On December 21 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules to curb emissions of mercury and other toxic substances from power plants that burn coal, relying on pollution controls that are already in use at more than half of
Cecil Andrus says much has changed and much has stayed the same in the environmental and energy arenas since he was governor of Idaho–first in the 1970s, and then again in the 1990s, with four years as United States Secretary
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 has a long and litigious history in the Columbia River Basin. Twelve specific populations, or evolutionarily significant units, of four species of Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead, and two resident species, bull trout
This week, Condit Dam will go down on October 26. It will be the second-highest dam removed in the United States. Built in the early 1900s on the White Salmon River in Washington state, impounding the river removed 33 miles
This past weekend, the Snohomish County Public Utility District opened the first new hydroelectric project in Washington state in nearly 20 years. The Youngs Creek facility, south of Sultan, has a generating capacity of 7.5 megawatts--enough to power about 2,000
The efficiency of electricity use in the Pacific Northwest improved by 254 average megawatts in 2010, the equivalent power use of 153,900 homes, the Council and its partner, the Regional Technical Forum (RTF), reported today.
The Council's annual report on energy efficiency savings will be presented at next week's meeting, and the numbers are very encouraging.In 2010, the region acquired 254 average megawatts of efficiency savings, the largest total ever achieved in the past three
Historically, the Columbia River hydrosystem has enabled operators to adjust energy up or down to keep load and generation in balance. But with more wind generation coming on line, which can fluctuate quickly, planners are looking at different options to
Since the Council identified energy efficiency in its regional energy plan as the key resource to meet most of our future load growth, where will this efficiency come from?We heard about some promising areas at the Council's August meeting from
The Council's Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program depends on local watershed plans--subbasin plans--to inform its recommendations about what projects to fund. These plans connect all the various fish and wildlife actions already underway, identify problems that need attention, and
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