Articles by Heather Smith

Heather Smith (on Twitter, @strangerworks) is interested in the various ways that humans try to save the environment: past, present, and future.

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Oil-train info does not need to be secret, feds say

Railroads, are you listening? Public release of details about crude-by-rail shipments does not pose a serious security risk.

Heather Smith Technology
The Canadian pipeline (almost) everyone hates gets a go-ahead

Canada's prime minister has approved a pipeline from the tar sands to the Pacific. Residents and First Nations in the way are unlikely to go along quietly.

Heather Smith Technology
When cranky crude rides the rails, who should know?

The feds say the railroads need to inform state officials when they're shipping volatile oil. But the railroads want everyone to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Heather Smith Climate & Energy
Four reasons why Portland became a cyclists’ utopia

It wasn't inevitable. Here are some of the things city leaders and residents did over the years to turn their town into a haven for bike riders.

Heather Smith Culture