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A Good Idea for That Tax Rebate

With Tax Day over, Americans will soon find rebates in our mail boxes. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) suggests we spend our checks on energy-efficient products, from light bulbs to washing machines. Our government, however, isn't offering incentives to invest in conservation. What are you going to do with your money? Living on Earth found most people are buying more stuff.

California Dreaming

Recession got you down? Maybe you're cursing your grocery bill, or the chronic pain at the pump. Good news comes from California. No, not Silicon Valley. It's the East Bay, where a green-collar job rush is helping people beat poverty and revitalize down-and-out neighborhoods. The American Prospect offers a great feature on what happens when a resilient community thinks big.

Workin' for a Living

American workers are in the news today, for better or worse: struggling salmon fishermen, an equal pay bill, a Supreme Court ruling on fair pay, and gruesome details illustrating how corporations are "squeezing workers every which way in their drive to push down labor costs."

Pump Down the Volume

Remember when the water-cooler talk was "$3 a gallon?" Now gas-price sticker-shock is routine. But our habits are changing. A new report by my colleagues at Sightline Institute found that northwesterners are leading the nation in declining gas consumption. "[It's] like every driver taking an annual, five-week holiday from their cars," Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry told King 5.

Portland: Greenest of Them All?

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who's the greenest of them all?" Many Portlanders would expect to see a reflection of their fair city. Not so, says the Willamette Week. Stumptown may be known as the sustainability hottee, but other cities are passing her up. In related news, the Oregonian reports that suburban Clackamas County is getting serious about climate action.

The Sustaining Power of Wind

Indian Country News reports on efforts to jumpstart wind-energy projects on tribal lands, including a Seattle company aiming to help tribes to become principal owners of turbines. Also: Washington's Rossi revives a dead Viaduct solution; the Oregonian reports on residents' economic struggles; and Canada considers labeling a chemical in plastics "toxic."

Living the Complicated Life

I love Tuesdays in the newspaper business. Of course, there's the New York Times' science section. A Tuesday sleeper is the Portland Tribune's Sustainable Life section. This week, find out how pollution makes us fat, trace Earth Day's evolution, and read about a guy who tried to ditch the grid--but learned that the simple life is actually pretty complicated.

Compassion With a Side of Green

Can compassion translate to action? The Dalai Lama's Seattle visit provided a forum for this question, while the Green Festival shone a light on the many meanings of "green." Also: The local food economy takes a wild ride.

Where Have All the Salmon Gone?

Every spring, the government mulls it over: to fish or not to fish? This year, don't bother digging your rod and reel out of the closet. There's no salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts. And if you like a little wild king on your dinner plate, be prepared to pay for it.

20 Minutes with Hillary in Oregon

Portland's Willamette Week scored an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton during her tour of Oregon last weekend. The presidential candidate talks about Oregon Senator Ron Wyden's health care bill, timber payments, LNG, and, of course, what tattoo she'd like to get.

Homeless Veterans Gear Up for Green Jobs

Washington State's Veterans Conservation Corps is a program aimed at providing environmental job training for veterans -- especially down and out vets who served in Vietnam, but also helping younger vets back from military service in Afghanistan and Iraq. That's a "two-fer" for Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has made veterans and green jobs top priorities for the state.

Dams if You Do, Dams if You Don't

Four tribes broke rank with conservationists yesterday and cut a deal with the federal government to end their longstanding opposition to dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. In return, the Yakama, Colville, Umatilla and Warm Springs tribes will receive $900 million for restoring salmon habitat. The tribes see this as a solution to the enduring legal wars over salmon.

BC Leaders Ponder: What is a Civil Society?

Saturday's Vancouver Sun is a treasure trove for Cascadian doers and thinkers. It's a special edition of the paper guest-edited by seven of BC's most innovative leaders. Each considers the question, "What makes a civil society?" This is third time the Sun has handed over the editorial reins. Scientist David Suzuki guest-edited the first of this series last spring.

BC Ready to Cap and Trade

British Columbia took another step forward in climate leadership yesterday. The government introduced the Cap and Trade Act in the legislature. The plan is to reduce emissions 33 percent by 2020. My colleagues here at Sightline have been following this closely. For background, check out the Daily Score blog and Sightline's climate research findings.

It's Mines, All Mines for the NW

The headlines, mostly straight-up business stories, appear almost daily. The mining industry is booming to the tune of eight figures in Cascadia. New mines - really big ones – are proposed for rural BC and Alaska. Today, the New York Times visits one resort town in Idaho, where folks are suddenly betting on silver, not tourism, to shuttle them though a recession.

Win for Washington State Kids

Washington's toy-safety bill "wobbled across the finish line" yesterday, as Gregoire signed the bill and hailed it as a win for children's health and safety. Today's headlines also include bad news for Northwest pickle growers and fish farmers and some help for Oregonians hoping to understand the delegate system.

Churches Challenge Vancouver's EcoDensity Plan

This is more or less a note in today’s Vancouver Sun, but it’s likely a developing story: A coalition of churches is speaking out against Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan’s EcoDensity plan and calling for more social housing for low-income people. Their primary concern is Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, home to many of the city's most desperate residents.