Monday, June 6, 2011

Energy News Digest for June 6, 2011

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.

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THE NEWS DIGEST ON TWITTER

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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hitting Record Highs (Associated Press)

Editorial - Too Much of a Good Thing for the Region’s Power Grid - Wind power, having enjoyed a fortunate existence largely immune from market forces, is finding life in the real world a rough go (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

France - Campaign Launched to Stop French Government ‘Desecrating’ D-Day Beaches with Huge Offshore Wind Farm (The Daily Mail, UK)

Columnist - Elwha Dams Fight over, But Debate Has Shifted (Seattle Times)

First Two Spring Chinook Return as Part of Effort to Return Salmon Runs to Upper Deschutes Basin (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Columnist - Elwha Dams Fight over, But Debate Has Shifted
  • The Past & Future of Western Dams
  • Bonneville Power Administration Building Large Substation to Deliver More Wind Power
  • Seattle City Light Seeking Input from Business Leaders
  • Downed Tree Blocks Old Belfair Highway Saturday, Knocks Out Power
  • Ocean Spray & the Economics of ‘Green Energy’
  • Pepco Feeling Heat, Facing Probes over Washington DC Outages
  • Deflating Outlook for Natural Gas
  • First Two Spring Chinook Return as Part of Effort to Return Salmon Runs to Upper Deschutes Basin
  • Sockeye Should Get Boost When Cedar River Hatchery Is Done
  • Mine Would Spoil Untouched Alaska Fishery
  • North Kitsap’s Carpenter Creek Restoration Finally Moves Forward
  • Tri-Cities’ Salmon in the Classroom Program Will Continue Next School Year
  • California - Enormous Sturgeon Crowding into San Pablo Bay
  • Scientists Zero in on Culprits Behind Puget Sound Water Problems
  • JZ Knight Proves to be a Warrior vs. Development
  • Editorial - Too Much of a Good Thing for the Region’s Power Grid
  • Wind Power Turbines in Altamont Pass Threaten Protected Birds
  • France - Campaign Launched to Stop French Government ‘Desecrating’ D-Day Beaches with Huge Offshore Wind Farm
  • Montana - Grant to Aid Development of Wind Turbine Facility
  • Wind Turbines Blow Through Vancouver
  • Wisconsin’s Struggling Wind Sector Could Suffer Another Legislative Blow
  • Oregon - Company Plans to Harness Wallowa County Sunshine
  • California - The Mystery of the Imperial Valley Solar Project
  • Solar Energy Output Is Outpacing Pennsylvania Mandate
  • Manure Entrepreneur Kevin Maas Turns Dairy Waste into Green Energy
  • Hawaii - Spate of Hydro Projects Causing a Stir
  • RePower Bainbridge Educates Residents about Energy Efficiency
  • Oregon - Committee Clears ‘Cool Schools’ Measure for Vote
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hitting Record Highs
  • EPA Seen Delaying Rules on Greenhouse Gases
  • Researcher Says Climate Change May be Cooling California
  • Carbon Tax Would Weaken Australia
  • Could the Net be Killing the Planet One Web Search at a Time?
  • Wal-Mart’s Motive Is No Secret: Going Green Saves It Money
  • Seattle Artist Crafts Life-Saving Wood Stoves
  • Kitchen Grease Becomes Hot Commodity
  • Microsoft to Unveil Office 365 with an Eye on Small Businesses
  • Apple May Not Use North Carolina Center for iCloud Service
  • Amazon, Microsoft Cloud Outages No Reason to Avoid Cloud Services
  • Tennessee - Chattanooga Wins Award for Largest Fiber Optics Network
  • Free Press Complains to the FCC About Verizon Tethering
  • ‘Follow Us on Twitter’? ‘Find Us on Facebook’? Not in France
  • Denny Heck Bids for Congress in Some Washington State District
  • Cash-Strapped States Look to Roll Back Tax Credits
  • Portland’s New Office of Equity Has Funding -- But No Mission or Director
  • On This Day: Allied Forces Invade Normandy on D-Day
  • Mason County: State Route 3 Project Shifts Gears; Open House Planned
  • Judge Dismisses Island County Commissioner’s Suit Against County over Building-Permit Dispute
  • Port Angeles’ Nippon: The Last Phone Book Paper Mill in US?
  • Vandalism along I-90 near Vantage - Marked Horses
  • Patterns: More People Praying About Health, Analysis Finds

WORD OF THE DAY

Banshee • \BAN-shee\ • Noun - A female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die

The music editor for the local weekly newspaper was confronted with a dilemma. He wanted to be truthful, but he also did not want to alienate the 1,000 readers of the small-town broadsheet. Therefore, he crumpled the typewritten first draft of his story titled “Local Band Named ‘The Banshees’ Appropriately Named: You Will Want to Die” and began a new draft with the headline “Unique Sounds from Local Band.”

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Columnist - Elwha Dams Fight over, But Debate Has Shifted (Seattle Times)

The Past & Future of Western Dams (High Country News)

Bonneville Power Administration Building Large Substation to Deliver More Wind Power (North American Wind Power)

Seattle City Light Seeking Input from Business Leaders (Puget Sound Business Journal)

Downed Tree Blocks Old Belfair Highway Saturday, Knocks Out Power (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

Ocean Spray & the Economics of ‘Green Energy’ - Did Ocean Spray leave New Jersey because its ‘green’ electric costs were too high? (Christian Science Monitor)

Pepco Feeling Heat, Facing Probes over Washington DC Outages (WTOP Radio, Washington, DC – Can’t blame trees for this one…)

Deflating Outlook for Natural Gas (Associated Press)

FISH & WILDLIFE

First Two Spring Chinook Return as Part of Effort to Return Salmon Runs to Upper Deschutes Basin (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

Sockeye Should Get Boost When Cedar River Hatchery Is Done (Seattle Times)

Mine Would Spoil Untouched Alaska Fishery (Olympian, WA)

North Kitsap’s Carpenter Creek Restoration Finally Moves Forward (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

Tri-Cities’ Salmon in the Classroom Program Will Continue Next School Year (KNDU-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)

California - Enormous Sturgeon Crowding into San Pablo Bay (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Scientists Zero in on Culprits Behind Puget Sound Water Problems (Crosscut Seattle)

JZ Knight Proves to be a Warrior vs. Development - Lawyers argue that water guarantees must precede building (Olympian, WA – the headline’s supposed to be funny ‘case she channels the spirit of an ancient warrior Ramtha…but if you didn’t know that, well it’s not all that amusing…)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Editorial - Too Much of a Good Thing for the Region’s Power Grid - Wind power, having enjoyed a fortunate existence largely immune from market forces, is finding life in the real world a rough go (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

Wind Power Turbines in Altamont Pass Threaten Protected Birds - Scores of golden eagles have been killed after striking the thousands of wind turbines in the Bay Area, raising questions about California’s move toward alternative power (Los Angeles Times, CA)

France - Campaign Launched to Stop French Government ‘Desecrating’ D-Day Beaches with Huge Offshore Wind Farm (The Daily Mail, UK)

Montana - Grant to Aid Development of Wind Turbine Facility (Great Falls Tribune, MT)

Wind Turbines Blow Through Vancouver - Huge parts transported by truck, railcars after their arrival at port (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

Wisconsin’s Struggling Wind Sector Could Suffer Another Legislative Blow (Reuters)

Oregon - Company Plans to Harness Wallowa County Sunshine (East Oregonian, Pendleton, OR)

California - The Mystery of the Imperial Valley Solar Project (GigaOM)

Solar Energy Output Is Outpacing Pennsylvania Mandate (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Manure Entrepreneur Kevin Maas Turns Dairy Waste into Green Energy (Seattle Times)

Hawaii - Spate of Hydro Projects Causing a Stir (Pacific Business News, HI)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

RePower Bainbridge Educates Residents about Energy Efficiency (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

Oregon - Committee Clears ‘Cool Schools’ Measure for Vote - Would make it easier to tap money from existing programs to pay for weatherization & other energy-efficiency measures in school buildings across the state (Salem Statesman Journal, OR)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hitting Record Highs (Associated Press)

EPA Seen Delaying Rules on Greenhouse Gases (Reuters)

Researcher Says Climate Change May be Cooling California (Sacramento Bee, CA)

Carbon Tax Would Weaken Australia - As a net exporter of coal, Australia would have a lot to lose from a carbon tax (Christian Science Monitor)

Could the Net be Killing the Planet One Web Search at a Time? (Vancouver Sun, BC)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Wal-Mart’s Motive Is No Secret: Going Green Saves It Money (Los Angeles Times, CA)

Seattle Artist Crafts Life-Saving Wood Stoves (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Kitchen Grease Becomes Hot Commodity (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Microsoft to Unveil Office 365 with an Eye on Small Businesses (Techflash)

Apple May Not Use North Carolina Center for iCloud Service (Triangle Business Journal, NC)

Amazon, Microsoft Cloud Outages No Reason to Avoid Cloud Services (CRN)

Tennessee - Chattanooga Wins Award for Largest Fiber Optics Network (WCRB-TV, Chattanooga, TN)

Free Press Complains to the FCC About Verizon Tethering (GigaOM)

‘Follow Us on Twitter’? ‘Find Us on Facebook’? Not in France (Associated Press)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Denny Heck Bids for Congress in Some Washington State District (Associated Press)

Cash-Strapped States Look to Roll Back Tax Credits (USA Today)

Portland’s New Office of Equity Has Funding -- But No Mission or Director (Oregonian, Portland)

GENERAL NEWS

On This Day: Allied Forces Invade Normandy on D-Day (Finding Dulcinea)

Mason County: State Route 3 Project Shifts Gears; Open House Planned (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

Judge Dismisses Island County Commissioner’s Suit Against County over Building-Permit Dispute (Everett Herald, WA)

Port Angeles’ Nippon: The Last Phone Book Paper Mill in US? (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Vandalism along I-90 near Vantage - Marked Horses (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Patterns: More People Praying About Health, Analysis Finds (NY Times)

DIVERSIONS

Heavy Metal under the Sea: Sharks Act Calmer When Listening to AC/DC

Wow! Earth Belches Beautifully

Volunteers Flock to Get on One-Way Trip to Mars

Washington State Referees Sue to Use Charity Pink Whistles

SONG OF THE DAY

The Trammps - Disco Inferno