Posted Thu, Apr 19, 9:55 a.m.

Roger Valdez is incredibly oblivious to what makes a community "work." He cites the Oddfellows Bldg experience as positive change, but fails to note the difference between preservation/rehabilitation of an existing building, and bulldozing sound structures to be replaced by another bland mixed-use piece of crap. As afreeman notes, the ...

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 10:09 p.m.

"leadership turnover... is the cause, not the symptom, of our recurrent challenges." This is backwards and you still don't get it after a tough election in which two of four incumbent board members were turned out. If your inability to grasp the board's oversight obligations continues, I'm guessing there will ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 5:27 p.m.

No amount of conferences will solve the OA problem: http://co2now.org/ The graph of steadily increasing CO2 on that page should be the background on every electronic screen on earth. Or maybe something like this: http://basictextures.com/wp-content/maxfreesize/stone-brick/stone-brick-wall-old-yellow-00380.jpg

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 1:39 p.m.

I'm "liberal" (whatever that means any more), but I oppose TIF for the reasons stated by the first three comments. We need an honest overhaul of our tax structure, not more 'feed the rich' band aids that create instead of solve problems. Regarding David Sucher's second bullet; low income and ...

Posted Mon, Apr 2, 10:51 p.m.

Thank you Paulkirk for excellent addendums to Mr. Ruckelshaus's history of his role in the Watergate affair. There is nothing fallacious (or "personal opinion and prejudice") about your facts concerning his associations during and after, however honorably he acted or thought he acted at the critical juncture. The missing thread ...

Posted Mon, Apr 2, 11:10 a.m.

lorenbliss's comments and analyses are spot on. The story of the destruction of the news media in the U.S. is a part of the story of the corporatization of our governance. A good recent book on the subject is Jeff Clement's "Corporations Are Not People," http://www.amazon.com/Corporations-Are-Not-People-Rights/dp/1609941055 He thinks a constitutional ...

Posted Wed, Mar 28, 4:39 p.m.

Excellent comment, PaulKirk; Corbusier was right about consumption, too right. Related follow up to mspat's point: "When they succeed in getting government to make it more difficult to go here or there by car, some of us just don't go here or there anymore." It's going to get more difficult ...

Posted Sun, Mar 25, 9:16 p.m.

"In mid-September, 2008, after months of campaigning, Republican candidates John McCain and Dino Rossi were ahead in their races for President and Governor." Wow, is that selective viewing of Realclearpolitics' polling data (with a link that doesn't work). Obama was ahead in national polling from the end of March, 2008, ...

Posted Thu, Mar 22, 11:57 a.m.

"a candidate for Bellingham City Council was elected" Please name names.

Posted Thu, Mar 22, 11:48 a.m.

The building is at 1501 East Madison. There's a web page about it at http://bullittcenter.org/ There was an appeal to the City Hearing Examiner, mostly rejected: Go to http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/hear1.htm and put "MUP-11-001" in the file number search term.

Posted Mon, Mar 12, 10:25 p.m.

What an oblivious op-ed, and then an "editor's pick" for "If we can help protect Europe, Japan and Israel I think we can muddle our way through this"? Not a single mention of direct U.S. military intervention in Iraq (2003-2011), or of the oil driving most of our government's actions ...

Posted Wed, Mar 7, 2:55 p.m.

Kucinich--Congressional rep? Not a chance. Stay home. All politics is local, and this is not your locale. You could move here and start over; we need more truly progressive city council people around here.

Posted Sat, Mar 3, 9:54 p.m.

The "all-out war against cars" is more a result of peak oil than of ideology or politics. Aside from cars' gross ecological, land use, and public health impacts, it's the inevitability of the decline of cheap liquid fuel that drives the need to move away from America's car centric culture. ...

Posted Wed, Feb 29, 5:58 p.m.

Snus: Your details are wrong and your conclusion is wrong; either you don't have a clue or you're being disingenuous. It is a very difficult and usually expensive proposition to bring and prosecute effective public interest environmental or land use lawsuits. Ask any of the lawyers who specialize in the ...

Posted Sat, Feb 25, 10:56 p.m.

David Smith's post was rude for sure, so I can see why you're defensive. Also, if there's a grain of truth in the impugning, it hurts.

Posted Sat, Feb 25, 10:18 p.m.

Good article. I'm a regular user of Cascades/Coast Starlight (PDX, Eugene, Santa Barbara) and a member of NARP. More rail service! It would be good if we could get service reinstated to an Olympia station on Capitol Lake. I've thought that since commuting on I-5 to Olympia for the 1975 ...

Posted Fri, Feb 24, 10:27 p.m.

Your holiday jaunt sounds very pleasant and indeed bicycling in Seattle is lots better now than just a few years ago. But as a regular decades long commuter around town between Pioneer Square and the north end, I know there is much yet to be done. I cannot go from ...

Posted Tue, Feb 7, 1 p.m.

NickBob is wishing for a "left wing Tim Eyeman"? That's an oxymoron (and a misspelling); Eyman's hatred of government is, like Grover Norquist's desire to "drown it in the bathtub", fear-based reactionary politics. "Left wing" is by definition the opposite of reactionary, and is hopefully fact, not fear based.

Posted Sun, Feb 5, 9:59 p.m.

salmonjim--When we can elect officials who are not beholden to developers, highway promoters, and other elites. "Government" is not the problem; it's having 1%ers own the electeds and bureaucrats that's the problem.

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 1:54 p.m.

Spokane's 2011 Proposition 1 is of particular interest to me; it's my home town. I am surprised at the strength of the sentiment "against downtown and corporate leaders." There is hope! An excellent series of articles on that subject (fights over control of cities) is at http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/local/

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 1:49 p.m.

elbegewa: "Since coal will be shipped one way or another, and since the world will continue to consume coal regardless of whether it is shipped through the Northwest, is the Northwest willing to derive the economic and job benefits by having coal ports here?" That's a rather presumptuous assumption. The ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 1:34 p.m.

Snus--it is a heavy lift when you're dealing with the current version of Republicans. To wit: "Minority Report: Do not pass -- Signed by Representatives Shea, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Klippert, Nealey, and Rivers." Thank you Jean Godden for weighing in on this issue.

Posted Mon, Jan 30, 10:46 p.m.

"I caught a show on the Science channel describing some kind of material found on the Moon which facilitates fusion." Helium 3, and the science is OK if you're looking 50 years out maybe, but the technology is sci-fi and rubbish on any time frame we should be thinking about. ...

Posted Mon, Jan 30, 10:19 a.m.

Newt has Gynecomastia! Who knew?

Posted Sat, Jan 28, 10:56 p.m.

Good comment, South Downtown. I am glad that Crosscut has seen fit to bless you with an "Editor's Pick." There is hope yet for (some portion of) the media to better cover Seattle's governance problems. Mr. Valdez is not part of it.

Posted Wed, Jan 25, 12:55 p.m.

Kun døde fisk svømmer med strømmen

Posted Tue, Jan 24, 11:17 a.m.

"Why should businesses be expected to achieve any benefit beyond their core function?" They shouldn't be so expected, and that's exactly why we need more effective controls over corporations' behavior. Because that behavior results in many of the problems we face, from increasing disparities of wealth and income (i.e., lack ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 6:20 p.m.

dbreneman: I know the law and history of corporations better than most. It's not a cliché ("trope") to conclude that giving corporations the rights of personhood for purposes beyond enforcement of contracts (at least those that are not against the public interest), and maybe some torts, is neither moral nor ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 10:59 a.m.

Your Republican archetypes are amusing, but I think more politically accurate are: Corporations Are Persons and Entitled to Run Everything Shill (Mitt Romney), Right Wing Populist Hypocrite (Newt Gingrich), Libertarian to the Insane Max (Ron Paul), and Extremely Uptight Christian Fascist (Rick Santorum).

Posted Sat, Jan 21, 10:51 p.m.

For folks who want to get to the heart of our governance problems in Seattle, I recommend "Who Rules America" by G. Wm. Domhoff, and especially his San Francisco essay: http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/local/san_francisco.html It speaks strongly to our situation in Seattle. We are in many ways the S.F. of the north, half ...

Posted Sat, Jan 21, 10:41 p.m.

"Washington and Oregon go to church less than the other 48 states." Hallelujah!

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 1:02 p.m.

Apology: I meant "Mr. Brewster."

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 12:28 p.m.

Current school board policy no. 1620 says this about individual board members requests for information from staff: "Individual Board members shall not request from the Superintendent or staff the preparation of a report or compilation of materials not readily available and involving significant staff time unless the majority of a ...

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 11:40 a.m.

No mention is made of the specific environmental groups supporting rational water management. A leader in this effort is the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, http://www.celp.org/. If you find the Five Corners Family Farmers decision offensive, please support their work.

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 10:52 a.m.

Herb--The closure of many streams in Okanogan County to further appropriation is a legal fact, based on extensive scientific work by the Department of Ecology (and others) over a period of many years. Closures on the Methow side of the county are listed at WAC 173-548, and for the east ...

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 11:53 a.m.

For a thorough preliminary analysis of the Canadian oil sands project by an actual climate scientist (and a robust dialogue in the comments), see http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/11/keystone-xl-game-over/

Posted Wed, Jan 11, 2:44 p.m.

For a good historical perspective on Okanogan politics (and a great story), read "The Goldmark Case," by William L. Dwyer. The story is about the attack on state representative John Goldmark during his campaign for reelection in 1962. He was driven from office by hateful right-wing extremists ("He's a Commie!"). ...

Posted Wed, Dec 14, 1:56 p.m.

GaryP is correct about Florida; the Republicans stole the election (as they did in Ohio in 2004-- http://www.truth-out.org/new-court-filing-reveals-how-2004-ohio-presidential-election-was-hacked/1311603015 etc). But TVD is also correct, sort of: "Nader took enough Florida votes away from Gore to make it easier for the Rs to steal the election."

Posted Wed, Dec 14, 11:59 a.m.

It's not just CO2: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html

Posted Thu, Dec 1, 10:56 a.m.

paddystclair--Link is slow to SeaTac; that's because the more direct transit route to the airport, the monorail (or the same west side route with some other grade-separated transit), was killed by strangulation of its funding. Link is more convenient than the bus (except for that 1/4 mile walk at the ...

Posted Mon, Nov 14, 9:49 p.m.

Coda to WillieGreen & Kieth dialogue: WG is correct because Peak Oil will inevitably drive prices up; the marginal cost of producing the next barrel cannot trend down. For some sources on this and related subjects: • http://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2010/07/peak-oil-and-eroi-understanding-concept.html • http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/3/11/2129/ ("Predicting the Psychological Response of the American People to Oil ...

Posted Mon, Nov 14, 9:26 p.m.

Mud Bay: I agree that most meat is now produced in an environmentally non-sustainable manner. However, saying "There is no such thing as 'sustainable meat'" is an extremist statement that is not true. Long before there were CAFOs and subsidized grain turning out unhealthy beef and "other white meat" there ...

Posted Sun, Nov 13, 9:37 p.m.

Good summary of J. Edgar's diseased influence on America's body politic. For similar stories, see the 1992 movie Citizen Cohn (Al Pacino as Roy Cohn), and 2003 TV mini series Angels in America (focused on Roy Cohn). Unlike Hoover, for whom there is no evidence, there is little doubt that ...

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 11:04 p.m.

common1sense: Can you post something more specific than a one-liner, like some specifics about my "discursive" posts that is inaccurate, illogical, or anachronistic. afreeman correctly observes that Ehrlich was correct on the longer haul (was he in the wrong decade also, just too soon? Like Malthus was in the wrong ...

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 5:55 p.m.

JJ--Well, discursive can mean rambling, but it also means proceeding coherently from topic to topic and marked by analytical reasoning. I'm pleased to be accused of that. If you're looking for the opposite (and very little smug, self-righteous liberalism), try http://www.soundpolitics.com/

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 9:18 p.m.

JJ--did you so much as look at a single reference, or are you just one of the willfully ignorant? Do you know how many people were alive when you were born? Now? Systems change, and your lifespan is miniscule in the bigger picture. The content of your posts is miniscule ...

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 1:52 p.m.

JakeJackson--"So what?" I gave three cites to get you started; do some of your own research. (I know it's work, at least for those who don't wish to be willfully ignorant, which is a common disease among Americans--http://www.gallup.com/poll/145286/four-americans-believe-strict-creationism.aspx & http://www.gallup.com/poll/126560/Americans-Global-Warming-Concerns-Continue-Drop.aspx). Here's another couple for you: • Concerning the "many scientists" ...

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 5:25 p.m.

Totally missing from the article and most comments is a real world consideration of what "sustainable" means. The article says the poll used some language "To help clarify this issue" but it is just more planners' happy talk. In the world with growing population and resource limitations, this is the ...

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 4:46 p.m.

Mud Bay is correct about NMFS and the Elwha hatchery issue. FYI, here's a link to the ESA 60 day letter required before lawsuit can be filed: http://wildfishconservancy.org/about/press-room/press-releases/agencies-warned-over-elwha-river-fish-hatchery (The 60 days before the actual lawsuit can be filed won't pass until mid November.)

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 4:25 p.m.

anotherview's analysis is spot on that governments' current budget problems are largely the lack of revenue, not too many expenditures. Paul Krugman's column in today's (Seattle) Times says the same thing: we have become an oligarchy. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2016691426_krugman05.html On the other hand, it is not true that David Brewster's column is ...

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 9:01 p.m.

Link to follow up: http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/20444/Can-little-old-Washington-influence-the-price-of-coal-to-China-/

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 8:59 p.m.

randydutton: You must hate people, because what you are arguing for is money in exchange for a trashed planet, with the continued viability of the biosphere to sustain people literally at risk. And your "cleaner" coal argument is total BS. The only way for Powder River coal to be "clean" ...

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 8:36 p.m.

I usually don't agree with BlueLight's posts. However, this one has some merit, and here's an OSU-related reference to support the proposition that human population growth in the PNW is likely to inhibit salmon recovery: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/staff/lackey/pubs/illusion.htm Lackey's article concludes: "Restoring runs of wild salmon to the Pacific Northwest to levels ...

Posted Tue, Oct 25, 1:52 p.m.

smacgry: "No one with a progressive mindset can reconcile that mindset with supporting a regressive tax like this. ... Santiago, Portland, and San Francisco do not fund their integrated transit systems with regressive taxes regimes." Yes, because those cities didn't have the combination of Tim Eyman, an ignorant tax averse ...

Posted Wed, Oct 12, 10:52 p.m.

Two great references, thanks. I especially appreciate someone writing a comprehensive analysis of the environmental externalities of our energy systems. I do wonder why neither Graetz nor his reviewer Nordhaus mention the concept of energy return on energy invested (EROI or EROEI). EROEI measures the amount of work (energy) it ...

Posted Tue, Oct 4, 10:39 p.m.

Roger Valdez: “neighborhood advocates need to recognize that it's all about planning for growth, not stopping growth or shifting it somewhere else.” Ben Schiendelman: “I think the point here is that the "neighborhood movement" is so detrimental to the city right now that either it needs to change to allow ...

Posted Thu, Sep 22, 2:05 p.m.

I don't necessarily disagree that developers should not be required to put retail uses in new buildings. However, in the neighborhood commercial and transition zones where that requirement exists, the option to convert buildings to retail in the future should not be foreclosed. "The key factor here is making buildings ...

Posted Thu, Sep 22, 1:51 p.m.

Jan said: "If not coal from Montana, China will get it someplace else." This statement ignores the affect of increasing the cost of coal in China. If you reduce their sources, you increase the uncertainty and cost. The result is to increase the pressure to find alternatives, which become more ...

Posted Wed, Sep 21, 2:55 p.m.

Exporting North American coal to China to burn is insane (and almost as insane to burn it here). http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ It's a cliche to say this project "must not be built" because business as usual says it will be built. Business as usual is insane.

Posted Tue, Aug 30, 11:08 a.m.

Matt said "it seems wildly optimistic to think our region can fix this problem in a time scale of several generations. Our population growth comes from outside, not so much from within." There are three or four generations per century (25 - 33 years or so), depending on who's doing ...

Posted Tue, Aug 23, 5:55 p.m.

common1sense: You are wrong about the 1970s: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/01/the-global-cooling-myth/ afreeman: Thanks for posting info/links about ULI and City Council briefing. I'll add an anecdote: At a conference last fall, Richard Conlin made a brief growth management presentation. He used maps showing the increase in our development footprint on Puget Sound region ...

Posted Mon, Aug 15, 7:51 p.m.

Republished by Fishlink "Sublegals" Vol. 17, No. 30, 5 August 2011 (fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com): “Another serious threat to the Columbia river fishery is the proposed construction by the U.S. Army Engineers of Ice Harbor and three other dams on the lower Snake river between Pasco, Wash., and Lewiston, Idaho, to provide slackwater ...

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 10:42 p.m.

jaibailo: "Seattle the City is now just an overprice, aging parody of its former self..." You're funny; this place is not even 200 years old and you think it can be a parody of its past? Try Venice if you want to experience that. I'll be happy to get out ...

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 10:30 p.m.

Thanks for an excellent article. Every gram of carbon (or CO2e) burned into the atmosphere counts. We are living on borrowed time; will the global economy unravel before the ecosystem?

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 10:23 p.m.

The difference between 3.9 and 3.6 million is not great. The use and allocation of land and resources has a far greater impact than a 14% difference in population. A good analysis of the status of the Puget Sound ecology was published this summer by the Tribes. http://nwifc.org/treatyrightsatrisk/ The problems ...

Posted Wed, Aug 10, 6:28 p.m.

jmrolls: "The need and desire for mobility is not in decline. The age of the automobile is not ending." Wrong; the desire is in decline, and the ability to satisfy the need more so, at least until we figure out how to bring in energy and resources from off-planet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqDS9wGsxQ ...

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 8:38 p.m.

tburley: "The tunnel is also such a project where the upfront investment is huge, but the long-term benefit to our city will be transformative and lasting. Imagine our waterfront opened up and connected to downtown while much of the traffic is diverted below. This is the lemonade we can make ...

Posted Mon, Aug 1, 9:47 a.m.

"The people of Seattle will live behind their auto-proof city walls and enjoy a life of colorful flowers, fluffy bunnies, lattes and magic-carpet-like light rail." Yes, like Paris, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Vancouver, and, yes, San Francisco, and many other world class cities without freeways through their core. People just ...

Posted Thu, Jul 28, 9:53 p.m.

andy asks, "Are we really ready to abandon our society to our corporate overlords?" Where have you been; you're too late. See, e.g., http://www.amazon.com/World-Systems-Analysis-Introduction-Franklin-Center/dp/0822334429 kieth proclaims, "If we can sell the damned coal let's do it." So, since we're sending the global climate, and therefore civilization, off a cliff with ...

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 6:34 p.m.

The members of this "roundtable of interested parties" may "care about Seattle" (says David Sucher), but the fact remains that with one exception it is devoid of any but developers and related interests. I spent over a year and dozens of hours on another effort created by the City Council, ...

Posted Fri, Mar 18, 3:10 p.m.

"Mayor Mike McGinn is leading a close look at how to overhaul the land use code. He’s convened a round table of city staff and local leaders from the private and non-profit sectors to take a look at how we might better align our clunky code with our green and ...

Posted Fri, Mar 18, 3:07 p.m.

"five out of the nine council members are up for election. That’s a referendum that will be on the ballot for Seattle voters this fall for sure." Only if they have the right candidates in opposition. I.e., someone with clearly articulated and principled contrasting positions and enough money/political support to ...

Posted Mon, Feb 7, 6:22 p.m.

Egypt is second only to Israel as a recipient of U.S. military $. You think the U.S. corporations that are the real recipients of this trough of money are going to allow human rights concerns to trump their gravy train? That's why Obama (and Clinton) won't get off the diplomatic ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 5:53 p.m.

Caveat--a few of the rich do give a rip. Like all generalizations, it is proven by the exceptions, like Bill Gates Sr. and I-1098.

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 5:51 p.m.

lorenbliss--your analyses are spot on. I recommend reading some Immanuel Wallerstein. Seattle is run by the developers and moneyed interests. They may be socially liberal, but they don't give a rip about the general welfare if it's going to come out of their pockets. It's been a boosters town from ...