Energy News Digest for July 11, 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)

- Lewis County task force makes three metal-theft arrests
- Lawsuit claims San Diego Gas & Electric at fault for 2007 California fires
- PUD Commissioners from Three Counties to Meet In Shelton
- Accountant appointed to board of Tacoma Public Utilities
- Commentary: The urgent need to upgrade the grid
- OREGON – Liquefied natural gas decision near?
- NEW YORK – Group wants to create hydropower at 4 reservoirs
- Summer sockeye on the move – Near-record numbers
- NOAA Fisheries issues10-year Endangered Species Act fishing permit for the upper Columbia basin
- Statesman Journal Op/Ed – Oregon's salmon and timber resources deserve attention
- Steelhead fishing has been decent in Western Washington
- Fish Affect California Water Supply
- County's dilemma: Cut trees on levees or lose federal funds
- Making more marsh at Nisqually Delta
- OHIO – Residents OF Minority Community Win Water Case
- Study: Southeast US’ cheap access to water at risk
- OREGON – Algae bloom clogs water treatment plants
- Local Utilities Want to "Empower Your Shower"
- Green Power – America's Best Places for Alternative Energy
- NASA Maps Reveal Wind Energy Sources
- CALIFORNIA – Bay Area Rapid Transit paying more in bet on solar power
- Thanks to Mandates – Northwest Biofuels Getting Help In a Pinch
- Energy official frowns on cutting back ethanol
- Evaporative coolers can cut energy costs
- TEXAS – Users sought to test high-tech electricity meters
- E.P.A. Refuses to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
- Green giant – Business is booming at Ecos Consulting
- Fed chief recommends punishment for Comcast
- Comcast Caught, Denies Blocking Traffic
- An Imminent Victory for ‘Net Neutrality’ Advocates
- GM chairman says Americans didn't want fuel-efficient vehicles
- Speeding, wheelie-popping motorcyclist caught in Everett
- Two Feet Washed Ashore In Canada Identified
- Composting plant blamed for city's sickening stench

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Ignominious • \ig-nuh-MIN-ee-us\ • adjective – 1: marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame: dishonorable 2: deserving of shame or infamy: despicable *3: humiliating, degrading

“Oh, the pain…the pain,” moaned Doctor Smith to his fellow lost shipmates on Jupiter 2. “We’ll all meet our ignominious end on this voyage, I just know it.” Billy Mumy was transfixed by the ACTING of Jonathan Harris…

Jonathan Harris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Harris

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

Lewis County task force makes three metal-theft arrests – Concludes lengthy investigation into PUD wire theft (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/07/11//area_news/doc48768aaa55cc6138197186.txt

Lawsuit claims San Diego Gas & Electric at fault for 2007 California fires (The Associated Press, via the Los Angeles Daily News)
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9842237?source=rss

PUD Commissioners from Three Counties to Meet In Shelton (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/491/reftab/1632/Default.aspx

Accountant appointed to board of Tacoma Public Utilities (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/409028.html

Commentary: The urgent need to upgrade the grid (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/its-alive-need-upgrade-us/story.aspx?guid=%7B10F3E997-694B-447E-AF2C-58BB3211B525%7D&dist=msr_2

OREGON – Liquefied natural gas decision near? Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to meet next week (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/07/11//area_news/doc4876f06289c21494768659.txt

NEW YORK – Group wants to create hydropower at 4 reservoirs (Times Herald Record, Middletown, NY)
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/NEWS/807080316

FISH & WILDLIFE

Summer sockeye on the move – Near-record numbers of the small salmon are swimming toward Lake Wenatchee (The Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080710/SPORTS/194218739/0/BIZ

NOAA Fisheries issues10-year Endangered Species Act fishing permit for the upper Columbia basin (The Omak Chronicle, WA)
http://www.omakchronicle.com/nws/n080710d.shtml

Statesman Journal Op/Ed – Oregon's salmon and timber resources deserve attention (Salem, OR)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080710/OPINION/807100347/1049

Steelhead fishing has been decent in Western Washington (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/fishingreport/story/502717.html

Fish Affect California Water Supply – The federal Fish and Wildlife Service this week underscored the imminent threat of extinction facing the delta smelt, a two-inch-long fish native to the Sacramento River delta, when it announced it was considering whether to declare the fish endangered (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/science/earth/11smelt.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

County's dilemma: Cut trees on levees or lose federal funds – Chop down riverside trees that provide shade for young salmon or lose millions in federal support to fix aging levees -- that's what the Army Corps of Engineers is telling King County (Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/370358_levees11.html

Making more marsh at Nisqually Delta – $12 million project starts next week on a Nisqually River Delta restoration project. It promises to help endangered salmon and other wildlife (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/409913.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

OHIO – Residents Win Water Case – Residents of a mostly black neighborhood that went almost 50 years without public water were awarded nearly $11 million by a federal jury (The Associated Press, via the NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/11brfs-RESIDENTSWIN_BRF.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Study: Southeast US’ cheap access to water at risk (The Associated Press, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1483572~Study__Southeast_s_cheap_access_to_water_at_risk.html

OREGON – Algae bloom clogs water treatment plants – Agencies serving Lake Oswego and other Clackamas County towns are affected (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1215658516190120.xml&coll=7

Local Utilities Want to "Empower Your Shower" – Free Showerheads to Help Customers Save Water, Energy (BusinessWire, via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080709/20080709006321.html?.v=1

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Green Power – America's Best Places for Alternative Energy (Forbes Magazine – Sorry, hydropower is not listed in this story)
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/09/energy-solar-green-biz-energy-cx_bp_0709atlas.html

NASA Maps Reveal Wind Energy Sources (Renewable Energy World Online)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=53034&src=rss

CALIFORNIA – Bay Area Rapid Transit paying more in bet on solar power – cost is almost double that of electricity purchased today off the grid (The San Francisco Chronicle, CA)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/10/BATP11N5IL.DTL

Thanks to Mandates – Northwest Biofuels Getting Help In a Pinch (Northwest Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=4088

Energy official frowns on cutting back ethanol (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008044323_apethanolwaiver.html?syndication=rss

CONSERVATION

Evaporative coolers can cut energy costs (USA Today)
http://blogs.usatoday.com/weather/2008/07/evaporative-coo.html?csp=34

TEXAS – Users sought to test high-tech electricity meters (The Dallas Morning News, TX)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/071108dnbuselecbrf.408de4e.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

E.P.A. Refuses to Regulate Greenhouse Gases (The NY Times)
http://nytimes.com/2008/07/11/washington/11cnd-epa.html

Green giant Business is booming at Ecos Consulting as companies adopt sustainable initiatives (Portland Business Journal, OR)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/07/14/story4.html

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Fed chief recommends punishment for Comcast (Sacramento Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/07/07/daily54.html?ana=from_rss

Comcast Caught, Denies Blocking Traffic (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/07/11/comcast-caught-denies-blocking-traffic/

An Imminent Victory for ‘Net Neutrality’ Advocates (The NY Times)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/an-imminent-victory-for-net-neutrality-advocates/index.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

GENERAL NEWS

GM chairman says Americans didn't want fuel-efficient vehicles (Sacramento Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/07/07/daily55.html?ana=from_rss

Speeding, wheelie-popping motorcyclist caught in Everett (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_071008WAB_speeding_motorcycle_rider_caught_TP.420773d4.html

Two Feet Washed Ashore In Canada Identified (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16845041/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

Composting plant blamed for city's sickening stench (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/24404019.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Book Borrower Sentenced To $53k Fine, Prison Time
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/16832896/detail.html

Berlin belatedly answers "Where's the Wall?" query
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0942966120080709?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Woman kills husband with folding couch
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0919437820080709?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews