News items for September 16, 2019

Upper Snake River by www.protectpeel.ca used under CC BY-NC 2.0

• 1. Economics says the Snake River dams should go

  The debate over removing the four dams on the lower Snake River has simmered for decades. In July, the economic consulting firm ECONorthwest (ECONW) issued a new independent analysis funded by the philanthropic arm of the late Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. on the benefits and costs of restoring the river. In spite of Vulcan’s reputation for funding unbiased scientific inquiry, the reaction to the study by the dams’ proponents was furious.

  Sightline Institute Snake River dams

• 2. The changing color of politics in Seattle, South King County

  Many people of color, immigrants and young working people who before might have lived in Seattle now live south, either by choice or due to gentrification. That reality is reshaping electorates across the region, leading to anxiety about representation in Seattle and to opportunities for new candidates in South King County cities.

  Seattle Times Politics

• 3. South Seattle becomes more white

  According to the most recent census data, white people are now the largest racial/ethnic group in the South End, surpassing people of Asian descent.

  Seattle Times Gentrification

• 4. Why CA’s standing firm on auto emissions

  In an e360 interview, Mary Nichols, the long-time chair of the California Air Resources Board, talks about California’s continued efforts to stop the Trump administration’s rollback of stricter fuel efficiency standards, and why the auto industry is largely on its side.

  Yale Environment 360 Emissions

• 5. Coal declining at quicker clip than previously forecast

  The country’s energy data center tempered forecasts for Western coal production as demand for the mineral declines nationwide and market uncertainty persists, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Energy Information Administration.

  Casper Star Tribune Coal

• 6. Indian Country journalists face severe limits on press freedom

  Tribal governments own nearly three-quarters of tribal newspapers and radio stations. Too often, that puts politicians in charge of what goes in the newspaper and which reporters and editors keep their jobs.

  The Daily Yonder Native Americans

• 7. Fossil fuel companies roll out a new era of spin

  Over the years, fossil fuel companies have poured millions into sowing doubt about climate science and burnishing their public image. Now, fossil fuel companies are reckoning with a different communications challenge: convincing their investors that the future of oil and gas companies is bright … or at least bright enough.

  Grist Fossil fuels

• 8. For sage grouse, science can be fatal

  Is the value of data worth the death of individual animals?

  High Country News Sage-grouse

• 9. Maybe we’re not all going to be gig economy workers after all

  The gig economy is looking less like the future of the labor market, and more like a niche arrangement, applicable in a handful of industries and used primarily as a side hustle for people whose main household earnings come from a more stable type of job.

  New York Times Gig economy

• 10. Down on the smart farm

  Berry-picking robots. Tablet-controlled tractors. Weed-sensing drones. How farms are going high-tech to produce more food with less water, fuel and chemicals.

  The Fern Farming

More News from September 16, 2019

• How climate change will impact outdoor recreation in the Pacific NW

  In Washington, where outdoor recreation plays an outsize role in local economies and communities, we’re likely to feel the impacts of a warming planet keenly, as the fallout from climate change reduces our access to the outdoors, alters our ability to take part in longstanding seasonal activities like skiing and fishing, and changes the very landscapes of our state.

  Seattle Times Climate Change

• OR schools slowly rolling out Indigenous studies curriculum

  Starting this year, Oregon schools are required to teach tribal history and the Native American experience in class.

  OPB Native Americans

• CA lawmakers reject bill on single-use plastics

  California lawmakers adjourned early Saturday without acting on bills that would have made their state the first to partially phase out single-use containers, with supporters unable to overcome lobbying from industry opponents.

  Los Angeles Times Plastics

• CA governor to veto bill blocking rollback of endangered species protections

  Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to veto a bill passed by California lawmakers that would have allowed the state to keep strict Obama-era endangered species protections and water pumping restrictions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

  Los Angeles Times Endangered species

• Seattle Times joins worldwide Covering Climate Now initiative

  The Seattle Times joins more than 250 newsrooms across the world this week in publishing stories about climate change. The Covering Climate Now initiative, co-founded by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation, aims to highlight media coverage about our warming planet, a defining issue of our time.

  Seattle Times Climate Change