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Sightline Daily | Northwest News That Matters
Top Picks of the Day
1. Obama Takes Aim at the Alan Greenspan Era
US President-elect Barack Obama can rewrite the Greenspan-era rules of finance, backed by a solid Democratic majority in Congress and an American public furious about the credit crisis. “At a moment like this, we can’t afford four more years of spending increases, poorly designed tax cuts, or the complete lack of regulatory oversight that even former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan now believes was a mistake,” Obama wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial this week. Vancouver Sun 11/05/2008
2. Bush Rushes through Harmful Environment Laws
As his days in office come to an end, the Bush administration is enacting environmental policy changes before leaving power. The rule changes include getting wolves off the Endangered Species List, allowing power plants to operate near national parks, loosening regulations for factory farm waste and making it easier for mountaintop coal-mining operations. New Scientist 11/05/2008
3. CA: Renewable Power, Alternative Fuel Measures Fail
Proposition 7 would force California’s electrical utilities to get 50 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025, a big jump from the state’s current goal of 20 percent by the end of 2010. And Prop. 10 would offer rebates for cars and trucks that burn natural gas or alternative fuels, with the money coming from $5 billion in state bonds. Both were losing by double-digit margins late Tuesday. San Francisco Chronicle 11/05/2008
4. CA: Same-sex Marriage Ban Winning
After a heated, divisive campaign, fueled by a record $73 million of spending, California voters early today were backing Proposition 8, which would change the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Six months after the California Supreme Court cleared the way for gay and lesbian couples to wed, the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who took advantage of the landmark decision now wonder if they will be the last. San Francisco Chronicle 11/05/2008
5. WA: Second in Nation to Allow Death with Dignity
Washington will become the nation’s second state — after Oregon — to allow doctors to prescribe lethal prescriptions to terminally ill patients after voters gave resounding support to a contentious end of life measure. With more than 1.3 million votes cast, Initiative 1000 led by about 16 percent, winning all but six counties across the state. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/05/2008
6. WA: Light Rail Getting a Yes; I-985 is Going Down
Sound Transit light rail was headed to victory Tuesday, while Tim Eyman’s Initiative 985 to help solo drivers was rejected. “It’s a great step forward,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, chairman of the Sound Transit board. “We’ve been talking about creating a mass-transit system for 40 years. With passage of Prop 1, we will be able to build that mass-transit system.” Seattle Times 11/05/2008
7. Economic Collapse puts Salmon Revival in Jeopardy
Now the subprime mortgage mess is even affecting salmon. The financial maelstrom touched off by the collapse of the housing sector and the mortgage industry that sustained it is about to translate into a significant hit for government budgets aimed at reviving battered salmon runs. A recent meeting of the King County Council highlighted the shortfalls coming in money that helps pay for salmon-rescue efforts across three major watersheds in the county. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/05/2008
8. Last Cut-off Land Claims Settled with BC First Nations
The BC government has struck a deal to return lands cut off from First Nations reserves nearly a century ago under what was known as the McKenna-McBride commission of 1912-1916. Aboriginal relations Minister Mike de Jong said the agreements settle the last of 22 historic claims that took more than 40 years to resolve. CBC BC 11/05/2008
9. Across US, Voters Weigh In on Key Social Issues
The voters have spoken, not only electing a new president, but rejecting a measure that could have forced the Supreme Court to re-examine abortion and passing one that prevents gay couples in Arkansas from adopting children. ABC News 11/05/2008
10. Views: Autism-Rain Study Overstated
Some of the stories reporting a paper from scientists at Cornell University showing that between 1987 and 1999, counties in Washington, Oregon and California that got more rain had more cases of autism may have overstated a causal link. There is no claim that rain causes autism, and the authors are exceedingly conservative in making the connection. They argue that some unknown environmental factor related to precipitation or accompanying behavior might contribute to autism. New Scientist 11/05/2008
Filed under: Community News, National and World News | Tagged: Alan Greenspan era, alternative fuel, alternative transportation, autism, Barack Obama, climate change, credit crisis, death with dignity, economics, economy, Endangered Species List, environment, environmental law, environmental policy, green, politics, Prop 8, renewable energy, salmon, Seattle Light Rail, seattleDIRT, Sightline Daily, Sightline Institute, sustainability, WA I-1000
