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Oregon legislature debates cap and trade carbon measure
Yesterday, Oregon state legislators introduced a bill to create a cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions from large polluters across the state. OPB has details of how the system would work, including a “cap and invest” program that would add $700 million to clean energy efforts. The bill hopes to reduce OR emissions to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050 . Meanwhile, in Washington, governor Jay Inslee has proposed a carbon tax, and if it doesn’t pass, conservation groups are ready to introduce a carbon tax ballot initiative, reports Seattle Weekly.
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson won’t seek re-election
After 10 years in office, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson announced he won’t seek re-election this year. His centrist pro-business Vision Vancouver party will scramble to find a candidate while the Non Partisan Association (NPA) looks to field strong opponent. CBC has a look back at Robertson’s tenure, which included the 2010 Winter Olympics, lots of new bike lanes, and backyard chickens.
Judge rules Seattle police reforms in compliance
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Seattle police department is in compliance with a court order that required major changes in what the US Justice Department determined was excessive use of force. But Crosscut’s David Kroman notes that the department still faces huge challenges, including investigations into the shooting death of Charleena Lyles. “Full and effective compliance in no way indicates the work of reforming the police accountability system in Seattle is done,” the judge noted.
Portland’s secret gay history
In the Portland Mercury, Heather Arndt Anderson writes a fascinating feature about how a 1912 vice investigation revealed an intricate gay subculture in the frontier-era City of Roses. One of the colorful characters involved in the scandal was Jasci “Gypsy” Rigo, a Hungarian man-about-town:
“The Oregonian reported on his comings and goings, calling him the “violin virtuoso, gipsy of romance, gay Lothario.” He wore rings on his fingers, smoked monogrammed cigarettes, and even had an Austrian dessert named after him.”
Kelowna author on how to write the wilderness
In an essay at Powell’s Books, writer Tyrell Johnson, who grew up in Bellingham, WA and now lives in Kelowna, BC, talks about how research and personal experience went into his debut novel The Wolves of Winter, a post-apocalyptic survival story set in the Yukon. “You can get all the details right through research, but you might not really be able to capture the feel of the outdoors unless you’ve spent a significant amount of time outside. How can you give a true description of what elk piss smells like if you’ve never actually smelled it?”
“Lesson Plan,” a poem by Kevin Craft
Seattle poet Kevin Craft, editor of Poetry Northwest, is serving as poet in residence at the Seattle Review of Books this month, and that means you’ve got a great opportunity to read his work online, including yesterday’s selection, “Lesson Plan.” Read the full poem here.
“Let’s practice getting under the desk.
Let’s practice barricading the door, turning the blinds
in our eyes. Shhh now. Let’s demonstrate in utter
silence. Every desk is a bunker in disguise…”
That’s today’s roundup of news, arts & culture from Cascadia, formed by the watersheds of the Columbia and Fraser rivers (and some other places). –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: Boardman coal plant by Wikimedia commons user “Tedder,” CC BY-SA 3.0