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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (491984)	7/1/2009 3:56:21 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574002

Change we can believe in............ Thornton Creek breathes again at Northgate Covered for decades by pavement, Thornton Creek is again exposed in a new development at Northgate. Holding ponds, foreground, filter stormwater runoff. In this view northeast, the creek flows under Fifth Avenue Northeast and into the trees in the distance. A new channel south of Northgate Mall in Seattle will filter sediment and clean the water of Thornton Creek. A parking lot used to cover this 2.7-acre creek channel. By Michelle Ma Seattle Times staff reporter Dragonflies alight and swoop delicately from plant to plant. For biologists and project managers alike, the presence of these insects, which are sensitive to pollution, indicates a healthy ecosystem. That wasn't always so across the stark, paved grounds of Northgate Mall. Polluted runoff from the parking lots and neighborhood streets had nowhere to go except directly into Thornton Creek, a stream that weaves through Shoreline and North Seattle and empties into Lake Washington at Matthews Beach Park. But with enough community pressure and compromise, change can happen. read more............ seattletimes.nwsource.com

To: steve harris who wrote (491984)	7/1/2009 4:00:35 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574002

Change we can believe in................. Oil giants filling up on troubled ethanol plants When Sunoco closed this week on the acquisition of a bankrupt ethanol plant for pennies on the dollar, it became just the latest oil refiner... By WILLIAM KATES The Associated Press FULTON, N.Y. — When Sunoco closed this week on the acquisition of a bankrupt ethanol plant for pennies on the dollar, it became just the latest oil refiner to step into the alternative-fuels market. Traditional refiners under pressure to reduce emissions are finding new avenues to meet evolving environmental standards, and finding big bargains along the way. Sunoco made its initial bid just weeks after Valero Energy, the nation's largest independent oil refiner, became an ethanol plant owner the same way. "You are going to see this become a trend ... especially with the government wanting to go green," said Daniel Flynn, who follows the renewable-fuels industry for Chicago-based Alaron Trading. "There are a lot of these ethanol plants hanging by a hair. This could be the perfect time for the big companies to step in." With Sunoco's acquisition this week, major oil refiners control as much as 7 percent of the total industry capacity. In April, Valero paid $477 million to buy seven large ethanol plants in the Midwest from bankrupt VeraSun Energy, the nation's second-largest producer of ethanol. Sunoco snapped up the $200 million Northeast Biofuels plant in upstate New York for $8.5 million. Over the past couple of years, Marathon Oil has acquired large stakes in ethanol plants in Illinois and Ohio, each with more than a million gallons in annual capacity. Sunoco will spend as much as $20 million to refurbish the plant so it reaches its production capacity of 100 million gallons a year by early 2010. Sunoco blends about 460 million gallons of ethanol with gasoline each year. The Fulton, N.Y., plant will supply nearly 25 percent of the ethanol Sunoco needs to meet renewable-fuels standards, said spokesman Thomas Golembeski. The plant is near Sunoco's main operations in the Northeast, where many of its 4,700 gas stations are concentrated, but the shift in U.S. energy policy was a big motivator. "We also view this as a first step into an area of possible growth for the company," said spokesman Thomas Golembeski. read more.......... seattletimes.nwsource.com