BURN BAN LAW / WOOD STOVE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM * Burn ban orders will have new teeth -- Wood-burning fireplaces will become a focus; fines will be $1,000. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081129/NEWS01/711299950#Burn.ban.orde rs.will.have.new.teeth <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081129/NEWS01/711299950#Burn.ban.ord ers.will.have.new.teeth> In the past, bans have been based on weather forecasts, and that will still be the case with stage 1 bans, said Jim Nolan, a compliance officer for the Clean Air Agency. Stagnant, smoke-filled cooler air can be trapped by warmer air above it, which keeps pollutants near the ground. Stage 2 bans will be declared if the air quality starts pushing the federal health standard, Nolan said. The agency, which covers King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties, usually calls a ban for the whole region but has the authority to specify by county if conditions warrant, a relatively rare occurrence, Nolan said... "When the air does get contaminated, when the pollution load is heavy, we will see more pulmonary disease and heart disease," said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, director and health officer for the Snohomish Health District. "It is prudent to keep our air as clean as we possibly can." ...Susie Green, 58, of Marysville, would escape the ban because she and her husband recently upgraded to a propane fireplace insert. They took advantage of a rebate program from the Clean Air Agency and received $1,500 off the cost of the insert, bringing it down to $2,200 from $3,700. CLIMATE * EDITORIAL: Global warming -- Too close to home http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/390057_tatooshed.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/390057_tatooshed.html> Which is scarier -- the economy or global warming? Climate change gets our vote, in part because it will be with us for decades to come... But there are indications (hailed with bizarre glee in the sparsely populated corridors of global warming skeptics) that the troubled economy will cause politicians in many countries to pull back from job-creating investments in alternative energy, smarter transportation and carbon sequestration. There's a real nightmare: letting the economy lead us into operating as if business as usual will solve climate change. * UN climate conference warned: Time running out for a plan http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008454660_apeupolandc limateconference.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008454660_apeupoland climateconference.html> The global financial crisis will pass but global warming will be permanent unless nations can unite to contain emissions of climate-changing gases, political leaders and top scientists warned Monday at a U.N. conference. * Obama Video Talk to Governors Prompts 'Surprise' Tone in Much News Coverage http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2008/11/obama-video-talk-to-governo rs/ <http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2008/11/obama-video-talk-to-govern ors/> Surprise - that President-Elect Barack Obama is confronting climate change in the midst of deepening global economic woes - and, again, surprise - that he took on climate change directly and firmly weeks before he officially takes office January 20. FUELS * Fuel from food? The feast is over http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/world/story/546962.html <http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/world/story/546962.html> In future years we may look back at the Great Mexican Tortilla Crisis of 2006 as the time when ethanol lost its vroom... Two years later, the search is on for ways to keep corn on the table rather than in the gas tank. Moving away from food crops, the biofuel of the future may come from the tall grass growing wild by the roadside, from grain stalks left behind by the harvest, and from garbage dumps and dinner table scraps. * Avista puts wind farm on hold http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008453520_avis ta01.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008453520_avi sta01.html> The windmills, now targeted for operation at the end of 2013, are slated for a gusty ridge five miles south of Reardan, a town west of Spokane. They'll be part of Avista's first wind-generation project, though the utility has been buying credits from a wind farm on the Oregon-Washington border for several years. * Fuel cells to juice up gadgets move closer to fruition http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008453527_btfu elcells01.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008453527_btf uelcells01.html> * What a bright idea: Bring old lights to Zoolights http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/552408.html <http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/552408.html> A Federal Way girl's idea to recycle Christmas lights takes root at Point Defiance Zoo. The zoo to sell the old lights to a metal recycling company and use the money for conservation projects. * U.S. Stimulates Global Market for Methane Recovery and Use as Fuel The Way to Go Clean, Green and Fight Climate Change http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f533 7/101c28656c5962df85257512005e3e3b!OpenDocument <http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6424ac1caa800aab85257359003f53 37/101c28656c5962df85257512005e3e3b!OpenDocument> International leadership by the United States to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is highlighted in the third annual Methane to Markets (M2M) partnership report. Current U.S. supported M2M projects, when fully implemented, will deliver estimated annual emissions reductions of more than 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, tripling the reductions achieved in 2006. M2M reduces greenhouse gas emissions by recovering methane (also a primary component of natural gas) from agricultural waste, coal mines, landfills, and oil and gas systems and using it as clean energy. TRANSPORTATION CHOICES * Olympia's roads get a little more electric -- Man started nonprofit to help recharge cars http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/390001_plugincars29.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/390001_plugincars29.html> Since forming Plug In Olympia in May 2007, Lambrix has persuaded about 10 businesses, four state agencies, Intercity Transit and the city of Lacey to install electric plug-in stations in their parking lots. Some of the state agency sites are for state employees only, but most of the stations are open to anyone who needs an energy boost for their electric vehicles. AIR QUALITY * Beijing claims early victory over air pollution http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008454472_apaschinaai rpollution.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008454472_apaschinaa irpollution.html> Beijing said Monday it has already reached its target number of 256 "blue-sky days" this year, with the help of ambitious environmental measures the city imposed to cut emissions for the Olympic Games... Beijing pulled half the city's 3.3 million vehicles off the roads, halted most construction and closed some factories in the capital and surrounding provinces ahead of the games. The Olympics proved that controlling emissions is the main way to reduce pollution, the bureau said. Car emissions, Beijing's main source of pollution, were reduced by 60 percent from a year earlier because of the measures, it said. NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis.