News items for June 9, 2023

Flats and houseplexes built on single lots, mixed in with detached homes. Source: Lanefab.
-
1. Boise poised for first step towards more abundant, affordable housing
The new zoning code legalizes more types of housing but creates new barriers to abundance.
-
2. WA’s greenhouse-gas-allowance auction raises over $500M
The state’s carbon-pricing program is the centerpiece of the state’s 2021 Climate Commitment Act. It sets a statewide cap on the amount of carbon pollution that can be emitted by certain industries and requires those businesses to buy allowances to cover their emissions.
-
3. The shipping climate crunch
The global shipping industry is at a turning point that will determine whether it helps or hurts efforts to meet climate change goals, say BC researchers.
-
4. Wildfire smoke in the Northeast is the new abnormal
Welcome to our weird new world. Out west, hazy, orange skies have become a feature of fire season from L.A. to Anchorage. Many west coast cities have earned the title: worst urban air quality in the world, beating out the usual suspects in Asia. Now it’s New York’s turn.
-
5. Seattle’s tiny homes get a big upgrade
Faced with a growing homelessness crisis, Seattle’s choices in how it uses scarce land and funding can mean the difference between hundreds of people sleeping inside or on the street.
-
6. A CA bill could reveal corporate America’s climate secrets
The bill has rankled the oil and gas industry, agricultural groups, and reportedly an iconic burger chain.
-
7. Climate solutions need queerness
Queer ecology embraces the plurality and paradox of nature, rather than forcing it into the binaries and categories that our society craves.
-
8. Mapping seagrass, the world’s forgotten underwater ecosystem
Sometimes described as “the lungs of the sea,” seagrasses produce large amounts of oxygen essential for fish in shallow coastal waters.
-
9. The climate crisis is colliding with the criminal justice system
Often, those incarcerated and overpoliced come from neighborhoods where racism and divestment have caused environmental injustices, such as pollution exposure, and contributed to making severe weather events, like heat waves, more intense.
-
10. Saying ‘I do’ to more sustainable celebrations
Birthdays, weddings, and funerals: Why people who care about the climate are bringing those values into rites of passage.
More News from June 9, 2023
-
Hey New York, the west has survived decades of smoke. Here’s how
Tips on staying healthy, keeping sane and getting through being socked in by smoke.
-
Move to EVs could save nearly 90,000 lives in US by 2050
A new report from the American Lung Association reveals that if gas-guzzling vehicles were replaced by zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, trucks, and SUVs in the US by 2035, the nation could witness a significant reduction in premature deaths.
-
Marine protected areas, explained
There’s nuance in how we protect our oceans; here are the details.
-
Smoke bring a warning: There’s no escaping climate’s threat to health
As plumes from Canadian wildfires move to the East Coast, officials and residents grapple with the worsening health risks of climate change