Energy News Digest for May 8, 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)

- Mason County PUD No. 3 P.U.D. 3 Holds Open House on John's Prairie Facility
- Oregon - Man Falls Onto Corvallis Electrical Transformer
- Coal-Fired Power Plants - The Writing on the Wall
- Coal Debate Highlights Duke Meeting
- Joe Kelliher Has A New Job! FPL Group Hires Him for New VP Position
- Commission to Look At Salmon on the Columbia
- Yakima River Opens Soon For Hatchery Spring Chinook
- Tribes, Feds Mark Anniversary of Basin Fish Accords
- Sea Lions Seem To Be Steering Clear Of Traps
- Gig Harbor Kayakers Paddling For The Plight Of Salmon
- Gov't Sticks With Bush-Era Polar Bear Rule
- Silverdale Man Catches Gigantic Halibut
- Tough Legislative Session for Environmentalists
- State Announces Willapa Bay Spartina Plan
- British Columbia - Independent Power Projects 'Ignoring Rules'
- Biodiesel Makers Lash Out at E.P.A. Rule
- Study: Electric Cars May Be More Efficient Than Ethanol
- What Is The Best Way to Turn Plants into Energy?
- Schwarzenegger Touts Solar Technology in San Jose
- REC’s Pre-Tax Profits More Than Doubled In 2008
- Weyerhaeuser VP Touts Woody Biomass during Longview Visit
- Saskatchewan, Montana Sign Carbon Capture Agreement
- U.S. Greens Worry for B.C.'S Carbon Tax
- Cutting Carbon May Be Costly - Obama to End Oil Tax Breaks
- Cap-and-Trade Won't Cause Mass Manufacturing Migration
- Google: Carbon Credit Shopping Ain’t Easy
- Wall Street Journal Editorial - Cap-And-Trade Back Flip
- EU Carbon Prices Seen On Track to Recover
- Cosmic Cooling? Have you noticed how much calmer the solar furnace seems these days?
- Qwest High-Speed Customers Get Free WiFi Access
- Google’s Strength May Be Part of Microsoft Defense Strategy
- Twitter Co-Founder Says Company Not For Sale
- H1N1 Virus Confirmed In Pierce County; State Total Hits 33
- Weyerhaeuser's Credit Rating Cut to Junk by Moody's
- Seattle Times Editorial - Save Sonntag's Audits
- Republican Censured over Bill Expanding Domestic Partnership Rights
- Seattle Streets Honcho under Fire Long Before Snow Fiasco
- Idaho’s Echohawk Vows to Be Effective Voice for Tribes
- Snohomish County Employee Says Trying To Save Money Cost Him Job
- Statue of Liberty's Crown to Re-Open July 4

WORD OF THE DAY

Obstreperous • \ob-STREPP-err-us\ • adjective – 1: marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness: clamorous 2: stubbornly resistant to control

Olaf was spending a peaceful day baking lefske; the cool breeze wafting over the fjord brought the pungent smell of his neighbor’s efforts at replicating the family lutefisk recipe. Efforts that over the last ten years had fallen woefully short. “Too little lye,” mused Olaf to himself. The obstreperous chattering of his impatiently waiting children for the day’s baked treats was the only distraction to the wonderful day.

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

Mason County PUD No. 3 P.U.D. 3 Holds Open House on John's Prairie Facility (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/7192/reftab/1632/Default.aspx

Oregon - Man Falls Onto Corvallis Electrical Transformer (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2004963~Man_falls_onto_electrical_transformer.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Coal-Fired Power Plants - The Writing on the Wall (The Economist Magazine)
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13611471&fsrc=rss

Coal Debate Highlights Duke Meeting (Charlotte Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/05/04/daily54.html?ana=from_rss

Joe Kelliher Has A New Job! FPL Group Hires Former Regulator for New VP Position (Miami Herald, FL)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1037279.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Commission To Look At Salmon On The Columbia - Good runs seen for Coho, summer and fall Chinook (Salem Statesman Journal, OR)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090508/OUTDOORS/905080333/1034/SPORTS/Commission+to+look+at+salmon+on+the+Columbia

Yakima River Opens Soon For Hatchery Spring Chinook (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/reeltimenorthwest/2009191621_yakima_river_opens_soon_for_ha.html

Tribes, Feds Mark Anniversary of Basin Fish Accords (Tri-City Herald, WA)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/571037.html

Sea Lions Seem To Be Steering Clear Of Traps - None captured in last three weeks; 11 taken since March (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20090508/NEWS02/705089950/

Gig Harbor Kayakers Paddling For The Plight Of Salmon - Pair heads to Alaska to study salmon (Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor, WA)
http://www.gateline.com/104/story/4136.html

Gov't Sticks With Bush-Era Polar Bear Rule (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009196235_apuspolarbearclimate4thldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Silverdale Man Catches Gigantic Halibut (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_050709WAB-fish-story-KC.45a3a17.html?rss?npc

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Tough Legislative Session for Environmentalists (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/44573002.html

State Announces Willapa Bay Spartina Plan (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/05/08//area_news/doc4a03834e27570127130879.txt

British Columbia - Independent Power Projects 'Ignoring Rules' - Environment ministry faces 'substantial pressure' from power producers, documents say (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=216d745b-e1b1-49c3-b09d-2b5e07fd093e&k=1593

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Biodiesel Makers Lash Out at E.P.A. Rule (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/biodiesel-group-lashes-out-at-epa-rule/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Study: Electric Cars May Be More Efficient Than Ethanol (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12319686

What Is The Best Way to Turn Plants into Energy? A new study compares biofuels with bioelectricity (Scientific American)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bioelectricity-versus-biofuel

Schwarzenegger Touts Solar Technology in San Jose (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12320401

REC’s Pre-Tax Profits More Than Doubled In 2008 (Renewable Energy Focus)
http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/1735/recs-pretax-profits-more-than-doubled-in-2008/

Weyerhaeuser VP Touts Woody Biomass during Longview Visit (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/05/07//area_news/doc4a034ffe38718639729726.txt

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Saskatchewan, Montana Sign Carbon Capture Agreement (CTV, Canada)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090507/sask_montana_090507/20090507?hub=Canada

U.S. Greens Worry for B.C.'S Carbon Tax (Surrey Leader, BC)
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/US_greens_worry_for_BCs_carbon_tax.html

Cutting Carbon May Be Costly - Obama to End Oil Tax Breaks (Washington Times)
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/08/cutting-carbon-will-aid-savings/

Cap-and-Trade Won't Cause Mass Manufacturing Migration (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/gwmEnergy/idUS280116372820090508

Google: Carbon Credit Shopping Ain’t Easy (Green Tech)
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/google-carbon-credit-shopping-aint-easy-4545/

Wall Street Journal Editorial - Cap-And-Trade Back Flip: Kevin Rudd realizes how much an emissions-trading scheme will cost Australia
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124171882652996961.html

EU Carbon Prices Seen On Track to Recover (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/behindTheScenes/idUKTRE5472DX20090508

Cosmic Cooling? Have you noticed how much calmer the solar furnace seems these days? (Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH)
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/05/cosmic_cooling_have_you_notice.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Qwest High-Speed Customers Get Free WiFi Access at Barnes & Noble, McDonald’s, Starbucks (Denver Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/05/04/daily65.html?ana=from_rss

Google’s Strength May Be Part of Microsoft Defense Strategy (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/technology/companies/08soft.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Twitter Co-Founder Says Company Not For Sale (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE54605920090507?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

GENERAL NEWS

H1N1 Virus Confirmed In Pierce County; State Total Hits 33 (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/844126.html

Weyerhaeuser's Credit Rating Cut to Junk by Moody's (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009187114_webweyco07.html?syndication=rss

Seattle Times Editorial - Save Sonntag's Audits
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2009192757_editb08auditor.html

Republican Censured For Co-Sponsoring Bill To Expand Washington's Domestic Partnership Rights (KPQ Radio, Wenatchee, WA)
http://www.kpq.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=995

Seattle Streets Honcho under Fire Long Before Snow Fiasco (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009194374_sdot08m0.html?syndication=rss

Idaho’s Echohawk Vows to Be Effective Voice for Tribes If Named Head of BIA (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2005088~EchoHawk_vows_to_be_effective_voice_for_tribes.html?cid=rss-Idaho_Headlines

Investigators: Snohomish County Employee Says Trying To Save Money Cost Him Job (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_050709INV-snohomish-co-director-KS.2b589ef.html?rss

Statue of Liberty's Crown to Re-Open July 4 (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5472AD20090508?feedType=nl&feedName=ustopnewsearly

DIVERSIONS

Tarantula Invasion Overblown, but More, Bigger Spiders May Be in Store
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/science/2009/may/Tarantula-Invasion-Overblown--but-More--Bigger-Spiders-May-Be-in-Store.html

Emma Overtakes Emily as Top Baby Name for Girls; Jacob for Boys
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/08/national/w063850D91.DTL&feed=rss.news

Battle of the Bust Is Over: British Retailer Eliminates Surcharge on Big Bras
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12325690

Stranger Lives In Pa. Family's Attic for a Week
http://www.kirotv.com/news/19385233/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000205062009&ts=H

SONG OF THE DAY

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo&feature=related

Lenny Kravitz - Ain't No Sunshine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ov5CNfkrtU&feature=related