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Environment

Along the low-lying Delaware Bay shore, erosion and storm damage problems are striking. Three towns in Downe Township are, in effect, disappearing: Fortescue, Gandy's Beach and Money Island. Here, Bob Campbell, Mayor of Downe Township, stands by homes in Fortescue, New Jersey, March 12, 2012, that were destroyed by super storm Sandy. (Charles Fox/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

Along N.J. bay, rising sea draws ever closer

Friday, May 17, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — The night Meghan Wren got stranded by floodwaters and had to sleep in her car, she knew it was time for a reckoning. She had been driving to her waterfront home along the Delaware Bay in South Jersey. As she crossed the wide marsh in the dark, the water rose quickly. It became too deep - ahead and … 0

A least sandpiper U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Bird Sightings

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Audubon Society has reported a variety of recent bird sightings in western Massachusetts. Less common nesting species reported in small numbers this week were American bitterns, green herons, Virginia rails, whip-poor-wills, fish crows, brown thrashers, northern waterthrushes, worm-eating warblers, Canada warblers, grasshopper sparrows, indigo buntings, eastern meadowlarks and orchard orioles. Regular migrating … 0

These solar shingles are from Dow Powerhouse. PHOTO BY TAI VIINIKKA/FLICKR

Considering solar shingles; sequester kicks in

Friday, May 17, 2013

Dear EarthTalk: I’m getting my roof redone and have heard about solar shingles. Are they practical for the Northeast? — John Denson, Glastonbury, Conn. Solar shingles are photovoltaic cells designed to look like and integrate with conventional asphalt roof shingles. First commercially available in 2005, solar shingles were much more costly than traditional … 0

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Kristin Gross of Northampton, left, forces out Madison Grande of East Longmeadow on a hit from Mary Edwards Friday in Northampton. JERREY ROBERTS Northampton softball suffers another tough loss
Rear view of the Florence Community Center at 140 Pine Street in Florence. KEVIN GUTTING Florence Community Center tenants wary of change as building sale nears
Diezel, a Dutch Shepherd police dog owned by UMass Canine Officer Liana Varosky, searches Thursday for marijuana in vehicles during a K9 training event held at UMass. The task is part of the yearly certification required for all police dogs. SARAH CROSBY ‘They won’t mess with a dog’ ... At UMass K9 training, dogs build, prove police skills
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Art People: Julia Mintz | filmmaker
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Tuned in
From Arts & Entertainment »

Residents asked to remove bird feeders to avoid unwanted visits by other wildlife

Friday, May 17, 2013

AMHERST — Residents are being asked to take down their bird feeders or else risk bringing unwanted wildlife onto their properties. Animal Welfare Officer Carol Hepburn said she is putting out an advisory for people to remove their bird feeders, watch what they are putting in their compost … 0

In this April 18, 2013, photo, a golden eagle is seen flying over a wind turbine on Duke energy's top of the world windfarm in Converse County Wyo. The company has reported 10 golden eagle deaths since it started operation in 2009. It's the not-so-green secret of the nation's wind-energy boom: Spinning turbines are killing thousands of federally protected birds, including eagles, each year. (AP Photo/Dina Cappiello)

US protects wind industry from eagle death penalties

Thursday, May 16, 2013

CONVERSE COUNTY, Wyo. — It happens about once a month here, on the barren foothills of one of America’s green-energy boomtowns: A soaring golden eagle slams into a wind farm’s spinning turbine and falls, mangled and lifeless, to … 1

FILE - In this March 7, 2013 file photo, then-Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Obama administration is proposing a rule that would require companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draft proposed last year that was withdrawn amid industry complaints that federal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in natural gas production. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Interior resets rule for drilling on public land

Thursday, May 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Thursday it will require companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. The new “fracking” rule replaces a draft proposed … 0

Forestland preserved in Belchertown

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

BELCHERTOWN — An 88-acre parcel of forestland that provides a key link to a wildlife corridor and serves as a popular hiking area will be preserved as the Meads Corner Conservation Area. The Kestrel Land Trust and Belchertown Conservation Commission announced Tuesday the creation of the conservation area … 0

Lower natural gas prices help drive down New England electricity costs

Thursday, May 16, 2013

BOSTON (AP) — Falling natural gas prices helped drive down New England’s electricity prices by nearly a quarter last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the region’s power grid operator. The 2012 Annual Markets Report by the ISO New England said natural gas-fired power plants generated … 0

Northeast Power Coordinating Council forecasts lower demand

Thursday, May 16, 2013

HARTFORD, Conn. — Improved energy efficiency and conservation are expected to help reduce demand this summer in the northeastern United States and several Canadian provinces even if the season is oppressively hot and humid, a group that promotes power reliability said in an annual assessment released Tuesday. The … 0

The clock is ticking, slowly, on federal rules for coal-fired plants

Thursday, May 16, 2013

POOLESVILLE, Md. — On a curve of the Potomac River 37 miles northwest of Washington, the Dickerson power plant has stood sentry over small villages, crop fields and horse farms for more than half a century. Burning mostly coal and some natural gas, Dickerson emitted about 1.5 million … 0

Riley Duren, the chief systems engineer for the Earth Science and Technology Directorate at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) demonstrates on the laser radar designed to measure carbon dioxide in the air at Caltech's Linde + Robinson Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Friday, April 12, 2013. A mile above this city, sensors gaze down on the basin from atop Mount Wilson the way a satellite fixates on Earth, collecting pieces of information about Los Angeles' carbon footprint. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Global project aims to track big-city carbon footprints

Thursday, May 16, 2013

LOS ANGELES — Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward. Halfway around the globe, similar contraptions … 0

FILE - This June 13, 2003 file photo shows pipelines running from the offshore docking station to four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks at the Dominion Resources Inc. Liquified Natural Gas facility in Cove Point, Md. A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking. (AP Photo/Matt Houston, File)

Plans to export US natural gas stir debate

Thursday, May 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed … 0

Chris Munro of Holyoke helps her daughter, Mackenzie Coffey, 3, reel in what Mackenzie dubbed a "sea monster" (pondweed) during a youth fishing derby at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office pond in Hadley Saturday. KEVIN GUTTING

Fine day for fishing in Hadley

Friday, May 17, 2013

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