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Dream of Cohesive Cascadia Never Dies
Vancouver Sun
05/06/2008
Most advocates for Cascadia don't seriously think about creating a separate, free-standing nation. But they do talk a lot about what could come of closer political, cultural and economic ties.
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Partnership Assesses Puget Sound
Kitsap Sun
04/17/2008
Puget Sound Partnership has begun to bite into the meaty issues of Puget Sound restoration — and upcoming discussions are focused on what is truly wrong with the ecosystem.
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Green transportation is key in Oregon
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
04/14/2008
Gov. Ted Kulongoski promised Friday an aggressive push to address problems of transportation, greenhouse gases and climate change, saying that the goals are not exclusive and that Oregon is capable of handling all of them.
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Congestion pricing in California is a tough sell
Los Angeles Times
04/14/2008
Some drivers who could benefit from a shorter commute aren't convinced that turning carpool lanes into toll lanes on parts of the 10, 210 and 110 freeways would do the trick.
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Solar Power gets Energy Boost
Washington Post
04/14/2008
Although the solar business is booming across the United States, federal tax incentives remain key to fueling the industry's continued growth, utilities and solar firms say. But solar costs are coming down while coal and gas plant construction costs are going up, and the solar industry says the eight-year extension of tax breaks in the Senate legislation would help create a cleaner, more reliable source of energy.
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SFpark would micromanage city's scarce spaces
San Francisco Chronicle
04/14/2008
The pilot project is intended to dramatically change the way people park in San Francisco's commercial districts by linking technology and customer demand to better manage parking at street meters and in city-owned lots.
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Folsom-based Waste Connections is meticulous on diesel conservation
Sacramento Bee
04/14/2008
Think you've been feeling pain at the fuel pump? Imagine how you'd react if your tank gulped down 20 million gallons a year. That's the kind of volume that executives at Folsom-based trash hauler Waste Connections Inc. must manage. They do it with a meticulous conservation plan that takes in minute details, right down to the resistance that tire treads meet as they contact pavement or other surfaces.
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Green-collar Job Training for Homeless Vets in WA
Kitsap Sun
04/09/2008
The Veterans Conservation Corp is designed for younger veterans who served in post-9/11 military operations for Homeland Security and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Beginning in September, they'll be working on environmental restoration and conservation programs in Kitsap County. Both during and after the program, they'll receive assistance with job placement or small business development in "green collar" business or industry.
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Energy Assistance for Needy Alaskans to End $500 Check Plan
Anchorage Daily News
04/09/2008
The state House has added more money in a $2.3 billion capital budget to help cushion the state's neediest residents from the financial crunch they're feeling from high oil prices.
But that could spell the end of a proposal to dole out $500 to every Alaskan.
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New Bike Lanes for Garden City, Idaho
Boise Idaho Statesman
04/09/2008
After hearing from the mayor of Garden City and Citizens for an Open Greenbelt, the ACHD Bicycle Advisory Committee will recommend 3-foot-wide bike lanes with appropriate signage line the roads in Garden City's planned Greenbelt bypass.
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Al Gore's Climate Campaign Confronts Skeptics
Christian Science Monitor
04/08/2008
Two words, more than any others, are apt to set climate-change skeptics' teeth a-grinding: "Al Gore."
The former vice president has been the front man on global warming – winning both an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize last year in the process. The former vice president also refuses to publicly debate the issue with leading skeptics face to face.
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UW Hosts Key Players in Global Health Effort
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
04/09/2008
Christopher Murray and his colleagues at the University of Washington's new Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation are welcoming hundreds of key players in international health and development to Seattle for a two-day research conference aimed at trying to bring order to the still relatively chaotic and uncoordinated collection of projects aimed at fighting disease and improving health worldwide.
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Commentary: Working in Unison for Salmon Recovery
Seattle Times
04/09/2008
Four tribes and three federal agencies use the word historic to describe their 10-year, $900 million agreement on how to proceed with Columbia River salmon restoration.
A federal judge in Oregon will ultimately decide if the pact is one for the ages, but the prospects for constructive partnerships are huge. Five years ago, U.S. District Judge James Redden knocked down the federal government's recovery plans for threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead because they lacked the lawful and reasonable certainty of reliable follow-through.
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Charters Could Lease Halibut Quota Shares
Juneau Empire
04/09/2008
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is trying a new way to fix allocation disputes between the charter and commercial halibut fleets - not by allocating charter operators more fish, but by allowing them to lease halibut quota shares from commercial fishermen.
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Commentary: B.C. Communities Working Together
Vancouver Sun
04/08/2008
Thanks to this government's plan and the hard work of British Columbians, our northern and Interior regions are experiencing record employment and investment.
Although B.C. is diverse, and every region is unique, we can only reach the great goals we have set as a province by working together, not turning region against region.
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Commentary: Sustainability in Corvallis
Corvallis Gazette Times
04/08/2008
The whole notion of sustainability has been on our minds lately, and we’re not alone — hundreds of your neighbors showed up last week for a town-hall meeting on the topic, the first such meeting in a series scheduled for this year.
Last week’s meeting drew more than 600 people, an outstanding turnout, and testimony to how seriously we treat sustainability. By all accounts, the session was good-natured and lively, with lots of good ideas flowing. The sponsoring organization, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, deserves credit for putting the event together.
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What Makes a Civil Society?
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
Big ideas from seven BC leaders about a better way to live.
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Mike Harcourt: Employ the Excluded
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
Civil Society -- non-government organizations, volunteers and active citizens can play a huge role to help include our often excluded citizens, immigrants, urban aboriginals, the disabled, homeless and poor.
Not only is it morally right to include the excluded, but also, Canada faces a job and skill shortage of one million people over the next decade. Many boomers are retiring -- skilled tradespeople, workers, and professionals. They're not being replaced.
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Norine MacDonald: Become World Citizens
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
With all of our society's wealth, it is hard to understand why we still have poor single mothers worrying about how to feed their children, homeless people on our streets, entire first nations communities living below the poverty line. But also, as the world is shrinking, nations and communities once completely unknown to us become our part of the new definition of "us." Our sense of community must expand.
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Geoff Plant: Embrace Change
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
Since being appointed Vancouver's Civil City commissioner, I've had many conversations with people about what the idea of a "civil" city means. Is it just about being nice to each other on the streets? Is it the signal for more aggressive enforcement of tougher laws and regulations? Or is it something else altogether?
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Streetlight upgrade could produce savings
Washington Times
04/07/2008
The nation's roads are a major source of greenhouse gases — but it's not just from the cars and trucks traveling on them. The lamps that light the way for those vehicles gobble up their share of energy, too.
By switching to a more efficient lighting for their roads, the 10 largest metropolitan areas could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million metric tons — the equivalent of taking 212,000 vehicles off the road — and save $90 million a year, according to a study released in March.
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Courting citizens to solve homelessness
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
Mike Harcourt has a dream about how to solve homelessness in this region by 2015. His dream is not that federal and provincial governments will reverse 20 years of policy and start pouring money into housing the way they used to.
Instead, he thinks it can be done by tapping into the willingness of many people with "deep pockets" in the community -- people who are aghast at what they see in Vancouver and are willing to do something about it.
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Don Brenner: Effective, affordable civil justice key on court rules
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
After more than a year of consultation, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Don Brenner has proposed changes to a judicial system that has been creaking along since 1893.
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Milton Wong: All living things should have meaningful lives
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
I believe intuitively that the notion of a civil society hinges on a finely balanced state of interdependency among all living organisms, such that each is free to optimize its full potential without significantly infringing on another's ability to do the same.
If I had just 40 words to tell you what I think is meant by the term "civil society," that's what it would all come down to for me.
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Tung Chan: We need to bring down the cultural barriers
Vancouver Sun
04/07/2008
In a civilized society, people share their knowledge, beliefs and culture through communication. The ideals of a civilized society are created after long periods, sometimes generations, of constructive discourse. Debates of contentious topics that shift our understanding and tolerance, often begin over family dinners, carry over to the workplace and move finally to public forums and the media.
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