The Energy News Digest: 06/21/10

Monday, June 21, 2010

Energy News Digest for June 21, 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

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

What’s Up with This Nasty Weather? (Northwest Cable News)

http://www.nwcn.com/news/This-Is-Summer-96766309.html

Mason County Biomass - ADAGE Provides Some Answers to Questions Not Answered in May Forum (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2451-adage-provides-some-answers-to-questions-not-answered-may-27

Net Benefits of Biomass Power under Scrutiny (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/science/earth/19biomass.html

Big Summer Steelhead Numbers Leads to Increased Bag Limit on Willamette, Clackamas, Sandy Rivers (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/389834.aspx

Editorial - Prudent to Postpone Adding Green Building Standards (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/17/editorial-prudent-to-postpone-adding-green/

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

· School Bus Clips Power Line Near Yacolt

· Woman Injured in Fall near Paradise Center – Heat from Electrical transformer Had Created Cave under Snow

· Fuel Maker for Nuclear Reactors Has

China

as Investor

· Texas - Smart Grid Projects Cut Costs for Consumers, Utilities

· Editorial - California: Holding Off on New Meters Would be Smart

· Several Barred from Monthly Southern Montana Electric Board Meeting in Billings

· New York - Workers at Alcoa to Vote on New Pact

· Chevron Vows to Pay for Salt Lake City Oil Spill

· Documentary Filmmaker Takes on Natural Gas Industry

· Thousands Protest Electricity Shortage in

Iraq

· TransAlta Names New Chief Financial Officer

· Big Summer Steelhead Numbers Leads to Increased Bag Limit

· Op/Ed - Columbia River Fishery Debate Rages On

· Potentially Lethal Red Tide Spreads into Puget Sound

· Science Takes Center Stage in Puget Sound Planning

· NOAA Finds New Deep-Sea Habitat off Olympic Peninsula

· State Searches for Solution to Pasco Cleanup

· Oregon - To Spray or Not: Neighbors Ask Weyerhaeuser to Hand Weed a Clear-Cut

· Roundup Resistant Weeds Pose Environmental Threat

· Mason County Biomass - ADAGE Provides Some Answers to Questions Not Answered in May Forum

· Vermont - McNeil Plant Qualifies for Sustainably Priced Energy Development Program, But How Green Is Biomass?

· New Hampshire’s Concord Steam Short of Money for Wood Plan

· Editorial - Future of Wood-Fired Plants Key Energy Issue

· Net Benefits of Biomass Power under Scrutiny

· Call for Caution in Massachusetts Biomass Policy Review

· Wisconsin - Burning Biofuels for Power: From Restaurant Fryer to Electricity

United Kingdom

- Firms Paid to Shut down Wind Farms when the Wind is Blowing

United Kingdom

- The ‘Hippy’ (sic) Wind Farm Tycoon Receiving Millions in Subsidies

· Midwest Independent System Operator Unveiling Plans to Share Costs of Shipping Wind Energy

· Transmission Constraints Derail California Solar Project

· California Solar Power Startup Cancels $300M IPO

· Today (Saturday) Is Solar Day: What’s Happening in Solar Energy

· US Senator Kyl, Arizona Solar Industry Battle over Water

· Connecticut – Treatment Plant Sludge: Reports Find Waste-to-Energy Plan Feasible

· Editorial – Alternative Energy: National Mission

· Editorial - Prudent to Postpone Adding Green Building Standards

· University of Washington Wins $1.2M Grant to Reduce Hospital Energy Use

· Seattle Puts LED Street Lights in Belltown & Central Area

· California - Marin County Energy project Saves Taxpayers Money

· Boston’s Citywide Infrared Scans Could Spur Energy Savings

· Finding the ‘Weapons’ of Persuasion to Save Energy

Senator Says Votes Still Short for Climate Bill

· British Newspaper Apologizes to Climate Scientist

· Fertile Ground for Seed-Based Fuel in Eastern Washington

· University of California Biofuel Institute a Legacy from Embattled BP

· Wyoming - Now You See Them, Now You Don’t: Are camouflaged wind & cellular phone towers possible?

· Solar Trees Camouflage About as Well as Cell Phone Towers

· Recipe for Green Tires: Plants, Not Petroleum

· PC World Blogger Likes St. Louis for Google Fiber Project

· Twitter Traffic Spikes with World Cup Goals

· Fired - And Paid: If You’re One of These Guys, Getting the Boot Doesn’t Seem to be Such a Bad Thing

· No Violation of First Amendment - Supreme Court Affirms Ban on Aiding Groups Tied to Terror

· What’s Up with This Nasty Weather?

· Two State Department of Licensing Workers Arrested in Driver’s License Scam

· Thieves Pack out Hundreds of Pounds of Wire from Westport Shipyards

· Shelton: Credit Union Promotes Chief Operating Officer

· Rat That Chewed Wire Blamed for $1M Yakima Fire

· Lawrence of Arabia, Guiding US Army in Iraq &

Afghanistan

WORD OF THE DAY

Impalpable • \im-PALL-puh-bull\ • adjective - 1a: incapable of being felt by touch: intangible b: so finely divided that no grains or grit can be felt 2: not readily discerned by the mind

Aldridge was considered the dullard of the Einstein clan. While Albert was wowing the smart coeds with his theories and unkempt hair, his brother was locked in a mental battle with the local psychic, who was trying to penetrate Aldridge’s impalpable mind. It was almost like the times that his nagging wife would ask him what he was thinking. “Nothing,” was his usual reply…and he was not kidding.

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

School Bus Clips Power Line Near Yacolt - No injuries are reported on delayed school bus; neighbors deal with a brief outage (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jun/18/school-bus-clips-power-line-near-yacolt/

Woman Injured in Fall near Paradise Center – Heat from Electrical transformer Had Created Cave under Snow (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/06/20/1278319/woman-injured-in-fall-near-paradise.html

Fuel Maker for Reactors Has China as Investor - Company is provider of enriched uranium for use in civilian nuclear reactors (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/business/global/19nuke.html

Texas - Smart Grid Projects Cut Costs for Consumers, Utilities (Texas Tribune, Austin)

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-energy/energy/smart-grid-projects-cut-costs-for-consumers-utilit/

Editorial - California: Holding Off on New Meters Would be Smart (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/20/EDT01E1BHN.DTL

Several Barred from Monthly Southern Montana Electric Board Meeting in Billings (Great Falls Tribune, MT)

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100619/DC5/6190329

New York - Workers at Alcoa to Vote on New Pact (Watertown Daily News, NY)

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100620/NEWS05/306209947/-1/news

Chevron Vows to Pay for Salt Lake City Oil Spill - Short in an overhead 46,000-volt power line melted a quarter-size hole in the pipeline (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/18/financial/f164424D95.DTL

Documentary Filmmaker Takes on Natural Gas Industry (Associated Press)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/06/19/1233035/documentary-filmmaker-takes-on.html

Thousands Protest Electricity Shortage in

Iraq

(NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html

TransAlta Names New Chief Financial Officer (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012154200_apustransaltapersonnel.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Big Summer Steelhead Numbers Leads to Increased Bag Limit on Willamette, Clackamas, Sandy Rivers (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/389834.aspx

Op/Ed - Columbia River Fishery Debate Rages On (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jun/20/truth-about-columbia-fishery-is-murky/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Potentially Lethal Red Tide Spreads into Puget Sound (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.komonews.com/news/96735209.html

Science Takes Center Stage in Puget Sound Planning (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/18/science-takes-center-stage-in-puget-sound/

NOAA Finds New Deep-Sea Habitat off Olympic Peninsula (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012168334_coral21m.html

State Searches for Solution to Pasco Cleanup (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_superfund_site.html

Oregon - To Spray or Not: Neighbors Ask Weyerhaeuser to Hand Weed a Clear-Cut (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24856667-57/weyerhaeuser-paz-herbicides-neighbors-cedar.csp

Roundup Resistant Weeds Pose Environmental Threat (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012169003_apusfoodandfarmsuperweeds.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mason County Biomass - ADAGE Provides Some Answers to Questions Not Answered in May Forum (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2451-adage-provides-some-answers-to-questions-not-answered-may-27

Vermont - McNeil Plant Qualifies for Sustainably Priced Energy Development Program, But How Green Is Biomass? Vermont hopes to generate 20 percent of the state’s load with SPEED resources by 2010 (Burlington Free Press, VT)

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100620/LIVING09/100618015/McNeil-plant-qualifies-for-SPEED-program-but-how-green-is-biomass

New Hampshire’s Concord Steam Short of Money for Wood Plant (Associated Press)

http://wbztv.com/wireapnewsnh/NH.s.Concord.2.1763127.html

Editorial - Future of Wood-Fired Plants Key Energy Issue: A study that says biomass plants are worse than oil is not the last word on this subject “…If that means restrictions that require the use of wood waste & thinning…then so be it. Sound business & sound environment must coexist…” (Portland Free Press, ME)

http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/future-of-wood-fired-plants-key-energy-issue_2010-06-21.html

Net Benefits of Biomass Power under Scrutiny (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/science/earth/19biomass.html

Call for Caution in Massachusetts Biomass Policy Review (Brighter Energy)

http://www.brighterenergy.org/12884/news/bioenergy/call-for-caution-in-massachusetts-biomass-policy-review/

Wisconsin - Burning Biofuels for Power: From Restaurant Fryer to Electricity (Racine Journal Times, WI)

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_dd8f5b7a-7d27-11df-a234-001cc4c002e0.html

United Kingdom

- Firms Paid to Shut down Wind Farms when the Wind is Blowing (The Telegraph,

)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/7840035/Firms-paid-to-shut-down-wind-farms-when-the-wind-is-blowing.html

United Kingdom

- The ‘Hippy’ (sic) Wind Farm Tycoon Receiving Millions in Subsidies (The Telegraph,

)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/7840036/The-hippy-wind-farm-tycoon-receiving-millions-in-subsidies.html

Midwest Independent System Operator Unveiling Plans to Share Costs of Shipping Wind Energy “…Wind energy advocates…say a plan to require energy generators to pay about 20 percent of the cost of new lines…is too heavy a burden for their industry…” (Pioneer Press, St Paul, MN)

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_15340693

Transmission Constraints Derail California Solar Project (Grist Online)

http://www.grist.org/article/transmission-constraints-derail-solar-project/

California Solar Power Startup Cancels $300M IPO - Cites ongoing uncertainties in the public capital markets (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15326996

Today (Saturday) Is Solar Day: What’s Happening in Solar Energy & What Are the Possibilities in the Seattle Area (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/boomerconsumer/archives/211760.asp

US Senator Kyl, Arizona Solar Industry Battle over Water (Phoenix Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/06/21/story3.html

Connecticut – Treatment Plant Sludge: Reports Find Waste-to-Energy Plan Feasible (Stamford Advocate, CT)

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Reports-find-waste-to-energy-plan-feasible-530822.php

Editorial – Alternative Energy: National Mission (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/opinion/21mon1.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Editorial - Prudent to Postpone Adding Green Building Standards (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/17/editorial-prudent-to-postpone-adding-green/

University of Washington Wins $1.2M Grant to Reduce Hospital Energy Use (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/06/19/1278045/uw-wins-12m-grant-to-reduce-hospital.html

Seattle Puts LED Street Lights in Belltown & Central Area (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2012151435_seattle_puts_led_street_lights.html

California - Marin County Energy project Saves Taxpayers Money (Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, CA)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_15341035?nclick_check=1

Boston’s Citywide Infrared Scans Could Spur Energy Savings (Boston Globe, MA)

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/06/19/citywide_infrared_scans_could_spur_energy_savings/

Finding the ‘Weapons’ of Persuasion to Save Energy (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/21/21climatewire-finding-the-weapons-of-persuasion-to-save-ene-8137.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Senator Says Votes Still Short for Climate Bill (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012165306_apusclimatebill.html

British Newspaper Apologizes to Climate Scientist (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/climate-scientist-gets-a-media-apology/

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Fertile Ground for Seed-Based Fuel in Eastern Washington (Everett Herald, WA)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100620/BIZ/706209995/-1/RSS03

University of California Biofuel Institute a Legacy from Embattled BP (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/18/BUC91E0AQ5.DTL

Wyoming - Now You See Them, Now You Don’t: Are camouflaged wind & cellular phone towers possible? (Casper Journal, WY)

http://www.casperjournal.com/articles/2010/06/18/news/news31.now%20you%20see%20them-cell%20towers.txt

Solar Trees Camouflage About as Well as Cell Phone Towers (Tree Hugger)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/solar-trees-camouflage-about-as-well-as-cell-phone-towers.php

Recipe for Green Tires: Plants, Not Petroleum (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/automobiles/20TIRE.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

PC World Blogger Likes St. Louis for Google Fiber Project (St. Louis Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/06/14/daily63.html

Twitter Traffic Spikes with World Cup Goals (Associated Press)

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15327693

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Fired - And Paid: If You’re One of These Guys, Getting the Boot Doesn’t Seem to be Such a Bad Thing; in fact, it appears to be quite profitable (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jun/20/Fired-and-paid/

No Violation of First Amendment - Supreme Court Affirms Ban on Aiding Groups Tied to Terror (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/us/politics/22scotus.html

GENERAL NEWS

What’s Up with This Nasty Weather? (Northwest Cable News)

http://www.nwcn.com/news/This-Is-Summer-96766309.html

Two State Department of Licensing Workers Arrested in Driver’s License Scam (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012151349_license19m.html

Thieves Pack out Hundreds of Pounds of Wire from Westport Shipyards (Aberdeen Daily World WA)

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/06/20/local_news/doc4c1db7481380e818872887.txt

Shelton: Credit Union Promotes Chief Operating Officer (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/06/20/1278313/shelton-credit-union-promotes.html