Editor's Take: March 09, 2009
Image courtesy: Smart Bread
Green Light in the Economic Fog
When it's this foggy, it's nice to see sparks of ingenuity lighting the path forward. Today, bright solutions do just that, from Canadian electric car infrastructure and a smarter power grid, to connecting economic health and family planning, and rethinking how we farm
in the US.
It's not all light though. Also today, homeless children and NW states' bad choices about roads.
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Your editor today is Anna Fahey | View All Today's News
BC Hydro Prepares for Electric Car Boom
Vancouver Sun
03/09/2009
The Crown corporation announced it has commissioned a study for development of electric car infrastructure -- specifically, the wires and plugs needed to allow drivers to charge up their vehicles at home, at work, at the mall, or anywhere else that would lend itself to plug-in charging.
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Stimulus Energizes Efforts To Smarten Up the Electric Grid
Washington Post
03/09/2009
Smart grid is an essential component of President Obama's plan to change the nation's energy habits and reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, especially foreign oil. It would energize his hopes for more jobs and fewer pollutants while remaking a network still moored to the 1950s.
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Idaho Senate Committee Approves Efficient Schools Plan
Boise Idaho Statesman
03/09/2009
Sen. Curt McKenzie, a Boise Republican, told the Senate State Affairs Committee Monday that Idaho could be building more energy efficient schools by getting engineers and electricians involved earlier in the design process.
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Obama to Strengthen Role of Science in Policy
Los Angeles Times
03/10/2009
The order directs the new administration to develop guidelines "to ensure that in this new administration we base our public policies on the soundest science, that we appoint scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology."
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1 in 50 American Children Experiences Homelessness
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
03/10/2009
One of every 50 American children experiences homelessness, according to a new report that says most states have inadequate plans to address the worsening and often-overlooked problem.
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Vilsack Proposes Changes To Farming
NPR
03/10/2009
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is proposing radical changes to farming. He says farmers should see the Obama administration's new energy initiatives as opportunities to make new money, at a time when traditional farming policies run in the face of a soaring deficit.
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Automakers Press Fight on Car Emission Rules
Portland Oregonian
03/09/2009
Remember the fight over whether Oregon would adopt California's "clean car" standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Well, the issue is back on the front burner with Obama in office.
The latest chapter is a new assault by the auto industry arguing that carmakers can't afford the tougher standards during their current economic woes.
Go to article.
Views: Family Planning Vital Part of Economic Recovery
Everett Herald
03/10/2009
World Bank lauds "the value of contraception, family planning, and other reproductive health programs in helping to boost economic growth." A 2008 report found that, in the US, family planning funding resulted in public sector savings of $4.3 billion in 2004. In its 2008 report on family planning, the Washington State Department of Health writes: "Family planning provides economic benefits to individuals, communities and the state."
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Views: State Needs a 'High Incomes' Tax
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
03/09/2009
We have the most regressive tax regime in the country. Middle-class and low-income families pay much more in taxes proportionally than the wealthy. Absent an income tax, our over-reliance on the sales tax and property tax also results in insufficient public revenues to fund the public services, especially education, that keep our communities healthy and prosperous for everyone.
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Views: A Wrong Turn on Oregon Roads
Oregonian
03/09/2009
Unfortunately, last month Kulongoski's Transportation Commission took a wrong turn and approved a $120 million list of "recovery" projects that includes $42 million for widening rural highways, but not 1 cent for transit, bicycling or walking. Don't use the money to weaken our communities and economy by building wider roads that enable sprawling development.
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