News items for September 20, 2018

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, flickr

• 1. Oil companies pump out the dollars against carbon tax

  Phillips 66, which operates a Washington refinery, is the top contributor to the campaign against Initiative 1631.

  Seattle Times Campaign Finance

• 2. Seattle U will become first college in state to divest of fossil fuels

  The university says it will become the first among the nation’s 28 Jesuit universities to divest its endowment of fossil fuels.

  Seattle Times Divestment

• 3. Oregon road map to climate change and equity

  The Oregon Public Utility Commission has developed a road map for adapting regulation to the changing electric sector, with an eye to making progress on climate change and equity.

  Portland Tribune Climate Change

• 4. Vancouver, BC duplex rezoning considered ‘quick-start action’

  The Vancouver City Council has voted 7-4 in favour to allow duplexes in 99 per cent of the city’s low-density, single-family areas.

  Vancouver Sun Housing

• 5. Adaptive bike share coming to Portland

  In Portland, riders lobbied the city government to think about disabled riders in designing a bike-sharing system. The city will eventually offer adaptive bikes for the physically disabled as part of the 1,000-bike and 100-station bike sharing system that launched in July 2016.

  Shareable Bike Share

• 6. The suburban struggle for LGBTQ rights

  Many Americans still associate LGBTQ life with urban “gayborhoods,” but sexual diversity in suburbia is growing.

  CityLab Suburbs

• 7. The gender gap at Seattle’s largest departments is wider than ever

  The latest annual analysis of racial and gender equity in city employment concludes, unsurprisingly, that the city still has a long way to go before achieving racial and gender pay equity and equal representation in employment, as measured by the number of women and people of color who are in top-tier, and top-paying, positions at the city.

  Gender Equity

• 8. Will Hanford workers finally be safe from toxic exposure?

  On Tuesday, the state of Washington, a Hanford union and a Hanford watchdog organization said they have tentatively settled a three-year old lawsuit against the US Department of Energy over workers being made sick from toxic vapors from Hanford’s underground tanks.

  Crosscut Hanford

• 9. Bye bye bugs? Scientists fear non-pest insects are declining

  Pesky mosquitoes, disease-carrying ticks, crop-munching aphids and cockroaches are doing just fine. But the more beneficial flying insects of summer, native bees, moths, butterflies, ladybugs, lovebugs, mayflies and fireflies, appear to be less abundant.

  Seattle Times Insects

• 10. The global beauty business goes au naturel

  Demand for healthier ingredients has spread beyond the dinner plate. Interest in cosmetics and skincare products claiming to be “clean” and “natural” has grown in the past two years, with no regulation around either term.

  Fast Company Green products

More News from September 20, 2018

• The restorative power of trees

  Green growing things heal us in surprising ways. Communities are trying to bring plant life to areas that lack it.

  Yes! Magazine Green Spaces

• How do we speed up the transition to 100 percent EV fleets?

  While clean energy can be procured at a lower cost than fossil fuel-generated power in some regions in the United States, most battery-powered vehicles still remain more expensive than diesel-powered ones.

  GreenBiz Electric Vehicles