Special Series
Economic Turnaround
In a Series
China Set to Corner Electric Car Market
Getting out of the economic recession is one thing. Staying out is another. A key factor in sustained economic health may well be the ability to lead in new, clean technologies -- and the wherewithal to unshackle economies from the burdens of expensive and volatile fossil fuels in so doing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that clean energy and efficiency will provide the economic engine to get us out of the recession and the stability to stay out.
With that in mind, here's another installment in my campaign against the "China Scapegoat Syndrome" when it comes to smart energy policy (you've heard the common refrain: "why should the US do anything about emissions if China and India keep burning coal and growing their populations? It's not fair!")
Well, I have little doubt that when China captures the market in clean energy technologies ahead of everybody else, the very same people might be saying the same thing: it's not fair!
So we might take heed when we see that China is positioned to become a leading producer of clean vehicles.
Here's the story from the New York Times:
Driven to Extremes -- Portland Edition
Over on the front page (two tabs to the left at the top of your screen), one of our new Sightline Daily editors found this nugget on the Oregonian's website today:
As the piece points out, there's a likely correlation between last year's high gas prices and the weakening economy: when you drive less, you crash less.Portland saw just 20 traffic deaths in 2008, the lowest number since the city began recording fatalities in 1925, transportation officials said today ... Road deaths dipped to their lowest levels in decades in most states and urban areas across the country last year, according to a recent Governors Highway Safety Association report.
Housing First Contributes to Urban Livability
A few years ago my morning walk to work from Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood often included the sight of people passed out in doorways surrounded by empty cans of high octane booze. And walking home often meant running a gauntlet of panhandlers looking for money to drink again. It’s an unfortunately familiar dimension to Northwest cities. Like a lot of people, I’ve felt frustrated about the human toll as well as the signs of neighborhood decay.
I’m not the only person who’s felt frustrated.
Some city dwellers have called for Alcohol Impact Areas (AIAs) as a way to deal with chronic public inebriates. (An AIA is a geographically defined area where products with high alcohol content cannot be sold.) Tacoma has tried AIAs. So has the State of Oregon. But generally speaking, AIAs have not been wildly successful -- and they paper over serious health and housing problems.
