For the second consecutive year, Hemlock Semiconductor Corp (HSC) announced up to a $1 billion expansion at its Thomas Township manufacturing complex, promising 300 full-time positions and the potential of drawing job-producing solar companies to mid-Michigan. HSC is the world leader in production of polycrystalline silicon, a super-pure, rock-like material used to make solar panels and computer chips.

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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is urging Congress to adopt federal legislation to deal with greenhouse gases. In comments submitted to the U.S. EPA, they stated that a federal cap-and-trade program is the best way to proceed.

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The University of Michigan has joined the nonprofit group started by Google and Intel last year called the Climate Savers Computing Initiative and now has teams of more than 90 U-M students, faculty and staff members are working on green computing initiatives. The school aims to reduce the electricity used for computers and other office equipment by 10%, saving half a million dollars each year and reducing carbon emissions.

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Thirteen governors, including three from Midwest states, and regional leaders from four other countries have signed a declaration pledging to work together to combat global warming. The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by California's Governor Schwarzenegger.

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Next spring Xcel Energy Inc., the state of Minnesota and a Virginia-based technology firm will test the first battery in the country capable of storing wind energy. The battery can store 7.2 megawatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 500 homes for about seven hours.

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The recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel to reject a federal permit for a Utah coal-fired plant puts in question the permits of as many as 100 coal plants. The panel's decision was based upon concerns over the plant's emission of carbon dioxide and comes as the EPA considers how the federal Clean Air Act is to be used to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

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State regulators unanimously rejected a plan to build a new coal-fired power plant in southwestern Wisconsin, calling it too expensive. Alliant Energy subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light contended it needed the plant to handle increasing demand for electricity. However, regulators argued that the proposal came as state government is working to reduce global warming and Congress prepares to pass anti-pollution regulations that could render the plant obsolete.

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Michigan's Gov. Granholm was present for the first celebration of a Michigan-made wind turbine being installed in Michigan. At the event, a next-generation alternative energy business was inaugurated with a small wind turbine that sits atop the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon. The Swift Wind Turbine was touted as one of the alternative energy products produced in Michigan that will become the state's economic future.

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Taylor's City Council has approved an $89,000 hybrid energy project that will include the installation of a 45-foot-tall wind turbine and 21 solar panels. The project is the latest of more than 30 green programs Taylor officials have implemented in recent years and it is expected to accelerate other alternative energy projects Downriver.

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Nine of the 10 top emitters of heat-trapping gases that fuel climate change in Iowa are coal-fired power plants, the state's first plant-by-plant inventory of greenhouse gas emissions shows.The inventory, ordered by lawmakers and released this month, includes actual emissions of major businesses, manufacturers and power plants as measured by Iowa's Department of Natural Resources.

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