News items for October 18, 2019

Washington State Wildfires satellite image 2015 NASA by LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC, NASA (Used with permission)

• 1. The smoky summer that wasn’t

  While Washington had a mild season, wildfires burned near the Arctic.

  Seattle Weekly Arctic, Wildfires

• 2. Environment groups score court win over refinery project

  A legal battle continues over the Marathon Anacortes Refinery’s plans to produce a chemical compound for shipment overseas and to reduce the sulfur content of its fuels.

  GoSkagit Climate Action, Refinery

• 3. Judge blocks the federal government from easing energy rules in US West

  A U.S. judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from easing rules on mining, drilling and grazing across millions of acres in seven Western states.

  Salem Statesman Journal drilling, Land Use, Mining, Sage-grouse

• 4. Natural gas vs. renewable energy: Beware the gas industry’s talking points

  By keeping Americans focused on the climate benefits of gas vs. coal, industry seeks to delay a broader debate of the deficits of gas vs. renewables.

  Environmental Health News Natural Gas, Renewables

• 5. How Seattle designed neighborhoods to inhibit inclusivity: Part 2

  Seatte’s Neighborhood Planning Program has its origins in NIMBYism.

  The Urbanist Neighborhoods, Single-family Zoning, Urban density

• 6. Blocking the Trans Mountain Pipeline

  Environmental activists staged a protest at the Port of Vancouver, blocking train tracks with the goal of disrupting the transport of pipe bound for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project in Canada.

  Corvallis Gazette-Times Trans Mountain Pipeline

• 7. Views: Seattle’s P-Patch gardens face uncertain future

  Despite continued demand, 2015 saw the last new P-Patch. Predictably, development pressures many gardens.

  Seattle Times Urban Gardening

• 8. While Supreme Court waffles, cities stand up for LGBT rights

  No ruling, even from the highest court in the land, will invalidate state and city-level protections.

  Yes! Magazine Gender Rights, LGBT

• 9. The constitutional clause being used to threaten climate change policies

  An interstate commerce clause is being used to challenge climate change measures and regulations.

  Planetizen Climate Change

• 10. Congestion pricing is all around us. Why is it taboo on our roads?

  Congestion pricing on our nation’s roadways is forbidden in many cases, or rarely adjusted in others.

  Brookings congestion pricing

More News from October 18, 2019

• ‘Flight-shaming’ could slow growth of airline industry

  Climate now ‘top of the agenda’ for investors as airlines try to lower carbon emissions

  The Guardian Carbon emissions

• Where the Democratic primary candidates stand on environmental justice

  Making polluters pay for hurting the most vulnerable Americans

  Curbed Elections, Environmental Justice

• New study pinpoints the places most at risk on a warming planet

  As many as five billion people will face hunger and a lack of clean water by 2050 as the warming climate disrupts pollination, freshwater, and coastal habitats, according to new research published last week in Science. People living in South Asia and Africa will bear the worst of it.

  Grist Global warming