Carnegie Mellon gets $1M in federal energy project funds

Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh) is one of  six projects selected by the Department of Energy to share in its Grid Modernization Initiative to improve the resiliency, reliability and security of the nation’s electrical power grid.


DOE announced $18 million in funding for six new projects across the United States. These projects will enable the development and demonstration of integrated, scalable, and cost-effective solar technologies that incorporate energy storage to power American homes after the sun sets or when clouds are overhead.


The university will receive $1 million to develop and demonstrate a distributed, agent-based control system to integrate smart inverters, energy storage, and commercial off-the-shelf home automation controllers and smart thermostats.


Read the full DOE news release here









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Will Gov. Christie sign or pocket-veto energy, enviro bills?

The clock is ticking on today’s deadline for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to decide whether to sign any of the scores of  bills sent to his desk in the last days of the 216th Legislative Session which ended on Jan. 6.

Because his action will take place after the session had ended, the law allows him to sign all of the bills–or some of the bills–or ‘pocket veto’ bills simply by taking no action on them.

In choosing the latter course, the governor need not explain in a veto message the reason for his decision.

We are watching closely and will report later today on the energy and environment bills that may win his signature and those that never make it out of his pocket.

Tick…tick….

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Group forms to oppose Norristown, Pa rail line extension

Laura Benshoff of Newsworks, reports today in the Philadelphia Business Journal:

A group in Upper Merion is drumming up dissent for a proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia.

Calling themselves No KOP Rail, the neighbors have launched aChange.org petition and are asking local state representatives and state senators, as well as Gov. Tom Wolf, to kill the project.

A group in Upper Merion is drumming up dissent for a proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia.
Jeff Fusco photo

The proposed extension is in the planning stages, several years out from breaking ground if it can secure enough federal, state and local funding to buck up to the $1 billion price tag for construction.








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Pipeline company wants to fell trees without NY approval



The company behind a 124-mile pipeline to carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale into New York wants to begin tree clearing this month despite the fact that it has not yet received approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC).

Marie J. French writes in the Albany Business Review: 


The Constitution Pipeline is seeking federal regulatory approvals to start above-ground tree clearing. Getting a start on that clearing is key for the planned natural gas pipeline because the tree clearing can only be done during a short window so it does not interfere with bird migration patterns.


The Constitution Pipeline Co. filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees cross-state pipelines, to begin limited tree clearing on Friday. The company wants to get the approval by Jan. 15 in order to start tree felling on Jan. 22 and complete it on March 31, according to public filings.


The project has not yet received approval from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. It received federal approval in December 2014.


Read the full story here






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Down, almost out in ’70s, eagles now flying high over NJ

By the time that the use of DDT was banned in 1972, the population of bald eagles in New Jersey had shrunk to a single nesting pair.


Amazingly, the birds slowly began to recover with the help of the Endangered and Nongame Species Program. 


Andrew Tredinnick writes in the New Jersey Herald that the New Jersey’s bald eagle population, is now thriving at an unprecedented level.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife released its annual Bald Eagle Project this week with more encouraging results.

The statewide population increased to 161 territorial pairs last year, up from 156 pairs in 2014. One-hundred-fifty of those pairs were known to have laid eggs, up from 146 in 2014.

Additionally, those 150 nesting sites produced 199 young, and with another chick from Maryland that was fostered in a Cumberland County nest, New Jersey’s total number of eagles fledged increased to 200.

“It’s one of the great success stories in wildlife conservation,” said Kathleen Clark, a biologist with the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program. “It’s the result of a lot of work in New Jersey, but also, the biologists in the surrounding states as well.” 

Read the full story here





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Coast Guard to ship owner: Yes, we got your bananas



The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Linda Loyd reports:

The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed a
$65,000 civil fine against a cargo ship that delivered fresh fruit to the Port
of Wilmington earlier this month. The Nassau, Bahamas-flagged Discovery Bay
reefer was cited for “nonfunctioning” oil pollution prevention
equipment, and other infractions, during a routine inspection by the Coast
Guard on Jan. 4.
The captain and 20 crew are being detained while the ship gets new
equipment, and the crew is retrained, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Dennis Miller,
chief of prevention for the Delaware River and Bay.

The fruit came from Valparaiso, Chile.

The Coast Guard said the crew did not know how to work the equipment; the ship
was not in compliance with “safety management regulations,” and ship
records had been falsified, Miller said.


The proposed fine is $65,000, however, a Coast Guard hearing officer will
determine the penalty, Miller said. The ship is expected to be ready to sail
next week, Miller said.






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