News items for December 18, 2018
(Also showing draft and scheduled news items)
Hear our Vote illustration by Jade Watring
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1. An Oregon Voting Rights Act could be the ticket to fairer voting
Cities, counties, and school boards would have more power to pick better systems.
Sightline Institute
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2. Seattle will spend $75M on affordable housing over the next year
The money will help nonprofits build about 1,200 new apartments with restricted rents and preserve another 200-plus low-rent homes.
Seattle Times
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3. Re-legalizing fourplexes would also be fantastic for bike transportation
A proposed bill in Oregon is exciting for lots of reasons. Here’s just one.
Sightline Institute
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4. America’s changing electoral map
2020 will bring its own surprises. Will recent racial, class, and regional trends continue? If they do, we could be looking at a new American political map before too long.
FiveThirtyEight
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5. One hundred cities are leading the way to 100% clean energy
From the Sierras to the Appalachians, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, cities are committing to a future powered by clean, renewable energy.
Next City
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6. Who will lead the Elliott State Forest in public ownership?
Last year, the board voted to keep the 82,500-acre forest in public ownership rather than sell it into private hands. Since then, seven different parties have told the state they want to play a role in public ownership.
OPB
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7. Rebuilding a city through the eyes of a child
Children are like “revolutionaries in the household,” capable of influencing their parents far more strongly than a politician ever could. And in the city of Tirana, Albania they are helping change the very landscape of the community.
CityLab
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8. Study finds ‘alarming’ levels of chemicals in Great Barrier Reef turtles
Results of research into 2012 mass deaths offer insights into reef health and throw up further questions.
The Guardian
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9. Views: Portland’s a big city now. It’s time City Council caught up
What would it look like for Portland to get a grown-up form of city government?
Oregon Live
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10. How green is coffee?
About some 150 million Americans drink coffee in some form every day, with three cups a day a typical average. Now we explore what that cup of joe does for the environment.
Sustainable Life Oregon
More News from December 18, 2018
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On fish farms, peppermint shrimp clean up nicely
A species of cleaner shrimp shows promise as a nontoxic treatment for fighting disease on fish farms.
Hakai Magazine
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Oregon is no longer gaining ground toward its targets, it’s backsliding
The “future” effects of climate change, predicted over the last three decades—drought, flooding, heat, sea level rise, public health effects—are now arriving in Oregon, challenging local communities, businesses, and households.
Oregon Global Warming Commission
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Video: Cleaning up the ocean’s plastic, one step at a time
So far the giant floating device launched three months ago to collect plastic in the Pacific garbage patch has not been successful. But Ocean Cleanup’s founder Boyan Slat says, with changes, he’s confident it can work.
USA Today