Current Stories
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Obama going to Copenhagen climate summit
USA Today
11/25/2009
President Obama will go to Copenhagen next month, a White House official said Wednesday, to participate in a long-anticipated, high-stakes global climate summit.
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Vancouver redevelopment as social experiment
New York Times
11/24/2009
Downtown Eastside, a notorious high-poverty neighborhood in Vancouver, BC, known for its concentration of homeless people and drug and crime problems is getting a massive makeover that some view as a panacea for the city's social problems.
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California offers cap-and-trade plan
Los Angeles Times
11/24/2009
California Tuesday issued the nation's first blueprint for a broad-based cap-and-trade program to control global warming emissions. The pioneering effort would cap greenhouse gases emitted by more than 600 power plants, refineries, cement plants, and other big factories.
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Portland's not a global city -- luckily
Oregonian
11/24/2009
Here's an interesting take on why Portland remains a livable, attractive city. Forget about progressive land-use policies or green lifestyles. Turns out we're not globally important enough to have an elite that drives out the middle class and attracts a service class.
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Swift buses ready for fast lane
Everett Herald
11/25/2009
A new $29.6 million fast bus system, four years in the making, begins service Monday between Everett and Shoreline, just north of Seattle. It will be the first of its kind in Washington.
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Dignity Village: A place to call home
Oregon Public Broadcasting
11/25/2009
Oregon is conducting a unique social experiment called Dignity Village. It's a collection of about 45 yurts in the corner of a Portland leaf-mulching yard where a group of homeless people live and operate a semi-permanent campground.
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Parents beware: Hazardous toys still on shelves
Los Angeles Times
11/24/2009
Are the toys we're buying any safer than they were a couple of years ago, when millions of playthings were recalled because of high lead levels and other hazards?
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NW power grid project gets $89 million
Seattle Times
11/24/2009
A project to examine how high technology can improve the Pacific Northwest's electric power grid has received an $88.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy.
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Walking, biking good for you and the planet
Vancouver Sun
11/25/2009
Pedestrians and cyclists should be made king of the urban jungle, according to an international study showing the big benefits of "mass active travel."
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Views: Reform would boost Indian health care
Indian Country Today
11/24/2009
Say what you like about US health care reform, the fact is that Indian country is included in a big way this time around, says Mark Trahant.
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Whidbey Island grocery turns nonprofit
Everett Herald
11/25/2009
A newly nonprofit Whidbey Island supermarket takes the revenue from cereal and lettuce sales and reinvests it into the island community. It's cultivating relationships with local farmers who can sell their harvest to the store seasonally.
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Truffles could help Island farms smell profits
Vancouver Sun
11/25/2009
On a farm north of Victoria, Grant and Betty Duckett believe they may have started something that could invigorate small farms on Vancouver Island. The retired couple own Duckett Truffieres, the site of Canada's first known black perigold truffle.
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Tacoma brownfield project a US model
Tacoma News Tribune
11/24/2009
HUD is expanding its formerly narrow focus on housing to encompass a larger mandate: developing better communities through better transportation, schools, and environment. These principals are exemplified by the new housing being constructed on a Tacoma brownfield.
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Energy push spurs shift in US science
Wall Street Journal
11/24/2009
The Obama administration's push to solve the nation's energy problems, a massive federal program that rivals the Manhattan Project, is spurring a once-in-a-generation shift in US science.
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WA 'biorefinery' to cut recycling costs, carbon footprint
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
11/24/2009
A biorefinery that aims to turn yard and food waste, sewage waste, and trash from construction, demolition and land clearing into renewable energy is coming to Eastern Washington, creating green jobs and cutting recycling costs.
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OSU report finds shrinking snowpack, healthy forests
Oregonian
11/24/2009
Snowpack in some of the Oregon Cascade Range is dwindling, but western Oregon's Douglas fir forests appear unchanged, according to an analysis of climate change by researchers at Oregon State University.
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Views: Vanc. Island flooding has manmade roots
Victoria Times Colonist
11/24/2009
I have followed the stories of flooding in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and heard about the heavy rains, the high tides, and the dikes. What I have not heard about is the underlying reasons for this flooding: urbanization and forest clearing.
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Thanksgiving shopping: Going local
Seattle Post Globe
11/24/2009
Washington's Cascade Harvest campaign has attracted more than 3,000 pledges from people promising to serve at least one locally grown, harvested, or raised food for the holiday.
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Whatcom growth plan allows farmland development
Bellingham Herald
11/25/2009
A controversial update of growth areas in Whatcom County was approved by the county council last night, allowing for growth into areas some wanted protected for farming.
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US to set emissions target before climate talks
New York Times
11/23/2009
The United States will propose a near-term target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, a senior administration official said Monday.
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Earth's greenhouse gases reach record highs
CBC BC
11/23/2009
Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached record highs in 2008, with carbon dioxide levels increasing faster than previously, the UN weather agency said Monday in Geneva. Levels of greenhouse gases, believed to be responsible for global warming, have been rising every year since detailed records started being kept in 1998, the World Meteorological Organization said.
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NW salmon plan is in sight
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/24/2009
"With a little bit of work," the government might be able to get approval for the plan to operate the federal hydroelectric system that provides most of the power for the Pacific Northwest, provides barge transportation of goods, and influences flows of water throughout a watershed that is larger than France.
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In need of a plan for BC's children in poverty
Vancouver Sun
11/23/2009
BC needs to follow the lead of six other provinces and adopt a clear plan for reducing child poverty if it hopes to shed its reputation as the worst performer in the country, says a report due out Tuesday.
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Conservation is key to dealing with CA's water woes
Los Angeles Times
11/24/2009
As climate change, environmental constraints and growth continue to tighten the valve on California's water supplies, the rest of the state is going to feel the pinch too. Not just during droughts but all the time. The reason is simple. Compared to building new reservoirs, recycling or seawater desalination, conservation is one of the cheapest, quickest and least environmentally damaging ways for the state to get more water.
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Western senators sponsor bill to attack pine beetles
San Francisco Chronicle
11/23/2009
More than 2.5 million acres of pine trees in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming have been killed by tiny beetles that burrow under the bark and lay their eggs, turning the green needles to the color of rust as they feed on the tree and restrict its ability to draw water.
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