During the Appalachian Regional Commission conference in Athens this week, members of the energy industry met to talk about the controversial role of coal in clean-energy production.
Panelists discussed recent developments and future prospects for new technologies that reduce carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants, including co-firing with biomass, integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), and carbon capture and sequestration technologies.
Activists challenge 'clean coal' at confab in Athens
Written by Mike Ludwig
Thursday, 29 October 2009 09:38
Environmental activists staged a small protest and hung a banner from the Richland Avenue bridge early Tuesday morning to tell the state and regional leaders attending the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) conference at Ohio University that clean energy does not come from coal.
The theme of the conference at the OU Baker Center was “new energy, new jobs” and featured panel discussions on topics such as wind power, green enterprise, and developing a cleaner coal power industry.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday announced a $100,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs to develop energy-efficiency and renewable energy-assistance services to Appalachian Ohio businesses, communities and residents.
Government representatives from communities in Athens, North Carolina and Alabama participated Tuesday in a panel discussion about community-based renewable-energy initiatives as a part of the Appalachian Regional Conference at Ohio University.
Steve Garrison, county manager in Madison County, N.C., was the first speaker, and he showed a short video about issues the area has dealt with over the last several decades. As the video explained, Madison County was a haven for vacation housing until the housing bubble burst and the unemployment level soared to 9.5 percent.
Sierra Club questions proposed AMP power plant's economic viability
Written by Mike Ludwig
Monday, 26 October 2009 09:23
In an effort to pull the plug on the American Municipal Power (AMP) coal-burning power plant under development in Meigs County, the Sierra Club has issued a report claiming that Columbus, Cleveland and 79 other municipalities made a bad financial “gamble” by investing in the plant. However, local officials say the project will only boost the southeast Ohio economy.
The city of Athens and municipalities in Meigs County are not members of the AMP utility network and will not buy power from the plant.
A Franklin County judge recently gave both industrialists and environmentalists something to cheer about by overturning state legislation that put strict deadlines and time limits on state appeals of decisions made the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), including appeals filed by activist groups against two permits for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Meigs County.
Strickland touts stimulus package during bypass groundbreaking
Written by David DeWitt
Thursday, 15 October 2009 09:20
Were it not for stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Ohio would be flat on its face right now. Or so said Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland Tuesday during the groundbreaking for Ohio’s largest single investment of stimulus funds – the U.S. Rt. 33 Nelsonville Bypass.
“We would not be here today if it were not for President Barack Obama’s acknowledgment that our economy was in trouble, and that our nation and the individual states needed help,” Strickland told the crowd filled with area politicians and officials. “Ohio would be flat on its face today without that stimulus bill.”
Air-pollution fight over proposed Meigs plant heating up in courts
Written by Mike Ludwig
Thursday, 08 October 2009 09:10
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week proposed a new federal rule aimed at reducing emissions from the nation's largest greenhouse-gas producers and requiring new polluters to use the "best available control technologies" to curb emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
Meanwhile, the debate over the Ohio EPA's embattled air-quality permit for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Meigs County heated up in state courts.
Report claims 'cap-and-trade' endangers thousands of Ohio jobs
Written by Emily Mullin
Thursday, 08 October 2009 09:07
Ohio could lose thousands of energy-intensive manufacturing jobs if Congress passes a climate change bill that doesn’t consider other countries’ policies, according to a new report.
“U.S. manufacturing has to be on a level playing field with its global competitors,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said during a conference call. “That’s why climate-change legislation has to ensure the strength and viability of U.S. manufacturing.”
Local rancher raises rare breed of llama-like critter that's gaining popularity in Buckeye State
Written by Alissa Paolella
Thursday, 24 September 2009 09:16
An eco-friendly type of livestock farming has made its way to Ohio and Athens County, and this weekend area residents will have an opportunity to see a rare breed of alpacas up close and personal during an open house at Phoenix Hill Farms in the countryside southeast of Athens
The farm is one of many that will take part in National Alpaca Farm Days.
A Logan man was killed when a boat he was riding in crashed into a docked houseboat Saturday on the Ohio River just north of Hockingport, according to media reports.
WTAP television news in Parkersburg, W.Va., has reported that Guy Unger, Jr., of Logan was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Hospital in that city, where he was taken after the accident that occurred around 5 p.m.
Report confirms heroin's growth in this county, area
Written by Jim Phillips
Monday, 31 August 2009 09:42
In Athens and surrounding counties, “younger people are really gettin’ into the needle” for drug use. That’s the assessment of one area drug user, quoted in a recently issued report on the illegal drug problem statewide.
The report, released in January, was prepared for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services by the agency’s Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network (OSAM), in collaboration with Wright State University and Kent State University. The data it gathered came from the last six months of 2008.
The Hocking College Board of Trustees Tuesday evening voted unanimously to hike tuition by 3.5 percent effective during the fall session.
That level of increase is the maximum allowed this year by the Ohio Board of Regents, and is necessary at the college because of financial conditions, board members said.
Morgan County promises to pay down its big regional jail debt
Written by Jim Phillips
Thursday, 27 August 2009 09:13
Morgan County will remain a member of the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail Commission, after promising to stay current on its bills for use of the regional jail in Nelsonville, and to slowly pay back around $300,000 in arrears.
Jail Warden Jeremy Tolson reported Wednesday that at its meeting that day, the commission had accepted a plan offered by Morgan County representatives to straighten out the county’s back bills for use of the facility.
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