NPI's Cascadia Advocate

Offering commentary and analysis from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, The Cascadia Advocate provides the Northwest Progressive Institute's uplifting perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Category Archives: Our Environment

Donald Trump indicted again — this time, finally, for assaulting American democracy

Excerpt: The indictment is the result of careful, methodical work by Special Counsel Jack Smith and many hardworking investigators at the Department of Justice, who have labored to ensure that the work done to expose what happened on January 6th didn't merely pass into history as a report, but led to charges. 
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Civil Liberties, Policy Topics
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Alaska’s Republican-run state government is trying to get the unbuilt Pebble Mine revived

Excerpt: The mine proposal is the brainchild of Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals and its Pebble Limited Partnership. Two of the world’s largest mineral conglomerates, Anglo American and Rio Tinto, long ago pulled out.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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The Ostrich Effect: Right wingers threatened by reality are putting their heads in the sand

Excerpt: A look at today’s world evokes the Armageddon worries we used to occasionally hear from Ronald Reagan.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Must-read InvestigateWest story documents how Master Builders influenced the drafting of Seattle’s latest tree ordinance

Excerpt: Read NPI's commentary on a lengthy expose published by InvestigateWest that documents how the Master Builders influenced the drafting and development of Seattle's 2023 tree ordinance.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics, Public Planning
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Earth is heating up faster than many models suggested while humanity continues to dither

Excerpt: The climate crisis is a truly global concern. It has intensified in equatorial regions, yes, but also impacted our livable region and extended to both poles.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Canada’s TransMountain pipeline expansion: A hideous crime against the climate

Excerpt: This must-read, highly illustrated story depicts how one of Canada's largest dirty petroleum infrastructure projects has become a feast for connoisseurs of ugliness.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Sorry, local Republicans, but higher gas prices aren’t the winning issue you think they are

Excerpt: Republicans seem to be calculating that once Washingtonians are frustrated enough with high gas prices, public support for policies like the Climate Commitment Act will evaporate. However, our research suggests they are wrong. 
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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The Earth is warning us of the consequences of continued climate inaction. Will we listen?

Excerpt: Consequences of climate damage have hit home this spring, from waters of the Atlantic Ocean to boreal forests of Alberta to the Mariana Islands of the Pacific Ocean. As our politicians fiddle with manufactured issues, the Earth burns.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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East Coasters, national media discover the poisonous, gloomy affliction of wildfire smoke

Excerpt: "Zero shade for the New Yorkers dealing with this - it's awful - but it's wild to see the way East Coast media is suddenly doing wall-to-wall coverage of something that's been reality on the West Coast for a decade," noted Rachel Alexander.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Scrapping the Alaska king salmon troll season will hurt fishing communities without helping our endangered southern resident orcas

Excerpt: A lawsuit that seeks to halt the southeast Alas­ka com­mer­cial salmon troll fish­ery has become a big topic of discussion in the Last Frontier and in the PNW's fishing communities after a federal court judge recently ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, putting the upcoming fishing season in jeopardy.
Written by:Diane Jones
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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The oil sands province of Alberta: Where extreme weather meets extreme politics

Excerpt: The political climate of Canada’s oil producing province is being upstaged by Mother Nature. Prolonged heat and lightning have produced a natural climate emergency with fires blackening the skies and consuming more than 2.3 million acres in a not-so-merry month of May.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Elections, Party Politics, Policy Topics
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Amazon has a big opportunity to be a leader in plastic packaging reduction

Excerpt: In 2022, Amazon stopped packing products in single-use plastic delivery bags shipped from their European fulfillment centers, and stopped using plastic air pillows in Europe and Australia. Yet, Amazon has not made similar commitments in the United States, its largest market.
Written by:Pam Clough
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Washington is making important, long overdue investments in environmental equity

Excerpt: In this guest post for NPI, Senators Joe Nguyễn and Rebecca Saldaña explain how the Evergreen State is prioritizing equity in our response to the climate crisis.
Written by:Joe Nguyen and Rebecca Saldana
Other Categories:Guest Posts, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
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Washington’s DNR teams up with American Forests, City of Seattle to advance tree equity

Excerpt: The partnership, which will be known as the Washington Tree Equity Collaborative, "will engage cities, community organizations and stakeholders during the next three years to build rigorous and inclusive urban forestry programs," the Department says. It will make use of American Forests' Tree Equity Score, a tool freely available to the public that measures tree canopy cover in an increasing number of cities and towns along socioeconomic lines.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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