Another Green Tuesday
For DTE it was another wonderful weekend on the road - enjoying the West. Half of us experienced Bellingham, while the other half the Gorge. Being out in new places, or just being out of Spokane, it's always interesting to hear what people have to say about this place. It usually has something to do with something they've seen on the news recently that talked about Spokane. This weekend was no different with a lot of folks talking about the Spokane duck story. But then there was this gem which caught us by surprise, "wow, being an environmentalist and an activist, you must be stoked about that kid from Spokane who's making his own bottled water to promote peace." Stoked? While we're all for civic pride (and peace), the thought of bottled water..., ugh. It would just be nice to sometime hear someone say, "how bout that sustainability progress being made in Spokane." Here are some stories you might have missed last week.
Score one for the Earth. Last Tuesday we were a bit critical of the Obama administrations announced plans to toughen the standards for carbon emissions from new vehicles - saying how we were fed up with the phrase "every little bit helps". But we did acknowledge the fact that it was a landmark decision in that it marked the first ever nationwide regulation for greenhouse gases. And now the results are in - it was a homerun decision the pundits say. While we're still holding strong that tougher times call for tougher regulations, we're hip to this whole change vibe going on in DC. The New York Times had a wonderful editorial in print last week addressing this issue, "The nationwide automobile mileage and emissions standards announced by President Obama on Tuesday represent a huge step forward in the effort to limit greenhouse gases and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. They also represent a departure from the Bush administration’s indifference on these issues and an important down payment on Mr. Obama’s pledge to fashion an aggressive and imaginative energy policy." Read more HERE.
Nuclear cleanup being questioned as big-time stimulus funds are being releases. Some $6 billion in stimulus funds, directed at cleaning up 18 nuclear sites across America (including Hanford), have begun to be awarded out, and some are questioning the recipients of these high-price contracts. In Tennessee, a contractor who has already botched an earlier attempt at cleanup, is being rewarded with $118 million to complete the job. Hanford is getting $254 million of stimulus funds for cleanup. A recent Washington Post article had this quote from Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, an environmental watchdog group, "The very contractors that have been responsible for cost overruns and serious delays have proposed how to pump stimulus money back into the project. The companies are set to get hundreds of millions of dollars on top of the money they've already received, for the same projects they've seriously mismanaged." Read more HERE.
Federal funding cuts dry up mine cleanup funds in Montana. A provision in President Obama's 2010 budget could cost Montana $120 million in federal funding that is used to clean up abandonded mines. The Helena Independent Record reports that, "The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) payments to three states and three tribes is slated to be terminated, which would save [from the federal budget] $142 million in 2010 and $1.5 billion in 10 years." Department of Environmental Quality Director Richard Opper remarked, “If AML funding for Montana is eliminated, the pollution and damage will go on for another generation to fix.” Read more HERE. 
Pollan gets Couged. How’s this for bad publicity: The president at Washington State University canceled a “common-reading” for incoming freshmen of Michael Pollan’s bestselling "Omnivore’s Dilemma," citing budgetary constraints. This reasoning was challenged by the fact the school already purchased 4,000 copies of the book, and people associated with the common reading program declined interviews. Now, everybody says the school bowed to political pressure because of its agribusiness interests as evidenced by an email sent to the professor of rhetoric and professional writing. Check it out HERE.
Kicking and screaming. While the U.S. Senate considers legislation to require the country to generate up to 15 percent of its power from renewable resources, including wind and solar, by 2021, Idaho power will reluctantly adhere. After criticism by Idaho Power Co.’s shareholders, regulators ordered the state’s biggest utility---487,000 residential customers---to sell about $2 million worth of renewable energy credits and use the money to benefit ratepayers, instead of retiring or banking the credits to save them money. It’s a long time coming. Last year, Idaho Power generated 40 percent of its electricity from coal-fired plants; 38 percent from dams; 1 percent from gas or diesel plants; and bought 21 percent of its electricity from others. MORE.
