Salish Sea News Week in Review April 3, 2020

[PHOTO: Andrew Brown]

Aloha National Rainbow Friday!
Rainbows are caused by the reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light in water, resulting in a visual spectrum of light appearing in the sky, taking the form of a multicolored arc. They always appear on the side of the sky directly opposite to the sun. Don’t go chasing rainbows, because they’re not necessarily located at a specific distance from where you observe them. They’re an optical illusion viewed from a certain angle to a relative light source, meaning the closer you try to get, the further away it goes. Even if you see someone who appears to be standing right beneath the rainbow, they’ll see a different rainbow further off into the distance. In the words of Kermit the Frog, “Rainbows are visions, they’re only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide.” (National Today)


E.P.A., Citing Coronavirus, Drastically Relaxes Rules for Polluters
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a sweeping relaxation of environmental rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing power plants, factories and other facilities to determine for themselves if they are able to meet legal requirements on reporting air and water pollution.

EPA Enforcement Dropping Sharply, Agency Watchdog Says
The EPA’s enforcement and compliance monitoring activities have tailed off sharply over the last decade, the agency’s internal watchdog said in a new report.

Coronavirus closures reduce Seattle-area air pollution, but not global warming
Seattle-area air quality is a bit better as the novel coronavirus shuts down economic activity and travel. Levels of nitrous oxide (NOX), a pollutant produced by tailpipe emissions and other sources, are being detected at generally lower values in local air-monitoring devices.

Trump Administration, in Biggest Environmental Rollback, to Announce Auto Pollution Rules
The Trump administration is expected on Tuesday to announce its final rule to rollback Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency standards, relaxing efforts to limit climate-warming tailpipe pollution and virtually undoing the government’s biggest effort to combat climate change.

Coronavirus forces postponement of COP26 meeting in Glasgow
A key climate summit in Glasgow will be delayed until next year due to disruption caused by the coronavirus.

Proposed B.C. container terminal would threaten endangered orcas: review panel
A federally appointed panel has found the development of a new shipping container terminal south of Vancouver would result in "significant adverse" effects on endangered southern resident killer whales.


Annual Canoe Journey postponed because of COVID-19
The Intertribal Canoe Journey, the annual late-summer gathering of Northwest Native canoe cultures, is postponed until further notice because of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Life in the time of COVID-19: community voices
Salish Current readers and writers share their stories about how the COVID-19 virus is affecting them in this time of the evolving “new normal.”

Lawsuit filed to protect wolverines
The fight continues to protect an elusive animal found in the North Cascades and other mountain regions of the western United States as several nonprofits have filed a lawsuit against the federal agencies responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act.

Builder Of Controversial Keystone XL Pipeline Says It's Moving Forward
After a decade of protests and political reversals in the U.S., the Canadian company behind the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline says it has made a final decision to build the long-delayed project.

Plastic Wars: Three Takeaways From The Fight Over The Future Of Plastic
For decades, Americans have been sorting their trash believing that most plastic could be recycled. But the truth is the vast majority of all plastic produced can’t be or won’t be recycled. In 40 years, less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled.

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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, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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