Energy News Digest for April 27, 2009

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.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

- An Aged Electric Grid Looks to a Brighter Future
- Engineering a Smart Grid for Energy's Future
- Power, And Pitfalls, Of an Electrical Smart Grid
- Supply Glut Sends Natural Gas Prices Crashing On Nymex
- Battle Lines Drawn Over Clean Coal
- Republicans Push Nuclear Energy to Lower Costs
- Idaho - Hundreds Attend Nuke Hearing
- Southern Company's Miss. IGCC Plant Faces New Challenge
- Missouri - Study to Begin On Possible Tenn-Tom Hydroelectric Plant
- Bill Introduced to Return Yucca Money to Electricity Consumers
- Car hits power pole = big blackout, but how?
- Tree-Planter Breaks Natural Gas Line at His Camas Home
- Agreement Gives Cheney More Control over Power
- Chelan PUD commissioners could approve rate hike Monday
- Sacramento Bee Op/Ed - John Distasio: SMUD's Rate Hike Means Brighter Future
- San Francisco Moves Closer to Selling Power to Residents
- Highway 3 Tree Trimming Postponed Until June
- Walden calls Obama's energy bill 'an Oregon job killer'
- At Constellation Energy, Not a Star Performance
- Salmon Standoff
- And Now a Word about Salmon Fishing
- Fishermen Lose Millions Saving Weakest Fish Stocks
- 'Bad Boy' Orcas Have Arrived Off the Oregon Coast
- Tribe Gathering Small Fish to Save Dwindling Stillaguamish River Run
- Walleye at Low Densities in Lake Pend Oreille
- Shrimp Season Gets Underway May 2
- Environmental group pulls out of Klamath talks
- Oregon's water issues run deep
- Oregon Water Demand Opens Door to Special Interests
- Small Water System near Seabeck to Get Upgrade before the Kitsap PUD Takes over
- Latest Storm Headache: Seattle Sand Clogs Sewer Plant
- No Out of State Renewables under CA Energy Mandates
- Columbian Editorial - Harnessing Currents
- A Green Challenge: Make Renewables Reliable
- Ocean power surges forward
- Plug-In Cars Create Challenges
- St. Petersburg Times Opinion – Trying Not To Tilt At Wind Turbines
- Oregon Company Studying Possible Hawaiian Wind Farm
- New Searchable Map of the Green Energy World
- Business Group Calls for Energy Cuts in Buildings
- In Tough Economic Times, Companies Eager to Conserve
- Democrats May Ease Bill's Emissions Rules
- Gore, Gingrich Face Off On Global Warming Bill
- NY Times Op-Ed - Don’t Waste Time Cutting Emissions
- A Green Trade War?
- Washington Post Op/Ed - Selling the Green Economy
- Carbon Swaps = Big Bucks - Green cash
- Wildfires Add to Speed of Global Warming
- Air Pollution Helps Plants Blunt Climate Change
- Canada - Go Green on Top, Or Face $100,000 Fine
- Tennessee Well-Positioned For Broadband Funding
- One Internet Village, Divided
- Typical Lost Laptop Can Cost $50,000
- US Declares Public Health Emergency for Swine Flu
- Pandemic Alert! What Happens During a "Public Health Emergency"
- Lawmakers Pass Budget - Grim Blueprint
- Budget-Weary Washington Legislature Adjourns
- Wash. Lawmakers May Go To Special Session
- Wash. Lawmakers Delay Family Leave Program
- Cowlitz County Judge Says Tax Increase Should Have Been Considered To Balance County's Budget
- $500 Million for Tribes
- Shot Clock Approved for Boys’ High-School Basketball

WORD OF THE DAY

Inveterate • \in-VET-uh-rut\ • adjective - 1: firmly established by long persistence 2: confirmed in a habit: habitual

“I’m not a video game addict,” huffed the pizza-faced hoodlum to his glowering mother. “I’m an inveterate human-digital interface practicioner.”

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

An Aged Electric Grid Looks to a Brighter Future (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103327321&ft=1&f=3

Engineering a Smart Grid for Energy's Future (NY Times)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042602628.html?wprss=rss_technology

Power, And Pitfalls, Of an Electrical Smart Grid (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smartgrid27-2009apr27,0,4261187.story

Supply Glut Sends Natural Gas Prices Crashing On Nymex (Purchasing.Com)
http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6654186.html?nid=4016

Battle Lines Drawn Over Clean Coal (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/2009/april/Battle-Lines-Drawn-Over-Clean-Coal.html

Republicans Push Nuclear Energy to Lower Costs (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009120717_apusrepublicansenergy.html?syndication=rss

Idaho - Hundreds Attend Nuke Hearing (Mountain Home News, ID)
http://www.mountainhomenews.com/story/1533611.html

Southern Company's Miss. IGCC Plant Faces New Challenge (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2416524420090424

Missouri - Study to Begin On Possible Tenn-Tom Hydroelectric Plant (Commercial Dispatch, Columbus MO)
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=1178

Bill Introduced to Return Yucca Money to Electricity Consumers (Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV)
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/43593592.html

Car hits power pole = big blackout, but how? (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/43655242.html

Tree-Planter Breaks Natural Gas Line at His Camas Home – “Call before you dig” isn't just for construction companies (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20090425/NEWS02/704259960/

Agreement Gives Cheney More Control over Power (Cheney Free Press, WA)
http://www.cheneyfreepress.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=4356&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2058&hn=cheneyfreepress&he=.com

Chelan PUD commissioners could approve rate hike Monday (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090425/NEWS04/704259950?Chelan-PUD-commissioners-could-approve-rate-hike-Monday

Sacramento Bee Op/Ed - John Distasio: SMUD's Rate Hike Means Brighter Future
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1808350.html

San Francisco Moves Closer to Selling Power to Residents (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=39056

Highway 3 Tree Trimming Postponed Until June (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/7078/reftab/1632/t/HIGHWAY-3-TREE-TRIMMING-POSTPONED-UNTIL-JUNE/Default.aspx

Walden calls Obama's energy bill 'an Oregon job killer' - GOP congressman said the bill defines woody biomass as not renewable (Mail Tribune, Medord, OR)http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090426/NEWS/904260335

At Constellation Energy, Not a Star Performance - It's been a rough year for Mayo Shattuck (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042304509.html?wprss=rss_business

FISH & WILDLIFE

Salmon Standoff - The Columbia's spring Chinook run is one of the river's most endangered, most prized and most unpredictable. That spells trouble for the people who count on the fish (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/special/index.ssf/2009/04/chinook_salmon.html

And now a word about salmon fishing (Idaho Statesman, Boise)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/idahooutdoors/story/744336.html

Fishermen Lose Millions Saving Weakest Fish Stocks (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/25/financial/f092543D25.DTL&feed=rss.business

'Bad Boy' Orcas Have Arrived Off The Oregon Coast - That's not good news for the gray whales, seals or sea lions that hang out there (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/bad_boy_orcas_have_arrived_off.html

Tribe Gathering Small Fish to Save Dwindling Stillaguamish River Run - Effort to restore Chinook run in the Stillaguamish depends on handful of baby fish (The Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090425/NEWS01/704259839/-1/RSS02

Walleye at Low Densities in Lake Pend Oreille (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/831724.html

Shrimp Season Gets Underway May 2 (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2009122662_outn26.html?syndication=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental group pulls out of Klamath talks (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/04/environmental_group_pulls_out.html

Oregon's water issues run deep (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/oregons_water_issues_run_deep.html

Oregon Water Demand Opens Door to Special Interests (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/oregon_water_demand_opens_door.html

Small Water System near Seabeck to Get Upgrade before the Kitsap PUD Takes over Operation of the System (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/apr/24/small-water-system-near-seabeck-to-get-upgrade/

Latest Storm Headache: Seattle Sand Clogs Sewer Plant (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009127486_sand27m.html

RENEWABLE & ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

No Out of State Renewables under CA Energy Mandates (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/stoel-rives-6442/news/article/2009/04/out-of-state-wind-and-solar-generation-could-be-excluded-from-participating-in-californias-renewable-portfolio-standard?src=rss

Columbian Editorial - Harnessing Currents: Tidal energy project in Puget Sound could expand future of alternative forms
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090427/OPINION02/704279992

A Green Challenge: Make Renewables Reliable (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103526574&ft=1&f=2

Ocean power surges forward - Wave power and tidal power are still experimental, but may be little more than five years away from commercial development. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/04/24/ocean-power-surges-forward/

Plug-In Cars Create Challenges (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/831267.html

St. Petersburg Times Opinion – Trying Not To Tilt At Wind Turbines
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article994808.ece

Oregon Company Studying Possible Hawaiian Wind Farm (Associated Press)
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-8/124071253964740.xml&storylist=orlocal

New Searchable Map of the Green Energy World (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/reeep-6222/news/article/2009/04/55343?src=rss

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Business Group Calls for Energy Cuts in Buildings (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/26/financial/f150436D40.DTL&feed=rss.business

In Tough Economic Times, Companies Eager to Conserve (Las Vegas Sun, NV)
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/apr/24/tough-economic-times-companies-eager-conserve/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Democrats May Ease Bill's Emissions Rules (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042402148.html?wprss=rss_politics

Gore, Gingrich Face Off On Global Warming Bill - Ex-VP cites environment, security; ex-House speaker focuses on costs (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386828/

NY Times Op-Ed - Don’t Waste Time Cutting Emissions
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/opinion/25lomborg.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

A Green Trade War? The US coming around on climate change was supposed to be good news. Instead, it's trouble. (Newsweek)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195096

Washington Post Op/Ed - Selling the Green Economy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042601515.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

Carbon Swaps = Big Bucks - Green cash: Salt Lake partners broker global credits (Salt Lake Tribune, UT)
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12220540

Wildfires add to speed of global warming (San Francisco Chronicle – Isn’t biomass supposed to be carbon neutral?)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/23/MN6N177UFJ.DTL&feed=rss.news

Air pollution helps plants blunt climate change (Macau Daily Times)
http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26406&Itemid=33

Canada - Go Green on Top, Or Face $100,000 Fine, City Proposes: Make high-rise bylaw voluntary, developers urge (Canada.Com)
http://www.canada.com/business/fp/green+face+fine+city+proposes/1496803/story.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Tennessee Well-Positioned For Broadband Funding (Memphis Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2009/04/27/story3.html?ana=from_rss

One Internet Village, Divided: In Developing Countries, Web Grows Without Profit (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/start-ups/27global.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Typical Lost Laptop Can Cost $50,000 - A typical lost or stolen laptop costs employers $49,246, mostly from the value of the missing intellectual property (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009127178_btstolenlaptop27.html?syndication=rss

GENERAL NEWS

US Declares Public Health Emergency for Swine Flu (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090426/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_swine_flu_emergency_7

Pandemic Alert! What Happens During A "Public Health Emergency," And What's A "Pandemic Alert Level"? (Slate Magazine)
http://www.slate.com/id/2216999/?from=rss

Lawmakers Pass Budget - Grim Blueprint: Democrats Hold Sway As Session Draws To Close (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/721575.html

Budget-Weary Washington Legislature Adjourns (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009129082_apwaxgrgregoire.html?syndication=rss

Wash. Lawmakers May Go To Special Session (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009128023_apwaxgradjournment4thldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Wash. Lawmakers Delay Family Leave Program (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/832555.html

Cowlitz County Judge Says Tax Increase Should Have Been Considered To Balance County's Budget (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/04/26//area_news/doc49f3fcc1d2732375545899.txt

$500 Million for Tribes (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/us/26tribes.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Shot Clock Approved for Boys’ High-School Basketball - Boys games will use a 35-second clock; the girls’ clock will remain at 30 seconds (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2009117541_wiaa25.html?syndication=rss

DIVERSIONS

The Community at Stinky's Corner - In a Sinking Economy, Locals from All Walks Work to Build (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA – very near my old hometown, Onalaska)
http://www.outdoorslc.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1240646626&archive=&start_from=&ucat=5&

Connecticut Man Finds 'Little Polliwogs' In Town's Water - Officials Say Organisms Not Harmful (Just drink it. I ‘double-dog dare you!)
http://www.kirotv.com/health/19264012/detail.html

Man Pretending To Fall Off Bridge Actually Falls
http://www.kirotv.com/news/19266207/detail.html

Swiss Heartland Voters Ban Nude Hiking
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12234131

John King - Famed Ukulele Player - Dies
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/27/BAIA179IF8.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

SONG OF THE DAY

John King plays the Spanish Fandango (RIP)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo5T2JB-Scs