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Climate change: Threat or opportunity?
Washington Post
11/06/2009
A curious debate has broken out among American environmental groups, as the Senate balkily starts to focus on the threat of climate change. Is this really the time to talk about shrinking glaciers?
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Democrats push climate bill without GOP
New York Times
11/05/2009
Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee pushed through a climate bill on Thursday without any debate or participation by Republicans. The move suggests that President Obama and bill supporters will have serious problems assembling the votes needed to enact it when it comes to the Senate floor, probably not before next year.
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Views: Scientist stakes reputation on salmon plan
Idaho Statesman
11/05/2009
The Obama administration and the region’s federal dam managers are pinning their hopes to the scientific reputation of Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a marine ecologist from Oregon State University. And it’s a good call.
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Baucus votes against climate change bill
Missoulian
11/06/2009
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was the only Democrat on Thursday to vote against a climate change bill that Democrats rammed through a Senate committee - but said he still supports the effort to limit greenhouse gases and pass a bill.
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'Everything but marriage' backers smell victory
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Supporters of gay rights were buoyed by first-day returns that showed Referendum 71 leading by a narrow margin Tuesday evening. The trends looked positive for the measure, which would expand Washington's domestic-partnership law.
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Streetcars are our desires
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/03/2009
In Boise, a proposed $60 million trolley plan became a major theme of local elections Tuesday but also represents an American revival. Some 80 US cities have proposals for streetcars, which they hope will become engines for prosperity that will reduce congestion and air pollution by turning back the clock.
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OR adds 10,000 children to health plan
Corvallis Gazette-Times
11/03/2009
More than 10,000 children have been added to the state health plan under a new law aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to nearly every child in Oregon, officials said Tuesday.
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Oregon reins in renewable tax breaks
Oregonian
11/03/2009
Oregon energy officials released new rules Tuesday aimed at curbing a controversial state program that grants lucrative tax subsidies for wind, solar and other renewable power plants. The changes are intended to rein in some of the runaway costs of the program.
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Views: Initiative 1033's fatal flaw
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Tim Eyman's latest effort to mess with government, Initiative 1033, seems to have gone down in flames. Eyman's initiative reached beyond state government and deep into local courthouses and city halls, close enough for many people in small towns to see very clearly that Eyman's usual one-size-fits-all approach was not going to fit their communities, not at all.
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Seattle supports affordalbe housing levy
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Seattle voters approved Proposition 1, continuing a pattern of generosity toward affordable-housing measures despite an ongoing economic crunch.
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Backyard cottages OK'd in Seattle
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
11/02/2009
Backyard cottages will be allowed in single-family zones throughout Seattle under an ordinance approved unanimously by the City Council. City Councilman Tim Burgess said it would help people provide housing for family members or to offer low-cost rental units. "That's a positive way to create affordable housing in our city."
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Many workers can't afford the flu
Everett Herald
11/03/2009
For millions of Americans without paid sick leave, the rule is simple: If you don't come to work, you don't get paid. That idea drives an untold numbers of carpenters, day care workers, servers, shopkeepers and small-business owners to their jobs each day. Swine flu symptoms or not.
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What does overfishing have to do with climate negotiations?
The Economist
11/03/2009
Overfishing erodes future prosperity by destroying today a resource that could yield benefits indefinitely. Yet it is subsidised by billions of taxpayer dollars, euros and yen. Now, with fuel subsidies on the table at Copenhagen, a new chance to halt this insanity has emerged in the unlikely form of climate-change negotiations.
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Coal-friendly stream buffer rule may take another year
Seattle Times
11/02/2009
The Obama administration says reversing a last-minute Bush-era surface mining regulation criticized as too friendly to coal companies is going to take at least another year.
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GOP senators balk on votes on climate change
Seattle Times
11/02/2009
Republican senators on Monday demanded additional studies on the cost and job impact of a climate bill before it is voted on by a key committee, exposing the sharp partisan divide in Congress over legislation aimed at addressing global warming.
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Climate delegates call on US for robust policy
Seattle Times
11/02/2009
As China's actions to curb gas emissions garnered praise at UN climate talks, the United States came under renewed pressure to come up with a plan to cut pollution blamed for hastening global warming.
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Portland bike plan: Reverse discrimination?
Portland Oregonian
10/27/2009
Only in Portland could motorists feel like they are the victims of discrimination.
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Oregon grid to get $30 million smarter
Oregonian
10/27/2009
President Barack Obama announced $3.4 billion of taxpayer investment in so-called smart grid projects, and about $30 million of that is headed to Oregon. The improvements are meant to make energy use more efficient and include things like meters that charge homeowners less for power that's used when overall electricity demand is low.
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Candidates differ on KC Metro deficit
Seattle Times
10/28/2009
The winner of the November election for King County Executive will help decide whether to raise fares, raise taxes, cut service or cut spending for employees in the nation's seventh-largest public bus-transit agency.
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Greenbacks for green energy
Seattle Times
10/27/2009
President Barack Obama made a pitch for renewable energy Tuesday, announcing $3.4 billion in government support for 100 projects aimed at modernizing the nation's power grid and delivering energy more efficiently. The projects include installing "smart" electric meters in homes, automating utility substations, and installing thousands of new digital transformers and grid sensors.
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Views: Opponents of R-71 resort to distractions
Seattle Times
10/27/2009
Opponents of Referendum 71 are using more arm waving and fancy footwork than an aerobics class. Groups working against a sensible expansion of Washington's domestic-partnership law are desperate to change the subject. They are inventing distractions.
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Snohomish Co. PUD to get $15.8M of federal stimulus
Seattle Times
10/28/2009
The Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) will receive $15.8 million in federal stimulus money to integrate new energy sources into its electrical grid and to better identify and respond to power outages. The utility, one of two in WA to receive funding, estimates that 76 new "green" jobs will be created with the funds.
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'Public option' for Senate health bill
Oregonian
10/27/2009
A sleepy Monday on Capitol Hill was interrupted by serious breaking news today when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the health care bill the chamber will soon debate will include a public option.
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Western lawmakers collaborate on climate
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
10/27/2009
Lawmakers from many western states agreed Monday that they should consider collaborating on developing technology to capture and store the carbon gas that's generated from burning fossil fuels.
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Viaduct disaster flick released; political motive?
Seattle Times
10/27/2009
The state kept that video secret until Sunday night, when it granted an exclusive airing to KING-TV - just nine days before the end of a Seattle mayoral election dominated by a fight over whether to replace the viaduct with a waterfront tunnel.
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