State
Grant helps Clinton implement recycling program
Clarion Ledger
Waste Management of Mississippi, a national sponsor of Keep America
Beautiful, has donated a "Think Green Grant" to Keep Clinton
Beautiful to aid the organization in its local recycling efforts.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/12/08/grant-helps-clinton-implement-recycling-program/20090617/
Senate Approves Duck stamp legislation
BY JAMES JONES
Sun Herald
For the first time in two decades, prices of duck stamps will increase.
The U.S. Senate approved the Federal Duck Stamp Act of 2014 this week,
which amends the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act to
update the price of duck stamps.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/06/5954313/senate-approves-duck-stamp-legislation.html
Union Church farmer McCormick wins Miss. Farm Bureau presidency
MBJ
by Ted Carter
Published: December 8,2014
Voting by county Farm Bureau delegates to the Mississippi Farm Bureau
Federation's annual meeting Monday ended with election of Mike McCormick, a
52-year-old cow-calf and timber farmer from Jefferson County, as the tenth
president of the MFBF.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/12/08/union-church-farmer-mccormick-wins-miss-farm-bureau-presidency/
Oil Spill
BP's oil spill settlement appeal rejected by U.S. Supreme Court
Jennifer Larino
The Times-Picayune
December 08, 2014 at 2:56 PM
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected BP's appeal of its oil disaster
settlement, ending the British oil giant's two-year fight over
interpretation of the agreement. The decision affirms lower court rulings
that, under the settlement terms, businesses claiming damages from the 2010
Gulf of Mexico oil disasterneed not prove direct harm.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/12/us_supreme_court_rejects_bps_o.html#incart_river
Supreme Court denial comes at bad time for BP
By Collin Eaton
Houston Chronicle
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear BP's appeal of its 2012 oil spill
settlement will likely be the last word on a long legal battle over who can
get paid for damages stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Appeal-denial-comes-at-bad-time-for-BP-5943643.php
Opinion
Wicker Opposes EPA's Most Expensive Regulation
Proposal to Change Ground-Level Ozone Standard Could Cost Trillions
It is not surprising that the Obama Administration chose to announce its
latest environmental regulation on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.
With Americans traveling and families busy preparing meals for loved ones,
there was a good chance that the costly and unnecessary proposal could slip
by unnoticed.
http://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/weekly-report?ID=70965df2-6b4a-447e-8ea5-6c83b7c209bf
Press releases
EPA Announces New Energy Star Tool for Homeowners to Save Money, Energy
This Winter
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
launching its Energy Star Home Advisor, an online tool designed to help
Americans save money and energy by improving the energy efficiency of their
homes through recommended, customized and prioritized home-improvement
projects.
"As we enter the winter months, homeowners can use our new Energy Star Home
Advisor to increase energy efficiency and save money while reducing
greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change," said EPA Administrator
Gina McCarthy. "When homeowners take advantage of this important tool and
increase the energy efficiency of their homes, many families will notice
savings on energy bills and improvements in the comfort of their homes."
The updated Energy Star Home Advisor guides the homeowner through a
"do-it-yourself" energy assessment to create an Energy Star home profile.
Based on the newly created profile, the Home Advisor provides customized,
prioritized recommendations for improvements. From these recommendations,
users can create their own to-do lists of projects such as adding
insulation to the attic or replacing an HVAC air filter.
Over time, users can update their home profiles as they make improvements,
see the positive environmental impacts of the changes they've made, get
additional recommendations, and update their "to-do" lists for future
projects. The home profiles can also be printed and used at the time of
sale.
The announcement is part of EPA's Energy Efficiency Action Week, during
which EPA regional offices across the country will hold events to increase
awareness about the energy and cost savings associated with energy
efficiency upgrades, especially in the winter months.
More on EPA's Energy Star Home Advisor: www.energystar.gov/homeadvisor
Homeowners can also use the following Energy Star tips to save energy and
money at home this winter:
Get a Home Energy Audit - Home energy auditors are trained and certified in
how to find energy problems using specialized equipment to pinpoint key
areas for improvement and provide customized recommended solutions. In
select states, Home Performance with Energy Star offers an energy
assessment that focuses on a systematic approach to improving energy
efficiency and comfort.
Seal and Insulate - The average home spends $2,000 on utility bills each
year. Heating and cooling costs account for nearly half of that amount.
Energy Star estimates that homeowners can save up to 10 percent on heating
and cooling costs by sealing air leaks and adding insulation.
Learn more through Energy Star's "Rule Your Attic!" campaign, which
encourages homeowners to measure their attic insulation levels as a first
step toward making their homes more energy efficient and comfortable. More:
www.energystar.gov/ruleyourattic.
Heat Efficiently – Energy Star recommends that homeowners check their HVAC
system air filters every month. A dirty filter will slow air flow and make
the system work harder — wasting energy and possibly shortening the life of
the system. A good rule to follow is change the filter every three months.
Energy Star also recommends that homeowners have HVAC systems serviced
annually by a licensed contractor to ensure they're running at optimum
efficiency. If the heating system is over 15 years old, consider planning
for its replacement with a high efficiency unit. Today's Energy Star
certified condensing furnaces operate at over 90 percent efficiency.
Depending on where one lives, replacing old heating and cooling equipment
with newly certified Energy Star equipment can cut annual energy bills by
more than $115. More: www.energystar.gov/heating
Use a Programmable Thermostat. Avoid heating the house when not necessary,
and save almost $200 a year. Programming the thermostat to turn the
temperature down 8 degrees for 7 hours each night and an additional 7 hours
each weekday could result in a seasonal heating savings of approximately 12
percent. More: www.energystar.gov/pts
Make "Bright" Choices For Lighting. To get the energy efficiency and
performance expected, look for the Energy Star label. LED bulbs that earn
the label are independently certified to ensure they deliver on brightness
and color and shine light where it's needed. More: www.energystar.gov/led
Decorate for the Holidays with Energy Star Light Strings. Energy Star
certified light strings use 50 percent less electricity than incandescent
light strings and are available in a variety of colors, shapes and lengths.
They are more durable, shock-resistant and cooler to the touch. Some models
deliver features such as dimming or color shifting. More:
www.energystar.gov/dls
Choose Energy Star Certified Electronics. A home equipped with TVs, set-top
boxes, a Blu-Ray player, and a home theatre in a box that have all earned
the Energy Star can save more than $280 over the life of the products. If
streaming movies or videos over the Internet, remember that laptops and
tablets use less energy compared to streaming over desktop computers or
game consoles. More: www.energystar.gov/holiday
Tips from EPA's WaterSense Program include:
Many Americans know about the importance of saving energy and water. But
few know about the drops-to-watts connection – that it takes energy to
pump, treat, heat, and deliver the water we use every day for showering,
bathing, cooking and cleaning. In fact, homes with electric water heaters
spend one-fourth of their total electric bills just to heat water.
Save 2,900 Gallons of Water at Home. One of the easiest ways to save energy
and water is to install water-efficient, high-performing WaterSense labeled
products such as showerheads. By replacing just one showerhead with a
WaterSense labeled model, EPA estimates the average family can save 2,900
gallons of water, or the amount of electricity needed to power an entire
home for 13 days.
Install WaterSense Fixtures and Energy Star Appliances. If every home in
the United States were equipped with WaterSense labeled fixtures and Energy
Star certified appliances, water and wastewater utilities could save 12
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and save $775 million in
electricity costs per year.
Shower Better and Save $5 Billion in Water and Energy. Simple changes made
at home add up across the country. If every home in the United States
replaced existing showerheads with WaterSense labeled models, the nation
could save more than 260 billion gallons of water and more than $5 billion
in water and energy costs annually.
More on EPA's WaterSense Tips:
http://epa.gov/watersense/our_water/start_saving.html
Learn more about how saving water saves energy:
epa.gov/watersense/pubs/waterenergy.html
