DIESEL / PORTS * Port gets grant to reduce pollution http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/2847/ <http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/2847/> The Port of Tacoma will receive more than $600,000 from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) to retrofit some of its cargo handling equipment to reduce pollution. PSCAA received $850,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its program to support Puget Sound ports in replacing and retrofitting equipment. PSCAA contributed an extra $118,000, and the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle together contributed $200,000, bringing the total to $1,168,000. That money will be distributed between Tacoma and Seattle for projects at their respective ports. ENERGY * From cow poop to power -- County's first biogas plant is making electricity http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090218/NEWS01/702189799#From.cow.poop .to.power <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090218/NEWS01/702189799#From.cow.poo p.to.power> . A biogas plant harnesses the methane gas in manure, which can be burned to create electricity. Dairies send cow manure to the plant through underground pipes. The pipes all lead to a vat of twirling, swirling bovine excrement. * Energy Northwest plans biomass plants http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008762889_webb iomassplants19.html <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008762889_web biomassplants19.html> Energy Northwest and Adage, a joint venture between Duke Energy and France's Areva, say the plants would covert wood waste from the timber industry into electricity and could operate as early as 2012. The companies signed a preliminary agreement Wednesday. Each plant would generate about 50 megawatts of electricity, or enough to supply 40,000 households in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The plan is to build at least one biomass power plant in each of those states. Electricity from wood waste would be delivered by Energy Northwest to the consortium's 24 member utilities. * Wood chip boiler saves money, reduces pollution at Newton Greenhouse http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/17/3993573.htm <http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/17/3993573.htm> Kathy Brockett, an air quality specialist with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, said she was happy to see Newton Greenhouse using the new energy source. "In general, converting from fossil fuels like coal or oil to a renewable resource like wood is a positive thing," she said. "It's a lot cleaner than oil or coal." The state promotes the use of wood chip boilers as a renewable energy, Brockett said, as long as the wood is harvested in a sustainable manner and burned in a new boiler like the one at Newton Greenhouse. Brockett said one of her only concerns with wood-burning sources is the potential for sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. But Samara said the carbon monoxide emissions are significantly less harmful than the acidic emissions from natural gas and oil. * Obama to Tackle Sensitive Issues Such As Trade, Clean Energy in Canada http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=43788 <http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=43788> Canada and the United States have the largest trading relationship between any two countries in the world. And for all the talk of ending a dangerous reliance on foreign oil, the U.S. depends more on Canada for imported oil than it does any other country... On the energy front, environmental groups want Obama to get tough with Canada about its massive oil sands operation. Alberta's tar sands present a deep supply of potential oil, but the extraction process produces a high amount of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. CLIMATE * Full state House to consider cap on greenhouse gas emissions -- Bill would allow businesses to auction permits http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400845_capandtrade20.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400845_capandtrade20.html> One of the other concerns critics have is that the auctioning of allowances opens room for market manipulation that could reach Enron-like proportions, which advocates have admitted is a genuine risk. But officials say that an oversight body will be created in order to prevent that. While Washington, Oregon and other states in the Western Climate initiative wait for the bill's fate, a cap and trade system has already been established on the East Coast since September. * 'Cap and trade' emissions bill passes out of House committee http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400641_capandtrade19.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400641_capandtrade19.html> House Bill 1819, which has the backing of Gov. Chris Gregoire, passed out of committee this week. The bill would impose a cap and trade system, in which a cap would be placed on companies' emissions. They would be required to buy permits in order to emit at the acceptable level. Companies also could auction off their permits between each other, creating their own market system. * Greenhouse-gas bill advances in Olympia without settling who will pay http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/23/story7.html <http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/23/story7.html> HB 1819 and its companion measure in the state Senate have been among the most contentious issues of the year, drawing hundreds of people to testify for and against the measure. Cap and trade - also called cap and invest - is one of the four top priorities of the environmental community and one of the biggest worries of the state's largest business group. <<Greenhouse-gas bill advances in Olympia without settling who will pay - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle).htm>> * Forests absorb 20 percent of fossil fuel emissions: study http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/us_world_news/story.php?story_id=TRE 51H5KE <http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/us_world_news/story.php?story_id=TR E51H5KE> Using data collected from nearly 250,000 trees in the world's tropical forests over the past 40 years, their study found that tropical forests across the world remove 4.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. TRANSPORTATION * Editorial: Metro Transit -- Prime directive http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/400775_metroed.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/400775_metroed.html> Cuts would mean severe inequities for those most dependent on transit, reverse county environmental progress and reduce cost effectiveness... Metro should engage riders, bus drivers and the public. A ridership survey could lead to efficiencies that avoid cuts, which weigh heaviest on the poor. Metro might find it is running big buses when a route is uncrowded and small ones when ridership peaks. At little cost, a Wiki-style online discussion might let Metro involve riders in real-time weighing of options. The drivers union might have ideas for saving money, jobs and service. IDLING * Drive-Thrus: Convenience With a Side of Pollution http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Drive-Through-Convenience-With-a-Side-o f-Pollution.html <http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Drive-Through-Convenience-With-a-Side- of-Pollution.html> GREEN LIVING * Sip Siding -- On beer and wine http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2009/02/18/index.html <http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2009/02/18/index.html> Sapporo has started labeling beer cans with carbon footprints; their estimate is that a 350 ml can of Black Label beer emits 161 g of carbon. Consumers can help by drinking local brews, shopping for unrefrigerated beer, brewing their own beer, and taking large containers of beer home from the local brewery... For you as a consumer of beer and wine, the biggest factor is likely your own transport to the beer or wine 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