Energy News Digest for March 10, 2010

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)

·         Citizens’ Group to Discuss BPA Power Line Plan during Castle Rock Meeting

·         Peninsula Light Reacts to Bonneville Power Rate Increase

·         State Approves Grant PUD Substation Funding

·         The Energy Odd Couple - John Kerry & T. Boone Pickens

·         Number of Sea Lions Mysteriously Shot Up to 10

·         Salmon Returns Looking Good but Drought Concerns Linger

·         Water Main Projects Will Disrupt Gig Harbor

·         Oregon - Commissioners Hear from Angry Foe of Wind Farms

·         Montana – Wind Lobby Says Restricting Federal Grant Money Will Hurt Power Projects

·         Wind Industry Blitzes Hill on Schumer Bill, Renewable Mandate

·         Ohio - Wind Advocates Say Renewable Power Standards Will Mean Jobs

·         Rhode Island - Business Group Balks at Cost of Wind Power

·         California - Roseville Solar Start-Up Gets Federal Boost to Build New Plants

·         Geothermal Power Heats Up

·         Bottled Wind Could be as Constant as Coal

·         Global Warming Skepticism Rising in the GOP

·         Clean Coal? Obama Funds Research to Capture Carbon

·         Environmental Hypocrisy

·         Green Movement Proving Expensive for California

·         FCC Will Release Broadband Plan One Day Early

·         Is Cheap Wireless Broadband for Real This Time?

·         Texas - Residents Asked to Help Austin Vie for Google Fiber

·         Florida - Leesburg Hopes to Partner with Google

·         WA Man Dies When Tree He Was Cutting Falls on Him

·         Susan Hutchison to Challenge Patty Murray?

·         Kirkland Broker Charged With Mail Fraud

WORD OF THE DAY

Eke • \EEK\ • Verb – To get with great difficulty —usually used with out

“Eke; a mouse,” squealed the pig-tailed school girl to her courageous friend. “No Gwen,” said Holly. “What you meant to say was ‘Eek; a mouse.’ The other way implies you are squeezing a small rodent out of your body somewhere.”

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast & 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

Citizens’ Group to Discuss BPA Power Line Plan during Castle Rock Meeting (The Daily News, Longview, WA)

http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_eb68a5f6-2be4-11df-b53b-001cc4c002e0.html

Peninsula Light Reacts to Bonneville Power Rate Increase (Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor, WA)

http://www.gateline.com/2010/03/09/6443/peninsula-light-reacts-to-bonneville.html

State Approves Grant PUD Substation Funding - Could serve BMW parts maker (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2010/03/09/news/doc4b96daacc7619379590200.txt

The Energy Odd Couple - John Kerry & T. Boone Pickens, once fierce foes, have found a way to work together on energy legislation (Newsweek Magazine)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/234668

FISH & WILDLIFE

Number of Sea Lions Mysteriously Shot Up to 10 (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22796451/detail.html

Salmon Returns Looking Good but Drought Concerns Linger (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://news.opb.org/article/6870-salmon-returns-look-good-drought-concerns-linger/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Water Main Projects Will Disrupt Gig Harbor (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/03/09/1101975/water-main-projects-will-disrupt.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon - Commissioners Hear from Angry Foe of Wind Farms (The LaGrande Observer, OR)

http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Commissioners-hear-from-angry-foe-of-wind-farms

Montana – Wind Lobby Says Restricting Federal Grant Money Will Hurt Power Projects The Missoulian, MT)

http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_4bd376c0-2bfc-11df-b637-001cc4c03286.html

Wind Industry Blitzes Hill on Schumer Bill, Renewable Mandate (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/03/09/09greenwire-wind-industry-blitzes-hill-on-schumer-bill-ren-99753.html

Ohio - Wind Advocates Say Renewable Power Standards Will Mean Jobs (Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH)

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/03/wind_advocates_say_renewable_p.html

Rhode Island - Business Group Balks at Cost of Wind Power (Providence Journal, RI)

http://www.projo.com/news/content/BUSINESS_OPPOSES_WIND_FARM_03-10-10_ANHNJIO_v21.398b44a.html

California - Roseville Solar Start-Up Gets Federal Boost to Build New Plants (Sacramento Bee, CA)

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/10/2595673/roseville-solar-start-up-gets.html

Geothermal Power Heats Up (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/03/geothermal-power-heats-up?cmpid=rss

Bottled Wind Could be as Constant as Coal (Wired Science)

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/compressed-air-plants/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Global Warming Skepticism Rising in the GOP (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/09/nation/la-na-climate-politics10-2010mar10

Clean Coal? Obama Funds Research to Capture Carbon (USA Today)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/03/clean-coal-energy-department-spends-154-million-on-texas-project-to-capture-coals-carbon/1

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Environmental Hypocrisy - A new study shows that people are more likely to cheat & steal after buying green products (Newsweek Magazine)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/234674

Green Movement Proving Expensive for California (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Mises-Economics-Blog/2010/0309/Green-movement-proving-expensive-for-California

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

FCC Will Release Broadband Plan One Day Early - Next Tuesday, March 16, at 7:30 AM Pacific (Broadband Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-Will-Release-Broadband-Plan-One-Day-Early-107280

Is Cheap Wireless Broadband for Real This Time? (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2010/03/09/is-cheap-wireless-broadband-for-real-this-time/

GOOGLE BANDWAGON

Texas - Residents Asked to Help Austin Vie for Google Fiber (Austin Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/03/08/daily26.html

Florida - Leesburg Hopes to Partner with Google on Ultra-High Speed Broadband Testing Orlando Sentinel, FL)

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-03-09/news/os-lk-leesburg-google-fiber-optics-20100309_1_ultra-high-speed-broadband-internet-speeds-google

GENERAL NEWS

WA Man Dies When Tree He Was Cutting Falls on Him (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/03/09/1166858/wa-man-dies-when-tree-he-was-cutting.html

Susan Hutchison to Challenge Patty Murray? (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/197067.asp?source=pimail

Kirkland Broker Charged With Mail Fraud (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22798858/detail.html

DIVERSIONS

Oklahoma Electric Crews Say Bobcat Caused Outage

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_electric_bobcat;_ylt=Am1GqxfbKAmBS5L4AZzQ_kjtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJyYzZldDF1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzEwL3VzX29kZF9lbGVjdHJpY19ib2JjYXQEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNva2xhZWxlY3RyaWM-

What the? Authorities Crack Down on Finch-Fighting Rings

http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-03-10-finchfights10_ST_N.htm?csp=34

Midnight Knitter Pulls the Wool over NJ Shore Town

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_midnight_knitter;_ylt=ApX0aP2KZQEGrvMCaJHhn6ntiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJvZ25sb2I0BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzEwL3VzX29kZF9taWRuaWdodF9rbml0dGVyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNtaWRuaWdodGtuaXQ-

Chocolate-powered racecar

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100309/od_nm/us_car_chocolate;_ylt=Ao6xcE3WL8.vRluUIgBXNHrtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJsZW1vNXFrBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwMzA5L3VzX2Nhcl9jaG9jb2xhdGUEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNjaG9jb2xhdGUtcG8-

SONG OF THE DAY

EekaMouse - Wild Like a Tiger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsdPlUpmibo