Salish Sea News Week in Review September 27 2019

Aloha Koala Friday!
The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus, or, inaccurately, koala bear) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats, which comprise the family Vombatidae. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, spoon-shaped nose. (Wikipedia)

17 States Sue Feds Over Endangered Species Act Rules
Seventeen states sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block rules weakening the Endangered Species Act, saying the changes would make it tougher to protect wildlife even in the midst of a global extinction crisis.

New U.N. climate report: Massive change already here for world’s oceans and frozen regions   A definitive new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds dangerous sea level rise and mass death of corals and other key ocean life has already been unleashed.


When it comes to acknowledging humans’ role in climate change, oil and gas industry lawyer says ‘that ship has sailed’
In a closed-door meeting of oil and gas executives this summer in Colorado Springs, industry lawyer Mark Barron offered a bold proposal: Energy companies must accept that fossil fuels are helping to drive climate change. 

Indigenous-led group says it won’t leave the Capitol until Gov. Inslee meets 4 demands
Protectors of the Salish Sea, an indigenous-led group that walked 46 miles to the Capitol from the Tacoma area, has had a presence outside the Washington state Legislative Building since Tuesday to make their voices heard on environmental issues.

The Puyallup is the 2nd most polluted river in the Puget Sound area. Salmon runs at stake
The Puyallup is one of the most polluted rivers in the Puget Sound area, and the contaminants are hurting the river’s salmon.

B.C. wins injunction blocking Alberta's turn-off-the-taps legislation over oil 
The Federal Court has suspended Alberta's turn-off-the-taps legislation, aimed in part at the embattled Trans Mountain pipeline extension, granting British Columbia a temporary injunction blocking the law until the courts can decide whether it is valid.


State presents proposed cleanup plan for abandoned Rayonier site
Creation of open space for potential — though only occasional — use is included in a proposed cleanup strategy for the abandoned, still-polluted Rayonier pulp mill site and adjacent Port Angeles Harbor. The voluminous three-part study, and options it includes for the 75-acre industrial parcel east of downtown Port Angeles, were presented Wednesday at an Olympic Medical Center meeting room where some participants wanted more than that.

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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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Salish Sea News Week in Review September 20 2019

Aloha Climate Strike Friday!
To date, young people have led the climate strikes around the world. Now we need adults to join us too. On September 20, 2019, Fridays for Future, the Youth Climate Strike movements, and all of our international friends and allies call for a global general strike. Mark and add it to your calendar. Workers everywhere, please: we are asking you to join us and walk away from a system that is destroying our planet and will threaten the survival of millions of people, plants, and animals within the next 10, 20, 30 years. (Fridays for Future)


Southern resident orcas, including newest baby, visit Puget Sound 
J and K pod orcas visited local waters Thursday, including the newest baby born to the endangered southern residents.


Feds seek expanded habitat protection as salmon, orcas battle climate change, habitat degradation
Most of the outer coast of Washington, Oregon and California would become protected habitat for southern resident orcas under a federal proposal released Wednesday.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
The skies are emptying out. The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970, scientists reported on Thursday.

Salmon farm decommission in B.C.'s Broughton on track, says premier
Premier John Horgan says industry, government and Indigenous nations on northern Vancouver Island are collaborating on a four-year program to transition away from marine-based salmon farms.

Aquaculture industry is headed for a sea change
Planning a salmon barbecue? Your options will be limited this year. With a complete 2019 closure on Fraser River sockeye, due to dismal returns, your options are to buy Alaska sockeye or farmed Atlantic salmon.

The Battle Over Fish Farming In The Open Ocean Heats Up, As EPA Permit Looms
Americans eat an average of 16 pounds of fish each year, and that number is growing. But how to meet our demand for fish is a controversial question, one that is entering a new chapter as the Environmental Protection Agency seeks to approve the nation’s only aquaculture pen in federal waters.

Trump administration to revoke California’s power to set stricter auto emissions standards The move sets up a major court fight with the nation’s most populous state.
The Trump administration plans this week to revoke California’s long-standing right to set stricter air pollution standards for cars and light trucks, the latest step in a broad campaign to undermine Obama-era policies aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change, two senior administration officials said.

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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Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 13 2019

Aloha Harvest Moon Friday!
A Harvest Moon occurs on Friday the 13th, making for a spooky night just ahead of the start of fall — the season of haunted hayrides and Halloween. The full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox is called a Harvest Moon. Autumn officially begins on September 23 at 3:50 a.m. EDT. However, this year's Harvest Moon is unlike most in that it will coincide with Friday the 13th. (CBS News) Shine on!

Trump Administration to Finalize Rollback of Clean Water Protections
The Trump administration on Thursday is expected to complete the legal repeal of a major Obama-era clean water regulation, which had placed limits on polluting chemicals that could be used near streams, wetlands and water bodies.

Feds give new scrutiny to clash between Whidbey Island Navy jets and endangered seabirds
What happens when a reclusive seabird is spooked by a close encounter with a low-flying Navy Growler jet? The Navy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), under pressure from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, will take another look at the effects on the marbled murrelet of an increasing number of  EA18-G Growler training flights out of Air Station Whidbey Island.

New viruses discovered in endangered wild Pacific salmon populations
Three new viruses—including one from a group of viruses never before shown to infect fish—have been discovered in endangered Chinook and sockeye salmon populations. While the impact of the viruses on salmon health isn’t yet known, all three are related to viruses that cause serious disease in other species.

B.C. carbon pollution rises 1.2 per cent in most recent report B.C.’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade has been virtually wiped out due to large increases in carbon pollution the last two years, according to new government data released Monday. 

 

Another vital forest at risk: Scientists fear warming water could be killing off Puget Sound’s kelp beds 
Dozens of healthy bull kelp off Owen Beach stretched to the surface, trailing a moppish tangle of algae. It looked like overgrown clumps of pad thai had gone out to sunbathe.


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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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow @savepugetsound

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 6, 2019

Aloha Food Bank Friday!
National Food Bank Day was created in 2017, to commemorate fifty years since the founding of St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, the first food bank in the world, and to "recognize the outstanding contributions of food banks around the country." Many food banks offer educational opportunities to help people restart their lives, and many of those who regain their footing return to volunteer at the food banks that helped them. Celebrate the day by making a food or monetary donation to a food bank or food pantry and by volunteering. "Meet each need with dignity."


New marine heat wave resembles killer 'Blob' that devastated sea life on West Coast, NOAA says
A new marine heat wave has formed off the West Coast that is similar to “The Blob” that devastated sea life and ravaged runs of Pacific salmon. Although the similarities are striking, whether the new system will cause the same havoc is yet to be seen.

New permit could address excess-nitrogen threat to Puget Sound
Nitrogen from sewage-treatment plants, along with other nutrient sources, are known to trigger plankton blooms that lead to dangerous low-oxygen conditions in Puget Sound — a phenomenon that has been studied for years. Now state environmental officials are working on a plan that could eventually limit the amount of nitrogen released in sewage effluent.

Salmon swimming freely through Fraser River landslide site, officials say
Large numbers of sockeye and chinook salmon have started to swim freely through a section of the Fraser River that had been blocked by a landslide, officials announced Wednesday.

Federal Court allows six of 12 Trans Mountain pipeline project appeals
The Federal Court of Appeal has allowed six challenges of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion focusing on Indigenous consultation to proceed, while dismissing several claims centred on environmental concerns.

Erich Hoyt returns for Orca Tour 2019
Erich Hoyt, author of the expanded, new edition of Orca: The Whale Called Killer, returns for a series of lectures hosted by The Whale Museum in West Seattle (9/19), Friday Harbor, WA (9/24), and Saturna B.C. (9/28).


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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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow @savepugetsound

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told