Editor's Take: July 30, 2010
mikebaird, Flickr.
Living Cheek to Fowl
We're taking a walk on the wild side to consider how we can live peaceably with birds, bears, and other animals. Seattle is trying to save its trees from unwarranted cutting -- and making the protection of great blue heron and other feathered friends part of the conversation. BC residents are trying to get smart about avoiding dangerous encounters with, of all creatures, deer.
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Your editor today is Lisa Stiffler | View All Today's News
Saving Seattle's trees -- one bird at a time?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/30/2010
Seattle is grappling with the broader question of whether it can preserve its tree canopy and the birds have become players in the drama. The city's advisory Urban Forestry Commission made preserving trees near heron rookeries one of its first proposals.
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Neighborhood takes 'carbon challenge'
Corvallis Gazette-Times
07/29/2010
One way to save energy: Put your latte in a reusable coffee mug, instead of a disposable one. It's a little thing, like turning out lights when you leave a room. But if a whole neighborhood does those little things, it might add up. At least that's the idea being tested in a Corvallis community.
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Green-burial movement blossoms
Oregonian
07/29/2010
The voices for a green grave are sprouting all over. The Shroud Lady in Southeast Portland. The Green Reaper in Boring. The button-down funeral director who now wants a wicker casket for his own burial. Conservationists who want to preserve land, not bodies.
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Climate rules for BC's industrial polluters
Vancouver Sun
07/30/2010
BC industries will face two sets of environmental regulations for their greenhouse gas emissions. Major industries will pay carbon taxes that apply to transportation fuels, and a cap-and-trade program will regulate their smokestack emissions.
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US food waste worth more than offshore drilling
New Scientist
07/29/2010
More energy is wasted in the perfectly edible food discarded by people in the US each year than is available in oil and gas reserves off the nation's coastlines.
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Wind developers work with enviros
Eugene Register Guard
07/30/2010
When Pacific Wind Power, a Central Oregon company, decided to build a wind farm 30 miles east of Bend, the father-daughter team developing the project knew it would face opposition from local environmental groups eager to preserve the desert landscape.
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Tunnel foes will try to get public vote
Seattle Times
07/29/2010
A group of tunnel foes filed Thursday to seek a public vote in February on Seattle's downtown tunnel project. But they may face a competing ballot measure from another group of environmentalist and social-service activists who want to stop the tunnel, as well.
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easyJet flights greener than a Prius? So they claim
WalletPop
07/29/2010
easyJet claims that its flights are a greener way to travel than motoring solo in a Toyota Prius. Really. Specifically, it says its flights emit less carbon dioxide per person than that bestselling hybrid car. Can it be true?
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Avoiding violent wildlife encounters
Toronto Globe and Mail
07/29/2010
As BC experiences a bizarre season of wildlife-human conflicts, with a rare attack by a black bear and deer being demonized for attacking people and pets, a wildlife ecologist says people need to change.
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Views: Who'll stop the rain?
Seattle Business Magazine
07/29/2010
Polluted stormwater runoff is the leading source of hazardous chemicals entering Washington's largest body of water, making oysters and clams unsafe to eat, and sickening the region's endangered orcas. But there's an affordable answer to this challenge.
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Editor's Take: July 29, 2010
spaceninja, Flickr.
Hottest Decade on Record
Climate news continues to dominate -- and with good reason. Research shows that the past decade was the hottest on record (Does this finally mean an end to the "But it was really freakin' cold in Dubuque last January" arguments against climate change?). BC's ready to roll out greenhouse gas regs for industry. And it's getting too hot for comfort for ocean plant life.
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Your editor today is Lisa Stiffler | View All Today's News
BC to unveil new greenhouse gas emissions rules
Vancouver Sun
07/29/2010
British Columbia's largest industries will get their first look at proposed new regulations governing greenhouse gas emissions.
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NW poised to lead clean-energy transition
Sustainable Business Oregon
07/28/2010
A study released Wednesday indicates that the Northwest is uniquely positioned to make a relatively painless transition to clean-energy sources, retiring all coal and nuclear power generation in the region by 2040.
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Hawaiian trash could carry invasives
Oregonian
07/29/2010
The Yakama Nation and environmental groups are still trying to stop the first shipment of trash from Honolulu, which could come as early as Friday. They fear the plastic-wrapped garbage bales will tear and end up releasing invasive species.
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California's clean energy future threatened
Los Angeles Times
07/29/2010
Plans for a massive expansion of clean energy in California are being jeopardized by federal foot-dragging, according to state officials who say that more than 20 nearly shovel-ready solar and wind projects are being held up by the US Department of Energy.
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Hottest decade on record
New York Times
07/29/2010
The past decade was the hottest ever recorded, part of an unequivocal pattern of warming dating back 50 years, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report declared on Wednesday.
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Seattle Mayor critical of council move on tunnel
KUOW
07/28/2010
Seattle's Mayor Mike McGinn Wednesday said he continues to oppose the current plan to build a tunnel through the city's downtown. That's despite an effort by the City Council to delay a formal vote on the project until more is known about the cost.
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Vital ocean plants a global warming casualty?
Christian Science Monitor
07/28/2010
The foundation of the ocean food chain is eroding, and global warming is partly to blame. That's the broad conclusion from a newly released study of a century's worth of measurements of the abundance of phytoplankton.
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Hanford official fired over safety concerns?
Tri-City Herald
07/29/2010
Safety and design concerns are being suppressed at Hanford's $12.3 billion vitrification plant, charges the engineering manager who oversaw research and technology for the contracting team until he was dismissed earlier this month.
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Cockles show promise as aquaculture product
Victoria Times Colonist
07/29/2010
First Nations have long eaten the native basket cockle and now Vancouver Island scientists are investigating whether the clam family members, with patterned ribbed shells, would make economic sense to cultivate in BC.
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A push for action on renewables
New York Times
07/29/2010
With a cap on carbon dioxide an apparent nonstarter in the US Senate these days, some clean energy and climate advocates have shifted their sights to a scaled-back but still ambitious goal: passage of a national renewable electricity standard.
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Editor's Take: July 28, 2010
Live Earth, flickr
Reviving Cap and Trade
With federal climate legislation stalled, California, New Mexico and three Canadian provinces have embraced a regional cap-and-trade program. Will states like Washington and Oregon follow? Also in today's news: a proposed wilderness deal, intelligent parking meters and a clinic that lets patients pay with good works.
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Your editor today is Jennifer Langston | View All Today's News
CA, Canada embrace regional cap-and-trade
Los Angeles Times
07/28/2010
California, joined by New Mexico and three Canadian provinces, outlined a detailed plan Tuesday to curb greenhouse gas emissions in a regional cap-and-trade program by January 2012. The Western Climate Initiative, if it survives political hurdles, would be three times larger than an existing trading system for power plants in 10 Eastern states.
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State politics could threaten WCI
Oregon Public Broadcasting
07/27/2010
The 11 states and provinces in the Western Climate Initiative finally have a comprehensive climate change strategy - after two years of work. But state-level politics have put the plan in question.
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New wilderness deal for Northeast Washington?
Seattle Times
07/27/2010
After decades of lawsuits and arguments about the wild country of Northeast Washington, environmentalists and logging companies tried a different approach. They talked. And talked some more. Eight years later they're putting forward something new: proposals to set aside tens of thousands of acres as wilderness.
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Clinic offers 'pay-it-forward' option
Ashland Daily Tidings
07/27/2010
A group of alternative health care practitioners in Ashland, OR has opened a wellness center where patients can receive treatments for cash or by "paying it forward," donating goods, services or property elsewhere, down the line.
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Seattle wants to ban new houseboats
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/27/2010
In a city of lakes and bays, squabbles about water are inevitable. But as Seattle mulls over a hefty set of new shoreline rules, one of the most iconic waterfront symbols - houseboats - is feeling the squeeze.
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High-tech parking meters premiere in SF
San Francisco Chronicle
07/27/2010
The parking revolution begins today in San Francisco, with the installation of meters that will help find out how pricing affects drivers' parking choices in commercial corridors.
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The real worth: Puget Sound
Sightline's Daily Score
07/28/2010
Here's a case for saving Puget Sound that you can take to the bank. The Sound and the land, rivers, and lakes surrounding it provide benefits worth $9.7 billion and $83 billion every year, according to a new study.
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Lead paint rules hit remodelers
The Dalles Chronicle
07/28/2010
New Environmental Protection Agency rules for renovating older homes that may contain lead paint are set to complicate remodeling jobs for homeowners and contractors alike.
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A fair chase?
Vancouver Sun
07/27/2010
When it comes to hunting, Environment Minister Barry Penner says BC is home to the "fair chase." But the use of bait and high-powered snowmobiles to target a wolf pack during a guided trophy hunt on an ice-covered lake in BC is raising questions about that assertion.
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How a Seattle group helped save the north's forests
Crosscut
07/28/2010
A Canadian industry, reliant on clearcutting huge stretches of boreal forest, realized it needed a Plan B. Industry leaders came to the table with environmentalists and found a way to market themselves as green.
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Editor's Take: July 27, 2010
The Hadfields, Flickr
Counting Kids and Immigrants
Keeping kids healthy and educated is a topic in today's news. The Tyee runs a special report on BC's native teens, while KPLU looks at kids' health care and educational issues in Washington. Looking at other population shifts, climate change may tilt the balance in the US. A study shows that the impact of a warming globe will create a rise in Mexican immigration in coming years.
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Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Native youth, in their own voices
The Tyee
07/26/2010
According to a 2005 report by the McCreary Centre Society, BC's aboriginal youth "are tired of hearing dire statistics about themselves, and want to see more positive news reflecting their progress into adulthood."
Educate, liberate, celebrate. The 2009 Pride Festival is on now.
This article is the first of six in a series, funded by a Tyee Investigative Fellowship, that looks at issues in the lives of native teens.
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Kids Count report: Washington scores mixed
KPLU
07/27/2010
Washington's kids are healthy but continue to face education challenges compared to other states. That's the finding of a national-survey on America's children.
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Study: Climate may push more Mexicans to US
Seattle Times
07/27/2010
Between 1.4 million and 6.7 million Mexicans could migrate by 2080 as climate change reduces crop yields and agricultural production in Mexico, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The number could amount to 10 percent of the current population of Mexicans ages 15 to 65.
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Rooftop gardening benefits urban areas
Washington Post
07/27/2010
Rooftop gardens provide environmental benefits similar to traditional green roofs, in which plants are used to reduce storm-water runoff, filter pollutants and cut heating and cooling costs. The gardens also can make it easier for city residents to get fresh fruit and vegetables, which is seen as a way of improving public health.
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Ashland planners promote bicycle use
Medford Mail-Tribune
07/27/2010
The city's Transportation Commission has noticed an increased number of bicyclists in Ashland and is trying to make the streets safer for them by installing easy-access bike racks and shared-lane signs, officials said this week.
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Upside of a downturn: low-income housing
Crosscut
07/27/2010
After the recession killed plans for a boutique hotel in the U District, homeless advocates scrambled to acquire the site for low-income housing.
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Hoping to make BCs Flathead a national park
Toronto Globe and Mail
07/27/2010
A United Nations report lauding the natural virtues of the Flathead River Valley has given environmentalists and wilderness advocates a big boost in their quest to have the scenic, southeast corner of BC set aside as a national park.
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Views: Pines, beetles and bears
New York Times
07/27/2010
White bark pine forests are in trouble all across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Great swaths of trees are dead or dying after being attacked by the mountain pine beetle and a disease called white pine blister rust, which is affecting habitat for grizzly bears, among other critters.
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Restoration for Clackamas River salmon
Oregonian
07/27/2010
The sound of a helicopter filled the woods south of Estacada on Monday as the crew of Columbia Helicopters performed a not-so-clandestine operation to restore salmon habitat to a two-mile stretch of Clear Creek.
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Vaporizing Portland's trash
Oregonian
07/27/2010
The nation's largest landfill owner wants to team with a Bend-based company to turn 25 tons a day of Portland-area trash into fuel -- by vaporizing it at temperatures of up to 20,000 degrees.
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Editor's Take: July 26, 2010
michael.newman, flickr
Fish Lovers Beware
How do food safety rules influence our lives? Today's news offers a glimpse: Washington state is rethinking how much fish is safe to eat, the raw milk police are cracking down in California while BC worries about contaminated clams. Plus, the toxins that affect fish (and the people who eat them) could be a critical tool to fight climate change.
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Jennifer Langston | View All Today's News
How much fish is safe to eat?
Seattle Times
07/25/2010
Under state law, Washington's lakes, streams, estuaries and nearshore coastal waters only need to be clean enough for residents to safely consume one serving of fish a month. Yet, for many, local fish and shellfish are a much bigger part of their diet, whether it's a dozen oysters served up at a waterfront restaurant or salmon grilled on a backyard barbecue.
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Toxic fish could help Obama hit climate goal
Reuters
07/26/2010
A proposed rule on mercury, a pollutant bad for fish and the people who eat too many of them, could help the Obama administration get near its short-term climate goal.
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Raw food raid highlights a hunger
Los Angeles Times
07/25/2010
Investigators entered a California organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.
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Oregon can't move money from roads
Oregonian
07/25/2010
A state budget shortfall will wipe out $17.3 million that was supposed to help thousands of working low-income families pay for day care. Because of the way Oregon's budget works, some families are losing aid while other state dollars are fueling a public building and highway construction boom.
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Affordable condos near downtown Vancouver?
Toronto Globe and Mail
07/25/2010
No parking. No fancy finishes. No costly marketing program. No speculators. No one who isn't willing to do some building maintenance. That's the condo experiment that one Vancouver developer is trying in an effort to build housing in the city priced low enough that a couple working minimum-wage jobs could afford it.
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Lunch with Chef Betty
Oregonian
07/25/2010
Chef Betty is one Portland outpost of several federal programs intended to deal with an unnerving level of child hunger, driven ever higher by the Great Recession and exploding levels of child obesity, often the junk-fueled flip side of malnutrition. Working with bananas and cartons of low-fat milk, they try to build a generation capable of dealing with the national debt we're sending them.
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Shell game: BC cracks down on illegal clamming
Toronto Globe and Mail
07/25/2010
Despite a 40-year-old ban in parts of BC, clamming remains popular - and authorities worry shellfish contaminated with bacteria from human and animal sewage, toxins from motor oil, pesticides, fertilizers and viruses such as hepatitis A and salmonella could be headed to restaurants.
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Portland architect developing cool energy-savings
Oregonian
07/25/2010
Portland architect John Breshears finds inspiration in unusual places, which partly explains why his patented air conditioning design looks like fish gills. His nearly half-million dollars to test the idea comes from Department of Energy stimulus spending that gave grants last week to unproven, but potentially game-changing, new energy technologies.
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Seattle police shut down Naked Bike Ride
Seattle Times
07/25/2010
A group of about 15 bicyclists in various stages of nakedness rode from Belltown, through downtown Seattle and on to Capitol Hill last weekend, where they were stopped by Seattle police. The ride was part of World Naked Bike Ride, which is meant to dramatize the vulnerability of cyclists in car-dominated cities and to promote nonpolluting transportation.
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Views: Next steps on climate and energy
New York Times
07/26/2010
The 20th century ended last week, at least in relation to the discourse over what to do about global warming. The end came with the failure of a seven-year effort to pass a climate bill centered on a cap-and-trade system for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. So what next?
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