en-us Copyright Sightline Daily - all rights reserved newsfeeds@sightline.org newsfeeds@sightline.org Today's edition of Sightline Daily, the Northwest news that matters http://daily.sightline.org Plone http://daily.sightline.org/logo.gif 427 69 For most locals, getting the sewage out of Lake Washington beginning in the late 1960s was a good thing. Not so for the threespine stickleback. For the little fish, the pollution and associated algal murk was good cover to protect it from hungry trout. When the waste and water cleared, the stickleback faced a genetic scramble to evolve into a more protected, armored and ancestral version of itself. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363263_oddfish16.html Environment Pollution & Toxics Wildlife Washington 05/16/2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer When sonar surveys spotted a vast pile of rubble in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam late last winter, officials suddenly worried that part of the dam structure was eroding into the river. What they found below the spillways in February was not a giant pile of rock at all, but a humongous pile of thousands upon thousands of sturgeon -- some of them 14 feet long or longer -- lounging together in frigid water at the bottom of the river. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/121091010848010.xml&coll=7 Environment Wildlife Oregon US Northwest Washington 05/16/2008 Portland Oregonian If the measure becomes law, California would be the first state in the nation to ban the plastics ingredient bisphenol A in any consumer product. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BAM610NCFR.DTL Environment Human Health Policy Pollution & Toxics California 05/16/2008 San Francisco Chronicle The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502880.html Climate Environment Pollution & Toxics United States 05/16/2008 Washington Post In the age of global warming, public land managers face a stark choice: They can let national parks and other wildlands lose their most cherished wildlife. Or they can become gardeners and zookeepers. http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=E92F38AB-14D1-13A2-9FCD63559142CDAA&page=1 Climate Environment Wildlife Montana United States 05/16/2008 Missoula Independent A new public health study that looked at more than 500 young aboriginal drug users in two British Columbia cities produced such shocking data that people wept openly when it was first presented to a panel of elders. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080516.BCHEALTH16/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/ Human Health Native Peoples British Columbia Canada 05/16/2008 Toronto Globe and Mail The emergency contraceptive pill Plan B will now be sold on the front shelves of Canadian pharmacies without any medical consultation after a landmark decision came down Thursday to make the drug more accessible. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=eb9a322c-0b86-414c-8a28-a21d22c8c6a3 Human Health Population Canada 05/16/2008 Vancouver Sun The bumps on a humpback's fins inspire a new line of green-tech blades for turbines, fans, and maybe the home. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0516/p13s01-stgn.html Energy Environment Green Business Wildlife Canada 05/16/2008 Christian Science Monitor While Oregon ranks at just about the national average in the percentage of its workers who have good jobs, that's not particularly good news: Nearly three out of every four Oregon jobs pay less than $17 an hour or don't provide health care and pension benefits. And the situation is likely to worsen soon because wages are not keeping pace with rising food and energy prices. http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1210803912215060.xml&coll=7 Economy Oregon United States 05/16/2008 Portland Oregonian New Urbanism is dangerous because it claims to cure the very sprawl and social class separation that it causes. There are worse ways to develop the suburbs, but none are so two-faced. The New Urbanism is city planning's equivalent of the "compact SUV." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080516.VANBODDY16/TPStory/TPEntertainment/BritishColumbia/ Environment Sprawl & Transportation British Columbia 05/16/2008 Toronto Globe and Mail Gov. Sarah Palin is proposing an energy cost relief plan to give Alaskans $100-a-month debit cards and pour state dollars into electric utilities so they'll slash their bills to ratepayers. http://www.adn.com/politics/story/407821.html Economy Energy Alaska 05/16/2008 Anchorage Daily News As B.C. prepares to enter into a regional system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reporters were invited to a briefing Tuesday on the pending release of draft regulations for the scheme. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1e0241ec-114e-4039-901f-54d6bcde9ca5 Climate Environment British Columbia 05/14/2008 Vancouver Sun The North Cascades Highway is closed again because of the danger of avalanches, and it will remain closed all weekend. The cross-mountain route, which is part of Highway 20, had opened May 1 to traffic, but highertemperatures have caused extremely unstable conditions in potential avalanche areas, state transportation department spokesman Dustin Terpening said. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080515/NEWS01/894604918/-1/RSS02 Environment Washington 05/16/2008 Everett Herald The fate of a proposed open pit mine in northern British Columbia may hinge on how three judges of the Federal Court of Appeal define the word "project." The proposed Red Chris mine would produce 30,000 tonnes of ore a day, and would turn fish-bearing streams into tailings impoundments laced with toxic waste. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080516.BCAPPEALISL16//TPStory/Environment Environment British Columbia 05/16/2008 Toronto Globe and Mail Gov. Chris Gregoire's controversial appointment of a scientist affiliated with Dow Chemical to a state panel that tracks pesticide exposures ended Thursday with the researcher resigning before his first meeting. The appointment riled farmworker advocates, who accused the governor of bowing to industry by kicking off an environmentalist-leaning scientist who previously held the position. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363324_pesticide16.html Environment Food & Farms Pollution & Toxics Washington 05/16/2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer A nail salon makes its first impression on the nose. Even regular customers can feel overpowered by the smell of the chemicals necessary for that professional finish. On a typical visit, a customer might spend two hours exposed to that smell while getting a manicure or pedicure. Yet day after day, thousands of Oregon women, a large number of them immigrants from Vietnam, must tolerate air quality that could make them sick. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1210908317325480.xml&coll=7 Environment Human Health Pollution & Toxics Oregon United States 05/16/2008 Portland Oregonian While British Columbia Health Minister George Abbott was announcing the province will provide a controversial new vaccine starting in September with assurances that it is "safe," the American Food and Drug Administration was threatening to close the factory where it is made. http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/05/16/MerckFactory/ Human Health Population British Columbia 05/16/2008 The Tyee Both Gregor Robertson’s MLA Web site and his mayoral campaign site stress his environmental leanings. However, neither site has much to say on the carbon tax. http://www.straight.com/article-145645/gregor-mum-carbon-tax Climate Environment Green Taxes British Columbia 05/16/2008 Georgia Straight Rep. Jim McDermott on Thursday became the fourth U.S. House member from Washington to endorse Barack Obama for president. The Seattle congressman said Obama is his pick because "I am confident as president he will end the war in Iraq and bring our sons and daughters home." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363348_mcdermott16.html Policy Washington 05/16/2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer The administration's clear reluctance in listing the polar bear as threatened highlights the need for a coherent climate policy. http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/121089752522090.xml&coll=7 Climate Environment Wildlife United States 05/16/2008 Portland Oregonian Last year, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Oregon Legislature approved a sweeping package of renewable-energy policies that immediately secured Oregon's place near the front of the sustainability frontier. Now, however, we're faced with a very real affront to both our goals and our public image as a leader on sustainability: plans to import liquefied natural gas. http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1210895704299050.xml&coll=7 Climate Energy Environment Oregon 05/16/2008 Portland Oregonian Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff is among four Canadians named on a list of the world's 100 top public thinkers. The ranking was done jointly by the Washington, D.C.-based magazine Foreign Policy and the British magazine Prospect. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=386b2121-4eaa-4395-b880-1593040ff9ee Canada United States 05/16/2008 Vancouver Sun Demand for housing in downtown Vancouver will only increase over the next few years, and developers need to look at cheaper ways to build high-density condominium units, real estate marketer Bob Rennie told an audience of 700 developers and realtors Thursday at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=d28be8f0-a52d-46ea-9324-065f41995a9a Economy Sprawl & Transportation British Columbia 05/16/2008 Vancouver Sun Six sea lions caught in traps at a major dam on the Columbia River died of heat exhaustion, not gunshots, as had earlier been suspected, federal officials said this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/us/16brfs-HEATKILLEDSE_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin Environment Salmon Wildlife Oregon US Northwest Washington 05/16/2008 New York Times the sprawling land of dust and sagebrush - about half the size of Rhode Island - will draw some 2,000 tourists this year. http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/383323.html Environment Washington 05/16/2008 Boise Idaho Statesman The city of San Francisco upped its commitment to solar power this week, choosing a local firm to build what will be the country's third-largest solar photovoltaic system. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission selected Recurrent Energy to install 30,000 solar panels on the roof of the Sunset Reservoir, and on top of a recycling facility at Pier 96. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/16/BUND10N4TL.DTL Energy Environment California 05/16/2008 San Francisco Chronicle This sad stretch of eastern Germany, with its deserted coal mines and corroded factories, epitomizes post-industrial gloom. It is a place where even the clouds rarely seem to part. A solar cell is checked on the assembly line at Q-Cells in Thalheim, Germany. More than 40,000 people work in the photovoltaic industry in Germany, helping to revive once-blighted areas. Yet the sun was shining here the other day — and nowhere more brightly than at Q-Cells, a German company that surpassed Sharp last year to become the world’s largest maker of photovoltaic solar cells. Q-Cells is the main tenant among a flowering cluster of solar start-ups here in an area known as Solar Valley. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/business/worldbusiness/16solar.html?adxnnl=1&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1210957869-nuCkFCPrGTPlezMZFKXRuw Energy Green Business 05/16/2008 New York Times Gasoline and food price spikes have had what could be called a 'Miracle-Gro' effect on the backyard garden movement. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0516/p01s01-ussc.html Food & Farms Sustainable Living United States 05/16/2008 Christian Science Monitor Food prices and concerns about commercially grown produce are prompting a 'grow your own' culture. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0516/p12s01-woeu.html Food & Farms Sustainable Living 05/16/2008 Christian Science Monitor A scientific panel reviewing management of the Skeena River fishery has concluded that the ocean catch of some salmon stocks should be reduced by as much as 50 per cent and late-season commercial netting near the estuary should be restricted. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080516.BCSALMON16/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/ Environment Food & Farms Salmon British Columbia Cascadia 05/16/2008 Toronto Globe and Mail