Salish Sea Communications: 2026

Friday, February 20, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 20 2026

Aloha Muffin Day!
National Muffin Day is observed not as a food holiday about consuming but as a day about giving back to communities. Each year people around the world bake muffins, with some organizing big baking parties. Known as Muffinteers, handing the muffins out to people experiencing homelessness and donating to a homelessness cause. The organizers of the day incentivize participation by donating to homeless causes for each person who bakes and gives. They suggest that people "give a dozen," meaning they give to a charity in $12 increments to symbolize the twelve muffins of a muffin tin.

As U.S. abandons climate fight, Washington state feels the heat to do more
Washington state’s push for a rapid switch to electric vehicles is in jeopardy— with its ultimate fate likely to be decided in the courts.

Trump budget maintains many Columbia River salmon, environment programs — despite dramatic proposed cuts
Columbia River salmon recovery programs fared better in the 2026 federal budget than tribes, advocates, bureaucrats and biologists feared.

Feds launch whale-safe fishing gear strategy to try to prevent entanglements
Entanglement is a top threat for all large baleen whales on Canada’s coasts, including humpbacks, minke, blue and fin whales.

Should 600-year-old oaks be cut down in Tacoma for a new storage facility?
The trees at 3802 S. 74th St. will be cut down if the city of Tacoma approves the landowner’s permits to build a new self-storage facility on the one-acre, triangular site.

Bayer agrees to $7.25 billion proposed settlement over thousands of Roundup cancer lawsuits
Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer.

WA climate funds needed to plug huge budget gap, lawmaker says
Lawmakers can’t find a better way to fill part of Washington’s perennial budget gap than by dipping into the billions raised by the state’s Climate Commitment Act.

New Southern Resident orca calf spotted in L pod
The Center for Whale Research spotted a new Southern Resident orca calf traveling with L pod on Feb. 16 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Designated L129, the calf was seen with two females, the 49‑year‑old L55 and her daughter L103. Researchers said it is too early to know which whale is the mother.

Lawsuits challenge renewed push for oil drilling in Alaska petroleum reserve and upcoming lease sale
Conservation organizations and an Iñupiat group filed legal challenges Tuesday to the Trump administration’s renewed push for oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and an upcoming lease sale that they say improperly makes available ecologically sensitive lands that have been long protected.

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)salish-current.org .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, February 13, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 13 2026

Aloha Galentine's Day
Galentine's Day is a global holiday that celebrates women's friendship. Galentine's Day is typically marked as February 13, but can be observed any day. Galentine's Day events are typically all-female occasions of mutual "empowerment...a reminder for women to support and uplift one another." The concept and name of the holiday was imagined into existence by Parks and Recreation in the eponymous episode "Galentine's Day."

The Stillaguamish Tribe gives its river north of Seattle room to roam
Over the past 15 years, the Stillaguamish Tribe has purchased 2,000 acres of land for fish and wildlife habitat. Under the 1855 treaty, the Stillaguamish and other Puget Sound tribes gave up almost all of their land but kept their rights to fish and hunt. What the tribe wants back on track is salmon.

Trump Opens Marine National Monument in Atlantic to Commercial Fishing
Off the coast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is a unique stretch of ocean that had been protected for a decade.

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation
A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off.

Orcas and ourselves
Sea pandas or sadistic killers? These enigmatic creatures invite contradictory labels that say far more about us than them.

Edmonds receives federal grant to advance marsh restoration
The $677,400 grant will go toward a public planning process and developing a design to connect the marsh with the Puget Sound.

Vigil to mark 5 years since deadly northern B.C. tugboat accident, push for stronger standards
Charley Cragg, Troy Pearson died after tugboat Ingenika sank near Kitimat in Feb. 2021.

Trump’s EPA plans to end a key climate pollution regulation
The Trump administration will rescind the Environmental Protection Agency's endangerment finding allowing regualtion of greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. (NPR)

Washington and other Democratic-led states drop lawsuit against Arctic refuge oil drilling in Alaska
Fifteen Democratic-led states have dropped a six-year-old lawsuit challenging the legality of a federal plan that allowed oil and gas drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska but said they will continue their opposition to ANWR drilling.

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 6 2026

Aloha Chopsticks Friday!
Chopsticks trace their beginnings to China, to at least 1200 BCE, during the Shang dynasty, when they were used for cooking, not eating. Consisting of twigs from trees, they were used to reach into deep cooking pots to retrieve food. The Chinese philosopher Confucius was an advocate for chopsticks and can be credited for helping raise their popularity. A vegetarian, he thought sharp utensils would remind diners of the slaughterhouse and that knives would bring warfare and violence to their minds. Because of his beliefs, chopsticks became more widespread throughout Asia. By 500 CE they had spread to modern-day Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.

Appeals court upholds ban on fish farms in B.C.'s Discovery Islands
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has upheld Ottawa’s decision to end salmon farming in B.C.’s Discovery Islands.

Olympic marmots under review
The Olympic marmot is being considered for the endangered species list, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Service has announced.

B.C. would struggle to contain oil spill off north coast, research suggests
Decades of research shows waves, wind and darkness would defeat containment efforts for much of the year, raising questions about new oil export plans.

The Trump Administration exempts new nuclear reactors from environmental review
The announcement comes just days after NPR revealed the administration had secretly rewritten safety and environmental standards.

BC Halts Plans to Make Polluters Pay for Cleanup Costs
The province billed its Public Interest Bonding Strategy as a key step to protect the public from massive cleanup bills. Now it’s on hold.

MAHA has reshaped health policy. Now it's working on environmental rules
MAHA activists who want to hold corporations accountable for harming Americans’ health have found an unlikely ally in a Republican-led Environmental Protection Agency that has traditionally supported big businesses and less regulation.

Trump Administration Is Delaying Hundreds of Wind and Solar Projects
Federal agencies are delaying approvals for renewable energy projects on both federal land and private property at a time when electricity demand is going up.

9 C in February: Heat records fall across B.C., raising questions about winter's future
Repeated ridges of high pressure have been driving temperatures in B.C. up into the double digits, with daily heat records falling in at least a dozen cities from Vancouver to Cranbrook to Dawson Creek.

Trans Mountain proceeding with first of three expansions of oil pipeline
Trans Mountain is moving ahead with its first project to pump more oil through its pipeline system between Alberta and British Columbia by using drag reducing agents with the goal of moving up to 10 per cent more oil.

The bills that didn’t survive the WA Legislature’s first major deadline
Many policy ideas in the Washington Legislature met their end less than a month in, as they failed to pass the first key deadline on Wednesday to remain in play. Passage of those that survived is far from assured.

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review January 30 206

Aloha Beatles' Last Concert

On 30 January 1969, the Beatles performed a concert from the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row, in central London's office and fashion district. Joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, the band played a 42-minute set before the Metropolitan Police arrived and ordered them to reduce the volume. It was the final public performance of their career. (Wikipedia)

Legal fight over natural gas initiative crescendoes at WA Supreme Court
The 2024 ballot measure aims to ensure consumers maintain access to natural gas. Voters approved it, but opponents say it’s flawed and should be tossed out.

Augmented reality experience lets museum visitors 'swim' with orcas
A new exhibit titled Critical Distance, which opened Friday, lets visitors dive into the world of a 10-year-old J Pod orca dubbed Kiki.

Tumwater’s historic oak tree protected by court order
Community activists worked for more than a year and a half to protect a Garry oak tree in Tumwater, Washington, that the city estimates is 400 years old. A superior court judge ruled in late December that the city’s Historic Preservation Commission has the final word on what happens to the tree, not the city.

Who will pay to electrify North Coast LNG and mining projects? All of us, it turns out
Energy minister’s order could exempt North Coast transmission line customers from paying millions — and shift the cost to the rest of us.

America Officially Leaves the Paris Climate Agreement. For the Second Time.
As of Tuesday, the United States is no longer a party to the Paris agreement on climate change, becoming the only country in the world to abandon the international commitment to slow global warming.

Major Gorge energy development gets fed go-ahead
The hotly contested Goldendale Energy Storage Project, located near Goldendale, Wash., has been awarded a key 40-year construction and operations license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The decision comes after a five-year application process. Yakama Nation leaders continue to oppose pumped hydropower storage project in Klickitat County.

Federal judge ends oft-used exemption to environmental review for logging on federal land
A 34-year-old rule exempting some commercial logging projects on federal lands from environmental review is unlawful because it lacked statutory limits, a federal judge recently ruled.

Bruce Springsteen releases anti-ICE protest song ‘Streets of Minneapolis’
On Wednesday Bruce Springsteen released a protest song condemning the violence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis. The song wmemorializes the lives of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by federal agents this month.

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review January 23 2026

Aloha Pie Day.
National Pie Day was started in 1975 by Charlie Papazian, who later went on to found the Great American Beer Festival. He chose his birthday, January 23, as the day of celebration. (Pie Day is not to be confused with Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π. Pi Day is observed on March 14 since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant figures of π.)

Climate change is killing this PNW tree. In Europe they want to plant it
Western redcedars are declining at home, but they’re climate change winners in Central Europe’s changing climate.

Renewed calls for Moratorium as DFO approves more than 2k tons of herring harvest
Despite the declining numbers of herring, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada has approved more than 2,000 tons of herring to be taken from the Salish Sea this winter, an increase in the harvest rate from 10 per cent last year to 14 per cent in 2025.

Canada forecasts 2026 to be among the hottest years on record
The Government of Canada has released its annual global mean temperature forecast, providing early insight into expected global temperature conditions for 2026. Following record-breaking global heat in 2023 and 2024 and a comparably warm 2025, global temperatures are expected to remain at historically high levels.

Why WDFW is bringing eDNA project to Washington rivers
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun a wide-ranging study to catalogue all native, freshwater aquatic species found in every river and major drainage in the state. The Aquatic Biodiversity Study is the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, and possibly the nation.

Woodfibre LNG didn’t monitor salmon correctly. B.C. took 4 months to tell the public
The August monitoring lapse didn’t make it into public records until December. One advocate says Canada is spending millions on salmon restoration while B.C. is ‘approving destructive LNG projects that undermine all of that work.’

Testimony in legislative committees focuses on when a toxic tire chemical should be banned
While not exactly a chicken-or-egg debate, when it comes to regulating a deadly tire chemical, Washington state lawmakers are being called upon to decide what comes first in the effort to save salmon.

LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected, documents reveal
An issue with the Kitimat, B.C., facility’s flaring equipment has resulted in LNG Canada burning significantly more gas — and it could take three years to fix.

Friday, January 16, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review January 16 2026

Aloha Prohibition Friday
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919.

Knock, knock, who's there? UVic biologists identify unique sounds of 8 fish species
The researchers used an underwater microphone to eavesdrop on rockfish and other species near the community of Bamfield in Barkley Sound, on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

Billions at Stake in the Ocean as Trump Throttles Offshore Wind Farms
The Trump administration has repeatedly ordered work to stop on offshore wind farms along the East Coast, pushing at least two projects to the brink of collapse. Offshore wind developer prevails in court as Trump says the US ‘will not approve any windmills’ A federal judge ruled Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory.

Washington state pumps more tax dollars toward green jet fuel
Officials hope a new state-funded “accelerator” can tackle off-putting prices and other barriers to adoption of the fuel, which can reduce air travel emissions by 50-80%.

Study finds juvenile coho salmon at risk from deadly tire chemical
When it was first identified in 2020, the deadly tire chemical 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ) was seen mostly as a threat to adult coho salmon. Washington lawmakers to decide whether to ban a tire chemical shown to be toxic to salmon A new bill introduced to the Washington Legislature, now in session, would require tire manufacturers to reformulate the rubber in their tires to remove a chemical responsible for killing large numbers of coho salmon and other fish.

E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.

Court says Trump admin illegally blocked billions in clean energy grants to Democratic states
A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it canceled $7.6 billion in clean energy grants for projects in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

The Narwhal Is Suing the RCMP. Stakes Are High for Journalism
The judge’s ruling could reinforce the right of journalists to report from inside police ‘exclusion zones.’

2025 among world's three hottest years on record, WMO says
Last year was among the planet's three warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, as EU scientists also confirmed average temperatures have now exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming for the longest since records began.

Friday, January 9, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review January 9 2026

Aloha Apricot Friday!

The apricot (prunus armeniaca), a small, pitted fruit, is celebrated today with National Apricot Day. Apricots range in color from pale orange to dark saffron, often with a blush of pink or red, and have soft skin with a light fuzz, looking similar to small peaches. They have a short growing season and are delicate. They grow on small trees and have a sweet, tart flavor. There are several different varieties, with Blenheim being the most popular in the United States. Apricots are sometimes crossed with plums: apriums are 75% apricot and 25% plum, pluots are 75% plum and 25% apricot, and plumcots are half apricot and half plum.

Here’s how December’s floods will impact the environment
The floods that drenched western Washington and Oregon this month may be receding, but their environmental impact will reverberate for years, potentially affecting everything from returning salmon to oyster fisheries.

Nuclear power ventures heat up around Washington state
Washington is trying to become a hub for nuclear power. But instead of monster-size reactors, the state is now home to multiple ventures involving smaller reactors — all using technologies unheard of in the 1970s and 1980s.

$126M incentive program for zero-emission trucks nears launch in WA
Washington is close to opening a new incentive program for commercial fleet operators to transition trucks and other vehicles to models that run on electric or hydrogen power.

‘A new reality’: B.C. glacier collapse forces guides to confront risks of rapidly melting world
As glaciers in Western Canada retreat at an alarming rate, guides on the frontlines are not only witnessing the changes, but managing the hazards.

Drift logs destroying intertidal ecosystems in B.C., study finds
University of Victoria study found logs on the shores of B.C. are scraping away valuable food sources.
A new study by biologists at the University of Victoria has revealed why the simple back-and-forth motion of drift logs on B.C. beaches has destroyed critical ecosystems that keep the ocean healthy.

White House completes plan to curb bedrock environmental law
The Trump administration has finalized a plan to rescind regulations related to the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to consider a project’s possible environmental impacts before it is approved.

WA Dept. of Commerce corrects climate report data after error vastly overstates emission cuts
The department originally reported that 7.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced. The actual amount is around 78,000.