Friday, December 20, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review December 20 2024



Aloha Sacagawea Friday!
Sacagawea, who died on this day in 1812, was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who, in her teens, helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in achieving their chartered mission objectives by exploring the Louisiana Territory. Wikipedia

Making sense of Washington’s multi-billion dollar budget hole
A reckoning has arrived over spending on programs and services that is expected to outpace state tax revenue.

B.C. government aims to permanently protect Fairy Creek
With old-growth logging deferrals set to expire in February, the BC NDP and Greens pledge to work together to safeguard the old-growth valley.

Protecting the health of people who eat fish: The long battle over water quality standards
...A lawsuit filed against the EPA over toxic pollution limits is finally due for a decision. All the old players are waiting anxiously for a judge to decide if the EPA — and now the state Department of Ecology — have made reasonable choices.
Number of salmon returning to Columbia River Basin stays flat over last decade
Average salmon and steelhead counts in the Columbia River Basin over the last decade are still well below officials’ goal of 5 million fish per year.

Canadian youth climate case will go to trial in Vancouver in 2026
The group argues Canada's contribution to climate change violates their rights to life, liberty, and security.

Nearly 150 miles of Columbia River added to EPA’s Superfund list
Sediments behind Grand Coulee Dam contain heavy metals from Canadian smelter.

Montana Supreme Court affirms decision in historic youth climate case
A state limit on the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions is unconstitutional, the court says. 

Federal agencies to revise environmental study for Columbia River Basin dam operations
Supplemental study will consider new data about dam breaching, which environmental advocates say would restore salmon, steelhead populations.

How Whitman College is reckoning with its past
Whitman College has started serving
“first foods,” such as roasted elk, fry bread with huckleberry jam, and cedar plank smoked rainbow trout, which are representative of the region’s Indigenous people.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, December 13, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review December 13 2024



Aloha Horse Friday!
National Day of the Horse exists to encourage citizens to consider the contributions that horses have made to the economy, character, and history of the United States. The day was created through a Senate resolution in 2004, with the first National Day of the Horse being celebrated that year.

Honoring the children: Biden proclaims new national monument at Carlisle
President Joe Biden announced the creation of a new national monument on the site of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School to honor the tens of thousands of students who attended boarding schools.

Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies
The overturning of the ‘Chevron doctrine’ may affect everything from fishing rules to transgender rights under Trump.

Full cleanup begins at Lower Duwamish Superfund site
It has been 10 years since a plan was released for the dredging, capping and recovery of the 5-mile Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site. This fall, work began in earnest. For as much as five months each year, barges and excavators will make their way down the river, removing polluted earth.

Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US
U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision Tuesday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change.

10 years after B.C.’s worst mining waste disaster, company faces charges Imperial Metals applied to expand its Mount Polley mine, still polluting a lake, earlier this year. Conservation advocates wonder if charges today will reduce future risks.

With repeal measure rejected, WA carbon auction prices surge
Prices for Washington’s air pollution allowances rebounded at an auction this month, the first sale since voters upheld the state’s cap-and-trade program.

‘At what cost?’: wind energy projects now exempt from environmental assessments in B.C.
As the Alberta government shuns wind power, British Columbia plans to welcome the industry by exempting all new wind energy projects from an environmental assessment that usually takes one to two years.

Officials plan to file lawsuit challenging constitutionality of I-2066
The coalition said Wednesday that I-2066 supporters misled Washington voters with an extensive misinformation campaign.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, December 6, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review December 6 2024


Aloha Roy Orbison Friday!
Roy Kelton Orbison, who died on Dec. 6, 1988, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock music genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. Wikipedia


2024 saw some good news for Pacific Northwest salmon
Kokanee, landlocked salmon, made their biggest return to the Lake Sammamish watershed in a decade, while some oceangoing salmon have returned in big numbers.

Catch-and-release fishing causing many salmon to die. Here's how to fix the problem, say UBC researchers
A six-year UBC study finds injuries from hooks, nets and handling as leading to high mortality rates of coho and Chinook salmon.

Orcas revive 'dead salmon hat' trend from the 1980s
Researchers in Washington have noticed at least one orca balancing salmon on its head in Puget Sound this fall, taking the dead fish for a ride and possibly snacking on it. 

Enbridge Drops the Westcoast Connector Pipeline
Enbridge says it will not develop the Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission line, one of several pipelines previously slated for northern B.C., after its environmental certificate expired last week.

Rising sea levels could put Vancouver’s airport underwater
YVR — the second busiest airport in Canada — sits on an island that could be flooded due to climate change, a new Senate committee report warns.

Worried about bird flu? Here’s what you need to know
The H5N1 avian flu virus has killed tens of thousands of wild birds and devastated poultry flocks. Human cases are rare, but experts say the virus poses a pandemic risk.

Court case in North Dakota calls federal environmental review regime into question
A lawsuit before a North Dakota federal district court could upend nearly five decades of environmental regulations affecting infrastructure projects.

Blue states prepare for battle over Trump’s environmental rollbacks
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slash federal climate, clean air and clean water regulations during his second term — an agenda that could target rules governing everything from auto emissions to power plant pollution to drinking water standards.

Drilling into oil and gas ads — how accurate are they?
You may have noticed a lot of oil and gas advertising recently, mainly driven by the Government of Alberta and Cenovus Energy. But how accurate are these claims?

Documentary follows effort to free Tokitae, the famous orca held in captivity for 53 years
A new documentary film , “Resident Orca,” tells the story of a captured orca named Tokitae that died in 2023 amid efforts to free her from more than 50 years of captivity.

Vancouver Island salmon return 'one of the best in 20 years'
Climate change could undermine this year's good return and impact future salmon generations, expert says.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 27 2024


Aloha Turkey Wednesday!
Americans gobble up more than 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving, according to some estimates. But experts say that this love for the bird shouldn’t end when the holiday is over. Eating turkey regularly — whether it’s sliced in a deli sandwich or ground up in chili — can boost your health in more ways than one. (NY Times)

Climate pollution surges in Washington state after pandemic lull
Policymakers and advocates are essentially driving blind as they pursue the difficult goal of slashing fossil-fuel pollution fast enough to help stabilize the planet’s rapidly heating climate.

Area off Vancouver Island a high-risk zone for ship-whale collisions: study
In B.C., a previously unidentified hot spot for whale-ship collisions was found off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Plucking polluted pilings: 1,200 are being removed along Tacoma’s Ruston Way
Crews have begun pulling the first of some 1,200 polluted pilings that once supported a sawmill on Tacoma’s waterfront. The site is one of “The Filthy Four,” according to the state Department of Natural Resources. 

Class action lawsuit for massive 2013 fuel spill into Kootenay creek settled for $4.5 million
A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit for damages caused by a massive 2013 fuel spill in the West Kootenay's Slocan Valley.  

Canada working with Biden team to finalize B.C. river treaty before Trump takes office
Top officials in both Canada and the United States are pushing the need to finalize the Columbia River Treaty to manage water flowing between the two countries before the administration change in America.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato (at) salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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Friday, November 22, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 22 204

 



Aloha Humane Society Day!
Humane Society Anniversary Day is celebrated annually on November 22 to commemorate the founding of Humane Society International, the world's largest animal protection organization. The day is a call to action to raise awareness about animal cruelty and to protect animals from harm. 


The power of a logjam: A vision of the Northwest’s rivers of old
In their natural state, Puget Sound rivers are a braided mess of forested islands, jammed with downed wood and surging with salmon. Now work is underway to restore the lower Elwha to a version of its past — in part by building giant logjams.

Trump picks Colorado oil and gas executive to lead Energy Department
Republican President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday he wants Chris Wright, a Colorado oil and gas executive who denies that the world faces a “climate crisis,” to serve the new administration as Department of Energy secretary.

Bird flu decimated tern colony in northwest Washington
Study findings provide new details on a Caspian tern die-off near Port Townsend in 2023 and how the virus killed seals in the region, infecting their brains.

WWU scientists awarded $638K grant to study forage fish survival in Salish Sea
A multidisciplinary team of Western Washington University Marine and Coastal Science (MACS) faculty were recently awarded a three-year, $638,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to better understand the impact of polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) – a type of toxic fatty acid, or lipid – on a group close to the bottom of the food pyramid that impacts everything above it: forage fish.

More logging is proposed to help curb wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest
U.S. officials would allow increased logging on 38,000 square miles (99,000 square kilometers) of federal lands in Oregon, Washington and California in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades.

Urban salmon return to Metro Vancouver streams to spawn
Efforts to rehabilitate urban waterways have helped bring spawning salmon back to parts of Metro Vancouver, including unlikely-looking streams surrounded by industrial and residential development.

On BC’s North Coast, First Nations Are Building a New Economy
How the Great Bear Sea initiative is using conservation finance to create jobs and preserve nature.

'A special moment': Water again flowing at Red Slough on the Pitt River, fresh hope for salmon
B.C. Parks Foundation and the Katzie First Nation have announced the completion of one of the largest salmon restoration projects in Western Canada.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, November 15, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 15 2024


Aloha Little Red Wagon Friday!

Little Red Wagon Day celebrates little red toy wagons. Toy wagons, which are similar in structure to their larger counterparts, were invented in the late 19th century, and were originally made of wood. They have an open top, can usually comfortably seat one child, often have a pull handle in front, and are usually red. Famous brands include Red Rider, Northern Tool and Equipment, Lowe's, Cardinal, Speedway Express, and Radio Flyer, which is most associated with the little red wagon.


Site C dam reservoir now fully filled, generating power but flooding land loved by locals
Project will increase province's electricity supply by 8%, B.C. Hydro says.

Wildlife petition calls for new Vancouver Island coastal bird sanctuary
Conservationists want to connect Victoria Harbour and Shoal Harbour, creating a new Salish Sea migratory bird sanctuary.

For EPA chief, Trump picks former Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York
President-elect Donald Trump Monday said he will nominate former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to serve as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Despite Biden’s promise to protect old forests, his administration keeps approving plans to cut them down
On Earth Day in 2022, President Joe Biden stood among cherry blossoms and towering Douglas firs in a Seattle park to declare the importance of big, old trees. But two years later, at a timber auction in a federal office in Roseburg, Oregon, this new day was nowhere to be seen.

The Other Side of the World’s Largest Dam Removal
Removing dams from the Klamath River in Northern California seems like a clear win for fish and rivers. Why do some locals hate it?

3 years, 2 deadly atmospheric rivers. Is B.C. ready for the next one?
On the heels of another destructive atmospheric river that left 5 people dead, we have to learn how to live with water.

Amid Earth's heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions
Even as Earth sets new heat records, humanity this year is pumping 330 million tons (300 million metric tons) more carbon dioxide into the air by burning fossil fuels than it did last year.

Hereditary chiefs call for a fishing moratorium to safeguard herring stocks
Concerned by the disappearance of herring in their territories, hereditary chiefs are calling for closure of the West Coast’s last commercial herring fishery.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

 

Friday, November 8, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 8 2024


Aloha X-ray Friday
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. X-rays were discovered in 1895 by the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who named it X-radiation to signify an unknown type of radiation. X-rays can penetrate many solid substances such as construction materials and living tissue,[4] so X-ray radiography is widely used in medical diagnostics (e.g., checking for broken bones) and material science. (Wikipedia)

Billy's magic: Tribal leader’s fierce fight for fishing rights to be honored with a statue in Washington, D.C.
Who was Billy Frank, Jr.? Willie Frank III explains.

Washington governor OKs massive new wind farm and urges swift turbine approvals
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has approved a revised plan for a massive proposed wind farm after he rejected a sharply slimmed-down version earlier this year.

B.C. workers facing ban on open-net farming worry about job losses
Those who oppose open-net fish farms are frustrated by delays in phasing them out but the farms have generated wealth and jobs for a generation of people. Jamie Mah reports. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C. ports lockout: Vancouver businesses already feeling the bite of labour dispute
The lockout has halted operations at more than a dozen terminals run by Maritime Employers Association members, leaving containers of goods behind picket lines.

Two southern residents missing, presumed dead in B.C. waters
Two southern resident killer whales are presumed dead after multiple sightings of two endangered pods failed to turn up a 30-year-old male and a calf. The news reduces the southern resident population to 72.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told