CLIMATE * Cut soot, slow climate change: Scientists http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Pollution/Cut-soot-slow-climate-change-Scientists-/articleshow/5120103.cms Black carbon soot is an aerosol produced largely from the incomplete combustion of diesel fuels and biofuels, and from biomass burning. It is now considered to be the second or third largest contributor to climate change... Researchers consider black carbon an ideal target for achieving quick mitigation because it remains in the atmosphere a few days to a few weeks and can be reduced by expanding the use of diesel particulate filters for vehicles and clean-burning or solar stoves to replace those burning dung and wood. * Report suppressed by Bush administration shows global-warming risks http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2010058489_climate14.html The existence of the finding - and the refusal of the Bush White House to make it public - were previously known. The Bush EPA draft was released in response to a public-records request under the Freedom of Information Act. The document "demonstrates that in 2007 the science was as clear as it is today," said Adora Andy, an EPA spokeswoman. "The conclusions reached then by EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered." * US senator: global warming bill possible soon http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_re_us/un_un_us_climate_change The chairman of the U.S. Senate's environment committee said Monday that it's possible Congress will pass a bill aimed at slowing global warming before international talks on a deal to limit climate change in Copenhagen in December. Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who is co-sponsoring the bill, said she is pushing for approval of the legislation with specific targets to limit greenhouse gases, adding that the Obama administration "is very strong on this." * Global warming 'to triple rain over Taiwan' http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091013/wl_asia_afp/taiwanclimatewarmingtyphoon * Philippines is climate change victim: Arroyo http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091014/sc_afp/philippinesfloodtyphooneconomyclimate FUEL ECONOMY * 2010 Annual Fuel Economy Guide Now Available http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f5337/7753d5bdeb6d09478525765000624ea9!OpenDocument DIESEL * EPA Report: Clean Diesel Program Protects Health and the Environment, Saves Communities up to $1.4 Billion Health benefits, operating costs make clean diesel a cost-effective program to protect human health and the environment http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f5337/fac8b5a776ffeff28525764f0059819a!OpenDocument The resulting benefits from the program include: * reducing 46,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, a key contributor to elevated smog levels, and 2,200 tons of particulate matter over the lifetime of diesel vehicles * conserving 3.2 million gallons of fuel annually under the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program, which saves operators $8 million annually * generating public health benefits between $500 million to $1.4 billion ENERGY * Boeing to move defense strategies to 'smart' energy http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2010058153_boeingmulenburg14.html The planned "smart-grid" technology seeks to lower costs and prevent disruptions with systems that allow energy providers to communicate. The market for the grid's communications segment may be worth $20 billion in the next few years, Boeing spokesman Chris Haddox said. * Project would link nation's 3 electric- power grids http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010058519_grids14.html Officials announced an ambitious project in New Mexico on Tuesday that would allow energy to flow more freely across the nation's three massive power grids, breaking down significant barriers to ramping up alternative energy in the United States. The proposed Tres Amigas SuperStation in Clovis, N.M., would help route energy from isolated wind and solar installations to urban centers and other places that consume the most power. * Seattle's 3Tier Inc. energized by demand for renewables http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/10/19/focus7.html Amid the surge of interest in renewable energy, 3Tier has carved out a role for itself: helping governments, utilities and energy firms pick the best places to set up wind, solar and hydroelectric projects... By a voter-approved initiative, Washington's large utilities must get 15 percent of their energy from non-hydroelectric renewable resources by 2020. Many other states have similarly ambitious goals for renewable energy, creating a market for companies like 3Tier. <<Seattle's 3Tier Inc_ energized by demand for renewables - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> * Smart grid gets island test in Maui resort area http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_us/us_smart_grid_hawaii A 4-square-mile patch of Maui in the nation's most fossil-fuel dependent state soon will be home to a new kind of power grid, one that saves energy by turning off household appliances when electricity is expensive and makes better use of wind and solar power... There are about 70 smart grid pilots nationwide, including Miami, Seattle, Houston and Boulder, Colo. But Wailea is one of the only resort communities where the test is being conducted. * Solar power outshining Colorado's gas industry http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_us/us_energy_winners_losers * Next German gov't to cut solar subsidies http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_solar_energy AIR STANDARDS * Texas heavy industries worry about EPA crackdown http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_bi_ge/us_texas_air_quality_business States are required to enforce the Clean Air Act, but they're given some flexibility in how to do it. The EPA approved Texas' major clean-air permitting plan in 1992, and the state has since submitted more than 30 regulatory changes. The EPA issued its ruling last month as a result of a lawsuit settlement that forced the agency to approve or disapprove aspects of the Texas permitting process, agency spokesman Dave Bary said. The EPA said no other state offered polluters such flexibility, and cited problems with the permit program's enforcement, monitoring and record keeping, among other reasons. MERCURY * U.S. coal plants capable of 90% mercury reductions -- audit http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1047.pdf Pollution controls at coal-fired power plants have achieved 90 percent mercury reductions at relatively low costs, according to a government audit. Commercial deployments and Energy Department and industry tests have shown that sorbent injection systems have achieved, on average, 90 percent reductions of mercury emissions, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued last week. The technology involves injecting sorbents like activated carbon into flue gas, which attaches to the mercury. PORTS * Puget Sound ports told that growth not certain http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/10/19/story12.html The surge in import cargo to Puget Sound ports during much of the past decade was an anomaly that is unlikely to be repeated, a consultant told a joint meeting of the Seattle and Tacoma port commissioners this week. The surge was a side effect of a port lockout and traffic congestion in California in 2002. Now that the effect is fading, rising competition from growing ports around the country - and from increasing use of "all-water" routes such as the newly enlarged Panama Canal -is likely to curtail cargo flows through Puget Sound in coming years. <<Puget Sound ports told that growth not certain - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> 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