Editor's Take: July 03, 2008
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Independence Day: Step Up to the Climate Plate, America
While shooting off fireworks and celebrating Independence Day, U.S. leaders should be thinking about our warming planet, and energy independence. A G8 scorecard shows that the U.S. and Canada aren't taking enough climate change action. In B.C., a highway expansion program messes with the province's Climate Action Plan. Also changing: the economy, where women suffer most from the downturn.
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G8 Climate Scorecard: U.S. Lags on Action
USA Today
07/03/2008
The U.S. has done the least among the world's eight biggest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found.
The G8 Climate Scorecards 2008, released Thursday ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes.
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B.C.'s Freeways Jam Up Climate Plan
The Tyee
07/03/2008
The Gateway Program is at odds with the B.C. government's new Climate Action Plan, and one or the other will have to give, transportation planner Eric Doherty says.
Doherty, an official with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation, noted that the Climate Action Plan released last week, calls for reducing the number of kilometres travelled in vehicles as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Troubled Economy Hits Women Hard
Christian Science Monitor
07/02/2008
This economic downturn is taking a particularly hard toll on women, as much of the downturn is focused on the real estate market, where a disproportionately large number of women work, and substantially more women than men have subprime mortgages. But experts point to another cause: Women simply earn less than men, an estimated average of 80 cents for every dollar made by a man.
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Views: A Recipe for Saving Wild Salmon
San Francisco Chronicle
07/03/2008
The recipe for bringing back wild salmon is simple: ample cold, clean water; access to spawning and rearing areas; and abundant supplies of food. It's not complicated, but it will require a sustained commitment from everyone who values wild, local salmon.
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30,000 Salmon Escape B.C. Farm Pen
Victoria Times Colonist
07/03/2008
A lone commercial seiner combed waters around Frederick Arm north of Campbell River yesterday in a vain effort to catch 30,000 escaped farm-raised Atlantic salmon.
The escape was one of the biggest for Marine Harvest Canada, the largest aquaculture business in the province.
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Portland to Tackle Health Insurance for Children
Oregonian
07/03/2008
In a year and a half, Portland parents without insurance could get basic health care for their children through the city.
What began as a grass-roots idea backed by two local doctors took on more urgency Wednesday as Portland's elected leaders unanimously pledged to become one of the first cities in the country to offer health insurance.
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U.S. Lifts Moratorium on New Solar Projects
New York Times
07/03/2008
Under increasing public pressure over its decision to temporarily halt all new solar development on public land, the Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday that it was lifting the freeze, barely a month after it was put into effect.
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Wal-Mart Buys Locally Grown Produce
San Francisco Chronicle
07/02/2008
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to purchase and sell $400 million worth of produce grown by local farmers within its state stores this year, an effort the company says will only grow. Academic studies show buying locally cuts down on transportation mileage while also assuring customers of a product's provenance amid mass recalls.
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Views: Stop Stalling and Give Tribes the Land
Coos Bay World
07/02/2008
Transferring ownership of unused lighthouses is a notoriously sluggish process. Yet even in the snail world of federal bureaucracy, surely the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians have waited long enough.
Please, Congress, hand over the Cape Arago Lighthouse and the surrounding land.
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B.C. Companies Get Fuel-Fit
Vancouver Sun
07/03/2008
Switching to more-fuel-efficient cars and trucks, teaching better driving habits and installing equipment to stop speeding and idling are at the top of the list of to-dos when it comes to B.C. companies lowering their fuel costs.
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