Monthly News Archive:
February 2006
Table of Contents:
- Department of Ecology sees potent future in state for alternative fuels
- Washington's worst air is near ports
- Washington: the new Sunshine State?
- Measure targets major source of Puget Sound pollution
- Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Specialized Anatomy, Difficult Patients"
- Deal reached on Columbia River plan
- Earth Saving Tips - "What is your carbon footprint?"
- Salmon solution: $1 billion plan
- Washington farm bureau files land-use initiative
- A drive toward fewer cars in Seattle
- 2007 budget would revive funds for Hanford Cleanup
- U.S. given failing grade on improving oceans
- Washington Weather May Be Killing Seabirds
Department of Ecology sees potent future in state for alternative fuels
Biomass could satisfy half of energy needs
If all the organic waste generated in the state each year were converted to energy, it would meet 50 percent of the state's energy needs, according to a report released by the state Department of Ecology.
Included in the inventory of biomass is wood waste from mills, livestock manure, kitchen waste, food processing waste, crop residue and other byproducts.
Combined, the 45 sources total about 16.9 million tons of biomass capable of producing 1,770 megawatts of electricity, according to the report compiled by...Read the full story
February 27, 2006
Add Comments...Washington's worst air is near ports
From the courtyard in the middle of downtown Seattle's fancy Harbor Steps Apartments, there's little sign of the industrial giant nearby.
The space is an oasis of calm. A yoga studio beckons from one side, a coffee shop from another. Overhead, apartments rent for as much as $5,600 a month.
The huge red cranes at the Port of Seattle aren't even visible from here. But it's what's invisible that's the problem. The air in this part of Seattle, some of it wafting from mammoth cargo ships idling at the port, is some of the unhealthiest in the state and the entire nation.
Washington: the new Sunshine State?
Robust global demand for solar energy has some of Washington’s major manufacturing companies considering big expansion plans. It remains to be seen, however, whether a pair of much-touted state laws is enough to attract new solar-electric companies from outside of Washington.
Key challenges facing the Evergreen State are a global scarcity of solar-grade silicon and stiff recruiting competition from other states and countries. So in the near term, industry experts say big companies with an existing manufacturing presence in Washington and start-ups appear poised to benefit from the l...Read the full story
Measure targets major source of Puget Sound pollution
Environmentalists, industry back bill to protect Puget Sound
One of Puget Sound's oldest and most widespread pollution sources is the target of legislation scheduled for a key hearing today in Olympia. There, environmentalists and business interests are expected to be on the same side for once.
The legislation is designed to rein in broken septic systems that foul shellfish beds and create "dead zones" in marine waters. The bill was turned back last year in the face of criticism by septic-tank installers and business and construction interests.
But t...Read the full story
Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Specialized Anatomy, Difficult Patients"
By Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the February 15, 2006 edition of Wild Again
They arrived in early January after being found on the beach in Ocean Shores. In all, more than 60 Western Grebes and one Clark’s Grebe were brought to the PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for treatment. Although that number seems large, these individuals represented only a fraction of the total number of grebes that had...Read the full story
Deal reached on Columbia River plan
OLYMPIA -- The state House of Representatives approved an ambitious Columbia River management plan Monday night after lawmakers and Gov. Chris Gregoire agreed to pursue a 10-year, $200 million funding package for water storage, conservation and efficiencies.
House Bill 2860 was approved on a surprising 94-4 vote, an overwhelming tally given the historically controversial nature of writing state water law. The Senate is expected to take the bill up today.
"It'll be on the governor's desk by tomorrow night," Sen. Erik Poulsen, a Seattle Democrat and c...Read the full story
Earth Saving Tips - "What is your carbon footprint?"
Green tips are provided by Earth Share of Washington organization, Union of Concerned Scientists
Many of our daily activities affect the environment, but few people have stopped to consider the most important: their personal contribution to global warming. The fossil fuels we burn to satisfy our transportation and energy needs generate carbon dioxide (CO2), the heat-trapping gas primarily responsible for climate change. In fact, the average American generates 20 tons of CO2 every year—about the same amount as th...Read the full story
Salmon solution: $1 billion plan
The most expensive, far-reaching strategy for saving Puget Sound salmon ever devised is out for public scrutiny.
The voluminous Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan proposes doubling spending on salmon recovery -- a commitment of more than $1.1 billion in federal, state and local funds over the plan's first 10 years. The anticipated payoff: big jumps in chinook populations throughout the region.
"It's the first time I've been given reason to hope we can reverse the losses," said Curt Hoetling, a Whidbey Island resident and former Alaskan commercial fisherman.
"The work i...Read the full story
Washington farm bureau files land-use initiative
Property owners would be paid for restrictions
The Washington Farm Bureau filed an initiative Wednesday that would require governments to compensate landowners who've suffered financially or lost use of their land because of regulations passed in the past 10 years.
"Our ... initiative would require government to understand the impact that its laws and regulations have on landowners, both financial and personal," said Steve Appel, a Whitman County wheat grower and state Farm Bureau president. "Who can argue with that?"
In Seattle and other urban areas...Read the full story
A drive toward fewer cars in Seattle
There are other ways to get from A to B
Steep gas prices.
Flabby bodies cruising for diabetes and heart trouble.
Global warming.
Air pollution.
If the pitfalls of automobiles aren't already enough to make you think about chucking your car for other ways of getting around, consider the growth that is in store for Seattle.
In the next 19 years, the city expects 22,000 new housing units and 50,000 new jobs.
Assuming the same percentage of people continued driving alone to work, the city estimates it would have to build 20...Read the full story
2007 budget would revive funds for Hanford Cleanup
Hanford's vitrification plant would receive full funding for fiscal year 2007 under the budget proposal the White House gave to Congress on Monday.
Hanford was one of the few Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites nationwide to see an increase in its proposed budget. But with the restoration of the budget for the vitrification plant construction, funding for other work to protect the Columbia River was cut.
The proposed budget would spend $1.88 billion on cleanup and security at the Hanford nuclear reservation in fiscal year 2007. That's up from $1.75 billion this year, ...Read the full story
U.S. given failing grade on improving oceans
Seas are in 'serious trouble,' panel says in its report
WASHINGTON -- Two years after a blue-ribbon panel's recommendations for reversing the ocean's decline earned wide praise, the chairman of the panel Friday said the nation has made little progress and the effort suffers from a lack of urgency and money.
In the first report card since the recommendations were finalized, retired Adm. James Watkins, chairman of a commission created by President Bush, said progress has been painfully slow. Overall, he gave the efforts a grade of "D+...Read the full story
Washington Weather May Be Killing Seabirds
NEAH BAY, Wash. — The mass starvation deaths of murres on Tatoosh Island off the Olympic Peninsula may be due in part to unusual weather patterns along the West Coast, scientists say.
Last year didn't have the winds and currents necessary to maintain the network of marine food crucial to the seabirds' diet. Breeding failures during the summer were preceded by tens of thousands of birds washing up dead on beaches in Washington, Oregon and California.
In Washington, the state's largest colony of glaucous-winged gulls suffered when the normal fledge ...Read the full story
