Photo of a shaded Seattle street
Cutting the high cost of urban shade
Urban heat islands are caused by too many buildings and not enough green space. Accordingly, a natural solution is to add greenery back into cities.
Global warming

Our top ten reads on climate change and clean energy

Want to squeeze in one more book in the waning days of summer? It's not too late. Check out our summer reading list, then get to your local bookstore!

ClimateCast logo over German coal protestors

Climate pledges fall short; activists swarm coal mine

Solar prices dropping, global temperatures rising, wind farms producing more energy for every megawatt of capacity, and more news of the week in clean energy solutions.

Beware the giant toxic algae bloom—and not just for shellfish reasons

The largest, most toxic, and densest algae bloom ever recorded is hurting shellfish populations and local economies in unusually warm waters off the Pacific coast. Is this a harbinger of climate changes to come?

ClimateCast logo over California wildfire

Final Clean Power rules tougher, less friendly to gas

Second-largest U.S. coal company files for bankruptcy, small businesses can finance solar arrays on their property tax bills, UPS aims for 12 percent renewable fuel by 2017, and more news of the week in clean energy solutions. 

Bullitt Center-Seattle

Getting the Job Done

State, regional, and city government leaders are not fiddling while the planet burns. Instead, they are demonstrating the pathways to a low-carbon future.

Solutions ho!

Climate policy question 1 is simple: Do we have the will to do what is necessary? Not what’s easy. Not what Big Oil will allow. What’s necessary.

Now we’re in business! Washington takes action on climate

Thank Governor Inslee for responding to the threat of global warming—and ask him to continue working for just and equitable climate action that works for all Washington residents.

Governor’s bold move puts Washington on track for meaningful climate action

This week Governor Inslee announced bold action to address global warming, directing his administration to use its full authority under the Clean Air Act to enforce existing limits on carbon pollution.

We're melting! Climate change and the snow sports industry

Unfavorable conditions on the slope! Skiing and snow-based recreation are major economic engines, but are also an early-warning system for climate impacts on business. 

ClimateCast logo over Louvre pyramid and its plaza, Paris

NE profits from carbon cap, King Coal's fall continues

Japan pledges 26 percent cut in climate pollution, Consumer Reports endorses the used Nissan Leaf, “yieldcos” offer key financing for solar projects, and more news of the week in clean energy solutions.

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The Seattle Go Green! Conference

The 7th annual GoGreen Seattle Conference, is a one-day, interactive learning experience featuring tactical how-tos, a solutions-centered deep dive into new ways of thinking, and a showcase of regional business leaders and their success stories. With a distinct platform of bringing together leaders from across industries, GoGreen builds viable networks and cross-pollinates sustainability best practices throughout the regional business community. 

Nous sommes climat

Submitted by KC Golden on

To “be” climate is the hardest thing of all, yet there’s nothing else to be. Climate denial persists because we don’t want to go here. Contradicting science is the least of it; we compartmentalize; we detach; we disown consequences. We watch our leaders work their hearts out for a strong climate agreement, while toying with a deal to lift a ban on oil exports.

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Dispatches from Paris: where are we after COP21?

"If the world were a bank," a French labor leader said in exasperation during the Paris climate negotiations, "it would have been rescued by now!" In this telebriefing, four Northwest climate action leaders share unfiltered ringside observations on the negotiations' final stages. With KC Golden, labor leader Jeff Johnson, clean tech business leader Tim Miller, and Portland sustainability manager Michael Armstrong.

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From the Pacific to Paris and back

The Paris Agreement sets the stage for the immediate future of coordinated, international climate action. Much of the actual progress will depend on local and regional action; every Northwest oil terminal abandoned, ton of coal left in ground, and solar panel installed, fuels the ambition of the U.S., Canada, and therefore countries around the world to meet and exceed our carbon-reduction goals. 

 

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Cities act on climate: the power of hope

Today in Portland, five west coast mayors announced aggressive commitments to aggressive action on both climate change and equity. The announcement comes directly after a Paris gathering of international mayors talking climate change; it also closely follows the groundbreaking climate resolutions passed last month in Portland. Here's the story of how those resolutions came to be.

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Take action: No Senate deal with Big Oil

Is the US Senate really preparing to eliminate the ban on crude oil export – threatening our communities and setting back our fight against climate change? And are they really doing so on the same week as the Paris climate conference?

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1.5: to stay alive, or same old jive?

Submitted by KC Golden on

Civil-society climate justice advocates and vulnerable nations may be succeeding in their push for a more aggressive target for limiting global warming. This development shows a shift in power towards the priorities of a massive global climate movement–and it's the news from Paris, as much as the climate agreement text itself.

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350.org PDX Road through Paris - Portland March for Climate Justice

SAVE THE DATE: December 12th, the day after the UN Paris Climate Talks end, people all across the world are taking to the streets to make sure the people, not the politicians, have the last word. Regardless of what gets decided in Paris, we know that climate leadership is coming from the ground up with the grassroots and cities leading the way.

In Portland, things are shaping up for a great event!