Editor's Take: August 29, 2008
Credit: Alaskan Dude/Flickr
Climate Change's First Frontier
We think of Alaska as the last frontier, but it may be the first for climate change. Rapid glacial ice melt, threatened wildlife, and beetle-ravaged forests are taking their toll on this pristine landscape. "What's happening with climate change - it's not speculation," says Colleen Swan, a tribal administrator of Kivalina, a 399-person Inupiat community on the Chukchi Sea. "It's our reality."
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Alaska: Climate-Change Frontier
The Christian Science Monitor
08/28/2008
Temperatures in Alaska have risen 3.6 degrees F. in the past half-century. The warmer conditions are changing marine and terrestrial ecosystems and forcing human communities to adapt as well.
Go to article.
Whatcom Transit No. 1 in Nation for Ridership Growth
Bellingham Herald
08/29/2008
Ridership on Whatcom Transportation Authority buses has grown faster than in any other major U.S. city, according to recently released Federal Transit Administration statistics.
WTA topped the list of the country's 150 largest transit agencies. That comes with bragging rights because those 150 agencies represent 97 percent of the nation's transit ridership, said Keith Gates, who heads the FTA's National Transit Database Program.
Go to article.
Buying 'Wetland Credits' In Coos Bay
Eugene Register Guard
08/28/2008
A Coos Bay developer aims to become the newest in a growing group of Oregon's wetland mitigation bankers, offering developers a chance to buy "credits" worth between $50,000 and $200,000 that allow them to fill wetlands in other parts of the region.
The concept is similar to purchasing carbon offsets to fly on an airplane or drive a car to offset the carbon dioxide resulting from the fuels consumed during travel.
Go to article.
Northwest Natives Ready for Health Care Reform
Indian Country Today
08/29/2008
Northwest tribal health advocates say the rising cost of fuel is exacerbating budget shortfalls at tribal and IHS clinics, and it is increasing the suffering of Indian people who need health care.
Andy Joseph Jr., the vice chairman for both the Portland Area Indian Health Board and an elected member of the Colville Confederated Tribes business council, believes the time for talk is over.
Go to article.
Views: Bring Offshore Wind Turbines to NW
Olympian
08/29/2008
The first tentative steps toward offshore wind generation are taking place, and we'd like to think that the vote on I-937 is an indication that Washington residents will embrace the concept. Surely it will be less controversial than the national debate about off-shore oil drilling, which has sparked an assortment of environmental concerns.
Go to article.
Seattle Voters May 'Bag' the Fee
Seattle Times
08/29/2008
Seattle voters moved a step closer Thursday to getting a chance to repeal the 20-cent bag fee the city wants all grocery, convenience and drugstores to charge for paper and plastic bags.
A coalition of plastic and grocery industries submitted 22,252 signatures to the city this week to allow voters to decide whether they favor the fee, 14,374 of them must be verified to put the issue on the ballot.
Go to article.
Views: Win-Win with PAYD Insurance
Los Angeles Times
08/29/2008
The combination of high gas prices and the state's new regulatory campaign against climate change have finally led to a breakthrough on pay-as-you-drive policies, which even big insurers suddenly seem to be getting behind. It's by no means clear that the new policies would be money-losers for them, because more accurate tracking and less driving by their customers should help them reduce accident claims. Thus Poizner's proposal could be one of those remarkably rare public policy shifts in which everybody comes out a winner. He should move to implement it as quickly as possible.
Go to article.
Slow Food Nation Brings Issues to the Table
San Francisco Chronicle
08/29/2008
The 50,000 people expected to convene in San Francisco this weekend for the Slow Food Nation festival will have their minds and mouths trained on all things edible. Skeptics might argue that the last thing the Bay Area needs is another dose of foodie fanaticism for the well-to-do.
But as both Slow Food disciples and outside observers see it, the growing international movement's underlying principles have implications that reach far beyond the dining rooms of the fad-chasing upper middle class.
Go to article.
Toxic Chemicals Lurk in School Supplies
Salem Statesman Journal
08/29/2008
Paper, check. Pencils, check. Chemical-laden lunchbox?
Many school supplies from plastic backpacks to binders contain chemicals now under fire from environmental groups, large retailers and recently the government for possible health risks.
Go to article.
How Was Your 'Nearcation'?
USA Today
08/29/2008
"Staycation" may have been the buzzword this summer, but "nearcation" may better describe what travelers did during prime vacation season. From Minnesota to Maine, many Americans vacationed closer to home rather than staying at home or traveling longer distances.
Go to article.
