Salish Sea News Week in Review August 21, 2020

 

Aloha Hawaii Statehood Friday!
Hawaii’s Statehood Day commemorates Hawaii’s admission as a state on August 21, 1959. After overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893, the United States in 1898 annexed Hawaii for strategic reasons during the Spanish-American War. During World War II, Oahu served as the command post for the US operations in the Pacific. After the war, two-thirds of the residents favored statehood. However, because of the many ethnicities present, there was resistance to Hawaii’s statehood from segregated southern states. A primary election took place in Hawaii on June 27, 1959, and various statehood propositions received many votes on that day. Following the certification of the election results, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation on August 21, 1959, declaring Hawaii to be the 50th state. This was known as Admission Day until 2001.

30 Years of OPA90: Legislation to Prevent Another Exxon Valdez
30 years ago today, a new law controlling the oil and gas industry was adopted in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Now some fear those regulations are being rolled back.

Trump administration announces plans to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Monday announced plans for an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for drilling in the remote Alaskan area.

Four reasons 2020 is set to see the lowest Fraser River sockeye salmon return on record
Even a low-ball prediction for the number of sockeye returning to B.C. river was too high and First Nations and conservationists say government mismanagement and lice infestations are partly to blame.  B.C. Indigenous leaders call for emergency closure of Fraser River fishery, saying stocks have collapsed  First Nations groups in British Columbia are calling on the federal fisheries minister to issue an emergency order to close all sockeye fisheries on the Fraser River.

Public lands chief hangs on despite nomination getting nixed
A former oil industry attorney will continue calling the shots for a government agency that oversees nearly a quarter-billion public acres in the U.S. West, despite the White House saying over the weekend that President Donald Trump would withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley.

Endangered Species Act protections sought for a Northwest freshwater mussel
A 2017 analysis that looked at historic versus recent distributing areas of the species and found that the populations have declined by almost 50% of its historic range and it has been accelerating in recent years.

Metro Vancouver’s Biggest Sewage Plant Is Getting an Upgrade. Many Are Watching
Metro Vancouver’s plan to clean up wastewater from its largest treatment plant is welcome, say environmental advocates. But more details are needed to ensure everything will be done to protect the Fraser River and Salish Sea, they warn.

Climate change is causing more rain in the North. That’s bad news for permafrost
New study shows wetter weather is thawing the frozen ground that covers a quarter of the northern hemisphere, threatening to release massive stores of carbon.

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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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