All Today's News - Sightline Daily

LEED for weeds

11/08/2009

A coalition of landscape architects and botanists has created the nation's first rating system for green landscapes. As LEED has done for buildings, the Sustainable Sites Initiative will do for outside spaces that sequester carbon, clean the air and water, increase energy efficiency and restore habitat.

Health reform, but without reproductive rights

11/08/2009

The US House of Representatives voted 220-215 in favor of the most sweeping expansion of health-care coverage since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965. It dramatically expands options for Americans who are not currently covered by private insurers but required a bitter compromise on the issue of abortion in order to secure the votes.

A little lead in your lettuce

11/08/2009

Tests of six popular brands of bagged soil for growing fruits and vegetables turned up this good news: None of the soils contained toxic levels of lead, zinc or arsenic. The bad news: All contained at least some contaminants, an outcome that, depending on whom you talk to, is not at all problematic or moderately troubling.

Can Montana's local food system be saved?

11/08/2009

There was a time when 70 percent of what Montanans ate was produced in state. They grew watermelons in Whitehall, green peas in Bozeman, beans in Glendive. Now there's a push to return to those days, but it's been so long since Montana fed itself, the burning question is whether it still can.

How an underdog took Seattle City Hall

11/08/2009

How did Mike McGinn apparently take Seattle City Hall? The mayoral candidate had a fleet of volunteers so devoted they deferred graduate school, borrowed money from their parents and spent hours contacting voters, and a grass-roots campaign that seemed to tap into Seattle's idealism.

Oceans give warning signs

11/08/2009

Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds. Garbage swirls in ocean vortexes, coastal dead zones appear and every eight months enough oil to fill the Exxon Valdez runs off the nation's streets into the sea. As the grim news mounts, a storm is brewing in Washington, D.C., over who should oversee ocean policies.

Wetlands could be high & dry without dam

11/08/2009

What happens to marshy properties and miles of adjoining wetlands should Gold Ray Dam disappear is at the crux of a $5.5 million question over whether the Southern Oregon dam will be removed next year, creating 157 miles of free-flowing Rogue River to the sea.

Will Triangle become West Seattle gateway?

11/09/2009

The Triangle is the first neighborhood you come to in West Seattle, but it's more workshop than entry hall, with auto-repair shops, lumber warehouses and a gritty feel. But residents and businesses have developed a vision of a leafy, walkable, transit-oriented, mostly residential neighborhood that stands out as a real gateway.

No clear map to new energy plan

11/08/2009

Congress is unlikely, this year or next, to establish the "cap and trade" system for curbing carbon emissions that President Obama and Democratic party leaders seek. Nor are world leaders next month likely to strike a concrete deal to limit emissions. The Democrats' challenge is to make enough progress to avoid defeat in the near term and achieve their priorities in the long run.

Views: A 100-mile dieter dishes

11/09/2009

Asked to accept a two-week challenge to eat only foods grown within 100 miles of my house, I thought "How hard could that be?" Never have I eaten more healthfully. Never have I craved white flour and sugar more. Never have I spent so much on groceries. Never will I do it again.

Toxic toy checkup offers parents peace of mind

11/08/2009

There’s no telling what might be lurking in that train set or funky old alphabet blocks your aunt handed down, but some concerned parentswere able to find out at a toxic toy checkup in Eugene over the weekend. Organizers cautioned that legislation passed last year to rid toys of unsafe levels of lead and phthalates hasn't solved all problems.

Energy projects: crazy or revolutionary?

11/08/2009

Last week, the US Department of Energy announced a series of new energy-efficiency projects that could “fundamentally change the way we use and produce energy.” The projects - such as trying to produce gasoline from sunlight and CO2 - are, in the words of one observer, so crazy they may actually work.

Views: Climate change bill is in trouble

11/08/2009

If you think the partisan divide over healthcare reform is ugly, take a look at the animus in the Senate as debate continues on a key climate change bill. So wide is the gulf that long-held Senate traditions on decorum are breaking down. And as Washington fiddles, the Earth burns.

New antennas help biologists study salmon

11/08/2009

Biologists studying salmon in the Pacific Northwest have for decades lost track of the fish just as they set out on life's last leg, to spawn and die in remote backcountry streams. That is changing, as crews have installed giant antennas in nearly two dozen rivers and streams across the region to track fish.

Who's at the throttle of high-speed rail?

11/08/2009

Interest in high-speed rail was lukewarm until President Obama packed $8 billion for it into the stimulus package. Now, standing-room-only crowds show up when rail is on the agenda, and some high-speed-rail advocates are not sure anymore about who's at the throttle and who's in the caboose.

Views: Wind farms' grim harvest

11/08/2009

Although wind development is far less destructive than many types of energy production, such as mountaintop-removal coal mining, wind power's threats to wildlife are not inconsequential. Regions with sustained high winds frequently overlap prime bird habitat, including the sagebrush and grasslands that sustain declining populations of sage grouse and prairie chickens.

BC drivers kill 5,500 wild animals

11/08/2009

Motorists killed more than 5,500 wild animals on BC provincial highways last year, including deer, moose, elk bears, coyotes and a variety of smaller animals. The annual roadkill carnage compares with about 30,000 deer legally hunted in B.C.

A new lease on solar

11/08/2009

California-based SolarCity has helped pioneer a way to bring solar to the masses and remove one of the biggest hurdles to its widespread adoption: up-front costs. Its residential customers can lease a system at no money down, and in many areas, save 10% to 15% a month on their combined electric and lease-payment bill.