Energy News Digest for January 24, 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)

* Bill calls for study of nuclear power
* Tri-City Herald Opinion – Sense and nonsense about nuclear power
* Southeast U.S. drought could force nuke-plant shutdowns
* North Dakota council forbidden to consider pollution in power-plant proposals
* NorthWestern Energy Announces Site Selection for Proposed Electric Generation Plant
* High court rejects Enron investors
* Ephrata flags at half-mast for Claussen
* Utility Poles Walk Away In Lewis County
* Environmental groups weigh in against Okanogan PUD dam plan
* PSE reaches deal to sell Lake Tapps
* Lewis County PUD Intrigued By Flood Control Proposal
* Idaho – We still need a lot of snow to fill reservoirs this spring
* Culverts add obstacles to salmon, state, politics
* Puget Sound killer whales need clean water, fish to survive
* Eugene Register Guard – Allocation: Where’s Solomon now that the salmon need him?
* State censures Port Angeles water plan, but city says supply safe
* California – Farmers find water more profitable than crops
* Oregon’s green energy tax credits taking heat
* Michigan – Manure 'biodigester' turning out electricity
* The Cost-Effectiveness of Compact Fluorescents in Commercial Buildings
* Walla Walla – St. Mary awarded $400,765 for energy efficiency
* 39th: U.S. green ranking not to be envied
* Growth, climate change debated
* State's top industries warm to Gregoire's climate change legislation
* Nickels urges government to cut greenhouse gas emissions
* Seattle Times Editorial – Building a response to climate change
* More Snow in Antarctica
* Greenhouse Gas Makes Food Less Nutritious
* World Wide Packets selling for $290M
* Oops! Charter Accidentally Deletes 14,000 Users' E-mail
* Minnesota – Solar Wi-Fi service won't see light of day
* HBO Putting Shows Online, at No Additional Charge
* Tennessee – Area’s future may be high in Fiber optics
* California – Copper probe nets 140 suspects
* Wal-Mart widens its green focus
* Thieves convert car part into fast cash

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Cabal • \kuh-BAHL\ • noun – *: the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also: a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues 2: club, group

The “Lord of the Rings” fanboys were aghast. It wasn’t until it was too late that they discovered an anti-Gandalf cabal of Saruman clones in center of their role playing community. “The White Wizard takes your game piece,” crowed the leader of the renegade group, as he reached forth his “Cheetos”-stained fingers to snatch the small, collector’s edition statue of the Gray Wizard off the game board.

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

Bill calls for study of nuclear power – A study bill before the Legislature would require a task force to consider the merits of adding new nuclear generation to the state's power mix to help to curb global warming. "…If the objective of an environmentalist is to have a lesser reliance on hydroelectric power, where does that leave you?..." (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/legislature/story/335939.html

Tri-City Herald Opinion – Sense and nonsense about nuclear power. Jerome Delvin is coming face to face with the Bizarro World of environmental extremism.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/opinions/v-rss/story/9589486p-9501111c.html

Southeast U.S. drought could force nuke-plant shutdowns “…shutdowns probably wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills…” (Associated Press, via the Bellingham Herald)
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/354/story/299620.html

North Dakota council forbidden to consider pollution in power-plant proposals – When deciding whether a new power plant is in the public interest, to what extent should the government consider the pollution it will produce? (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5Cigfossy%5BUie%7D38%7Dbfen%5Fv

Montana – NorthWestern Energy Announces Site Selection for Proposed Electric Generation Plant (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQTH03524012008-1.htm

High court rejects Enron investors – A suit sought to recover from major banks money lost in the energy giant's collapse (The Associated press, via the Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/120105511930190.xml&coll=7

Ephrata flags at half-mast for Claussen – Honoring former Grant County PUD commissioner (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/01/23/news/news01.txt

Longview woman presses PUD over new rate for the disabled (Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/01/24/top_story/10073682.txt

UTILITY POLES WALK AWAY IN LEWIS COUNTY – Why would you want them? Lewis County authorities are left with a head-scratcher after someone made off with utility poles. Someone took up to 20 poles from a Lewis County facility in Ethel. Each is valued at $500. Authorities say it appears someone used a tractor to remove the poles. (KELA Radio, Centralia/Chehalis)

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental groups weigh in against Okanogan PUD dam plan – Large dam would be built on the Similkameen River near the Canadian border. (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/NEWS04/533742611/1001

PSE reaches deal to sell Lake Tapps – Nearby cities wanted lake, but power company had agreement with east King County group (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/262358.html

LEWIS COUNTY PUD INTRIGUED BY FLOOD CONTROL PROPOSAL – Levees break. Dikes can be overtopped. So why not control flooding by damming the upper basin of the Chehalis River? The Lewis County PUD says they are open to the possibility of what they call water retention projects. PUD leaders believe the project could be used to generate electricity, and possibly provide water to Pe Ell. (KELA Radio, Centralia/Chehalis)

Idaho – We still need a lot of snow to fill reservoirs this spring. Snowpack in many Idaho river basins have climbed to normal or higher, but the next two months will be critical. (Idaho Statesman)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/272671.html

Culverts add obstacles to salmon, state, politics (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004142062_culverts24m.html

Puget Sound killer whales need clean water, fish to survive (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_orca_recovery.html

Eugene Register Guard – Allocation: Where’s Solomon now that the salmon need him?
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=52909&sid=40&fid=1

State censures Port Angeles water plan, but city says supply safe – The state Department of Health has "red-coded" the city's water system, saying it has not complied with a plan to meet possible emergencies. (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080124/NEWS/801240306

California – Farmers find water more profitable than crops. Soaring prices prompt sales of irrigation supplies, not sowing of seeds (Contra Costa Times)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8063924?source=rss&nclick_check=1

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Green energy tax credits taking heat – Oregon's pumped-up tax break for renewable energy businesses has created "a land rush" of companies seeking the benefit, surprising lawmakers who want to make sure the loss of tax money is worth the gains in clean energy. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1201148706278210.xml&coll=7

Michigan – Manure 'biodigester' turning out electricity (Muskegon Chronicle)
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1201191330168820.xml&coll=8

CONSERVATION

The Cost-Effectiveness of Compact Fluorescents in Commercial Buildings (Energy Pulse Commentary)
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1655

Walla Walla – St. Mary awarded $400,765 for energy efficiency. An energy efficient system at St. Mary Medical Center has not only resulted in savings. It's yielded earnings. (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/01/24/local_news/local10.txt

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

39th: U.S. green ranking not to be envied – A new international ranking of environmental performance puts the United States at the bottom of the Group of 8 industrialized nations and 39th among the 149 countries on the list. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004139788_climate23.html

Growth, climate change debated – Washington cities, counties, Realtors, home builders, contractors and business groups Tuesday lined up against a bill that would put climate change in the state's Growth Management Act. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/01/01232008_Growth-climate-change-debated.cfm?newsletter=2

State's top industries warm to Gregoire's climate change legislation (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/01/01242008_States-top-industries-warm-to-Gregoires-climate-change-legislation.cfm?newsletter=2

Nickels urges government to cut greenhouse gas emissions – 'Stop ignoring or denying' global warming, mayor says (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/348455_warming24.html?source=rss

Seattle Times Editorial – Building a response to climate change. News accounts of the frightful consequences of climate change are finally being offset by political progress on global warming.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004133325_climed21.html

More Snow in Antarctica – There’s new evidence from an Antarctic ice core that the popular image of the melting poles doesn’t quite fit reality at the southern one. (NY Times)
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/more-snow-in-antarctica/index.html?ex=1358917200&en=cd6a9a0e1ad1235f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Greenhouse Gas Makes Food Less Nutritious (Yahoo! News – It also makes you ten pounds heavier, six inches shorter, and a lousy dancer)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/greenhousegasmakesfoodlessnutritious;_ylc=X3oDMTI1NzZyc3Q3BFJfYWlkAwRSX2RtbgN5YWhvby5jb20EUl9maWQDYmRhMGMzMzU0NTFiYmY2YjY0Y2Q0MWRlYjBiYWRlNDYEUl9sdHADMQ--

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

World Wide Packets selling for $290M (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/01/21/daily14.html?ana=from_rss

Oops! Charter Accidentally Deletes 14,000 Users' E-mail – Tells customers they can't recover the lost data (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/01/24/financial/f112846S49.DTL&feed=rss.business

Minnesota – Solar Wi-Fi service won't see light of day. St. Louis Park wants to discard all of the powered-by-the-sun wireless Internet equipment that has been installed in the past year. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/14166576.html

HBO Putting Shows Online, at No Additional Charge (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/business/media/21hbo.html?_r=1&ex=1358658000&en=0345119a0e82c1c7&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Funny That HBO Is Putting Shows Online, Just As Parent Time Warner Starts Charging Extra For Bandwidth (Techdirt)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080121/05154719.shtml

Massachusetts – Cable TV rates on the rise (Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/01/cable_tv_rates.html

Tennessee – Area’s future may be high in Fiber optics. When Johnson City Power Board commissioners decide just how heavily to invest (if at all) in fiber optic technology and infrastructure, the results of their decision will have a lasting economic and environmental impact. (Johnson City Press)
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=HOMEPAGE&ID=61207

GENERAL NEWS

California – Copper probe nets 140 suspects. San Jose and Santa Clara police have arrested more than 140 people after a yearlong undercover investigation into copper theft turned into a sting that nabbed everyone from alleged car thieves to a bombmaker who created explosives triggered by cell phone, authorities said Wednesday. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/24/BAO8UKEPF.DTL

Wal-Mart widens its green focus - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which launched a broad environmental push in late 2005, wants to expand that focus to other issues including energy prices, international trade and U.S. health care costs. (Tacoma News Tribune)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/263546.html

Thieves convert car part into fast cash – Most people don't think much about their cars' catalytic converters until these exhaust-system components are stolen. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/01/01242008_Thieves-convert-car-part-into-fast-cash.cfm?newsletter=2

DIVERSIONS

Haggis ban an offal burden? Scotland is considering lobbying the United States to lift a ban on haggis, hoping to boost sales of the sheep-stomach-based national dish. (Hank’s Haggis Hut is waiting!)
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2241717520080122?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Lost Fla. Cat Turns Up In Suitcase In Texas – Stranger Finds Cat After Mistakenly Taking Wrong Bag
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15120337/detail.html

Ribbit! This green isn't part of salad. You just don't want to eat some greens. That's how a Brooklyn mom felt when she found a tiny frog comfortably nestled in the leaves of organic lettuce she was preparing to eat.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_fe_st/odd_frog_in_lettuce;_ylt=Ajov4dRXuCbQm45ogHk71xjtiBIF

Italian aqueduct loses more water than it delivers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080124/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_italy_water;_ylt=Arjil9ly41klroF6PJN0eDDtiBIF