Editor's Take: June 24, 2009
stephenccwu, Flickr.
Intersection of Air Pollution, Autos
Air pollution leading to cancer and premature babies provides still more reasons for getting cars and trucks off the roads. And the Northwest has answers. Vancouver is dedicating a bridge lane to bikes and a toll on a new Columbia River bridge should help curb traffic. The timing is right: a poll finds Americans want US greenhouse gases reduced.
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A BC bridge, abridged for cars
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/24/2009
Vancouver's experiment in bicycle-friendly commuting kicks off in less than three weeks, when cyclists will be able to safely pedal across Burrard Bridge -- and commuting motorists will have to squeeze into the downtown core using one less lane.
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An ancient forest could get protection
Eugene Weekly
06/25/2009
For a century, Oregon's Coast Range has been farmed for timber, transformed from a vast, misty rainforest to a patchwork of clearcuts. Only several stretches of native rainforest still exist. This month, US Rep. Peter Defazio and Sen. Ron Wyden introduced a bill permanently designating the area as wilderness.
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More preemies linked to pollution from cars, trucks
Environmental Health News
06/25/2009
Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia, according to a study by California scientists. The findings add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb.
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Wash. coal plant haze harming parks
Seattle Times
06/24/2009
Environmental groups are asking the US Department of Interior to expand an earlier finding that pollution from a coal-fired plant in Centralia, Wash., is causing haze and poor visibility in Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks.
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Columbia bridge tolls to fund project, cut traffic
Oregon Public Broadcasting
06/25/2009
The new Columbia River bridge is going to cost about $4 billion. So it's not really surprising that planners are looking at a toll to pay for a third of it. But what is surprising is that paying for the bridge is only part of the reason for the toll. Government agencies hope it will reduce traffic, curb pollution, and reduce congestion.
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Puget Sound area cancer risk high from air pollution
Seattle Times
06/25/2009
The cancer risk from toxic air pollution in the Puget Sound region ranks among the highest in the nation, on a par with other major urban areas, according to new federal and state analyses. But the reports probably overestimate the danger because the data used old and don't take into account recent efforts to reduce pollution.
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Unemployed hit the road to find jobs
Wall Street Journal
06/25/2009
With the unemployment rate at 9.4 percent, some Americans are willing to go wherever they can to nab a job, even if it is temporary. To adapt, they'll live near the job in campers or cheap apartments, giving up normal family life for a paycheck, in a contemporary echo of the itinerants who roamed the country for work in the Great Depression.
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The lure of the laundry line
Wenatchee World
06/25/2009
They might not be saving time, but people who dry laundry on a clothesline are saving money and energy. The dry heat of summer in North Central Washington is conducive to line-drying laundry. Lots of people here are already doing it.
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Puget Sound orcas accounted for
Kitsap Sun
06/25/2009
When the Southern Resident killer whales came south out of Canada over the weekend, all three pods were together for a time. That gave scientists a chance to tally the local orcas -- none were missing, but there were no babies, either.
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Majority in poll say US should cut greenhouse gases
Washington Post
06/25/2009
Three-quarters of Americans think the US government should regulate the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases from power plants, cars, and factories to reduce global warming, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, with substantial majority support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
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