Editor's Take: September 08, 2008
yves remedios, flickr
Curb Sprawl, Fix the Climate
California’s new bill to curb sprawl and fight global warming has gathered a lot of attention in the Northwest, but now it’s hit the national stage. Also, a new study says you can grow more and save water, all while turning a bigger profit. Meanwhile, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden makes a stop in Montana to talk about the economy and tribal justice.
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California: Concentrate Growth and Cut Cars
Washington Post
09/07/2008
California is poised to pass the first law in the nation linking greenhouse gas emissions to urban planning, a departure from the growth approach that spawned the state's car culture and urban sprawl. The measure aims to give existing and new high-density centers where people live, work and shop top priority in receiving funds.
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CA Farmers Can Grow More, Save Water, and Profit
San Francisco Chronicle
09/08/2008
California farmers can grow more food more profitably if they switch to water-saving crops and change their irrigation practices in response to the state's ongoing drought, according to a study released Monday.
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Biden Promises More Justice on Reservations
Missoulian
09/08/2008
On Sunday, Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden said an Obama-Biden administration would increase federal prosecutions in Indian Country and strengthen tribal court jurisdiction over crimes occurring within reservation borders, regardless of the race of the criminal.
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Cycling Controversy: Washington Bests Oregon
Oregonian
09/08/2008
The League of American Bicyclists announced its first annual ranking of "bicycle friendly states" today and Oregon is ... No. 4? OK, so we don't always win first place when it comes to anything having to do with bikes. In this contest, Washington state is numero uno, according to the national advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
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A 'Gravely Disabled' Mental Health Care System
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
09/08/2008
Mental illness is an insidious form of identity theft, erasing one future and replacing it with another. But the state's mental health care system abets the crime. Washington families dealing with mental illness are snared in a Kafkaesque system that won't help people with serious symptoms until they are in imminent danger of harming themselves or others, or gravely disabled.
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Lunchtime Economics
Medford Mail-Tribune
09/08/2008
Kids may be worried about homework, teachers and that pesky bully this school year. But parents? They're leery about lunches. With food prices rising and packages shrinking, parents are wondering how they'll stretch their food budgets. Children are going to get an unwitting lesson in economics, analysts say, as parents change their food-buying habits to keep costs down.
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Have Knife, Will Travel: A Slaughterhouse on Wheels
Wall Street Journal
09/08/2008
Federal rules and consolidation of the nation's meatpacking industry have made it increasingly costly and cumbersome for small farmers to bring their animals to slaughter. On this island off the coast of Washington, a group of about 15 farmers decided that, rather than haul animals to a slaughterhouse in Sumner, Wash., they'd bring a slaughterhouse to their animals.
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The Frugal Cornucopian: Amory Lovins
The Economist
09/05/2008
If anybody should be on top of the world today, it is Amory Lovins. That is not just because the energy visionary makes his home on a mountain in Old Snowmass, Colorado. Rather, it is because today's interrelated energy and climate difficulties have at last made the world see the importance of resource efficiency, energy innovation and holistic design.
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Which Candidate Feels Pain of US Economy?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
09/07/2008
Whoever occupies the White House will set tax and other domestic policies that could help lift us out of our economic funk or push people further into a financial hole. It's important to have a president who can sympathize with the less fortunate because an economic recovery is still off in the distance.
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Views: Real Life Economy
New York Times
09/08/2008
During the boom years of the Bush presidency - remember them? - economic growth was an especially unreliable indicator of how most Americans were doing. The numbers were impressive, but the gains were lopsided, benefiting executives and investors far more than hourly workers and salaried employees. Because the growth was fueled by reckless lending and borrowing, it created an illusion of wealth even as many Americans lost ground.
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