Decarbonisation of the built environment Midwest businesses have great insights into how governments can support decarbonizing the built environment and improving energy efficiency. Buildings account for about 40% of global emissions, and Midwestern states can help accelerate the transition. Louise PlotnickHead of Programs, North America, Climate Group, asked Rena KezarVice President, Global Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs, Johnson Controls, on climate ambition and leadership in the Midwest: “Johnson Controls, Inc., headquartered in Wisconsin, is a smart leader in transforming the built environment – from optimizing building performance and performance to improving safety and improving comfort. As the first US company to…
Author: Cecil Larson
Acrisure LLC announced Monday the creation of the Midwest Region as it continues to revamp its operating structure. The Midwest Region includes Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin with more than 50 offices under the Acrisure name and led by Managing Partner Tina Semotan, Acrisure said in a statement. Gregg Williams, co-founder, president and CEO of Acrisure, said the Midwest region is home to a wide range of industries, including trucking and transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and emerging technology. The Midwest Region is the 11th and final region of the US region to be created…
The stadium is arguably the best high school stadium in Wisconsin. SUN PRAIRIE, Wis., January 14, 2021 (Newswire.com) – Sun Prairie School District has worked with Midwest Sport & Turf Systems in the past. When the baseball field needed improvements to its turf, which had originally been installed by another company, MWSTS was called in. “They stepped up to the plate and helped us when we had turf problems on our baseball field when others weren't helping us with it,” Athletic Director Eric Nye said. As a result, when Sun Prairie built a new football stadium that can seat more…
Summit Carbon Solutions, which is trying to build the largest carbon capture pipeline in the United States to transport and bury greenhouse gases, has repeatedly pledged that its project will not be used by drillers to boost production from oilfields. But Summit has a different message for prospective customers, including North Dakota's oil sector, according to a Reuters review of state regulatory filings and recordings of public appearances by company officials: If you want to use our enhanced recovery project oil recovery (EOR), where gas is pumped into oil fields to increase production, just write a check. The dual messages…
At Monday's Natrona County Board of Trustees meeting, Charlotte Gilbar Executive Director for School Improvement and Midwest Principal Chris Tobin spoke about the benefits of a four-day school week.Gilbar said the program meets state requirements for the number of hours required for students, while also benefiting students in five areas, balancing academic time and athletic activities. meet state requirements; expand opportunities for students; meet student needs for extra support from teachers and offer a credit recovery option to at-risk students.Trustee Clark Jensen asked about the benefits of the program, and Tobin said it definitely benefits students.”I think it's very positive…
Consider a Minnesota with almost no ice fishing. A Missouri that is as hot and dry as Texas. River and lake communities where catastrophic flooding occurs almost every year, rather than every few generations. That, scientists warn, is the future of the Midwest if emissions continue at a high rate, threatening the very core of the region's identity. With extreme heat waves and flooding making that future increasingly real, city leaders are beginning to look for ways to adapt. In a joint project organized by InsideClimate News, journalists across the Midwest explore how communities are responding to climate change. Read…
Hunt Midwest announced that Google will build a $1 billion data center at the Hunt Midwest Business Center in Kansas City, Missouri, as the tech company expands its presence throughout the Midwest. The Hunt Midwest Business Center provides Google with the land, on-site power and fiber optic connectivity to better support its technology platform. In addition, Google announced that it is expanding a skilled trades career development program to the region and contributing to the North Kansas City School District's STEAM alternative education program. “Google's choice of the Kansas City area is another example of our state's ability to attract…
Gabby Stare continued her impressive play at the collegiate level this winter.The Newark graduate earned second-team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honors in as many seasons after being a standout for the Ohio Dominican women's basketball team. Stare was named to the G-MAC second team for the second straight season.Stare, who was still officially a freshman due to the free season of eligibility following the Covid-19 pandemic, averaged 16.1 points per game on an efficient 51 percent shooting from the floor. She scored a season-high 28 points twice and averaged more than 20 points per game during her 11 division finals.This…
Community groups in the Midwest worry that a change in California's carbon emissions policy could hurt the quality of life in the nation's heartland.Later this month, the California Air Resources Board will consider an amendment to the Low carbon fuel standard. Oil and gas companies will be able to offset their emissions by buying credits from producers of “greener” fuels across the country, specifically, methane captured from cow and pig manure.Tim Gibbons, director of communications for the Missouri Agricultural Crisis Center, said it could spur large dairy farms to expand.”If Californians knew that their state policy was creating, incentivizing, fueling…
During the summer, the Midwest can experience some of the most oppressive humidity in the country. The fields in Iowa can be more crowded than the beaches in Miami. The guilty? Billions of corn stalks.Like a person breathing, plants exhale water into the atmosphere through a process called evapotranspiration. Some call it “corn sweat.”In the Midwest and Northern Plains, corn and soybean crops draw moisture from the soil through their roots into their leaves, stems and fruits. Water evaporates into the surrounding air through their leaves, joining forces with neighboring water molecules to moisten the air.That extra moisture makes the…