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On the West Coast, proposed coal terminal developments would potentially threaten some of the North America’s most iconic and sensitive bodies of water, including the Fraser River, the Salish Sea, the Columbia River, and San Francisco Bay. Yet understanding the magnitude of the risk is challenging because there is little scientific research into the effect of coal and coal dust on aquatic ecosystems and the wildlife they support. What evidence...

Kristin Funny-shaped districts aren’t the problem with American voting. Electing one representative per district (funny-shaped or otherwise) is the problem. We can solve it with multi-member districts that ensure minority views get represented and it doesn’t matter who draws then district lines. Yes, yes, and more yes. The Brennan Center’s Democracy agenda: Voting rights, money in politics, and redistricting. (Lots to read—all of it good stuff.) Wondering how much climate pollution...

Eric Sara Bernard points out that, whoops, the Gates Foundation would’ve made billions if it had divested from fossil fuels. David Sucher does the math for Seattle land use and demonstrates that just one triplex per single family city block would make a very significant contribution to meeting the city’s density goals. Rolling out a new blog platform, Communitywise Bellingham casts a gimlet eye on the job creation promises for...

Oil train derailments—and the catastrophic fires that often result—are distressingly common features of contemporary North American life. No fewer than 10 crude oil-bearing trains have derailed and exploded since the summer of 2013. The risks to life and limb are plain enough. Less understood is the risk that these oil trains pose to taxpayers, governments, and public budgets. No railroad in North America carries anywhere close to a level of...

Alan “To use a telling phrase of the Rev. Martin Luther King, we can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it.” -Pope Francis The first Pope from the global South, who named himself for St. Francis of Assisi, quotes Dr. King —who said the words in the time of the first Catholic president—to the first black president, in a ringing...

In Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, we’re faced with the prospect of becoming a primary gateway for exporting massive fossil fuel deposits—Alberta tar sands, Bakken shale oil, and coal in Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin—to Asian markets. But, the region is shaping up to be what Eric de Place calls a Thin Green Line, a last line of defense against the fossil fuel industry’s relentless pursuit of profit—and that...

Seattle became the second major Northwest city this week to promise to end all traffic deaths and serious injuries by embracing Vision Zero, a transportation approach that prioritizes keeping people alive and building streets that work for everyone. The biggest changes for the next year are: Reduce downtown speed limits by 5 mph to 25 mph, improve 10 downtown intersections to benefit people walking, create slow “20 mph zones” in...

Ted In case you missed it, Brentin Mock has a (heartbreaking) tribute in Grist about 15-year-old George Carter III, killed recently in New Orleans. George was deeply involved with a remarkable student-driven group called The Rethinkers. He spoke of the power of gardens, real food, and nature to make a difference in kids’ lives under the toughest circumstances; there is some lasting power and resonance in his story that deserves to be shared....

In my last post, I took a look at streets that have been designed specifically so kids and cars can safely share space. That’s most definitely not the case on streets like this one, where a seven-year-old Seattle girl last week was critically injured by a car that hit her in a crosswalk, never even braked, and left her lying in the street. A bold experiment in Portland last week...