Business & Economy

State limit on emissions cheaper than plant caps

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By SHRUTI SARIPALLI
Capital News Service

LANSING — Michigan can save money in the move towards clean energy by choosing
a path that limits the amount of carbon dioxide produced by power plants, says a new electric industry report. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a non-lobbying national research institute, reports that this is possible due to the expected closures of coal-based power plants in the next 15 years. By the year 2030, Michigan’s electric utilities have to cut emissions by almost 32 percent of their 2005 levels under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The institute’s report explores two options to make that happen. The cheapest one is to limit the number of tons of carbon dioxide produced statewide each year, an option called the mass-based pathway, said David Young, project manager at the institute.

Capital News Service

Fourth graders will get field trips to federal parks

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By KAYLA SMITH
Capital News Service

LANSING — Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of 186 federal parks that will split the $1.1 million National Park Foundation grant to set up field trip programs.

The $4,820 grant secured last fall will get local kids educated through public parks, said Melissa O’Donnell, the interagency education specialist at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Hiawatha National Forest. The money was raised through a crowd funding campaign, supported by the tag #FindYourPark on Twitter. The foundation’s Open Outdoors for Kids program supports the White House youth initiative called Every Kid in a Park. The field trips give elementary school kids a chance to experience public land. National Park Service officials say parks and public lands offer kids great opportunities to get their feet wet while collecting water samples, studying wildlife in its natural habitat or exploring where history happened.