Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Energy News Digest for April 16, 2013


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THE NEWS DIGEST WORD CLOUD

Energy News Digest Word Cloud for April 16, 2013

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Belfair Residents - Marathon Participants in Boston are OK (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

Boston Marathon Finishers from Mason County (Seattle Times, WA)
2724, Miranda Thygesen, Belfair, 3:35:56.
2757, Stephanie Neil, Belfair, 3:36:09.
DNF, Peggy VanBuskirk was about a mile from the finish line when the bombs exploded.

Columbia River Treaty between U-S & Canada Under Intense Review (Oregonian, Portland)

Dead Salmon Found Along Silt-Choked Elwha River after Hatchery Release (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Did Window Retrofits Psych Occupants into Saving Even More Energy? (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)

Colorado Senate Votes to Raise Renewable Energy Goals for Rural Co-Ops - Rural utilities complain it would cost billions of dollars to comply with the higher rules (Denver Business Journal, CO)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Columbia River Treaty between U-S & Canada Under Intense Review
  • Overhauling the Third Hydro Plant at Grand Coulee Dam
  • High-Voltage Debate about Cost of Next Seattle City Light Substation
  • Bonneville Power Administration’s Ellensburg Substation to Get County Evaluation
  • Editorial - Grant County PUD: 75 Years of Service
  • Washington State Adopts Tougher Penalties for Digging into Utilities
  • Columbia River PUD Warns Customers of Telephone Scam
  • Idaho Transmission Line Project Will Help Meet Energy Demand
  • EPA Will Delay Rule Limiting Carbon Emissions at New Power Plants
  • New U-S Nuclear Waste Policy May Be Illegal: GAO
  • Parties Switch Roles over Possible U-S Sale of New Deal Tennessee Valley Authority
  • Dead Salmon Found Along Silt-Choked Elwha River after Hatchery Release
  • Federal Culvert Ruling Could Cost Washington State over $2.4 Billion
  • Research: Dams, Altered Environment Have ‘Elicited an Adaptive Response in Snake River Fall Chinook’
  • Acquisition Protects Wildlife Corridor in Willamette Valley
  • Washington State Companies to Expand Slimy Hagfish Operations
  • Colorado Senate Votes to Raise Renewable Energy Goals for Rural Co-Ops
  • Report: Solar Scores Big Gains in Electricity Generation
  • Massachusetts - Some Area Residents Steaming Over Solar Projects
  • Federal Budget: Obama Seeks 40 Percent Increase in Clean Energy Spending
  • Pumped Hydro: Storage Solution for a Renewable Energy Future
  • Did Window Retrofits Psych Occupants into Saving Even More Energy?
  • European Union Lawmakers Veto Beefing Up Cap-And-Trade System
  • Arctic Summers May Be Ice Free Sooner Than Predicted
  • Op/Ed - Lawrence Solomon: Arctic Sea Ice Back to 1989 Levels, Now Exceeds Previous Decade
  • Carbon Controversy: Should The Northwest Grow Markets For Forest Biofuels?
  • Silicon Valley Power Launches Free Citywide Wi-Fi Access, Moves Forward with Advanced Metering System
  • DSL Speed Could Soon Get a Boost with New Technologies
  • Netbooks, Once Intel’s Computer of the Future, Now Driven to ‘Extinction’ by the iPad
  • FCC Very Close to Announcing Tom Wheeler as Next FCC Boss
  • At Long Last, Microsoft is Ready to Compete Head On With Amazon Web Services
  • Comcast Confirms: Yes, We’re Encrypting Basic Cable Now
  • Thou Shalt Not Stoop to Political Point-Scoring - A journalist’s guide to tweeting during a crisis
  • Shaping Your Social-Media Brand Persona
  • Editorial - Washington State’s Auditing Budget Shouldn’t Be Raided by Lawmakers
  • Editorial - The Selfish ‘Pension Spikes’
  • Washington State Decrees Out with ‘He,’ ‘Him,’ ‘Man’
  • Belfair Residents - Marathon Participants in Boston are OK
  • Boston Marathon Finishers from Mason County
  • Viral Photo - 78-Year-Old Washington State Runner Knocked Down By Boston Blast
  • Idaho - Short in Extension Cord: Causes Fire, Kills Five

WORD OF THE DAY

Verbiage • \VER-bee-ij\ • Noun - 1: a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content 2: manner of expressing oneself in words: diction

Marley’s presentation was the vocal equivalent of a black hole. His verbiage – consisting of acronyms, highly technical terms, and obscure inside physics jokes – was so dense that those who were able to stumble from the darkened meeting room, fleeing the “Comic Sans” PowerPoint presentation eventually became the subject of extensive searches by convention center staff. Refugees from the session were found scattered throughout the facility for days afterwards, huddled in remote restroom stalls, broom closets and abandoned ticket booths.

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Columbia River Treaty between U-S & Canada Under Intense Review (Oregonian, Portland)

Overhauling the Third Hydro Plant at Grand Coulee Dam (Renewable Energy World)

High-Voltage Debate about Cost of Next Seattle City Light Substation (Seattle Times, WA)

Bonneville Power Administration’s Ellensburg Substation to Get County Evaluation (Ellensburg Daily Record, WA)

Editorial - Grant County PUD: 75 years of service (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Washington State Adopts Tougher Penalties for Digging into Utilities (Longview Daily News, WA)

Columbia River PUD Warns Customers of Telephone Scam (St Helens Chronicle, OR)

Idaho Transmission Line Project Will Help Meet Energy Demand (Idaho Business Review)

EPA Will Delay Rule Limiting Carbon Emissions at New Power Plants (NY Times)

New U-S Nuclear Waste Policy May Be Illegal: GAO (Forbes Magazine)

Parties Switch Roles over Possible U-S Sale of New Deal Tennessee Valley Authority (Bloomberg News)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Dead Salmon Found Along Silt-Choked Elwha River after Hatchery Release (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Federal Culvert Ruling Could Cost Washington State over $2.4 Billion (KGW-TV, Portland, OR)

Research: Dams, Altered Environment Have ‘Elicited an Adaptive Response in Snake River Fall Chinook’ (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

Acquisition Protects Wildlife Corridor in Willamette Valley (Bonneville Power Administration)

Washington State Companies to Expand Slimy Hagfish Operations (Associated Press)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Colorado Senate Votes to Raise Renewable Energy Goals for Rural Co-Ops - Rural utilities complain it would cost billions of dollars to comply with the higher rules (Denver Business Journal, CO)

Report: Solar Scores Big Gains in Electricity Generation (U-S News & World Report)

Massachusetts - Some Area Residents Steaming Over Solar Projects (Worcester News Telegram, MA)

Federal Budget: Obama Seeks 40 Percent Increase in Clean Energy Spending (Reuters)

Pumped Hydro: Storage Solution for a Renewable Energy Future (Renew Economy)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Did Window Retrofits Psych Occupants into Saving Even More Energy? (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

European Union Lawmakers Veto Beefing Up Cap-And-Trade System (Associated Press)

Arctic Summers May Be Ice Free Sooner Than Predicted (USA Today)

Op/Ed - Lawrence Solomon: Arctic Sea Ice Back to 1989 Levels, Now Exceeds Previous Decade (Financial Post, Canada)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Carbon Controversy: Should The Northwest Grow Markets For Forest Biofuels? (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Silicon Valley Power Launches Free Citywide Wi-Fi Access, Moves Forward with Advanced Metering System (American Public Power Association)

DSL Speed Could Soon Get a Boost with New Technologies (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

Netbooks, Once Intel’s Computer of the Future, Now Driven to ‘Extinction’ by the iPad (Oregonian, Portland, OR)

FCC Very Close to Announcing Tom Wheeler as Next FCC Boss (Broadband Reports)

At Long Last, Microsoft is Ready to Compete Head On With Amazon Web Services (GigaOM)

Comcast Confirms: Yes, We’re Encrypting Basic Cable Now (GigaOM)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Thou Shalt Not Stoop to Political Point-Scoring - A journalist’s guide to tweeting during a crisis (Slate Magazine – Some PG-13 Content))

Shaping Your Social-Media Brand Persona (Pittsburgh Business Times, PA)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Editorial - Washington State’s Auditing Budget Shouldn’t Be Raided by Lawmakers (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

Editorial - The Selfish ‘Pension Spikes’ (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

Washington State Decrees Out with ‘He,’ ‘Him,’ ‘Man’ (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)

GENERAL NEWS

Belfair Residents - Marathon Participants in Boston are OK (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

Boston Marathon Finishers from Mason County (Seattle Times, WA)
2724, Miranda Thygesen, Belfair, 3:35:56.
2757, Stephanie Neil, Belfair, 3:36:09.
DNF, Peggy VanBuskirk was about a mile from the finish line when the bombs exploded.

Viral Photo - 78-Year-Old Washington State Runner Knocked Down By Boston Blast (Associated Press)

That Older Man Knocked Down in the Photo (Talking Points Memo)

Idaho - Short in Extension Cord: Causes Fire, Kills Five (Associated Press)

DIVERSIONS

Giant Snail Invasion Forces Floridians to Walk for Their Lives

Enjoy Marshmallow Superiority with This Air-Compressed Bazooka

‘Starry Night’ Most-Loved Painting on Google

Woman Wakes From Coma, Announces She Wants to Go to a Bob Seger Concert

SONG OF THE DAY

Bob Seger - Feel Like a Number

LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

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.

Note that as some newspapers migrate to a “paywall” system of access, some articles may not be available without forking over some cold hard credit card cash. However, some sites will allow a certain number of story accesses per month before holding out their hand. Sorry if this is an inconvenience.