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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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES
Six
Western US States Abandon Carbon-Trade Partnership – British Columbia’s future
in ambitious greenhouse-gas deal unclear (Vancouver Sun, BC)
Cowlitz Silver Salmon Run Could Set Record
(Oregon Public Broadcasting)
PT
AirWatchers Complain of Port Townsend Mill’s Smoke, Odor (Peninsula Daily News,
Port Angeles, WA)
Chelan PUD to Measure Customer Opinions about
Fiber-Optics (Wenatchee World, WA)
The
Big Fix - Why Your Water Bill Must Go Up (The Atlantic)
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
- Australian Company Buys Stake in Montana & Wyoming Coal Mines
- California - Giant New Utility Poles Spark Controversy in Chino Hills
- California - Pacific Gas & Electric Will Turn Over Major Parcels of Land to Public Agencies
- California Law Allows State PUC to Keep Utilities Data Secret
- Virginia Nuclear Power Plant at Full Power after Quake Shutdown
- Connecticut - State’s Electric Rates Fall to 4th-Most Expensive in US
- New York - Con Ed 10% Hike a Shock amid Low US Bills
- How Smart Grid Keeps You Safe in Winter Storms
- Greek Activists Take On the Power Company - Illegally reconnect households
- Sixth Earthquake in Four Days Recorded in Oklahoma
- New York - Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill for Gas
- Fracking Surge Leads to Huge Demand For Sand, Report Says
- United Kingdom - Anger as Scrap Metal Thieves Cause Coventry Substation Fire
- Cowlitz Silver Salmon Run Could Set Record
- e to Improve Salmon, Steelhead Habitat
- Salmon Help Attract Bald Eagles to the Upper Skagit River Valley
- Atlantic Salmon Debacle Being Repeated in the North Pacific
- Northwest Oyster Die-offs Show Ocean Acidification Has Arrived
- Invasive Species Are a Blight on US Landscape
- The Big Fix - Why Your Water Bill Must Go Up
- Washington State Ecology Chief: New Pollution Undoing Cleanup
- Washington State Seeks Federal Funds to Rid Commencement Bay of Pollutants
- A Moment in Time With the Belfair Water District
- PT AirWatchers Complain of Port Townsend Mill’s Smoke, Odor
- Editorial - Clark County: Make Use of (Wood) Scraps
- Oregon - Baker County Looks at Private Wind Farm Easement
- California Renewable Energy Goals Come at a Price
- Op/Ed - Energy Subsidies Stymie Wind, Solar Innovation
- China to Investigate US Renewable Energy Policies as Trade Conflict Escalates
- Clean Energy Market: China Promises Open Access
- Why Google Ditching Its Clean Power Research Isn’t a Big Deal
- Wyoming Garbage-Fueled Power Plants Move Forward
- Massachusetts Hopes to Transform Old Landfills into Solar, Wind Projects
- Phase Two of Seattle Building Energy Tracking Program Begins
- TV Sucking Up Energy? Some New Ones Just Sip
- Six Western US States Abandon Carbon-Trade Partnership
- Washington State Withdraws from Western Climate Scheme
- Oregon Steps Back from Western Climate Initiative
- International Climate Negotiations Open, Focus on Emissions Cuts
- Has British Columbia’s Carbon Tax Worked?
- Utah to Deploy Electric Bus That Needs No Plug
- Solar-Powered Life Cuts Kaysville Man’s Energy Bill Down to $100 A Year
- The Competition Between Solar & Nuclear Energy Moves to Mars
- Paint-On Solar Cells: The Next Game-Changer?
- Chelan PUD to Measure Customer Opinions about Fiber-Optics
- First Look: Fortune’s New Oregon Data Center
- Cloud Centers Bring High-Tech Flash but Not Many Jobs to Beaten-Down Towns
- 2012: Cloud Computing Hits Adolescence for Better or Worse
- AT&T Withdraws T-Mobile Deal Application at FCC
- Parents Hold Kids from School to Protest Wi-Fi
- Washington State Legislature - Political Climate Different for This Special Session
- Tax-Increase Fight Likely to Dominate Washington State Legislature’s Session
- Moody’s Warns US Not to Back Off Automatic Deficit Cuts
- Dissent Arises Over Upcoming Phase of Belfair Sewer Development
- Boeing May Exceed Aerial Tanker Cost Ceiling by $500 Million
- Businesses Hire Private Investigators to Trawl Social Media
WORD OF THE DAY
Impute • \im-PYOOT\ • Verb - 1: to lay the
responsibility or blame for often falsely or unjustly 2: to credit to a person
or a cause
“It was your entire fault,” Barty’s supervisor had barked when a loosely
attached cotter pin flew from an axle on the lawnmower, engaged itself in the
whirling blades and was ejected through the window of a nearby “Silverstream”
trailer. Barty’s effort to impute the cause of “plain bad luck,” was rejected
out of hand by the boss who stated, “the fault, dear Barty, is not in our
stars, but in yourself.”
Sorry about playing fast & loose with the Bard….
SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS
ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES
Australian Company Buys Stake in Montana &
Wyoming Coal Mines (Associated Press)
California
- Giant New Utility Poles Spark Controversy in Chino Hills: Southern California
Edison is building a transmission line for wind-generated electricity (Los
Angeles Times, CA)
California - Pacific Gas & Electric Will Turn
Over Major Parcels of Land to Public Agencies (Sacramento Bee, CA)
California Law Allows State PUC to Keep Utilities
Data Secret (SF Chronicle)
Virginia Nuclear Power Plant at Full Power after
Quake Shutdown (Associated Press)
Connecticut - State’s Electric Rates Fall to
4th-Most Expensive in US (Republican-American, Waterbury, CT – Now that’s
spin!)
New York - Con Ed 10% Hike a Shock amid Low US
Bills (New York Post)
How Smart Grid Keeps You Safe in Winter Storms (The
Energy Collective)
Greek Activists Take On the Power Company - Illegally
reconnect households back to the electric grid (Associated Press)
Sixth Earthquake in Four Days Recorded in Oklahoma (Associated
Press)
New York - Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill
for Gas (NY Times)
Fracking Surge Leads to Huge Demand For Sand,
Report Says (Houston Business Journal, TX)
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2011/11/25/fracking-surge-leads-to-huge-demand.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2011/11/25/fracking-surge-leads-to-huge-demand.html
United Kingdom - Anger as Scrap Metal Thieves Cause
Coventry Substation Fire (The Coventry Telegraph, UK)
FISH & WILDLIFE
Cowlitz Silver Salmon Run Could Set Record
(Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Oregon - Agencies to Remove Sandy River Dike to
Improve Salmon, Steelhead Habitat (Oregonian,
Portland)
Salmon Help Attract Bald Eagles to the Upper
Skagit River Valley (Olympian, WA)
Atlantic Salmon Debacle Being Repeated in the
North Pacific (Anchorage Daily News, AK)
Northwest Oyster Die-offs Show Ocean
Acidification Has Arrived (Yale Environment 360)
Invasive Species Are a Blight on US Landscape (USA Today)
WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT
The
Big Fix - Why Your Water Bill Must Go Up (The Atlantic)
Washington
State Ecology Chief: New Pollution Undoing Cleanup (Seattle Times)
Washington
State Seeks Federal Funds to Rid Commencement Bay of Pollutants (News Tribune,
Tacoma, WA)
A
Moment in Time With the Belfair Water District (Kitsap
Sun, Bremerton, WA)
RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
PT
AirWatchers Complain of Port Townsend Mill’s Smoke, Odor (Peninsula Daily News,
Port Angeles, WA)
Editorial
- Clark County: Make Use of Scraps - Work done toward rejected biomass plant
can fuel next, possibly successful proposal (Vancouver Columbian, WA)
Oregon
- Baker County Looks at Private Wind Farm Easement (Baker Quick News, OR)
California
Renewable Energy Goals Come at a Price - State’s renewable energy brings higher
utility bills (SF Chronicle)
Op/Ed
- Energy Subsidies Stymie Wind, Solar Innovation (Bloomberg News)
China
to Investigate US Renewable Energy Policies as Trade Conflict Escalates (Oregonian, Portland)
Clean
Energy Market: China Promises Open Access (Christian
Science Monitor)
Why
Google Ditching Its Clean Power Research Isn’t a Big Deal (GigaOM)
Wyoming
Garbage-Fueled Power Plants Move Forward (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-garbage-fueled-power-plants-move-forward/article_3f8fc285-7cfb-5d4a-8804-6e11f059ed8f.html
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-garbage-fueled-power-plants-move-forward/article_3f8fc285-7cfb-5d4a-8804-6e11f059ed8f.html
Massachusetts
Hopes to Transform Old Landfills into Solar, Wind Projects (Brockton
Enterprise, MA)
CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY
Phase
Two of Seattle Building Energy Tracking Program Begins (Puget Sound Business
Journal, WA)
TV
Sucking Up Energy? Some New Ones Just Sip (Oregonian,
Portland)
CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT
Six
Western US States Abandon Carbon-Trade Partnership – British Columbia’s future
in ambitious greenhouse-gas deal unclear (Vancouver Sun, BC)
Washington
State Withdraws from Western Climate Scheme (Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal)
Oregon
Steps Back from Western Climate Initiative (Sustainable
Business Oregon)
International
Climate Negotiations Open, Focus on Emissions Cuts (Associated Press)
Has
British Columbia’s Carbon Tax Worked? Experts are divided on what the levy has achieved
& how it must evolve (The Tyee, BC)
BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI
Utah
to Deploy Electric Bus That Needs No Plug (Associated Press)
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Utah-to-deploy-electric-bus-that-needs-no-plug-2292324.php
Solar-Powered
Life Cuts Kaysville Man’s Energy Bill Down to $100 A Year (KSTU-TV, Salt Lake
City, UT)
http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-solar-energy-solarpowered-life-cuts-kaysville-mans-energy-bill-down-to-100-a-year-20111127,0,386425.story
http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-solar-energy-solarpowered-life-cuts-kaysville-mans-energy-bill-down-to-100-a-year-20111127,0,386425.story
The
Competition Between Solar & Nuclear Energy Moves to Mars (NY Times)
Paint-On
Solar Cells: The Next Game-Changer? (Victoria Times Colonist, BC)
TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Chelan PUD to Measure Customer Opinions about
Fiber-Optics (Wenatchee World, WA)
First Look: Fortune’s New Oregon Data Center (Data
Center Knowledge)
Cloud Centers Bring High-Tech Flash but Not Many
Jobs to Beaten-Down Towns (Washington Post)
2012: Cloud Computing Hits Adolescence for Better
or Worse (GigaOM)
AT&T Withdraws T-Mobile Deal Application at FCC
- Uses Thanksgiving Distraction to Minimize PR Hit (Broadband Reports)
Parents Hold Kids from School to Protest Wi-Fi - Toronto
Parents Insist Wi-Fi is Bad for You (Broadband Reports)
POLITICS & GOVERNANCE
Washington State Legislature - Political Climate
Different for This Special Session (Olympian, WA)
Tax-Increase Fight Likely to Dominate Washington
State Legislature’s Session (Seattle Times)
Moody’s Warns US Not to Back Off Automatic Deficit
Cuts (Associated Press)
GENERAL NEWS
Dissent Arises Over Upcoming Phase of Belfair Sewer
Development (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
Body Found On Shelton-Area Beach Over the Weekend Identified
(KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
Boeing May Exceed Aerial Tanker Cost Ceiling by
$500 Million (Washington Post)
Businesses Hire Private Investigators to Trawl
Social Media (Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH)
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/northeast_ohio_businesses_are.html
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/northeast_ohio_businesses_are.html
DIVERSIONS
Fallen Tree Destroys Scofflaw’s Car
Yes, You Can Now Buy Actual Dunder Mifflin Paper
(PG-13 Content)
Items in ‘12 Days of Christmas’ Now Top $100K
Bye, Bye: McLean Clears Up ‘American Pie’ Origins
SONG OF THE DAY - BUBBLEGUM MONDAY
Bay
City Rollers - I Only Want To Be With You
