Editor's Take: May 21, 2009
Seven_Null7, flickr
A Climate for Change
With nearly 1000 people rallying in Seattle for bold action on climate change, Washington's governor gives the people what they want with an executive order to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, BC navigates the murky world of carbon offsets, Oregon students are turning to pedal power and The Economist argues that a federal climate bill is weaker and worse than it needs to be.
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Gregoire orders greenhouse gas reductions
Los Angeles Times
05/21/2009
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire sidestepped her Legislature's refusal to adopt a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, signing an executive order Thursday to achieve similar reductions by ratcheting back coal-fired electricity, helping polluters cut emissions, promoting low-carbon fuels and reducing driving. "I wanted cap and trade. I didn't get it," said Gregoire. "This is the next best thing."
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Wild west world of BC's carbon offsets
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/21/2009
The BC government has learned it's hard to navigate the murky world of carbon offsets. Its offset strategy has been criticized elsewhere in the world for having dubious environmental benefits, and even the corporation's chief executive officer concedes that the offset industry resembles the Wild West.
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A big U-turn in how we fix traffic
Oregonian
05/22/2009
For years, drivers and road engineers across the region have been waiting for the big fix. In many cases, that meant not much of anything got done while politicians pushed for the sweeping kind of road improvements we grew accustomed to. Some now argue it's time to consider solutions we can afford, such as traffic circles and U-turns.
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Pedal power: New bionic energy source
Medford Mail-Tribune
05/22/2009
"Pedal power" has a whole new meaning these days on the campus of Southern Oregon University. A group of SOU students have created a way to capture the energy produced by pedaling a stationary bike, transform it into electricity, and feed the juice into the power grid.
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Tribal same-sex marriage law takes effect
Oregonian
05/21/2009
A Coquille Indian Tribe law allowing same-sex marriage took effect this week, and two women plan to marry Sunday on the tribe's Coos Bay reservation. They will become the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Oregon, though their marriage will be recognized only by the tribe.
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Startups rise from recession's ashes
Oregonian
05/21/2009
Two weeks after Jon Garrison lost his job, he launched his own software company and now loves being his own boss. The speed of Garrison's reincarnation is exceptional, but the fact that he recreated himself is not. Startup creation accelerates during economic downturns as the newly unemployed strike out on their own, making silk purses out of sows ears.
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Farmers, tribes reach Klamath water settlement
Eureka Times-Standard
05/22/2009
One of the most contested issues between irrigators and American Indian tribes in the Upper Klamath Basin has effectively been resolved, potentially simplifying talks on a much larger dam removal and restoration deal. The parties announced a settlement of water rights claims from irrigation, hydropower, endangered sucker fish and salmon that stretch back nearly 30 years.
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What I did on my summer 'nocation'
NPR
05/22/2009
First there was the shorter vacation, then the workation and the staycation. Now comes the latest signpost that the recession is changing the way Americans live - the nocation.
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Cap and trade, with handouts and loopholes
The Economist
05/21/2009
The first US climate-change bill with a chance of passing is weaker and worse than expected. President Barack Obama has long argued that America should join Europe in regulating planet-cooking carbon. But he has left the details to Congress. And the negotiations to craft a bill that might actually pass have not been pretty.
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Views: WA health plan cuts inherently unfair
Olympian
05/22/2009
Managers of Washington's Basic Health Plan have the unenviable task of slashing enrollment by nearly 40 percent in a program that helps eligible state residents pay for health insurance. There is no simple approach that is inherently fair and equitable. Through no fault of their own, families struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economic time will lose their health coverage.
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