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EPA testing yards near former Spokane factory
Seattle Times
07/01/2009
Crews are testing residential yards near W.R. Grace & Co.'s former insulation factory in Spokane for asbestos fibers that can cause cancer. The work was prompted by the recent declaration of Libby, Mont., as a public health emergency.
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With goodies for everyone, climate bill passed
New York Times
06/30/2009
As the most ambitious energy and climate-change legislation ever introduced in Congress made its way to a floor vote last Friday, it grew fat with compromises, carve-outs, concessions and out-and-out gifts intended to win the votes of wavering lawmakers and the support of powerful industries.
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OR conservation lobby counts successes, setbacks
Salem Statesman Journal
06/30/2009
It didn't exactly turn the session around, but the final days of the Oregon legislative session brought some good news for groups who have been disappointed by the lack of movement on green legislation.
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Canada to match US climate change rules
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/30/2009
Canada will adopt climate-change regulations comparable to those of the United States - including new rules for oil sands producers and refiners - to avoid punitive "green" tariffs, Environment Minister Jim Prentice says.
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Feds OK tougher emissions rules in CA
San Francisco Chronicle
06/30/2009
Federal officials cleared California to impose tough greenhouse gas limits on new motor vehicles that more than a dozen other states can follow immediately and that will form the basis of new nationwide rules in 2012.
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Exxon agrees to pay spill penalty interest
Anchorage Daily News
06/30/2009
Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday it won't appeal nearly $500 million in interest that a court recently ordered it to pay to Alaska fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
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Exxon to pay $500 million in interest to spill victims
Seattle Times
06/30/2009
Exxon Mobil said Monday it won't appeal nearly $500 million in interest a court recently ordered it to pay to Alaska fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
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EPA proposes tougher clean air rule
Washington Post
06/30/2009
The Obama administration on Monday proposed to strengthen a key air pollution health standard to better protect children and people with respiratory illnesses.
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Oregon lawmakers pass ban on field burning
Eugene Register Guard
06/30/2009
The Oregon Legislature Monday passed a ban on open field burning on the Willamette Valley floor. Except for some exempted areas east of Salem, the allowable acreage that can be open-burned will be halved to 20,000 this year and prohibited altogether in 2010.
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Climate bill shaped by compromise
Los Angeles Times
06/28/2009
President Obama's willingness to sit down with each group affected by a historic climate bill and compromise yielded a narrow victory in the House on Friday. The question is: did supporters give away so much in the process that the benefits to the environment ended up being slim to none?
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Views: Replace WA property tax with BC carbon tax
Seattle Times
06/29/2009
It has been a roller-coaster year for anyone concerned about climate change. The Western Climate Initiative is stalled and federal legislation has an uncertain future. But Washington state could make strides to reduce carbon emissions by repealing the state property tax and imposing a carbon tax shift modeled on British Columbia's.
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Boise's human-powered bike move
Boise Idaho Statesman
06/28/2009
The Boise Bicycle Project is resourceful: the sign on the front door was made with bike gears and rusted sections of chain. The non profit has rehabbed and donated 460 bikes to local kids, refugees and people in need. And Saturday hundreds of volunteers stepped up for its human-powered bike move.
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4,500 reasons to trade in that gas hog
Everett Herald
06/29/2009
Owners of gas-slurping vehicles will soon get an offer President Barack Obama and a nation of auto dealers hopes they won't refuse: a promise to knock up to $4,500 off the price of a new fuel-efficient car if the owner trades in their old wheels. But some argue it's less about reducing carbon emissions than selling new cars.
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Obama praises climate bill's progress
Washington Post
06/28/2009
In an interview with a small group of energy reporters in the Oval Office, Obama brushed aside criticisms about compromises and savored last week's narrow victory in the House on one of his top domestic priorities: a climate bill designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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CA fingerprints all over climate policy
San Francisco Chronicle
06/28/2009
When California passed sweeping laws to fight global warming nearly three years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state politicians hoped the move would force a reluctant federal government to act. They got their wish.
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Clean energy funding roadblock ahead?
New York Times
06/29/2009
Since the economic crisis began last autumn, the once red-hot activity by wind and solar developers has slowed sharply. The U.S. government’s stimulus package is supposed to help support renewable energy, but what happens when the stimulus funding runs out, as it is scheduled to do for the industry’s projects in the next year or two?
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One trash bin + one year = one clear conscience
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/25/2009
Three Vancouverites are anxiously anticipating the culmination of their buy-nothing, waste-nothing year. Their rules are strict: No material goods can be purchased. All one-time personal use items, such as takeout boxes, are shunned. Consumables such as food, drinks, medication, and a minimum of personal hygiene products are allowed as long as they're sold in recyclable packaging.
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A Smog Index for the economy?
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/25/2009
Is there a correlation between economic activity and the environment? More important to investors, should you sell on smog (top of the market) and buy on clear skies (bottom of the market)?
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EPA says Monsanto mine in Idaho violates law
Oregonian
06/25/2009
Federal regulators say an Idaho mine that Monsanto Co. depends on to make its Roundup weed killer has violated federal and state water quality laws almost since it opened, sending selenium and other heavy metals into the region's streams.
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Officials in Idaho nix emissions tests, despite health risks
Oregonian
06/25/2009
Canyon County commissioners in southwest Idaho say they will not create a vehicle emission testing program to clean up smoggy air in the region but instead will try to come up with an alternative that satisfies state officials.
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More preemies linked to pollution from cars, trucks
Environmental Health News
06/25/2009
Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia, according to a study by California scientists. The findings add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb.
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Wash. coal plant haze harming parks
Seattle Times
06/24/2009
Environmental groups are asking the US Department of Interior to expand an earlier finding that pollution from a coal-fired plant in Centralia, Wash., is causing haze and poor visibility in Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks.
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Puget Sound area cancer risk high from air pollution
Seattle Times
06/25/2009
The cancer risk from toxic air pollution in the Puget Sound region ranks among the highest in the nation, on a par with other major urban areas, according to new federal and state analyses. But the reports probably overestimate the danger because the data used old and don't take into account recent efforts to reduce pollution.
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BC First Nation moves to block new mine
CBC BC
06/24/2009
A BC First Nation has filed a petition in BC Supreme Court to stop the proposed development of a gold and copper mine in the central interior of the province.
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Report: Zero-waste goal best met by recycling, composting
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/24/2009
Instead of spending millions on waste-to-energy plants, Metro Vancouver should focus on composting, recycling and keeping materials such as electronic and construction waste out of the garbage, a new report suggests.
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