Environment

The actual Idea Festival starts on Wednesday. But on Tuesday, there’s a day of lectures and discussions all relating to water.

Speakers will run the gamut, from Greg Heitzman of Louisville Water to Gregory Luhan, architecture professor and associate dean of research at the University of Kentucky College of Design.

Louisville Gas and Electric has had another equipment malfunction at its Cane Run plant, which released clouds of coal ash yesterday evening.

The sludge processing plant is the machine that takes the coal ash and mixes it with other materials to turn it into a concrete-like substance, so it can be put into the landfill. A video shot by Greg Walker, who lives across the street, shows clouds of ash rising above the plant—and over the dust screen the company installed in April.

A regional waste management company has partnered with Louisville Metro Government to help increase the city’s tree canopy over the next decade.

Ecotech will work with Louisville’s Tree Advisory Commission, which was formed by Mayor Greg Fischer last year to help maintain and add to the city’s tree canopy.

Fischer helped plant the first three trees Friday and over the next 10 years, Ecotech has committed to donating 1,000 trees through its 10,000 Trees Partnership.

An analysis out from the West Virginia Center and Policy--a nonpartisan think tank in Charleston--predicts that even while coal production in Central Appalachia declines, employment will rise.

This may sound counterintuitive. But the analysis by Sean O'Leary says that could happen, due to falling productivity. In that case, it would take the same number of miners to mine less coal.

CONSOL Energy has decided to temporarily idle two coal mines, the Buchanan Mine in southwest Virginia and the Amonate Mining Complex in southern West Virginia.

This doesn't stand out as particularly surprising news--after all, demand for coal is dropping, and factors like low natural gas prices, an unseasonably warm winter and upcoming environmental regulations have made it a tough year for the industry.