Vermont's new Republican governor says he is sticking with his Democratic predecessor's goal of getting 90 percent of the energy needed in the state from renewable sources by 2050. Scott said renewable energy technology also generates jobs, which he said fits in with his administration's economic development goals. [node:read-more:link]
A new report from the national laboratories examined states’ renewable energy goals and found that, while renewables add costs, they more than make up for it in avoiding pollution and saving water. For the first time, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory took a look at state renewable energy portfolios and projected their costs and benefits decades into the future, as far as 2050. Today, 29 states and Washington, D.C., have a renewable portfolio standard. [node:read-more:link]
City officials in Fremont, Neb., are moving forward with plans for Costco Wholesale Corp. to build a massive chicken complex in town while residents continue to fight the project. The Fremont City Council tonight will consider granting Costco government incentives including $1.35 million in economic-development grants. Local residents concerned about the potential environmental impact of the facility have been fighting it through litigation. Late last week, two residents filed an amended complaint charging that the city approved the project’s expansion without notice. [node:read-more:link]
Early last year, hackers launched a cyberattack against the state of Michigan’s main website to draw attention to the Flint water crisis. In May, they targeted North Carolina government websites to protest a controversial state law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificate. [node:read-more:link]
Two of the nation’s largest drug wholesalers have agreed to pay a combined $36 million to settle lawsuits that allege the companies benefited from West Virginia’s problem with prescription drug abuse. Cardinal Health, the largest supplier of drugs in West Virginia, will pay the state $20 million. AmerisourceBergen, the state’s third-largest drug distributor, agreed to pay $16 million. It’s believed to be the largest pharmaceutical settlement in state history. [node:read-more:link]
Bankers responding to the fourth quarter survey continue to report concern for producers financial positions and profitability due to low commodity prices. More specifically, the Fed report stated that, “Loan renewals and extensions continued to increase, albeit at a slower pace, as loan repayment rates declined for the second year in a row. Overall, the volume of non-real-estate farm loans was lower than a year ago. Operating loan volume increased year over year, while all other loan categories’ volumes fell [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. potato industry has taken umbrage with a popular dietary fad, which is based on the premise that humans ate healthier during the Stone Age than following the advent of agriculture. The Paleolithic diet — coined by Colorado State University emeritus professor Loren Cordain — promotes foods that would have been available to hunter-gatherers more than 10,000 years ago — such as grass-fed meat, wild game, nuts, fruits and non-starchy vegetables. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. District Judge Garr King has awarded the Oregon Natural Desert Association nearly $63,500 because the nonprofit prevailed in a lawsuit opposing the use of motorized vehicles in an 80,000-acre “wilderness study area” near Steens Mountain. Ranchers and local officials worry the prohibition against motorized vehicles will impede juniper removal to the detriment of habitat for the sage grouse. The bird’s declining population has prompted restoration efforts in the arid West to forestall its designation as a threatened species, which would likely curtail cattle grazing on public land. [node:read-more:link]
Seven northwest Washington dairies have pledged to step up efforts to keep manure from spoiling Lummi Nation shellfish beds, while the tribe has agreed to pull back on plans to sue. Dairies also will compensate the tribe with nearly $1.2 million for beds closed by bacteria since 2014 in Portage Bay in Whatcom County. Over the next several months, the tribe and dairies will try to out work water-quality improvement plans for the farms. [node:read-more:link]
Fifteen Oregon counties must soon decide whether to opt out of a class action lawsuit seeking $1.4 billion for allegedly insufficient logging in state forests. As the Jan. 25 deadline approaches, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups is urging counties and the taxing entities within them — including school and fire districts — to exit the litigation. [node:read-more:link]
