News items for January 17, 2020

In the latest move by Big Tech to address climate change, Microsoft has promised to be “carbon negative” within the decade and to use its technology, money and influence to drive down carbon emissions across the economy.

In a 5-4 ruling Thursday, the court upheld a 2017 lower-court decision that the state Department of Ecology had exceeded its legal authority in trying to apply clean-air standards to “indirect emitters” that don’t directly burn fossil fuels.

Twelve years after the Washington Legislature first codified limits on greenhouse gas emissions, lawmakers are considering a new bill that would establish even stricter state targets.

The 161-year-old Portland company says it can decarbonize, but it faces skeptics.

The initiatives would require Oregon to produce all of its electricity through renewable and carbon-free sources by Jan. 1, 2045, up from about half that’s required today.

‘Our city is richer when we welcome the working class into our vibrant neighborhoods.’

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality data released Wednesday shows 12.8 million pounds of particulate pollution matter are released into Oregon’s air by woodstoves and chimneys each year.

The projects might do more to appease drivers, rather than to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On Wednesday a proposal to banish flimsy, single-use plastic bags from Washington passed the Senate.

The changes will be introduced within weeks and are intended to create a provincewide plan following the differing actions of major cities including Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria.