Massachusetts tops chart for green energy, efficiency; RI and Connecticut close behind

The "state" of Energy Efficiency

From: Mary Mazzoni, Triple Pundit, More from this Affiliate in ENN.com

Conversations about energy use in the U.S. often revolve around expanding domestic production or spurring renewables. It's easy to forget another significant piece of the puzzle — energy efficiency. In its 2013 scorecard, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranks the most energy-efficient states based on policy and program efforts that improve efficiency in homes, businesses, industries and transportation systems.

The annual scorecard includes programs and initiatives maintained in ACEEE's database of state energy efficiency policy, which includes information from state offices, public utilities, nonprofit advocacy organizations, energy consultants, federal officials and the private sector. Read on to see how your state fared in 2013.

DEM says this will be a big hit under the xmas tree

Beautiful Illustrations and Descriptions of Fish Species and their Habitats Make This Book a Perfect Holiday Gift for Anglers and Nature Enthusiasts

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces the publication of Inland Fishes of Rhode Island, a beautiful book depicting the more than 70 species of fish found in Rhode Island's ponds, streams and rivers.

This book is a definitive scientific work and the first of its kind for RI freshwater fish species. It was written by biologist Alan D. Libby and illustrated by Robert Jon Golder. The 287-page book contains descriptions and illustrations of each species of fish found in Rhode Island's freshwaters during surveys conducted by DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife from 1993 to 2012. Detailed characteristics used to identify each species are presented, in addition to habitat descriptions, life history information, and a distribution map for each species. Scientific illustrations of each fish in color and black and white aid with identification.

Deepwater Wind Submits Changes

Public Hearing to Follow
BY TRACEY C. O’Neill

Providence – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) posted a required 45- day notice for public hearing on the Deepwater Wind Offshore Energy and Transmission project.

The hearing, scheduled for December 11, at Narragansett Town Hall will allow for public comment on proposed modifications to a State of Rhode Island Dredge Permit and Water Quality Certificate Application previously filed by Deepwater Wind (DWW) in anticipation of its plan to land a transmission cable at Narragansett Town Beach.

Lawrence & Memorial strike starts Wednesday morning

Caregivers strike over unfair labor practices committed by the corporation operating Lawrence & Hospital

From Matt O'Connor

New London - Lawrence & Memorial Corporation (LMC) representatives today walked away from negotiations with nurses, caregivers and healthcare workers at Lawrence & Memorial (L&M) Hospital, setting in motion a strike set to begin tomorrow. 

Talks broke down when the corporation's representatives refused to keep working toward mutual resolution of issues impacting patient care sought by the unions representing approximately 800 of the hospital's employees. Registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and healthcare technicians will walk off the job at 6:00AM tomorrow in the first strike at L&M in the hospital's 101-year history.

This Vanilla Experiment Stinks

Genetic engineers just found a new way to put farmers in poor countries out of business.

By Jim Hightower

Isn't it so inspiring to see global corporate giants crush small farmers, stomp on nature, circumvent our laws by hook or crook, and deceive and gouge consumers?

Welcome once again to the phantasmagoric world of DNA manipulators. In particular, this branch of genetic engineering wizardry calls itself “synthetic biology.”

Huh? Yes, that oxymoron means “fake life.” But the term is also moronic, for it’s the name of a crude and costly attempt by high-tech alchemists at such corporate powers as BASF and Cargill to genetically modify microorganisms to produce something wholly unnecessary: artificial flavorings and fragrances.

Time extension on grant requests for recreation funding

Grant Applications Will be Accepted Until 4 p.m. on Friday, December 6

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that due to the Thanksgiving holiday, it has extended the deadline for the submission of recreation acquisition and development grants to 4 p.m. on Friday, December 6. A total of $5 million is available this year under three grant programs. Funding for this round of projects comes from the Rhode Island Open Space Bond Authorization of 2012.

Say thank you to workers on Thanksgiving

Also see: http://www.labor411.org/union-products/union-thanksgiving-2012.pdf

Save the Turkeys

Our fast-growing, heavy-breasted birds can't even mate anymore.

By Jill Richardson

It’s odd that the most iconic feature of Thanksgiving — the turkey — is likely the most unnatural. It’s got competition, of course, from the jellied cranberry sauce that retains the shape of its can and various food products sold in boxes marked “Just Add Water.”

(Really, is it so hard to mash potatoes yourself, especially given their divine taste and creamy texture after you’ve added in all the cream and butter required?)

But it’s the turkey that takes the cake. Not that most of us would know that, since the last time most of us met a turkey was in a sandwich, not on a farm.

Not a Butterball (photo by Will Collette)

Despite the foreign-sounding name, turkey is a uniquely American food. American as in The Americas, and not just the United States. The large fowl was first domesticated in Mexico, after all, not Turkey.

Before those domesticated turkeys reached the iconic site of the first Thanksgiving, they were first imported to Europe, and then brought back to New England. 

Prior to that, the land we now call our country was only home to wild turkeys. Not that the Pilgrims didn’t eat them whenever they could catch one.

Doreen Costa: deadly weapon

When the NRA says jump, Doreen Costa asks how high

By Steve Ahlquist in Rhode Island's Future

The recall election in Exeter, scheduled for December 14th, is being pushed through mostly by out-of-town gun rights zealots intent on punishing the Exeter Town Council for trying to enact a minor change in the law regarding the concealed weapon permit system. 

Rhode Island State Representative Doreen Costa has been involved in this issue from the beginning. Even though she is not a resident of Exeter, she does represent a small section of the town (the corner over by the Yawgoo Ski Area) in the Rhode Island General Assembly.

What the Exeter Town Council attempted to do was change the law in Rhode Island so that the Exeter Town Clerk would no longer be responsible for issuing concealed weapon permits. In most cities and towns residents can go either to their police chiefs or to the state Attorney General, but Exeter has no police force. So by state law, the duty of issuing permits falls to the Town Clerk, a person with no law enforcement training.

Dogs, fleas and Politicians

Residents on town borderline abandoned by town governments

By Susan Clayton

This is what Copar neighbor Tina Shea's
well water looks like after Copar blasts

A version of this article ran as a letter to the editor in the Westerly Sun

This is my fourth piece for Progressive Charlestown about life under the shadow of the Copar Quarries. I decided to write this article after seeing the testimony of Christina Holden Shea in the Westerly Sun and Progressive Charlestown about the poisoning of her well.

I live about a third of a mile from Copar Quarry and want to say that everything Tina wrote is not only true, it is what I and my neighbors on Niantic Highway experience as well.

Every detail is exactly how it is for us, every single day. There have been damages to homes all over the area, but we in Charlestown have the added burden of no town water.

These blasts take place in ancient granite formed millions of years ago. It is layered, and running between the layers are rifts where the water flows. This is where we drill to get our water.

Clouding the truth about factory farms

Farm Bill Threatens Our Right to Know
By Patrice McDermott 

Families who live near or share waterways with large corporate farms or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have a critical need to know some basic facts about these operations. The public's right to this information, however, could be stripped away by the Farm Bill currently under debate in Congress.

Paying for Corporate Crime on the Taxpayer’s Dime

By letting JPMorgan Chase deduct $4 billion from its taxes to pay $13 billion in penalties for its misdeeds, the government is putting the "con" in unconscionable.
By Jim Hightower

Sometimes, a news story can be so crammed with irony that it boggles the mind. Consider just the headline on one such story that ran recently in my town’s daily paper: “Man gets 10 years for defrauding banks.”

That just screams for a rewrite, doesn’t it? I yearn for a story with a headline in boldface type that, at long last, would trumpet this joyous news: “Banker get 10 years for defrauding man.”

Alas, while the FBI, IRS, and the judicial establishment went all out to nail the bank defrauder, they allow big-time Wall Street crooks who defraud us to escape prosecution, much less jail. 

Let your xmas shopping do double-duty

Rep. Donna Walsh again honored for her work on behalf of RI agriculture

RI Farm Bureau honors 3 legislators

Senator Sue Sosnowski & Rep. Donna Walsh

STATE HOUSE – Three Rhode Island state legislators were honored today by the Rhode Island Farm Bureau during the organization’s 60^th annual awards event at the West Valley Inn.

Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton) and Rep. Donna M. Walsh (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly) were the recipients of a new award, the “Navigator” award, presented by the Farm Bureau. The award was created to honor state legislators and/or officials who have been instrumental in helping the organization deal with and address concerns about government regulations and procedures.

Senator Felag and Representative Walsh were the Senate and House sponsors of legislation that was incorporated into the state budget, requiring the state to assess inherited working farmland at its use value, not its higher cash value, for inheritance tax purposes.

Nary a peep from Illwind turbine slayers

“Name That Moraine” - Game Over

By Charles Townsend, TMZ Special Assignment Correspondent

Future Former Town Council President Tom Gentz had his toy gavel handed to him on a tarnished silver spoon when Former Future Town Council President Dan Slattery hosed off his copy of Charlestown’s Home Rule Charter to discover that town commissions should actually play a role in town government.

“I spent nearly the entire intermission between the first and second periods of the Washington Caps game – Alex Ovechkin, personal friend of mine – conducting my own investigation into the town charter and I have determined that, in fact, the Conservation Commission is permitted to design management plans for acquired conservation properties,” Slattery revealed. “I conducted another investigation into the organizational structure of the Conservation Commission and determined that it is, in fact, a duly authorized body capable of making a reasoned decision.”