News items for July 15, 2019

Healing Walk by Ben Powless (Used with permission.)

• 1. EPA to limit communities’ ability to oppose pollution permits

  The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to weaken rules that for the past quarter-century have given communities a voice in deciding how much pollution may legally be released by nearby power plants and factories.

  New York Times Community, Pollution

• 2. Democracy wins in OR, despite lawmakers’ walkout

  It was a dark day for democracy when 11 Oregon senators successfully blocked a major climate and clean energy bill by leaving the state to prevent a quorum. But, in other ways the Oregon lawmaking session was a smashing success for democracy.

  Sightline Institute campaign contribution limits, Daylight Savings, Democracy, national popular vote, Oregon Voting Rights Act

• 3. Agencies boost efforts to stop wildland firefighter suicides

  Federal officials at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise have started making efforts to address an increase in wildland firefighter suicides in recent years.

  Seattle Times Wildfire

• 4. The secret to lower housing prices? It’s all in the zoning

  The defining feature of North American cities is the single-family detached home. It is the least efficient way to house people, yet municipal zoning laws have historically served to ensure its primacy.

  The Globe and Mail Affordable housing, Zoning

• 5. When a Seattlite’s trash lands in a homeless camps, who gets punished?

  In Seattle, homeowners dump their garbage in homeless encampments and the city uses trash buildup as a reason to clear encampments with no notice.

  Grist Homelessness

• 6. Meet the guy swimming through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

  What it’s like to swim through the most polluted part of the ocean.

  Huffington Post Ocean Pollution, Pacific Garbage

• 7. What most Americans are looking for in a new home: solar panels

  After California passed first-of-its kind legislation mandating solar panels on all homes built starting in 2020, a new poll finds that people across the country want to see that policy go national.

  Fast Company Solar

• 8. Let’s ban junk mail already

  Here’s a modest environmental reform that would require little investment but would help avoid millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year and protect wildlife: Let’s ban junk mail.

  Sierra Club Junk Mail, Waste

• 9. (Some) migrant farm workers offered a path to Canadian citizenship

  A new three-year immigration experiment that will give migrant workers a path to permanent residency in Canada is getting a thumbs-up from industry but a thumbs-down from migrant rights groups.

  Westerly News Migrant workers

• 10. Trump the environmentalist?

  With swing states worried about climate change and toxic algae, the White House is talking green—while still working to strip away environmental protections.

  Inside Climate News Climate Denial, Environmental policy

More News from July 15, 2019

• Want to provide sanctuary to an undocumented person? This is what it takes.

  The mass arrests of undocumented families that President Trump has been threatening for weeks are set to begin Sunday. Some citizens may be wondering whether they have what it takes to shelter their friends from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

  Washington Post Immigration

• BC old-growth forest should be returned to 30% of original level

  There are currently about 32,000 square kilometers of old growth in the province—about 5% of the total forested area.

  CBC British Columbia Forest

• The tyranny of lawns and landlords

  Renting culture puts dreams of cultivating wildness out of reach.

  High Country News Land Use, Plants, Rent, Water

• EPA to allow use of pesticide considered ‘very highly toxic’ to bees

  The agency says sulfoxaflor poses less risk than alternatives and is a critical tool for farmers.

  Washington Post Bees, Toxics