Purchasing carbon offsets is a popular way to act against global warming, or at least to alleviate one’s conscience. An offset allows a business, government or individual to pay someone else to remove a given quantity of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere rather than cutting emissions themselves. The purchaser is
Continue readingTag: Oregon
Things Are Good: It’s Time to Tax Car Drivers by the Kilometre
The RAND Corporation is calling for a new way to tax drivers in the states: by distance traveled. Car drivers may feel like they’re paying too much in taxes already, but the reality is that the costs of maintaining road infrastructure are far greater than revenue from vehicle-specific taxes. In
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Drought Is Upon Us–This is Good News and Bad News Depending On How We Respond
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger The watering restriction notices are out throughout the Cowichan Valley. The systems operated by the Cowichan Valley Regional District and some of the Water Improvement Districts have issued directives, so far Read more…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Just Ask Ed Horn’s Widow
If Canada needs a model for our assisted suicide legislation, we could learn a lot from Oregon. The state’s Death with Dignity Act has been in effect since 1994 and it’s been observed, studied and analyzed thoroughly over the years. Even in a state with a lot of Christian fundamentalism,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will British Columbia be the Last Pacific Jurisdiction to Legalize Pot?
Washington took recreational marijuana off the state criminal books two years ago. Last night voters in Alaska and Oregon followed suit. California is expected to do the same in 2016. Imagine. British Columbia, the province once known for “B.C. Bud”, could be the last jurisdiction on the Pacific Coast to
Continue readingThe West Coast steps up on global warming
Earlier this week, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington and B.C. Premier Christy Clark announced their Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, “committing their governments, and a region that represents the world’s fifth largest economy, to a comprehensive and far-reaching strategic alignment to combat climate change and
Continue readingThe Equivocator: 10 Ballot measures to Watch in Tonight’s U.S. election
Tonight President Barack Obama will be re-elected, Democrats will keep the Senate and for no apparent reason the Republicans will keep the House of Representatives for another 2 years. More awesomely, Wisconsin is going to elect America’s first openly gay … Continue reading →
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Exporting Coal: Struggling U.S. Coal Industry Trying to Stay Relevant By Shipping Through the Northwest
110326007Paul_K_Anderson_Coal-copy.jpg U.S. coal companies are facing some tricky math these days. Production levels have remained more or less the same since 2005, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA), but during that time domestic consumption has dropped nearly 11 percent. Where is all that extra coal going? Some is piling
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Coal Train to Boardman: EPA Warns of "Significant" Public Health Threats in Northwest Coal Export Proposal
110326007Paul_K_Anderson_Coal-copy1.jpg As demand for coal in the United States has cooled off in recent years, coal mining companies have been scrambling to deliver their dirty loads to customers abroad. But what does this mean for communities along the transportation routes, particularly at the ports and export terminals where the coal
Continue reading