Editor's Take: November 20, 2009
Steve Rhodes, Flickr.
Showing the Way to Universal Care
The most succinct, appealing argument for health-care reform I've seen comes from Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times at the end of his recent column. Reform supporters point to the success of universal care in San Francisco as yet another model for the US overhaul. And if you're looking for a climate-news immersion, check out The Nation’s "Zero Hour for Climate Action."
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Your editor today is Lisa Stiffler | View All Today's News
San Francisco's health care a model
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
11/20/2009
San Francisco did not wait for Washington's health care overhaul. Most uninsured adults here are already reaping the benefits of a government-run health care program -- seeing doctors, filling prescriptions, and getting surgeries they could not otherwise afford.
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Oregon tree farmers invest in the majestic redwood
Ashland Daily Tidings
11/19/2009
Oregon tree farmers are planting at least 20,000 coastal redwood trees a year in Lane and Douglas counties. They're driven less the awe the big trees inspire in many people, than by the best return on their investment in 30 or 40 years, when the trees are harvested.
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Biologists rush to save fish after landslide
Seattle Times
11/20/2009
A gigantic landslide that buried a highway, uprooted homes and rerouted a river in Washington state's Cascade Range left hundreds of smaller victims: fish. Fisheries biologists from 10 government agencies and private groups are working shifts to try to save the salmon and trout.
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'Under-insured' growing as fast as uninsured
KPLU
11/19/2009
The trend of people no longer being able to afford health insurance has been getting worse, Washington officials say. A new state study predicts the number of people here without insurance will hit 1 million by the end of 2011.
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US companies making carbon cuts
San Francisco Chronicle
11/19/2009
A survey of 90 big US companies found that most were addressing climate change, either by cutting energy use, measuring greenhouse gas emissions, adopting policies to cut emissions, or pushing for federal legislation to do the same.
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Forests fight climate change on two fronts
Oregon Public Broadcasting
11/19/2009
And at a hearing on Capitol Hill, forest officials and lawmakers discussed ways that federal forestland could help combat climate change on at least two fronts.
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Views: US health-reform foes on wrong side of history
Seattle Times
11/19/2009
Why is it broadly accepted that elderly Americans should have universal health care, while it's immensely controversial to seek universal coverage for children? What's the difference, asks Nicholas Kristof, except that health care for children is far cheaper?
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Wage confusion delays weatherization program
Olympian
11/19/2009
Washington's home-weatherization efforts have fallen at least two months behind goals set under the federal stimulus aid, the result of a mix-up over conflicting wage requirements under federal and state laws.
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Oregon wolves again star in video -- with pups
Oregonian
11/20/2009
They walk in single file -- black- and gray-coated wolves gliding through a snowy open forest in eastern Oregon. The remarkable video, captured last week by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, is further evidence that wolves are re-establishing themselves here.
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RV park tenants face eviction from affordable housing
Oregonian
11/19/2009
A pastoral campground on the banks of the Columbia River has for decades provided about 60 low-income residents with a clean, cheap, and safe place to live in an Oregon county with a dearth of decent affordable housing. But regulators say it's operating illegally and the long-term tenants must go.
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