Environment

WPC's Center for the Environment brings balance to the environmental debate by promoting the idea that human progress and prosperity work in a free economy to protect the environment.

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Environment Blog

Deregulating Taxis To Improve Energy Efficiency

August 10, 2011 in Blog

The Sightline Institute has a great piece on their blog about deregulating taxi licenses in Seattle to allow improved mobility and reduce carbon emissions. They argue that more taxis would allow families to avoid having to buy another car. The piece notes that where more taxis are allowed, competition increases, driving prices down.

The best paragraph of the piece, however, can be applied to a whole range of environmental problems:

Greens vs. Science: EPA and Pacific NW National Labs Debunk Another Chemical Scare

August 9, 2011 in Blog

This year, Washington state became one of nine states to ban a compound known as bisphenol-A or BPA, from a number of children's products. The ban was justified based on concerns that BPA caused a range of problems from hormone disruption to obesity. The concern is that BPA contained in food containers would be ingested and lead to these problems.

Does Dog Poop Video Help the Environment? That is, Apparently, Ancillary.

July 18, 2011 in Blog

Our budget and transparency director Jason Mercier recently highlighted the $27,000 spent by the Puget Sound Partnership, using a grant from the Department of Ecology, to tell dog owners to pick up after their pets. Now the Department of Ecology is defending their sponsorship of the video.

In a blog post they call the rap video a "A good return on the state’s investment." They highlight several reasons.

Greens vs. Science: Is Climate Change Already Here? I'll Take That Bet!

July 8, 2011 in Blog

Update at end of blog (July 11, 9am)

Over at the Sightline Institute, they're unhappy with the Seattle Times story on the weather, lamenting that the Times "won't link it to climate change." Washington is warming, Sightline says, and we're already feeling the impact.

Is Solar Power Being Held Back by Government...Or Saved by It?

June 24, 2011 in Blog

At his recent gubernatorial kickoff, Attorney General Rob McKenna highlighted a company in King County that manufactures solar panels. McKenna noted that government regulations were hampering its ability to compete, prosper and create jobs. Generally, we agree with that perspective. In the case of solar power, however, companies that produce solar panels are heavily reliant on taxpayer subsidies and regulations.

Puget Sound Partnership adopts recovery targets, strategies next

June 23, 2011 in Blog

Last week the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council adopted a series of ecosystem recovery targets that will be used to determine if the Puget Sound is on the road to recovery by 2020.  The targets are meant to represent the diverse uses and components within the Sound.

Will PS Clean Air's Abstract Claims about Toxics Do More Harm than Good?

June 17, 2011 in Blog

Tonight, KCTS is running a story about the impact of diesel emissions in Seattle on cancer rates in the Puget Sound Region. To promote the broadcast, one of the contributors to the story, Investigate West, sent out this tweet earlier in the week:

@invw + @KCTS9 report "Breathing Uneasy": #PugetSound region is in top 5% for #air #toxins in US. http://bit.ly/lbEb5s

Jay Inslee's Irrelevant Facts About 'Green' Energy

June 13, 2011 in Blog

I recently picked up Jay Inslee's book on promoting the "green" economy with government programs. This paragraph stuck out at me:

Climate Data That Sounds Meaningful...But Isn't

June 10, 2011 in Blog

Today's Seattle Times features a story with the headline "Study of 800-year-old tree rings backs global warming." The article notes that snowpack loss in the Western United States has been more severe in recent decades than in the last millennium based on studies of tree rings. There are two key claims here.

City of Seattle Admits (Quietly) Its Carbon Emissions Reports are False

June 3, 2011 in Blog

When launching the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels promised the city would set an example for the nation by meeting the carbon emissions reductions in the Kyoto Protocol. Nickels said the city's emissions would be 7 percent below the 1990 levels by 2012.

On his way out of office in December of 2009, he triumphantly declared victory.