Editor's Take: July 22, 2009
Egan Snow, flickr
Help Wanted (Make it Green)
The recession continues to exact a toll - on California's decimated budget, on college graduates lacking jobs and health insurance, even on the size of potato chip bags. But solutions are percolating, with governors backing clean energy investments to create green jobs and war veterans on a new mission to get the country off of oil.
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Reality threatens the California dream
New York Times
07/21/2009
Even in the 1930s, Woody Guthrie warned America in a Dust Bowl song that the California dream could not be had on the cheap. At no point in modern history has the state dealt with its fiscal issues by retreating so deeply in its services, with some $30 billion in cuts over two fiscal years to schools, colleges, health care, welfare, corrections, recreation and more.
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No jobs, no insurance: Hard times for young adults
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07/21/2009
Emily Weinstein graduated from college into an economic meltdown, and will be lucky to bring in $16,000 this year as a self-employed jewelry maker in Portland. Like millions of other uninsured adults in their 20s, she is watching with intense interest as Congress advances legislation to overhaul health care.
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Governors: Climate policy will create jobs
Seattle Times
07/21/2009
WA Gov. Chris Gregoire and others told a Senate panel that efforts to curb global warming and spur the development of cleaner sources of energy have created jobs and new businesses. But not all state leaders agreed.
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OR pesticide proposal gains ground
Eugene Register Guard
07/22/2009
Organic farmer and pastor Day Owen lives on a gently sloping spread of orchard, vegetable and herb gardens with goats and dogs and cats, the kind of bucolic setting near Eugene he had dreamed of. What he didn't expect was the regular application of herbicides by helicopter common on the commercial forest land that surrounds his family.
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Pushing to limit WA's coal emissions
Vancouver Columbian
07/22/2009
In what could become a national test case, four national and regional conservation groups have told the Southwest Clean Air Agency that it now has "the legal mandate and the moral obligation" to limit carbon dioxide emissions from Washington's only coal-fired electrical plant.
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Retooling for the next mission
High Country News
07/21/2009
Some vets think their war was for oil, and a dumb reason to risk their lives. Now they're working to help us use less of it.
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A parking space, at a price
San Francisco Chronicle
07/21/2009
The dream of never again having to circle for a San Francisco parking spot is possible, transit planners say. They suggest a boutique approach to parking in which residents decide how much to charge for parking in their neighborhoods, the boundaries for paid parking and what perks should come to those who pay.
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Parent stress, air pollution up kids' asthma risk
Vancouver Sun
07/21/2009
Children with stressed-out parents may be more prone to developing asthma associated with environmental "triggers" such as high levels of traffic-related pollution and tobacco smoke, hints a new study.
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Bummed about the economy? Eat more chips
Seattle Times
07/21/2009
Your eyes are not deceiving you in the grocery store. Yes, your bag of Doritos just got bigger. No, the price didn't change. Think of your food packages like an economic barometer: Times are tough, so costs for things like corn and oil are low and packages are bigger. When times are good, costs rise and packages get smaller.
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Views: California, here we come
Crosscut
07/22/2009
Initiative 1033, Tim Eyman's latest attempt to Californicate Washington, has an alluring subtext: "Limiting the tax burden on Washington's citizens." That's the sales pitch for those who do not care to read 15 pages of fine print and do not plan to make use of government services from now until the coroner (if we can still afford one) pronounces them dead.
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