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NW power grid project gets $89 million
Seattle Times
11/24/2009
A project to examine how high technology can improve the Pacific Northwest's electric power grid has received an $88.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy.
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Energy push spurs shift in US science
Wall Street Journal
11/24/2009
The Obama administration's push to solve the nation's energy problems, a massive federal program that rivals the Manhattan Project, is spurring a once-in-a-generation shift in US science.
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US to set emissions target before climate talks
New York Times
11/23/2009
The United States will propose a near-term target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, a senior administration official said Monday.
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Green redemption
The Economist
11/24/2009
Depending on how you view it, climate change is either the biggest problem mankind faces or its greatest financial opportunity. For example, McKinsey has become known as a climate-change consultant, thanks to its greenhouse gas "cost abatement curve" showing the relative opportunity costs of different abatement activities.
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Views: Signs of hope in our energy future
New York Times
11/24/2009
Is the economic, social and physical deterioration that has caused so much misery in the Motor City a sign of what's in store for larger and larger segments of the United States? Or are there new industries waiting in the wings with new jobs and bright new prospects for whole new generations of American dreamers?
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Working plan looks closer for NW salmon protection
Oregonian
11/24/2009
Many hoped more than 10 years of lawsuits over protecting Northwest salmon and running Columbia Basin dams would finally come to a close in a Portland courtroom Monday.
They didn’t, but the end could be in sight.
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Study sees transit saving CA's energy, cutting greenhouse gas
Sacramento Bee
11/24/2009
A new study says Californians could save billions each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by developing neighborhoods within easy access of public transportation.
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Canada needs 40 years to stabilize greenhouse gases
Kelowna.com
11/22/2009
Acting on climate change is urgent, but Canada needs 40 years to succeed in its own part of a global plan to stabilize the emissions that are warming the atmosphere, the country's top environment official said.
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Views: The Senate’s duty on climate
New York Times
11/22/2009
We cannot rewrite the Bush years any more than we can persuade the Chinese of the merits of a binding treaty to control greenhouse gases. What the United States can do is assume responsibility for its own emissions, and this the US Senate has manifestly failed to do.
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New economy cities: A Seattle slew of advantages
The Christian Science Monitor
11/22/2009
Seattle is the prototype city of the future. It embodies in one leafy landscape virtually all of the forces driving the New Economy – exports, an educated workforce, a vibrant high-tech base, a budding green-tech sector, and an enviable lifestyle. Still, Seattle is far from perfect.
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Review: An inconvenient solution
The Nation
11/22/2009
Occasionally, truth be told, Al Gore's book Our Choice verges on the nerdy. Taken as a whole, however, this is the most comprehensive and well-informed survey anyone has ever done of what we need to do to get off fossil fuel, writes Bill McKibben.
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Idaho Power's cloud seeding efforts
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/19/2009
Idaho Power Co. is investing up to $1 million to seed the clouds above Idaho's mountains in hopes of increasing the snowpack that holds the water that will drive the hydroelectric turbines to produce the cheapest power the company can get.
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Making sun, wind power more reliable
New York Times
11/19/2009
Technology and policy are coming together to promise electricity as abundant as sunshine and as freely available as the breeze -- and about as fickle. That could change.
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Physicians detail health hazards from coal
Oregonian
11/18/2009
A new report from the advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility concludes that pollutants from coal-fired power plants contribute to four of the five leading causes of mortality in the US: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Coal plants still provide about 40 percent of the electricity used in OR and nearly 20 percent in WA.
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Senate to put off climate bill until spring
Wall Street Journal
11/17/2009
Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.
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A Q&A with Al Gore
Seattle Times
11/17/2009
On a book tour in Seattle, former Vice President Al Gore weighs in on the Copenhagen climate summit, Obama's efforts so far, the prospects for US legislation, pseudo-science and garden-variety denial.
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OR governor orders review of energy tax credits
Oregonian
11/17/2009
Gov. Ted Kulongoski ordered a hurry-up review Tuesday of Oregon's incentives for renewable energy companies in the face of ongoing criticism of the tax breaks, asking whether the increasingly expensive Business Energy Tax Credit is necessary for continued expansion of renewable and wind energy.
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Where can I juice up my ride?
Washington Post
11/18/2009
As their manufacturers see it, the electric cars entering U.S. showrooms as early as next year will be engineering marvels: stylish, battery-operated, zero-emission wonders. Yet for all their technological prowess, there's one practical question that unsettles the green dreamers and entrepreneurs alike: Where, oh, where, can you plug them in?
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Boise company's solar charger may save gas
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/17/2009
Treasure Valley Solar is marketing a way to keep electronic devices revved up in the car without turning on the engine.
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Paying extra for green power, getting ads instead
New York Times
11/17/2009
Close to a million electricity customers have signed up for voluntary "green power" payments, and the amount of electricity sold in this way has nearly tripled since 2005, amid rising concern about climate change and energy security. But the participants are in a distinct minority, with a sign-up rate of only about 2 percent in programs run by utilities.
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Is 'cash for clunker appliances' coming to Seattle?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
11/17/2009
If you were hoping to buy a new, energy-efficient dishwasher or fridge with a federal rebate by Christmas, you're out of luck.
Cash for clunker appliances - officially known as the US Department of Energy's state energy efficient appliance rebate program - won't be available in Washington until February of next year.
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Views: Simon Frasier professors slam Campbell's energy plan
The Tyee
11/17/2009
Hobbling BC Hydro so private firms can profit big is bad public policy.
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EPA has new 'green homes' Web site
Oregonian
11/17/2009
The US Environmental Protection Agency has a new "Green Homes" Web site that aims to guide homeowners and renters toward environmentally friendly home improvement and yard care.
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Green Wave Energy may turn wind power on its axis
Los Angeles Times
11/17/2009
The company and investors are banking on the unconventional design of its microturbines that can generate energy by capturing breezes from any direction.
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So you want a green career?
Los Angeles Times
11/15/2009
Although the recession has emptied shopping malls and filled jobless centers, the call has only gotten louder for renewable energy, environmentally gentle products and eco-friendly practices - and for people to make all of that happen. The giant push has even created job opportunities for those with little or no experience.
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