Outgoing DEC leader Joe Martens leaves legacies
Times Union | August 1, 2015 | Column by Fred LeBrun
After four and a half years of hard labor in the current Cuomo administration as Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner, Joe Martens at 59 is at last a free man.
Old oil tanker cars would be stored on Tahawus rail sidings
Times Union | July 29, 2015 | Post by Eric Anderson
The Glens Falls Post Star is reporting this morning that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway wants to use miles of rail sidings in Tahawus, Essex County, to store hundreds of old oil tanker cars that won’t meet new safety standards and aren’t likely to be retrofitted. The storage business could produce revenues “in the seven figures” for Iowa Pacific Holdings, SNCRR’s parent firm.
Most Recent Oil Train Accidents and Spills Involved ‘Safer’ CPC-1232 Tank Cars
DeSmogBlog | July 23, 2015 | Column by Justin Mikulka
Roosevelt County chief deputy sheriff Corey Reum was one of the first responders to the recent Bakken oil train derailment in Montana, a few miles from the North Dakota border.
NYS reveals latest round of train safety inspections
Times Union | June 22, 2015 | Post by Brian Nearing
The Canadian Pacific rail yard in Selkirk, Albany County was among the rail facilities and tracks inspected recently for safety standards by the state as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of accidents and derailments by crude oil trains that are surging through the state.
Feds warn railroads to comply with oil train notification requirement
The Bellingham Herald | July 22, 2015 | Column by Curtis Tate
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation warned railroads that they must continue to notify states of large crude oil shipments after several states reported not getting updated information for as long as a year.
Renewable Energy Accounts for 70% of New U.S. Generating Capacity in First Half of 2015
EcoWatch | July 22, 2015 | Column by Ken Bossong
In yet another clear indication of the nation’s energy future, renewable sources—biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind—accounted for nearly 70 percent (69.75 percent) of new electrical generation placed in service in the U.S. during the first six months of 2015.
The Wind and Sun Are Bringing the Shine Back to Buffalo
The New York Times | July 20, 2015 | Column by Diane Cardwell
BUFFALO — Along a bend in the Buffalo River here, an enormous steel and concrete structure is rising, soon to house one of the country’s largest solar panel factories. Just to the south, in the rotting guts of the old Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna, where a dozen wind turbines already harness the energy blowing off Lake Erie, workers are preparing to install a big new solar array.
How Solar Power Can Be Affordable and Accessible for All
Huffington Post (via Alternet) | July 20, 2015 | Post by Mark Ruffalo
President Obama has made it easier for renters and middle-class and low-income families to control their energy.
FBI Advisory: Oil Trains At Risk of "Extremist" Attack, But Lacks "Specific Information" To Verify
DeSmogBlog | July 18, 2015 | Column by Steve Horn
A document marked “Confidential” and published a year ago today, on July 18, 2014, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concluded that “environmental extremists” could target oil-by-rail routes, as first reported on by McClatchy. But the Bureau also concedes upfront that it lacks “specific information” verifying this hunch.
Oil Train Derailment in Montana Closes Highway, Forces Evacuations
Center for Biological Diversity | July 17, 2015 | Press Release
Emergency Responders Unable to Take Immediate Action
