Energy News Digest for October 12, 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)

• The Dalles Lock Will Be Fixed By Monday Night, Corps Says
• Clallam PUD Holds Off Power Rate Hike
• Sierra Club Visits Portland General Electric’s Boardman Coal Plant
• Op/Ed - Get Involved In Regional Energy Planning
• Fitch Affirms Benton County Public Utility Bonds at ‘A’; Outlook Stable
• California - Schwarzenegger Vetoes Energy Bills
• Editorial - FirstEnergy-PUCO light bulb fiasco would be a comedy of errors, if it were funny
• New Way to Tap Gas May Expand Global Supplies
• Mexico Says It Is Closing a Provider of Electricity
• Editorial - Salmon Plan Deserves a Chance
• Idaho Wants New Hatchery to Increase Snake River Sockeye
• Oregon, Nez Perce, Earthjustice Briefs Say Obama Salmon Plan Falls Short
• Struggling Santa Cruz County Steelhead Get Bump from Federal Stimulus
• Dam Breaching Celebrated on Famed Rogue River
• Aerial View: Albatrosses Following a Killer Whale
• The Evergreen State Faces A New Water Reality
• Lewis County - Scoping Out the Dams
• Elma May Have To Pay Twice For Biosolid Removal
• Idaho Water Czar’s Exit Complicates Teton Dam Debate
• Oregon ‘Dead Zone’ Less Lethal This Year
• Rain Gardens? Kitsap County Hopes They’re Pouring
• Tri-City Company Gets Grant to Develop Canal Hydropower
• Idaho Sees Interest from Wind Energy Companies
• Op/Ed - The Facts about Wind Turbine Sound
• Clean Energy Splits France
• Solar Power Outshining Colorado’s Gas Industry
• Solar-Powered Homes in Kalamazoo-Area Help with Energy Costs
• Alternative Energy Sources Offer Minimal Promise
• Clark Public Utilities to Get $1 Million from Stimulus
• City of Ellensburg Gets Energy Efficiency Support
• Idaho Receives Final Piece of Energy Stimulus Cash
• Coos-Curry Electric Co-op board expands conservation programs
• An Upcoming Stimulus Program Provides Rebates for Energy-Efficient Appliances
• Virginia Utilities Differ on Use of Green-Energy Funds
• Debate Follows Bills to Remove Clotheslines Bans
• Massachusetts Utility Customers to Get Home Energy Reports
• Air of Unease across Rust Belt from Climate Plan
• Steward’s 10 ‘Myths’ About Global Warming and CO2 Damage
• United Kingdom Climate Body Urges “Step Change” On Emissions
• Mukilteo Pulls off City Hall’s Weed-Filled Sod Roof
• ‘Let’s Just Go Extreme.” Building an extremely green home
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Goes Green
• Rival Ethanol Group Feud Said Hurting Industry
• Charging Ahead - Will 2010 Be the Year Electric Cars Hit the Road in Oregon?
• Tough Choices for Feds Giving out Broadband Money
• Seeking Energy Savings at the Heart of the Internet
• Economists to FCC: Wireless and Wired Broadband Are Equal
• FCC Launches Probe of Google Voice Service
• Google Hopes To Ride a Social-Networking Wave
• Shelton - St. Edwards Fight Apparently Over
• ‘River Rat’ Robber Trapped, Jailed
• Box Mill Closures Catch Port Townsend Union by Surprise
• Puget Sound Area Emerging As Wine Region, Thanks To Warmer Climate
• Lady Washington Launches Columbia River Tour
• GM Signs Deal to Sell Hummer Brand to Chinese Company

WORD OF THE DAY

MacGuffin • \muh-GUFF-in\ • noun - An object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance

The donkey was hypnotized by the carrot dangling on a string just out of reach of his twitching nostrils. Unbeknownst to the unfortunate beast of burden, the carrot was just a MacGuffin in his miserable existence. The true reason for the carrot was to distract him from the endless treadmill on which his hooves pounded…providing electricity for the hair-shirted blogger who pounded away on his ancient computer in the deep forests of the wildest land in the nation.

The first person to use “MacGuffin” as a word for a plot device was Alfred Hitchcock. He borrowed it from an old shaggy-dog story in which some passengers on a train interrogate a fellow passenger carrying a large, strange-looking package. The fellow says the package contains a “MacGuffin,” which, he explains, is used to catch tigers in the Scottish Highlands. When the group protests that there are no tigers in the Highlands, the passenger replies, “Well, then, this must not be a MacGuffin.” Hitchcock apparently appreciated the way the mysterious package holds the audience’s attention and builds suspense. He recognized that an audience anticipating a solution to a mystery will continue to follow the story even if the initial interest-grabber turns out to be irrelevant.

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

The Dalles Lock Will Be Fixed By Monday Night, Corps Says (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/the_dalles_lock_fixed_by_monda.html

Clallam PUD Holds Off Power Rate Hike (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.konp.com/local/5163

Sierra Club Visits Portland General Electric’s Boardman Coal Plant (It’s Getting Hot in Here)
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/10/10/sierra-club-and-allies-visit-the-boardman-coal-plant/

Missoulian Op/Ed - Get Involved In Regional Energy Planning
http://www.missoulian.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_811a6a58-b737-11de-839f-001cc4c03286.html

Fitch Affirms Benton County Public Utility Bonds at ‘A’; Outlook Stable (Earth Times)
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/fitch-affirms-benton-county-public,993769.shtml

California - Schwarzenegger Vetoes Energy Bills (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125533246723779819.html

Cleveland Plain-Dealer Editorial - FirstEnergy-PUCO light bulb fiasco would be a comedy of errors, if it were funny
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/10/firstenergy-puco_light_bulb_fi.html

New Way to Tap Gas May Expand Global Supplies (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/business/energy-environment/10gas.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Mexico Says It Is Closing a Provider of Electricity (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/world/americas/12mexico.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Daily News Editorial - Salmon Plan Deserves a Chance
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/12/editorial/doc4ad2d4fbe4114684010485.txt

Idaho Wants New Hatchery to Increase Snake River Sockeye Smolt Production Up To One Million (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
http://www.cbbulletin.com/360326.aspx

Oregon, Nez Perce, Earthjustice Briefs Say Obama Salmon Plan Falls Short; Fed Reply Due Oct. 23 (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
http://www.cbbulletin.com/360331.aspx

California - Struggling Santa Cruz County Steelhead Get Bump from Federal Stimulus (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13527052

Dam Breaching Celebrated on Famed Rogue River (Associated Press)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13536335

Aerial View: Albatrosses Following a Killer Whale (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/13obbird.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

The Evergreen State Faces A New Water Reality - ‘If you are trying to develop a 2009 water right, you are about 104 years too late.’ (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/10/10/mitigation-the-evergreen-state-faces-a-new-water-reality

Lewis County - Scoping Out the Dams: Baird, Army Corps, Flood Authority Seek Ways to Move Forward on Flood Projects (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)
http://www.chronline.com/articles/2009/10/10/news/doc4ad0232b3e5ca075888175.txt

Elma May Have To Pay Twice For Biosolid Removal (Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/10/10/local_news/doc4acf7b0a4bbc7109776399.txt

Idaho Water Czar’s Exit Complicates Teton Dam Debate (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1000154.html

Oregon ‘Dead Zone’ Less Lethal This Year - Global warming: Lessening wind helps (Associated Press)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/913265.html

Rain Gardens? Kitsap County Hopes They’re Pouring (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/oct/12/kitsap-county-hopes-homeowners-will-get-their/?partner=RSS

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Tri-City Company Gets Grant to Develop Canal Hydropower (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/913357.html

Idaho Sees Interest from Wind Energy Companies (KPVI-TV, Pocatello, ID)
http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=11296956

Minneapolis Star-Tribune Op/Ed - The Facts about Wind Turbine Sound
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/63890637.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DU2EPaL_V_9E7ODiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Clean Energy Splits France - It’s Carbon vs. Countryside in Environmental Battle over Plan for Windmills near Coastal Shrine (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/10/AR2009101001901.html

Solar Power Outshining Colorado’s Gas Industry (Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilsDBjcry8X9Y7jwN5RoaBXZtP2AD9B891OO0

Michigan - Solar-Powered Homes in Kalamazoo-Area Help with Energy Costs (Kalamazoo Gazette, MI)
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/10/solar-powered_homes_help_with.html

Alternative Energy Sources Offer Minimal Promise (Heartland Institute)
http://www.heartland.org/publications/environment%20climate/article/26141/Alternative_Energy_Sources_Offer_Minimal_Promise.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Clark Public Utilities to Get $1 Million from Stimulus - To use money to support energy conservation (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/article/20091010/NEWS02/710109969/Utility+to+get+$1+million+from+stimulus

City Of Ellensburg Gets Energy Efficiency Support - State awards city $344,000 for gas conservation (Daily Record, Ellensberg, VA)
http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/10/news/doc4ad03a3b4d7a9300631570.txt

Idaho Receives Final Piece of Energy Stimulus Cash (Idaho Statesman, Boise, ID)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/931540.html

Coos-Curry Electric Co-op board expands conservation programs (Curry Coastal Pilot, Brookings, OR)
http://www.currypilot.com/20091009113992/News/Local-News/Co-op-board-expands-conservation-programs

An Upcoming Stimulus Program Provides Rebates for Energy-Efficient Appliances (New Orleans Times-Picayune, LA)
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/an_upcoming_stimulus_program_p.html

Virginia Utilities Differ on Use of Green-Energy Funds (Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA)
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/energy/article/B-RAPP10_20091009-215605/298489/

Debate Follows Bills to Remove Clotheslines Bans (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/11clothesline.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Massachusetts Utility Customers to Get Home Energy Reports (Boston Herald, MA)
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20091012mass_utility_customers_to_get_home_energy_reports/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Air of Unease across Rust Belt from Climate Plan (Associated Press)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/11/us/AP-US-Climate-Rust-Belt.html

Steward’s 10 ‘Myths’ About Global Warming and CO2 Damage (US News & World Report)
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/10/09/stewards-10-myths-about-global-warming-and-co2-damage.html

United Kingdom Climate Body Urges “Step Change” On Emissions (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE59B1IQ20091012

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Mukilteo Pulls off City Hall’s Weed-Filled Sod Roof - The green roof atop City Hall is leaving some people red-faced
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091010/NEWS01/710109875/-1/RSS02

‘Let’s Just Go Extreme.” Tom Elliott and Barbara Scott are setting out to build an extremely green home - but just how green is yet to be determined (Bend Bulletin, OR)
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091011/NEWS0107/910110424/-1/rss

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Goes Green (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/911459.html

Rival Ethanol Group Feud Said Hurting Industry (United Press International)
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/10/10/Ethanol-group-feud-said-hurting-industry/UPI-65681255183891/

Charging Ahead - Will 2010 Be the Year Electric Cars Hit the Road in Oregon? (Eugene Register Guard, OR)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/21330840-41/story.csp

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Tough Choices for Feds Giving out Broadband Money (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010044428_apustecbroadbandvignettes.html?syndication=rss

Seeking Energy Savings at the Heart of the Internet (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/business/energy-environment/12iht-green.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Economists to FCC: Wireless and Wired Broadband Are Equal (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/10/09/economists-to-fcc-wireless-and-wired-broadband-are-equal/

FCC Launches Probe of Google Voice Service (Associated Press)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13525900

Google Hopes To Ride a Social-Networking Wave (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/11/BU4O1A2UB6.DTL&feed=rss.business

GENERAL NEWS

Shelton - St. Edwards Fight Apparently Over (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=347:st-edwards-fight-apparently-over&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

‘River Rat’ Robber Trapped, Jailed (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/411039_rat12.html?source=rss

Box Mill Closures Catch Port Townsend Union by Surprise (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20091011/news/310119988

Puget Sound Area Emerging As Wine Region, Thanks To Warmer Climate (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010045723_wine12m.html?syndication=rss

Lady Washington Launches Columbia River Tour (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_101009WAB-lady-washington-ship-KS.202f84cbe.html?rss?npc

GM Signs Deal to Sell Hummer Brand to Chinese Company (Associated Press)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13524696

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

A Day for Beer and Dachshunds - Oktoberfest: Dozens of wiener dog owners gather with their pooches for races and fun
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/913263.html

Madoff Mask a Natural for Halloween
http://www.kirotv.com/entertainment/21266267/detail.html

Maine Couple Wins Wife-Carrying Championship
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21265204/detail.html

‘Whatever’ Tops Most Annoying Word Poll - ‘You Know’ And ‘Anyway’ Also Among Most Annoying
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21230257/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Beer Barrel Polka-The Andrews Sisters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrDSMBJ7AAc

And for the accordion aficionados:

Walter Ostanek and His Band - Beer Barrel Polka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sshhb5ISHvI