Energy News Digest for March 7, 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)

- Energy Department to ship nuclear waste to Idaho for treatment
- Benefits of Areva plant would reach statewide
- California – Man killed trying to steal copper from power lines
- Grant County PUD mulls higher rates
- Itron's Northwest energy innovations shown off to China
- Arizona-California electricity corridor gets the go-ahead
- Tennessee – Congressman says to invest rebate checks in energy efficiency products
- United Kingdom energy users face wind farm bill
- Federal aid sought in decline of west coast salmon
- SF Chronicle Editorial – Seen any salmon?
- Ocean Coho forecast looks grim for summer
- Smelt have all but vanished from region's rivers
- Boistfort Valley Water System Gets $258,000
- Oregon – Solar Energy Industry Continues To Shine
- Searching for Alternative Fuels
- US Researchers Hope to Tap Ocean Flows for Electricity
- The ballooning price tag for energy
- Solar Company Says Its Tech Can Power 90 Percent of Grid AND Cars
- GM Official: Hydrogen-Powered Cars Impractical
- Vindu's View: Algae startups chase dreams of fuel from pond scum
- New turbine generates electricity from flushing toilets
- ‘Gusher of Lies’ – Heard the One About the Farmer’s Ethanol?
- Congressional Research Reports – Are Incandescent Light Bulbs "Banned"?
- Outlook for Oceans Bleak as Sea 'Deserts' Grow
- SF Chronicle Op/Ed – 'Green' cabs are a false solution
- US rural broadband: you can get it, but you can't afford it
- Nearing the time to 'spring forward'
- Tribal-police bill nearing passage
- Five arraigned in Evergreen riot
- From Green to Black – A look at the eco-terror movement
- How's the economy in your hometown?
- Oregon family loses daughter, may lose 'Extreme Makeover' home

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

WORD OF THE DAY

muckety-muck • \MUCK-uh-tee-muck\ • noun – An important and often arrogant person

“Ha Ha,” chortled the puckish department head. “I’m king of the copier service charge reports!” He crowed. “If you mess with me, I’ll mess with your copy budget.” Unfortunately, for him, the person in charge of the copier paper ordering was truly considered the muckety muck in the toner fume fueled debate. “The worm will turn,” murmured the paper maven to his stacks of paper boxes swaying in the corporate office basement.

From Merriam-Webster Dictionary – The Chinook of the Pacific Northwest were avid traders, and in the course of their history a trade language developed that came to be known as Chinook jargon, based on a combination of Chinook and other American Indian languages with English and French. The Chinook jargon term "hayo makamak" meant "plenty to eat." By a process called folk etymology, in which a word of another language is transformed to a more familiar-sounding term, "hayo" was identified with "high" and the spelling and meaning of the entire phrase was transformed. Beginning in the 19th century, the term "high-muck-a-muck" referred to a self-important person. Since then, the expression has taken on several variations, including "high mucky-muck" and "high-muckety-muck," and nowadays the "high" is often dispensed with entirely.

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

Energy Department to ship nuclear waste to Idaho for treatment (Associated Press, via the Examiner.com)
http://tinyurl.com/24c6fg

Benefits of Areva plant would reach statewide – On Wednesday, Areva announced that Richland is one of five U.S. sites it is considering for a new uranium enrichment plant. (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/962/story/111026.html

California – Man killed trying to steal copper from power lines (Associated Press, via Examiner.com)
http://tinyurl.com/2jwlve

Grant County PUD mulls higher rates (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/03/06/news/news01.txt

Itron's Northwest energy innovations shown off to China (Seattle Times)
http://tinyurl.com/2z3apt

Electricity corridor gets the go-ahead – More Arizona electricity could be headed to California after the U.S. Department of Energy denied requests to reconsider its designation of a power transmission corridor between the two states. (East Valley Tribune)
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/110783

Tennessee – Congressman says to invest rebate checks in energy efficiency products (The Oak Ridger)
http://oakridger.com/stories/030608/new_254464071.shtml

United Kingdom energy users face wind farm bill – Gas and electricity consumers could face further rises in bills to pay for transmission to get electricity from far-flung wind farms to their homes (The Telegraph)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/07/cngas107.xml

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Federal aid sought in decline of west coast salmon (Sacramento Bee, may require free registration)
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/767349.html

SF Chronicle Editorial – Seen any salmon? Salmon stocks are prone to wild swings, hinging on water flows, weather and food-rich ocean waters.
http://tinyurl.com/32c4mc

Ocean Coho forecast looks grim for summer (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/03/07/this_day/10144773.txt

Smelt have all but vanished from region's rivers (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/302497.html

'Aren't you supposed to be deaf? How come you can talk?' – Salmon fishing on the Skokomish River (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/379890.html

Water System Gets $258,000 – The Boistfort Valley Water Company will be receiving some much-needed funding. (The Chronicle, Centralia)
http://tinyurl.com/3depp7

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon – Solar Energy Industry Continues To Shine (Oregon Public Radio)
http://news.opb.org/article/solar-energy-industry-continues-shine/

Searching for Alternative Fuels – As gas prices hit record highs, some farmers might be considering growing fields for alternative fuels. One local college professor says not all crops are created equal. (KNDO-TV, Tri Cities)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=7980237

US Researchers Hope to Tap Ocean Flows for Electricity (Voice of America)
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-03-06-voa18.cfm

The ballooning price tag for energy – A huge chunk of world wealth goes to its unquenchable energy thirst, but an expert says not enough money is invested in newer, cleaner energy solutions. (CNN Money)
http://tinyurl.com/2qx8ul

Solar Company Says Its Tech Can Power 90 Percent of Grid AND Cars (Wired Magazine)
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/solar-company-s.html

GM Official: Hydrogen-Powered Cars Impractical (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87928803&ft=1&f=2
Vindu's View: Algae startups chase dreams of fuel from pond scum – There's a certain poetry in the notion of jet planes shooting across the sky, powered by pond scum. (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8479963?source=rss

New turbine generates electricity from flushing toilets (Geek.com)
http://www.geek.com/new-turbine-generates-electricity-from-flushing-toilets/

‘Gusher of Lies’ – Heard the One About the Farmer’s Ethanol? The Dangerous Delusions of ‘Energy Independence’ (NY Times)
http://tinyurl.com/yvpegx

CONSERVATION

Congressional Research Reports – Lighting Efficiency Standards in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007: Are Incandescent Light Bulbs "Banned"?
http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RS22822

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Outlook for Oceans Bleak as Sea 'Deserts' Grow (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87959035&ft=1&f=2

SF Chronicle Op/Ed – 'Green' cabs are a false solution
http://tinyurl.com/3x8rrm

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

US rural broadband: you can get it, but you can't afford it (ARS Technica)
http://tinyurl.com/26c7sw

GENERAL NEWS

Nearing the time to 'spring forward' – Pros, cons cited for moving clocks up (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/354041_daylight07.html?source=rss

Tribal-police bill nearing passage (Seattle Times)
http://tinyurl.com/ys35hy

Five arraigned in Evergreen riot – Four students at The Evergreen State College were among five people arraigned Thursday on charges stemming from the destruction of a sheriff's patrol car. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/381426.html

From Green to Black – What would motivate a supposed environmentalist to set fire to a home? A look at the eco-terror movement. (Newsweek)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/119773?from=rss

How's the economy in your hometown? (With cool USA Today McGraphics and McInformation for each state)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-03-04-local-differences_N.htm

Alabama county nearly bankrupt as municipal-bond industry hobbling (Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://tinyurl.com/28lsn5

Oregon family loses daughter, may lose 'Extreme Makeover' home (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/16383191.html

DIVERSIONS

NYC Pub Owner Bans `Danny Boy' For Entire Month of March (I’ve got a list of others you can add)
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/15514065/detail.html

Class ring lost on Hawaii beach returned after 33 years
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8478534?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Network apologizes for mocking town name – A cable sports network says it no longer will make Athol the butt of its jokes.
http://tinyurl.com/2225nl

Judge to lawyer: Get a shovel, get job – A former lawyer convicted of stealing from clients has been told by a judge to get a job, even if it means shoveling snow off roofs.
http://tinyurl.com/yuxp9m