Salish Sea News Week in Review August 11 2023

 

World Elephant's Day (August 12)
World Elephant's Day is a day to express concern, share knowledge, and support solutions for the better care of captive and wild elephants; it is a day to honor elephants, spread awareness about the critical threats they face, and to support solutions to help ensure their survival.

80% of B.C. rivers face high to extreme drought
Persistent dry and hot weather pushed Metro Vancouver to enact Level 2 watering restrictions Friday for the first time since 2015.

Billions spent on hatcheries, habitat fails to help native Columbia River salmon, study finds
Decades of data show that despite billions in taxpayer investment, salmon and steelhead hatchery programs and restoration projects in the Columbia River Basin have failed to support or boost native fish populations and in fact are contributing to their decline.

Group petitions to dump Washington’s new carbon-pricing system
Advocacy organization Let’s Go Washington is gathering signatures on a petition to ask the Washington Legislature to repeal the state’s new carbon pricing system. Conservatives are saying the new program is causing Washington to have the highest gasoline prices in the nation.

Two new baby orcas with no deaths over the past year could make for a remarkable census
This year’s census for the Southern Resident killer whales apparently will document two new calves but no deaths for the 12-month period ending July 1.

Marine heat wave off Pacific coast could prove dangerous for wildlife
A marine heat wave that's been raising the temperatures of waters off the Pacific coast for weeks has experts worried about the health of marine life.

Canada to sell pipeline stake to Indigenous groups through special vehicle
Canada plans to sell a stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to Indigenous groups through a special purpose vehicle that will allow individual communities to buy into the enterprise. The government will provide the groups with access to capital so they don’t have to risk any of their own money to participate.

Cases dropped against 146 Fairy Creek protesters over RCMP's failure to read full injunction at arrests
Prosecutors in B.C. have withdrawn cases against nearly 150 protesters who were arrested for participating in a blockade around old-growth logging on Vancouver Island after a judge this year found Mounties did not read the full text of a court order to the group.

State proposes tighter safety regulations for refinery workers years after tragedy
Regulations proposed by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries in June would update the 1992 “Process Safety Management” guidelines for thousands of workers at Washington’s five refineries, including the BP and Phillips 66 refineries at Cherry Point.

Canada, U.S. negotiate future of Columbia River in Seattle this week
For 60 years, the Columbia River Treaty has guided how water from British Columbia flows downstream in Washington and Oregon, for flood control and hydropower. Parts of that agreement expire next year.

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 mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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