seattleDIRT

The Western Climate Initiative released its most far-reaching plan yet for cutting greenhouse gases, using a market-based system that limits carbon dioxide releases and allows polluters to trade for the right to emit the gases. The plan sets a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, but details still need to be hammered out. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 09/23/2008

Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it will add nine routes to its Connector bus service for employees on Oct. 6, expanding the system it put in place a year ago. Microsoft said the Connector has cut carbon emissions by 5.5 million pounds, offered a commute option for more than 60 percent of riders who were driving alone and reduced the company’s single-occupancy vehicle traffic by 5 percentage points, to 62 percent from 67 percent. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 09/24/2008

The federal regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said yesterday that the firms would play a smaller role this year in supporting affordable housing across the country than they have in the past. Washington Post 09/24/2008

British Columbia’s partners in a cross-border effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have adopted a less ambitious approach than the one preferred by the B.C. Liberals. The Western Climate Initiative — seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces including B.C. — on Tuesday released the latest version of its proposal to cap and then reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Vancouver Sun 09/24/2008

The City Council’s plan for putting 85 homeless housing units on Magnolia’s Fort Lawton property is a bold step. For a region that claims to be working to end homelessness, the proposal moves us toward an important goal in a healthy way. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 09/24/2008

Berkeley is considering a carbon tax and parking rate increases to pay for its ambitious plan to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. The revenue proposals, as well as dozens of energy-saving goals for residents and businesses, are part of the Climate Action Plan the City Council considered at a special meeting Tuesday night. San Francisco Chronicle 09/24/2008

Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4-a-gallon gasoline prices this summer. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 09/24/2008

In a campaign debate, Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger argues an east-west light rail line is crucial to connect his city to Seattle, while opponents favor cheaper express buses to move people in the Eastside’s Interstate 405 corridor. Seattle Times 09/23/2008

With time running out for economically distressed rural communities in Oregon and across the nation, the Senate emphatically approved legislation Tuesday that would funnel $3.3 billion in federal aid to local governments for schools, police and other crucial public functions. The program to help rural communities was included in a $100 billion grab-bag of popular — but expiring — tax breaks that the Senate endorsed by a 93-2 vote. Oregonian 09/24/2008