Monthly News Archive:
September 2004
Table of Contents:
- Russia backs Kyoto climate treaty
- Northwest women contaminated with toxic flame retardants
- Outlook fades for Northwest wilderness proposals in Congress
- Power shift: Wind now seen as a viable alternative energy source
- Puget Sound Energy buying wind-power farm
- Nisqually estuary might be restored
- Interview with Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth
- Earth Saving Tips - Cleaner, Greener Home Improvement
- Orcas' Song Fading?
- Protecting Our Oceans
- Prime Minister Tony Blair gives dire warning on climate
- Seattle acts to clean up waterways
- Hit the Trail, and Pack your Camera!
- Heart and Money: Finding an Socially Responsible Investment Advisor That's Right For You
- Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Stronger Than a Locomotive"
- Tribe works to restore tasty Olympia oyster
- Wilderness Act turns 40, and people are still arguing about it
- Why Hybrids Are Hot
- When 'Balance' Is Bias - Global Warming Coverage
- PCB levels result in fish warning
Russia backs Kyoto climate treaty
The Russian government has approved the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and sent it to parliament to be ratified.
Until now, Moscow has wavered over the treaty, which cannot come into force without Russian ratification.
The Kyoto Protocol sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists believe cause global warming and climate change.
Moscow's decision was greeted with delight by the European Union and environmental campaigners.
The necessary law on ratification is set to pass through the Russian parliament unhindered and, in...Read the full story
September 30, 2004 | 
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Northwest women contaminated with toxic flame retardants
Breastmilk study confirms needs for chemical phase-out; says breastfeeding still best for baby and mom
A new study of 40 mothers from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Montana found PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in the breastmilk of every woman tested. PBDEs--toxic chemicals widely used as flame retardants in furniture foams, industrial textiles, and consumer electronics--have been shown to have a wide range of health effects on laboratory animals. Overall, the levels of PBDEs in the study were 20 to 40 times higher than levels found in European...Read the full story
September 29, 2004 | Comments Off
Outlook fades for Northwest wilderness proposals in Congress
SPOKANE - The prospects for new wilderness protections in Idaho and Washington appear to be losing support.
The Sierra Club and 26 other conservation groups have withdrawn support for the proposed 300,000-acre Hemingway Wilderness near Idaho's Sun Valley.
A growing number of off-road vehicle recreationists are opposing that plan.
A proposal to designate the Wild Sky Wilderness in the Cascade Range northeast of Seattle also withered Wednesday in Congress.
And prospects are dimming this year for action on wilderness designation for the Owyhee canyonlands of Sou...Read the full story
September 28, 2004 | Comments Off
Power shift: Wind now seen as a viable alternative energy source
Eric Markell has been watching the wind blow for 25 years, hoping that someday it would heat homes and light buildings.
The wind's energy potential wasn't taken seriously until recently because it was too costly and unpredictable, said Markell, Puget Sound Energy's senior vice president of energy resources. Now with vast improvements in the reliability of wind technology, utilities are considering it as an alternative to traditional resources like hydroelectricity and natural-gas-fired generation in a major way.
PSE is paving the road, by announcing last week that it would p...Read the full story
September 27, 2004 | Comments Off
Puget Sound Energy buying wind-power farm
Puget Sound Energy plans to spend up to $300 million to buy a wind farm near Ellensburg, the first wind-power resource the Bellevue-based utility would own.
PSE says it will announce the deal today for the Wild Horse Wind Power Project in Kittitas County. The project is owned by Zilka Renewable Energy, a Houston-based company that develops wind farms.
The project is under review by the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. If approved, it could be completed in early 2006, said Eric Markell, senior vice president of energy resources at PSE.
Because wind ...Read the full story
September 24, 2004 | Comments Off
Nisqually estuary might be restored
Hundreds of acres of salt marshes and mud flats - drained and diked to create farmland more than 100 years ago - would be restored to benefit salmon and other aquatic life in a 15-year plan for Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
Refuge officials plan to break down most of the system of dikes that forms a barrier against Puget Sound and revive 699 acres of former estuary, where young fish feed and hide. A smaller dike would be built to protect the refuge headquarters, visitor center and more than 200 acres of freshwater wetland.
The move, which includes replacing a popular t...Read the full story
September 23, 2004 | Comments Off
Interview with Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth
Grist Magazine recently interviewed the President of Friends of the Earth (FOE), Brent Blackwelder. FOE is an Earth Share of Washington organization
Q: With what environmental organization are you affiliated?
A: I am president of Friends of the Earth.
Q: What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute "mission accomplished"?
A: Friends of the Earth is a national environmental organization celebrating our 35th anniversar...Read the full story
September 22, 2004 | Comments Off
Earth Saving Tips - Cleaner, Greener Home Improvement
Courtesy of Earth Share of Washington organization, Union of Concerned Scientists
Renovating your home is an opportunity to make your living space not only more beautiful and functional but also more energy-efficient and more conducive to good health. Here are some ways to "green up" your next home-improvement project.
Construction
Many remodeling materials contain toxic chemicals that have the potential to cause health problems and environmental damage. Consider these alternatives:
- Pain...Read the full story
September 21, 2004 | Comments Off
Orcas' Song Fading?
FRIDAY HARBOR - The job begins just after daybreak for David Bain, a University of Washington animal behavior expert.
Storm clouds and fog veil the sky as Bain, who has studied killer whales for more than 20 years, lifts his binoculars and scans the marine passage between the United States and Canada for black, upright fins that slice the surface.
Bain is among an international group of government-backed whale experts studying why some of the world's best-loved cetaceans appear to be dying out.
Washington's killer whales, or orcas, typically spend summers in and arou...Read the full story
September 20, 2004 | Comments Off
Protecting Our Oceans
by Steve McCormick, President & CEO of The Nature Conservancy
Land conservation defined The Nature Conservancy for much of our history. We built our reputation by buying threatened land, mostly in the United States, to safeguard species and natural communities. Eventually, we recognized the need to expand our focus and broadened our mission in the early 1990s to include protection of both lands and waters. But even then, our attention was devoted mostly to freshwater systems.
Ultimately, we realized that our mission compels us to address conservation of marine s...Read the full story
September 16, 2004 | Comments Off
Prime Minister Tony Blair gives dire warning on climate
The environment is again climbing the political agenda
Urgent action is needed now to combat the world's "greatest environmental challenge" - global warming, the prime minister has said.
The effects of climate change would be felt within a generation unless action was taken now, he warned.
In a key speech delivered on Tuesday, he said the world's richest nations had a responsibility to "lead the way".
Tory leader Michael Howard attacked Mr Blair's "fine words but no action", but some campaigners welcomed his stance.
Mr Blair pledged t...Read the full story
September 15, 2004 | Comments Off
Seattle acts to clean up waterways
Initiative relies more on cooperation than money
Stressing the need for the government and residents to work together, Mayor Greg Nickels yesterday announced a citywide initiative to clean up and restore Seattle's lakes, rivers and Puget Sound shoreline.
The plan strives to make local waterways more hospitable to fish, birds and bugs, in part by doing a better job of controlling and filtering polluted stormwater.
The Restore Our Waters initiative comes with no new funding, relying instead on a refocusing at City Hall on water-quality concerns and win...Read the full story
September 14, 2004 | Comments Off
Hit the Trail, and Pack your Camera!
The view was breathtakingly beautiful, picture perfect. Purple mountains punctuated with massive glaciers against a brilliant blue sky, with a sea of orange wildflowers in the foreground. What a picture this will make, you think. Click.
You were already imagining this picture hanging on your living room wall. But then the prints came back from the lab. You see dull, ordinary landscape shots, destined to end up in a drawer. What happened?
It's a common disappointment among hikers. The stunning vista you saw on your hike never quite comes out looking like the ...Read the full story
September 10, 2004 | Comments Off
Heart and Money: Finding an Socially Responsible Investment Advisor That's Right For You
Heart and money - these are words that don't usually appear in the same sentence, unless, of course, you happen to be speaking with a socially responsible financial advisor.
Many people want their investments to be consistent with their values; so many, in fact, that social investing has become a two trillion dollar industry. Over the past 20 years the field has grown organically, pushed forward by a grassroots movement of activists who have proved you don't have to wall off your heart to grow your money. Today, the full array of investment options is available for socially aware i...Read the full story
September 9, 2004 | Comments Off
Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Stronger Than a Locomotive"
by Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share of Washington member PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the September 7, 2004 edition of Wild Again
At 4 pm on August 30th, I was standing in the lobby of the PAWS Wildlife Center looking at a security monitor. A black-and-white image on the monitor showed a large cage with a water-filled pool set into the floor at the far end. While I watched, ripples appeared in the water and an adult River Otter broke the surface. As he climbed out to sit on th...Read the full story
September 8, 2004 | Comments Off
Tribe works to restore tasty Olympia oyster
SQUAXIN ISLAND -- The mud sucks at Brian Allen's hip boots as he walks across the beach, searching for the elusive Olympia oyster.
The tiny, tasty oyster once covered southern Puget Sound beaches like a white blanket, and played a starring role in local Indian tribes' diet and economy.
But pollution drove the Olympias to the brink of extinction during the 20th century.
Now the Squaxin Island Tribe is working to restore Olympias to their rightful dominance, both on the beaches and on their dinner tables.
Allen, a tribal shellfish biologist, liked what he saw o...Read the full story
September 7, 2004 | Comments Off
Wilderness Act turns 40, and people are still arguing about it
Few pieces of environmental legislation have had such far-reaching effects as the Wilderness Act, which observes its 40th anniversary today.
The federal act designated 9.1 million acres as wilderness, described by the bill's framers as land "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
More than anything else, the 1964 bill planted the concept in the American consciousness that wilderness has innate public value, that it contributes to the common good.
"What unfolded after the act's passage was...Read the full story
September 3, 2004 | Comments Off
Why Hybrids Are Hot
Have you seen gas prices? Purists can wait for hydrogen. The market can't
In today's business world, even the most mild-mannered middle manager is supposed to imagine himself as a would-be Robespierre. It's all about "radical" innovation and revolutionary products that will overturn the established order in a single violent paroxysm. In this "off with their heads" climate, a true revolution requires a total break from what came before. If an innovation smacks of the familiar, it's tagged with that most dismal of labels: incremental.
Consider, for instance, t...Read the full story
September 3, 2004 | Comments Off
When 'Balance' Is Bias - Global Warming Coverage
Top U.S. newspapers' focus on balance skewed coverage of global warming, analysis reveals
SANTA CRUZ, CA--Reporters and editors at four of the nation's top newspapers adhered to the journalistic norm of balance at the expense of accurately reporting scientific understanding of the human contributions to global warming, according to an analysis that appears in the current issue of the journal Global Environmental Change.
The new study, "Balance as Bias: Global Warming and the U.S. Prestige Press," examined coverage of human contributions to global warming in ...Read the full story
September 2, 2004 | Comments Off
PCB levels result in fish warning
Pikeminnow from Lake Washington shouldn't be eaten
Because of high contamination levels, people should stop eating one kind of fish from Lake Washington and limit consumption of two other species, health officials said in the first such advisory for the lake at the heart of the Seattle region.
The highest average level of PCBs ever recorded in fish in this state turned up in northern pikeminnow from Lake Washington, and people should stop eating them immediately, officials announced yesterday. Commonly known as a squawfish, the pikeminnow is considered a "tr...Read the full story
September 1, 2004 | Comments Off
