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Good news on climate change has been creeping into the headlines lately: from carbon cap policies unveiled in BC and California to Al Gore’s stunning testimony before Congress two weeks ago. Still, many of the most sobering climate headlines—about future slumps in Northwest food supply, surges worldwide in mosquito-borne illnesses, or looming economic woes—might make a person wonder why she got out of bed in the morning. But solutions to...

Northwest endangered species have been generating a lot of ink lately. Rocky Mountain gray wolves are likely heading for de-listing. Meanwhile, Puget Sound’s orcas were recently added to the list. Even a recovery effort for a handful of rare rabbits made the news. There are plenty more examples, of course, but these species remind us that much of the region’s natural heritage relies on the protection afforded by federal laws. So it’s a...

Last week I reported on the wide and growing partisan divide in US public opinion over global warming: self-identified Democrats are 39 percentage points more likely than their Republican counterparts to rate climate change as a serious problem. But what puzzled me most was the 13-point drop in concern among Republicans since 1999. Call me naïve, but with all the scientific evidence that’s been piling up on the issue—accompanied by...

As part of our research on wildlife, Sightline monitors the population of the Selkirk caribou herd, the last population of caribou to venture south of the Canadian border. Last year, we even created a map showing the historical range of North America’s mountain caribou, and compared it to their much-diminished current range. (It’s on the left; a bigger version is here; animated version here.) Our map gives the continent-scale picture,...

Since it came out about a year ago, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s climate change documentary, seems to have pushed the issue into mainstream consciousness. Millions saw the movie itself—but they were largely true believers anyway. But perhaps more importantly, Gore’s Academy Award has earned him a wider audience among the potentially undecided: 39.9 million TV viewers tuned in for the academy awards themselves, plus 49 million weekly viewers who...

Today’s top news story in Tidepool reflects a trend ongoing in the major metropolitan areas of our region. More people are moving to King County, including the city of Seattle, primarily because of the job market. Also, the Seattle P-I reports (several paragraphs into the article) that “In the case of downtown Seattle, some people are deciding really for the first time that urban, high-rise living can be more attractive...

    The old thinking, as author and thinker Bill McKibben explains in today’s LA Times, goes like this: bigger is always better, growth is good no matter what, and a booming stock market is the ultimate measure of our success. McKibben illustrates the kind of lopsided priorities that naturally flow when we’re ruled by the bottom line, pointing to a scarcely-reported White House report that said the US would...

Today’s top story has been in the news for a while now. But an interesting mix of stories make for a thought-provoking package. Sunday’s Washington Post included an article on the region’s climate-action heroes, California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and B.C.’s Gordon Campbell, both of whom are right-of-center politicians. Campbell’s story is especially interesting. Conservationists battled him endlessly during his first term as premier on a number of environmental policies. According to...

Today’s top news story on Tidepool.org is an important one for population and health trends in our region. The Vancouver Sun reports that rural women in BC face massive obstacles to reproductive care. Why? Many have to fly to Vancouver for procedures. What’s more, the province offers universal health coverage, which increases women’s access to medical services. With that in mind, consider the barriers a rural woman must face in...

The most valuable feature of a car is often its trunk. It’s easier to move yourself through a typical day in a compact community than it is to move your stuff. For local outings, my car-less family has found that a workable substitute for the trunk is our bike trailer/stroller. Our ten-year-old Oregon-made Burley is so incredibly useful that it deserves a pictorial ode. It’s one of a raft of...