ODOR * Burning wood waste riles neighbors -- Kimberly Clark, which was fined $165,000 when wood chips smoldered for six months last year, says it is working to reduce the smell. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081113/NEWS01/711139894&news01ad=1#Burning.wood.waste.riles.neighbors <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081113/NEWS01/711139894&news01ad=1#Burning.wood.waste.riles.neighbors> An open-air stockpile of shredded wood waste that Kimberly-Clark uses as fuel to generate steam and electricity is smoldering again... Kimberly-Clark has taken several steps to prevent major flare-ups at its wood chip pile, said Robert Waddle, environmental manager for the giant tissue-maker's Everett pulp mill... Company officials plan to meet with a fire control engineer next week and continue to work with Everett fire officials to come up with a new operating plan, which could include more on-site fire hydrants, better roads around the pile and special equipment that could probe into a pile to extinguish a slow-burning fire. AIR QUALITY AND HEALTH * South Seattle has 'poor air quality' http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/local_news/news02.txt <http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/local_news/news02.txt> Since 2001, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has operated a Diesel Solutions program aiming to reduce diesel emissions by installing equipment on diesel vehicles. The agency also attempts to control harmful emissions from industrial sites through permitting. "The (Department of Health) report really confirmed that we were being aggressive on the right topics," said Kathy Himes, a team lead at the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. * Study: Calif dirty air kills more than car crashes http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/california_air_pollution <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/california_air_pollution> Lowering air pollution in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley would save more lives annually than ending all motor vehicle fatalities in the two regions, according to a new study. The study, which examined the costs of air pollution in two areas with the worst levels in the country, also said meeting federal ozone and fine particulate standards could save $28 billion annually in health care costs, school absences, missed work and lost income potential from premature deaths... The findings were released Wednesday as the California Air Resources Board considers controversial new regulations to reduce diesel truck emissions, a move that could cost 170,000 business owners $5.5 billion. According to a board staff report, the savings in health care costs would be $68 billion by 2020 if the regulations were adopted next month. * California economy loses $28 billion yearly to health effects of pollution http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pollute13-2008nov13,0,3895359.story <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pollute13-2008nov13,0,3895359.story> The California economy loses about $28 billion annually due to premature deaths and illnesses linked to ozone and particulates spewed from hundreds of locations in the South Coast and San Joaquin air basins, according to findings released Wednesday by a Cal State Fullerton research team. Most of those costs, about $25 billion, are connected to roughly 3,000 smog-related deaths each year, but additional factors include work and school absences, emergency room visits, and asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. <<California economy loses $28 billion yearly to health effects of pollution - Los Angeles Times.htm>> * Vest Monitors 'Individual' Air Pollution http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081113/hl_hsn/vestmonitorsindividualairpollution;_ylt=AhjmGT7H4dI0.KdjCh6ATaJpl88F <http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081113/hl_hsn/vestmonitorsindividualairpollution;_ylt=AhjmGT7H4dI0.KdjCh6ATaJpl88F> Scientists have used the novel idea of a "pollution vest" to determine that individual exposure to air pollution can harm a person's heart health beyond whatever damage that community-level exposure can cause... The average person in the study experienced increased blood pressure (1.6 millimeter of mercury) and a narrowing of blood vessels related to personal air pollution within two days of exposure. These changes could lead to heart attacks, strokes and heart failure, the authors stated. Broader, community exposure was linked with poorer blood vessel functioning, but not higher blood pressure. The air pollution measured was within parameters considered acceptable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... According to the study authors, a 10-microgram per cubic meter increase in air pollution at the community level leads to a 1 percent chance of dying the day after exposure, amounting to about one extra death per day in an area of 1 million to 5 million people. CLIMATE * Global warming on back burner in Congress? -- Economic crisis may delay action http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/387589_warming13.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/387589_warming13.html> Congress will not act until 2010 on a bill to limit the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming despite President-elect Barack Obama's declaration that he will move quickly to address climate change, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee predicted Wednesday. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said that while every effort should be made to cap greenhouse gases, the economic crisis, the transition to a new administration and the complexity of setting up a nationwide market for carbon pollution permits preclude acting in 2009. * Gov't nixes forest experiments; scientists upset http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081111/ap_on_re_us/climate_forests;_ylt=AiZLuuBeMFJBmkZm1mQGxles0NUE <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081111/ap_on_re_us/climate_forests;_ylt=AiZLuuBeMFJBmkZm1mQGxles0NUE> For more than a decade, the federal government has spent millions of dollars pumping elevated levels of carbon dioxide into small groups of trees to test how forests will respond to global warming in the next 50 years. Some scientists believe they are on the cusp of receiving key results from the time-consuming experiments. The U.S. Department of Energy, however, which is funding the project, has told the scientists to chop down the trees, collect the data and move on to new research. That plan has upset some researchers who have spent years trying to understand how forests may help stave off global warming, and who want to keep the project going for at least a couple of more years. * Japan's CO2 emissions hit record high: official http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081112/sc_afp/japanenvironmentclimateenergy;_ylt=AqklYLAjMz6xfuz6TFUb1idpl88F <http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081112/sc_afp/japanenvironmentclimateenergy;_ylt=AqklYLAjMz6xfuz6TFUb1idpl88F> Japan's carbon dioxide emissions hit a record high of 1.37 billion tons in the year to March 2008, well above the target set by the Kyoto Protocol, the environment ministry said Wednesday. The figure, which marked a 2.3 percent rise from the previous fiscal year, was mainly the result of more polluting energy production following the closure of the world's biggest nuclear power plant after it was damaged in an earthquake that struck northern Japan. * New ice age predicted -- but averted by global warming? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081112-ice-age-global-warming.html <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081112-ice-age-global-warming.html> Emissions of greenhouse gases-such as the carbon dioxide, or CO², that comes from power plants and cars-are heating the atmosphere to such an extent that the next ice age, predicted to be the deepest in millions of years, may be postponed indefinitely. HOME HEATING * Lower heating costs predicted http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/energy_forecast;_ylt=At5JNNfLVw5Q.RZVJ_TqgLcPLBIF <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/energy_forecast;_ylt=At5JNNfLVw5Q.RZVJ_TqgLcPLBIF> The dramatic drop in world oil prices means a break this winter in heating costs, although households will still be paying more than they did last winter, the government says... The department's Energy Information Administration revised its short-term energy outlook Wednesday to reflect the reduction by more than half of crude oil prices over five months. The revision also reflects expectations of a more severe economic downturn. It said people using fuel oil - about 8 million households, mostly in the Northeast - are expected to pay on average $1,694 during this winter's heating season, a 13 percent increase over last winter. But that's nearly $700 less than what was projected by the agency only a month ago. The 58 million households that heat by natural gas will pay only slightly more than last year - an estimated $889 for the October through March heating season, an increase of 3.6 percent. FUEL * Commentary: How to fix a flat auto industry http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/387556_friedman13.html <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/387556_friedman13.html> Any car company that gets taxpayer money must demonstrate a plan for transforming every vehicle in its fleet to a hybrid-electric engine with flex-fuel capability, so its entire fleet can also run on next-generation cellulosic ethanol. MARITIME * Hybrid tugboat may give local ports a green push. http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tugboat13-2008nov13,0,6905600.story <http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tugboat13-2008nov13,0,6905600.story> The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the largest cargo container ports in the nation, invest in cleaner-air efforts. <<Hybrid tugboat may give local ports a green push - Los Angeles Times.htm>> NOTE: If the hyperlink to the article fails, contact Consuelo Davis. Consuelo Davis Communications Dept. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency 206-689-4074 consueloF@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