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Fire at Will

British Columbia may be in for another summer of forest fires. Similarly, forests in the western United States also appear headed for another season of fires, the fruit of an ongoing drought. Fire, which is often beneficial to the forest ecosystem, can give rise to extensive salvage logging, which isn’t.

Officials in the province point out that people are responsible for 292 of the 323 fires that BC has already experienced this year. But people may be responsible in a less obvious way too. Climate scientists, like those at the US Environmental Protection Agency, have long worried that global warming may increase the risk of forest fires in certain places.

Where the Rubber Meets the . . . Fuel Pump?

When thinking of ways to use less gas and cut costs at the pump, many northwesterners consider the impact of their vehicles, but few consider the effect of their tires. A couple days ago, we noted that we may be wasting as much as 3 percent of our gasoline by failing to check our tire pressure.

Northwesterners may be wasting even more by driving around on inferior tires. A study prepared for the California energy commission in 2003 (read the pdf here) found that tires’ rolling resistance—how much energy is required to roll them forward—varies by as much as 60 percent. And rolling resistance has no relationship to traction, performance, or durability.

Fuel-saving tires boost fuel economy by 1 to 4.5 percent. In fact, car manufacturers put them on new cars to help comply with corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. But if you’re not a major auto manufacturer, it’s nearly impossible even to find out which tires are fuel sippers and which are gluttons. (The only partial listing of recommended models available yet is this (pdf) Energy Foundation-funded report by the nonprofit Green Seal.)

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A World of Toxics

New reports on the reach of toxic chemicals are as abundant as, well, dust on computer keyboards-which, a new study shows, is contaminated with flame-retardants that have been linked with neurological and reproductive health problems in lab animals. Other research (including this report from Sightline) has shown that the flame retardant chemicals, or PBDEs, are accumulating rapidly in the humans, marine mammals, and fish. They’re used in consumer products such as electronics, plastics, and foam. (A compilation of news coverage on PBDEs in household items is here.)

Meanwhile, the Anchorage Daily News notes that a depleted stock of Prince William Sound killer whales will earn special protection and a study to find out whether it can be saved from extinction. One possible reason for their decline: Several of the whales are carrying some of the highest levels of industrial contaminants ever measured in marine mammals. The whales’ favorite prey, the harbor seal, is declining, too.

Cutting the cut rate

Oregon’s Department of Forestry (ODF) is planning to scale back its timber cutting in 2005. When a recent legislative budget note directed the department to maximize cutting in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests, state foresters boosted the planned cut from 202 million board feet to 252 million board feet. But the move sparked a backlash in the form of a voter’s initiative–the Tillamook 50/50–that would put half of those state forests permanently off limits to logging.

Now ODF has trimmed back its proposal to 222 million board feet. Depending on your politics, it’s either a 12 percent reduction (from the proposed 252 million) or a 10 percent increase (from the original 202 million).

But there’s a better way for Oregon to resolve the predictable donnybrook between greens and the timber industry, and it’s a voluntary, market-based solution. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for Oregon’s working state forests would pacify greens—because it protects old growth, endangered species, and riparian areas. And certification would please logging proponents—because it means sustainable harvesting with careful attention to worker safety and employment security.

This summer, ODF is rewriting its management policies for the 100,000-acre Elliott State Forest in southern Oregon. It’s a perfect opportunity for the state to seek FSC approval on a limited scale, as first step toward seeking certification for other forests like the Tillamook and Clatsop.

Six other states have already certified some or all of their state forests. Oregon should be next.

For more detail on FSC certification for Oregon’s forests, take a look at the comments (note, this is a pdf file) that Sightline Institute (formerly Northwest Environment Watch) recently submitted to ODF. Sightline also submitted comments to the Washington, recommending that the state pursue certification as part of its management plan for the next decade.

BC Condo Boom Continues

May figures show another record-setting month for sales of condominiums and other forms of housing in compact communities in greater Vancouver. Condo sales jumped by half over last May’s levels, which were already very high by the standards of other Cascadian cities.

The boom has spread well beyond Vancouver’s downtown core, too.

Inflation Saves Fuel!

Some 85 percent of American drivers don’t check their tire pressure enough, or correctly, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association. And underinflated tires waste fuel while degrading safety. Americans keep their cars better washed and oiled than they keep them inflated.

Assuming U.S. averages apply to Cascadia, we northwesterners could trim our gasoline consumption by more than 3 percent just by pumping up regularly. And even if that figure overstates by a factor of two, we could still save $1 million on gasoline every 36 hours.

Did you know that the correct tire pressure is NOT printed on the sidewall? I didn’t. Tips are here.

(Thanks to Matt Schoellhamer for this post.)

Poor Health

Diverging health trends in BC and the Northwest states is one of the most striking findings of the Cascadia Scorecard’s lifespan indicator. A new study reported in the Globe and Mail helps to explain the differences. (Summary here. Full report here.)

Although affluent Canadians and Americans enjoy similar good health, American health patterns are far more polarized. Low-income Canadians are much healthier than low-income Americans. They have better access to medical care and suffer less obesity.

Feebates in Canada?

The Canadian federal government is going through its process of figuring out how to boost fuel economy, to comply with the nation’s Kyoto obligations. Unfortunately, gas tax increases are out. But gas-guzzler taxes, tax credits for hybrids, and-best of all-a comprehensive system of feebates are still on the table, as the Globe and Mail reports. It’s a very encouraging development.

Feebates (fees imposed on the sale of inefficient vehicles that finance rebates on the sales of efficient ones) are among the best ideas around for boosting fuel economy (and the efficiency of appliances and other resource-consuming equipment). (We explained feebates in our 2001 book (see excerpt) and in this op-ed.) Yet so far, feebates been adopted in few places.

BC studied feebates in 2001, before the change to the Liberal government there swept away all previous policy development work. In fact, BC created one of the best policy papers on the subject to date. (It’s no longer available to the public from the BC government, but we’ve got a pdf if you’re interested.) Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney also pledged to implement feebates during his election campaign.

Talkin' 'bout an Infestation

As if drought and fire aren’t bad enough, Cascadia’s eastern forests are beset by yet a third plague: bark beetle infestations.

Similar to the scourge of British Columbia’s interior forests, the mountain pine beetle, the bark beetles are poised to take America by storm. Higher than normal temperatures have led to beetle proliferation—they’re reproducing twice as fast as they used to. The beetles can kill millions of trees, leaving behind standing dead timber that is vulnerable to fire.

And forest fires are particularly likely this year, the fifth year of an epic drought across the West. The one-two punch of fire and insects leads some researchers to predict radical changes to forest ecosystems in the Rockies.

The Weight of Sprawl

University of British Columbia researcher Lawrence Frank has documented the sprawl-driving-obesity connection more rigorously than anyone else, with his massive new study of Atlanta. (Pdf of study here.)

The gist: The more you drive and the less you walk—and the more sprawling your neighborhood—the more likely you are to be obese.

Among other findings, as summarized by AP:

How much time a person spent driving had a greater impact on whether a person was obese than other factors such as income, education, gender or ethnicity.

Frank will soon release a similar study of King County, Washington. He hinted at some of the findings in a recent interview with Seattle P-I’s columnist Bob Condor (who also pointed out that Washington’s poor record on energy use shouldn’t make us feel too superior to Georgia).

A growing body of research on obesity, activity, and sprawl is accumulating; other key contributors include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Richard Jackson of the CDC.