to pay less, he said, generate less trash. For more on this story, visit: Pay-as-you-throw could be the future
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Ted Gilman, education specialist at Audubon Greenwich, is the point man for two February national events for bird lovers. On Thursday at Cos Cob Library Gilman will address the significance surrounding National Bird Feeding Month and also how to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count that takes place in Greenwich from February 17-20. For
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Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky has announced that the State Bond Commission approved $5,000,000 in funding on Monday for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s new Farmland Restoration Program. Authorized by Public Act 11-1, this voluntary program provides matching grants of up to $20,000 for restoration activities that increase the state’s farmland resource base for agriculture, with an emphasis on prime and important farmland soils and on human and livestock food production. It is expected that the program will be able to work with over 250 farms. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.

Two north central Connecticut legislators are pushing for the creation of a select committee that would focus solely on agricultural issues — an area that they say deserves heightened awareness right now. The Hartford Courant reports.

Safer walkways along Fairfield Beach Road, more flood prevention near the shore and a revamped, ecofriendly parking lot are all due to arrive near the Penfield Pavilion this summer. Public Works Director Richard White laid out his plans for projects in the area this week. For more on this story, visit: Fairfield Plans Safer Walk,
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We can all agree that energy independence is a worthy objective, right? Alternative energy sources like solar power can help free the United States from fossil fuels and the grip of unstable Persian Gulf states. And wind power — wait, not so fast, says “Windfall,” Laura Israel’s urgent, informative and artfully assembled documentary. An account
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At issue is a more than $80 million backlog in applications for assistance through Connecticut’s Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Cleanup Program — and hundreds of gasoline stations that fuel industry representatives say are at risk of going out of business. The warning letter, issued Jan. 26 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in
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When asked how he felt about the major decision he and his wife had made to give up this spectacular property’s development rights in a rapidly developing town, Peter Cooper said: “This gift is a dream which has been many years in the making….”

GREENWICH, Conn. — Greenwich’s state representatives applauded single-stream recycling, promoted ecological awareness and promised to vote for environmentally friendly legislation as they met with the public at an annual environmental forum. For more on this story, visit: Greenwich Reps Outline Environmental Imperatives | The Daily Greenwich. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend
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The General Assembly has passed a number of laws in recent years to protect bicyclists. Motorists must give bicyclists a three-foot clearance on the road, for example. Cars cannot overtake a bicycle traveling in the same direction and “cut it off,” or make an abrupt right turn in front of the bicycle rider. These are
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Now that Connecticut’s electrical power has been fully restored, the typical governmental responses are kicking in: point fingers, hold hearings and propose changes to existing practices. And, as is also typical, the discussions will take place within a distinct silo of a single issue. In this case, it is the pre- and post-storm performance of Connecticut Light & Power. Jefferson B. Davies writes in The Hartford Courant.

More than 40,000 people have joined two Girl Scouts’ campaign on Change.org calling for the organization’s popular cookies to be made without palm oil. The two Michigan 16-year-olds, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, want Girl Scouts USA to stop using unsustainable palm oil, the production of which reportedly causes deforestation, endangers species, and contributes to human rights abuses and climate change. Environmental Headlines encourages its readers to check the ingredients of products they use and 1. stop buying products made with palm oil, and 2. encourage makers of those products to stop using this ingredient, which is inherently environmentally destructive.

The drinking water for more than 11.3 million people could be at risk of radioactive contamination from a leak or accident at the Indian Point Nuclear Facility, says a new study released today by Environment New York.

The report also shows that Indian Point Nuclear Plant threatens drinking water supplies for more than twice as many people compared to any other nuclear facility in the nation. New York City Is the largest city in the country with water supplies at risk of a nuclear accident.

This week, Connecticut Post reporters have been walking, biking and taking trains and cars to work and facing the challenge of getting around mass transit’s missing links. Read more about this story by clicking on this environmental headline above.

The agency launches improved website for beach advisories and closures WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will provide $9.8 million in grants to 38 states, territories and tribes to help protect the health of swimmers at America’s beaches. The agency also launched an improved website for beach advisories and
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If Collinsville has become a destination, the Farmington River is no small part of that allure. For the month of February, the Gallery at Canton Public Library features an exhibition by Tom Cameron, a photographer who has captured the Farmington River’s wild and scenic beauty and whose photography underscores the magic of this magnificent resource.
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Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to a Yale paper in Scientific Reports. This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly. “This adaptation is certainly encouraging for conservation,” said Steven Brady, the study’s author and a doctoral student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. “But our modern footprint is fundamentally changing species in ways we don’t understand and, critically, we don’t know if these adaptive responses will keep pace with environmental change.”

The Connecticut DEEP today issued a proposed final decision recommending the issuance of an inland wetlands and watercourses permit to the Connecticut DOT required for the construction of the New Britain to Hartford busway. The proposed final decision can be accessed on the DEEP web site. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.

EHHI has released a new report calling for tougher standards to regulate cellular technologies—especially for children and pregnant women.

This report is the first part of a project researching the health effects of cell phone use. John Wargo, Ph.D., professor of Environmental Risk and Policy at Yale and lead author of the report, said, “The scientific evidence is sufficiently robust showing that cellular devices pose significant health risks to children and pregnant women….” Click on this environmental headline for more of this story.

CFE and Save the Sound are proposing that the legislature engage in initiatives that would educate home buyers, renters and property owners about energy efficiency; encourage more investment in building energy efficiency; increase bi-state coordination between Connecticut and New York state legislators on Long Island Sound policies; create jobs and protect clean water through collaborations with Connecticut Marine Trades Association and the Clean Water Investment Coalition; support Clean Water Fund FY 2012 authorizations; ensure investments are made in new transit services and promote federal funding for rail and bus transit; promote the role of natural landscapes in mitigating the effects of floods and major storms; and defend against bills that seek to weaken or roll back environmental protections. Click on this environmental headline for the complete news from CFE.