Editor's Take: September 12, 2008
Credit: David Watson, Flickr.
Bay Area Mayors Push for 'New Economy'
I promise I don't play favorites with California,
it just seems the state has been in a collaborative mood lately. Three Bay-Area mayors have joined together to tackle sustainability goals in their region. Washington puts its money where its mouth is by encouraging hybrids.
And at Sightline, our Fall
Fund Drive is taking place, so please make a donation toward climate
solutions.
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Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Bay Area Mayors Partner for a Greener Future
San Francisco Chronicle
09/12/2008
Mayors of the Bay Area's three largest cities vowed Wednesday to set aside provincial interests and back an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building houses near rail lines and expanding employment in solar energy and green technology.
Go to article.
Giving Washington Hybrid-Owners a (Tax) Break
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
09/12/2008
A new sales tax exemption that encourages Washington car shoppers to choose hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles will save them an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years.
The savings provide an extra incentive for consumers to trade in gas guzzlers, a trend that's already in full bloom.
Go to article.
Seattle's South Park Exceeds Cancer-Causing Toxin Level
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
09/12/2008
A polluted corner of the South Park neighborhood long known to harbor cancer-causing PCBs also is contaminated with highly toxic dioxins, test results revealed on Thursday. City officials fanned out Thursday night to inform residents of the new findings, saying that while they don't believe the dioxins pose an immediate health threat, the readings exceed a government-set cleanup level.
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Views: Tough Fight Against Hunger for Idaho
Boise Idaho Statesman
09/12/2008
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Idaho ranks as America's 13th hungriest state. If you're looking for good news, there isn't much. Idaho had once ranked eighth on the Agriculture Department list - and in this case, the lower the ranking, the better.
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WA I-985: Proposes Traffic Fixes, but Many Have Doubts
Tacoma News Tribune
09/12/2008
Tim Eyman is counting on public outrage over many seemingly unrelated government practices to win approval for Initiative 985 in the Nov. 4 general election. He's offering I-985 as a cure-all for all those complaints under the general heading of "traffic congestion relief." Don't be fooled, said Doug MacDonald, who was Washington transportation secretary from 2001 through mid-2007. Each of the remedies Eyman proposes in I-985 is flawed or confusing.
Go to article.
Send Back that BC Climate Cheque, Please
Victoria Times Colonist
09/12/2008
The province sent about 18,000 "climate action dividend" $100 cheques to people who weren't eligible for them, a government source has confirmed.
A review of the program revealed the problem and the Canada Revenue Agency has mailed notices asking for the $100 to be returned.
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Views: Oregonians, Vote for Global Warming Solutions
Oregonian
09/12/2008
The task this fall for Oregon voters is to sort through the hundreds of candidates running for city, county and state offices and ask which of them takes seriously our responsibility to combat global warming for the benefit of future generations.
If given the opportunity at the door, on the phone or at a public meeting, ask the candidates what global warming solutions they support. Then vote for those who'll act responsibly.
Go to article.
Wyden Energy Bill Includes Money for Rural Oregon
Business Journal
09/12/2008
Oregon's rural counties, many of which are planning lighter 2009 budgets after losing federal timber subsidies, again have hope that the payments could reemerge.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said today that energy tax legislation introduced later this month could contain a multi-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
Go to article.
Democrats Reluctantly Embrace Offshore Drilling
New York Times
09/12/2008
For decades, opposition to new offshore oil drilling has been a core principle of Congressional Democrats, ranking in the party pantheon somewhere just below protecting Social Security and increasing the minimum wage.
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Views: A Chicken in Every Garage
New York Times
09/12/2008
From afar, the rise and fall of the sport utility vehicle might look like the clear-cut story of two gas prices. With unleaded gas dropping below $1 a gallon in the years following the 1980 oil crisis, Detroit successfully made the pitch that trucks conceived for life on a farm were a good way to move the family around in suburbia. Today, with gas reluctantly receding to $3.50 a gallon, the idea makes no sense at all.
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