Editor's Take: April 22, 2008
Living the BC life. Credit: istock
British Columbians Get a Life. Americans Don't.
British Columbians live longer than most people in the world, according to new numbers. Meanwhile, a big UW study finds that life expectancy for many Americans is declining. The trend is especially prevalent in rural areas -- including some parts of Washington -- and among poor women. One of the leading causes of health problems is -- no surprise -- obesity.
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Live Long and Prosper in BC
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/22/2008
B.C. residents are living longer than ever before, and now have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, according to new statistics.
The province's vital statistics annual report shows that people born in 2006 can expect to live an average of 80.9 years, compared with 77.4 years for people born a quarter century ago.
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Live Fast, Die Young in Rural Washington
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
04/22/2008
For the first time since the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, life expectancy for a significant proportion of the United States is on the decline largely because of an increase in chronic diseases related to obesity, smoking and high blood pressure.
Although life expectancy for all other Western nations and for most of the U.S. has continued to improve over the past several decades, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Washington say many of the worst-off here are getting much worse.
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Poor Women Livin' on a Prayer
Washington Post
04/22/2008
In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.
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Green-Collar Good Times in Oregon
Oregonian
04/22/2008
When the Oregon Legislature joined other West Coast states in passing its "renewable energy standard" and enlarged tax credits for renewable energy projects, it had a hand in whipping up a small tsunami of jobs.
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Carbon Offsets: Who's Tracking the Trackers?
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/22/2008
The burgeoning offset market still looks a little like the Wild West of yesteryear, and consumers are faced by a confusing mass of offset options vying for their money.
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Emission Caps Won't Hurt Economy, Study Says
Seattle Times
04/22/2008
Americans won't pay huge electricity and heating bills, unemployment won't skyrocket and the U.S. economy won't be damaged in the decades ahead if Congress passes legislation to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a study released Monday.
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Mount St. Helens Glacier Growing
Vancouver Columbian
04/22/2008
An active volcano, it turns out, isn't a bad environment for cultivating ice.
Mount St. Helens sports one of the few glaciers in the world that appears to be growing, an especially notable development during a time of increasing concern over global climate changes.
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New Marine Protected Area on BC Coast
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/22/2008
A jagged volcanic island that sank below the ocean off the West Coast around 15,000 years ago has been added to Canada's growing network of marine protected areas.
The Bowie Seamount, which has been called an "oceanic oasis" because of its rich marine life, jutted above the surface during the last ice age, but now lies 24 metres below the surface of the Pacific, 180 kilometres west of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
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Hate Commuting? Move North
The Tyee
04/22/2008
Despite claims that rural folk drive more daily, BC's numbers say otherwise.
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Victoria's Eco-Utopia
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/22/2008
A green dream is becoming reality for 2,500 residents of Dockside Green, a super eco-friendly development in Victoria that is already being hailed as a design icon
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