TRANSPORTATION * Web site launched to coax users onto shared transit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/401586_commute27.html The Web site CommuteSeattle.com aims to be the one spot online that people can go to and find information about all the public transit choices available, as well as walking, biking, taxis and car-sharing. There's also commuter alerts, and news and traffic updates. * A drop in traffic congestion? Unemployed may be behind it -- Snarls, travel times down, report says http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/401653_congestion27.html The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area remained the ninth-most congested metropolitan region in the country, according to a report by Kirkland-based traffic research firm INRIX, but it was 28 percent less congested, based on the company's analysis of travel by vehicles equipped with global positioning or other navigation systems... State and federal officials agree Americans have driven less during the past 14 months but aren't sure what's causing it. * Panel: Raise gas tax, charge drivers by the mile http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090227/ap_on_go_ot/mileage_tax Its report Thursday warns that if government fails to find a new way to raise money, "we will suffer grim consequences in the future: unimaginable levels of congestion, reduced safety, costlier goods and services, an eroded quality of life, and diminished economic competitiveness as a nation." The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission says the current 18.4 cents a gallon gas tax and 24.4 cents a gallon diesel tax are not raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of highway, bridge and transit projects. The commission proposes lifting the gasoline tax by 10 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 15 cents per gallon, and adjusting both for inflation. The report also says fuel taxes increasingly will become a less reliable way to pay for highway construction as people drive more fuel efficient vehicles and the number of electric and alternative fuel cars and trucks grows. * Puget Sound Regional Council vets roads wish list for stimulus funds http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/03/02/story6.html But the federal funding may help some long-desired roads projects that planners believe will generate jobs in the short term and foster economic development in the future. <<Puget Sound Regional Council vets roads wish list for stimulus funds - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> VEHICLE CHOICES * Prius 'best value' for consumers http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090227/BIZ/702279914#Prius.best.value.for.consumers Consumer Reports magazine said the 2009 Toyota Prius Touring edition offers the best value for a new car. The magazine's April edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, released results Thursday of its best cars of 2009... The ranking takes into account the total cost of ownership over five years, and weighs fuel costs, maintenance and repairs, insurance costs, depreciation, financing rates and taxes against the price and reliability of the vehicle. EVERGREEN FLEETS * Lead-in to LEED. Puget Sound begins developing the nation's first "green certification" program. <<LEED4fleets.pdf>> FUELS * Propel Fuels leaves native Seattle for biofuel-friendlier California http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/401636_propel27.html Propel was founded in Seattle in 2004. It started expanding its operations into California in June 2008 and in January announced that its headquarters had shifted. There are now two full- and two part-time employees in Seattle and 15 full-time employees in Sacramento. ENERGY * Obama budget proposes shift to green energy http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget_energy;_ylt=AqGflDypvhecIm4F1zJvo8cPLBIF President Barack Obama's first budget plan moves aggressively to tackle climate change and shift the nation from reliance on foreign oil to green energy. The proposed budget released Thursday by the White House would rely on $15 billion a year, beginning in 2012, from auctioning off carbon pollution permits to help develop clean-energy technologies, such as solar and wind power. But Congress has yet to write a bill that would regulate heat-trapping gases and collect that money. * US lawmakers urge 'greener' Capitol http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090227/pl_afp/usenvironmentcongressenergy;_ylt=Agf4bNv.B_GdMDIgFmRYtycPLBIF Top Democratic lawmakers Thursday urged Congress architect Stephen Ayers to switch the Capitol's century-old power plant from burning coal to using natural gas, in keeping with an initiative launched in 2007. * Opinion: Federal green incentives need legislative push http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/03/02/editorial5.html The "Efficiency First" legislation proposed by Rep. Christine Rolfes, D-Kitsap County, and Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, is built on the knowledge that energy efficiency is the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way to meet both rising energy needs and the state's goals for reducing greenhouse-gas pollution... The Efficiency First legislation will help Washington businesses, public institutions and homeowners claim their share of energy-related stimulus dollars. The money will go to good clean-energy programs and projects that create the most jobs and have the most immediate effects. <<Federal green incentives need legislative push - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> WOOD HEATING * National Forest has problem with firewood poaching http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/401737_woodpoaching28.html Firewood poaching is becoming a problem in Olympic National Forest. People can buy inexpensive permits to cut down trees in certain areas of the nation's natural forest. But Forest Service officials say some people are cutting down wood without a permit in protected areas. The rules restrict firewood cutting to areas along Forest Service roads. Live trees cannot be cut under any circumstances. But officials in Olympic National Forest say people are breaking all the rules. 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