The Cascadia Advocate is written by the staff, board, and contributors of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a regionally focused nonprofit working from Washington, Oregon, & Idaho to constructively transform our world through insightful research and imaginative advocacy.
NPI was founded in August 2003 and is based in Redmond, Washington.
| Excerpt: | The woolly mammoth went extinct in North America thousands of years ago, but a great white elephant is going to ground in British Columbia. |
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| Published at: | 9:30 AM on Thursday, September 21st, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Climate Crisis, Energy & Power |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | The Arctic Refuge is the largest single unit of public lands in the nation, spanning more than 19 million acres. The 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain, left open to development by Congress, is its heart and soul, calving ground for more than 100,000 animals of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. |
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| Published at: | 2:51 PM on Thursday, September 7th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Tags: | Conservation |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | Though they have been considered relatives by the region's Coast Salish peoples since time immemorial, it wasn't that long ago that orcas were viewed negatively by many non-indigenous Pacific Northwesterners. NPI contributor Joel Connelly recounts how much has changed in the last half century. |
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| Published at: | 4:30 PM on Monday, August 21st, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Tags: | Conservation |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | “Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment which includes climate as part of the environmental life support,” Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley wrote in a groundbreaking opinion. |
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| Published at: | 12:30 PM on Sunday, August 20th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Climate Crisis |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | The projects announced by Emhoff are of particular importance to the Northern Rockies. The Park Service will go to work restoring sagebrush to Jackson Hole, in places once cleared by ranchers so they could grow hay. |
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| Published at: | 6:45 PM on Thursday, August 10th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Tags: | Conservation |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | Though initially uncooperative and resistant to appeals to protect the tree, Legacy, Rock House Builders (the property owner), and Bad Boyz GC (the contractor) have now agreed to leave Luma standing and modify their plans for the parcel. |
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| Published at: | 4:32 PM on Wednesday, August 9th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Andrew Villeneuve |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Affordable Housing, Green Development |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| 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. |
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| Published at: | 4:36 PM on Monday, July 31st, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Tags: | Conservation |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| 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. |
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| Published at: | 7:48 AM on Friday, July 21st, 2023 |
| Written by: | Andrew Villeneuve |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics, Public Planning |
| Other Tags: | Affordable Housing |
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| 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. |
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| Published at: | 9:30 AM on Saturday, June 17th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Climate Crisis, Pollution |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| 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. |
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| Published at: | 12:30 PM on Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Diane Jones |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Pollution, Sustainable Farms |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| 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. |
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| Published at: | 4:30 PM on Thursday, April 13th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Andrew Villeneuve |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Green Development, Smart Growth & Density |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | 68% of 651 likely February 2023 special election voters interviewed from January 26th-30th for NPI by Change Research said they were concerned about tree and canopy loss, while 30% said they were not. Only 1% were not sure. |
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| Published at: | 1:30 PM on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 |
| Written by: | Andrew Villeneuve |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics, Public Planning |
| Other Tags: | Green Development, Research Poll Findings |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | Environmental groups have campaigned against what the Sierra Club has described as “a climate disaster waiting to happen.” A change.org petition opposing Willow had drawn 3.1 million signatures and an estimated 1.1 million unique letters have descended on the White House. |
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| Published at: | 1:30 PM on Sunday, March 12th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Climate Crisis, Energy & Power |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
| Excerpt: | The potential devastation to Arctic ecosystems, from climate damage, “is irreversible and irresponsible to future generations,” said Cantwell. “Oil companies already have record profits and access to drilling rights on millions of acres of public lands which they should be using to meet our current fossil fuel needs.” |
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| Published at: | 1:30 PM on Sunday, March 5th, 2023 |
| Written by: | Joel Connelly |
| Categories: | Our Environment, Policy Topics |
| Other Tags: | Climate Crisis, Energy & Power |
| Bookmark: | Permalink | Comments closed |
