Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Energy News Digest for July 7, 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.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Ted Coates Named New Tacoma Power Superintendent
• Mason County PUD No. 3 Wins Clean Bill Of Health in Latest State Audit
• Fitch Rates Snohomish County PUD's Rev Notes 'F1+'
• Michigan Utility Companies Offer Electric Outage Service Credits
• Opponents Knock Study That Says Snake Dams Don't Stifle Fish Survival
• Tribes Restore Central Washington Fish Run
• New York Times Editorial – Ten Years, 430 Dams
• Seventeen Miles of Maine's Kennebec River Restored
• More Birds Mowed Down Along the Oregon Coast
• Chelan PUD Water Tank - Big Dig for a Lotta Water
• Over 20 Kayakers to Paddle Chelan Gorge This Weekend
• Chesapeake Bay Is a Threat to Humans, Too
• Oregon Governor Might Veto Two Energy-Related Bills
• Rural Electricity Cooperatives Add Wind, Cautiously
• Green Ink: Horse Trading, Wooden Pellets, and Big Hydro
• Alaska - Homesteaders to Build Hydroelectric Plant
• Editorial - Get America Running On Clean Energy from the Midwest
• The Biomass Thermal Energy Movement Is Picking Up Steam
• European Union Slaps Five-Year Import Duties on US Biofuel
• Six Points to Consider In Choosing a Clothes Dryer
• Save Money on Home Cooling
• Microsoft Opens Hohm to Energy Monitoring
• Is Energy Harvesting Moving Into the Smart Home?
• Push and Pull in Senate May Recast Climate Bill
• World's Rich Targeted In New Model for Carbon Cuts
• Duke Energy Files Plans for Carbon-Storage Study
• U.S. Government Launches New Broadband Website
• Bandwidth envy - home buyers consider high-speed Internet connections
• North Carolina Town Raises Offer for Apple Data Center Site
• Scotland Lures ‘Green’ Computer Centres
• Microsoft Warns Of Serious Computer Security Hole
• Gmail Drops 'Beta' Label to Woo Business Customers
• US Justice Department Eyeing Telecom Probe
• Bottle Rocket Caused Capital Hill Fire in Shelton That Destroyed Garage
• Weyerhaeuser Slashes Dividend 80%; Stock Plunges
• Washington to Get Federal Funds for Storm-Related Repairs
• Possible Non-Binding Vote To Gauge Support for Longview/Kelso Merger
• New Home for Tri-Cities’ Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory
• Oregon Teen Accused of Seizing Social Network Pages

WORD OF THE DAY

Cloying • \ \ • adjective – Disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess; also: excessively sweet or sentimental

“Oh, Archie,” purred Edith to her temperamental husband. Her cloying efforts to calm him only acted to fuel his outrage, leading to yet another politically incorrect episode of “All in the Family.”

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

Ted Coates Named New Tacoma Power Superintendent (Tacoma Public Utilities)
http://www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/newsline/

Mason County PUD No. 3 Wins Clean Bill Of Health in Latest State Audit - Over 30 years without a finding (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/newsdisplay.aspx?newsid=568

Fitch Rates Snohomish County PUD's Rev Notes 'F1+' (Yahoo! Finance)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fitch-Rates-Snohomish-County-bw-3216732971.html?x=0&.v=1

Michigan Utility Companies Offer Electric Outage Service Credits - For those who frequently lose power or go days in the dark (Flint Journal, MI)
http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2009/07/utilities_offer_electric_outag.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Opponents Knock Study That Says Snake Dams Don't Stifle Fish Survival (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20090707/NEWS02/707079964/

Tribes Restore Central Washington Fish Run (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009426958_apwasalmonrestoration.html

New York Times Editorial – Ten Years, 430 Dams “…NOAA…has raised hopes that it may now take aggressive — if politically risky — steps to protect salmon on the West Coast by ordering the removal of four big dams on the Lower Snake River…”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/opinion/04sat3.html

Seventeen Miles of Maine's Kennebec River Restored (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106131942&ft=1&f=1003

More Birds Mowed Down Along the Oregon Coast (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/50117297.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Chelan PUD Water Tank - Big Dig for a Lotta Water (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090707/NEWS04/707079979/-1/SPORTS?Big-dig-for-a-lotta-water

Over 20 Kayakers to Paddle Chelan Gorge This Weekend (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090707/NEWS04/707079982/-1/OP?20-plus-kayakers-to-paddle-Chelan-Gorge-this-weekend

Chesapeake Bay Is a Threat to Humans, Too (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070602931.html?nav=rss_email/components

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Biomass & Wind Subsidies - Oregon Governor Might Veto 2 Energy-Related Bills (Associated Press)
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9999TG80.html

Rural Electricity Cooperatives Add Wind, Cautiously (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/rural-cooperatives-add-wind-cautiously/

Green Ink: Horse Trading, Wooden Pellets, and Big Hydro (NY Times)
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/07/07/green-ink-horse-trading-wooden-pellets-and-big-hydro/

Alaska - Homesteaders to Build Hydroelectric Plant (Electricity Forum)
http://www.electricityforum.com/news/jul09/Homesteaderstobuildhydroelectricplant.html

St Louis Dispatch Editorial - Get America Running On Clean Energy from the Midwest
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/8D75DFC4F812C0F7862575EB007D841D?OpenDocument

The Biomass Thermal Energy Movement Is Picking Up Steam (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/national-hydrogen-association-1881/news/article/2009/07/the-biomass-thermal-energy-movement-is-picking-up-steam?cmpid=rss

European Union Slaps Five-Year Import Duties on US Biofuel (Associated Press)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/07/ap6625812.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Six Points to Consider In Choosing a Clothes Dryer (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2009424673_dryerbuyingtips06.html

Save Money on Home Cooling (WPVI-TV, Philadelphia, PA)
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/consumer/save_with_6abc&id=6878368

Microsoft Opens Hohm to Energy Monitoring (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10280237-54.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1

Is Energy Harvesting Moving Into the Smart Home? (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS109659598620090707

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Push and Pull in Senate May Recast Climate Bill - Dealings Could Erode Ecological Aims (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070603514.html?wprss=rss_business

World's Rich Targeted In New Model for Carbon Cuts (CNN Technology)
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/07/07/carbon.emissions.allocation/

Duke Energy Files Plans for Carbon-Storage Study (Charlotte Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/07/06/daily12.html?ana=from_rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

U.S. Government Launches New Broadband Website - 226 Days until we actually have a broadband plan (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/US-Government-Launches-New-Broadband-Website-103277

Bandwidth envy - It’s not surprising to hear that home buyers consider high-speed Internet connections via fiber to be an important amenity (Telephony Online)
http://telephonyonline.com/residential_services/commentary/bandwidth-envy-0706/?cid=hcom

North Carolina Town Raises Offer for Apple Data Center Site (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/06/financial/f173720D59.DTL&feed=rss.business

Scotland Lures ‘Green’ Computer Centres (Financial Times of London, UK)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ee552e6-6a7b-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html

Microsoft Warns Of Serious Computer Security Hole (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/technology/19969752/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_4pm&tmi=sea_4pm_1_06000207062009&ts=H

Gmail Drops 'Beta' Label to Woo Business Customers (Yahoo! Technology)
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090707/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_techbit_google_beta_no_more_2

Abuse of Market Share? US Justice Department Eyeing Telecom Probe (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5654LK20090706?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

GENERAL NEWS

Bottle Rocket Caused Capital Hill Fire in Shelton That Destroyed Garage (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/7721/reftab/1632/t/BOTTLE-ROCKET-CAUSED-CAPITAL-HILL-FIRE-THAT-DESTROYED-GARAGE/Default.aspx

Weyerhaeuser Slashes Dividend 80%; Stock Plunges (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009427362_apusweyerhaeuserdividendcut1stldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Washington to Get Federal Funds for Storm-Related Repairs (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_070609WAB-storm-repair-funds-SW.1496a505.html?rss

Officials Planning Non-Binding Vote To Gauge Support for Longview/Kelso Merger (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/07/07//area_news/doc4a52eca2dccd7342317801.txt

New Home for Tri-Cities’ Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_rattlesnake_mountain_observatory.html?source=pimail

Oregon Teen Accused of Seizing Social Network Pages (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/903200.html

DIVERSIONS

British Spy Chief's Cover Blown On Facebook
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE56403820090706?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

$17,300 Stolen From Tacoma Highland Games' Funds (Beware Of Angry Scotsmen!)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/802737.html

Law Students Study Jackson's Dance-Move Patent
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106333912&ft=1&f=3

Business Booming For Aussie Jackson Impersonator
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090706/od_afp/entertainmentusmusicjacksonaustraliaoffbeat_20090706063246;_ylt=AlTWWfoYlFxfyon.nfCGqYSgOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTNqc3JjbzE5BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDA5MDcwNi9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50dXNtdXNpY2phY2tzb25hdXN0cmFsaWFvZmZiZWF0BHBvcwMxMwRzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNidXNpbmVzc2Jvb20-

SONG OF THE DAY

He Went To Paris - Jimmy Buffett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMozCfz0cZM

Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJpDMug1YMA