TRANSPORTATION CHOICES * Reality check on plug-in cars http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2008771363_danny22.h tml <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2008771363_danny22. html> You may have seen the city's cars around town, painted with an eye-catching claim on the rear bumper: "This plug-in hybrid gets 100+mpg." Also, a greener boast: "150+City MPG!" Not exactly, it turns out. Not even close. Try 51 miles per gallon, city and highway combined. Not counting the cost of the electricity. It's what 14 plug-in Priuses averaged after driving a total of 17,636 miles. The pilot project is one of the few in the nation to subject plug-in hybrid cars to regular motor-pool duty, as opposed to being driven by hypermilers or alt-energy enthusiasts... Give it time, say smart, reasonable people like Turrentine. Still, the Seattle road tests are hinting at something bigger. That there is no magic techno bullet to going green. "Drive less" may be a boring message, not as sexy as "150+ City MPG!" It does have the advantage of not being a pipe dream. * Electric cars still years away from paying off. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101024296 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101024296> After years of producing gas guzzlers, auto makers are focusing more on electric vehicles. They may pay off one day, but making electric vehicles affordable and practical will take years. * Puyallup wants rapid bus line -- Along Meridian Street, it might look like a trolley and be called EZRA http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/635418.html <http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/635418.html> The line would ideally stop every 15 minutes or so, making it a reliable transportation option for people looking to travel between downtown Puyallup and locations such as Good Samaritan Hospital, Pierce College or the South Hill Mall, said city spokeswoman Glenda Carino. * Mountlake Terrace park-and-ride will have more room Monday http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090221/NEWS01/702219874#Mountlake.Ter race.park-and-ride.will.have.more.room.Monday <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090221/NEWS01/702219874#Mountlake.Te rrace.park-and-ride.will.have.more.room.Monday> >From its very beginning, in 1983, commuters who were aced out of spaces instead parked on nearby residential streets to catch buses at the park-and-ride... Community Transit on Monday opens a five-level garage and new surface lot for commuters. The transit center has room for 880 vehicles, compared to 387 before. Community Transit held an opening ceremony for the center on Friday. The garage was built with several environmentally friendly features, including 32 solar panels and recycled steel... Community Transit currently is planning one more park-and-ride lot, at Cedar Avenue and Grove Street in downtown Marysville. That $2.5 million lot, with 215 parking spaces, is scheduled to break ground this spring and open before the end of the year. CLIMATE PROTECTION * EPA set to move toward carbon-dioxide regulation. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123531391527642021.html <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123531391527642021.html> President Barack Obama's climate czar said the Environmental Protection Agency will soon determine that carbon-dioxide emissions represent a danger to the public and propose new rules to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gas from a range of industries. <<EPA Set to Move Toward Carbon-Dioxide Regulation - WSJ_com.htm>> * Satellite will track carbon dioxide. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/science/earth/23carbon.html?_r=1 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/science/earth/23carbon.html?_r=1> With the launch of a NASA satellite Tuesday, scientists hope to improve their understanding of the comings and goings of carbon dioxide. <<Satellite Will Track Carbon Dioxide - NYTimes_com.htm>> * Sun-powered device converts CO2 into fuel http://www.physorg.com/news154007555.html <http://www.physorg.com/news154007555.html> Powered only by natural sunlight, an array of catalytic titanium dioxide nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor into natural gas at rates 20 times higher than previous methods, Pennsylvania State University researchers have found. PORTS * Cleanup at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach begins to pay off. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-portair23-2009feb23,0,5271547.stor y <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-portair23-2009feb23,0,5271547.sto ry> An ambitious plan to clean up once-filthy air around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has shifted into high gear. Hundreds of 1988-and-older trucks have been banned since October. Others that don't meet 2007 air pollution standards began paying a $70 fee last week each time they haul cargo to and from the ports. This week, the first of a fleet of electric trucks will debut. And within three years, most ships will be able to plug into the ports' electrical grid and turn off their exhaust-belching diesel engines. * Sea-Tac air cargo operations display strength, despite slowdown http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/23/story10.html <http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/23/story10.html> <<Sea-Tac air cargo operations display strength, despite slowdown - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> HOME HEATING * Snow just won't go away in Darrington http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090223/NEWS01/702239913&news01ad=1#Sn ow.just.wont.go.away.in.Darrington <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090223/NEWS01/702239913&news01ad=1#S now.just.wont.go.away.in.Darrington> During the December snow, some people had a hard time getting out to their wood piles and keeping their homes warm... Lifelong Darrington folks such as retired logger Frank Bryson, 84, remember the winter of 1949-50 as being one of the worst, when the drifts were roof high and life came to a standstill... "I've already got my wood cut for next winter. You have to be prepared and that's something that some younger people don't get." Bill Smith Senior Environmental Specialist City of Tacoma Solid Waste Management 3510 S. Mullen Street Tacoma, WA 98409 253-593-7719 Phone 253-591-5547 Fax