Monthly News Archive:
January 2006
Table of Contents:
- Washington State House OKs plants to spur biodiesel
- Proposal would cut salmon catch, close harmful hatcheries
- Coalition pushes to require more "green" energy in Washington
- 2 studies: Urban sprawl adds pounds, pollution
- Saltwater shores need protection, groups say
- Cutting greenhouse gas emissions will boost economy
- Washington state agencies seek ban on flame retardants
- Earth Saving Tips - New Year's Enviro-lutions
- The Nature Conservancy Celebrates 30 years in the Skagit
- Earth Saving Tips - In Praise of Green Carpets (and Rugs)
- Six Trails that will Give You Some Terrific Winter Hiking
- Whole Foods switches to renewable energy
- U.S., state settle suit over Hanford waste shipments
- Seattle Faces a Foe That's Mean, Green and Growing
- Feds back plan to save Sound's salmon
- Stories of a Wildlife Encounter - "Excluding Conflicts"
- People for Puget Sound's Kathy Fletcher tapped for Governor's Puget Sound Initiative
- We're back!
Washington State House OKs plants to spur biodiesel
OLYMPIA — Washington state's nascent oilseed industry would get an immediate $9 million boost under a package of emergency loans approved Monday by the House.
The money would fund four proposed crushing plants in Eastern Washington, where canola and other crops could be reduced to oil. The oil would later be blended with diesel fuel to create biodiesel.
Supporters say the crushers will help Washington leap ahead in production of both oilseeds and biodiesel, which burns cleaner than conventional diesel.
"A hundred years from now, it won't be ...Read the full story
January 31, 2006
Add Comments...Proposal would cut salmon catch, close harmful hatcheries
To save Northwest salmon, the Bush administration wants to focus on reducing the number of threatened and endangered fish being caught by U.S. and Canadian fishermen and closing hatcheries that are harming wild spawners.
James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, announced the new policy Wednesday at a meeting in Portland of salmon scientists, many of whom have concluded that only remnant runs of wild Pacific salmon will survive unless people make major changes in the way they live.
The announcement triggered ma...Read the full story
Coalition pushes to require more "green" energy in Washington
A coalition of environmentalist groups is hoping Washington voters will force electric utilities to make their energy more green.
The group, Washingtonians for Energy Security, said it will file an initiative Wednesday for the November ballot that would require medium and large-size utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, by 2020.
"It's time to really decide what our energy future is going to be in Washington state," said campaign chairman Bill LaBorde. "Is it going to be local, homegrown? Is it going to be pollution-free?"<...Read the full story
2 studies: Urban sprawl adds pounds, pollution
Residents of King County's less-walkable neighborhoods -- can you say sprawl? -- are more likely to be overweight, a recently completed study concludes.
Another related study has found, perhaps not surprisingly, that people who live and work in those neighborhoods generate more auto-related air pollution, another potential threat to health.
The two studies' findings are summarized in the winter edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Planning Association. The authors, who collaborated in their research, say their work constitutes the most comprehensive look yet ...Read the full story
Saltwater shores need protection, groups say
The City of Tacoma has failed to adequately protect critical fish and wildlife habitat along its shoreline, a coalition of environmental and growth management groups contends.
Citizens for a Healthy Bay, Tahoma Audubon Society, People for Puget Sound and Futurewise, formerly known as 1,000 Friends of Washington, have challenged the city’s new “critical areas� ordinance in a Jan. 13 petition to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board.
The groups claim city officials categorically excluded saltwater areas from the law adopted by the City Council in November, s...Read the full story
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions will boost economy
Two independent analyses say an effort, opposed by business, to cut greenhouse gases could be beneficial for California's economy.
The state's ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions could create tens of thousands of new jobs and dramatically boost the economy in coming years, according to two new independent analyses.
The reports, one led by economists at UC Berkeley, the other by a Washington think tank that emphasizes market solutions to environmental problems, agree with a draft version of a state plan released earlier this month and reject conce...Read the full story
Washington state agencies seek ban on flame retardants
It should be illegal to make or sell products that contain certain chemical flame retardants that are currently used in everything from televisions and computers to sofas and automobile seats, the state's environmental and public-health agencies announced Friday.
The State Department of Health and the Department of Ecology are urging state lawmakers to ban all trade in polybrominated diphenyl ethers, commonly called PBDEs, in response to a wave of recent research showing that they are accumulating in people and animals.
While the risk to humans is n...Read the full story
Earth Saving Tips - New Year's Enviro-lutions
These Earth Saving Tips are provided by Earth Share organization The Nature Conservancy, republished from their Great Places website
It has long been a tradition here at Great Places to make New Year’s resolutions. Each year we try and improve ourselves and the way we live... and some of our efforts even outlast the month. While most people’s resolutions focus on personal “goodness� and wellbeing, this month we mull over some ideas that not only make us better people, but improve ...Read the full story
The Nature Conservancy Celebrates 30 years in the Skagit
Reflections from the Conservancy' Skagit River program manager, Bob Carey
When The Nature Conservancy bought its first piece of land in the Skagit River valley some 30 years ago, people generally had a simple picture of conservation: Buy habitat lands and set them aside from most human use.
That kind of straightforward action has accomplished much over the years. Public lands have been protected in parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and other natural areas. Private organizations have played an important role. The Conservancy, often working in partner...Read the full story
Earth Saving Tips - In Praise of Green Carpets (and Rugs)
Green tips are provided by Earth Share of Washington organization, Union of Concerned Scientists
According to the Carpet and Rug Institute, carpet covers about 70 percent of the floors in U.S. homes and workplaces. This may not be surprising considering that carpet is relatively inexpensive, helps reduce noise, and is easy on the feet, but few people realize the environmental impact it can have over its lifetime.Carpet and rug manufacturing consumes large quantities of energy and water, and involves chemicals (e...Read the full story
Six Trails that will Give You Some Terrific Winter Hiking
Hiking recommendations are provided courtesy of Earth Share organization Washington Trails Association, working to preserve, enhance, and promote hiking opportunities in Washington state through collaboration, education, advocacy and trail maintenance.
With the high country likely to be socked in with snow for the next several months, many Washington hikers are finding themselves with an unmistakable case of the winter blahs. Get out your hiking boots (and an extra warm pair of wool socks) and get ready to c...Read the full story
Whole Foods switches to renewable energy
Whole Foods Market, the American health food giant which is opening a flagship store in London next year, has become the first major US company to convert all of its energy to green sources.
The move will cut carbon dioxide emissions by the same amount as taking 60,000 cars off the road for a year or planting 90,000 acres of trees to absorb the gas, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Whole Foods, the largest health food chain in America, has chosen wind power as its preferred source of renewable energy but cannot link its system directly to wind farms because they ...Read the full story
U.S., state settle suit over Hanford waste shipments
Energy Dept. won't send any material until new impact statement is done
YAKIMA -- Washington state and the U.S. Energy Department have agreed to settle a lawsuit challenging out-of-state shipments of radioactive and hazardous waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the two sides announced Monday.
The agreement appears to end a two-year court battle between the state and federal government over proposed waste shipments to the site.
As part of the agreement, the Energy Department will prepare a new ...Read the full story
Seattle Faces a Foe That's Mean, Green and Growing
English ivy is invading the city's land. Some people are fighting back.
SEATTLE -- For the last three years, Chris LaPointe has waged war against an enemy that he believes threatens much of the Pacific Northwest, and he has recruited an army to join his side. He needs all the help he can get.
The enemy is almost supernaturally hardy: It resists poisons, can withstand extreme temperatures and can survive most efforts at cutting it to pieces.
The enemy is English ivy, a nonnative leafy vine that scientists say threatens...Read the full story
Feds back plan to save Sound's salmon
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration has tentatively endorsed a 10-year, $1.2 billion plan developed by a coalition of local groups to rebuild dwindling chinook salmon runs along Puget Sound.
After a six-month internal review, the National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on the recovery plan that covers 14 watersheds along the Sound, including the Nisqually and Puyallup rivers.
"This plan is certainly unusual – if not unique – in that it was generated almost totally from the local level," said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the fishe...Read the full story
Stories of a Wildlife Encounter - "Excluding Conflicts"
By Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the December14, 2005 edition of Wild Again
About three months ago, I moved into a rental house in Edmonds that has a very wildlife friendly yard. The property contains several large fir and cedar trees, many rhododendron bushes, an apple tree, ferns, and other native vegetation. The “lawn� on this property consists mainly of mosses, and no chemicals are ever used on it. Bird baths in the fron...Read the full story
People for Puget Sound's Kathy Fletcher tapped for Governor's Puget Sound Initiative
Kathy Fletcher chosen to join Puget Sound Partnership
On December 19, 2005 Gov. Gregoire announced her major initiative to protect Puget Sound. The initiative proposes a $42-million spending package to the 2006 Legislature. She will also lead an advisory council of accomplished Washingtonians in a major initiative to accelerate protection and restoration of Puget Sound and Hood Canal.
Gov. Gregoire has recruited the “best and the brightest� to join the adviosry council called the Puget Sound Partnership to make high-level recommendations on a comprehens...Read the full story
We're back!
We apologize for the lapse in reporting over the past month. We recently switched our web hosts and combined with the fact that our office was closed over the holidays, we have been unable to get our Northwest Environmental News website up and running again, until now.
Expect daily updates to resume, starting today.
Happy New Year from the staff of Earth Share!
...Read the full story