Editor's Take: September 25, 2008
Credit: sdbrown/Flickr
States Right on Climate; the New Seasons Market Effect
As northwesterners feel the pinch, a study looks at one way to hang onto home values--have an upscale shop nearby (call it the New Seasons Market effect). A historic week for regional climate action continues, with editorials lauding WCI's draft plan, and its eastern counterpart's move today moves from plan to auction. In BC, a new carbon tax rebate may be a "slippery green slope."
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Economic Slowdown Settles into Town
Portland Tribune
09/25/2008
Although Portland escaped the worst of the credit crisis for much of the past few years, the bad economy is catching up to the city with a vengeance.
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Amid Boom, Concerns at Small Solar Firms
New York Times
09/25/2008
The solar power industry is experiencing growing pains over how power is financed and distributed. In the end, larger companies may gain the upper hand, and the incentives could decrease or even disappear. In Oregon, the number of installers has grown to 90 from 12 in about five years.
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BC Communities Get Carbon Tax Break
BC Local News
09/25/2008
Only hours after BC municipal leaders voted to urge the provincial government to reconsider the effects of its carbon tax on local governments, Premier Gordon Campbell rolled out a rebate program to repay them at the end of the year.
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Metro Vancouver Wins Emissions Victory
Vancouver Sun
09/25/2008
Metro Vancouver has scored an important victory in its long battle to regulate emissions from commercial greenhouse operations in the region. The B.C. Supreme Court has upheld the region's right to demand tougher emission standards.
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Nearby Shops Put a Shine on Home Values
Portland Tribune
09/25/2008
You can call it the New Seasons Effect, or the Whole Foods Effect, but developers and city planners have talked about it for years. And now there's evidence showing how much that upscale grocery means to Portland-area property values--an extra 20 percent or so for homes within a block and a half, according to a study.
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20 Miles from Portland, a Unique Restoration Project
Oregonian
09/25/2008
The work by a partnership of agencies and groups will resurrect crucial habitat for imperiled salmon and steelhead in a wild corner of Portland's backyard. It's leading a wave of restoration across the Sandy River system, one of the best hopes for recovery of natural fish populations on the lower Columbia River.
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Seattle Megaduct Plan Comes out of Hiding
Crosscut
09/25/2008
The Washington state House speaker finally goes public with a dramatic idea for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Seattle's waterfront. It involves a long, block-wide structure with a highway within, commercial development below, and an intriguing park on top.
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EPA Scuttled Libby Health Emergency Declaration
Flathead Beacon
09/25/2008
Newly released documents show that in 2002, EPA officials prepared to declare a public health emergency over asbestos contamination by the W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana, but changed their minds around the same time they met with the White House. The declaration would have led to more extensive cleanup and health protections. Starting in 1999, news reports linked asbestos contamination from the mine to deaths and illnesses.
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Views: States Right on Climate Change
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
09/25/2008
Washington and other Western states have shaken off Bush administration-induced climate paralysis to summon themselves to responsible action. The states' design of a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions should help inspire an overdue national effort.
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Views: Talking to Your Kids About Where the Birds and Bees Went
Orion Magazine
09/25/2008
It's time to sit down with my kids and have the Global Warming Talk. I carried off the Sex Talk--and its many sequels--with grace and good biology. Surely, I can rise to this new occasion. On the surface, procreation and climate change seem opposite narratives. But then I realized that the two stories share a common challenge.
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