State politics: Idaho

An education bill passed out of committee on Monday is intended to provide high-speed Internet access throughout Idaho, including currently underserved areas, and eventually to provide such access to industry and to state government itself.

There has been some dispute over the past couple of years regarding how many people in Idaho lack high-speed Internet access. U.S. West (Qwest) has indicated that it believes that a majority of the people in Idaho who want such high-speed connections have access if they want it, but some people have disagreed, saying they want it but can’t get it – and that Qwest has stymied efforts by other companies to provide it. [more]

sustainable building

There's a gaping hole in the ground on the corner of Higgins Avenue and Front Street in downtown Missoula, where a new LEED-certified First Interstate Bank will replace the one just torn down. And across town on Russell Street, construction has started on a LEED-certified Missoula Federal Credit Union building that’s putting to practice some of the "greenest" technologies in the building industry.

Nationwide, "green" building is the fastest growing sector in an otherwise floundering industry, and its reach is particularly strong in the West where a number of emerging green architecture and engineering firms are putting their stamps on the West's fast-growing cities, including Missoula. [more]

'An Absolute Crime'

Setting up a face-off with the White House, Sen. Ken Salazar said this week that along with two other members of the Colorado congressional delegation, he isi sponsoring a bill to restore the traditional 50-50 split between the states and the federal government of mineral leasing revenues on federal land.

The division was changed to 52-48 (in favor of the feds) in a little-noticed provision in the $555 billion appropriations bill signed by President Bush in December. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, whose state stands to lose dozens of millions in mineral royalties, has called the change "an absolute crime."

In other energy news: Colorado offers rebates for residential solar-power systems; huge new natural gas pipeline sends fuel east from the Front Range; and coal hits near-record production levels.
[more]

Just one day before his budget presentation

One day before he was due to give the budget presentation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for the Department of Commerce, Director Jim Ellick has gone on leave effective immediately for unspecified personal reasons, according to Governor Butch Otter's office and the Department.

Ellick had caused some controversy earlier this year by reportedly telling Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Representative Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, that he expected Micron's manufacturing facility to leave Idaho within two years. [more]

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In the Spring Issue and online here:

• Montana’s Cash Cowboy
• Real Ranch Living: Not Everyone is Selling Out
• Essay: The Family Farm, Version 2.0
• Essay: Tracks Across A Landscape
• Have Your Ranch & Develop It, Too
• Design Showcase: The Big and Little of Western Building
• Stuff It: Can Wolf Hunting Help Conserve the Species?
• Traffic Perplexes New Western Communities
• Boise in Its Own Little Bubble
• Revenge of the Resource Economy
• Spotlight North Idaho: On the Agenda: Youth, Growth & Silver
• Spotlight North Idaho: Players of the Panhandle
• Spotlight North Idaho: Coeur d’Alene Tribe Rides the Idaho Boom

[more]

By Robert Struckman, 2-01-08 | comments (23) | email story | print story

 

FutureGen's Future Cloudy

Since I detailed the gaps in Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's ambitious plans for "clean" coal plants in his state last month, the whole clean-coal movement has suffered a major blow. This week the Department of Energy said it would cancel funding for the FutureGen project, which is planning a commercial-scale coal plant with a carbon sequestration system in Matoon, Illinois.

Citing the high cost and potential difficulty in building a futuristic coal plant of this size, the DOE says it will cut its clean-coal funding and shift the dollars to smaller projects.

To say this is a disaster for developing less-destructive forms of coal generation – which still supplies about half of the nation's electricity – is an understatement.

In other energy news: Xcel Energy sees whopping profit surge; lawmakers object to shift in federal minerals-leasing revenue; and Colorado officials fire back at oil and gas producers over proposed new drilling regulations. [more]

state politics: idaho

Governor Butch Otter’s proposed health data exchange network is not expected to require any state operational funding beyond the $500,000 requested this year, Division Administrator Leslie Clement told members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning. Instead, hospitals and other providers will contribute the majority of the project’s anticipated $11.3 million cost during startup and the first five years, she said.

But depending on which survey you read, that may or may not be realistic. [more]

state politics: Idaho

Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce Jim Ellick is apparently concerned that Micron’s manufacturing facility may leave Idaho within the next two years.

This came up during the Division of Financial Management’s report to the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee regarding the Governor’s prediction for state revenues for fiscal year 2009, starting in July.

After Mike Ferguson, the state's chief economist, presented the Governor’s prediction to the committee, Representative Darrell Bolz (R-Caldwell) said that he had been talking with Ellick, who had told him he was concerned that Micron would be “out of the business,” except for research, “in the next year or two. Did you factor that in?” [more]

Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

Successfully breaking into the high-tech market as a start-up company is a difficult endeavor, especially in a rural state like Montana. TechRanch, founded in 2007, is non-profit organization with a primary mission to foster the development of an innovative economy in the low-income, rural state of Montana through business educational programming and support.

As one of our state’s leading business development assistance organizations, TechRanch helps entrepreneurs, through education, resources and ideas, pursue ventures in high technology markets. Their goal is to help new businesses succeed more quickly and with less investment capital than they otherwise would have had, giving them a better shot at success.

The success of these companies can translate to increases in employment in rural areas, new sales revenue to the state and giving Montana companies a more competitive edge. Cindy Taylor, chairwoman, expands on TechRanch and their efforts. [more]

Busted in Bali

As the warmest year on record moves down to its last few days, U.S. politicians in Washington D.C. and Bali, Indonesia continued to block any meaningful change in energy policy.

For the second time in a week the U.S. Senate failed to pass the long-delayed energy bill, failing by one vote to shut off a Republican threatened filibuster. Even more disgraceful was the performance of U.S. "negotiators" at the global climate-change conference in Bali, where as of Friday morning a final agreement was still being held up by American refusal to countenance any form of mandatory carbon-emission reductions.

In other energy news: food prices hit record levels, mostly due to ethanol subsidies; Silicon Valley venture firm rewards scientist for carbon-capture process; and a bill to research ways to transport and store CO2 gets support from business leaders. [more]