News items for October 11, 2024
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1. Vancouver shows just how much it costs to ban apartments
Driving problems from inequality to sprawl to pollution, restrictions against anything but single-detached houses have to go.
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2. Correcting the record on Initiative 2066
What the Seattle Times editorial board got wrong about the Washington ballot measure.
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3. BC forest companies see a future. In the US
After depleting primary forests in BC during their green gold rush, Canadian companies eye the fast-growing southern forests, low labor costs, and tax breaks of the United States.
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4. Wildlife populations have decreased 73% since 1970
Earth’s wildlife populations have disappeared at a ‘catastrophic’ rate in the past half-century, new analysis says.
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5. Oil company pressures Supreme Court to weaken environmental protections
A fossil fuel tycoon tied to Neil Gorsuch and other corporate power brokers are pushing the Supreme Court to help approve a controversial oil train and kill environmental protections.
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6. First Nations sue Canada over right to clean water
Shamattawa First Nation, which has been under a boil water advisory since 2018, is pursuing the case for all First Nations members countrywide whose community was subject to a drinking water advisory in effect on or after June 20, 2020. The plaintiffs argue First Nations have a basic human right to clean water that Canada has violated, describing the conditions facing their communities as “an urgent human rights crisis.”
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7. The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce. Public lands will suffer
Employees warn that important work will go undone all over the country. Seasonal employees handle critical tasks such as trail maintenance, wildfire prevention, and ecological research, and their absence may reduce services and park access.
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8. Podcast: Could WA’s cap and invest plan be a model for the nation?
Recently, the state of Washington embarked on an ambitious new plan to combat climate change. Taking a page from economics textbooks, the state instituted a statewide “cap and trade” system for carbon emissions. The stakes are high for Washington’s new plan. If it succeeds, it could convince other states to implement their own versions.
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9. A new kind of housing crisis solution? Public housing for all income levels
A few miles outside Washington, D.C., a dirt and gravel lot was the site of a recent celebration. It marked the kickoff for construction of Hillandale Gateway: 463 new mixed-income apartments that will be majority owned by Maryland’s Montgomery County. It’s public housing. Although this is a far different model than traditional, federally funded housing for only the very poor.
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10. ‘Legacy’ forests. ‘Restoration’ logging. The new jargon of conservation
Among enviros, government agencies, and logging interests, a war of words is raging over the future of our forests. The new jargon of conservation is awash in ambiguity. And politics.
More News from October 11, 2024
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CA inspired a wave of plastic bag bans. With a big loophole
The Golden State finally fixed its ban last month, but at least five other states still allow the distribution of extra-thick “reusable” plastic bags.
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Why aren’t we protecting native bees?
Our food security relies on a diversity of pollinators on Canadian farms. Honeybees get a lot of credit, but they’re pushing native species out. A photo essay.
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PFAS levels increasing in Arctic animals, study finds
Despite global efforts to limit the use of PFAS (also known as “forever chemcials”), levels of these toxic chemicals continue to rise in Arctic wildlife, particularly polar bears and seals, according to new research.
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If renewable power becomes too cheap to meter, is that a climate win?
When any single climate fix seems too good to be true, it probably is.