Energy News Digest for November 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)

- BPA energy deal for struggling aluminum companies sparks strong objections
- Mason County Residents Urged To Prepare For Storms
- Scientist says fraudulent science hides hydro project's damage to B.C. creek
- Obama's Energy Department – Let the speculating begin
- Electric markets are broken, Pennsylvania officials told
- U.S. Decides One Nuclear Dump Is Enough
- Extreme Makeover: Nuclear Power Plant Edition
- State OKs part of Puget Sound for geoduck harvest
- Montana – On the brink of extinction: The Kootenai River white sturgeon
- 2020 vision to clean up Puget Sound unveiled
- EPA targets Columbia’s 4 key pollutants
- Lower Yakima Valley – EPA targets groundwater contamination
- Walla Walla – Corps lays plans to boost Mill Creek dam safety
- Walla Walla – Mill Creek project spurred by 1931 flood
- Pickens Plan: Boon or Boondoggle?
- Minnesota – Residents tilt at windmill and lose
- Duke Energy Sees Rooftops as Future Power Plants
- Ameren Illinois Utilities Encourage Customers to Control Energy Bills
- Carbon Trading: States & Utilities Unite to Rob Energy Consumer
- Clearwire Creatively Renamed 'New Clearwire'
- Report: Microsoft luring Verizon away from Google
- Heavy Rain Brings Rivers to Banks, Floods Roadways
- Flood Warning in Effect for Skokomish River
- Officer Fires Shot at Man in Mason County
- Ex-fire official admits stealing half a million dollars
- Kitsap Sun Plans Company-Wide Cuts

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Licentious • \lie-SENN-chus\ • adjective – 1: lacking legal or moral restraints; especially: disregarding sexual restraints 2: marked by disregard for strict rules of correctness

Alberto was on a rampage in the corridors of the company’s headquarters. His licentious romp was punctuated with handfuls of confetti from his shredded annual report. It wasn’t until he blasted the head accountant with a handful of the shredded paper that he was subdued by a blow to the side of his head from a hefty Swingline stapler.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast and Weather Alerts
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?textField1=47.213805&textField2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Shelton%2C%20WA%2C%20USA

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

BPA energy deal for struggling aluminum companies sparks strong objections “…it couldn’t come at a worse time, local economic leaders said Thursday…” (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/11/07/area_news/doc4913f146cc1aa162010610.txt

Mason County Residents Urged To Prepare For Storms (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/5493/reftab/1632/title/RESIDENTS_URGED_TO_PREPARE_FOR_STORMS/Default.aspx

Canada – Scientist says fraudulent science used to hide hydro project's damage to B.C. creek (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/11/06/bc-miller-creek.html?ref=rss

Obama's Energy Department – Let the speculating begin. Not oil speculation, but job speculation for the new Obama administration (Washington Post)
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/energywire/2008/11/obamas_energy_department.html

Electric markets are broken, Pennsylvania officials told (Associated Press)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/11/07/ap5664817.html

U.S. Decides One Nuclear Dump Is Enough (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/washington/07yucca.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Extreme Makeover: Nuclear Power Plant Edition (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/extreme-makeover-nuclear-power-plant-edition/?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

State OKs part of Puget Sound for geoduck harvest (KIRO-Radio, Seattle)
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=102915

Montana – On the brink of extinction: The Kootenai River white sturgeon is one of the most intriguing, and some would say bizarre, fish in North America (Helena Independent-Record, MT)
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/11/07/state/80st_081107_sturgeon.txt

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

2020 vision to clean up Puget Sound unveiled – Partnership shares environmental objectives for next 12 years (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/localnewsfeed/story/653143.html

EPA targets Columbia’s 4 key pollutants – Report gives officials, concerned parties basis to pursue action (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20081106/NEWS02/711079954/-1/NEWS

Lower Yakima Valley – EPA targets groundwater contamination: Agencies will meet to see what can be done (Yakima Herald Republic)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/2008/11/06/epa-targets-groundwater-contamination

Walla Walla – Corps lays plans to boost Mill Creek dam safety – The Corps of Engineers plans steps to ward off potential failure of the dam at the lake
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/11/06/local_news/081106local03millcreekdam.txt

Walla Walla – Mill Creek project spurred by 1931 flood (The Union-Bulletin)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/11/06/local_news/081106local04flood.txt

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Pickens Plan: Boon or Boondoggle? (OpEd News)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pickens-Plan-Boon-or-Boon-by-Barry-Krusch-081106-305.html

Minnesota – Residents tilt at windmill, but Medina Council approves it (Minneapolis Star, MN)
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/34061499.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UHDaaDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Duke Energy Sees Rooftops as Future Power Plants (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96392743&ft=1&f=1025

CONSERVATION

Ameren Illinois Utilities Encourage Customers to Control Energy Bills Through Budget Billing and Conservation (PRNewswire)
http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/prnewswire/press_releases/national/Illinois/2008/11/06/AQTH543

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Energy Pulse Commentary – Carbon Trading: States & Utilities Unite to Rob Energy Consumers
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1870

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Clearwire Creatively Renamed 'New Clearwire' – Branding department apparently didn't work much overtime (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Clearwire-Creatively-Renamed-New-Clearwire-98938

Report: Microsoft luring Verizon away from Google (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/11/03/daily96.html?ana=from_rss

GENERAL NEWS

Heavy Rain Brings Rivers to Banks, Floods Roadways (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/17930567/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

Flood Warning in Effect for Skokomish River (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/5495/reftab/1632/title/FLOOD_WARNING_IN_EFFECT_FOR_SKOKOMISH_RIVER/Default.aspx

Officer Fires Shot at Man in Mason County (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/17931299/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

Ex-fire official admits stealing – Likely prison term, restitution to follow plea by former South King CFO (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/531012.html

Kitsap Sun Plans Company-Wide Cuts (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/nov/06/sun-plans-company-wide-cuts/?partner=RSS

DIVERSIONS

Squirrels Too Licentious For Calif. Campus – UC Davis Squirrels to Get Birth Control Injections
http://www.kirotv.com/education/17929038/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=irresistible

Mushroom foragers love thrill of the hunt – As autumn rains rinse the Pacific Northwest, it is wild mushroom time
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2008362133_shrooms07m.html

Snoring Australian judge's verdicts overturned
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081106/od_afp/australiajusticeoffbeat_081106172200;_ylt=AqJ7jAjhifwVFC10uk8G9UagOrgF

On a roll: Golfer records 5 holes-in-one in a week
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081107/ap_on_fe_st/odd5_holes_in_one;_ylt=AlihcPr2Y4zxhN5K0ZYyCePtiBIF