Washington

In Washington state

Ooh, boy! It looks like the state of Washington is one step closer to having a sane climate policy. The state House of Representatives just passed a climate policy that looks like it's got some teeth:

Knock that junk off

Washington state is one of a half dozen states considering legislation this year to create a "do not mail" list for residents, similar to the feds' popular "do not call" registry.

And like the telemarketing industry's cries that it would be utterly destroyed and millions of contented telemarketers would be out of a job, similar forces are mobilizing against the "do not mail" bills, including the Direct Marketing Association, the mail carriers' union, and others who argue that junk mail is simultaneously essential, irreplaceable, and innocuous.

Bollocks.

David James Duncan rows through a wheat field to save salmon — and we’ve got pictures

Photo: Frederic Ohlinger “The miracle meal after the Sermon on the Mount was both loaves and fishes,” says author and storyteller David James Duncan. “Not one or the other. Both.” It’s a sentiment that helps to explain why Duncan and a variety of compatriots were photographed in 13 colorful dories, rowing and casting lines — […]

School board official defends the decision

Remember the story about how the Federal Way school board put a "moratorium" on showings of An Inconvenient Truth? David Larsen, the now-extremely-embattled vice president of the Federal Way school board, has a piece in the Seattle Times today, explaining what the school board really did and why they did it. First, I should say […]

Al Gore’s movie booted by wacky school board

Congrats to Seattle P-I enviro reporters Robert McClure and Lisa Stiffler for unearthing the funniest story I’ve read in a good long while. Here’s the nut: The school board in Federal Way, a southern exurb of Seattle, just put a "moratorium" on showings of An Inconvenient Truth, based largely on the complaints of one parent, […]

Washington guv defangs oversight panel

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire may have announced a major program to clean up the Puget Sound just last week, but this week the tides have, er, turned.

This week, she's planning to limit the power of an independent citizen oversight panel intending to keep an eye on the oil industry -- probably the biggest threat to Sound health.

An interview with Seattle biodiesel distributor Dan Freeman

Dan Freeman. As a kid, Dan Freeman experimented with using alcohol to run lawnmowers and minibikes. (Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for that parent-son conversation.) These days, he runs Dr. Dan’s Alternative Fuel Werks, a Seattle-based biodiesel retail and distribution company with customers ranging from school districts to organic farmers to […]

Property-rights initiatives threaten environmental protections in four Western states

Field of dreams or field of nightmares? It depends who you ask. Photos: iStockphoto When you hear the phrase “a perfect storm,” it’s likely to conjure images of roiling whitecaps, perhaps a daring Coast Guard rescuer dangling from a helicopter to pull half-drowned sailors from their foundering vessels. Chances are the last thing it will […]

Environmentalists pick their sides in key Senate races

It’s a rare political event that can draw applause from both the White House and environmental groups, but Lincoln Chafee’s victory in the Rhode Island Republican primary on Tuesday was just that. Lincoln Chafee. The Bush administration reasons that Chafee — the most liberal Republican in the Senate, and frequently at odds with Bush on […]