REGISTERED SOURCE * Everett approves new cement plant -- Cemex's plan to consolidate two existing plants at the mouth of the Snohomish River won't disturb the neighborhood, planners say. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081117/NEWS01/711179936#Everett.appro ves.new.cement.plant <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081117/NEWS01/711179936#Everett.appr oves.new.cement.plant> The new plant northeast of Legion Memorial Golf Course would have to follow city noise ordinances and odor and emissions rules regulated by the Puget Sound Clear Air Agency. Everett planners who recommended approval of the project say it won't likely conflict with the neighborhood. The project site is 60 feet below the closest homes. There is also a row of large deciduous trees along West Marine View Drive separating the industrial area from homes. Environmental analysis of the project concludes that it will not generate significant noise, smoke, dust, odor, glare or other undesirable effects. * Kimberly-Clark keeps closer eye on its Everett wood pile http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081119/NEWS01/711199795#Kimberly-Clar k.keeps.closer.eye.on.its.Everett.wood.pile <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081119/NEWS01/711199795#Kimberly-Cla rk.keeps.closer.eye.on.its.Everett.wood.pile> The Snohomish Health District is also reviewing the plan. While wood-based fuel products are typically exempt from the district's jurisdiction, failure to follow air pollution rules could create a situation where the heath district could require Kimberly-Clark to apply for permits to manage the pile... The company agreed earlier this year to pay a $165,000 settlement to the state environmental agency and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for mismanaging the pile. The money was funneled into a state program to help people replace inefficient wood stoves with cleaner-burning stoves that send fewer small particulates in the air, which can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease. AIR POLLUTION * EPA plan would ease rules for National Parks -- The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants and oil refineries near national parks. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27796298/from/ET/ <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27796298/from/ET/> The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing... While limiting pollution in national parks does not have the broad public health implications of federal air-quality rules that govern soot or airborne lead pollution, it has symbolic and ecological importance. The four major pollutants affecting the parks -- sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and mercury -- contribute to degrading once-pristine habitats that Congress sought to preserve for generations when it decided to protect those areas. ENERGY * Concerns emerge about environmental effects of wave-energy technology http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008399727_oceanenergy17 m.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008399727_oceanenergy1 7m.html> In the past three years, more than 100 preliminary permits have been issued nationally for wave- and tidal-energy projects, and nearly 100 more are pending approval. But only one has won a license to operate - a small wave-energy development off Washington's northwest coast... Tapping the power of waves and tidal currents to generate electricity is promoted as one of many promising alternatives to the fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. But no one knows exactly how the technologies will behave in the water, whether animals will get hurt, or if costs will pencil out. The permitting process is expensive and cumbersome, and no set method exists for getting projects up and running. * Green at heart of Panasonic's bid for Sanyo http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/388237_panasonic18.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/388237_panasonic18.html> The crown jewels Panasonic wants from Sanyo are green. The ability to acquire Sanyo's two green-energy pillars, solar cell technology and rechargeable batteries, are what drove Panasonic to announce this month it would negotiate a deal with Sanyo's main stockholders, Goldman Sachs Inc., Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Co. Analysts expect the price to be $5 billion to $8.5 billion... Sanyo also leads in rechargeable batteries, widely used in laptops and mobile phones. Their uses are expected to grow in cars, such as hybrids and electric vehicles, as emission standards tighten. * Changing the Climate: Looking Toward a More Cost Effective, Energy Efficient Future http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f533 7/2a136aff7c04e9b4852575050069f220!OpenDocument <http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f53 37/2a136aff7c04e9b4852575050069f220!OpenDocument> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy are helping states lead the way in an effort to promote low cost energy efficiency. More than 60 energy, environmental and state policy leaders from across the country have come together to produce the updated National Action Plan Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change. The action plan outlines strategies to help lower the growth in energy demand across the country by more than 50 percent, and shows ways to save more than $500 billion in net savings over the next 20 years. These actions may help to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 90 million vehicles. FUEL * Editorial: Upsides and downsides to suddenly cheap gas http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/537304.html <http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/537304.html> As is often the case in economics, the upside has a downside. For starters, lower petroleum and natural gas costs - combined with tightening credit - have put a kink in what had been aggressive efforts to develop solar power, cellulosic ethanol and other renewable forms of energy. That's the future, and the sooner we get to it, the better. Also, painfully expensive gasoline was teaching this country to conserve fuel. Americans had finally started asking themselves, "Is this trip really necessary?" ...The threat now is that Americans will be too quick to forget what they've just been through. If they abandon their newfound frugality with gasoline, its price will start shooting right back up again. * "Fuel" filmmaker Josh Tickell finds the "wow" in algae http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2008392771_fuel17.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2008392771_fuel17.html> Algae is just the tip of the clean-energy-sources-you've-never-heard-of iceberg explored in this movie. There are many more in "Fuel," a documentary that might, only a year ago, have been spitting in the prevailing wind of America's costly and destructive oil addiction. * Film 'fuels' green energy http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/388396_Joel19.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/388396_Joel19.html> "Fuel" is both an education and an oft-goofy romp. Sheryl Crow and Julia Roberts have cameo roles. Larry Hagman critiques the character he played in "Dallas." Willie Nelson plays nursemaid to a truck stop that peddles veggie fuels. * Renewable Fuel Standard Increased for 2009 http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f533 7/0f3e526ff7814a7e852575040063b300!OpenDocument <http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f53 37/0f3e526ff7814a7e852575040063b300!OpenDocument> The 2009 renewable fuel standard (RFS) will be 10.21 percent to ensure that at least 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into transportation gasoline. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established the annual overall renewable fuel volume targets, reaching a level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, EPA calculates a percentage-based standard by November 30 for the following year. CLIMATE * Schwarzenegger opens climate change summit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_re_us/schwarzenegger_summit;_y lt=AsMgx8N27H_ty4avRNFnjsms0NUE <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_re_us/schwarzenegger_summit;_ ylt=AsMgx8N27H_ty4avRNFnjsms0NUE> President-elect Barack Obama, who spoke to participants in a taped video, said the U.S. economy would continue to weaken if climate change and dependence on foreign oil are left unaddressed. The two-day summit has drawn more than 800 scientists, environmentalists, government and industry officials to discuss strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions. * Pollution levels off, report says -- But data is from 2006, and doesn't include China http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/388288_climate18.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/388288_climate18.html> Emissions from industrialized countries plateaued in 2006 after six years of growth, the United Nations said Monday. But the countries have not yet reported emissions from the past two years, and the new report did not include large emerging economies like those of India and China... Overall, among the 40 industrialized countries that reported to the United Nations, emissions had increased by 2.5 percent from 2000 to 2006, leading the climate panel to denounce what it called "continued growth." * Moscow School Determines its Greenhouse Gas Emissions http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=16342 <http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=16342> The University of Idaho has joined dozens of colleges and universities nationwide in tackling a question that's more than just academic. The Moscow-based school has calculated its carbon footprint. That's the measure of how much carbon dioxide the university sends into the atmosphere. Administrators at the University of Idaho campus have signed an agreement with other schools to reduce their emissions to zero. They don't know when the university will reach that, but they say this baseline calculation will help them to track their progress. NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis. Consuelo Davis Communications Dept. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency 206-689-4074 consueloF@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