The September edition of the Great Lakes Hill Happenings is now available. This edition includes:

• Updated legislative happenings for September 2013, including appropriations and implications of the government shutdown on the region, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act in the House, and Farm Bill action;
• Summaries of September briefings on Asian carp and the House Water Resources Reform and Development Act;
• And a summary of recent letters and reports, including the NEMWI Note to the Coalitions entitled "Harmful Microbes in Ballast Water: Protecting the Great Lakes Ecosystem", which is a collaborative study on the need for, best tools, and methods to accomplish an early detection system for microbes transplanted to the Great Lakes via ships.

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

On Monday, October 21 and Tuesday October 22nd, The Great Plains Institute and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy are co-hosting "Catalyzing Midwestern Initiatives to Accelerate Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Waste Heat-to-Power (WHP)".  This meeting in Chicago, will bring together "industrial, NGO, and federal stakeholders who are interested in overcoming policy and regulatory barriers that currently limit CHP and WHP deployment in key Midwestern states."  Its goal is to advance CHP and WHP in the Midwest by:

• Bringing together national and state-level organizations interested in advancing CHP and WHP policy in Midwestern states.
• Facilitating network building to enable interested parties to develop a coordinated plan for advancing CHP and WHP policy in the Midwest.
• Building bridges among environmental and industry associations who have not worked closely in the past but would like to coordinate state level initiatives on CHP and WHP.

To register for the meeting you can visit their site.

For more information, contact Fritz Ohrenschall, Research Assistant at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.