Oil Spill
Governor Bryant praises work of Go Coast 2020
WLOX
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant had high praise for the group he appointed
in August to determine how best to spend millions of dollars in BP fine
money from the oil spill.
http://www.wlox.com/story/20035802/governor-bryant-praises-work-of-go-coast-2020
Bryant working with GoCoast2020 to finalize proposed BP funding
Sun Herald
By LEIGHANNE LOCKHART — llockhart@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- Mississippi officials said they still don't know how much funding
they will receive from the RESTORE Act or when they will know as no
settlements have been made yet.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/11/07/4290066/bryant-working-with-gocoast2020.html
Recipients picked for BP tourism, seafood grants
AP
More than 100 nonprofit groups and government entities have been picked to
get shares of $43.7 million in BP funds to promote the Gulf Coast's tourism
and seafood industries following the company's 2010 oil spill.
http://www.wlox.com/story/20035490/recipients-picked-for-bp-tourism-seafood-grants
Louisiana agencies get $16 million in BP funds for tourism, seafood
promotion
Times Picayune
More than 100 nonprofit organizations and government entities will share
almost $44 million in BP funds to promote Gulf Coast tourism and the
seafood industries impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the
court-appointed oil-spill claims administrator said Wednesday.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/11/louisiana_agencies_get_16_mill.html
BP, Plaintiffs Ask Judge to Approve $7.8 Billion Spill Pact
Bloomberg
BP Plc (BP/) and the lead lawyers representing victims of the 2010 Gulf of
Mexico oil spill are set to ask a judge today to approve a proposed $7.8
billion partial settlement of claims, while attorneys for thousands of
plaintiffs seek rejection or modification of the agreement.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-08/bp-plaintiffs-ask-judge-to-approve-7-dot-8-billion-spill-pact
Judge to hear arguments Thursday on fairness of oil spill settlement
WWL
NEW ORLEANS -- A federal judge in New Orleans is holding a hearing Thursday
to decide whether BP's settlement with thousands of oil spill claimants is
fair.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Judge-to-rule-Thursday-on-fairness-of-oil-spill-settlements-177760231.html
State News
Land swap at OS harbor is 'dead' says DMR director
WLOX
A controversial land swap involving the DMR and property at the Ocean
Springs harbor is a dead deal.
http://www.wlox.com/story/20035742/land-swap-at-os-harbor-is-dead-says-dmr-director
DMR taking bids to tear down boat storage shed in O.S. Harbor
Sun Herald
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
OCEAN SPRINGS -- The state Department of Marine Resources is going to tear
down and remove the large boat storage shed it owns in Ocean Springs
Harbor.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/11/07/4290165/dmr-taking-bids-to-tear-down-boat.html
Bryant worries $500 million for Port in danger
Sun Herald
By MICHAEL NEWSOM — mmnewsom@sunherald.com
GULFPORT -- Gov. Phil Bryant said Wednesday he wants quicker action on
issues stalling development at the Port of Gulfport so the project moves
forward and produces 1,200 new jobs in order for officials to avoid the
chance of losing $500 million in federal money.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/11/07/4290179/bryant-worries-500-million-for.html
Video: Bruce Pursuing Solar Electricity
WCBI
BRUCE, Miss. (WCBI) — Another Northeast Mississippi town is turning to the
sun for electricity.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/bruce-pursuing-solar-electricity
State's rice producers saving money on fuel, conserving
Special to The Clinton News
Ten years of research indicates that a water management strategy can save
rice producers money on fuel and conserve water without hurting yields.
http://www.clintonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121108/BIZ/311080003/-1/news01/State-s-rice-producers-saving-money-on-fuel--conserving
National News
Obama to continue efforts to curb greenhouse gases, push energy efficiency
Washington Post
By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, Published: November 7
President Obama's reelection, along with key wins by Senate Democrats,
ensures that the federal government will press ahead with efforts to
promote renewable energyand energy efficiency and to curb greenhouse gas
emissions linked to climate change.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-to-continue-efforts-to-curb-greenhouse-gases-push-energy-efficiency/2012/11/07/06c70c66-28f9-11e2-96b6-8e6a7524553f_story.html
EPA approves TVA plan for final coal ash cleanup
Knoxville News Sentinel
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Environmental Protection Agency announced today it has approved TVA's
preferred plan for dealing with the final cleanup phase of the 2008
Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/nov/07/epa-approves-tva-plan-for-final-coal-ash-cleanup/?print=1
Press Releases
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustees Call for Public Input on Next
Round of Gulf Restoration
Trustees ask public to consider $9 million in new projects focused on bird
and turtle nesting habitat; comment period includes Nov. 13 public meeting
in Pensacola, Fla.
Nov. 8, 2012
The Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) trustees
(Trustees) have released the Deepwater Horizon Phase II Draft Early
Restoration Plan & Environmental Review (DERP/ER) for public review and
comment. The plan includes two proposed projects totaling about $9 million
that focus on restoring nesting habitat for birds and sea turtles. Response
efforts resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused injuries to
this natural habitat.
"This draft plan includes two Early Restoration projects which represent a
near-term opportunity to improve the nesting habitats of birds and turtles,
two species that are integral to the Gulf Coast wildlife community," said
Cynthia Dohner, Natural Resource Trustee for the Department of the
Interior. "Our desire is to provide these benefits during the next nesting
season, but we'd first like to hear from the public. We encourage the
public to attend the November 13 meeting in Pensacola and to give us their
comments."
The DERP/ER describes the second round of projects proposed to receive
funding from the $1 billion BP committed to Early Restoration on April 21,
2011.
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
| The trustees will | 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Open House |
| hold a public | 7:00 – 9:00 PM | Meeting and Public |
| meeting to solicit | | Comment |
| comment on the | | |
| DERP/ER at the | | |
| Escambia County | | |
| Central Complex | | |
| Building in Room | | |
| 104, 3363 West | | |
| Park Place | | |
| Pensacola, Fla. | | |
| 32505: Nov. 13, | | |
| 2012 | | |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
The DERP/ER and a list of public repositories are available at
www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov and www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon.
Comments will be taken until Dec. 10, 2012. Comments may be submitted in
the following ways:
� Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
� For electronic submission of comments containing attachments, email:
fw4coastalDERPcomments@fws.gov
� U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 2099, Fairhope, AL
36533.
"We are pleased to be able to move forward with these important projects
that restore key nesting and wintering habitats for Florida's coastal
wildlife, and we will continue to work with our fellow Trustees to address
the full injury the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill
created," said Nick Wiley, Florida's Co-Trustee with the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Restoring these damages to the Gulf
Coast is vital to the families and businesses that depend on healthy and
diverse fish and wildlife resources, and we look forward to working closely
with our coastal communities as these projects take shape."
The DERP/ER describes two proposed projects for the second round of Early
Restoration. These projects address coastal conservation for the purpose of
restoring bird (avian) and sea turtle nesting habitats, which were injured
by oil spill response operations. These projects are timed to enhance the
bird and turtle nesting ground as the spring 2013 nesting season begins.
Below is a brief description of each project:
� A Comprehensive Program for Enhanced Management of Avian Breeding Habitat
Injuries by Response in the Florida Panhandle, Alabama and Mississippi.
This project proposes to protect nesting habitat for beach-nesting birds
from disturbance in order to restore habitat impaired by disturbance from
oil spill response activities. It is to be conducted on sandy beaches in
Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, and Franklin counties,
Florida; Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Baldwin and Mobile
counties, Alabama, and the Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) –
Mississippi District.
� Improving Habitat Injured by Spill Response: Restoring the Night Sky.
This project proposes to reduce artificial lighting impacts on nesting
habitat for sea turtles, specifically loggerhead turtles, to restore
habitat impaired by disturbance from oil spill response activities. It is
to be conducted on sandy beach public properties in Baldwin County,
Alabama; and Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, and
Franklin counties, Florida.
NRDA is the process used by the Trustees to develop the public's claim for
natural resource damages against the party or parties responsible for a
spill and to seek compensation for the harm done to natural resources and
the services provided by those resources. For early restoration projects,
the Deepwater Horizon NRDA trustees include the U.S. Department of
Commerce, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies from
the five Gulf States --Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Early Restoration projects represent an initial step toward fulfilling the
responsible parties' obligation to fund the complete restoration of injured
natural resources. Early Restoration provides an opportunity to implement
restoration projects agreed upon by the Trustees and BP under the Framework
Agreement prior to the completion of the NRDA. The damage assessment will
continue while Early Restoration planning is under way. BP and other
responsible parties are obligated to compensate the public for the full
scope of the natural resource injury caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill, including the cost of assessing such injury and planning for
restoration.
-30-
Enhanced and Updated USDA Energy Website Makes Information Easy to Access
Posted by Harry Baumes, Ph.D., Director of the USDA Office of Energy Policy
and New Uses, on November 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM
In January 2012, USDA launched its brand new Energy Web site. The site
contains agricultural, economic, and social data on renewable energy to
assist stakeholders, public users, state and local government in
identifying opportunities, activities and USDA's projects in renewable
energy. The Energy Web information is available through several associated
online tools, such as USDA Energy Investment Maps, the Renewable Energy
Tool, Energy Matrix, Investment Projects Reports, as well as helpful state
links to energy resources within individual states.
Today, USDA is launching an updated version of the Energy Web site. Thanks
to suggestions from our users this version 2.0 site will provide new
resources; new reporting features and the investment data is current thru
August 2012. We appreciate your ongoing comments and suggestions and we
look forward to your continuous support to make this website your website
for USDA renewable energy.
Some of the enhanced features of USDA's Energy Web include:
Energy Investment Maps: The USDA Energy Investments Map contains
information regarding USDA programs that provide assistance to renewable
energy and energy efficiency projects. The maps display investment
location, type of energy investment, amount of assistance provided and the
administering USDA program. The energy investment data is summarized by
state, county and congressional districts to display total number of
investments and total dollar amounts obligated by USDA. Recent
enhancements are: investment data has been updated to include fiscal year
2012 data, the map legend and data layer, previously designed to toggle
between two screens, were combined for easier operation and fast results.
The map description has placed in a separate pop up window "About this Map"
to visually enhance the Energy Investment map and also supports efficiency.
Energy Investment Report: (formerly named USDA Special Projects Report)
this page in the past provided information on three of USDA's special
initiatives: investments in anaerobic digesters; flexible fuel pumps; and
wood to energy projects. Enhancements: the new Investment Projects Report
page enables user access to all energy technologies data that are
associated with the Energy Investment Map. The data can be sorted by
program, year of obligation, payment type, total dollar amounts and
state/county/district, providing various project details. There are pie
charts, graphs and report listing to emphasize investment data. Another
new feature is the ability to print screen reports, and the data can also
be exported in various formats.
Renewable Energy Tool: The vision of the Tool is to identify assist
stakeholders identify "renewable energy opportunities" by providing access
to agricultural, economic, social, and technical data and information
resources that are relevant to the evaluation of potential opportunities.
Recent enhancements include adding easy access links to a number of tools
available across USDA agencies with information "pop-ups" describing tool.
Next year's enhancements for the mapping feature of the Renewable Energy
Tool will include types of data and information that is available include
but not be limited to: land use for producing biomass and energy crops,
cost to produce crops alternative crops, competition for biomass, fuel
stations, state and federal policy, USDA guidelines for and financial
assistance, and state and federal office locations for agriculture, energy,
environmental protection, and conservation. Initially the focus is
transportation fuels.
The Energy Web is a work in progress. We encourage feedback as we are
planning additional enhancements over the next year to include access to
more data, success stories, additional functionality, and more tools. Your
comments and suggestions are welcome. To contact our office, click here.
