Dismantling SilosBill Price This past Friday and Saturday, I went to the Peoples’ Concerned about Chemical Safety’s conference entitled “Looking Forward”. The goals of the conference were to have residents have conversations about local chemical safety, look at how solutions that have worked elsewhere, and to be a part of local solutions to prevent water contamination. And there’s that common thread again….water contamination. More Debate highlights W.Va.’s inaction on energy diversity, efficiencyKen Ward As lawmakers move to dismantle West Virginia’s six-year-old alternative-energy law, they tout their action as another effort to help the state’s declining coal industry. However, state records show that the 2009 law actually does little to hurt the coal industry and maybe even less to really promote alternatives like wind energy or solar power. West Virginia’s coal-heavy utilities say they have been — and will continue to be — able to meet the law without adding new renewable generation. More Here’s a Great Idea–Let’s Shoot Ourselves in Both Feet!Vickie Wolfe Friday saw the introduction of H.B. 2269, whose purpose “is to require rules of the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Health and Human Resources, Division of Natural Resources and Department of Commerce be no more stringent than corresponding federal law or regulations.” Now, most of you who are reading this newsletter probably understand the relationship between “statutes” and “rules,” but here’s a thumbnail explanation. More |
