By request, the burn ban hotline number Checking Burn Ban Status How can I find out when a burn ban is called or cancelled? There are many ways to check burn ban status. * The best way is to join our Clean Air Action Network<http://pscleanair.org/news/agencynews.aspx> to receive electronic notification of burn bans. You'll be among the first to know when burn bans are issued and cancelled, or advised when weather conditions indicate a ban is likely. * Check the Air Actions box in the upper right corner of most pages on our Web site for burn ban status<http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/status.aspx>. This box is updated as conditions change, 365 days a year. [cid:image001.gif@01C9BE9D.36810DA0] * Call our burn ban InfoLine: 1-800-595-4341. * Check TV and radio weather reports. DIESEL SOLUTIONS * Port of Seattle ties breaks on rent to clean air http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009055349_webport15m.html The Port plan calls for terminal operators to become gatekeepers who would prohibit pre-1994 trucks from working on Port property. It also creates a $1.5 million fund to buy old trucks from drivers and scrap them. * Clean-air policy a problem for some Port of Seattle truckers. http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_041409BUB-trucks-port-KS.d61a82c1.html Today Port of Seattle commissioners voted for a plan to get rid of the older trucks that create pollution. * Port Commissioners Approve Customer Support, Clean Air Package http://www.portseattle.org/news/press/2009/04_14_2009_01.shtml Port of Seattle Commissioners approved a plan Tuesday that protects jobs, supports local truckers and maritime cargo customers, and reduces diesel emissions. The clean air plan will keep older, more polluting trucks off roads and Port terminals; the customer support plan reduces fees and defers some payments from terminal operators... The Port sees its green port strategy as both a way to improve its competitive position and promote sustainable practices. The Port of Seattle will continue to demonstrate this environmental commitment by contributing $2.3 million to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA). The Port is investing the funds in programs that reduce diesel emission from maritime sources, particularly a program that buys back pre-1994 trucks and scraps them. Additional funds available from other sources will be used to assist truckers with replacing older trucks with newer, cleaner retrofits that produce less pollution. * Environmental groups to seek Congress' help on clean truck program. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-clean-trucks-teamsters15-2009apr15,0,3705834.story Clean air advocates will ask Congressional lawmakers for help in revising laws after a federal court ruled many of the provisions of the port clean truck program unconstitutional * Diesel Pollution Should Decline http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1492835&sectionID=2366 The air should be getting a little cleaner near the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, and along many streets and highways. Federal grants are paying for technology to reduce diesel exhaust. HEALTH & AIR QUALITY * Asthma plus traffic equals poor lung function. http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKTRE53D6T120090414 The results of a new study appear to expand the link between traffic exposure and poor lung function among people with asthma. WOOD BURNING * Letter to the Editor: Penalties help those with respiratory problems http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/northwestvoices/2009/04/14/man_cited_for_wood-burning.html It is well-known that many respiratory diseases are caused and exacerbated by such environmental degradation as wood smoke. The article couches the problem abstractly in terms of rules, penalties, bureaucrats, etc. I feel that the article gave little attention to the reason for those rules, penalties and bureaucrats -- living, breathing human beings. CLIMATE * State house approves limits on greenhouse gas emissions http://www.komonews.com/news/local/43035637.html The Washington state House worked into early Wednesday to pass a bill taking steps toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions. But creating a cap and trade system was not among them. A significantly altered version of what started out as a cap and trade bill passed 59 to 37. The Senate already passed the bill. Now the two chambers will reconcile differences. Supporters say the bill moves the state in the right direction toward limiting emissions blamed for climate change. Opponents say the bill will hurt businesses by increasing energy costs, which would make them less competitive with other states and countries. * Who's going to get the carbon pollution credits? http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/04/14/whos-going-to-get-the-carbon-pollution-credits/ Carol Browner, John Holdren, and US Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., say that global warming and US energy security are connected by the need to sharply curb the burning fossil fuels to make electricity and drive vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions * Study: Worst warming impacts are avoidable. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30214341 So what would the world's temperatures, and the planet, look like in 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continued as is? And if they were cut by 70 percent? FUELS * Snohomish County biodiesel project moving forward http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009031559_webbiodiesel13m.html The goal is to support local farmers and produce enough alternative fuel to run the county's diesel fleet. The project is being built at the old Cathcart landfill to use its methane gas for seed driers. * Gasoline expected to remain cheap this summer http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009045667_apsummergasoline.html More ethanol will be blended with gasoline this year, as required by law. The EIA said an average of 670,000 barrels a day of ethanol to be blended, compared to 635,000 barrels a day last summer. Still, the EIA said the growth of ethanol plant capacity will slow dramatically in 2009 as lower gasoline prices depress profits in ethanol production and the constraints in the financial markets curtail plant construction plans. * NW Biodiesel Makers Fear Biggest Customer May Sail Away http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1493239&sectionID=1 Northwest biodiesel producers fear they're about to lose their biggest potential customer. Many biodiesel companies are barely surviving the down economy. Then again, the big customer in question, the Washington State Ferries, has money issues of its own. KPLU's Tom Banse reports on the difficult balance between pinching pennies and living green. VEHICLE CHOICES * Small cars get poor marks in collision tests http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009037225_apcrashtests.html Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they don't fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles. * An Italian electric car, a solar Porsche plant and recycled bumpers http://blog.marketplace.nwsource.com/nwautos/2009/04/a_solar_porsche_plant_an_italian_electric_car_and_recycled_bumpers.html?cmpid=2627 * PROMISES, PROMISES: Plug-in cars goal hard to hit http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1151ap_obama_plug_ins.html President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to put 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015 is fraught with difficulties, from technical and engineering hurdles to the realities of the economy and the price of gasoline. ENERGY * Tidal-energy project stays on course after UW's tests on Puget Sound http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2009054791_tidal15m.html Researchers from the University of Washington spent four days last week on board a vessel collecting data, capturing underwater video and measuring velocity in Admiralty Inlet between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. The channel likely will host one of the nation's largest tidal-energy projects. UW researchers said last week's tests confirmed the location is ideal for capturing tidal energy. The team gathered some initial data and will return two more times this year to monitor the site. GREEN BUILDING * Does green building make cents? It depends -- Two new studies offer conflicting views http://www.seattlepi.com/local/405135_green15.html A new study says the Living Building Challenge criteria pay back their added cost within a reasonable period in most cases, compared with buildings with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification, which is the second-highest level in the U.S. Green Building Council's rating program. Another new Washington study, however, says new green schools do not save enough energy to recover their extra costs. NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis. Consuelo Davis Communications Dept. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency 206-689-4074 consueloD@pscleanair.org 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