Energy News Digest for June 25, 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)

- BPA studying PUD’s proposal for Cosmopolis Mill cogeneration
- BPA Administrator tours Cosmopolis mill, meets with Grays Harbor County PUD
- Petitions seeking vote on switching East Jefferson electricity to PUD submitted
- Union Bulletin Opinion – Sequestration experiment poses risks to Valley
- Home Depot Offers Recycling for Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
- BPA to Rebuild 60-year-old Power Line Serving Southeast Idaho
- Chelan County PUD to city of Wenatchee: Give our parks some space
- Hanke to run unopposed for Clark Public Utilities commission
- Port Angeles electric utility crew places in competition
- Report sees big jump in energy, fossil fuel use
- VIRGINIA – Debating Coal's Cost in Rural Va.
- OHIO – West Siders Fight Duke Energy Tree Chopping
- TENNESSEE – More People Can't Pay Their Electric Bill
- Rethinking the Country Life as Energy Costs Rise
- Sockeye in good supply as Columbia season ends
- Klamath River – Biologists Say Plan To Balance Water Needs Will Jeopardize Salmon
- ALASKA – Yukon River king salmon subsistence fishery curtailed
- Group offers Oregon a taste of salmon conservation
- Where Have All the Fish Gone?
- Research looks to save sturgeon, boost caviar
- Changing the course of the Naches River
- IDAHO – Water plan released for Lake Coeur d'Alene
- Clallam County moves closer to sewers for Carlsborg
- U.S. mayors vote to phase out bottled water consumption
- Los Angeles utility alleges Colo. Company, CH2M Hill charged too much
- FLORIDA – Florida Power & Light green energy program misleading
- Hopes of breathing life into wind power
- Solar panels, clothesline help family slash energy bills
- OREGON – Multnomah County buildings may get solar panels
- A cheaper way to get solar power installed
- Too cloudy for solar race 'world' record
- Seattle Times Opinion –Saving energy, one megawatt at a time
- Casinos going green to save energy, money
- Tailpipes, cows expand Idaho's carbon footprint
- San Francisco Chronicle, Op/Ed – $600 million think tank is not a solution to global warming
- CANADA – Liberals go positive with idyllic carbon tax ads
- Carbon Cap and Trade—The Balancing Act
- The Great Barbecue Debate – Is charcoal bad for the planet?
- Charter User Monitoring Plans Suspended
- Broad coalition backs universal broadband
- Report Insists U.S. Must Have Widespread 100Mbps By 2012
- Cox Explores Fiber To The Home
- Yahoo bounces back on news of Microsoft talks
- When it comes to new jobs, Seattle is the leading cybercity
- Justices Cut Damages Award in Exxon Valdez Spill
- Poking along in the left lane? Prepare to pay

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Procrustean • \pruh-KRUSS-tee-un\ • adjective – 1: of, relating to, or typical of Procrustes *2: marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances

Amber was insistent with the nosy store clerk that the dress foisted upon her did NOT fit. In her best procrustean manner, the clerk urged Amber to suck in her gut, wiggle into the dress and “accept it for the size it is.” “After all, sniffed the snooty clerk, fashion knows no size.” “Tell that to Tyra Banks,” muttered the irritated Amber.

WORD ORIGIN – MERRIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY: Procrustes was one of many villains defeated by the Greek hero Theseus. According to Greek mythology, Procrustes was a robber who killed his victims in a most cruel and unusual way. He made them lie on an iron bed and would force them to fit the bed by cutting off the parts that hung off the ends or by stretching those people who were too short. Something "Procrustean," therefore, takes no account of individual differences but cruelly and mercilessly makes everything the same. And a "procrustean bed" is a scheme or pattern into which someone or something is arbitrarily forced.

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

BPA studying PUD’s proposal for Cosmopolis Mill cogeneration – Governor Gregoire and BPA’s Wright show up for fact-finding session (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/06/23/local_news/01news.txt

BPA Administrator tours Cosmopolis mill, meets with Grays Harbor County PUD (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA Note: some awkward moments here…)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/06/24/local_news/02news.txt

Petitions seeking vote on switching East Jefferson electricity to PUD submitted (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080625/NEWS/806250306

Union Bulletin Opinion – Sequestration experiment poses risks to Valley – We are not yet convinced the benefits (Walla Walla, WA)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/06/25/opinion/daily_editorial/080624editorial.txt

Home Depot Offers Recycling for Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/business/24recycling.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

BPA to Rebuild 60-year-old Power Line Serving Southeast Idaho (Transmission & Distribution World)
http://tdworld.com/overhead_transmission/bpa-rebuilding-idaho-line-0806/

Chelan County PUD to city of Wenatchee: Give our parks some space (The Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080624/NEWS04/958887966

Hanke to run unopposed for Clark Public Utilities commission (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/06/06252008_Hanke-to-run-unopposed-for-utility-commission.cfm/

Port Angeles electric utility crew places in competition (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.konp.com/local/3759

Report sees big jump in energy, fossil fuel use (The Associated Press, via the Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/488542.html

VIRGINIA – Debating Coal's Cost in Rural Va. – Utility's Plans for Plant Meet Opposition in Fuel-Rich Region (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401552.html?nav=rss_email/components

OHIO – West Siders Fight Duke Energy Tree Chopping (WKRC, Cincinnati, OH)
http://www.local12.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=eff5fc06-e83f-45f9-9a00-a248d3e1e5a5

TENNESSEE – More People Can't Pay Their Electric Bill (WTVF-TV, Nashville, TN)
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=8551621

Rethinking the Country Life as Energy Costs Rise (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business/25exurbs.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Sockeye in good supply as Columbia season ends “…The 122,510 sockeye counted at Bonneville Dam through Monday is a record through that date…” (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/outdoors/story/396994.html

Klamath River – Biologists Say Plan To Balance Water Needs Will Jeopardize Salmon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/2402-biologists-say-plan-balance-water-needs-will-jeopardize-salmon/

ALASKA – Yukon River king salmon subsistence fishery curtailed (The Anchorage Daily News-Miner, AK)
http://newsminer.com/news/2008/jun/23/yukon-river-king-salmon-subsistence-fishery-curtai/

Group offers Oregon a taste of salmon conservation – It's not often you get invited to a tasting event for a species the organizers are looking to save (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/121349491081990.xml&coll=7

Where Have All the Fish Gone? The collapse of America’s West Coast salmon fishery has an eerily familiar ring to it. Are the oceans dying? (The Trumpet, Philadelphia Church of God)
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=5265.0.106.0

Research looks to save sturgeon, boost caviar (The Lewiston Tribune, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1454937~Research_looks_to_save_sturgeon__boost_caviar.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Changing the course of the Naches River – part of a decade long $36 million plan to alter the flood plain (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/5168

IDAHO – Water plan released for Lake Coeur d'Alene (The Associated Press, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1457009~Water_plan_released_for_Lake_Coeur_d_Alene.html?cid=rss-Idaho_Headlines

Clallam County moves closer to sewers for Carlsborg – signing its side of an agreement with the Clallam County Public Utility District. (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080624/NEWS/806240306

U.S. mayors vote to phase out bottled water consumption (The Associated Press, via the San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9674981?source=rss

Los Angeles utility alleges Colo. Company, CH2M Hill charged too much (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1458059~LA_utility_alleges_Colo__company_charged_too_much.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

FLORIDA – Florida Power & Light green energy program misleading – Report shows most of the money went toward administrative and marketing costs (The Associated Press, via Forbes Magazine Online)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/06/24/ap5149016.html

Hopes of breathing life into wind power (Financial Times, UK)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32cab738-3ccf-11dd-b958-0000779fd2ac.html

Solar panels, clothesline help family slash energy bills (CNN Technology)
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/20/solar.house/

OREGON – Multnomah County buildings may get solar panels (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/06/23/daily23.html?ana=from_rss

A cheaper way to get solar power installed (The San Francisco Chronicle, CA)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/BU8O11EDAK.DTL&feed=rss.business

Too cloudy for solar race 'world' record (The Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/NEWS04/905633452/1005

CONSERVATION

Seattle Times Opinion –Saving energy, one megawatt at a time (Seattle, WA)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008013512_conserved24.html

Casinos going green to save energy, money (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008015759_apgreencasinos.html?syndication=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Tailpipes, cows expand Idaho's carbon footprint – Greenhouse gas emissions grew 30% from 1990 to 2005, thanks mainly to dairy expansion (The Idaho Statesman, Boise, ID)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/423614.html

San Francisco Chronicle, Op/Ed – $600 million think tank is not a solution to global warming (San Francisco, CA)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/24/EDUM11CN9H.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

CANADA – Liberals go positive with idyllic carbon tax ads (The National)
http://www.nationalpost.com/newsletter/story.html?id=608609

Carbon Cap and Trade—The Balancing Act (Electric Energy Online)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=93304

The Great Barbecue Debate – Is charcoal bad for the planet? “…because the substance is made from trees, it can actually be carbon neutral in the end…” (Slate Magazine – has it REALLY come to this?)
http://www.slate.com/id/2193873/?from=rss

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Charter User Monitoring Plans Suspended – 'Enhanced user experience' apparently not so enhanced (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Charter-User-Monitoring-Plans-Suspended-95551

Broad coalition backs universal broadband – New campaign seeks to spread message that high-speed service is necessity of modern life (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9689148?source=rss

Report Insists U.S. Must Have Widespread 100Mbps By 2012 – And needs to consider having 1Gbps service by 2015 to stay competitive (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Report-Insists-US-Must-Have-Widespread-100Mbps-By-2012-95568

Cox Explores Fiber To The Home – Primarily for new home developments (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cox-Explores-Fiber-To-The-Home-95527

Yahoo bounces back on news of Microsoft talks – Companies reportedly exploring limited deal (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/368287_msftyahoo25.html

When it comes to new jobs, Seattle is the leading cybercity – 127,700 tech workers rise from dot-com ashes (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/368176_cybercities24.html

GENERAL NEWS

Justices Cut Damages Award in Exxon Valdez Spill (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Scotus-Exxon-Valdez.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Poking along in the left lane? Prepare to pay (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/20656789.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Blackbirds Blamed For Dive-Bomb Attacks
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16686229/detail.html

House Thief Arrested After Falling Asleep During Burglary
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16696677/detail.html

Campers survive close call as old growth tree topples at state park
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/20973024.html