Editor's Take: September 04, 2009
Polygon Homes, Flickr.
'Farmers Market' for Timber Industry
The notion of shopping for local, sustainably produced produce is being applied to Oregon's timber industry. Now homeowners and builders can learn more about the origins of their maple floors and Douglas fir trim thanks to the Build Local Alliance, which, as reported in the Oregonian, "connects architects, homebuilders, contractors, lumber yards, and forest owners in a local-only supply chain."
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Connecting local timber owners, home builders
Oregonian
09/04/2009
Just as people in Portland and elsewhere now take a greater interest in where their food comes from, some consumers are curious to know the source of the wood used to build their homes. A new program connects the two.
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Humans linked to end of 2,000-year Arctic cooling
Washington Post
09/03/2009
Human-generated greenhouse gas emissions have helped reverse a 2,000-year trend of cooling in the Arctic, prompting warmer average temperatures in the past decade that now rank higher than at any time since 1 B.C.
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Chinook spawning in newly restored river channel
Bellingham Herald
09/03/2009
Chinook salmon surprised scientists by taking advantage of a new stretch of spawning channel on the Nooksack River that was improved in just the past year through a project overseen by the Nooksack Indian Tribe.
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NW power plan would boost electricity conservation
Oregonian
09/03/2009
A new power plan for the Northwest that envisions meeting 85 percent of the region's new electricity needs through conservation in the next two decades is now out for public comment.
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Compressed workweek shrinks enviro footprint
Vancouver Sun
09/04/2009
Thursdays are the new Fridays for a growing number of workers who have switched to a "4-10" workweek -- that is, four days at 10 hours each. Support for 4-10 is growing with evidence that it cuts absenteeism, operating costs, and environmental impacts.
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Views: Another astroturf campaign
New York Times
09/04/2009
Behind the overall effort to sink US climate change legislation -- billed, naturally, as a grass-roots citizen movement -- lie the string-pullers at the American Petroleum Institute, the industry's main trade organization and a wily, well-funded veteran of the legislative wars.
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Lewiston, ID wrestles with dam removal
KUOW
09/04/2009
Salmon advocates are pressuring the Obama administration to come out in favor of removing the dams. That's an idea that leaders in Lewiston, Idaho have long fought. The city bills itself as the state's only seaport. But now, even there, a few business leaders are softening their stance.
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Make drivers pay up: transit report
Toronto Globe and Mail
09/03/2009
British Columbia needs to boost the cost of driving with road tolls, vehicle fees, and higher insurance rates to make public transit a more cost-effective alternative, says the first review from the transit commissioner.
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Renewable-power fight at crossroads
San Francisco Chronicle
09/03/2009
A fierce and complicated fight has broken out in Sacramento over a simple idea with broad support -- increasing California's use of renewable power by boosting the amount of green energy utilities must use.
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Views: Eden vs. sprawl
Oregonian
09/03/2009
Oregon's reputation as being tough on urban sprawl is about to be flushed down the toilet, and all because Hillsboro is rushing to fill up all open space to bring in those money-making technology campuses that the cities here drool over.
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