Earth Share of Washington - News

Cascadia Scorecard urges more efficient use of energy

Clean energy key to security, reports Cascadia Scorecard 2005

The Pacific Northwest’s energy system—including its oil and natural gas pipelines, and electricity transmission lines—is highly insecure, reported Cascadia Scorecard 2005, an annual report released today by Seattle-based Northwest Environment Watch (NEW) that tracks seven key trends critical to the region. The report found that the Northwest is reliant on a few gas and oil pipelines that are almost impossible to secure against determined attackers; that the region’s energy efficiency stagnated in 20...Read the full story

February 24, 2005 | Comments Off

Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Preventable Predation"

by Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share of Washington member PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the February 23, 2005 edition of Wild Again

On February 3rd, 2005, a female Pine Siskin sat alone in a cage at the PAWS Wildlife Center. A card on the door of her cage identified her as “case #05-0063”. At this time of year, the small, finch-like bird should have been surrounded by others of her kind; moving from place to place i...Read the full story

February 23, 2005 | Comments Off

Pumped up about cleaner fuel

More drivers are learning about alternative biodiesel

Biodiesel is all around us — in our ferries, buses, garbage trucks, passenger cars, tractors, Army trucks, sailboats and more — yet surveys show that only one in four people knows about this alternative, non-toxic fuel made from vegetable oil.

But biodiesel is poised for liftoff, and more people are discovering its benefits. About 30 million gallons of biodiesel was produced and used in the United States last year — a sixfold increase in just five years.

The fuel runs in diesel e...Read the full story

February 22, 2005 | Comments Off

Another try for Wild Sky bill

Legislation to create the wilderness area in eastern Snohomish County is expected to pass the U.S. Senate, but it then heads to the House, where it has died twice before.

For the third time in three years, a key U.S. Senate committee has approved legislation that would permanently protect 106,000 acres of Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in eastern Snohomish County.

The bill that would create the Wild Sky Wilderness will now go to the full Senate, where it has been approved twice before. It is expecte...Read the full story

February 18, 2005 | Comments Off

Seattle dreams of 'green' team

Mayor urging other U.S. cities to enact Kyoto Protocol

The U.S. government may have turned its back on the Kyoto Protocol, but Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said yesterday he plans to spearhead a city-by-city effort to implement the climate-protection measures that went into effect in more than 100 other countries yesterday.

Energy converts in Seattle doing their part

Nickels said he is gathering support from mayors in other cities and plans to build a “green” coalition of his counterparts ...Read the full story

February 17, 2005 | Comments Off

Kyoto Protocol comes into force

The Kyoto accord, which aims to curb the air pollution blamed for global warming, has come into force seven years after it was agreed.

The accord requires countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Some 141 countries, accounting for 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012.

But the world’s top polluter - the US - has not signed up to the treaty.

The US says the changes would be too costly to introduce and that the agreement is flawed.Read the full story

February 16, 2005 | Comments Off

Region needs to plan for droughts, researchers say

Area suffered severe dry spells in past 250 years — and will again

The low snowpack in the Cascade Range is raising the specter of water shortages this summer, but a new study of tree-ring data indicates the Northwest has endured far worse droughts over the past 250 years — and is likely to again.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association, said the region endured six multiyear droughts between 1750 and 1950, including one that started in the 1840s and lasted for 12 years.

The authors — Dave Pete...Read the full story

February 15, 2005 | Comments Off

Romancing the Trail

Hiking Recommendations courtesy of Earth Share organization Washington Trails Association

Love it or hate it, it’s February. For some, the month of Valentines Day means dinner by candlelight and champagne. For others, a thermos of hot chocolate and… hiking boots!

The outdoors can be a very good place to spark some romance. Secluded hot springs, cascading waterfalls, dramatic vistas, enchanted forests… Washington’s great outdoors are dreamy, sometimes steamy, and definitely enhance the romance.

February 14, 2005 | Comments Off

NASA: 2005 could be warmest year recorded

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.

While climate events like El Nino — when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean — affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part.

“There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing gr...Read the full story

February 14, 2005 | Comments Off

Earth Saving Tips - Saving Energy in the Kitchen

Courtesy of Earth Share of Washington organization, Union of Concerned Scientists

Reheating a slice of pizza or preparing dinner for your family? You might have several appliances available in your kitchen that can handle both of these tasks, but which one you choose—and how you use it—can have a significant impact on your energy consumption.

The energy consumed by electric appliances is measured in watts. The energy consumed by gas appliances is measured in British thermal units or Btus; one Btu is equal to approximately 0.293 w...Read the full story

February 14, 2005 | Comments Off

Hanford waste treatment plant under way

Construction has started on a test plant that could be turning radioactive waste at Hanford into glass by the end of the year.

“We’re not talking about laboratory or bench scale quantities of low-activity tank waste, but vitrifying up to 300,000 gallons of treated tank waste,” said Roy Schepens, manager of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection.

He spoke at a ceremony Wednesday at Hanford to mark the start of construction at the bulk vitrification pilot plant.

Two years ago, DOE and regulators began dis...Read the full story

February 11, 2005 | Comments Off

Coral concerns spur vast trawling ban

Commercial fishing nets that drag the sea floor will be banned from more than a half-million square miles of ocean near the Aleutian Islands under a government plan to protect the deep-water corals and sponges that help nurse Alaska’s fishing grounds.

In what easily will be the largest trawl-fishing ban in the United States, the governing body that oversees commercial fishing in the North Pacific yesterday proposed a whole new approach to protecting the rocky, colorful seafloor habitat. Scientists believe the coral may help incubate a fertile fishing area that helps supply a s...Read the full story

February 11, 2005 | Comments Off

The Mercedes Wrangler is riding the eco-range

[By Larry Gallagher, Special to SF Gate]

You will know him by his smell, that cloying, almost-familiar odor of french fries gone wrong, a smell that can pique and puncture your appetite in the same instant. He’ll be wearing the same outfit — black leather jacket, T-shirt, blue jeans — but he’ll be driving a different car every time you see him, a different turbocharged Mercedes Benz diesel from the early Reagan years.

His saddlebag is light, ...Read the full story

February 10, 2005 | Comments Off

Have YOU ratified the Kyoto Protocol?

_By Alan Durning, Executive Director of Northwest Environment Watch, originally published in the Cascadia Scorecard Weblog

On Wednesday, February 16, the Kyoto Protocol will come into effect, mandating participating nations to reduce their emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases. Canada has ratified Kyoto. The United States has not.

Have you?

Not literally, of course. Individuals can’t sign international treaties. They can, however, pledge to match its goals ...Read the full story

February 09, 2005 | Comments Off

Electronics designers find it's not easy being green

Before the Panasonic SD Video Camera was born, designers planned for its death.

When the $400 camera wears out and can no longer record video, play music or take photos, Panasonic engineers want it to do one final thing: be easy to get rid of.

So it has no lead, no mercury and no brominated flame retardants — all hazardous substances that make consumer electronics such as personal computers, digital cameras and televisions dangerous to bury in landfills and difficult to recycle.

The camera’s aluminum casing can be smelted and made into other products. When its ...Read the full story

February 07, 2005 | Comments Off

Sunny days dry up hopes for an end to drought conditions

Another day of shirtsleeve weather quickened the growth of daffodils and made the crocuses glow Tuesday, but it will darken the hopes of power managers hoping for an end to yet another winter drought.

January marked the third consecutive month in Longview with sharply below normal rainfall. The city recorded an official total of 3.6 inches during the month, about 60 percent of average.

Since Nov. 1, the city has received only about half its normal rain.

“January was a miserable month,” said Oregon State Climatologist George Taylor, who is based in Corval...Read the full story

February 03, 2005 | Comments Off

Essential reading

Want to know how to keep your finger on the pulse of Northwest environmental news? Well, continue visiting the Earth Share of Washington website, of course. However, since we can’t possible feature all of the environmental news that happens every day, we’ve compiled an essential reading list of websites — most of the weblogs, most updated daily (in alphabetical order):

Cascadia Scorecard Weblog
http://cascadiascorecard.typepad.com/blog/
The Cascadia Scorecard Weblog is ...Read the full story

February 01, 2005 | Comments Off