Monthly News Archive:
February 2008
Table of Contents:
- Publishing Hiatus
- Building a Greener Washington
- 'Our last, best chance' to save Puget Sound
- Scientists fear 'tipping point' in Pacific Ocean
- Earth Saving Tips - "Let There Be (Fluorescent) Light"
- Snowpack makes water supply look solid
- National Park Service Passes Two Major Construction Milestones, Paving Way for Elwha Dam Removal
- Vehicle fuel efficiency is target of proposed tax
- One dam after another in Washington
- Navy Sonar Restrictions Back in Place
- Danger in the bike lane
- UW Study: Worrisome chemical found in kids
- Debris another culprit harming marine life in Puget Sound
- Car sharing could get tax reprieve
- Redmond Joins Green City Partnership Program
Publishing Hiatus
We are taking a little break from publishing news. Please bear with us as we are hiring for a new Communications & Technology Coordinator.
Stay tuned, we'll be back very soon!
The Earth Share of Washington Staff
...Read the full story
February 21, 2008
Add Comments...Building a Greener Washington
Bill orders firm steps to make state 'greener'
It targets miles driven, gases emitted, boosts earth-friendly jobs
After last-minute, closed-door deal-making that included arm-twisting by Gov. Chris Gregoire, the state House took a step Tuesday toward ushering in what some are calling the "sustainable revolution."
Brushing up against a deadline for bill passage, lawmakers approved legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide more "green economy" jobs. It would prepare the state for a regional climate initiative in which pollu...Read the full story
'Our last, best chance' to save Puget Sound
All eyes are on the Puget Sound Partnership, the new state agency viewed by many as the last chance for saving Puget Sound.
- Part 1: Toxic runoff silent killer - Formed by the 2007 Legislature, the partnership grew out of Gov. Chris Gregoire's call in December 2005 for action to cure what ails Puget Sound by 2020.
The challenge is a daunting one. The tasks include:
- Bringing about 40 threatened species -- from the mighty orca to the iconic chinook salmon -- back from the brink of extinction by restoring water qua...Read the full story
Scientists fear 'tipping point' in Pacific Ocean
Coast has seen deadly drop-off in oxygen levels for sea life
Where scientists previously found a sea bottom abounding with life, two years ago they discovered the rotting carcasses of crabs, starfish and sea worms, swooshing from side to side in the current. Most fish had fled -- and those that didn't or couldn't joined the deathfest on the sea floor.
Extraordinarily low oxygen levels were to blame -- swept up from the deep ocean into normally productive waters just off the Pacific Northwest coast by uncharacteristically strong winds.
On Thursday sci...Read the full story
Earth Saving Tips - "Let There Be (Fluorescent) Light"
Green tips are provided by Earth Share of Washington organization, Union of Concerned Scientists
A provision in the 2007 energy bill requires lightbulbs to be 30 percent more energy-efficient starting in 2012--a standard that will effectively phase out traditional incandescent bulbs. But why wait? Today's compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) already use 50 to 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. If every U.S. household replaced just one incandescent bulb with a Read the full story
Snowpack makes water supply look solid
There's a silver lining to those snow-filled clouds engulfing the Cascade Mountains.
The string of snowstorms in recent weeks has wreaked havoc with drivers, made it the state's mostly deadly avalanche year in more than two decades, and raised concerns of lowland flooding.
But it has brought cautious smiles to farmers, suppliers of drinking water and power companies running hydroelectric dams.
"We were really nervous in December, before Christmas, because the snowpack wasn't looking good. But with all the snow we've gotten, we're pretty excited," said Tom Monroe, ope...Read the full story
National Park Service Passes Two Major Construction Milestones, Paving Way for Elwha Dam Removal
Construction work has begun in earnest on the $24.5 million Port Angeles Water Treatment Plant, with excavation underway for two huge “clear well” tanks that will hold clean water during the final stages of chlorination.
A Notice to Proceed will be issued this month, giving the go-ahead to contractor Watts/DelHur AJV to begin constructing the $69.6 million Elwha Water Facilities project.
Combined, these two projects represent one of the largest contract awards in the history of the National Park Service.
“Thanks to years of...Read the full story
Vehicle fuel efficiency is target of proposed tax
Cars blamed for global warming; Eyman fires back
OLYMPIA -- Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, want car owners to warm to the inconvenient truth of cutting vehicle emissions.
And they're aiming for a place all drivers will feel it -- the pocket.
Senate Bill 6923 would impose a vehicle excise tax on all passenger vehicles based on EPA ratings of a cars' fuel efficiency. For example, the owner of a hybrid car such as, say, a Toyota Prius, would pay $60 in annual taxes, whereas t...Read the full story
One dam after another in Washington
The Black Rock reservoir project in arid Eastern Washington might be dead, but there are four more proposed dams where that came from. State lawmakers and two governors have helped keep hopes alive in an area where irrigation politics go all the way back to the New Deal.
Former U.S. Rep. Sid Morrison says that building the Black Rock Dam east of Yakima would create "an oasis in the desert," but the federal Bureau of Reclamation says it would create 16 cents worth of benefit for every dollar invested, so the project looks li...Read the full story
Navy Sonar Restrictions Back in Place
LOS ANGELES--A federal judge has rejected efforts by President Bush to bypass court-ordered restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper had previously imposed conditions on sonar use during Navy training exercises in California. The conditions were designed to protect whales and other marine mammals under two federal environmental laws.
In January, the president and his Council on Environmental Quality issued waivers designed to allow the training to go forward without the court's rest...Read the full story
Danger in the bike lane
Matt Corwin was pedaling home from work on his usual route when he approached the University Bridge. A line of cars waited at the red light, as Corwin cruised past in the bike lane.
As he reached the intersection, the light turned green. An SUV turned right -- into Corwin's path. Corwin squeezed his hand brakes. He stopped 2 feet from the SUV. The driver never saw him.
"I would have run into the side of his car, Corwin recalled. "It's not like he would have run over me. I probably would have bounced off. But still, it was p...Read the full story
UW Study: Worrisome chemical found in kids
When parents bring their babies to Seattle pediatrician Sheela Sathyanarayana, she usually tells them to use baby lotions and powders sparingly.
She's done that partly out of concern about phthalates -- chemicals that some scientists worry could disrupt children's physical development.
Now Dr. Sathyanarayana's suspicions that phthalates were in the products and entering children's bodies have been confirmed in a study she led at the University of Washington. The study found higher phthalate levels in babies whose parents used lotions, powders and baby shampoo shortly before ...Read the full story
Debris another culprit harming marine life in Puget Sound
Lost fishing gear, creosote pilings add to dangers
Lost fishing nets are deathtraps.
In a single week, a gillnet lost near the San Juan Islands killed: one harbor seal, 68 red rock and kelp crabs, 30 spiny dogfish sharks, 25 sockeye and five chinook salmon, 30 rockfish, 40 kelp greenlings, 90 flatfish, 110 spotted ratfish and 30 ling cod.
Creosote pilings are stealthier killers.
The chemicals that keep marine worms and other pests at bay are fatal to herring eggs. The saturated wood will leach its toxic chemicals for half a century, causing f...Read the full story
Car sharing could get tax reprieve
State looks at exemption, grants
OLYMPIA -- Now that Nobel Prize winner Al Gore has put global warming in the American zeitgeist, lawmakers are realizing an inconvenient truth: It might take cash incentives to get people out of their cars.
Incentive, in this case, will come in the form of a tax exemption or state grants and is intended to give car-share users reprieve from a car rental tax that was applied to all car-share programs in November.
"I don't think anyone -- other than the existing rental car companies -- have a c...Read the full story
Redmond Joins Green City Partnership Program
Redmond is the newest city to join the Cascade Land Conservancy’s (CLC) Green City Partnerships Program, the growing regional movement to recognize the need for a coordinated restoration effort of our forested parkland and greenbelts.
The Redmond City Council voted unanimously in December to approve a contract between Redmond and the Cascade Land Conservancy, creating the region’s fourth Green City Partnership.
“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Cascade Land Conservancy to increase the potential for community building, resource protection, and forest resto...Read the full story