• Open Letter to Chairwoman Sosnowski and Members of the Environment Committee

    By Jerry Elmer

    May 24 20132:32pm

    May 23, 2013 Dear Chairwoman Sosnowski and members of the Environment Committee: This e-mail follows yesterday evening’s hearing on S-901, the Governor’s Energy Reform Act of 2013, with its provision for purchasing large quantities of Canadian hydropower; and S-938, Chairwoman Sosnowski’s proposal for extending and enlarging Rhode Island’s landmark Distributed Generation Standard Contracts program. For your reference, I attach a copy of the written submission that I provided at yesterday’s hearing, which you can see here. It was significant at yesterday’s (very long) hearing that – except for the Governor’s Administration – every witness from every sector spoke against the Governor’s energy bill. In broad terms, these witnesses came from four different sectors: (1) the utility (National Grid); (2) the environmental community ... Read More

  • This Week on TalkingFish.org – May 20-24

    By Leah Fine

    May 24 20131:10pm

    May 21 - Tom Toles Tackles Fisheries and Climate Change - The great Tom Toles takes on the effects of climate change on fish with this cartoon in the Washington Post. May 24 - Fish Talk in the News – Friday, May 24 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, Eric Schwaab is leaving NOAA; fisheries regulators ask fishermen not to take out frustration on at-sea observers; the ASMFC postpones a decision on the elver fishery; alewife counts in New England rivers are way up this year; a parasite may be affecting yellowtail flounder populations; Michael Conathan writes on fisheries and climate change; a local scientist testifies in a Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization hearing.

  • Vermont Gas Pipeline: A Bridge to Nowhere?

    By Sandy Levine

    May 23 20131:46pm

    It is important to build bridges, but we need to make sure they get us where we need to go. The proposed expansion of the Vermont Gas pipeline may be more a minefield than a bridge, as one recent Vermont weekly  and one recent national energy blog reported. The project will cut through valuable wetlands and farmland in Addison County. Future plans include crossing Lake Champlain, moving Vermont closer to gas supplies from fracking that is ongoing now in New York and Pennsylvania. Proponents of the project, including Middlebury College and Vermont Gas advance an overly simplistic evaluation suggesting more natural gas is needed in Vermont because it is cheaper and cleaner than the oil and propane it will replace. Others ... Read More

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