Editor's Take: January 06, 2009
mischiru, flickr
New National Monument
After months of debate and preparation, it’s official: President Bush will designate three sections of the Pacific Ocean as national monuments. Together, they are bigger than Oregon and Washington combined, or greater than 50% of all National Park land in the US. Also, check out the Christian Science Monitor piece on how a Montana mining town is coping in the economic downturn. And are McMansions passé?
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Bush to Protect Vast New Pacific Tracts
New York Times
01/05/2009
President Bush will designate vast tracts of American-controlled Pacific Ocean islands, reefs, surface waters and sea floor as marine national monuments on Tuesday, limiting fishing, mining, oil exploration or other commercial activity, White House officials said Monday.
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It's Boom and Bust Again in Montana Mining Town
Christian Science Monitor
01/05/2009
It was the kind of town where the men who built the West - the railroad workers, ranch hands, and miners - had started to fade, replaced by service workers and fly-fishing operators. Then, as metals prices began to climb five years ago, mining made a comeback to this little brick city on the Yellowstone River, contributing to the virtually full employment here and a sense of achieving a sustainable economy.
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2009 May be Good Year for Montana's Wind Power
Missoulian
01/06/2009
The nation's credit crunch could slow the planning of brand-new wind farms in Montana this year but shouldn't stop facilities that are further along in the planning process, developers and state regulators said. Enough wind energy to power up to 37,800 homes hit the electrical grid in Montana in 2008, and planned expansions and new projects already under way could double that over the next year.
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Lift Kids Out of Poverty, Protect Their Brains
The Tyee
01/05/2009
Growing up in poverty can physically harm a child's brain development, suggests a new study co-conducted by a University of British Columbia researcher. Add that to a growing stack of findings that child advocates are using to argue the B.C. government needs to do more to tackle child poverty in a province that trails the rest of Canada in that category.
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Health Care: Who Gets Left Out?
Oregonian
01/06/2009
In a recession, state revenues don't grow as quickly as the demand for services, forcing legislators to make stark choices this year. Gov. Ted Kulongoski offered one option in his 2009-11 budget, proposing new taxes to expand children's health insurance, but no new money for seniors or Oregonians with disabilities. With the governor's support and a host of legislators who campaigned on health care promises, the political momentum favors kids.
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BC Native Band Seeks to Halt Proposed Mine
Toronto Globe and Mail
01/06/2009
A B.C. native band that has already won a landmark aboriginal title case will be back in court today seeking to kill a proposed multibillion-dollar gold and copper mine within their traditional lands near Williams Lake. The Prosperity mine, which is still subject to an environmental review, would "de-water" a small lake known as Fish Lake. A pristine fishing hole under the shadow of Anvil Mountain, the lake is home to a unique subspecies of rainbow trout.
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The Beauty of the Backyard Wind Turbine
Toronto Globe and Mail
01/06/2009
When it comes to wind energy, most attention has been focused on large-scale wind farms, collections of huge turbines that tower over the countryside and pump large amounts of electricity into the grid. But there is also growing public interest in backyard-scale wind turbines, smaller machines that can allow a cottage to go off the grid, a home to meet some of its electricity needs, or a farm to create some of its own power.
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The 'McMansion' Trend in Housing is Slowing
Christian Science Monitor
01/05/2009
In the new year, we may be seeing a major shift in the transformation of American neighborhoods - perhaps the end of the McMansion era. Indeed, it may allow thousands of communities from Pasadena to Pittsburgh to more accurately balance the living requirements of modern Americans with a widespread desire to maintain older neighborhoods.
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Why Obama's Green Jobs Plan Might Work
Los Angeles Times
01/06/2009
President-elect Barack Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next decade to promote energy from the sun, wind and other renewable sources as well as energy conservation. Plans include raising vehicle fuel-economy standards and subsidizing consumer purchases of plug-in hybrids. Obama wants to weatherize 1 million homes annually and upgrade the nation's creaky electrical grid.
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Views: Obama's Chance for a Blue Legacy
Washington Post
01/06/2009
Today, President Bush will begin for the ocean what President Theodore Roosevelt did when he created the National Park System. The administration is announcing plans to create a national monument that will protect 195,000 square nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean -- bigger than the size of California and almost 50 percent larger than all U.S. national parks combined.
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Editor's Take: January 05, 2009
Credit: velo_city, Flickr.
Luring Green Businesses
In an attempt to lure sustainable businesses to Oregon, the state has offered generous tax breaks and subsidies. While this has made Oregon a leader in green business, The Oregonian explores the implications of such funding. Senator Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, asks, "Are we getting our money's worth as taxpayers? Or are we simply doling out money to people who would be doing what they're doing anyway?"
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Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Oregon Generous With Green-Energy Subsidies
Oregonian
01/02/2009
Oregon taxpayers are shelling out tens of millions of dollars to subsidize green energy projects, making the state a magnet for solar and wind companies.
But an investigation by The Oregonian shows that the money also is going to risky ventures with questionable environmental benefits and to prosperous companies that need no incentives but are cashing in anyway.
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Views: A Pitch for Mass Transit
New York Times
01/05/2009
One way Barack Obama can address climate change and the US's dependence of foreign oil is to give mass transit - trains, buses, commuter rails - the priority it deserves and the full financial and technological help it needs and has long been denied.
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Group Uses Lawsuits to Clean Up Puget Sound
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
01/05/2009
In a burst of litigation over the past 2 1/2 years, the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has done battle with about 60 food processors, factories, recyclers, timber yards, local governments and others. Most are violating requirements to control runoff from Western Washington's relentless rains that carry heavy metals and other gunk into Puget Sound and its tributaries.
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Greener Council Takes Over Petaluma
Press Democrat
01/05/2009
Members of what is expected to be a more environment-friendly Petaluma City Council will take the oath of office today and begin working to fulfill campaign goals such as encouraging transit-oriented development.
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Idaho Landfill Turns Trash to Gas to Cash
Boise Idaho Statesman
01/04/2009
More than $250,000 a year - for years - had been going up in flames at the Ada County landfill.
But for the past two years, the county has been turning trash into cash and into enough electricity to power a small town.
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Paving Montana's Logging Roads, for Subdivisions
Washington Post
01/04/2009
The Bush administration appears poised to push through a change in US Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions.
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Views: Results Matter for Seattle's Affordable Housing
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
01/04/2009
Good intentions count when you're talking about the first days of a New Year's resolution. But for something like the city's affordable housing program, only the results matter.
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BC Lumber Industry Out On a Limb
Toronto Globe and Mail
01/05/2009
In the face of a plummeting market and the deep-rooted devastation of the mountain pine beetle epidemic, mill owners in BC's most resilient forestry town are now predicting 'a dramatic downturn' in the year ahead and warning residents their jobs may not be safe.
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Striving for Energy and Food Independence
Bellingham Herald
01/04/2009
Government and business leaders in Whatcom County, and around the world, are looking toward weaning the country off its reliance on oil. That means some local residents are looking to generate their own power as well as their own food.
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Two Sides of the Minimum Wage Coin
Yakima Herald
01/03/2009
While the increase in the minimum wage may bring smiles to workers, employers are frowning on it. Amid a national recession and plummeting prices, the hike in minimum wage will equate to fewer entry-level jobs and maybe even layoffs, employers say.
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Editor's Take: January 02, 2009
Credit: silverlinedwinnebago, Flickr.
Hope for the New Year
Let's start this New Year's on a positive note. Washington and Oregon raised the minimum wage, making Washington's the highest wage in the nation. A Seattle neighborhood matching fund program proves successful after 20 years. Our New Year's resolution? To keep bringing you the news that matters most from around Cascadia. Here's to more news like renewable energy, carbon taxes and healthy cities.
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Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Washington's Minimum Wage Highest in Country
Seattle Times
01/01/2009
An increase in Washington state's minimum wage no doubt pleases thousands of workers who will see their pay go up to $8.55 an hour - the highest in the United States.
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Seattle Neighborhood Fund Thrives After 20 Years
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
01/02/2009
As 2009 begins, Seattle residents who celebrated the matching fund's 20th year in 2008 - and the community fundraising and thousands of volunteer hours that led to matches - can continue to celebrate: Despite a tight budget, the city approved increased funding for the Neighborhood Matching Fund program - more than $3.8 million for 2009, adjusted for inflation.
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BC's Carbon Tax Conundrum
Toronto Globe and Mail
01/02/2009
With broader economic concerns likely weighing on voters' minds, a key question in the coming provincial election will be whether the downturn will overshadow - or reignite - anger over the Liberal government's controversial measure.
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