Energy News Digest for September 19, 2008

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

- OREGON – Feds approve controversial liquefied natural gas terminal
- Columbian Editorial – In Our View: LNG battle rages
- Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy to buy Constellation for $4.7B
- MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, piece by piece
- Baltimore Sun Columnist – What could have gone wrong at Constellation?
- Chelan PUD seeks public comment on rate changes
- CANADA – TransAlta takeover looks unlikely
- In Montana, coal's future enters governor's race
- Dayton Daily News Editorial – Comparing how power companies respond to crisis
- MICHIGAN – Governor will sign bills to raise power rates, increase alternative energy
- Boston Globe Columnist – Smart electricity: New England states have laid out an ambitious agenda to slow the growth in electricity use
- FERC Decision Reaffirms PJM's Reliability Pricing Model, Supports Competition
- Salmon industry aid $70 million short – $100 million in disaster relief released to West Coast salmon
- Privately Owned Fisheries May Help Shore Up Stocks
- Seattle Post Intelligencer Editorial – Overfishing: It's quota time
- Shoshone-Bannock Tribes join other tribes, federal agencies and states on fish agreements
- Groups aim to spend money on fish, not court
- OREGON – Klamath Dam protesters rally in Portland
- Chinook transported above Condit Dam on the White Salmon River
- Chinook fishing reopens Saturday in lower Columbia River
- CANADA – Declining salmon runs blamed for wilderness tourism slump
- Bread Stays on Menu for Carp at Pennsylvania Lake
- Hundreds flock to Monroe to watch migrating birds
- Court ruling – EPA must limit builders' water pollution
- MONTANA – Water usage discussed in Flathead
- Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns
- Oregon State gets wave energy grant
- Georgia utility to build biomass-fueled power plants
- CALIFORNIA – Big push for energy-efficient construction
- How to Make Your Home Energy Efficient
- Google's 'Smart Grid' idea? Get the government to pay for it
- Enviros: Western climate plan lets polluters slide
- Chicago Unveils Multifaceted Plan to Curb Emissions of Heat-Trapping Gases
- Permafrost May Not Thaw Even During Global Warming
- CALIFORNIA – Study says greening will raise state's economy
- Old Farmer's Almanac predicts global cooling
- Google's U.S. share of Web search reaches 63 percent
- Study Ranks Washington 6th In Nation For State Government Technology Service
- Snip! Nearly One-Fifth of Homes Have No Landline
- WaMu launches effort to reassure anxious customers
- State facing a projected $3.2 billion deficit in next budget
- Lumber production hits decade low
- Cell tower worker who fell and later died was not using safety harness

These and links to more stories in today’s Energy News Digest

WORD OF THE DAY

Euphony • \YOO-fuh-nee\ • noun – *1: pleasing or sweet sound; especially: the acoustic effect produced by words so formed or combined as to please the ear 2: a harmonious succession of words having a pleasing sound

Good grief, two JRR Tolkien references in one week! But I have to admit, this is a good example of today’s word of the day: euphony. “…Cellar door is a combination of words in the English language once characterized by JRR Tolkien to have an especially beautiful sound. In his 1955 essay ‘English and Welsh’: Most English-speaking people...will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful…” – Wikipedia.

WEATHER

Forecast for Mason County, Washington
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?site=sew&smap=1&textField1=47.21528&textField2=-123.09944

(NOTE: Some readers have noted that the NWS forecast has not been updated regularly. Apparently there is a refresh issue with the weather web site. If you visit and the forecast isn’t updated, press F5 or refresh the web page. That should take care of the issue)

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

OREGON – Feds approve controversial liquefied natural gas terminal (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/09/15/daily30.html?ana=from_rss

Columbian Editorial – In Our View: LNG battle rages
http://columbian.com/article/20080919/OPINION02/809189952/-1/opinion

Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy to buy Constellation for $4.7B (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/18/financial/f063037D63.DTL&feed=rss.business

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, piece by piece (Baltimore Sun, MD)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-midamerican0919-side,0,1650032.story

Baltimore Sun Columnist – What could have gone wrong at Constellation? (Maryland)
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/hancock/blog/2008/09/what_could_have_gone_wrong_at.html

Chelan PUD seeks public comment on rate changes (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/NEWS04/709185216

CANADA – TransAlta takeover looks unlikely (National Post)
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2008/09/18/transalta-takeover-looks-unlikely.aspx

In Montana, coal's future enters governor's race (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1595569~In_Montana__coal_s_future_enters_governor_s_race.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

Dayton Daily News Editorial – Comparing how power companies respond to crisis (Ohio)
http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/oh/story/opinions/editorial/2008/09/18/ddn091808powerxxmg.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=22

MICHIGAN – Governor will sign bills to raise power rates, increase alternative energy (The Detroit News)
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/METRO/809180450

Boston Globe Columnist – Smart electricity: New England states have laid out an ambitious agenda to slow the growth in electricity use (Gordon van Welie is president and CEO of ISO New England Inc)
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/18/smart_electricity/

NEWS RELEASE – FERC Decision Reaffirms PJM's Reliability Pricing Model, Supports Competition (Yahoo! Business)
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080918/20080918006364.html?.v=1

FISH & WILDLIFE

Salmon industry aid $70 million short – $100 million in disaster relief released to West Coast salmon fishermen: $70 million less than the amount Congress approved to help (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/18/MN7513001E.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Privately Owned Fisheries May Help Shore Up Stocks (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/science/19fish.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Seattle Post Intelligencer Editorial – Overfishing: It's quota time
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/379726_fished.html?source=rss

News Release – Shoshone-Bannock Tribes join other tribes, federal agencies and states on fish agreements (Bonneville Power Administration)
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/227968/

Groups aim to spend money on fish, not court – Struggle…has stepped away from the courthouse and is shifting to the gravel riverbeds of the Columbia River basin (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/321810.html

OREGON – Klamath Dam protesters rally in Portland (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1594937~Klamath_Dam_protesters_rally_in_Portland.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Chinook transported above Condit Dam on the White Salmon River (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20080919/NEWS02/809189914/-1/news

Chinook fishing reopens Saturday in lower Columbia River (Salem Statesman Journal, OR)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080919/OUTDOORS/80919001/1034/SPORTS

CANADA – Declining salmon runs blamed for wilderness tourism slump (Globe and Mail, Canada)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080919.wbcsalmon19/BNStory/National/home

Bread Stays on Menu for Carp at Pennsylvania Lake (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/19carp.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Hundreds flock to Monroe to watch migrating birds (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008189290_swifts19m0.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

EPA must limit builders' water pollution – U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a California suit by the Natural Resources Defense Council (Los Angeles Times, CA)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cleanwater19-2008sep19,0,4915271.story

MONTANA – Water usage discussed in Flathead – “…state gave utility company Avista water rights on the Clark Fork River, putting extreme limits on water rights for Flathead County residents…” (KAJ, Kalispell)
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=9039151

Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/17/water.crisis/

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon State gets wave energy grant (The Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1595765~Oregon_State_gets_wave_energy_grant.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Georgia utility to build biomass-fueled power plants (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/09/15/daily78.html?ana=from_rss

CONSERVATION

CALIFORNIA – Big push for energy-efficient construction (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/19/BU3D130NBR.DTL

How to Make Your Home Energy Efficient – Here’s expert advice to help you slash your utility bills (Mother Earth News)
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/2008-10-01/How-To-Lower-Utility-Bills.aspx

Google's 'Smart Grid' idea? Get the government to pay for it (The Register)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/19/google_ge_smart_grid_ploy/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Enviros: Western climate plan lets polluters slide (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/enviros_western_climate_plan_l.html

Chicago Unveils Multifaceted Plan to Curb Emissions of Heat-Trapping Gases (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/19chicago.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1221840390-t7GuUl5Itx8QfKmGl2Be8A

Permafrost May Not Thaw Even During Global Warming (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/science/23obsperm.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

CALIFORNIA – Study says greening will raise state's economy (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/17/MNVQ13000N.DTL&feed=rss.news

Old Farmer's Almanac predicts global cooling (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080918/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_almanac_weather;_ylt=AiGiS1xUgDlvshXgxoXHrH_tiBIF

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Google's U.S. share of Web search reaches 63 percent (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1841833120080918?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Study Ranks Washington 6th In Nation For State Government Technology Service (KNDO-TV, Tri-Cities)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=9037611

Snip! Nearly One-Fifth of Homes Have No Landline (NY Times)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/snip-nearly-one-fifth-of-homes-have-no-landline/

GENERAL NEWS

WaMu launches effort to reassure anxious customers (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/09/15/daily36.html?ana=from_rss

State facing a projected $3.2 billion deficit in next budget (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/379644_forecast19.html

Lumber production hits decade low (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/09/15/daily29.html?ana=from_rss

Port Angeles – Cell tower worker who fell and later died was not using safety harness (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080919/NEWS/809190303

DIVERSIONS

Trapped In Vent, Museum Burglar Calls Police – Man Tells Police 'He's A Special Agent'
http://www.kirotv.com/news/17503721/detail.html

Accused Drug Dealer Adds Gas Tax to Price of Dope, Police Say
http://www.kirotv.com/money/17503324/detail.html

Tiny Toads Take Over Neighborhood – Puddles Left By Tropical Storm Fay Become Breeding Ground
http://www.kirotv.com/family/17510078/detail.html