The Heartland Institute

Environmental officials in West Virginia and the state’s influential coal industry are locking horns with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the Obama administration’s crackdown on mountaintop removal mining. State, EPA in Conflict In the latest dustup involving coal, EPA has imposed more stringent reviews for permits ...

The New York Senate has passed a bill to impose a nine-month moratorium on granting new permits for natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state’s portion of the massive, multistate Marcellus shale rock formation. The bill passed by a 48-9 vote on August 4. Productive, Proven Technology Fracking ...

The state of Florida’s plan to buy property from U.S. Sugar Corporation and use it to restore the Everglades is being scaled back because of the state’s growing budget woes. Two years ago, when South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Gov. Charlie Crist (I) first announced the idea, the plan was for the state to ...

In the latest twist in a long battle over a proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, state Attorney General Martha Coakley has recommended that state officials approve utility company National Grid s proposal to buy electricity from the controversial Cape Wind offshore industrial wind farm. Coakley had filed an official ...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has gone on the offensive against potential federal government plans to regulate natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing techniques. Speaking with reporters after a July 19 law enforcement meeting in Forth Worth, Perry said the state is doing an appropriate job regulating production and doesn ...

New Mexicans are rallying to fight a 21.2 percent rate increase proposed by PNM, the largest electrical system in the state. It would be the third major increase in recent years. Previous increases raised rates for some customers by as much as 24 percent. New Mexico electricity consumers in 2011 will have to pay almost double ...

The state of Massachusetts has suspended a biofuel mandate which was set to take effect on July 1. State officials found the costs prohibitive and biofuel availability to be minimal. The mandate, backed by some environmental activists and championed by the renewable energy industry, would have required all diesel and home heating ...

Californians are about the lose the freedom to use disposable plastic shopping bags, as a bill to ban the bags is making its way through the legislature with the support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). Democrats Only The state Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1998, introduced by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), by a vote ...

In the latest twist in a long battle over a proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, state Attorney General Martha Coakley is demanding the developers of the controversial Cape Wind project supply her with cost and profit estimates for the facility. Coakley filed an official request with the state Department of Public ...

Minnesota motorists may be unaware that every time they pay to fill their vehicle s gas tank they are helping fund programs benefiting owners of motorized recreational vehicles such as boats, ATVs, and dirt bikes. With the state unable to fund road and bridge repairs, some groups are demanding lawmakers put a stop to the ...

The Connecticut legislature seriously considered legislation rolling back the state s aggressive renewable power requirement, but a back-and-forth battle between legislators seeking to loosen the mandates and those working to tighten the rules ended in a draw. Senate Reversed Bill s Provisions Senate legislation that would have cut ...

The town of Concord, Massachusetts has banned the sale of bottled water, effective January 2011. Concord passed the measure in response to environmental concerns. Sales of refillable containers of water will still be allowed. Ironically, a water main ruptured less than two days after the measure passed, resulting in 2 million ...

Minnesota s moratorium on new nuclear power plant construction remains in place despite growing efforts to remove it. In May the state House of Representatives voted 73 to 59 to approve a bill allowing new nuclear power plant construction, with the caveat that utilities cannot charge higher rates to cover construction costs until ...

The Wisconsin legislature declined to take action on a controversial global warming bill, allowing its 2010 session to end without implementing energy restrictions recommended by a global warming task force handpicked by Gov. Jim Doyle. Doyle, a Democrat, created the global warming task force in April of 2007, and the task force ...

The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board will consider expert testimony and public comments on proposed carbon dioxide restrictions after the New Mexico Supreme Court vacated a lower court ruling that the Board did not have authority to regulate CO2 emissions. Legislature Rejected Costly Reductions With New Mexico s elected ...

Wisconsin officials have changed the location of a high-speed railroad station to try to douse fiery criticism that the project is a boondoggle. Wisconsin in January won $810 million in federal stimulus funds to build a so-called high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. Another $13 million will go to rail improvements ...

State officials in Florida and New Jersey have ended taxpayer-funded solar rebate plans because of high costs and lack of funding. Huge Rebates Lured Many In Florida, homeowners were eligible for rebates up to $20,000 for photovoltaic systems, and businesses could get rebates up to $100,000. Homeowners could also receive $500 ...

The Maryland state legislature is demanding records detailing how the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic used state funds to sue farmers raising poultry in the state. Legislators say spending state funds on such suits is the equivalent of handing state money over to environmental activist groups. Clinic Draws Legislative ...

Drilling for natural gas in the energy-rich Marcellus Shale Formation has received support under a plan unveiled by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell (D). Lucrative for State, Residents Pennsylvania s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) took the lead in negotiating a lease agreement state officials believe ...

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) is eliminating a $65 million global warming fund and redirecting the money to help reduce the state s $10 billion deficit. The funds had been allocated to programs associated with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a compact with multiple Northeastern states to reduce carbon dioxide ...