Earth Share of Washington - News

Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "The Habitat Puzzle"

By Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the September 21, 2005 edition of Wild Again

Several weeks ago, I was standing in an Edmonds backyard at dusk, watching for bats to emerge in the fading light. I turned toward the south, and my view of the sky was framed by the silhouettes of two tall fir trees that stood about 50 feet apart. It was a warm, clear night, and the sky that was visible in between the two trees w...Read the full story

September 28, 2005 | Comments Off

Biodiesel gathering steam

Fueled in part by high diesel prices and the twin hurricanes that pushed those prices even higher, the Washington Legislature may take its biggest step yet in promoting the biodiesel industry.

State leaders are considering direct state funding for a biodiesel crushing and refining facility in Eastern Washington -- a move that could help position Washington as a national leader in a once-obscure energy sector that's getting renewed attention.

Rep. Hans Dunshee, who chairs the powerful House Capital Budget Committee, said he has identified money that could build a 5-million-ga...Read the full story

September 28, 2005 | Comments Off

New proposed Habitat Conservation Plans threaten wildlife

Petitions increase burden on Fish and Wildlife Service

Timber companies, developers, local governments and others are seeking federal permission to nearly triple the 37 million acres that fall under the nation's controversial and underfunded habitat conservation program.

Of the 433 pending plans listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, most are in the West and South, where development and timber-cutting most frequently collide with endangered species, records obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer show.

In the Pacif...Read the full story

September 26, 2005 | Comments Off

State Senator Bob Morton honored as champion of historic solar bills

- By Marc Krasnowsky of Earth Share organization NW Energy Coalition

OLYMPIA -- Washington state Sen. Bob Morton (R-Orient) has been commended by the NW Energy Coalition for championing two landmark renewables bills passed during the 2005 legislative session.

SBs 5111 and 5101 provide tax incentives and credits for the in-state manufacture and use of solar and other small-scale energy systems. Together, they will attract solar electric corporations to the state, keep existing companies here and ...Read the full story

September 21, 2005 | Comments Off

Northwest Exposure Photo Contest deadline is October 10th

If you're an outdoor lover who never hits the trail without your camera, Washington Trails Association has just the contest for you!

Do you have a photo you think captures the beauty of Washington's stunning backcountry? Have a spectacular photo of a trail, mountain, or wilderness area? Then enter Washington Trails Association's third annual Northwest Exposure photo contest. The contest seeks to exhibit the splendor of Washington's wild areas while providing a forum for both aspiring and experienced nature pho...Read the full story

September 20, 2005 | Comments Off

Increasing orca population is a sign we can save the Sound

By Eric de Place of Northwest Environment Watch and Kathy Fletcher of People for Puget Sound, republished from a Seattle P-I Op-Ed

We are often besieged with bad news about the failing health of Puget Sound. Our inland waters are awash in toxics, sea bird populations are crashing and whole sections of Hood Canal become seasonal dead-zones.

With all the gloom and doom, it's easy to forget that, in many cases, we c...Read the full story

September 20, 2005 | Comments Off

$10 billion price put on Sound cleanup

Restoring Puget Sound to health could cost $10 billion, and it will take a public-relations campaign to persuade the public -- and Congress -- to make improving it a priority.

That was the message from about 50 state lawmakers, environmentalists and representatives from Congress, the governor's office and federal agencies who gathered in West Seattle yesterday to begin attempting a regionwide response to years of ecological change that some fear puts the overall health of the Sound in jeopardy.

"It's relatively easy to generate a lot of enthusiasm for Puget Sound in the shor...Read the full story

September 16, 2005 | Comments Off

Trust for Public Land Plan to Double Public Access in Puget Sound

Public beach areas are few and far between - Conservation group plans to boost number

Carving out a slice of sand on a public beach to enjoy lapping waves and salty sea air keeps getting harder. In the Puget Sound region, population growth continues to spur demand -- and drive up prices -- for prime waterfront property.

Only 16 percent of the shoreline around the Sound is publicly owned and accessible, according to a study to be released today by The Trust for Public Land. That number shrinks if you don't count beaches reachable only by boat.

...Read the full story

September 15, 2005 | Comments Off

South Seattle awash in PCBs

Tests show EPA cleanup left high levels of contaminants

New tests reveal surprisingly high concentrations of long-lived industrial chemicals spread much farther than previously thought at the site of an old asphalt plant next to the Duwamish River in South Seattle.

"Cleanup completed!" crowed a March 2000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fact sheet about the Malarkey Asphalt property in South Park. But it turns out that the EPA-supervised cleanup left PCBRead the full story

September 14, 2005 | Comments Off

Greenhouse emissions reduced by biodiesel

Berkeley reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 14 percent during the past two years with conservation measures that included running cars on vegetable oil, city officials said Monday.

The dramatic drop in carbon emissions apparently puts Berkeley at the forefront of a handful of cities that are legally committing themselves to reducing the pollution that many scientists have blamed for global warming.

"Berkeley's groundbreaking efforts to be a model environmental city are beginning to show dramatic results,'' said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

The city calculat...Read the full story

September 14, 2005 | Comments Off

Prices on hybrids coming down

Toyota hopes to cut hybrid premium in half

NEW YORK - The president of Toyota Motor says he has told his engineering chief to find a way to cut in half the price difference between fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrids and similar gasoline models.

Toyota's plans to slash the cost of building hybrids like the Prius should carry over to rivals.
Katsuaki Watanabe also said here Monday that Toyota will sell 1 million hybrid vehicles a year worldwide by early next decade, up from a planned 300,000 this year, about 60% in the Read the full story

September 13, 2005 | Comments Off

Saving salmon means change

Researchers will share ideas to save the species -- from river sanctuaries to smaller homes -- at the Salmon 2100 project

In an attempt to save Pacific salmon from extinction, the United States spends about $600 million a year in the Columbia River basin alone. In spite of this enormous effort, few wild-spawning populations will likely survive into the next century if current trends prevail.

That is the stark prediction of the majority of 30 university scientists, conservation advocates, lawyers and other experts taking part in a research project called Salm...Read the full story

September 12, 2005 | Comments Off

Organic food protects kids from pesticides, researchers say

A new study suggests that food choices are crucial to reducing children's exposure to pesticides.

While a handful of schools in Washington state have recently incorporated organic foods into their menus, the study results could help broaden support for such programs.

According to the study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a team of researchers from University of Washington determined that elementary school-aged children are exposed almost entirely throughout their diet to a class of pesticides known to have neurological effects.

When organic food wa...Read the full story

September 7, 2005 | Comments Off

Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "School Reunion"

By Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the September 7, 2005 edition of Wild Again

At 7:30 pm on August 26th, I was standing in Monroe looking up. A complex ballet was taking place in the sky above me. Hundreds of small, cigar-shaped birds were circling overhead, their crescent-shaped wings propelling them rapidly in the cool evening air. They appeared to be feeding as they circled, quickly switching directions t...Read the full story

September 7, 2005 | Comments Off

Endangered Species Act Under Fire

Joy West kneels amid alder trees and snowberry bushes near the banks of Seattle's Duwamish River, where native people have caught and eaten salmon since before the ancient Egyptians were building pyramids.

Painstakingly, West tugs out knots of an invasive weed called "stinky Bob" that has shown up and crowded out native Washington plants in recent decades. It smells like a musty combination of garlic and licorice.

Over the roar of trucks hauling gravel and gasoline and who-knows-what, West explains why she does volunteer work to keep the riverbank natural and help the threat...Read the full story

September 6, 2005 | Comments Off

On guard for orca: Who watches the watchers? The Marine Mammal Monitoring patrol

It looks like Tommy the Tugboat, but the M3 has a whale of a job.

On a late-summer sunny afternoon, the black-and-yellow Marine Mammal Monitoring patrol boat is bouncing through American waters off Washington state's San Juan Island.

Michelle Kehler scans the rolling water with her binoculars, making sure the commercial whale-watching boats, the Bayliners and the sailboats are adhering to Canadian and American whale-watching guidelines.

"It's a zoo out here," she says.

Members of J and K pods, the endangered southern resident killer whale population, are feed...Read the full story

September 5, 2005 | Comments Off

Foresight in the Age of the Storm

By Jamais Cascio of WorldChanging.com

In the age of climate disruption, clear-eyed foresight is a necessity -- but hurricane Katrina was a reminder that foresight means more than imagining the worst and preparing for it.

Katrina came as a surprise to few of its victims. The storm, which had been just a Category 1 when it crossed Florida, grew stronger over the warm ocean as it drew towards the Gulf Coast; in the age of real time satellites and doppler radar, residents of the region had ample warning that danger was coming. ...Read the full story

September 1, 2005 | Comments Off