Editor's Take: October 09, 2009
Pabo76, Flickr.
Local Fish Floundering
West Coast fish populations are feeling the pain. A new study concludes that the low-oxygen dead zones off Oregon and Washington are tied to climate change and likely permanent. Other research predicts that the warming will help fisheries in eastern waters -- but hurt those out here. And salmon advocates are challenging the Obama Administration's plan for running Columbia River hydroelectric dams.
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Pacific Ocean 'dead zone' may be irreversible
Los Angeles Times
10/08/2009
Oxygen depletion that is killing sea life off Oregon and Washington is probably caused by evolving wind conditions from climate change, rather than pollution, one oceanographer warns.
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Plant would turn wood scraps into power, ethanol
Longview Daily News
10/08/2009
Officials like a proposal to build a plant in Longview, Wash., capable of converting wood scraps into both electricity and ethanol, a first-of-its-kind operation that would create green energy and jobs.
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Judge asked to toss Obama salmon plan
Oregonian
10/08/2009
Critics of the Obama administration's plan to keep federal hydroelectric dams from pushing Northwest salmon closer to extinction want a Portland judge to rule the plan illegal.
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Plan for backyard cottages in Seattle moves ahead
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
10/08/2009
A Seattle City Council committee voted Thursday to send to the full City Council a proposal to allow backyard cottages in single-family zones citywide, potentially boosting higher-density housing.
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Climate change means winners, losers in fisheries
Vancouver Sun
10/08/2009
Warming oceans over the next half century will hurt fisheries on the west coast while benefiting those in the east, predicts a joint study by the University of BC and Princeton University.
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A Portland man fishes Willamette River trash
Oregonian
10/09/2009
Most evenings for the past six months, David Fisher has come home from work, grabbed Aana, his 3-year-old Weimaraner, and headed out on Portland's run of the Willamette River. His target isn't fish. It's garbage.
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Oregon nursery is turning to the sun
Oregonian
10/08/2009
Oregon's Blooming Nursery is installing the state's largest solar thermal project to heat its 54,000-square-foot greenhouse, warming the plants growing there.
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Views: Eyman iniative gets an 'F' from teachers
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
10/08/2009
The Legislature's meager 2009 budget is being felt now: The pains will be magnified and made permanent if voters approve Eyman's Initiative 1033. That includes slashed programs at public schools -- and what happens in the classroom is felt in the wider society.
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Seattle City Light customers can better track energy use
Seattle Times
10/08/2009
Seattle City Light customers can now access their account information on Microsoft Hohm, a Web site from Microsoft to track energy usage and get recommendations on ways to save -- including comparisons to their neighbor's energy use.
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Views: Health costs are crushing small businesses
Wall Street Journal
10/08/2009
Small firms, defined as less than 500 employees, pump almost a trillion dollars into the economy each year, create two-thirds of America's new jobs annually, and account for more than half of the US work force. But too much of their money is going toward high health premiums.
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