Proposals for Environmental Education grants to develop new programs or to improve the quality of existing programs will be accepted through Dec. 18 from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska communities by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan.

EPA regional offices may award grants up to $50,000. Grants over $50,000 and up to $200,000 are awarded by EPA headquarters in Washington.

Proposals should be mailed to…[more]

In spite of the current financial market downturn, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources provided almost $70 million in low-interest loans at a rate of 1.68 percent annually to Missouri communities through the Sate Revolving Fund.

The department provided loans to the cities of Ashland, Holcomb, Jefferson City, La Plata, Milan, Moberly, Mount Vernon, Poplar Bluff and Stockton, as well as the Public Water Supply District Number 4…[more]

Do Your Part! for ClimateFriendly Parks is a new online program… and the first interactive program in the country that provides national park visitors and supporters with a tool to understand, measure and reduce their carbon footprint and thereby help protect our national parks from global warming.

Individuals logging onto the site are able to measure their carbon footprint by using a calculator co-developed by the Environmental Protection…[more]

The nation’s largest $1 discount variety store chain will pay a $120,000 civil penalty for distributing and selling an estimated 1.8 million aerosol cans of novelty string confetti that contained an ozone-depleting propellant, under terms of a legal settlement announced today by EPA Region 7.

Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake, Va., and which operates more than 3,200 retail stores in 48 states, has agreed to pay…[more]

Root-knot nematodes are extreme parasites. These microscopic, omnipresent worms cause major damage to horticultural and field crops in sub-tropical regions, resulting in significant financial losses to growers and gardeners.

Until recently, fumigation of the soil with methyl bromide before planting was the primary method for controlling root-knot nematodes in valuable vegetable crops. Methyl bromide (MeBr) is an odorless, colorless gas that has been widely used as a plant…[more]

Greenwire: President-elect Barack Obama’s ambitious energy initiatives emphasize electric-powered vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels — all of which hinge on building a transmission grid capable of delivering renewable power generated in remote places to distant cities.

“One of … the most important infrastructure projects that we need is a whole new electricity grid,” the Illinois Democrat said last month on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” “Because if…[more]

Several partners tested how to efficiently harvest MO round wood off Mark Twain National Forest during the summer 2008. One of several similar studies in southeastern US, it was the first on Midwestern/oak hickory hardwood forests.

The purpose of the study was to develop, test, and if successful, promote small scale, cost-effective harvest and transport of biomass off Midwestern hardwood forests.

The study was a collaborative…[more]

A recent study commissioned by The Nature Conservancy shows that Americans are sharply divided in their beliefs about climate change.

The American Climate Values Survey (ACVS), conducted by consulting group EcoAmerica, discovered that, while 73 percent of participants in the study said they felt global warming was occurring, only 18 percent of survey respondents said they strongly believed that climate change is real, harmful and caused by human…[more]

Researchers studying peridotite rock in the Middle Eastern country of Oman say the material could be an amazing absorber of carbon dioxide.

Peridotite is found in abundance in the Earth’s mantle, about 12 miles down and under the Earth’s crust. Large chunks of the rock make their way to the surface as the crust moves and shifts. While the scientists making the discovery studied a large field of…[more]

The Kansas City Missouri Water Services Department announces that preliminary work has begun on a green solutions pilot project as part of the Overflow Control Program. It is believed that the 100-acre pilot project will be the largest installation of green solutions for combined sewer overflow control currently being planned for construction in the United States. The general area of the project is south of 73rd Street between Troost Avenue…[more]