This post is 17 in the series: The Northwest’s Pipeline on Rails Why should the Northwest worry about the oil-by-rail projects that are cropping up around the Northwest? In three-and-a-half minutes, here’s your answer: This is a beautiful piece of work (and I’m not just saying that because I’m featured in it). Big thanks to…

         This post is 8 in the series: Big Oil’s Accidental Tax Loophole Big Oil companies in Washington get $41 million from an accidental tax loophole that was never designed to benefit them. It’s enough to make the tangible investments in public education that our teachers and students so desperately need. To…

by Jennifer Langston King County should save Metro on its own. Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives—a body that has shut down the government over health care reform, taken a hatchet to food stamps, opposed regulating greenhouse gases, and held immigration legislation hostage—still managed to support a federal transportation bill that devoted roughly 20…

Mirror images: carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. Eric de Place and Yoram Bauman on October 23, 2013 at 8:00 am These are exciting times for carbon pricing in the Pacific Northwest. Under the auspices of the Climate Legislative and Executive Workgroup (CLEW), state leaders are, right now, engaged in the first serious look at the subject…

Trains will divide towns from the river for hours each day. by Eric de Place and John Abbotts from Sightline Oil and coal companies hope to dispatch scores of trains across the Northwest each day, bearing fuel to refineries and port terminals. To help the public understand the magnitude of these schemes, Sightline is highlighting key…

What toxics and harmful chemicals lurk on our bathroom shelves? by Anna Fahey on September 13, 2013 at 10:55 am I know I’m late to this party (like, by many years). But, I’m done with my brand name shampoo. My colleagues and I have thought a lot over the years about toxics and how to…

Coal’s price collapse spells trouble for terminals’ investors. Clark Williams-Derry This post is part of the research project: Northwest Coal Exports There’s been so much news on the coal export front of late—the massive scope of the proposed Gateway-Pacific terminal’s Environmental Impact Statement; the Lummi Nation’s unequivocal opposition to a coal terminal at Cherry Point;…

Government will review congestion and greenhouse gases. Eric de Place and Clark Williams-Derry on July 31, 2013 at 11:23 am. Hot off the presses: the three “co-lead” agencies in charge of reviewing the proposed Gateway Pacific coal export terminal at Cherry Point, Washington have published the scope of their review. The major takeaway is that…

By Jennifer Langston What will losing 17 percent of transit service feel like? Oran Viriyincy, flickr In blocking a vote on a transportation package before the Washington State Legislature adjourned this weekend, Senate Republicans led by Rodney Tom utterly failed anyone who rides the bus—or drives through or around—King County. There was plenty not to…

by Anna Fahey This post is part of the research project: The Dirt on Coal Photo Credit: heydrienne via Compfight cc When I was pregnant with my daughter, I wrote a lot on this blog about the dangerous toxics that we carry in our bodies and that pass through us to our babies in the…