Foot of snow slams Spokane-Coeur d'Alene; CO2-induced dengue fever plagues not currently a big concern

SPOKANE - Wednesday's snow storm broke the all-time record for snowfall on this date in Spokane's history.

As of 8 p.m. eight inches of snow had fallen at the Spokane International Airport.
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Spokane Police Department officials say they haven't seen a storm this bad in many years.

Meanwhile, bitter cold temperatures will continue throughout the rest of the week, with overnight lows Saturday and Sunday reaching eight below zero and five belo zero respectively.

$4 Billion Bridge Project Attempts to Span Gap Between Business and Green - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

The Columbia River Crossing project was first proposed a decade ago as a 12-lane replacement for the existing 6-lane bridge linking Portland and Vancouver. A 2005 report concluded that congestion on the bridge was expected to cost the region $844 million a year in lost commerce by 2025.

Last year, stop-and-go traffic on the bridge reached 4 to 8 hours a day, and the span has become the main choke point for truck traffic between Mexico and Canada.

A new bridge would be “helpful to ease congestion for people who drive,” said Brian Gard, a Portland executive and co-director of the Columbia River Crossing Coalition, which represents regional business interests. “But it has more to do with the transfer of goods and services, which is particularly important for small businesses.”

Meanwhile, environmental advocates and regional land use planners staunchly oppose the project, arguing that a widened bridge would increase urban sprawl and prevent both states from meeting their goals for greenhouse gas emission reductions. They also argue that the money would be better spent on dozens of smaller projects aimed at cutting car trips, limiting sprawl and reducing carbon emissions.
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To better assess the bridge’s potential effects on climate change, a planning committee comprised of state and local agencies and elected officials called for an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions to be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The study, issued by the United States Department of Transportation in May, found that the increased traffic would boost greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon by 33 percent, with 463.3 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted by bridge traffic annually by 2025.

A new bridge that included mass transit would cut the projected emissions by 2 to 3 percent, to about 452 tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Using the ridiculous numbers in the article, is it really a tough decision to choose between the cost of $844 million in lost commerce versus extra CO2 emissions that could be (fraudulently) offset for maybe $1500?