REGISTERED SOURCES * Turning food, yard waste into compost http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_040809WAB-composting-LJ.b53c7a5e.html The people at Cedar Grove Composting say one way residents can help is putting out yard waste each weekly collection date. Many people save their bins and not put them out if they're not full. But Cedar Grove Composting people say they need to process the material sooner rather than later. * Darrington mill laying off 90 workers -- The Darrington job losses are part of a larger pullback for Hampton. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090408/BIZ/704089924#Darrington.mill.laying.off.90.workers Citing a downturn in the lumber market, officials at the Portland, Ore.-based Hampton Affiliates announced this week that they plan to cut production and lay off 43 percent of the sawmill and planer mill employees at the Darrington operation... Work at the mill has been sporadic since January. The mill was shut down for two weeks in February and two weeks in March. ENERGY * State's secret deal with coal plant sparks outcry http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008997025_coal07m.html Gov. Chris Gregoire's administration and owners of the state's only coal-fired power plant have secretly agreed to new air-pollution limits for the facility, sparking objections from a federal official and environmentalists. The tentative deal governs how much toxic mercury and smog-causing nitrogen oxides can come from the Centralia plant. * Editorial: Questions obscure pollution agreement over Centralia coal plant http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2009002339_edita08deal.html The crafting of the agreement outside the usual public process has environmental interests on alert. Joining the chorus of critics was a National Park Service official concerned that air polluters near national parks be held accountable for their hazy discharges. Negotiations between state air-quality officials and Trans-Alta dealt with the application of federal standards known as Best Available Retrofit Technology. In the absence of a more-open discussion, questions about a tougher threshold, Best Available Control Technology, cloud enthusiasm for the final outcome. * King County landfill to provide energy http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/04/06/daily8.html Methane gas generated at the King County Cedar Hills Regional Landfill in Maple Valley might soon be providing enough energy to power 24,000 homes, according to the county and Puget Sound Energy. The county and the utility said they're teaming up with Bio Energy-Washington, a company that specializes in building landfill gas-to-energy systems, to build the energy creation system at the landfill, located 20 miles southeast of Seattle. <<King County landfill to provide energy - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> * $3 billion stimulus plan to make public buildings energy efficient -- House bill would borrow money to create jobs, weatherize buildings http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/701492.html Sin taxes might be the source of money used to help pay for the $3 billion that state Rep. Hans Dunshee wants to borrow to create 90,000 jobs over the next two years by making state, public school and college buildings more energy efficient... Dunshee's proposal, embodied in House Bill 2334, would rely partly on the money saved from having more efficient buildings to cover part of the cost of paying back the $3 billion over 20 years. He assumes at full build-out, those buildings would save $80 million a year in lower heating, cooling and other building costs. Half of that would be used to make payments on the debt and the state would get that money by diverting state funding from those schools, colleges and agencies to make payments, he said. FUELS * Edmonds fire points to problem in regulating backyard biodiesel operations -- It's legal but not always done with proper permits <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090408/NEWS01/704089838&news01ad=1#Edmonds.fire.points.to.problem.in.regulating.backyard.biodiesel.operations> In Everett, it's against the law to make biodiesel in residential neighborhoods, said city planning director Allen Giffen. Manufacturing biodiesel "really constitutes an industrial process," he said... One of the biggest biodiesel safety concerns is storing and handling methanol. Processing 40 gallons of oil requires eight gallons of the flammable alcohol. People can buy that much methanol with no questions asked, but a permit is needed for storing more than five gallons, Carveth said. VEHICLE CHOICES * GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled urban vehicle http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008996557_apgeneralmotorssegway.html The companies announced Tuesday that they are working together to develop a two-wheeled, two-seat electric vehicle designed to be a fast, safe, inexpensive and clean alternative to traditional cars and trucks for cities across the world. The Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, or PUMA, project also would involve a vast communications network that would allow vehicles to interact with each other, regulate the flow of traffic and prevent crashes from happening... The 300-pound prototype runs on a lithium-ion battery and uses Segway's characteristic two-wheel balancing technology, along with dual electric motors. It's designed to reach speeds of up to 35 miles-per-hour and can run 35 miles on a single charge. * Auto Review: Honda undercuts popular Prius with new hybrid http://blog.marketplace.nwsource.com/nwautos/2009/04/auto_review_honda_undercuts_popular_prius_with_new_hybrid.html?cmpid=2627 Watch out, Toyota Prius. Honda's new gasoline-electric hybrid car has aerodynamic styling like yours but carries a lower price, offers video game-like "scoring" for fuel-thrifty driving and is arguably a more fun ride... Don't confuse the 2010 Insight with the Insight that Honda sold from 1999 to 2006... The 2010 Insight retains a couple of the styling cues -- the sloping rear hatchback glass and the glass at the end of the tailgate, for example. But fuel mileage is estimated at 40 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on the highway. This is less than the 48/45-mpg of the 2009 Prius, but because the new Insight offers some nifty digital fuel-mileage aids on the dashboard, it may draw interest from younger buyers who love video games. * Ford shows off 2010 Fusion Hybrid http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009002753_webfordhybridlo07.html The gas-electric midsize car, rated at 41 mpg in city driving, is just hitting the market. CLIMATE * Guest Commentary: Gov. Gregoire -- Crisis offers Washington a chance to become a leader in solving challenge of climate change http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008995804_opina07gregoire.html This economic crisis is the right time to position Washington to be a leader in solving the challenge of climate change, argues Gov. Chris Gregoire. She urges the Legislature to take steps now that will keep the state on the cutting edge of responsible environmental stewardship. * Economy Thwarts Regional Cap-and-Trade Plan on Climate http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=17271 A plan to regulate global warming emissions at the regional level has stalled. The twin culprits are the recession and the arrival of new blood in Washington, D.C. Last year, the governors of seven Western states, including Oregon and Washington, agreed to a regional cap-and-trade system. But of the seven state legislatures called to adopt the plan, only one - California's - has gone along. * Obama looks at climate engineering http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090408/ap_on_sc/sci_obama_science_adviser The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth's air. John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort. LEGISLATURE * Environmental Protections Take Budget Hit http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1489460&sectionID=1 State lawmakers struggling to fill a 9 billion-dollar budget gap without raising taxes have slashed funding for education, health care and more. KPLU environment reporter Liam Moriarty explains that programs for environmental protections are on the chopping block, as well. * Finn hard at work in state government Freshman legislator balancing environment with budget woes. http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/pat/news/42364877.html "The health and safety of our environment is certainly very important to me, just as it is to any other citizen or businessperson anywhere else," he said. "Having said that, though, I certainly also know we need to strike a balance in our search for environmental protections and jobs." During these tough economic times, the Legislature must find fair strategies for protecting our air, land and water - and for respecting the interests of our businesses and industries, he said. 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