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Twenty new species of sharks and rays have been discovered in Indonesia in a five-year survey of catches at local fish markets, Australian researchers said Wednesday.

This picture is of a “Jimbaran Shovelnose Ray.”

While conservation easements were initially used to address the most commonly perceived threat – land development – there is now a rising interest in creating easements to promote a range of ecological, recreational, and economic values. This report is about working forest conservation easements (WFCEs) in the Northeast and how they can be designed to ensure sustainable forestry and safeguard important public values.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org

The state Utilities Commission is thought to be close to a decision on Duke Energy Co.’s request to build two new coal-fired power plants west of Charlotte. But a proposal by a growing number of legislators that the decision be delayed makes sense.

State Reps. Jennifer Weiss of Cary and Paul Luebke of Durham, among others, want the General Assembly to consider setting a requirement for energy produced by alternative modes — solar, wind and the like — before the commission decides on the Duke project. That’s a logical sequence, because such a requirement could well bear on the need for the new plants at Duke’s
Cliffside station.

Progressive-minded lawmakers have pressed for North Carolina to join several
states that set a minimum amount of electricity to be generated from alternative energy sources. The figure usually mentioned for North Carolina is 10
percent, and a recent study said that is a feasible goal. Power generated from alternatives may cost more in general, but authors of the study say electricity customers still would come out ahead as far as the size of their monthly power bills.

It’s possible that with a floor in place for alternative generation, the Duke project could be scaled back or deferred. It’s true that the new coal plants would be cleaner-burning than the four old plants they would replace.
But they still would emit an estimated 11.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of nearly a million cars. Scientists link carbon
dioxide to the global warming threat.

James Rogers, president of Duke Energy, argued in these pages last week that
the new plants would be equipped to capture carbon dioxide, once the
technology is perfected. That’s worth cheering. But a report in yesterday’s New York
Times raises serious doubts about when, or whether, such technology will be achieved.
And other pollutants from coal-fired plants harm human health.

Legislators, who on the public’s behalf pay the burgeoning health-care bills for many North Carolinians and also are stewards of
the state’s environment, clearly have a proper role in the debate over power
generation. The Utilities Commission has good reason to take the input it’s getting from
Jones Street as another sign of where the public interest lies.

They’re not always the most entertaining things, but they are important.

Check out this live webcast of the House Natural Resources Committee. WV Congressman Nick Rahall (D-3) is the presiding chair, and the panel is mainly industrial interests and Congressmen with poor environmental records talking about how there needs to be less government regulation in the western United States. Its important to know what they are saying, and interesting to consider what common problems we face with our peers in the West.

Update: The webcast is now down. Learn more about House Committees at www.House.gov

Presidential Candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton recently announced her energy plan. It is full of so called “Carbon Capture and Storage” (CCS) and plans for IGCC.

In Tonawanda, Clinton said the country is “nowhere near” being able to eliminate coal from its energy strategy

More of this…

Means more of this…

Update: Don’t miss the Hillcast.

[Wall St Journal] Landowners who place conservation easements on their scenic, environmentally sensitive or historic properties have long been able to get tax breaks from the federal government, and some states have also begun offering tax incentives. Now, a little-noticed provision in the wide-ranging pension law Congress passed last summer has made the federal tax breaks even more generous. Here’s how it works: A landowner typically donates a conservation easement to a land trust, a type of non-profit organization that helps put together the easement and monitors its restrictions over time. The value of the donation for income-tax purposes generally is the difference between the land’s unrestricted value and its new value with limited development or usage rights.
News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org

This bulletin summarizes key federal income tax provisions related to owning and managing forest land. From USDA Forest Service.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org

[Oregon] Logging on private land that muddied drinking water for this small Coast Range town has raised concerns about rules to protect that water. City workers had to shut off the intake to the water treatment plant to prevent clogging its filters or sending dirty water through faucets, and the reservoir that holds the drinking water for roughly 1,000 residents was drawn down over eight days. The state forestry agency investigation didn’t find any logging violations. But regulators and environmentalists say the incident shows logging rules fail to protect sources of drinking water and need to be strengthened.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org

Living within walking distance of the US Capitol has its perks. Unfortunately, mountains aren’t one of them.