Energy News Digest for March 2, 2009

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)

- Washington State Bill would ease utilities' energy targets House Is Abandoning Carbon Neutral Plan
- Kentucky – First, Power Failures. Now, Higher Bills
- Kansas House Can Override Governor’s Expected Veto Of 'Coal-Fired' Bill
- Bonneville Dam Sea Lions Face Cages Or Sharpshooters
- Locke Brings Unique Salmon Perspective
- Toward A Solution on the Columbia River Salmon Harvest Conflict
- Six Mason County Properties On Hazardous Sites List
- Olympian Editorial - Park For Artesian Well Should Be Goal: Thurston PUD To Help
- Some States Picking Economy Over Environment Regulations
- California Cities Face 20% Cuts In Water Use During Crisis
- Canada - Yes, It’s Been Dry, But We Have Water
- From Tons of Manure, a Growth Industry
- Pacific Ethanol Closing 2 Plants For Now
- Wind Farms Provide Energy - And Work
- T. Boone Pickens Pitches Energy Plan In Montana
- Everett Herald Op/Ed - National race for green jobs is on; let's win it
- Ski Resorts Toeing Green's Bottom Line
- Homeowners Stand to Gain From Energy-Efficiency Stimulus
- Can a 'smart grid' turn us on to energy efficiency
- Cap-And-Trade System Insufficient To Prompt Renewable Energy Roll Out
- Capping Carbon Emissions May Increase Energy Rates, Orszag
- Capitol Power Plant Dims Clean Energy Hopes
- Tennessee Offer to Offset Carbon Tax Credited In Deals to Attract
- Greenhouse Gas Rules Target Computer Chip
- The Methane Time Bomb - Rising Star Researcher Discovers Ominous Bubbles under the Ice
- WashPost Op/Ed: George Will - Climate Science in A Tornado
- Microsoft + Yahoo Still Doesn’t Make
- A Tour of Processors From WWII Through the
- U.S. Internet Firms Defend Tighter Web
- Port Of Shelton Director
- Thurston County Layoffs And Cuts Loom To Trim $5.7
- Gregoire Sets Up Site To Track Elusive "Stimulus"
- Oregon log prices hit rock bottom, mills cut
- Will Washington State’s Deficit Create a 'Zombie Governor'?
- Bank, Credit Union Replace Cards After Security
- Maple Syrup Trendy And In Short Supply
- We’ll Mow Our Own Lawns, Thank You Very Much

WORD OF THE DAY

Vinaceous • \vye-NAY-shus\ • adjective - Of the color of red wine

Norbert swore from here to Sunday that he was not the person who purloined the final bottle of wine from his housemate’s wine cellar. “That bottle did not leave the house,” he whimpered. “It certainly didn’t leave the house,” his friend intoned. But the incriminating, vinaceous stain on Norbert’s shirt showed that - at least technically - the merlot was still on (or in) his person.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast and Weather Alerts
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/mapclick.php?textfield1=47.213805&textfield2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=shelton%2c%20wa%2c%20usa

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Washington State Bill would ease utilities' energy targets (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008801080_greenenergy02m.html

House Is Abandoning Carbon Neutral Plan - Move Highlights Congress's Green Struggle “…leadership had dropped an essential part of the plan, the purchase of "carbon offsets" to cancel out emissions from its buildings…” (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/28/AR2009022801947.html?wprss=rss_business

Kentucky – First, Power Failures. Now, Higher Bills (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/us/01kentucky.html

Kansas State Representative Thinks House Can Override Governor’s Expected Veto Of 'Coal-Fired' Bill (Great Bend Tribune, KS)
http://www.gbtribune.com/localnews.php?sid=fd6e431

FISH & WILDLIFE

Bonneville Dam Sea Lions Face Cages Or Sharpshooters (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/sea_lions_at_bonneville_dam.html

Locke Brings Unique Salmon Perspective - As Commerce chief, he would be involved in their oversight (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090225/NEWS02/702269992

Toward A Solution on the Columbia River Salmon Harvest Conflict (Blue Oregon)
http://www.blueoregon.com/2009/03/toward-a-solution-on-the-columbia-river-salmon-harvest-conflict.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Six Mason County Properties On Hazardous Sites List (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/6541/reftab/1632/t/SIX-MASON-COUNTY-PROPERTIES-ON-HAZARDOUS-SITES-LIST/Default.aspx

Olympian Editorial - Park For Artesian Well Should Be Goal: Thurston PUD To Help
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/772343.html

Some States Picking Economy Over Environment Regulations (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1879392~Some_states_picking_economy_over_environment_regs.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

California Cities Face 20% Cuts In Water Use During Crisis (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/27/MN8H166JE1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Canada - Yes, It’s Been Dry, But We Have Water - Sooke Reservoir expansion will keep taps running (Victoria Times Colonist, BC)
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/been+Sooke+Reservoir+water/1337963/story.html

From Tons of Manure, a Growth Industry (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/nyregion/connecticut/0301colct.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Pacific Ethanol Closing 2 Plants For Now - The company seeks new terms from its lenders, but its Boardman site is still running "full out" (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1235791507280380.xml&coll=7

Wind Farms Provide Energy - And Work (Sacramento Bee, CA)
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1657563.html

T. Boone Pickens Pitches Energy Plan In Montana (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1876224~T__Boone_Pickens_pitches_energy_plan_in_Montana.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

Everett Herald Op/Ed - National race for green jobs is on; let's win it
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090301/OPINION03/703019998/-1/RSS05

Ski Resorts Toeing Green's Bottom Line (Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQ3hOEfo33CE9XprpetdYeK75d4QD96KRC381

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Homeowners Stand to Gain From Energy-Efficiency Stimulus Funds (Sacramento Bee)
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1659989.html

Can a 'smart grid' turn us on to energy efficiency? (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/01/eco.smartgrid/index.html#cnnSTCText

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Cap-And-Trade System Insufficient To Prompt Renewable Energy Roll Out, part 1 of 2 (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/x-1109-Dallas-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m2d26-Capandtrade-system-insufficient-to-prompt-renewable-energy-roll-out-part-1-of-2

Cap-And-Trade System Insufficient To Prompt Renewable Energy Roll Out, part 2 of 2 (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/x-1109-Dallas-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m2d27-Capandtrade-system-insufficient-to-prompt-renewable-energy-roll-out-part-2-of-2

Capping Carbon Emissions May Increase Energy Rates, Orszag Says (ABC News, Yah Think?)
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=6983635&page=1

Capitol Power Plant Dims Clean Energy Hopes (Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gTJ799AtURArOnuR5jn5GDlyLWLQD96L83280

Tennessee Offer to Offset Carbon Tax Credited In Deals to Attract Business (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008799678_apcarbontaxbreak.html?syndication=rss

Greenhouse Gas Rules Target Computer Chip Makers - and by inference, their brothers: PV chips? (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11795019?nclick_check=1

The Methane Time Bomb - Rising Star Researcher Discovers Ominous Bubbles under the Ice (Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090228/EXPLORE/702289996/1025/rss1025

WashPost Op/Ed: George Will - Climate Science in A Tornado
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022602906.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Microsoft + Yahoo Still Doesn’t Make Sense (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/02/28/microsoft-yahoo-still-doesnt-make-sense/

A Tour of Processors From WWII Through the ’70s (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/02/27/a-tour-of-processors-from-wwii-through-the-70s/

U.S. Internet Firms Defend Tighter Web Management (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE51P6ZU20090226?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

GENERAL NEWS

Port Of Shelton Director Resigns (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/6542/reftab/1632/t/PORT-OF-SHELTON-DIRECTOR-RESIGNS/Default.aspx

Thurston County Layoffs And Cuts Loom To Trim $5.7 Million (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/772252.html

Gregoire Sets Up Site To Track Elusive "Stimulus" Cash (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/771958.html

Oregon log prices hit rock bottom, mills cut back (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1878664~Oregon_log_prices_hit_rock_bottom__mills_cut_back.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Seattle P-I Columnist: Joel Connelly - Will Washington State’s Deficit Create a 'Zombie Governor'?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/401635_Joel27.html?source=rss

Bank, Credit Union Replace Cards After Security Breach (Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090301/BIZ/702269944/1001/rss1001

Maple Syrup Trendy And In Short Supply (Associated Press)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/641155.html

We’ll Mow Our Own Lawns, Thank You Very Much - The economic downturn is forcing America’s households to learn a tough lesson: how to fend for themselves (Washington Post)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/640086.html

DIVERSIONS

BusinessWeek ranks Portland at top of "unhappiest cities" list (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/business_week_ranks_portland_a.html

Olympia Bride, 90, Marries Her 'Perfect Gentleman'
http://www.theolympian.com/localnewsfeed/story/773213.html

"Parliament of Clowns" Laughs Off Financial Crisis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090227/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_clowns;_ylt=AnXOMDCDwlEbB8wMIQ5pkRztiBIF

New Yorker launches barking mad lawsuit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090227/od_afp/usoffbeatanimaljustice_20090227151054;_ylt=AgHGX5ZkiQkaRvJlWRxFfs6gOrgF

SONG OF THE DAY

The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EkJRy3gIS4&feature=PlayList&p=248DFD77C0BDC34D&playnext=1&index=38