Posted Tue, Apr 10, 1:38 p.m.

I live near a small telecommunications station on Whidbey. The generator turns on for one hour a week. This generator is way smaller than what the server farms use. So, that's 141 hours a week of these large diesel generators running, even where there is no power outage. they don't ...

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 1:44 p.m.

randydutton: In your economic analysis you neglect that the fish runs can potentially last for tens or hundreds of thousands of years, but the dams won't.

Posted Wed, Mar 21, 2:18 p.m.

One other thing. When someone says something like: "Coal will continue to be shipped and used, regardless of the outcome here. Period. I'd rather it be unusually relatively cleaner burning coal like that from Wyoming than the more polluting dirtier coal more commonly found throughout the world." they're ignoring elementary ...

Posted Wed, Mar 21, 2:10 p.m.

SSA's only hope for avoiding environmental review of the all the impacts is to get SEPA gutted by the legislature. There is usually an attempt at this every year already, typically masquerading as "regulatory reform," though "economic development" is the current anti-environment (or anti-life, as I prefer) smokescreen. Remember, this ...

Posted Tue, Mar 20, 2:39 p.m.

Comparing Wales and Calley glosses over a lot of differences. As far as we know, Wales was acting alone and without orders. Calley, on the other hand, was following orders from higher up and was part of of an organized ongoing program of killing civilians. Its the difference between a ...

Posted Mon, Mar 19, 7:59 p.m.

"I-5's cars and trucks, ten lanes of them, would sweep along the twin spans' upper deck." "Sweep along?" HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAAH! Anyone want to make book on whether the first traffic jam will be in the first or second hour of operation?

Posted Mon, Mar 19, 7:40 p.m.

Gary: You still have to get rid of the crap eventually and protect living organisms from it - basically forever in human terms. And for the research and subsidies necessary to create these, a lot of existing technology could be massively deployed, namely wind, solar, efficiency, and plain old conservation.

Posted Fri, Mar 9, 3:16 p.m.

EIS's do not -may not - address economic impacts, unless there is an environmental "hook" to pull them in. See, e.g. WAC 197-11-448 Relationship of EIS to other considerations, WAC 197-11-450 Cost-benefit analysis, and WAC 197-11-444 Elements of the environment. WAC 197-11-448(1) SEPA contemplates that the general welfare, social, economic, ...

Posted Wed, Feb 15, 10:30 a.m.

BlueLight: Puget Sound Partnership is a governmental body. Please do inform us of even one actual environmental NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) nonprofit that has received government money to perform a study that they benefitted from, other than the contract for the study. I haven't heard of an environmental NGO performing a ...

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 11:02 a.m.

Santorum? Isn't he a Republican? Aren't they the loonies who want to tell me what I can do in bed and whether I can use birth control? Oh. Please nominate him. On the other hand, there's Romney. Isn't he the one with the secret Swiss bank accounts who "only" made ...

Posted Fri, Feb 10, 3:05 p.m.

They can do what they want in bed with whoever is willing to do it with them. My only complaint is the hypocritical sanctimonious creeps who criticize other peoples lives while they do the same thing. Like the slimy Newt.

Posted Fri, Feb 10, 2:50 p.m.

Sorry, alangunsul, but I'm scared of radioactivity because it damages biological tissue, of which I have a lot. The only short term "solution" is to keep pushing on vitrification. With any luck, the Fukashima cleanup will advance robotics for use in these difficult environments sufficiently so that vitrification will actually ...

Posted Thu, Feb 9, 2:19 p.m.

The National Organization for Marriage . . . Roughly 88 percent of its 2010 revenue — $8.1 million — came from five contributors whose names were not listed on the 990 form. When asked why the House, Senate, and governor ended up strongly supporting gay marriage if a supposed majority ...

Posted Tue, Feb 7, 2:36 p.m.

I'd sure like some more details. Who doesn't pay the real estate excise tax? Who doesn't pay the estate tax? If a mega business with lots of $$ reserves (think Microsoft) invests its reserves, why should it be exempt? What are the different fuel tax exemptions?

Posted Mon, Feb 6, 2:10 p.m.

Two words: paint guns.

Posted Thu, Feb 2, 11:13 a.m.

Yeah, a $15 million visitor center sure does give you a sense of how this foundation "helps humanitarian efforts."

Posted Thu, Feb 2, 11:08 a.m.

I just checked the legislative site and am disappointed that the minority report "do not pass"" is not available as i could use a god laugh. Has anyone seen what the rationale is?

Posted Thu, Feb 2, 11:06 a.m.

There was a single unseasonably warm day 45 years ago and this somehow "debunks" anthropogenic climate change? BlueLight, your logic and understanding of climate and science generally is remarkable, if not downright astonishing.

Posted Thu, Feb 2, 10:58 a.m.

"One driver noted that this typical site — a drill pad with six well holes — takes 480 million pounds of sand. At 50,000 pounds per truck driven 80 miles one-way — you do the math. " You might want to check these numbers. If they are correct, then each ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 11:35 a.m.

The next time there is a "race for the cure" on Whidbey (where I live), I'll be writing letters to the editors of all the local newspapers and posting on every website I can urging people instead to simply take the money they would have donated to Komen and give ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 11:29 a.m.

As a veteran of many growth management battles and a lot of litigation, I have to say if there is not the political will - favorable county commissioners who don't give in to the whining of the likes of the Dan Woods and the Farm Bureau - than it just ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 11:23 a.m.

"“Until you get that technical knowledge much more broadly (distributed) than it is today, we’ll have people who don’t understand (low-impact development) designing it, and people who don’t understand it approving it, and to me that’s a recipe for disaster,” Castle said." So instead, don't do anything and pay a ...

Posted Fri, Jan 27, 1:28 p.m.

If you believe in capital "E" economics, you probably have already figured out the flaw in the "If we don't do it, somebody else will" argument. Besides the obvious moral bankruptcy, this defies any technical or common sense understanding of economics. Coal will be shipped out of the northwest only ...

Posted Wed, Jan 25, 10:54 a.m.

The historical divisions regarding which entity manages which part of the natural world have resulted in a completely fragmented mess, and this is only one example. Overall, its pretty remarkable that the US lacks a cabinet level entity that is charged with environmental protection or even sustainability in the broad ...

Posted Tue, Jan 24, 5:04 p.m.

If God had intended for religions to determine our laws, it would have made this country a theocracy. The fact that the Founding Fathers were divinely inspired and did not establish a theocracy proves this. And anyway, if someone wants to marry their pet Gerbil, its no skin off any ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 9:18 p.m.

I know Barbara Bailey from Oak Harbor is one. She's notorious for taking $ from BIG PHARMA.

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 11:32 a.m.

I don't get a "tax exemption." Not $100 million. Not $1. And I don't have $50 billion in the bank. I thought that conservatives believed in "fairness" and "personal responsibility" Well, if corporations are people, its time that they were responsible and paid their fair share.

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 12:43 p.m.

"It was only a few months ago that our prime minister was personally weighing in on the U.S. Keystone XL pipeline decision, campaigning for it in the U.S., calling it a “no-brainer.”" And did Harper even bother to register as a lobbyist for a foreign corporation? Talk about interfering in ...

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 12:41 p.m.

"It is all about kill jobs and destruction of the economy." Absolutely. The real goal of the fossil fuel profiteers is not to get filthy rich at the expense of everyone else on the planet, but to totally destabilize the climate and destroy jobs and the economy through massive disruption ...

Posted Wed, Jan 11, 12:59 p.m.

While 3 members of the F & W Commission must each be from western and eastern Washington (with the other three members "at large"), they do not "represent" different portions of the state. Rather, "In making these appointments, the governor shall seek to maintain a balance reflecting all aspects of ...

Posted Tue, Jan 10, 7 p.m.

Calling Mary Margaret Haugen a progressive is like calling Rick Santorum a family planning advisor. MMH has not changed as her district has. It would be good for a real progressive to challenge her in the primary. A progressive could beat her.

Posted Thu, Jan 5, 11:47 a.m.

"First, targeting a single product is highly ineffective; second, a ban has the unintended effect of driving consumers toward less sustainable alternatives; and third, a ban overlooks an effective, forward-thinking solution that is encapsulated in the oft-cited phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle."" First, bans on plastic bags have been hugely successful ...

Posted Wed, Jan 4, 6:18 p.m.

Sorry, Kate. We'd like to help with your cerebral palsy, but Boeing isn't interested in giving up its sales tax exemption. So...

Posted Wed, Jan 4, 5:37 p.m.

Some conservatives live in a theoretical world. This is especially true of some conservative politicians who don't ever see how their policies play out in the real world. Here are some observations about a couple of conservative programs that are the centerpiece of conservative policies: Tax Exemptions: A huge multinational ...

Posted Sat, Dec 31, 4:54 p.m.

Its fascinating how the "use-it-up-while-we-can" fossil fuel mentality chooses to ignore basic economics when it suits them. For example, if anyone makes any sort of moral, environmental, or public health argument against continuing to pump carbon into the atmosphere we're told that economics (i.e., short term profits for a few) ...

Posted Sat, Dec 31, 1:42 p.m.

"As mother nature dictates, garlic is planted in fall and harvested in late spring. " Your garlic is ready in April or May? You must have one seriously nice micro-climate.

Posted Wed, Dec 28, 11:27 a.m.

The point of the article was not that everything is wonderful in downtown Seattle (one part of the metropolitan region), but that it has been less impacted by the crash than the outer edges and the in-the-making boomer new edge sprawl. Its the difference between a brick falling on your ...

Posted Mon, Dec 26, 4:55 p.m.

Last spring we adopted a "husky-mix" from an animal shelter. Taku, as we called her, was picked up at a busy intersection in Lynwood. She was extremely timid. It took two hours sitting with her at the shelter before she would let me get close enough to touch her. As ...

Posted Mon, Dec 19, 11:32 a.m.

Bananas! We should export bananas. That'll create lots of jobs and then the US can be the greatest banana republic on earth!

Posted Fri, Dec 16, 1:02 p.m.

This is a personal issue to me. Where I live on Whidbey Island there is a neighbor who keeps their stove perpetually damped down and burning 24 hours a day, even when they're not home for extended periods. I've got asthma and for 8-9 months a year if I go ...

Posted Thu, Dec 8, 11:22 a.m.

Its past time to go back to the original "plan A." Shoot all the goats on the Olympic Peninsula. They were introduced for hunting and the only people who want them there now are the Bunny Huggers and the hunters. The Bunny Huggers have an understanding of ecology at about ...

Posted Mon, Dec 5, 1:06 p.m.

An effective population, that is, of breeding age males and females, of even just 1000 people would be enough to prevent inbreeding depression. And its not as if every hunter-gatherer band would need to have outside genetic material come in every single generation. And there were likely multiple "founder" events ...

Posted Thu, Dec 1, 11:16 a.m.

"To bastardize the billboard outside the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, this is the price of freedom. " You haven't been on north Whidbey in a long time. The "Pardon Our Noise – Its the Sound of Freedom" sign at one of the entrances to NAS Whidbey was edited one ...

Posted Thu, Dec 1, 11:08 a.m.

There'a city in Brazil where the buses have priority. They are fitted with transponders that change traffic lights as they approach, so they don't have to stop. Somehow, I have the feeling that in this country the concept of giving any sort of mass transit priority on city streets over ...

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

Woofer: I think you have described the real dynamics of large scale social change much better than those fixated on superheroes who magically appear and then galvanize and lead the masses. The Bastille would have been stormed whether it was a lowly guttersnipe or a poet who articulated that urge ...

Posted Tue, Nov 29, 10:42 a.m.

"What will the self-centered, irresponsible, dog owner do if Seattle bans plastic bags?" Buy them for that purpose. I use lots of paper bags in my business (native plant seeds). Usually, I use recycled bags but sometimes when I'm on a long trip I simply buy them. Its a cost ...

Posted Mon, Nov 28, 10:50 a.m.

Actually, you're wrong Ron. You will still be called a bum. Hell, a demonstration can consist entirely of people who have just spent six hours being individually scrubbed and groomed at Spas-Are-Us before they put on three piece suits and the right wing will still term the demonstrators dirty hippies. ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 10:49 a.m.

Woofer: Yes and no. Remembering the 60s, you can be sure that no matter how focused or clear any movement's message is, those with a vested interest in the status quo will always call them "just a bunch of dirty hippies." Which in some ways is quite telling since it ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 10:35 a.m.

The range is just a little short for rural/suburban use, though that limitation could be mediated if it took a quick charge.

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 3:54 p.m.

A footnote to the above: Of course, there are those who just can't bring themselves to acknowledge that life is a matter of both eating and being eaten. They put up notices that say things like "not for eating," etc. Unless its a young hen that's still laying, why would ...

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 3:46 p.m.

If you live in a rural area, now is the time to be checking bulletin boards for animals that people don't want to take through the winter, older hens, and, of course, lots of roosters. For free. Its an easy way to put chicken in the freezer, though some of ...

Posted Fri, Nov 11, 10:53 a.m.

Primary qualification for TeaPublican support = advertising ignorance. If anyone points out the ignorance and error of the TeaPublican statement, its taken as evidence of the elite/scientific/socialist etc. conspiracy. These people really do invent their own facts.

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 3:17 p.m.

NIMBY ABOUT COAL? NOPE - NOT ON PLANET EARTH

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 10:37 a.m.

This is all really simple. When one or a small group of players hold all of the property and money, the Monopoly game ends. Whether that will be because they voluntarily redistribute all of the wealth they've got or because the other players take it . . . Or, perhaps, ...

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 10:24 a.m.

"One acre of hydroponic greenhouse can produce 600,000 pounds of food per year. That's 10 times what a one-acre field could produce, with no wasted petroleum-dependent fertilizer." Not necessarily. The plants still need to be fertilized. Those nutrients may come from a variety of sources, including fossil fuels or purely ...

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 10:18 a.m.

The ultimate problem here is that GROWTH in human population or consumption are simply not sustainable. Period. And that is what we've been unwilling to confront.

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 10:02 a.m.

BlueLight can you tell me the law that says that someone from Idaho can't move to Whidbey Island?

Posted Fri, Oct 28, 5:45 p.m.

It would be interesting to see an economic analysis of the impact of restoring the Cherry Point Herring stock, which has declined by >95% since industrialization of Cherry Point. Of course, those jobs would be there long after the coal runs out.

Posted Fri, Oct 28, 5:38 p.m.

Fred: Would you please contact Whidbey Environmental Action Network at wean@whidbey.net. We're interested in pursuing ESA listing.

Posted Wed, Oct 26, 7:09 p.m.

So, how's the apple picking going? You are picking apples, aren't you Cameron and BlueLight? I hear that there is great shortage of workers.

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 1:17 p.m.

The reality is that ultimately the transformation that must occur will flow from the sheer physical limitations of the planet. And they are kicking in now. A planet with finite resources cannot support exponentially going consumption for long. Remember the classic example of the bacteria in the test tube whose ...

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 12:37 p.m.

Why I'm not voting for the CostCo initiative: Instead of trying to directly bribe me for my vote, they are giving the huge piles of $$$ they are spreading around to overpaid consultants and the media. And I could use that money. If CostCo just gave me the money. I'd ...

Posted Mon, Oct 17, 11:02 a.m.

One more step towards a theocracy.

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 12:38 p.m.

"Marijuana became a bugaboo in the neo-racist 1920s and ‘30s because it was a “Negro” and “Mexican” drug" Don't forget jazz musicians, Jews, and intellectuals. Its useful to recall the reasons behind the push to establish prohibition of Cannabis: 1) The alcohol prohibition industry was decimated by the end of ...

Posted Wed, Sep 28, 11:01 a.m.

Progress does not mean making the world we live in uglier. I hate to think that the only solution we'll be left with is paint guns.

Posted Fri, Sep 23, 10:49 a.m.

Time to bring out the paint guns. Or slingshots with paint balloons. Just consider it the masses imposing a pollution tax.

Posted Thu, Sep 22, 12:18 p.m.

Nethercutt didn't express any concern about Texas writing Jefferson out of american history and evolution out of science. I guess some history (and science) is more equal than others, to paraphrase Orwell.

Posted Wed, Sep 21, 9:21 p.m.

This is typical of DNR. DNR is the quintessential "captured" agency, held wholly in bondage by the industries its supposed to regulate. Logging, coal ports, residential development, somehow, to DNR its never conversion. Now, is there anyway anyone can gain standing to challenge this sweetheart deal?

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 11:01 a.m.

What brought Solyndra and Evergreen Solar down was the huge subsidies that China has poured into developing its Solar PV manufacturing capacity. The US subsidies to Solyndra and Evergreen Solar total about $1 billion, but China subsidized its solar PV manufacturing sector to the tune of about $16 billion in ...

Posted Thu, Sep 15, 1:10 p.m.

Charla, your PR letter would be more believable if it had a link that works and if you actually answered these questions. Data, please. What are the actual pollution reductions achieved that are attributable to these programs by the Port? What proportion of truckers have upgraded their rigs to newer ...

Posted Tue, Sep 13, 11:42 a.m.

Assuming that civilization stays intact for 10s of thousands of years to maintain the infrastructure necessary to keep the cylinders from being ruptured and the toxic crap being from spewn about by, i.e., glaciers, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes. The reality is that its a near certainty that at some time in ...

Posted Fri, Sep 9, 10:45 a.m.

Obama's cave-in on implementing science based ozone standards means that there will be thousands of "extra" deaths each and every year. And in excusing this illegal action he perfectly parroted each and every Tea-Publican talking point, right down to the illogical falsehood that spending money to upgrade infrastructure and make ...

Posted Thu, Sep 1, 12:18 p.m.

"There are plenty of words to describe a place like Douglas: Rural, Western, small-town, typically American." Its actually highly atypical. Nearly 80% of the US population lives in urban areas.

Posted Tue, Aug 30, 11:57 a.m.

"As it is, people who live in rural Arkansas pay taxes to insure against the risks of collapsing freeways in Los Angeles. Suburban and rural low risk areas subsidize (usually wealthier) urban high risk areas." I could point out that the suburban and low risk areas are subsidized by the ...

Posted Fri, Aug 26, 7:12 p.m.

Of course, you'll notice that the concept is always how we can fit the wildlife into our system. We'll make crossings for wildlife, rather than conceive how we can cross there habitat. The Florida crossings for Panthers are a good example. Build a high speed expressway to fuel sprawl right ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 12:20 p.m.

Methinks Harris doth protect too much. To quote from his website: "The identities of all donors are kept strictly confidential to protect their privacy and safety." Now, that is his right, but its ludicrous for him to point to this as being open about his funding sources. Its well documented ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 11:45 a.m.

I agree with the article that the code could be rewritten for brevity and clarity. I've never read any ordinance, rule, or statute that I didn't think I could rewrite for brevity and clarity without changing the meaning or affect, to great improvement for all concerned. Than we could get ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 11:15 a.m.

There is another layer here that is not addressed. The Tea-Publicans, who are basically running the Republican Party now, are, when you get down to it, the same small minority that at heart want to turn this country into a theoocracy: "So what do Tea Partiers have in common? They ...

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 3:51 p.m.

Pay particular attention to the core "science" in this propaganda piece: "If the world warms due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures at high latitudes are forecast to rise the most, reducing the difference between arctic and tropical temperatures. Since this differential drives weather, we should see weaker mid-latitude cyclones ...

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 3:44 p.m.

"never actually confronting the fact that CO2 is over 350ppm and in the history of the ice, we've NEVER seen it this high." Actually, its at 394 ppm now.

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 3:29 p.m.

This is typical of DNR. While the head of the agency may change, DNR is entirely captive to industry. Really, slave is more like it. I'm sure SSA's promise to obey the law will be really heartfelt and sincere - at least until the next time.

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 3:24 p.m.

"The best way to get businesses to return to the US is to reform the business tax system. The US is one of the few countries that taxes profits earned abroad, which have already been taxed in the country in which the profits were made." And how much tax did ...

Posted Fri, Aug 12, 10:28 a.m.

An article Sightline posted yesterday reported that BNSF had scrubbed a webpage that discussed coal lost during shipping. Its a lot. An awful lot. If you take all the proposed coal export facilities currently proposed in Washington (Longview - up to 80 million tons; Bellingham - about 50; Grays Harbor ...

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 11:08 a.m.

Its enough to make me wish I had one of those bone-crushing grips. "Hi." Shake, hold, squeeze. "Who are you soliciting for?" Squeeze, tighten. "How much are you paid?" Squeeze, tighten. "Do you have medical coverage?" Squeeze, tighten. I've trained a lot of volunteers for initiative signature gathering and one ...

Posted Wed, Aug 10, 11:55 a.m.

A final comment. SSA's position that only the impacts on site need to be analyzed is a throw-away. Unless they have the stupidest lawyers in the northern hemisphere, this is long settled law. The impact that will be cutting edge in terms of the upcoming litigation is the greenhouse gas ...

Posted Wed, Aug 10, 11:48 a.m.

The emissions from existing rail traffic are not relevant. The emissions that will be generated by the vastly increased traffic to haul the coal and return empty trains is what needs to be analyzed. Similarly, the emissions from other sources (i.e. woodstoves) are only relevant insofar as the additional emissions ...

Posted Tue, Aug 9, 10:54 a.m.

Typical. The author suggests that in one area of eastern Washington the worm be protected, so BlueLight equates this to stopping all existing farming in all of eastern Washington. Someone whose Latin is better than mine will have to tell me if this the inverse of reductio ad absurdum - ...

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 4:24 p.m.

SSA will now spend way more on increasing their greenwashing PR budget than they will on the fine or so-called "mitigation." I wonder if their was any discharge into navigable waters or a strong nexus between wetlands filled and "waters of the United States?" A little Clean Water Act suit ...

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 10:53 a.m.

And I'll add that a corporation that really had any environmental ethics would not try to pin the blame on the sub-contractors. They just do what they are told by the higher ups. That's you, Mr. Watters. Have some decency and resign.

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 10:51 a.m.

The County had already stated publicly and told SSA that the 1992 permit was not in effect and it couldn't piggyback on it. What part of that didn't you understand? The "no" part? And what corporation now-a-days thinks that its okay to just go ahead and start grading and building ...

Posted Wed, Aug 3, 1:09 p.m.

Perhaps they'll provide what is needed so the so-called conservative "get government off our backs" Tea-Publicans will finally take action to repeal the Law of Gravity. After all, could there possibly be a more oppressive law? What other law keeps us down so abjectly?

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 12:09 p.m.

All of the supposed measures gts reports should be part of any SEPA mitigating conditions anyway. And shipping grain is just greenwashing PR. The existing capacity in Washington and elsewhere on the west Coast is more than adequate, no one wants to ship grain out of Bellingham, and there are ...

Posted Sun, Jul 31, 4:03 p.m.

When the pollution (mercury, particulates, etc.) from burning coal in China blows across the Pacific and rains down on us, we have a choice. Do we want only be able to say, "well, duh, we did it to ourselves," or would we rather be able to blame someone else, such ...

Posted Wed, Jul 13, 1:23 p.m.

While mountain top removal is truly disastrous, the coal that would be exported from PNW ports would come from strip mines in the Powder River basin of Montana and Wyoming.

Posted Thu, Jun 30, 10:37 a.m.

There really isn't any reason not to invest in South Africa, even if it does support apartheid. After all, if our pension fund doesn't do it, someone else will. We may as well make the money. There really isn't any reason not to trade weapons to psychotic dictators in exchange ...

Posted Fri, Jun 3, 1:42 p.m.

Of course, the real issue that's going to be the major conflict is the same as for the (now withdrawn) Cowlitz County coal terminal. That is the impacts of burning the coal, both those that come back here (particulate pollution and the regional impacts of climate change) and those that ...

Posted Fri, Jun 3, 1:37 p.m.

To continue LaMarTEK's point, its really futile to think that anyone's action can possibly make any difference about anything. Its all hopeless. Everything. So, the next time you have the urge to do something that's not nice or even downright evil, go right ahead, because if you don't someone else ...

Posted Fri, Mar 11, 7:33 p.m.

So, the mega-modules could be cut down? Highway 12 doesn't really need to be turned in to the Oil Sands Super Highway? The oil companies lied about not having any alternatives? Shocked, I tell you, I'm absolutely shocked. And if they are going to use any federal highway the sue ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 1:05 p.m.

The EPA went through the correct process as required by the US Supreme Court's decision in the Massachussetts case and officially determined that CO2 is a pollutant that is regulated the Clean Air Act. And the yahoos in Congress have not yet been able to gut this court decision and ...

Posted Thu, Mar 3, 1:22 p.m.

"In fact, if more coffee shops encouraged their law-abiding patrons to openly carry sidearms, four police officers lives may have been spared." ---------------------------- As I posted on the other gun story today: The 20 shot magazines that Jared Loughner used were illegal under the assault weapons ban. When that expired, ...

Posted Thu, Mar 3, 1:15 p.m.

This leads to the issue of weapons categorization by appearance rather than by function or lethality. The great gun ban of the 1990’s targeted “assault weapons” and other firearms based on external appearances." ================== The 20 shot magazines that Loughner used were illegal under the assault weapons ban. When that ...

Posted Wed, Mar 2, 10 p.m.

Tell you what. How about we all support a constitutional amendment that removers personhood from both unions AND corporations? What could be fairer than that?

Posted Mon, Feb 28, 3:01 p.m.

I don'r know where the Cowlitz County Commissioners are getting their legal advice (assuming they are getting legal advice), but they better ask for their money back: WAC 197-11-340 The lead agency shall withdraw a DNS if: (iii) The DNS was procured by misrepresentation or lack of material disclosure; if ...

Posted Tue, Jan 25, 1:05 p.m.

If WSF’s ferry routes were viewed as roads, they would represent about 1.4 percent of the state’s highway system. The ferries currently receive 2.3 percent of the gas-tax collections that finance that system. =========== This is a meaningless figure unless its clarified: 1.4% of what? Transportation miles? Vehicle miles? Passenger ...

Posted Fri, Jan 21, 11:25 a.m.

"While the state may build highways, it doesn’t buy everyone a car. " This made absolutely no sense at all. Why should the ferries be privatized if the state highways are not? They are simply part of the same transportation system. Garfield and most other eastern Washington counties get back ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 5:59 p.m.

In King of Fish, Dave Montgomery describes how degradation of Salmon runs in Europe, northeastern America, and now the Pacific Northwest have followed the same pattern. First, that there is disastrous habitat degradation occurring is vehemently denied and no action is taken. Think liquidation of ancient forest until fairly recently. ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 5:34 p.m.

How would you propose to cure the regulatory takings claims that ensue if cities/counties or the state enacts legislation somehow undoing vested subdvisions? Reimbursement to property owners for their lost value in such a situation as well as legal costs will come from the public coffers. -------------------------------------------------------------- As the article ...

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 8:08 p.m.

— R on Beacon Hill Check out Population Communications International: http://www.population.org/ Unlike the old ZPG (Zero Population Growth), these people don't tilt at windmills and do nothing but talk. They are highly effective.

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 7:53 p.m.

I work with a small environmental nonprofit. For grants from private sources (foundations, etc.) we've found that we usually only need to budget 10-20% of the grant for administration and reporting; so 80-90% of the grant will actually go to do the work and not bookkeeping and reporting that we've ...

Posted Fri, Dec 31, 12:41 p.m.

Woofer: By way of introduction and establishing my bona fides, I work as the lightly paid litigation coordinator for a small enviro NGO. I'm what I call a "barnyard lawyer." I've been arguing environmental appeals at the administrative level since 1989 and have a win-loss record much better than most ...

Posted Sat, Dec 18, 10:55 a.m.

But David, to shift towards greater equity would require closing tax loopholes, and that now requires a 2/3 vote. Which is impossible. Who in office today wold have the courage to even specifically oppose closing some of the Microsoft, Boeing, yacht builders, etc. state tax loopholes?

Posted Tue, Dec 14, 10:28 a.m.

" Logging reduces overall global warming gas effect by reducing the methane released by otherwise rotting wood." This statement is complete nonsense. "Our large carbon sink today results from past harvesting, which released much carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, and the regrowing forest is recovering that CO2 (Birdsey et ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 11:26 a.m.

smallbizbellevue: Presumably, your businesses are serving a market, that of people needing to buy groceries and pay for "financial services" (whatever those are). So even if you take your marbles and "go home" to Texas, the markets for these products will still be there. Well, at least for groceries. I'm ...

Posted Fri, Sep 18, 6:33 p.m.

Simply looking at the magnitude of the projected increase of average sea levels in Puget Sound does not actually consider the impacts this would have, and the author omits any actual consideration. Rather, he simply dismisses the projected 13" rise on its face, without ever examining the impacts. There are ...

Posted Tue, Sep 9, 12:02 p.m.

Thank God for Palin: Has there been a terrorist strike from the Yukon while she's been Governor? Have the Japanese invaded the Aleutians (again)? Have the Russians dared to stage any cross-border incursions? No! And the reason is because all of these aggressive foreign powers know what Sarah would do. ...

Posted Mon, Mar 31, 10:37 a.m.

Corporate Welfare: Boeing is actually exempt from sales tax on planes, so they don't have to go off-shore to do the transfer. There's simple reason why MS won't relocate their server farms. Cost of power. That eastside subsidized Columbia River system hydro electricity is the cheapest electricity in the country. ...

Posted Fri, Mar 7, 11:12 a.m.

RE: 'yahoo' logic: I wasn't talking about gun owners in general. I was talking specifically about NRA members - a minority of gun owners. If you are caught in a National Park with a .45/70 you will be in deep doo doo. You don't have to catch a bear precisely ...

Posted Wed, Mar 5, 10:39 a.m.

Kevlar field vests for biologists?: I sometimes work in national parks doing biological field work, This may involve me "sneaking" around, as in walking around stealthily and quietly. I suppose that if this lunatic proposal goes through, I'll have to add a clause to my contract requiring the Park Service ...

Posted Tue, Mar 4, 10:43 a.m.

Arson for profit?: All it takes is a can of spray paint and three letters to divert attention from the traditionally most likely motive. I wouldn't draw any conclusions as to motive until there's more evidence. And if the cops are doing their jobs they won't either.

Posted Thu, Feb 14, 12:13 p.m.

Norma Smith electioneering: The anonymous poster on the linked blog would have more credibility if they identified themselves and (maybe more importantly) didn't try to tie the claimed safety issue with 1) advocacy of bigger ferries and all that entails; and 2) electioneering for newly appointed representative Norma Smith. I ...

Posted Fri, Feb 8, 11:30 a.m.

Bad typo: Lombard's proposal, if I recall correctly, is for a 1/10¢ per gallon tax - not $1 million per gallon, as the story said. Bad proofreading. One omission I see with this fee is that it will be only possible to collect it for central water systems, while much ...

Posted Mon, Dec 31, 11:11 a.m.

RE: What is next...: For homocide by type of weapon, guns are far and away the leading cause/weapon: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/weapons.htm In 2005 in the US, guns were used as the weapon in 67.97% of homocides. I don't know if you've ever been in a serious fight, but its a lot harder ...

Posted Mon, Dec 10, 12:39 p.m.

Just a cull . . .: In the 1980s I visited this grove and the tree. A family was in the grove at the same time. There were the kids, mom and dad, and grandpa (or maybe he was great grandpa). Everyone was in awe, except for gramps. He looked ...

Posted Fri, Oct 12, 9:17 p.m.

Quality is also important: Keep in mind the the package includes startup funding for the most environmentally destructive road project in Washington in decades - the Cross Base Highway. Cross Base will fragment the largest remaining intact native prairie in western Washington, possibly the rarest ecosystem in north America, as ...