This is one I'll be sharing with a lot of folks. The Daily Dish posted on a phenomenon in Moscow - Russia, not Idaho, thank you very much - where dogs have learned to take the metro. These brilliant, cutting edge strays are the new…
The game is on. The Spokane Regional Transportation Council has developed an online game for your feedback on transportation projects. Questions range from the completion of the North-South Corridor to light rail and a big part of this game is how you choose spending on…
Designer Gavin Potenza created this incredible infographic map that visualizes the worst oil spills in history. Please click here for a larger image. It might need to be updated: The last numbers for Deepwater Horizon are 205.8 million gallons.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Sarah Palin spent her brief time in office as the Governor of Alaska repealing laws to protect wildlife and nature. It only makes sense she would be the perfect choice for a nature series produced by the Discovery Channel, that…
Jonathan Franzen's new book, Freedom, is earning rave reviews and reaching a mass audience. Even Oprah is bringing it to her book club. I mention this because the protagonist is concerned with a challenging topic that doesn't get enough attention: Population growth. One of the…
This is the fourth entry in my election series. (Check endorsements of Referendum 52, Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager, and opposition to Initiative 1107.) For every Another Green Monday leading up to November 2nd, I will write about what’s on your ballot. I’ll keep this…
I’m a music geek so it is with excitement that I launch a new category on Down To Earth: Weekend Listening. That’s right. Every Saturday I will post a song that has, at least in my mind, an environmental bent. To start things off, I…
Vote. You know you want to. Is your ballot sitting on your kitchen counter? Not sure what to fill in? You have until November 2nd. Be informed. Be involved. Stay tuned for more coverage at Down To Earth. Follow Spin Control, check the current Inlander,…
I made a few cracks about the Chilean miners eyeware upon their escape but new figures from the Mine and Safety Health Adminstration are a reminder of the deadly occupational hazards for an atavistic industry. In September, federal inspectors issued nearly 600 citations for safety…
You may have heard of Elly Blue. In August, she came to Spokane with husband Joel Biel for Bikestravaganza: Off The Chainring Tour. It was an energetic traveling road show of bicycle talk, movies, zines, and transportation activism and advocacy. They presented short videos and…
Thank you internet.
I’m reading this list of U.S. cities that have the best accessibility to nature. Portland. Bend. Bozeman. And no Spokane. Lame.Last Tuesday I attended a Conservation Futures public meeting at the IMAX. The theater was packed. Spokane County park staff took input on the thirty-six…
Taking the train has always been ridiculously fun for me. Blame it on David Lean films. But tickets are cheap, most trains produce nineteen times less greenhouse gas emissions than flying and they're probably the most relaxing form of public transportation.The Midwest High Speed Rail…
This is the third entry in my election series. (Read my endorsements of Referendum-52 and Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager.) For every Another Green Monday leading up to November 2nd, I will write about what’s on your ballot. There are so many initiatives this year…
On Friday, Grist and Biking L.A. brought up a shocking statistic: 33, 963 Americans died in car crashes last year. That is such a large number and it's hard to put that into context, so Biking LA brought it down to a understandable scale using…
I think I'm at least a little bit guilty in this edition. I'm not trying to make a partisan point/counterpoint here, it's simply the selected reactionary quotes to science entering policy are worth noting in their comic and mostly inflammatory dismissal. Nice going everybody! However,…
Have you had a chance to check out one of the coolest displays in the city at J.F. Thamm Gallery on 11 S Washington St? For October, they are featuring The Art of Fritz Renato Bachmeyr, A Master of Traditional Painting, a collection of Spokane…
Good news today for sustainable communities. After learning about the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regional planning grants announcement this morning, our own local non-profit, Sustainable Works, that does energy audits and retrofits, sent a notice about their first birthday celebration. Awww. They…
You might've been biting your nails, waiting and watching as the 33 Chilean miners finally emerged from the dark. A strange and long saga with a romantic twist that couldn't have been scripted, the conclusion of the story baffled folks glued to their cable television…
Welcome to Fort McMurray, Alberta. In the last fifteen years, they've more than tripled in size as global energy companies descend on the largest oil reserve in the world outside of Saudi Arabia.Recently, I posted the trailer for Petroplis: Aerial Perspectives On The Alberta Tar…
As you presumably read last week, for every Another Green Monday (and, yes, this edition is on a Tuesday due to a technical error ) leading up to November 2nd, I will write about what’s on your ballot. There are too many initiatives this year…
Confession: I've been on a bit of a transit kick lately. However, this video is too cool to pass up. Once again, it's about a phenomenon in New York where things are changing fast, particularly people's expectations for space that is designed to accommodate humans…
Good morning Spokane. Before you head out the door, ponder these figures.Sightline has collected a study on how residents in the Northwest get to work and some of the numbers are slightly encouraging. When compared to other cities in the region, Spokane got number nine…
The photos are coming in by the minute over at 350.org from all over the world and I'm about to ride up to Heron Pond Farms. However, this morning I thought I would share a different kind of video for 10.10.10, the classic Power Of…
As a young environmentalist, I fought global warming with words, writing what’s often called the first general-interest volume on climate change. It became an international bestseller, published in 24 languages. But it flopped as a piece of social activism, doing virtually nothing to slow the…
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