This is News?

I am sorry: I just had to repost the entire article...

Streetcar projects will cause traffic delays

P-I STAFF

Streetcar construction projects in the South Lake Union area and just south of Denny Way on Westlake Avenue are expected to create delays for motorists starting this week.

The intersection of Terry Avenue North and Harrison Street is scheduled to be closed for installation of streetcar tracks 24 hours a day from Monday until Sept. 21, city officials said.

Valley Street's intersections with Westlake Avenue North, Terry Avenue North and Fairview Avenue North will be periodically closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 or 11 p.m. until 5 or 6 a.m.

Westlake south of Denny will be the site of nighttime work, all between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., Wednesday night through Saturday morning. Parking there will be restricted all week.

In related news, PI Staff have decided that today would be a good time to go out for their twice- yearly visit to the South Lake Union neighborhood.

Ruminant On This!

goats on campus
Originally uploaded by tom_robey.

Currently at a cost of $750 per day, a herd of 60 goats is eating ivy, blackberries and assorted other goodies along the southeastern most section of Ranier Vista. There's gotta be someone out there that knows if this is better for the environment, cost effective, or hilarious...

Light Reading

Seattle City Light's customer newsletter, Light Reading has some good information this month for people interested in Seattle's energy use.

First, the 2006 fuel mix disclosure indicates that 98.0% of all electricity used in Seattle is from non-carbon emissions sources. This is from from 2005's 93.7%. Here is the 2006 breakdown:

• Hydro: 89.8%
• Nuclear: 4.6%
• Wind: 3.5%
• Natural Gas: 1.1%
• Coal: 0.9%
• Biomass: 0.05%
• Petroleum: 0.01%
• Waste: 0.02%

I wonder what "waste" is.

The other resource in the newsletter is a personal emissions calculator provided by the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, the usage calculation for home electricity use is based on national averages, both for cost per KWH and power mix. This is important for assessing % generation from 'green' sources. For my ~$40/month bill, I've estimated that I should enter $2.50/month in order to account for this benefit of living in the Northwest. (2% of our energy comes from burning carbon, while the national average is 70%, but we pay about half of the national power rate average; Seattlites should multiply their bills by .06.)

Seattle still looks to me like a rather green city. Emerald in fact.