Editor's Take: August 14, 2009
Credit: ::d::, Flickr.
Local Money for Local Shoppers
Local currency seems to be the buzz lately. A few weeks ago Whidbey Island was talking about debuting local currency, and now Vancouver Island's Comox Valley is launching its "Community Way Dollars." Shoppers can soon buy local food with those local dollars. In Ashland, Oregon, a sustainability collective is trying to encourage the city to be more self-reliant.
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BC's Comox Valley launches its own currency
The Tyee
08/14/2009
Vancouver Island's Comox Valley is launching its own community currency to revitalize the local economy and demonstrate that money can work in new ways.
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Ashland's sustainability collective advocates local
Ashland Daily Tidings
08/13/2009
What if most of the yards in Ashland grew some sort of edible garden? That's one of the goals of Transition Town Ashland, a group that aims to increase local resiliency to deal with the challenges of uncertain economic times: climate change, exponential population growth and peak oil, organizers said.
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Primary care in need of first aid
Seattle Times
08/14/2009
Many family doctors and others on the front lines of medical care, who typically earn far less than their specialist counterparts, hope any health-care-reform package will include tools for easing a dire shortage of primary-care doctors.
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Wind turbines top downtown Portland high-rise
Oregonian
08/14/2009
Portland's distinctive skyline has a dramatic addition.
By the end of today, the graceful blades of four 45-foot-tall wind turbines are expected to begin spinning above the glossy new Twelve West Building, one of a handful of urban high-rises nationally that capture wind for electricity.
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Luring salmon back to the city
Oregon Public Broadcasting
08/13/2009
To a salmon, big cities make for poor habitat. Not much fish food grows on a bare concrete bulkhead.
Now some scientists hope to change that. They're looking at new ways for salmon to live in the city, or at least find some food.
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Snails threaten Tomales Bay Olympia oysters
San Francisco Chronicle
08/14/2009
The rare surviving Olympia oysters of Tomales Bay, once an integral part of the Indian diet and a staple during the San Francisco Gold Rush, are being wiped out by voracious alien snails.
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Haida invest in NaiKun wind project
Vancouver Sun
08/13/2009
NaiKun Wind Energy and the Haida Nation added a new dimension to the proposed $2-billion Hecate Strait wind-power project on Thursday.
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Boise Task force wants bike laws that improve safety
Boise Idaho Statesman
08/13/2009
Should a 2-ton truck and a cyclist be treated the same on the road?
That question divided cyclists who helped draft safety recommendations for bicycle riders in Boise earlier this summer.
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Plotting the path of renewable power lines in CA
San Francisco Chronicle
08/14/2009
A new state report tries to tackle one of the touchiest issues in California's effort to expand renewable power, suggesting possible routes for new transmission lines to carry electricity from wind farms and solar plants.
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Views: The enticements of green carrots
Toronto Globe and Mail
08/12/2009
We Canadians like to think we are green, but when it comes to protecting the environment, we are among the world's worst actors. Whether the metric is carbon output per capita, toxic waste emissions or protection of endangered species, Canada regularly ranks near the bottom of the list of similarly wealthy countries.
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