News items for October 2, 2023
Will Buckner, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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1. Recent reforms could make a real neighborhood of downtown Anchorage
A vibrant downtown needs residents. And residents need housing. Convenience stores wouldn’t hurt either.
Sightline Institute
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2. Cities in BC embrace ‘urban reserve’ partnerships with First Nations
An urban reserve is when land in or near a municipality is converted into reserve land, as recognized by the federal Crown. Historically, First Nation reserve land has been located far from urban centers.
CBC
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3. Toxic labor
A warming planet is creating a booming and loosely regulated disaster restoration industry fueled by immigrant labor. Without protection, workers are exposed to lethal toxins making them sick long after the cleanup.
Center for Public Integrity
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4. Millions of dollars for ‘tree equity’ head to Snohomish County
Trees will go to areas with little canopy cover in Everett, Marysville and elsewhere. “We’re doing 100% underrepresented communities.”
Everett Herald
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5. Could a 151-year-old mining law finally be reformed?
A working group calls for reforms in advance of a green metals boom.
High Country News
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6. Ambitious national plan for lead pipe removal faces hurdles
A string of unexpected impediments could delay the administration’s timeline on an issue that is central to its effort to address racial disparities.
New York Times
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7. Views: West Coast cities start to confront the limits of the liberal dream
Some of the West’s most progressive cities—Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland among them—are joining with conservatives in states like Arizona and Idaho to try to exert more legal coercion on unauthorized encampments in parks and under bridges, rather than letting them proliferate as has been happening for years now.
Seattle Times
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8. Facing pressure from customers, miners are switching to renewable energy
Mining operations account for some 4% to 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But some miners are moving to reduce use of fossil fuels in extracting and refining, partly due to pressure from downstream customers that want more sustainable supply chains.
Associated Press
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9. Biden said he would stop drilling. Then reality hit
President Biden has done more to combat climate change than any of his predecessors. But he has failed in one important way: He has not stopped oil and gas drilling on public lands and in federal waters, as he pledged as a candidate in 2020.
New York Times
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10. Who can still afford a Yellowstone road trip?
Camping isn’t for everybody, and lodging costs in the gateway communities and parks themselves have far outpaced inflation. Visitors and officials weigh in on whether the middle class is being priced out.
Montana Free Press
More News from October 2, 2023
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For First Nations, shutdown stakes are especially high
Tribal governments are heavily dependent on federal funding because of treaties guaranteeing basic services.
New York Times
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Here’s how physically demanding wildland firefighting is
It’s physically exhausting work and essential for protecting communities as wildfire risks rise in a warming world. After extreme fire seasons in 2020 and 2021, Congress funded a temporary bonus that boosted average U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter pay. But that increase expired in September, knocking many federal firefighters back to earning the minimum $15 per hour.
Alaska Beacon
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Dianne Feinstein dies, leaving a complicated legacy on climate issues
The California senator fought for conservation but drew criticism for rebuking the Green New Deal.
Grist
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What ending fossil fuel extraction across the world would look like
A thought experiment shows the complexities of phasing out oil, gas and coal.
Washington Post