Today's Headlines

BROADWATER

In Letter To NY Gov. Paterson, Blumenthal Calls For Unified Fight Against Broadwater | Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal: "Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in a letter to New York Gov. David Paterson today, called for the newly inaugurated governor to decisively reject Broadwater and unite with Connecticut in the fight against the industrialization of Long Island Sound."

Rell asks for delay on Broadwater ruling | NHRegister.com: "HARTFORD — Gov. M. Jodi Rell asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Monday to postpone a final decision on the Broadwater liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Long Island Sound."

State asks FERC to wait until N.Y. is ready | The Connecticut Post Online: "WASHINGTON — Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell sought Monday to delay federal action on a proposed liquefied natural gas platform in Long Island Sound as a new governor takes over in New York."

Feds Weigh Long Island Sound LNG Terminal | Beyond the Barrel (usnews.com): "This week, the federal government will weigh a controversial energy decision for the Northeast—whether to allow a floating liquefied natural gas terminal to be moored 10 miles off the shore of New York in the middle of Long Island Sound."

Broadwater Decision Day Looms | Business New Haven: "The proposal to place a massive liquefied natural gas terminal in the middle of Long Island Sound faces a major hurdle next month, and the rhetoric is heating up as the latest deadline nears."

Maritime group opens annual conference | Greenwich Time: "The Connecticut Maritime Association's annual shipping and trade conference got under way yesterday in Stamford as the opening discussion centered on the importance of the Coast Guard in safety initiatives on the waterways."

LOCAL

Report says DEP lacks funding | NewsTimes.com: "'I think most state residents will be surprised to learn how little of the state budget goes to the DEP,' Karl Wagener, executive director of the Council on Environmental Quality, said last week ... The state ranks lower than its neighbors in the percentage of the General Fund spent on environmental programs -- about 0.23 percent."

Duck to lead fight against chemicals in toys | The Connecticut Post Online

A Hartford Courant editorial: Ease Up On Fuel Cells | Courant.com: "We're all for helping out the home team — in this case, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. But committing the state to buying a fleet of expensive buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells is putting too many chips on one bet."

Maromas no longer 'priority site' for military | MiddletownPress.com: "MIDDLETOWN — The military no longer considers a parcel on Freeman Road in Maromas a “priority site” for an Armed Forces Resource Center."

LeGeyt To Seek House Seat | Courant.com: "CANTON - Tim LeGeyt, a Republican in his second term on the board of selectmen, said Monday he will seek his party's nomination for the 17th House District seat ... He also said he wanted to find solutions to the garbage disposal issues facing the region and promote the preservation of open space, including increasing state aide for towns seeking to acquire land."

Deal With Would-be Developer Of Capehart Mill Postponed | TheDay.com: "The City Council postponed action Monday on a plan to turn over the tax liens on the city's top delinquent property to a New York developer who hopes to convert the former Capehart Mill into 250 condominiums and apartments."

Casino Smoking Bill Advances In Legislature: Proposed measure calls for negotiations with tribes | TheDay.com

No Utopia For Bear Stearns | TheDay.com: "Fallen firm was part of Utopia story."

GREEN BUILDING

Architects Unveil Designs For School Expansion | Courant.com: "Architects offered their first peek at expansion designs for the Mary Hooker Environmental Studies Magnet School in Hartford Monday, showing renditions that featured a butterfly vivarium, a greenhouse, a planetarium, an aquatic lab and a living ecosystem in the lobby beneath a soaring glass ceiling."

A ‘green’ high school | NHRegister.com: "Branford High School is about to go off the power grid with a super-efficient system that will allow it to serve as an emergency shelter, even if the rest of the town loses power."

GLOBAL WARMING

Carbon Dioxide Up For Sale: Connecticut, Nine Other States Holding First Auction Of Emissions 'Allowances' | Courant.com: "For the first time in the U.S., carbon dioxide goes on sale in September — and the bidding will start at $1.86 a ton."

States Set Carbon Dioxide Allowance Auction | TheDay.com: "Montpelier, Vt. — Ten northeastern states hoping to crack down on power plants and other large-scale greenhouse gas emitters announced plans Monday for a carbon dioxide allowance auction, to be held Sept. 10."

Want to Buy Some Pollution? | New York Times: "LATER this year, Massachusetts and other Northeastern states will hold the nation’s first auction of greenhouse gas emissions permits. Congress should take note: this market-based, technology-neutral auction is a model for how to encourage power generators to limit their emissions." Ian Bowles is the secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts.

EPA’s ozone standards ignore science findings, environmental groups say | NHRegister.com: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued new standards for ozone that ignore the conclusions of independent scientists and fail to adequately control the airborne irritant, environmental groups contend."

Science at Risk | New York Times: "In the Bush administration, contests between politics and science are usually resolved in favor of politics ... The big surprise was Mr. Johnson’s proposal to rewrite the Clean Air Act to allow regulators to take costs into account when setting air quality standards."

A Southern Connecticut Newspapers Inc. editorial: EPA falling short again with air standards - The Advocate: "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson has once again ignored the agency's own scientific advisers, this time in establishing new lower standards for the amount of smog-forming ozone that will be allowed in the future."

Two Conn. Towns Receive Over $500,000 in EPA Funding for Clean School Buses | US EPA Newsroom: "EPA is awarding grants totaling more than $500,000 to install advanced pollution control equipment on approximately 82 school buses operating in Mansfield and Newtown, Conn."

EPA Announces $5.4 million for New Clean Diesel Projects in the Northeast | US EPA Newsroom: "Nearly $5.4 million in grants and innovative financing are available to Northeastern communities and organizations working to significantly reduce diesel emissions and improve public health."

Air Quality Group Receives $100,000+ EPA Grant to Retrofit Construction Equipment in N.H. and Mass. | US EPA Newsroom: "EPA is awarding $102,110 to Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) to install advanced pollution control equipment on up to five pieces of construction equipment operating in New Hampshire and Massachusetts."

Ozone Alert | washingtonpost.com: "Mr. Bush's role in setting a smog standard raises the specter of political interference."

EVENTS

City Of Groton Drafts New Plan For Growth | TheDay.com: "Groton — The City Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing tonight on the newly drafted Plan of Conservation and Development, a guide for future growth of the community."

Land Trust Forum To Feature Documentary Showing | TheDay.com: "The Old Saybrook Land Trust will host an educational forum at 7:30 p.m. March 25 at the Pasbeshauke Pavilion, across from the Saybrook Point Inn, that will include a showing of a 20-minute documentary narrated by Paul Newman about global warming in Connecticut. Admission is free. For information call Chris Cryder at (860) 395-7016."

NATIONAL

Corporate Sponsorship for a Wind Farm | New York Times

Wal-Mart 'Green Store' Cuts Energy | Courant.com: "BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open its latest generation of energy-efficient test stores this week with a Las Vegas Supercenter that uses new cooling technology to cut overall energy use by up to 45 percent."

A differing opinion: Wal-Mart CEO: It's Not Easy Being Green | AlterNet: "... While Wal-Mart may be working to reduce their carbon footprint, it became clear that to Scott, reducing waste means making money, not fulfilling an environmental promise."

EXTRA

Employees rescue injured hawk | NewsTimes.com: "DANBURY - The young, red-tailed hawk hurried to the open door in his cage Monday, only to get his talon tangled on the wire mesh on the cage's edge."

Sea Life Honored In U.N. Series | Courant.com: "The sperm whale, Connecticut's official state animal, is among the endangered species whose preservation is encouraged by the latest set of United Nations stamps."