Current Stories
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Northwest drivers using less gas
KPLU
07/02/2009
If it seems like you're buying less gas these days, you're probably right. A new study from a Seattle-based sustainability think tank finds total gasoline consumption across the Northwest dropped sharply last year. In fact, per-capita gasoline use has dropped in 8 of the last 9 years, and it's now at its lowest level since 1965.
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BC gets greener at the gas pump
CBC BC
07/01/2009
British Columbia got a little greener on Wednesday: The province celebrated the first anniversary of its carbon tax with a price bump at the gas pumps. A recent poll by Environics suggests almost half of BC residents support the tax, and it is also gaining favor across the country.
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Portland's neighborhood groups shape communities
Oregonian
07/02/2009
Portland's neighborhood associations are flexing their political muscles on public and private projects proposed for their communities. It's part of a quiet transformation under way among the 95 associations, one that leaders say bodes well for the future of civic involvement.
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Transportation secretary watches US-made streetcar debut
Oregonian
07/02/2009
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Oregon on Wednesday to tout metro Portland's mass transit innovations and lavish praise on the first US-made streetcar in nearly 60 years.
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Green triumphs muscle in car-choice survey
Vancouver Sun
07/01/2009
Is green becoming mainstream? A new global survey shows nearly six in 10 people would choose an environment-friendly car over a petrol-powered one, even if they had all the money in the world.
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Resisting density in Portland project
Portland Mercury
07/02/2009
Neighbors are fighting a development -- a project that embodies Portland's shiny new ethos -- on the former site of an African-American landmark. Developers razed the dilapidated building to make way for a 72-unit complex that may qualify for a $1.12 million city tax break thanks to its sustainable, transit-oriented designs. At the heart of neighbors' anger is their distaste for perceived gentrification.
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Northwest drivers using less gasoline
Boise Idaho Statesman
07/01/2009
Idaho, Washington, and Oregon drivers cut back their per-capita gasoline consumption by 5 percent in 2008. Total gasoline consumption in the three states fell about 180 million gallons between 2007 and 2008, the largest drop since 1980, according to a new study from Sightline Institute.
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Green light for Portland's green line
Oregonian
06/30/2009
As a MAX train glided through a brick-lined section of downtown Portland, someone in the VIP crowd on the first trip of the new Green Line called out: "Where are we?" The answer: Union Station, a place where no MAX has gone before.
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Shifting carbon taxes to fund BC transit?
Vancouver Sun
07/01/2009
An unlikely group of environmentalists, business and labour leaders joined Metro Vancouver's mayors to lobby for directing an annual $450 million into funding public transit. While some mayors favor shifting carbon taxes to pay for better transit, others say that money's off the table.
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The politics of parking
San Francisco Bay Guardian
06/30/2009
The local politics of parking in San Francisco have reached "a spatial stalemate." Even as residents in the 1960s decided they did not want gashes of freeway through their waterfront and parks, the city didn't take space away from cars. And if you don't do that, you're not solving the problem.
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Farms and sprawl: Living happily together?
New York Times
06/30/2009
New subdivisions - including one outside Boise, Idaho - are increasingly treating working agriculture as an amenity to lure homebuyers. Living around a farm can bring a buyer permanent views, fresh produce, wholesome activities for children, access to walking and riding trails and inclusion in an epicurean club.
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Cracks in Seattle's green-growth coalition
Crosscut
07/01/2009
Seattle politicians like to jockey over who is more green than the other. But candidates need business support too, and the battle for endorsements reveals some ideological divides between local environmentalists, developers, and independent thinkers who wonder if all urban growth is good.
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BC mayors tap allies for transit funding
BC Local News
06/30/2009
Metro Vancouver mayors have enlisted influential new allies representing business, environment and labour to help press their case for new TransLink funding sources to enable an ambitious transit system expansion.
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Views: Many more baby bike steps in BC, please
BC Local News
06/30/2009
It’s always a precious sight to see a parent trying to show a little one how to ride a bike without training wheels. That’s about the same evolutionary stage TransLink is at with the opening of the Central Valley Greenway. It’s a baby step toward making Greater Vancouver conducive for commuting cyclists, or even recreational ones for that matter.
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The once and future streetcar town
Oregonian
06/30/2009
The US Transportation Secretary will unveil in Portland on Wednesday what's believed to be the first American-made streetcar in 58 years. The visit could bring more orders for streetcars, giving a boost to a number of local businesses.
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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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Stopping chain saws inside OR's urban areas
Oregonian
06/29/2009
Oregonians love the region's trees. Unless, of course, we need to cut them down, for any reason at all -- profit, development or even just to improve our view. Now two citizens groups are pushing urban tree codes designed to protect the area's leafy canopy as the population swells.
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Connecting Seattle rail to the beaten path
Seattle Times
06/29/2009
Seattle's new light rail trains won't quite take people to Columbia City's old brick storefronts built along an electric streetcar line. The challenge is to forge a transportation and psychological bond between the stop on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and the bustle on Rainier. Otherwise, ridership will sag.
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No parking for transit riders at BC malls?
Vancouver Sun
06/28/2009
Malls along the Canada Line route into Vancouver, BC, are bracing themselves for a flood of commuter parking in their lots this September. There's only one park-and-ride lot where commuters can drop off their vehicles before hopping on the SkyTrain. But the parking lots of several major malls are within short walking distance from new stations.
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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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Affordable housing boon to construction industry
Ashland Daily Tidings
06/28/2009
Road construction for a planned affordable housing project in Ashland, OR is providing work for the beleaguered local construction industry. The number of construction jobs in Jackson and Josephine Counties fell from 5,910 jobs in May 2008 to 4,800 jobs in May 2009 — for a loss of 1,110 jobs, state data shows.
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Index homes threatened by river erosion
Everett Herald
06/29/2009
The river's roar is getting louder. The North Fork Skykomish River is endangering houses in Index, leaving homeowners and officials wondering who will pay for a fix.
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WA county puts brakes on rural growth
Bellingham Herald
06/29/2009
A package of proposed changes would reduce development potential in dozens of rural areas throughout WA's Whatcom County, but it would still allow some rural centers to continue moderate growth.
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Green Bike Project reduces congestion, changes lifestyles
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
06/26/2009
With a $225,000 state trips-reduction grant, organizers of the Green Bike Project handed out 200 free bikes, some gear and training lessons. About 265 people, who enlisted through 25 employers from King County, joined the Washington program, which began last August. Thursday, they celebrated their miles logged and pounds lost.
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Low-carbon fuel bill wins Oregon Senate's OK
Coos Bay World
06/25/2009
Gov. Ted Kulongoski's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by forcing oil companies to reduce carbon in gasoline and diesel fuel was approved Wednesday night by the Oregon Senate.
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