PORTS * Drop in port cargo traffic seen -- Container volume expected to fall for second year in a row, then inch up http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/537341.html <http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/537341.html> Forget those heady days of two years ago when it looked as if the Port of Tacoma's traffic would continue to climb steeply into the future. * Third runway opponents see victory in concessions -- Environmental fight was long one http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/387805_runway14.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/387805_runway14.html> The EPA is responsible for regulating aircraft emissions, said Dennis McLerran, executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, who was "disappointed" at the "passive stance" the EPA has taken on negotiating for jet fuel standards... [Ecology] did get an EPA grant to do limited, regional testing. Williamson's results were published as part of Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's October 2003 air toxics report, which found that Sea-Tac's potential cancer risk appears slightly lower than Georgetown's and Beacon Hill's, neighbors of both highways and industry. The study conceded "it is possible that the airport emissions do not significantly impact the monitors because the emissions are diluted over the area... "The port has "really been a leader nationally amongst airports in setting up environmental management, looking at waste streams, working with tenants around what they do, moving taxis to natural gas, working with shuttle fleet operators. All things they are doing that they don't have to do," McLerran said. CLIMATE * 'Brown clouds' pose threat to human life -- Asia hit hard, U.N. report says http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/387798_toxiccloud14.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/387798_toxiccloud14.html> The byproduct of automobiles, slash-and-burn agriculture, wood-burning kitchen stoves and coal-fired power plants, these plumes of carbon dust rise over southern Africa, the Amazon basin and North America. But they are most pronounced in Asia, where so-called atmospheric brown clouds are dramatically reducing sunlight in many Chinese cities and leading to decreased crop yields in swaths of rural India, says a team of more than a dozen scientists who have been studying the problem since 2002. Combined with mounting evidence that greenhouse gases are leading to a rise in global temperatures, the report's authors urge governments both rich and poor to address the problem of carbon emissions. * UN: Clouds of pollution threaten glaciers, health http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_sc/as_china_brown_clouds;_ylt= Ahdspag9cCuA24t4z4YICpis0NUE <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_sc/as_china_brown_clouds;_ylt =Ahdspag9cCuA24t4z4YICpis0NUE> The huge smog-like plumes, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and firewood, are known as "atmospheric brown clouds." * Wide Spread and Complex Climatic Changes Outlined in New UNEP Project Atmospheric Brown Cloud Report -- Cities Across Asia Get Dimmer: Impacts on Glaciers, Agriculture and the Monsoon Get Clearer http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=550&Ar ticleID=5978&l=en <http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=550&A rticleID=5978&l=en> The brown clouds, the result of burning of fossil fuels and biomass, are in some cases and regions aggravating the impacts of greenhouse gas-induced climate change, says the report. * Commentary: How Obama can start to save planet http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/387753_dominick14.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/387753_dominick14.html> State governments are already engaged in finding solutions. As president-elect, Obama could host a summit and engage his Cabinet in cooperation with these efforts. FUEL EFFICIENCY * 'Perfect' flight cuts emissions -- Friday trip from Australia also an effort to improve efficiency http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/387803_boeing14.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/387803_boeing14.html> The flight is part of a long-term effort by The Boeing Co., airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and others to improve the air traffic control system and make flying more efficient, while also reducing jet-engine emissions that contribute to climate change and global warming... Commercial jets contribute about 3 percent of the world's carbon emissions, according to most studies. The airline industry is under pressure to greatly reduce those emissions. Some scientists believe the emissions are more harmful because they occur at high altitudes. DIESEL * Kenworth to lay off 421 workers http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/387874_kenworthcuts15.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/387874_kenworthcuts15.html> Kenworth said the cuts are due to a slowing economy and truck market. Heavy-duty truck sales were 322,000 in the U.S. and Canada in 2006, but fell to 176,000 in 2007 and are expected to be about 2008 this year. * Paccar plans layoffs, production cutback http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008389570_pacc ar13.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008389570_pac car13.html> Paccar estimates that retail sales of heavy-duty trucks will reach 150,000 in the U.S. and Canada this year, down from 176,000 in 2007 and 322,000 in 2006, according to Parietti. * Rollout of Environmental Manual for Biodiesel Facilities http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f533 7/d50c39232ad3d2b38525750000715ba8!OpenDocument <http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f53 37/d50c39232ad3d2b38525750000715ba8!OpenDocument> EPA Region 7 has developed a user-friendly manual that identifies environmental regulatory rules and requirements for the construction and operation of biodiesel production facilities. NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis. 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