News items for August 19, 2024
![Chum salmon leaping by US Fish and Wildlife Service used under CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/6088542755) A fish leaps from the ocean water](https://www.sightline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Chum-salmon-leaping-275x183.jpg)
Chum salmon leaping by US Fish and Wildlife Service used under CC BY 2.0
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1. Five reasons four-story apartment buildings are good
Especially in Oregon and the rest of the Pacific Northwest.
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2. US says it now supports a more ambitious plastics treaty, to industry fury
In a reversal, the Biden administration will back production limits as part of the United Nations’ global plastics treaty.
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3. Wildfires are growing under climate change, and their smoke threatens farmworkers, study says
As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of wildfires around the world, a new study shows that farmworkers are paying a heavy price by being exposed to high levels of air pollution.
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4. VIDEO: Advocates of solar power want to see more support from Idaho’s sole electrical utility provider
A group of environmental activists are upset with Idaho officials and the state’s largest public electric utility, Idaho Power, for lowering the compensation rates rooftop solar customers get paid, and for not incentivizing community solar projects.
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5. Climate change is already reshaping PNW shorelines. Tribal nations are showing how to adapt
The effects of climate change are most acutely felt in Indigenous communities, with roots that run thousands of years and generations deep in the land; those on the coast are particularly vulnerable.
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6. Drought in the West has cost hydropower industry billions in losses in two decades, analysis finds
When there isn’t enough hydropower available, utilities are forced to purchase energy from fossil fuel producers, mostly from natural gas companies, that drive up emissions.
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7. Nike’s private jet emissions are up despite vows to cut carbon
Company disclosures show that its jets emitted almost 20% more carbon dioxide last year than in 2015. It’s one small factor in Nike’s failure to slash emissions as promised.
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8. Pressure mounts on methane-polluting Oregon landfill to clean up its act
Nearby residents have been sounding the alarm about Coffin Butte Landfill for years. Now Sen. Jeff Merkley and other members of Congress are demanding action.
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9. National pesticide program targeting grasshoppers violated environmental law, Portland federal court rules
A U.S. District Court judge in Portland has ruled federal regulators violated environmental law for failing to consider other pest management methods before spraying millions of acres of public rangelands in Oregon and other western states to manage grasshopper outbreaks.
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10. Opinion: The nation’s electric grid is a wildfire hazard. It doesn’t have to be.
We can expect added strain on the system as weather turns more extreme and demand for electricity rises.