Editor's Take: February 17, 2009
Credit: Thomas Hawk, Flickr.
Making Our Spending Sustainable
BC unveiled its budget, with cuts in some areas, such as housing and aboriginal affairs. In health care and some environmental initiatives, the province is 'showing the money.' Both the Toronto Globe and Mail and The Tyee report on the details. In the US, President Obama signed the stimulus bill, and Northwest states are lining up their plans for the funding.
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Spending On BC's Green Economy Grows
Toronto Globe and Mail
02/18/2009
The red ink in the British Columbia budget hasn't seeped into the government's green plan for the province.
It's one of the few areas where the BC government actually increased spending in this year's budget, dedicating $36-million for new or extended environmental projects.
Go to article.
King County Buses Run Short On Tax 'Fuel'
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
02/18/2009
In yet another installment of the things-look-even-worse-than-our-earlier-gloomy-forecast story, King County administrators said Tuesday that sales tax revenues for Metro bus service in 2008-09 are likely to fall almost $30 million short of what they thought in September they would be.
Go to article.
Turbines on Alaska's Tundra
New York Times
02/18/2009
Beyond the fishing boats, the snug homes and the tanks of diesel fuel marking this Eskimo village on the Bering Sea, three huge wind turbines tower over the tundra. Their blades spin slowly in a breeze cold enough to freeze skin.
One of the nation's harshest landscapes, it turns out, is becoming fertile ground for green power.
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Libby, MT: EPA Asks, How Clean Is Clean?
Missoulian
02/18/2009
Just how clean is clean - how safe is safe - is a question that Mike Cirian hears most every day. But the Libby project manager for the US Environmental Protection Agency doesn't yet have an answer.
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Views: Pushing Portland's Urban Plan To Absurdity
Oregonian
02/18/2009
Lock 10 urban renewal experts into a room. Give them your urban renewal plan to flyspeck, and each is likely to find plenty wrong with it.
They may find big mistakes. But, eventually, you may decide your biggest mistake was to hand the experts your plan to scrutinize.
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Uninsured Young Adults: Do-It-Yourself Health Care
New York Times
02/18/2009
In the parlance of the health care industry, "young invincibles" are people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because expensive policies are out of reach. Young adults are the nation's largest group of uninsured - there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007, or 29 percent, according to the latest figures from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York.
Go to article.
Montana Hopes for More Jobs
Missoulian
02/18/2009
Kalispell business leaders are encouraged by the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, with many saying they are ready to immediately create employment with new and needed projects.
The investment, they said, is particularly welcome news in northwest Montana, where unemployment is pushing 9 percent.
Go to article.
Home Solar Panels Get a Tax Boost
San Francisco Chronicle
02/18/2009
Homeowners interested in sticking solar panels on their roofs got a big boost from the $787 billion economic stimulus package signed Tuesday by President Obama.
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University of Victoria Brings In the Bamboo
Vancouver Sun
02/17/2009
Plastic is passe if you're picking up a meal at any of the University of Victoria's 10 food outlets.
Instead of the hard, white plastic utensils usually dished out with take-away meals, UVic's cafeterias are handing out smooth, brown cutlery made of bamboo.
Go to article.
Employed, Sort Of: Work Share
Oregon Public Broadcasting
02/17/2009
It's a grim season for many Oregon workers, with news of new layoffs coming all the time. The state is working with some companies to avoid layoffs, when possible, using a program called Work Share.
Go to article.
