Environmental News from Sightline Daily

Lower levels of oxygen in oceans, particularly off the Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change, scientists say.

If all goes according to plan, in a mere 30 years you might be able to ride a contiguous loop of bike paths around Lake Union, ride across the 520 bridge on your bike, and even ride all the way through Ballard on the Burke-Gilman trail without dodging cars and hopping train tracks.

Humpback whales have made a comeback along the California and Oregon coasts, where as recently as the early 1960s some 2,000 humpbacks were killed.

Imperium Renewables in Grays Harbor is once again producing biodiesel at the plant from regionally grown canola to meet demand from British Columbia and Oregon. The plant was temporarily closed due to an explosion.

The biggest transportation project in our region's history is rich in cash and poor in consensus. Local and state officials are split on basic design issues in the plan to replace the I-5 bridge to Vancouver with a 10-lane freeway and light rail bridge. So who is getting rich while the project drags on?

A rural county in northeast Washington is getting a bit of relief, courtesy of the state legislature and Seattle City Light. Lawmakers in Olympia are requiring the utility to pay compensation for the effects of a hydroelectric dam.

Environmentalists seeking to clean up Puget Sound may be on the verge of a major political victory, with a proposal to boost the state's hazardous-substances tax to deal with polluted stormwater gaining traction in the closing days of the legislative session.

Washington state has done it again, being the first state in the country to take a legal stand against a toxic chemical. The Legislature this week voted to phase out cooper in brake pads. It also finalized rules banning bisphenol A in baby bottles and sports bottles.

The West Coast is about to take part in the biggest roll out of electric cars and charging stations in the world. The first mass-market electric cars go on sale in the Pacific Northwest at the end of this year.

A new Google Maps feature, developed in Seattle, will offer bike-friendly directions to cyclists across the US -- routing them to trails, bike lanes and less-busy streets, and helping them avoid steep hills, freeways, and other potential problems.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently called on researchers and entrepreneurs to create "energy miracles" in order to come up with innovate ways to reduce carbon emissions. But it's unlikely those miracles will be coming out of Gates' hometown.

Environmental lobbyists dramatically reduced a proposed tax increase on toxic chemicals to try to win approval from Washington lawmakers. But the oil industry is still fighting the plan, which would help cleanup polluted stormwater.

Young members of Washington's Lummi Tribe are learning job and life skills through a three-year, $1.2 million US Department of Labor grant that is part of the federal stimulus package.

A US program pays $150,000 to workers with cancer because of radiation exposure at Hanford and up to $250,000 for illnesses caused by hazardous chemicals. But ill workers can find it overwhelming to gather the information needed for their claims.

Wildlife officials have tried to keep sea lions from eating Columbia River's endangered salmon, dropping under-water bombs and firing rubber bullets and bean bags. Now they are issuing death sentences to the most chronic offenders.

Last year Washington state received nearly $60 million in stimulus funds to make low-income homes more energy efficient. Contractors prepared for more business, and training programs scaled up to teach workers how to install insulation and repair leaky windows. But the anticipated windfall of jobs and work has been slow to arrive.

Majority Democrats in the Washington state Senate narrowly approved an $890 million tax package Sunday, setting the stage for a four-day sprint toward adjournment of their recession-plagued session.

Whatcom Community College students are already required to take classes that fit diversity, global and intensive-writing requirements. Next fall, another topic will be added to the list: sustainability.

It's imperative that the agencies, energy developers and people responsible for the sagebrush country of Oregon and the rest of the Great Basin do not consider the Interior Department's announcement not to list the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act a signal for business as usual.

The lonely heights of bridges have often been magnets for suicide but in few places are despairing jumpers in danger of themselves becoming deadly missiles, threatening pedestrians below. That's why next month Seattle will begin construction of a high barrier on both sides of the Aurora Bridge.