Jim DiPeso

Byrd to coal industry: lose the attitude and embrace change

Senator Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, long a friend of the coal industry, had some tough love for coal in a statement published December 3.Get the chip off your shoulder, get out of denial about climate change, and stop...

Puget Sound area gets federal money for diesel cleanup

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency visited Seattle December 3 to announce a $16 million stimulus grant to clean up diesel pollution.EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the money will be used to retrofit diesel engines on FOSS Marine...

EPA to make ethanol blend wall decision in mid-2010

The Environmental Protection Agency said December 1 that it will decide by the middle of next year whether to increase the ethanol "blend wall" for gasoline.The ethanol industry wants the blending limit raised from 10 percent to...

GAO report explores water impacts of ethanol production, use

Water could be a sleeper issue in determining how much and what kinds of biofuel crops are grown as a strategy for reducing oil dependence.In a report published November 30, the Government Accountability Office said that "next-generation...

Interior announces 2010 schedule for oil and gas lease sales

The Interior Department plans 38 oil and gas lease sales on public lands for next year.Leasing begins next month in Montana and New Mexico, and will rotate through 12 other states, including Oregon, in quarterly sales. In addition, an...

Washington's building energy code tightened

The Washington State Building Code Council has adopted code revisions strengthening energy efficiency requirements for new residential and commercial buildings.The changes, which take effect July 1, 2010, will make new buildings 15 to 18 percent more efficient than those...

Northwest scores 'smart grid' grant

The Department of Energy on November 24 awarded $90 million to a Northwest "smart grid" demonstration project that will affect more than 60,000 utility customers in five states.The $178 million project, to be overseen by Battelle...

Institutional investors ask SEC to mandate climate risk disclosures

Twenty institutional investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets, including California's two mammoth pension funds, petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission November 23 to require disclosure of climate change risks and opportunities at publicly traded companies.From the...

BPA extends comment period on transmission line

Acting under pressure from Washington's congressional delegation, the Bonneville Power Administration has agreed to extend until December 14 a "scoping" period for a proposed transmission line in Clark County.Deadline for public comments on the impending project...

BC Hydro winnows list of renewable energy proposals

BC Hydro has winnowed energy generation proposals received under its "clean power call" to 47, including 36 hydroelectric projects, 10 wind farms, and one waste heat project.The province-owned utility requested proposals as part of BC's...

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