In the Rockies today, a smorgasbord of news.
The U.S. Department of Energy released the projects funded under its new Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency akin to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), which developed the stealth fighter and the internet.
The ARPA handed out $151 million in grants to 37 energy-related projects in 17 states, including Arizona and Colorado.
The grants were awarded under 10 categories, including carbon capture, renewable energy, vehicle technologies and biomass energy.
On the old energy front, the Arizona Republic continues its excellent series on coal, coal-fired power and their economic and environmental impact on the Hopi Tribe.
Also in the news, Idaho closes wolf hunting in one zone; a new report details another threat to sage grouse in Wyoming; and the U.S. Forest Service releases the results of its study of the effect a Montana wildfire had on watersheds.
Rockies today
Advanced research energy projects reach far into the future
Last week the U.S. Department of Energy released its list of 37 projects the recently formed Advanced Research Projects Agency — ARPA-E for short-- awarded $151 million in grants, including Arizona State University to develop new metal-air batteries, and Colorado-based Foro Energy, Inc. to develop new technology to tap into geothermal energy.
Christian Science Monitor; Nov. 2
Alberta town pins economic hopes on biotechnology park
CLIB 21, a consortium of some of Germany's largest chemical companies, is eying Drayton Valley, an Alberta town, as a potential site of a facility to turn woody biomass into synthesis gas, or syngas.
Edmonton Journal; Nov. 2
Idaho wolf hunters fill quota in 1 zone, near quotas in 2 others
Idaho Fish and Game established 12 hunting zones for the state's first ever wolf hunt, with each zone having a specific quota of wolves allowed to be killed, and on Monday, the Upper Snake Wolf Zone was closed to hunting as the five-wolf limit was reached; and hunters were one away from the hunt being closed in the McCall-Weiser Zone; and three away in the Palouse-Hells Canyon Zone.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Nov. 3
Hopi Tribe split over coal's environmental, economic impact
The Navajo Generating Station in northern Arizona and the Black Mesa mine that provides fuel for the coal-fired plant have split the Hopi Tribe over the environmental impacts the plant and mine have on tribal lands and health, and the economic benefit the tribe derives from both. Another in a series.
Arizona Republic; Nov. 3
Report says barbed wire a threat to sage grouse
A recent Wyoming Game and Fish Department study conducted for seven months along a five-mile stretch of barbed wire found 146 cases that sage grouse were killed or injured by flying into the fence.
Billings Gazette (AP); Nov. 3
USFS releases report on hydrological impact of Montana wildfire
The U.S. Forest Service completed its review of the acres burned by the Kootenai Creek wildfire in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and the impact the wildfire had on watersheds, and found that the Brooks Face watershed was the most severely impacted.
Ravalli Republic; Nov. 3
Colorado county wants to match up young farmers with farmland
The Chaffee County Land Link Program in Colorado is based on similar programs throughout the United States that link young farmers up with landowners who want to keep their agricultural land in production.
Denver Post; Nov. 3
Opinion
Bill will make companies come clean on hydraulic fracturing
Congress approved a bill last week that authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a new study on hydraulic fracturing--the injection of water and a stew of chemicals at high pressure to break open rock formations to release natural gas--and the risks associated with the practice, but a more important piece of legislation still awaits action--the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, which makes companies disclose what's in the chemical stew.
New York Times; Nov. 3
Sage-grouse debate could provide new decision-making process
The use of science in public policy making is complex and the upcoming debate on sage grouse and whether the species needs federal protection could provide a perfect forum to get scientists, land managers, interested decision makers and the public on the same stage to talk through the scientific, political, social and economic issues about the decision. A column for High Country News' The Grange by John Freemuth.
The Grange (High Country News); Nov. 3
Report on Idaho's dairy workers a real eye-opener
A study of Idaho's dairies released last week that was commissioned by the dairy industry and conducted by four University of Idaho researchers identifies problems that the industry contributes to in the state, but also proposed innovative solutions.
Twin Falls Times-News; Nov. 3
Montana needs to ban big trucks on crash-prone stretch of highway
The stretch of Highway 35 that hugs the east shore of Flathead Lake wasn't built to handle large trucks, as a series of big-rig crashes has proven, and the Montana Department of Transportation should quit stalling and ask the federal government to redirect big rigs from Highway 35 to U.S. Highway 93, unless those trucks are making deliveries somewhere along the East Shore Highway.
Missoulian; Nov. 3
Beyond the region
Japanese company opens solar panel plant in Oregon
Oregon gave Sanyo Electric $45 million in tax incentives to build its solar panel plant in Salem, and on Monday the plant opened its doors to 100 new employees, with a plan to add 100 more jobs next year.
Portland Oregonian; Nov. 3
Bullets hard to come by, as consumers hoard them
The gun-rights lobby warned people that the Obama administration was going to come for their guns and make ammunition more expensive, causing a run on both, with enough ammunition being sold between October of last year and this year to give each and every American 38 bullets.
Washington Post; Nov. 3
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