Environment

A train derailed in southwestern Jefferson County this morning, and emergency personnel have reported that the chemical butadiene is leaking from a railcar. People living near Abbotts Beach Road in Jefferson County and Katherine Station Road in Bullitt County have been evacuated, and there's a shelter-in-place with a two-mile radius from the spill. Here are some things to know about the chemical that's leaking.

A recent New York Times article dredged up a controversy that's been going on in Wyoming since this spring. The issue at hand is whether the University of Wyoming caved to pressure from politicians and coal companies when it removed a piece of public art from its campus a year ahead of schedule.

Several days of lectures and discussions about sustainability kick off this Thursday in Louisville.

First, there’s the Campus Community Partnerships for Sustainability Conference. It’s co-hosted by Jefferson Community and Technical College and the University of Louisville, and features two days of events. Then, beginning Friday, Bluegrass Bioneers is coming back to town.

The University of Michigan awarded the prestigous Wallenberg Medal to mountaintop removal activist Maria Gunnoe earlier this week.

Gunnoe lives in Boone County, W.Va., and has spent the past eight years campaigning against mountaintop removal and its environmental effects in Appalachia. Gunnoe was also the 2009  Goldman Prize honoree from North America.

There are lots of factors playing into declining coal production in Central Appalachia: low natural gas prices, high stockpiles of coal after a warm winter and new environmental regulations.