U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, a $1 billion project that has survived nine years of regulatory review and a well-financed campaign to kill the plan. The Cape Wind project will include construction of 130 wind turbines over a 24-square-mile…

In another display of the sea change that has occurred at the US Environmental Protection Agency under the current administration, a new report was issued yesterday regarding indicators of climate change. The report, entitled “Climate Change Indicators in the United States,” measures 24 separate indicators showing how climate change affects the health and environment of…

An oil spill from a leaking underwater well grew to cover 1,900 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday as the U.S. Coast Guard scrambled to keep the slick from reaching the fragile Gulf Coast shoreline. The well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana’s coast, is leaking about 1,000 barrels of…

An oil well on the ocean floor beneath a drilling rig that exploded and sank into the Gulf of Mexico began spewing oil on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The well, 5,000 feet beneath the ocean surface, was leaking about 1,000 barrels per day of oil, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said, in what the…

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter on Monday signed into law the Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act–legislation that requires Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80% from several Front Range coal plants by the end of 2017, most likely sooner. Xcel will work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and…

The New Jersey cities of Trenton, Jersey City, Newark, and Camden are set to receive a total of $2.3 million dollars from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help them assess and clean up contaminated and abandoned sites. The funding will be channeled through the EPA’s Brownfields Program. The clean up projects will help…

Indo-Pacific lionfish, an invasive carnivore equipped with venomous spines, are spreading—and eating their way—through the fishes of the Caribbean Sea. In an effort to stop, or at least slow down, these fearless invaders, the National Science Foundation has awarded a 3-year, $700,000 grant to scientists at Oregon State University (OSU), Corvallis. The lionfish are normally…

The annual MerleFest, presented by Lowe’s takes place next week in Wilkesboro, NC. MerleFest has been an annual event since 1988. It attracts attendees from a wide area, and generates significant economic benefit to the region. This year MerleFest is making increased environmental efforts to reduce the potential environmental impacts of such a large-scale event.…

The first regional Wind Energy Conference, sponsored by the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (www.glrea.org) took place at the Cobo Center in Detroit April 20 & 21st. Bringing together for the first time under one roof, the major players from government, utilities, universities, and private enterprise everyone had a chance to focus on what the…

The U.S. military, the government’s largest fuel buyer, is leading the fight against climate change by investing in the “Great Green Fleet” and other ways of cutting dependence on oil and coal, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report released on Tuesday. “They’re not having long and protracted debates about whether or not we can…