Articles by Sarah van Schagen

Sales tax shortfall could affect Seattle's public transit

This whole "economic downturn" thing is tricky business. As I've mentioned, it may be helping boost transit ridership numbers as cash-strapped folks abandon their cars.

But those same cash-strapped folks are also buying less stuff (even if they are buying locally). Buying less stuff means less sales tax generated in Washington state. And because Seattle's Metro bus service gets more than half of its revenue from a dedicated sales tax, this is not good news for Seattle's primary mode of public transit.

To give it to you in (rather depressing) numerical form, King County administrators have said that Metro's sales tax revenue losses over the two-year 2008-2009 period could total $100 million -- that's 800,000 to 1 million hours of bus service. (And that doesn't count the time you'll spend standing around at bus stops waiting for a ride.)

Seattle Greendrinkers show Grist some love

Seattle, we love you! And we love that you showed us the love Tuesday night at Greendrinks.

Our event at the LEED-designed Veer Lofts in South Lake Union drew some 450 Greendrinkers excited about catching up with old friends, mingling with new ones, and sharing green ideas and good times with all.

Generous donations from Pizza Fusion, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Snoqualmie Wines, Guayaki Teas, Clif Bar, Essential Baking Company, and Full Circle Farm provided sustainable (and delectable) sustenance -- and kept the crowd buzzing.

We also had photographers roaming the scene, asking Greendrinkers to hold up signs showing what it is they love. We got responses ranging from bikes, to national parks, to "snuggles." Check out the photos for yourself in our Flickr slideshow (below). Then share your own by joining our Grist Local Flickr group.

And if you wish that you'd known a little sooner about this great green event in Seattle, subscribe to our Grist Local: Seattle email list to receive weekly news about green goings-on in the Emerald City.

From Nukes to Nincompoops

Fallout girl Meet Alyona Kirsanova of Novovoronezh. She likes long walks on the beaches of Three Mile Island and thinks nuclear fusion is hot. But will she be crowned Miss Atom 2009? We can hardly contain our excitement. Personal ads we can believe in “In search of patriotic, busy, Chicago-Hawaiian man, must like basketball and […]

Looking at climate change from a regional perspective

"Climate change poses a tremendous threat to the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin area."

Clear. Concise. Depressing. The quote comes from Patty Glick, senior global warming specialist at the National Wildlife Federation, but it was echoed in the words of all the speakers at the three climate-change panels held Wednesday at the Puget Sound Georgia Basin Ecosystem Conference in Seattle.

Scientists of varying disciplines from all over the region shared their research and forecasts for the future. But one big question for the day arose: How do we take all of this climate change science -- which is primarily based on predictions that are global in scale -- and translate that into local management decisions?