NORTHWEST & BEYOND

compiled by Sharlynn Cobaugh

LABOR LAUNCHES HEALTH CARE INITIATIVES

Oregon AFL-CIO filed a ballot initiative January 27 that would require companies that employ more than 4,500 workers to spend at least 9% of their payroll on health care for their employees. The Washington State legislature has been already discussing similar legislation that would require Washington State employers of more than 5,000 to spend 9% of payroll costs on employee health care. In Maryland, a similar initiative has now passed into law, despite a veto from the state's Republican governor.

In Oregon, once the bill is given clearance for a ballot title, the State Labor Federation will begin collecting the 100,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the November ballot.

(Northwest Labor Press, February 2006)

CAN THE OLYMPICS HELP SAVE THE SPOTTED OWL IN CANADA?

As the 2006 Torrino Olympics end, the world's eyes now turn to British Colombia as the next host of the winter games. The Western Wilderness Committee and the Sierra Legal Defense Fund are teaming up to call the Canadian and BC governments on a public promise they made to base their management of the Olympics on high environmental standards. Apparently, the regional and national governments have so far done little to maintain high environmental standards when it comes to profiting from forest products at the ecosystem's expense.

In British Colombia today, 1,300 species are living at risk of extinction. One of the most periled, the spotted owl, is dependent upon old growth forests for its survival. Historically estimated at 500 pairs in Southwestern BC, biologists in 2005 could only find 6 pairs.

The Canadian government has the legal right and responsibility to protect the owls under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA), but has refused to do so, preferring to allow the protection of endangered species through forest management practices to be administered and guided by the timber industry. The Canadian government itself also happens to be the largest logger of owl habitat through its BC Timber Sale Program.

For more information on this issue, its history, scientific research and progress, visit www.sierralegal.org or www.wildernesscommittee.org.

MARTIN LUTHER KING HONORED OUTSIDE TRIDENT SUB BASE

Peaceful non-violent collective actions were the mode of the day on January 16, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. All over the northwest and the nation, people gathered together to pay tribute to the life of this great civil rights leader, by drawing attention to the injustices of the present.

The demonstration which happened at the Trident Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington was no exception. The Trident base is located 20 miles west of Seattle and has recently been remodeled to serve as the deployment zone for 1,700 nuclear warheads. It was recently rebuilt to begin deploying the catastrophically destructive missile system, Trident D-5.

The demonstration outside the Submarine Base was organized by Ground Zero for Non-Violent Action. Eighty-five people attended the demonstration, representing a diverse range of generations. Ground Zero is located on 3.8 acres adjacent to the submarine base. The organization was founded in 1977, and serves as a place for people to explore the roots and causes of violence and to apply the power of love through non-violent direct action.

After meeting at the center, demonstrators marched to the entrance of the submarine base and ten people blocked the access road with a replica of a bus for Rosa Parks which said "Dare to Create a Non-Violent World". These ten were arrested, then another six people blocked the entrance to the highway with a long banner printed with quotes from Dr. King. One demonstrator attempted to deliver a message to the commander of the submarine base and was arrested. Of the eighty-five people in attendance sixty-nine people made it home safely, without being detained by authorities.

(Works in Progress, February 2006)

REVITALIZE RAILROADS TO BENEFIT ALL

With all the talk of "the end of oil" whirling around us, many people are pausing to make an assessment of the national consequences should this black gold someday be in short supply. Craig Thorpe must be ahead of the rest of us, because he has already moved to looking at where we should go. To illustrate his ideas, Thorpe employs a canvas and a paint brush. He depicts scenes of the railroad. Some paintings picture rail cars traveling a landscape and others depict railcars amidst thriving urban and rural communities.

Thorpe also works with a real life Railroad Advocacy Group called the Cascadia Center, a transportation planning and development think-tank driven to develop a linked rail system from Vancouver BC to Seattle and Portland, as well as routes eastward from this line. The Cascadia Center is seeing interest from transportation professionals and governments willing to put down money on projects because of the increasing loss of money to maintain our roads and vehicles, and because of increasing gridlock which traps daily life inside vehicles.

Train transportation is two to four times more fuel-efficient and environmentally efficient than trucks on a ton-per-mile basis. Consider that one train can carry the load of 280 trucks, and the benefits become obvious. Despite its effiency and importance, America's train systems have been largely neglected in favor of highway and road projects geared to increase the convenience of automobile usage. Many light passenger rail projects that served as transport through urban areas have been abandoned altogether. End-of-oil analyst Howard Kunstler stated in a recent presentation in Spokane that the United States had a rail system that the Bulgarian's would be ashamed of.

Thorpe's work helps illustrate that railroad transportation is more than a nostalgic part of American history. It may also be a crucial link to the future. He argues that revitalizing the train systems in America should be on the front-burner of every politician's stove, and that a massive public works program is needed.

(The Pacific Northwest Inlander, January 5 2006)