Editor's Take: July 13, 2009
fecki, flickr
Smart and Stylish Density
In Seattle, architects are pushing to make denser housing projects more attractive, and one writer challenges environmentally-minded residents to lose their NIMBYism. And while chilly Canada's engine block warmers could provide infrastructure for electric cars, could the vehicles' quiet motors pose a danger to pedestrians?
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Your editor today is Jennifer Langston | View All Today's News
Smart, sustainable, stylish Seattle?
Seattle Times
07/12/2009
In an attempt to make denser town houses blend in with Craftsman bungalows, Seattle codes created a hybrid - half house and half high-rise - that satisfies no one. Architects who see the result as a failed compromise between nostalgia and affordability are pushing for more innovative design rules.
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Canada already wired for electric cars
Vancouver Sun
07/12/2009
It's a fixture in salt-stained parking lots. And it could help Canadian cities exploit the next wave of electric vehicles. The same outlets used to keep car engine blocks warm in the winter can be used to power electric vehicles year-round, avoiding the need for extensive infrastructure in which more temperate cities would have to invest.
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Silent hybrids cause some alarm
New York Times
07/12/2009
For some - particularly those unnerved by the persistent din of modern, motorized civilization - the relative quiet of electric vehicles is a welcome virtue. At the same time, that silence is a potential hazard to blind pedestrians, bicyclists, children and others.
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Chasing an antiseptic field of greens
San Francisco Chronicle
07/12/2009
In pending legislation and in proposed federal regulations, the push for food safety is butting up against the movement toward biologically diverse farming methods. Scorched-earth strategies - bulldozed ponds, cleared vegetation and poisoned wildlife - are being imposed on hundreds of thousands of acres in the quest for an antiseptic field of greens.
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WA Basic Health plan ramping up costs
KUOW
07/12/2009
When Sherie Brace is in physical therapy, she uses the quiet time to think about things that need to get done. Lately, medical insurance tops that list. As a Washington resident who can't afford health insurance and gets coverage through the state's Basic Health Plan, she now faces higher rates, a move that's expected to cause as many as 17,000 people to drop out of the program.
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Washing your car? Hold the soap
Oregonian
07/12/2009
It's one of the great American summer pastimes: Lathering the car up with soap on a sunny afternoon. Now, officials in Washington and elsewhere are telling residents to either take that old ride to the car wash, or hold the soap and wash the car over gravel or grass to filter the dirty water.
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Seattle: About to be a light-rail town
Seattle Times
07/12/2009
On Saturday, the first passengers will board the Sound Transit trains from Westlake Center through Rainier Valley to Tukwila - putting behind them nearly a century of failed proposals to build a big transit system through Seattle.
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The true value of farmland
Bellingham Herald
07/13/2009
Henry Bierlink's nightmare scenario is seeing WA's Whatcom County become like the Puyallup Valley: Rich soils ideal for farming covered in condos instead. County leaders agree farmland is invaluable, but some question their commitment to the hard - and expensive - choices to preserve it.
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4 Days + 2 Wheels on the OR coast
New York Times
07/12/2009
In a car, you'd cover the hundred miles of the southern third of the Oregon coast in a couple of hours, and you'd think, How gorgeous! But on a bike, you don't so much view the scenery as absorb it with every sense and muscle.
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Views: Can you be an environmentalist and a NIMBY?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/12/2009
Call yourself an environmentalist? Think we need to grow up, not out? OK, rather than looking for reasons why your neighborhood is not the appropriate place for proposal X or Y, how about coming up with ways in which you think your neighborhood can and should fit more homes?
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Editor's Take: July 10, 2009
Image courtesy: kqedquest, flickr.com
Cle Elum: Solar Capitol of the World?
As world leaders chipped away at international plans to fight climate change, Northwest projects turned toward the sun for abundant renewable energy: The biggest solar plant in the world may be built in Cle Elum, Washington; Eugene, Oregon welcomes a Chinese solar sales firm; and progress is made on California's solar bill.
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Your editor today is Anna Fahey | View All Today's News
World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
Seattle Times
07/09/2009
The sunny, Central Washington town of Cle Elum could be the site of the world's largest solar power plant, if a Washington company makes good on plans announced Thursday. The plant, which would made up of 400,000 photovoltaic panels powering 45,000 homes, could be up and running in two years.
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Obama admin. ready with $3 billion for renewable energy
USA Today
07/09/2009
The Obama administration Thursday unveiled guidelines that will allow companies to apply for some $3 billion in government funds to boost US development of renewable energy projects and create jobs. The funding will help meet the White House's goal to double US renewable power over the next three years.
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Chinese group plans solar-panel hub in Oregon
Eugene Register Guard
07/09/2009
A consortium of 30 Chinese companies in the solar panel industry is setting up a US sales hub in Eugene, OR, the group's president told The Register-Guard. The group, named Centron Solar plans to grow to 200 to 300 employees in a year, and probably also will set up one or two solar panel assembly lines.
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Report: OR leads nation in new homeless people
Oregon Public Broadcasting
07/09/2009
Oregon added more homeless people to its population than any other state, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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Climate change research forest designated in Tongass
Juneau Empire
07/10/2009
Tongass National Forest managers recently declared 40 square miles at the end of the Juneau road the newest "experimental forest" of the U.S. Forest Service and given it a central research focus of climate change.
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It could happen in King Co.: No money for public health, human services
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/10/2009
If people in King County want things like public health clinics, disease prevention programs, and money for food banks, they're almost certainly going to have to agree to pay more taxes.
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Stimulus funds for tribal water projects
Seattle Times
07/10/2009
American Indian and Alaskan communities are set to receive $90 million in stimulus funds for water and wastewater projects.
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Canada won't budge on climate goals at G-8 summit
Vancouver Sun
07/10/2009
Canada joined its partners in the G8 group of industrialized countries--the US, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy--in supporting an overall 80 per cent cut in emissions by mid-century.
But Prentice said the Canadian government won't budge from its vow to reduce emissions by 60 to 70 per cent by 2050.
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Views: I-1033 could turn Washington into Mississippi
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/10/2009
Every time there is a recession year -- when the need for government services goes up -- the initiative would reduce amount of money that governments are able to spend.
Bluntly put, I-1033 jerks away the ladder by which this state would climb out of recession.
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Views: Step forward for CA solar bill
San Francisco Chronicle
07/10/2009
One of the keys to the expansion of solar power has been the opportunity for homeowners and businesses to receive credits for the amount of excess electricity they send back to the grid.
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Editor's Take: July 09, 2009
Florian, Flickr.
Taking Control of Reproduction
Contraception could become more readily available in Western states following a federal appeals court ruling requiring pharmacists to provide Plan B, or 'morning after,' birth control pills. Also on the health front, San Francisco is taking steps to expand access citywide to healthier foods, and wood smoke is the No. 1 cancer risk from air pollution in Oregon.
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Your editor today is Lisa Stiffler | View All Today's News
Pharmacists can't refuse Plan B pill, appeals court says
Los Angeles Times
07/08/2009
Pharmacists are obliged to dispense the Plan B pill, even if they are personally opposed to the "morning after" contraceptive on religious grounds, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case filed in Washington state.
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Sockeye's return a tribute to tribes' persistence
Wenatchee World
07/08/2009
After an absence of about 115 years, sockeye salmon are once again in Cle Elum Lake, north of Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass. The fish are returning thanks to the Yakama Nation, marking yet another effort by Pacific Northwest tribes to restore fish in areas where they have long been extinct.
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Global warming accord spells lifestyle changes
Seattle Times
07/08/2009
Leaders of the world's biggest -- and dirtiest -- economies have agreed for the first time to limit the warming of the Earth to a relatively safe 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) -- an important target in fighting climate change. It sounds simple, but it implies a dramatic shift in the way we generate electricity, fuel our cars, and build our homes and skyscrapers.
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Homelessness in suburbs, rural areas increases
USA Today
07/09/2009
As the recession took hold last year, homelessness shifted toward rural and suburban areas and gripped a growing number of families, the US government reports.
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Doughnuts and job skills for Portland youth
Oregonian
07/09/2009
Urban Opportunities, a job-readiness training program that helps Portland high school kids at risk of dropping out, is rolling out a bright pink doughnut truck in its latest venture to help youth learn job skills and find employment.
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Wood burning creates top cancer risk in Oregon's air
Oregonian
07/08/2009
Pollution from burning wood in stoves, fireplaces, and elsewhere is the top cancer risk in Oregon's air -- beating exhaust from cars and trucks -- according to a US Environmental Protection Agency analysis.
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Mandate for healthier foods in San Francisco
San Francisco Chronicle
07/09/2009
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is requiring city departments to audit their unused land -- empty lots, rooftops, windowsills, and median strips -- that could be turned into community gardens or farms. City vendors and vending machines must offer healthy and sustainable food. And farmers' markets must take food stamps.
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Bike parking a big deal in BC
Georgia Straight
07/09/2009
The CEO of the BC Apartment Owners and Managers Association has promised action on safe and secure bicycle parking in multi-unit dwellings. Some buildings currently forbid residents from bringing bikes into the building or onto their balconies.
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Transportation stimulus driven to rural areas, not cities
New York Times
07/08/2009
Two-thirds of the country lives in large metropolitan areas, home to the nation's worst traffic jams and some of its oldest roads and bridges. But cities and their surrounding regions are getting far less than two-thirds of federal transportation stimulus money -- instead, it's going to rural areas, potentially driving sprawl.
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Solar sensations under development
ABC News
07/09/2009
Now that President Barack Obama and other world leaders are committing to developing green technology, experts say we're getting closer to a solar-powered future. That includes cars, planes, cell phones, and even camping tents powered by the sun.
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Editor's Take: July 08, 2009
BikePortland.org, flickr
Less time in traffic
Whether it's the recession, gas prices, more walkable communities or better transit, we're spending less time in traffic, with commute times slightly down in Portland and Puget Sound. Condo developers in Vancouver BC may have to include electric car chargers, and a Ballard home whose elderly owner refused to sell to developers is headed skyward.
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Your editor today is Jennifer Langston | View All Today's News
WA traffic jams down, commutes speeding up
Everett Herald
07/08/2009
Andrea Martin of Everett used to drive to work every day before she lost her job recently: "No money, no gas, no car," she said. The economy and gas prices are two reasons people are driving less than they did a year or two ago. Both in WA state and nationwide, commute times are down and people are spending less time sitting in rush-hour traffic, according to two studies.
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Portland drivers get a break at rush hour
Oregonian
07/08/2009
Portland-area drivers may be a little less frustrated than a few years ago, as higher gas prices, tighter development and growing mass-transit use have reduced the time they sit in traffic. In 2007, congestion added 37 hours behind the wheel to motorists' rush-hour trips, a decline of one hour from the 2006 rate.
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Iconic Ballard home headed skyward
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
The Ballard cottage once owned by Edith Macefield, an elderly woman who turned down an offer of $1 million to sell her home to developers, has been sold to a company run by a motivational speaker who says he intends to raise the home into the air - both literally and philosophically.
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Which comes first - the electric charger or car?
Vancouver Sun
07/07/2009
Vancouver BC's city council will soon decide whether to force developers to install electric car-charging stations in at least 10 per cent of all new condo parking lots - a proposal that's creating a chicken-or-the-egg debate.
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The many uses of manure
Crosscut
07/08/2009
The rear ends of Dan DeRuyter's 4,500 dairy cows are powering hundreds of homes in Central Washington. Across the state, dairy farms are putting in digesters, creating methane to power electrical generators. One problem: hydropower in the Northwest is so cheap that farmers can't make money selling their kilowatts.
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Salmon run's future rests on 45 fish
Everett Herald
07/08/2009
They caught 81 smolts. Thirty-six of those juvenile chinook died. There are 45 fish left. If the fish are of the right strain and if tribal biologists can keep each fish alive for at least three years in a high-tech environment, there may be a chance for the genetically unique Stillaguamish River's south fork chinook strain to survive.
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WA halts Maury Island gravel mine
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
The company hoping to build a 305-foot dock on Maury Island as part of a controversial gravel-mining operation has been told to halt construction until it shows WA state how it intends to protect Puget Sound. The state said plans to protect sensitive eelgrass beds and herring spawning are "vague, ill-defined, and in some cases nonexistent."
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Forests: carbon sinks or fire hazards
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
Forests in the Pacific Northwest have a huge potential to store more carbon to combat global warming, but not if they are heavily thinned to prevent wildfire, two new studies show. That poses quite a dilemma for the U.S. Forest Service.
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Stimulus filling hungry bellies
KUOW
07/07/2009
Clipping chard in an Olympia school garden, Heather Davis is helping small farmers and growers donate surplus produce to food banks. She's one of 400 new Americorps workers that the federal stimulus package has brought to WA state, in a domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps.
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Views: Don't fool ourselves on 'walkability'
New West
07/07/2009
Walkable neighborhoods take more than density and sidewalks. You have to create conditions where small stores can survive.
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Editor's Take: July 07, 2009
Image courtesy: Carter554, Flickr.com
Stimulus to Fund Green Jobs in NW
Oregon has been selected by the US Education Department to help develop a green jobs training program that could give a much-needed boost to the state with the nation's second-highest unemployment. Nearly 20 Sacramento-area agencies will split more than $4.9 million in federal recovery cash to fund local job-training programs--many of them green collar.
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Anna Fahey | View All Today's News
Green jobs get boost in OR
Salem Statesman Journal
07/07/2009
Oregon has been selected by the US Education Department to help develop a training curriculum for the new class of green jobs under a pilot program that could give a much-needed boost to the state with the nation's second-highest unemployment rate behind Michigan.
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CA Job agencies divvy up federal stimulus funds
Sacramento Bee
07/07/2009
Nearly 20 Sacramento-area agencies will split more than $4.9 million in federal recovery cash to fund local job-training and job-creation programs, officials announced Monday.
The stimulus funding from the Department of Labor will go to programs that provide green jobs training, promote small business development or expansion, and provide workplace learning and job creation.
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San Mateo County students earn green with green-collar jobs
Contra Costa Times
07/07/2009
Young people in Richmond and San Francisco are gaining similar experiences this summer through partnerships with local nonprofits and the Student Conservation Association, the first program of its kind in California to focus on
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'Greedy' trees leave room for the little plants
New Scientist
07/07/2009
While they might hog the bulk of the sunlight, water, and space, trees still leave enough "crumbs" for smaller neighboring plants to eke out a living, researchers studying BC's forests say.
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Study: No increased fire threat in owl habitat
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
A new study challenges a basic justification about the threat of wildfires that the Bush administration used to make room for more logging in old growth forests that are home to the northern spotted owl. The study, appearing in the journal Conservation Biology, found no increasing threat of severe wildfires destroying old growth forests in the drier areas where the owl lives in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.
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WA tribes restores fish run
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
Sockeye salmon haven't been seen in central Washington's Cle Elum Lake north of Interstate 90 for more than 100 years.
That will change Tuesday when fisheries biologists for the Yakama Nation reintroduce them.
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Beetle attacks on Western forests OK by some
New York Times
07/07/2009
The explosive growth of bark beetles has been called "the Katrina of the West" and viewed as an unmitigated disaster by some. But other environmentalists and scientists argue that the insects, which kill only mature trees larger than five inches in diameter, are a natural phenomenon, like forest fires, and play a vital ecological role.
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Views: Canada blows post-oil economic opportunities
Vancouver Sun
07/07/2009
There was a time when politicians claimed Canada would become a world leader in clean, green technologies -- that our educated workforce, abundant resources and entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with inspired government policy, would revitalize our economy and help save the planet.
No one talks that way anymore.
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Views: A pay-go option for health-care reform
Seattle Times
07/07/2009
AS Congress recessed for the July Fourth holiday, the debate over health-care reform was reaching a fever pitch. Now the top domestic issue for the Obama administration, the biggest questions are how much a reform bill will cost and how to pay for it, quite aside from how effective a "reform package" will be.
Skyrocketing costs that are out of control are the hallmark of our present system. Yet legislators have already acceded to pressures and dollars from stakeholders in the present system (within which costs are revenue) and are only considering options that "build on the present system."
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Views: Economic indicators should be viewed together with others
Vancouver Sun
07/07/2009
When it comes to crystal ball gazing, some economic indicators are clearly more forward-looking than others. Stock markets are supposed to lead trends, since investors hope to buy bargains at the bottom of an economic cycle and sell at the top. Similarly, statistics on housing starts, business investment, building permits, factory orders, wholesale trade and consumer confidence, as well as the spread between short and long-term interest rates, signal the future direction of the economy.
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