Editor's Take: March 18, 2008
Your NW News Breakfast: How Do You Like it Cooked?
Over-easy or sunny side up? Sightline Daily now offers a slew of RSS feeds on topics important to NW sustainability. By the way, we’re still clocking in at 5 a.m., drinking lots of coffee and hand-picking the news for you. Feeds are just another way to slice and dice the news you need to do your work.
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Kristin Kolb | View All Today's News
Windfall for Eastern Washington
Yakima Herald-Republic
03/18/2008
Every day the wind blows is a good day here at Wild Horse. This barren, windswept hillside now has a new use.
The 127 huge, slowly spinning white turbines stretch across the ridgeline, northeast of here, generating enough energy to power 55,000 homes annually.
Go to article.
No Light Rail for Seattle's 520 Bridge
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
03/18/2008
When Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis told a group grappling with the Evergreen Point Bridge design not to count on light rail, jaws dropped.
"Don't get your hopes up on light rail across 520, folks," Ceis told the 34-member mediation group recently. "It's probably not going to happen."
Go to article.
Fish Farm Ban Likely for B.C.'s North Coast
BC Local News
03/18/2008
Skeena MLA Robin Austin said a moratorium for northern waters is "a given." Residents of Kitkatla, a Tsimshian village on an island near Prince Rupert, recently voted in a new council that reversed the community's effort to bring the first salmon farm to the region, Austin said, and now the industry has no local support in the north.
Go to article.
Study Finds Garbage-to-Fuel Best Fit for NW
Oregon Public Broadcasting
03/17/2008
Northwest biodiesel and ethanol production is on the rise. But most of the raw materials for our biofuels still come from far away.
Midwestern corn and soybeans, for example, or canola oil from Canada. A new study by the Pacific Northwest National Lab suggests the path to truly "homegrown" fuel might lead to the garbage dump.
Go to article.
When is a Tree Dead?
Eugene Register Guard
03/17/2008
A federal appeals court panel is deciding a question pivotal to salvage logging: When is a tree dead?
A lawsuit raising the question is pitting environmentalists against the U.S. Forest Service and could decide how the government is allowed to log old growth conifers burned by fire.
Go to article.
Tulalip Students Can Now Earn a B.A. on the Rez
Everett Herald
03/18/2008
American Indians can now earn a bachelor's degree through a program tailored for them, without leaving the Tulalip Indian Reservation.
Go to article.
Green Means Stop for Portland Bikes
Oregonian
03/18/2008
Portland will join New York City as one of the few North American cities with the designated areas that allow cyclists to wait in front of cars during red lights at busy intersections.
Go to article.
Are McMansions the Next Slums?
Atlantic Monthly
03/18/2008
The subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes in American life may turn today's McMansions into tomorrow's tenements.
Go to article.
Can Eco-Density Be Beautiful?
The Tyee
03/18/2008
With Vancouver's city councillors listening, a citizen of upper Kitsilano took the lectern and offered a plea against the controversial Eco-Density Charter. The gist of his complaint: Eco-densification has so far been a rash, hasty and seemingly undemocratic process.
Then councillor and mayoral hopeful Peter Ladner posed one simple question: What ideal outcome would you envision for the Vancouver of the future?
Go to article.
Wind that Waves Bickleton's Wheat Adds Income to its Coffers
Yakima Herald-Republic
03/18/2008
Two mammoth wind power farms are generating electricity near Bickleton, an unincorporated town in eastern Klickitat County. Two are under construction in Klickitat County and seven more have permits.
Residents are hanging a lot of hopes on wind in this area, where some families have farmed wheat for five generations. Most of the 90 residents in Bickleton either have turbines on their property or lease to companies considering development.
Go to article.
