Energy News Digest for May 21, 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.

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TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

- Grays Harbor County PUD Calls Off Rate Increase
- Power Project Generates Walla Walla-Hi FFA Championship
- NW Natural Gas Refunds Ratepayers
- U.S. Natural Gas Boom: The Race to Tap Shale's Potential
- Georgia Coal Plant Project Loses Two More Coalition Members
- With Salmon Facing Extinction, Will Pols Continue "Treading Water"?
- Wenatchee World Editorial - Salmon and the Perpetual War
- Hazing Sea Lions to Protect Salmon
- Vancouver Island salmon numbers on rise
- Puget Sound Fish Counters
- Washington State Dept. of Wildlife Struggling With Cuts
- Vancouver Island Natives Plan To Kill Sea Otters for Pelts
- Naming the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest the Salish Sea
- Oregon House OKs Greener Dishwasher Soap
- New King County Sewage Plant behind Schedule and Over Budget
- New Project Uses Slash for Electrical Power
- Enough With Birds, Farmer Claims Wind Turbines Kill Goats
- Iowa Co-Op’s Increase Because Of Renewable Energy
- Wind Turbines Becoming Growth Industry in Ohio
- Herald Op/Ed - Winds of Change
- PenLight Hires Company to Conduct Energy Efficiency Survey
- Gregoire Signs Order To Reduce Greenhouse Gases
- Seattle's Day to Tell EPA How to Fix Climate
- Poor Economy: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Drop in 2008
- Oregon Power Companies Divided Over Pollution Plan
- Shareholders to Push Idaho Power for Greener Standards
- Idaho Statesman Op/Ed - Idaho Power is Steps behind the Energy-Efficiency Movement
- New Web site reports greenhouse gas emissions
- America's climate-change bill is weaker and worse than expected
- Yahoo Eyes Acquisitions, Social Media
- State Sues to Recover $100 Million Lost In Stock Market
- Former Idaho Attorney General - Bureau of Indian Affairs Leader Chosen
- Barbecue Coals Cause $200,000 Fire at Mukilteo Home

WORD OF THE DAY

Plenary • \PLEE-nuh-ree\ • adjective – 1: complete in every respect: absolute, unqualified 2: fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present

The plenary session of the Abercrombie County Rock and Mineral Society crumbled into bitter recriminations after some members had been found throwing rocks in the vicinity of the local florist’s greenhouses. “But we weren’t LIVING in the glass house,” whined the reprobates, “so throwing stones near houses in which we did not live was OK!”

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

Grays Harbor County PUD Calls Off Rate Increase (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/05/20/local_news/doc4a1443fe7be5d017557002.txt

Power Project Generates Walla Walla-Hi FFA Championship (Walla Walla Union Bulletin)
http://union-bulletin.com/articles/2009/05/20/local_news/090520local04wahiffakids.txt

NW Natural Gas Refunds Ratepayers (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/05/18/daily38.html?ana=from_rss

U.S. Natural Gas Boom: The Race to Tap Shale's Potential (Popular Mechanics)
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4318390.html

Georgia Coal Plant Project Loses Two More Coalition Members (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/2009/05/21/coal0521.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Seattle P-I Columnist - With Salmon Facing Extinction, Will Pols Continue "Treading Water"?
http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/406433_joel21.html

Wenatchee World Editorial - Salmon and the Perpetual War
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090520/OP02/705209882/1025/rss1025

Hazing Sea Lions to Protect Salmon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/5024-hazing-sea-lions-protect-salmon/

Vancouver Island salmon numbers on rise (Nanaimo Daily News, BC)
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/regional/Vancouver+Island+salmon+numbers+rise/1609807/story.html

Puget Sound Fish Counters (KUOW-Radio, Seattle)
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=17557

Washington State Dept. of Wildlife Struggling With Cuts (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/story/749971.html

Vancouver Island Natives Plan To Kill Sea Otters for Pelts (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)
http://www.timescolonist.com/Technology/Vancouver+Island+band+plans+kill+otters+pelts/1612728/story.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Sea Change - Washington State will officially consider altering the map by naming the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest the Salish Sea (Crosscut, Seattle)
http://crosscut.com/2009/05/20/mossback/19007/

Oregon House OKs Greener Dishwasher Soap (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2027180~Ore__House_OKs_greener_dishwasher_soap.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

New King County Sewage Plant behind Schedule and Over Budget (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/406434_brightwater21.html?source=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

New Project Uses Slash for Electrical Power (Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090520/NEWS04/705209874/1025/rss1025

Enough With Birds, Farmer Claims Wind Turbines Kill Goats (British Broadcasting Corporation)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8060969.stm

Iowa Co-Op’s Increase Because Of Renewable Energy (Osceola Sentinel-Tribune, IA)
http://www.osceolaiowa.com/articles/2009/05/20/24198238/index.xml

Wind Turbines Becoming Growth Industry in Ohio (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH) http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/05/wind_turbines_turning_into_gro.html

Herald Op/Ed - Winds of Change (United Kingdom)
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/editorial/display.var.2509413.0.Winds_of_change.php

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

PenLight Hires Company to Conduct Energy Efficiency Survey (Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor, WA)
http://www.gateline.com/104/story/4253.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Gregoire Signs Order To Reduce Greenhouse Gases (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009247078_apwaepaclimategregoire1stldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Seattle's Day to Tell EPA How to Fix Climate (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009245410_greenhousegas21m0.html

Poor Economy: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Drop in 2008 (Associated Press)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12413989

Oregon Power Companies Divided Over Pollution Plan (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/05/oregon_power_companies_divided.html

Shareholders to Push Idaho Power for Greener Standards (The New West)
http://www.newwest.net/city/article/shareholders_to_push_idaho_power_for_greener_standards/C108/L108/

Idaho Statesman Op/Ed - Idaho Power is Steps behind the Energy-Efficiency Movement
http://www.idahostatesman.com/OPINION/story/776181.html

New Web site reports greenhouse gas emissions (Portland Business Journal – PNW Looks Good)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/05/18/daily41.html?ana=from_rss

Handouts and loopholes - America's climate-change bill is weaker and worse than expected (The Economist)
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13705417

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Yahoo Eyes Acquisitions, Social Media (Yahoo! Technology)
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090521/tc_nm/us_summit_yahoo_1

GENERAL NEWS

State Sues to Recover $100 Million Lost In Stock Market (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/169125.asp?source=pimail

Former Idaho Attorney General - Bureau of Indian Affairs Leader Chosen (Associated Press)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/politics/21brfs-BUREAUOFINDI_BRF.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Barbecue Coals Cause $200,000 Fire at Mukilteo Home (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090521/NEWS01/705219904/-1/RSS02

DIVERSIONS

Bank Mistakenly Deposits $6M in Couple's Account
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/21/international/i021829D42.DTL&feed=rss.business

Game Of Lighter Fluid Tag Ends Badly
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=169972

Drink Up: Space Station Recycling Urine to Water
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009243427_apusspaceurine.html?syndication=rss

Household Drill to Head Saves Boy's Life
http://www.kirotv.com/news/19509317/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

The Partridge Family Opening TV Theme Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOiKa51ll-k