Late Post Due to Blog Issues - Energy News Digest for August 1, 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)

- Seattle Times Op/Ed – A Northwest distaste for nuclear power
- NW Natural subsidiary building underground natural gas storage facility
- Clallam County PUD gets unique transformer option
- MARYLAND – Constellation Energy Group thrives – profit jumped 47 percent
- Boston Globe Op/Ed – The folly of 'fixing' energy price hikes
- Wall Street Journal Op/Ed – Texas Should Change Energy Policy
- Bush says coal part of his "sprint to the finish"
- EPA grants air quality permit for 1,500 MW New Mexico coal plant
- NEW YORK – Expert Panel Concludes Indian Point Nuclear Plant Is Safe
- Poll: Voters want candidate with energy answers
- "Call Before You Dig" celebrates 30th anniversary
- Sockeye surprise
- Baker City Herald Editorial – Nature tweaks our noses yet again
- Columbia River channel-deepening plan clears critical hurdle
- Oregon Public Utility Commission Ruling Pleases Oregon's Solar Power Industry
- Federal solar, wind tax credits stalled
- Two Reports Raise Hopes on Energy
- MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home
- 'Energy Star' label on appliances worth the extra cost
- Western States to Cap Global Warming Pollution
- Department of Energy to provide $36 m for carbon dioxide capture
- EPA Clears Field Burning For Idaho Farmers
- Seattle Times Columnist – "Greenness" makes me see red
- Yahoo might bring another data center to Chelan County
- Yahoo expected to spar with peeved shareholders
- FCC orders Comcast to alter network management
- FCC faces GOP pressure on Comcast and Net neutrality
- Navajos Could Lose Internet Access
- Own Your Own Last Mile Fiber
- Blade Server Use Will Be Limited Through 2012
- Band Leaks Own Track, Blames Evil Pirates
- Washington State checks if workers profited from bogus diplomas
- Mason County Sheriff Patrol Car Hit Head-On On Highway 3
- Elma police arrest Olympia man for stealing copper wire from a train
- Mexico concerns Oregon Christmas-tree farms
- Forbes study ranks Washington third for business climate
- Congressional committee moves to ban in-flight cell phone use
- How low can a thief go? Enough to rob 11-year-olds

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

WORD OF THE DAY

natatorial • \nay-tuh-TOR-ee-ul\ • adjective – *1: of or relating to swimming 2: adapted to or characterized by swimming

“Look Mommy, I’m swimming,” squealed the excited toddler. The child’s mother wore a wistful smile, remembering her natatorial exploits in the same municipal swimming pool. (Sorry, no irony, sarcasm, lampooning or satire today)

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

Seattle Times Op/Ed – A Northwest distaste for nuclear power – 25 years ago this summer, prospects for a nuclear-powered Northwest imploded in the WPPSS bond default
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008082460_nukeop31.html?syndication=rss

NW Natural subsidiary building underground natural gas storage facility (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/07/28/daily37.html?ana=from_rss

Clallam County PUD gets unique transformer option – Power on wheels (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)
http://www.konp.com/local/3868

MARYLAND – Constellation Energy Group thrives – profit jumped 47 percent (The Baltimore Sun, MD)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-constellation0801manual,0,5516853.story

Boston Globe Op/Ed – The folly of 'fixing' energy price hikes (Boston, MA)
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/01/the_folly_of_fixing_energy_price_hikes/

Wall Street Journal Op/Ed – Texas Should Change Energy Policy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755483821903239.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bush says coal part of his "sprint to the finish" (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008081266_apbushenergy.html?syndication=rss

NEW MEXICO – EPA grants air quality permit for 1,500 MW coal-fired Desert Rock power plant (New Mexico Business Weekly)
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2008/07/28/daily32.html?ana=from_rss

NEW YORK – Expert Panel Concludes Indian Point Nuclear Plant Is Safe, but a Little Untidy in Spots (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/nyregion/01nuke.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Poll: Voters want candidate with energy answers (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-31-energy--poll_N.htm?csp=34

"Call Before You Dig" celebrates 30th anniversary (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=22&ARTICLE_ID=335898&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Sockeye surprise – Biggest run in half a century is four times more than experts predicted for this year (The Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080731/NEWS04/481672551

Baker City Herald Editorial – Nature tweaks our noses yet again: Consider, for instance, sockeye salmon in the Columbia River (Baker City, OR)
http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=7041

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Columbia River channel-deepening plan clears critical hurdle (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/08/01/editorial/doc48925d3323c8f228095377.txt

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon Public Utility Commission Ruling Pleases Oregon's Solar Power Industry (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/2724-puc-rulings-pleases-oregons-solar-power-industry/

Federal solar, wind tax credits stalled – lawmakers squabble over legislation, putting projects 'on hold' (The San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10065248?source=rss

Two Reports Raise Hopes on Energy – Storing energy is a crucial but expensive component of plans to turn intermittent sources of energy into reliable replacements for coal and natural gas (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/us/01hydrogen.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUKN3145191020080731

CONSERVATION

The Columbian Energy Advisor: 'Energy Star' label on appliances worth the extra cost (Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/lifehome/lifeHomeNews/2008/07/07312008_Energy-Advisor-Energy-Star-label-on-appliances-worth-the-extra-cost.cfm?newsletter=1

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Western States to Cap Global Warming Pollution After 2012 (Northwest Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=4122

U.S. Department of Energy to provide $36 mill to advance carbon dioxide capture (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=22&ARTICLE_ID=335904&C=ENVIR&dcmp=rss

EPA Clears Field Burning For Idaho Farmers (Oregon Public Broadcasting – Net zero emissions from biomass…right?)
http://news.opb.org/article/2727-epa-clears-field-burning-idaho-farmers/

Seattle Times Columnist – "Greenness" makes me see red: Seattle, you're really getting on my nerves.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2008085323_brodeur01m.html?syndication=rss

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Yahoo might bring another data center to Chelan County (The Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080731/NEWS04/451207735/1001/rss1001

Yahoo expected to spar with peeved shareholders (The Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080801/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_shareholders_12

FCC orders Comcast to alter network management (Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080801/wr_nm/comcast_fcc_dc_2

FCC's Martin faces GOP pressure on Comcast and Net neutrality (CNET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10004339-38.html?tag=nl.e703

Navajos Could Lose Internet Access – FCC Grant Dispute Threatens Public Safety Communications (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102863.html?nav=rss_business

Own Your Own Last Mile Fiber – Ottawa; where instead of paying monthly rates, 400 homeowners are being allowed to buy their own last mile fiber connection (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Own-Your-Own-Last-Mile-Fiber-96618

Blade Server Use Will Be Limited Through 2012, Researcher Says (TechWeb)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20080801/tc_cmp/209901168

Band Leaks Own Track, Blames Evil Pirates – When record labels think Internet users are stupid (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Band-Leaks-Own-Track-Blames-Evil-Pirates-96616

GENERAL NEWS

Washington State checks if workers profited from bogus diplomas – Agency looks for matches among clients (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/527350.html

Mason County Sheriff Patrol Car Hit Head-On On Highway 3 Near Mill Creek (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/692/reftab/1632/Default.aspx

Elma police arrest Olympia man for stealing copper wire from a train (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/07/31/local_news/06news.txt

Mexico concerns Oregon Christmas-tree farms (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/373192_christmastrees02.html?source=rss

Forbes study ranks state third for business climate (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/07/08012008_Forbes-study-ranks-state-third-for-business-climate.cfm/

Congressional committee moves to ban in-flight cell phone use (CNET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10004170-1.html?tag=nl.e703

How low can a thief go? Enough to rob 11-year-olds (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/26159444.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Alleged copper wire thief stuck under trash bin for 12 hours (AND WE GOT PICTURES! It looks like the Wicked Witch of the East when Dorothy’s house fell on her….)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080801/ap_on_fe_st/odd_stuck_suspect;_ylt=Ap5I0WqyV4s.QDNjnzNVcD_tiBIF

440 Pound Gambler Ejected From Casino Because Of Stench
http://www.kirotv.com/news/17051221/detail.html

Spokane’s Air Force bugles have neighbors sounding alarms
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008085324_bugle01m.html?syndication=rss

Sequim considering fence to keep elk out
http://news.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP08012008news347489.cfm

Body of ballooning Brazilian priest found at sea
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080730/od_nm/brazil_priest_dc;_ylt=AoW.XmsBTvTpOkiwlNsfTEntiBIF