Four the future - January 23

In this edition: critical areas, telecommunications, solid waste, and rain gardens.

• Mudslide toll reaches 75
  Source: The Spokesman-Review; January 4, 2010
  Summary: Mudslides in Angra dos Reiso, Brazil (near São Paulo), shut down highways and killed at least 75 people. Brazil's only nuclear power plants were shut down due to concerns related to the loss of escape routes during an emergency. About 20 areas are still at risk, and people are being evacuated.
  Opinion: In Washington, counties and cities are obligated to identify erodible soils as part of its critical areas analysis. The reason why it's important can be seen from this story: it's inappropriate to build on--or below!--these critical areas.




• Americans say they are spending more time on Internet
  Source: The Spokesman-Review; January 3, 2010
  Summary: Americans say that they are spending about 8% of their time online, about 13 hours a week. That is down by one hour a week a year ago, but double what it was 10 years ago. The Harris Poll, which conducted the survey, said the increase is due to watching TV on the Internet, and online shopping. Half of Americans purchased something online in the past month. People aged 25 to 49 were online longest at 17-18 hours per week. Seniors spent the least at 8 hours. The time did not include time using email, nor time browsing on a smart phone.
  Opinion: It's important to enough bandwidth for all these communications. Governments have a duty to ensure that there is sufficient space for everyone and that companies don't "redline" neighborhoods (that is, deny them service). Cities and communications companies have been in a pitched battle in Washington, D.C., for years over 'Net neutrality, ownership of the roads under which many of these cables are strung, Internet sales and use taxes, and the right for municipalities to install telecommunications fiber. Fun factoid #1: the word "Internet" is capitalized because it's a proper noun. Not-so-fun-but-important factoid #2: Washington residents are required by law to fill out a document from the Department of Revenue when they make a purchase online and sales taxes aren't charged and send the tax to Olympia. Here is a fact sheet. And, no, the federal ban on Internet sales taxes doesn't change it: the federal law only applied to taxes which didn't exist at the time of the law, and the Sales and Use Tax has existed in Washington for a long time, even for online purchases.


• The Smoldering Trash Revolt
  Source: Miller-McCune; January 21, 2010
  Hat-tip:Barb Chamberlain (Twitter @barbchamberlain)
  Summary: Americans' per capita solid waste disposal rate is still going up, and recycling has flattened. States and municipalities end up raising costs upon their citizens in order to pay for its disposal. States are considering collecting fees for the production of hazardous wastes in order to have the money they need to deal with them. However, hazardous waste producers, including pharmaceutical companies, are resisting the call for corporate and personal responsibility.
  Opinion: The State of Washington has a program which requires manufacturers to take back electronic waste. However, this still doesn't take care of all the consumer waste (boxes, plastic cases, etc.) which municipalities must manage. The core question is: why should anyone be responsible for other people's waste? There is a disincentive for people to create less waste if you still have to pay the same high price. Retailers would very quickly reduce the consumer waste in this country if they were required to open their dumpsters to the garbage they make us take home.


• Shelter: Rain Gardens May Save the Sound
  Source: Seattle Magazine; January 19, 2010
  Summary: One of the best ways to protect your house and clean up Puget Sound is to install rain gardens. The City of Seattle is going to provide rebates to people who create them. Water running off your impervious surfaces can be redirected into shallow depressions in your yard which collect the water. They act as filters for the water before it reaches the Sound. There are limitations on where they can be dug. You can get advice on it at the city's RainWise site.
  Opinion: People in the Inland northwest recognize this concept as "swales" or "bioswales." Obviously, "rain garden" is a friendlier name for them. Either way, there is now a government in Washington which is encouraging people to create them on existing developed areas. This may be a good program for the City of Spokane to consider after they complete its fixes for its combined sewer overflow issues, which is also caused by poor stormwater management. There are some areas which would have some difficulty with rain gardens, notably, the south hill where a layer of clay hinders percolation, but the valley is ideal for this kind of treatment.