Environment

The Kentucky Public Service Commission has accepted a settlement in a rate case involving Big Rivers Electric Corp., which provides power to several electric co-ops in western Kentucky.

When Big Rivers proposed environmental upgrades earlier this year, the improvements were estimated to cost ratepayers more than $283 million. The company planned to install more stringent pollution controls at four of its power plants, and convert the coal-fired Reid Plant in Sebree to natural gas.

Louisville Gas and Electric has withdrawn its permit application for an additional coal ash landfill at its Cane Run plant.

Coal ash, its storage and its tendency to blow onto neighboring properties have all been headaches for LG&E at Cane Run and the company is planning on phasing it out to build a natural gas facility.

The landfill application, which has been pending since January 2010, was dropped due to the slated natural gas facility and to the building of an earthen wall that allows the existing landfill to hold more coal ash.

In increasing numbers, scientists are in agreement that the earth’s climate is changing, and human carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to those changes. A NASA climate scientist was in Louisville this weekend to talk about the growing evidence.

Researchers in Tennessee hope the creation of an artificial cave will help stop the progress of a deadly bat disease.

White Nose Syndrome was discovered in 2006 in upstate New York, and now it has spread to four Canadian provinces and 19 states, including Kentucky. The disease is caused by a white fungus, and so far scientists aren’t really sure how to control it.

Tomorrow is Bellarmine University's climate change symposium.

The day-long event (9 am to 3 pm) will feature a presentation by University of Louisville climatologist Keith Mountain, who will talk about his research on receeding glaciers. The keynote speaker is Gavin Schmidt, who's a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. There's also a workshop for K-12 educators, an interactive teleconference from the NASA JetPropulsion Laboratory’s Center for Climate Sciences, and a panel discussion on the biological effects of climate change.

The event is free and open to the public.