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Pipelines and Alberta oil sands are a losing investment
Ian Hussey, writing for The Tyee, notes that though Alberta and BC are in a battle over the TransMountain pipeline, the economic outlook for tar sands oil is not good. The oil and gas industry’s share of Alberta’s economy has shrunk 25 percent since 1986, and lost 30,000 jobs, he reports. Meanwhile, Vancouver Observer reviews Directly Afftected, a film about the impact of Kinder Morgan’s pipelines on BC. And Penticton Western News reports the British Columbia winemakers aren’t especially concerned about Alberta’s threat to stop importing BC wines in retaliation for stricter pipeline regulations. And finally, read about the First Nations activists opposing Kinder Morgan’s pipeline at Cascadia Magazine.
Washington moves to ban salmon farms, death penalty
Both houses of Washington state legislature have now passed bills banning the farming of non-native salmon in state waters, KUOW reports. If the bills are reconciled, governor Jay Inslee says he’ll sign it into law. And after a heated debate, the WA state senate passed a bill repealing the death penalty statewide. Passage in the House is still uncertain.
Meth use–and deaths–are on the rise in Oregon
The New York Times reports from Portland that meth–a drug recently overshadowed by opioids–is again on the rise, and overdose deaths in Oregon from meth are twice the rate of heroin and opioids. The report notes that at least 80 percent of the state’s heroin addicts are also using meth: ““It’s a rush from all hell. Explosive. Intense.”
Women farm workers face a hidden harassment crisis
KUOW reports on how the #MeToo movement is drawing attention to the often ignored problem of sexual harassment of women in berry picking and other agricultural work. The article interviews Rosalinda Guillen, a farm worker and executive director of Community to Community, an organization drawing attention to harassment: “It’s constant. It’s every day. You’re exhausted. You’re in the the fields sometimes for twelve, fourteen hours a day.”
What’s Donna Miscolta reading?
Seattle Review of Books recently asked Donna Miscolta, author of the story collection Hola and Goodbye, what’s on her bookshelf, and she shares: a memoir of life during the Marcos regime, an experimental novel by a Mexican writer, and more. Be sure to also read Donna’s original short story, “My Sister Who Flew Away” at Cascadia Magazine.
“Relief,” a poem by Alex Gallo-Brown
Depression and emotional turmoil are the subjects of Alex Gallo-Brown’s poem “Relief” available online at Pacifica Literary Review.
“…Certain months,
the mind goes.
It can be hard to latch on
to anything,
to command or compel…”
Read the entire poem here.
That’s all today’s news and culture from Cascadia Daily, reporting for one more day from beautiful British Columbia. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: Anushka Azadi by Ian Willms/Greenpeace