Mark HumphreyWASHINGTON - A third woman considered filing a workplace complaint against Herman Cain over what she deemed aggressive and unwanted behavior when she and Cain, now a Republican presidential candidate, worked together during the late 1990s, the woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. Continue reading →
A converted ethanol plant in Luverne, Minn. has become the world's first commercial production facility for bio-based isobutanol, a new biofuel that may one day compete with ethanol. Gevo Inc., a renewable chemicals and biofuels company based in Englewood, Colo., said Thursday, May 24, that it initiated production of bio-isobutanol at commercial scale at its plant in Luverne on Wednesday afternoon. "One year ago, we broke ground with a startup goal of less than 12 months and we've succeeded," Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber said in a statement. "The startup of our Luverne plant represents a milestone for the industry and validation of our commitment to commercially produce bio-based isobutanol for the first half of 2012." Gevo is the first producer of so-called "next generation biofuels" ... Continue reading →
BY LIAM DENNING War, what is it good for? Not much if you make solar panels. U.S. solar stocks such as First Solar enjoyed a brief burst of jingoism last Thursday, when the Commerce Department announced antidumping tariffs on Chinese photovoltaic-equipment makers. As of Monday, though, trade-war fever had subsided: First Solar hit a fresh 52-week low of $13.37, down from almost ...BY LIAM DENNING War, what is it good for? Not much if you make solar panels. U.S. solar stocks such as First Solar enjoyed a brief burst of jingoism last Thursday, when the Commerce Department announced antidumping tariffs on Chinese photovoltaic-equipment makers. As of Monday, though, trade-war fever had subsided: First Solar hit a fresh 52-week low of $13.37, down from almost ... Continue reading →
WASHINGTON — A federal proposal to ban the construction of coal-fired power plants that release all of their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would seem to smooth the way for carbon capture, a budding technology that traps the greenhouse gas for storage or other uses. But even as the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to open hearings on the proposed rule, unveiled in March, industry experts say the persistently low price of natural gas is threatening the viability of the nation’s carbon capture projects. Natural gas is so cheap and plentiful that utilities have little incentive to build coal-fired plants with the capture technology. And the proposed rule exempts existing coal- and gas-fired plants. In the tiny universe of American carbon capture projects, the first casualty ... Continue reading →
May 21, 2012, 10:37 amN.R.C. Chairman Is Resigning By THE NEW YORK TIMESGregory B. Jaczko, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has announced that he is stepping down, John M. Broder and Matthew L. Wald report. His tenure has been marked by repeated bitter battles with colleagues and with Congress, especially over his role in helping to end government consideration of a proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert. Continue reading →
Mark HumphreyWASHINGTON - A third woman considered filing a workplace complaint against Herman Cain over what she deemed aggressive and unwanted behavior when she and Cain, now a Republican presidential candidate, worked together during the late 1990s, the woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. Continue reading →
For temporary work, being an interim CEO pays pretty well. Best Buy interim CEO G. "Mike" Mikan is being paid $127,000 every two weeks, until a permanent chief executive takes the reins at the Richfield-based electronics chain. That's the equivalent of $3.3 million a year. Plus, Mikan will receive $5 million in company stock "upon the completion of his service as Chief Executive Officer (interim)," Best Buy said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing became public on Monday, May 21. Mikan, 41, was named interim CEO last month, after the sudden resignation of then-CEO Brian Dunn, amid a complaint about an inappropriate relationship with a 29-year-old female employee. Then Best Buy founder Richard Schulze announced last week he will ... Continue reading →
Mark HumphreyWASHINGTON - A third woman considered filing a workplace complaint against Herman Cain over what she deemed aggressive and unwanted behavior when she and Cain, now a Republican presidential candidate, worked together during the late 1990s, the woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. Continue reading →
Eight Mahtomedi High School students spent months designing, building, testing and rejiggering a rocket built to launch two raw eggs 800 feet into the air and bring them back to Earth without a crack. They did just that, qualifying for the Team America Rocketry Challenge national finals near Washington, D.C., earlier this month. About 100 teams across the nation qualified for the world's largest rocket contest -- Mahtomedi was the only Minnesota team to make it. The team, unfortunately, didn't make it to the final round at nationals. One of its eggs broke during the flight. But that didn't dampen the students' enthusiasm for what they had achieved. Team members started meeting in early October, working with a 3D computer simulation program to design their ... Continue reading →
Getting permission from regulators to limit Boulder customers' access to conservation and renewable energy programs would be "suboptimal," compared to working out a deal directly with Boulder officials, the president and CEO of Xcel Energy's Colorado operations told a group of business leaders Thursday. Xcel Energy's David Eves made the remarks during a Boulder Tomorrow luncheon, where he appeared with City Manager Jane Brautigam to discuss the utility company's petition to the state Public Utilities Commission. Brautigam repeated the city's assertion that Xcel Energy's proposals amount to discrimination against Boulder ratepayers and said negotiations about any reimbursements to Xcel if Boulder forms a municipal utility are "premature." Xcel is seeking to revise several popular programs aimed at improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of ... Continue reading →
