A few months ago we reported on the shaky finances of Ambre Energy, Ltd, the Australian firm that’s at the center of two of the three remaining coal export terminal proposals in Washington and Oregon. Ambre’s finances paint the picture of a struggling, high-risk start-up: by the end of 2012 the company had burned through well over a hundred million dollars of its investors’ money, accumulating massive debts and obligations in the process, yet still hadn’t cobbled together even a hint of a profitable business.

But if the company’s recent financial disclosures are accurate, our earlier report just scratched at the surface of Ambre’s financial woes. Our brand-new look at the finances of Ambre’s Morrow Pacific coal export project suggests that one of the company’s export proposals is in deep financial trouble, because it faces:

• Higher transportation costs than any nearby competitor;
• Higher handling costs than existing coal terminal projects in the region; and
• Greater capital costs than comparable export terminal projects.

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Following British Columbia’s recent election, climate activist Kevin Washbrook and I have an op-ed in the latest edition of Business In Vancouver magazine. We make the case that fossil fuel export projects represent a clear danger to the Northwest—and that the threat transcends the border:

At a time when scientists report atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are breaking dangerous new records, the Pacific Northwest is considering a raft of ill-advised proposals to expand its carbon-intensive fuel exports. To date, the

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Garages and driveways are the primary entrance to this Tigard, OR apartment complex. Photo credit Brett VA.

Cars have shaped much of the North American West, including Cascadia, where drive-through restaurants, shopping centers, highway strip malls, and single-family neighborhoods miles from commercial services dominate much of the urban and suburban landscape. Less obvious to the casual observer is the impact that parking regulations have had on architectural forms.

Cities have established parking regulations, often called off-street parking minimums, for each possible land use. When you build a new house or shop, or often when you simply remodel a building or change its use, you must provide a minimum number of off-street parking spaces. These regulations are meant to address demand for parking that cannot be met by nearby on-street spaces, but they have also led to increased development costs, less flexibility for adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and some pretty unattractive architecture. read more »

Photo: The White House.

Political calculus and moral calculus unfortunately don’t always line up. But when they do, it’s time to pay attention.

When it comes to American Latinos and climate change, the numbers are stacking up in a couple ways.

Let’s start with political calculus: The latest census reveals a major shift in the US voting population. As Latino Decisions reports, the number of Latino voters increased by 1.4 million between 2008 and 2012. “In total, nearly 3.7 million more minority votes were cast in 2012, while White votes dropped by 2 million.” read more »