Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia japonica) drinking sap from tree bark in Japan. Alpsdake/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA
By Akito Y Kawahara
Editor's note: According to recent press reports, two Asian giant hornets – a species not known to occur in North America – were found in northwest Washington state in late 2019, and a hornet colony was found and eliminated in British Columbia. Now scientists are trying to determine whether more of these large predatory insects are present in the region. Entomologist Akito Kawahara explains why headlines referring to "murder hornets" are misleading.
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/akito-y-kawahara-739749" target="_blank">Akito Y Kawahara</a> is an Associate Professor and Curator of Insects at Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.<br/></em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Akito Y Kawahara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-asian-giant-hornets-and-are-they-really-dangerous-5-questions-answered-137954" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>
1. How Common Are These hornets in Asia, and How Much Alarm Do They Cause?
<p>The Asian giant hornet (<em>Vespa mandarinia</em>) is fairly common in many parts of Asia, where it is called the "Giant hornet." Growing up in Japan, I saw them relatively frequently in the mountains outside of Tokyo.</p><p>These insects are large and distinctive, with a characteristic orange head and black-banded orange body. Like any other social wasp, they will defend their nest if the colony is disrupted. But in most cases they will not do anything if people aren't aggressive toward them.</p><p>Giant hornets have longer stingers than a honeybee's, and hornets do not break off their stingers when they sting. Because hornet stingers can puncture thick clothing, people should avoid hornets and their nests whenever possible.</p><p>Giant hornets frequently are attracted to tree sap: I was stung by one when I was looking for butterflies on trees. The sting is painful, but the swelling and pain in most cases subside in a few days.</p><p>Just as with honey bee stings, an allergic reaction, or anaphylaxis, can occasionally put people in the hospital. In rare cases, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bee-stings/symptoms-causes/syc-20353869" target="_blank">severe reactions can become fatal</a>. But wasp and hornet stings killed <a href="http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~vespa/vespa0562.htm" target="_blank">less than 13 people a year in 2017 and 2018 in Japan</a> – less than 0.00001% of the national population – in a country where many people spend time in the woods.</p><p>If you are allergic to bee and wasp stings, it is best to avoid getting close to these insects and their nests, wear white clothing outdoors (they are attracted to dark colors), and avoid carrying open-top sweet drinks such as sodas in the woods.</p>
2. Are You Surprised That the Hornets Have Appeared in North America?
<p>To some degree, yes. Most likely, a single, fertile queen hornet entered Canada via shipping packaging and created the colony that was discovered in 2019.</p><p>It's easy for invasive species to travel this way. More than 19,000 cargo containers <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/policing-americas-ports-108008881/" target="_blank">arrive daily at U.S. ports</a>, and inspectors can only do random searches of shipping containers. One estimate suggests that just <a href="https://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2001/nc_2001_haack_004.pdf" target="_blank">2% of shipments</a> are searched for evidence of harmful organisms such as plant pests. Many invasive species are intercepted, but some do get through.</p><p>It's very unlikely that an entire colony of hornets was transferred to North America. Colonies of this hornet are often large, and the hornets would be visible and potentially aggressive if their nest were disturbed.</p><p>A genetic test indicated that one of the hornets found in Washington was <a href="https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/05/06/murder-hornets-invade-headlines-not-us" target="_blank">not related to the Canadian colony</a>, but those results have not been published or peer reviewed. The Giant hornet has not been found in 2020 in either the U.S. or Canada.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3OTM0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjY1MzYxMX0.r_Wa-PDa8oNFiB_ociakQHDhDnjSqAmc7nVin0-0FYQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="f4562" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cdc146b7493cb5256374321f9336ca5d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Four wasp and hornet species often confused with the Giant hornet. Upper left: European hornet (Vespa crabro). Upper right: Common aerial yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria). Lower left: European paper wasp (Polistes dominula). Lower right: Baldfaced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). gailhampshire (upper left), Gilles Gonthier (upper right), Judy Gallagher (bottom images), all via Flickr, CC BY
3. What Kind of Conditions Do These Insects Need to Live?
<p>Giant hornets are fairly common in mountainous regions of Asia, but they're not often seen in large cities or highly urbanized areas. They usually nest at the base of large trees and inside dead logs. The fact that they can't tolerate extremely hot or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25008806" target="_blank">cold temperatures</a> makes it unlikely that they would spread to very hot or cold areas of North America.</p><p>If active colonies are discovered in 2020 in the Pacific Northwest, which has a more temperate climate, it's possible that they could spread there. However, it is unlikely that this would happen quickly, as foraging ranges of <em>Vespa</em> are only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185172" target="_blank">about 2,300 feet (700 meters) from their nest</a>.</p><p>The key to prevent spread is surveillance. Anyone in the Pacific Northwest should be alert for Giant hornets while they are outdoors this summer and fall.</p>4. If More Hornets Are Found, Could They Threaten Honeybees and Other Pollinators?
<p>Possibly. Some media posts have described destruction of honeybee nests by what could have been Giant hornets, but honeybees are not these insects' only prey. The hornets feed on different kinds of insects, and bring captured dead prey back to their hive to feed to their young.</p><p>In Japan, beekeepers surround their hives with <a href="https://shop.r10s.jp/diokasei/cabinet/suzume/imgrc0068904247.jpg" target="_blank">wire screen nets</a> to protect them from hornets. North American beekeepers can replicate these with wire netting from local hardware stores.</p><p>Many honeybees in Asia have the ability to protect their hive from intruding Giant hornets by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.033" target="_blank">scorching them</a>. They wait for a hornet to enter their nest, then mob it by surrounding it completely with their bodies. Each honeybee vibrates its wings, and the combined warming of honey bee bodies raises the temperature in the center of the cluster to 122 degrees F (50 degrees C), killing the hornet. Carbon dioxide levels in the nest also increase during this process, which contributes to the hornet's death.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="21f08ef1a03946a68aa8e913227b5eb8"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/awoV5Wj9Iys?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awoV5Wj9Iys#action=share" target="_blank">youtu.be</a></p>
5. Are News Stories About “Murder Hornets” Overreacting?
<p>Yes, very much so. In parts of Japan, people consider these hornets beneficial because they remove pests, such as harmful caterpillars, from crops. They are also thought to contain nutrients, and have been used as ingredients in <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/the-japanese-tradition-of-raising-and-eating-wasps" target="_blank">Japanese food and some strong liquors</a>. Some people believe the hornets' essence has medicinal benefits.</p><p>People who live in Vancouver, Seattle or nearby should certainly take note of what these insects look like. They are 2 inches long or more, with a <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/asian-giant-hornets" target="_blank">3-inch wingspan</a>, and have distinctly orange heads and broad striped orange and black-banded abdomens. That's different from typical North American hornets, which have yellow or white bodies with black marks.</p><p>In the unlikely case that you see a Giant hornet in Washington state, do not try to remove nests yourself or spray hornets with pesticides. Cutting down trees to prevent nesting sites is also unnecessary, and can affect many other kinds of native wildlife, including beneficial insects that are needed for pollination and decomposition. Many native insects are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-025151" target="_blank">declining globally</a>, and it's important to make sure these insects are not affected.</p><p>Instead, take a photo from a distance and report it to the <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" target="_blank">Washington State Department of Agriculture</a>. Photos are essential to verify that identifications are accurate.</p><p>Consider also uploading your images to <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a>, which is one of the primary sources for information on tracking wildlife. The images are archived and carry data, such as location, time of observance and the insect's morphological features, that scientists can use for research. </p>From Your Site Articles
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Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and other leaders speak to the press on March 28, 2020 in Seattle. Karen Ducey / Getty Images
Washington State has seen a slowdown in the infection rate of the novel coronavirus, for now, suggesting that early containment strategies have been effective, according to the Seattle NBC News affiliate.
<p>While Seattle was the early epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., the number of deaths and positive cases there has started to slow down. The number of positive COVID-19 cases continued to rise — however, slower than in other states — as there 568 new cases on Sunday, bringing the state's total to 4,896, with a death toll of 195, up six from Saturday, according to <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/coronavirus-daily-news-updates-march-30-what-to-know-today-about-covid-19-in-the-seattle-area-washington-state-and-the-nation/" target="_blank">The Seattle Times</a>. </p>
<p>While 37 of the first 50 coronavirus deaths happened in Seattle, the state has kept its streets empty, its businesses shuttered, and its hospitals from being overwhelmed. Statistical models have shown state officials that the virus is decreasing its spread recently. The model showed that each infected person was spreading the virus to an average of 2.7 other people earlier in March, but that number appears to have declined down 1.4, according to one projection, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/us/seattle-washington-state-coronavirus-transmission-rate.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>"It's a small reduction in the rate of increase, but a glimmer of hope," Gov. Jay Insee said, as the Seattle NBC News affiliate reported. "[I]f you look at the line you have some slight reduction in the rate of acceleration, the curve. And we've all heard about turning down the curve." </p>
<p>The new data and new projections were put together by the Institute for Disease Modeling, a private research group in Bellevue, Wash., that has been watching a variety of data points since the onset of the outbreak. While the initial projections are positive, officials exercised an abundance of caution before expressing optimism, since the data is slightly uncertain, according to The New York Times. Expansive social distancing will continue for some time. </p>
<p>Officials in Washington State first began to ask residents to keep their distance from one another at the end of February. That is when they learned several people had the virus in the Seattle area with no known exposure or history of foreign travel. That was followed by an outbreak at a suburban nursing home, which led to dozens of deaths, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>"We made a huge impact — we slowed the transmission," Seattle's mayor, Jenny Durkan, said in an interview, as The New York Times reported. However, she was clear that lifting restrictions would cause the number of cases to rise quickly. She predicted that social distancing in one form or another will continue for several months. </p>
<p>"There is evidence that doing the aggressive measures can have a benefit," Inslee said in an interview, as The New York Times reported. </p>
<p>Inslee has heard from some residents that the actions taken to reduce the spread of coronavirus, including the stay-at-home order, are overly restrictive, damaging to the economy and not necessary. </p>
<p>"We are only in the first two weeks and people need to understand that order may need to be extended," he said, as the <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/a-glimmer-of-hope-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/281-5269288d-9fe8-4ee6-a2a4-1d5f4f29c836" target="_blank">Seattle NBC News</a> affiliate reported. "We cannot allow this virus to be slowed, then spring back upon us. We've got to pound it and pound it 'till it's done."</p>
<p>The governor added that the way for the economy to recover— including reopening the bars, restaurants, hair salons, construction sites and other day-to-day business — is to get rid of the virus.</p>
<p>"There's no way we can have an economy and have it ravaging us for years," according to the <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/a-glimmer-of-hope-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/281-5269288d-9fe8-4ee6-a2a4-1d5f4f29c836" target="_blank">Seattle NBC News</a> affiliate.</p>
<p>"It would be grossly irresponsible to stop these measures now," Mr. Inslee said as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/us/seattle-washington-state-coronavirus-transmission-rate.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
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Spider excavators remove on dam on San Juan Creek in California's Cleveland National Forest. Julie Donnell / USFS
Removing one gigantic dam can have a massive effect on restoring a river ecosystem.
<p>But bringing down more than 80 smaller dams? That can also cause a transformation.<em></em><span class="redactor-selection-marker" id="selection-marker-1"></span></p>
<p>This spring the Forest Service, aided by U.S. Marine Corps members, will blast apart 13 more dams in the <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/cleveland/recarea/?recid=47402" target="_blank">Trabuco ranger district</a> in Southern California's Cleveland National Forest.</p><p>It's the last phase of a groundbreaking project that began more than five years ago to remove a total of 81 dams from four streams in the mountains of Orange County.</p><p>"Nobody's really taken on a project this large and with this many partners and methods," says Forest Service fish biologist Julie Donnell, who's been working on the project.</p><p>The mammoth undertaking is designed to help boost populations of native aquatic species — most importantly Southern California steelhead (<em>Oncorhynchus mykiss</em>), which are federally listed as endangered.</p>
<p>It may also be a crucial learning tool due its sheer scope. Last year an estimated 90 dams were removed across the country, and nearly a quarter of those were in the Cleveland National Forest. That makes what's happening in California the place to watch as organizations plan for other multi-dam removal efforts around the country.</p><p>"Looking at what the Forest Service did is a really smart way for other agencies to begin to think about their infrastructure," says Serena McClain, the director of river restoration at the nonprofit American Rivers, which <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/2020/02/record-number-of-states-26-remove-dams-in-2019/" target="_blank">tracks dam-removal efforts</a>. "The Forest Service is showing that the federal government can lead on this and demonstrate the possibility for the private sector and municipalities."</p><p>In addition to the work in the national forest itself, the ecological success of the project hinges on a downstream effort to remove two more barriers that prevent steelhead from reaching the forest as they migrate from the ocean.</p><p>The two projects have brought together a diverse, and unlikely, coalition of transportation departments, federal agencies, environmental nonprofits, local governments, and even the U.S. Marine Corps to help complete an ocean-to-headwaters restoration of more than 35 miles.</p><p>"This addresses one of the major threats to endangered southern steelhead," says Sandra Jacobson, the South Coast regional director of <a href="https://caltrout.org/" target="_blank">California Trout</a>, which is leading the downstream effort. "Once you open up the rivers, it allows a tremendous change in the accessibility of steelhead to their historical habitat so that they can go in and reproduce."</p>
A Group Effort
<p>Large dam removals, like those on the <a href="https://therevelator.org/klamath-dam-science/" target="_blank">Klamath River</a> in California and Oregon, or the <a href="https://therevelator.org/save-southern-resident-killer-whales-extinction/" target="_blank">hotly debated Snake River dams</a> in Washington, get lots of media attention. But smaller dam removals are quietly happening all across the country.</p><p>In the past 20 years around 1,100 dams have been removed in the United States — many of them aging, unsafe structures that had outlived their usefulness.</p><p>That's the story in the Cleveland National Forest, too.</p><p>Not a lot is known about the early history of the dams there, but most were likely built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a public work program started to help Americans rebound from the Great Depression, says Kirsten Winter, a biologist in the Cleveland National Forest who has spearheaded the dam-removal project. It's not unusual for dams to be built in national forests, but this high a concentration of small dams may be a regional phenomenon in Southern California forests.</p><p>Most of these original dams would likely have washed away over time, but in the Cleveland National Forest, Orange County increased the size of the dams using native rock and mortar from the 1940s through the mid-1970s. Gates were lowered in the spring and raised in the fall to control the flow of the rivers. The impounded water was used mostly for fish stocking and recreation and was also available for fire suppression.</p><p>But eventually, Winter says, the dams aged, and the county got tired of maintaining them. Many washed out in storms. A few were removed in the 1980s by the county, and the gates were taken out of the remaining dams. Most fell back under Forest Service jurisdiction.</p><p>In recent years it became clear that some of the dams posed safety hazards and impeded fish migration. As part of a federal recovery effort to recover populations of endangered southern steelhead, a plan was developed to remove the 81 dams in the San Juan watershed on Upper San Juan Creek, Trabuco Creek, Holy Jim and Silverado Creek.</p><p>Projects of this scope require environmental assessments under the National Environmental Protection Act. Because the Forest Service had the forethought to take a watershed view of the project from the get-go they only needed to complete <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/93703_FSPLT3_1606568.pdf" target="_blank">one environmental assessment</a> for the removal of the whole kit and caboodle, which helped make the permitting process more efficient.</p><p>With that in place, the dam-removal work began in December 2014. The project has a $1.2 million price tag, but the majority of funding hasn't come from the Forest Service itself.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg4NzU5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDk0OTM5Nn0.KTfL7dGcJHoEgXLO7NdytHuY_H3NXDoZuRo0hdA2_6w/img.jpg?width=980" id="2c62c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e6aa408acf52624fefe57b4e686abae7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Before and after dam removal on San Juan Creek in the Cleveland National Forest. Julie Donnell / USFS
<p>The project has generated a lot of interest and a diverse array of partners, including California Department of Transportation, Federal Highways Administration, Orange County Parks, Orange County Transportation Authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Marine Corps. The coalition has brought funds, organizational support, technical knowledge and a lot of energy to the process.</p><p>"People are really pretty enthused about removing dams," says Winter.</p><p>Despite all the partners, it's still been a learning experience, she adds, because the dams vary so much in size and accessibility. Some are just a few feet high and 10 feet wide. Others reach 14 feet in height and stretch up to 100 feet across.</p><p>To breach the dams and break apart the mortar, crews employed a wide range of techniques. For sites near roads, they bought in conventional excavators. Steeper canyons required the use of a nimble "spider" excavator. Explosives took down a few dams where appropriate, while other places required sledgehammers and jackhammers. An extra bit of muscle (organizational and otherwise) came from a partnership with Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton. Corps members have helped remove 31 dams since 2018.</p>Ecological Benefits
<p>The biggest benefactors of the dam removals in the Cleveland National Forest will be steelhead — a type of salmonid. Like salmon, steelhead are anadromous, spending their time in both freshwater streams and the ocean. But unlike salmon that return to their natal headwater streams to spawn and die, steelhead will often spawn more than once.</p><p>They're also a key indicator species, says Jacobson. "When they disappear, that means there are probably multiple issues within a watershed."</p><p>In the San Juan, dams are one of them.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg4NzU5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDg1ODYxOX0.ni92xVjUCCNKaVujkcUyGcjm5Z5W5kbaM4Oro1VEPbI/img.jpg?width=980" id="989c4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2964b87f1da445926d3b21b372b6479d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Endangered Southern California steelhead spawning in Maria Ygnacio Creek in Santa Barbara County, Calif. Mark H. Capelli / WCR / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<p>"Dams create a very artificial situation," says Winter. "It's not just that they hold water, but they retain sediment and then they create these weird splash pools below."</p><p>Without the dams, the streams are able to create a more natural gradient and pool structure. That's good for other native wildlife like the arroyo toad and the arroyo chub, both federally listed as endangered, as well as the California newt, a California Species of Special Concern.</p><p>While the process of removing the dams can be a bit messy, "we've seen no negative effects to the habitat or to species due to the dam removal," says Donnell.</p><p>One of the biggest concerns with any dam removal is ensuring that any trapped sediment released from behind the structures doesn't cause ecological problems as it moves downstream. But Donnell says they've timed the removals to account for that and the streams naturally carry large sediment loads during storm events.</p><p>"We're actually doing some of dams in phases rather than all at one time because of the sediment load that's being held behind them," she says.</p><p>In areas where dams have been removed, Donnell has already noticed an improvement. "The bedload and sediment transport have been able to naturally flow once again," she says. "And the channel is starting to adjust back to a natural state."</p>A Connected Watershed
<p>As groundbreaking as the Cleveland National Forest's efforts are, the benefits for steelhead hinge on the downstream initiative.</p><p>Just five miles inland from Doheny State Beach, around the town of San Juan Capistrano, two barriers on Trabuco Creek block steelhead from 15 miles of upstream spawning habitat in the San Juan Creek watershed.</p><p>A quarter-mile-long concrete flood-control channel runs underneath five bridges, including the north- and southbound lanes of Interstate 5. The drop and the speed of water flowing through the hardened channel inhibits steelhead from making it through the gauntlet.</p><p>The second barrier sits a half-mile downstream, where another 20-foot drop under a bridge for the Metrolink regional railway poses an insurmountable roadblock for steelhead.</p><p>To solve both of these problems, California Trout is leading the multiagency design effort for a technical fish passage that will enable steelhead to navigate these obstacles using staggered weirs. At the I-5 obstacle, an additional fish transport channel will provide steelhead with an express lane to avoid the flood control channel and pass under the array of bridges.</p><p>The organization is working with fellow nonprofit Trout Unlimited, as well as Orange County's flood control district and public works office, the city of San Juan Capistrano, California Department of Transportation, and the Metrolink railroad association.</p><p>"We just received funding to complete the design," says Jacobson. The fish passages are expected to be completed around 2023 to 2025.</p>
<p>It's one part of a <a href="https://therevelator.org/california-steelhead-trout-watersheds/" target="_blank">larger regional effort</a> by the South Coast Steelhead Coalition, which consists of more than 35 organizations working to recover stable populations of the species in Southern California. Removing barriers to fish passage is a key element of the strategy, as are ensuring adequate water quantity and quality and removing nonnative species that compete for limited resources.</p><p>But there's one more objective: helping native rainbow trout. These resident trout are the same species as steelhead, but with a different life history — they don't migrate to the ocean. Since steelhead have been blocked from the upstream waters for nearly a century, resident trout populations have suffered from genetic isolation.</p><p>Only two resident trout populations remained in the region and one had to be emergency evacuated by a bucket brigade following the Holy Fire in 2018, which burned across the forest and threatened the water quality in the streams.</p><p>The removal of all the stream barriers — on and off the forest — will provide an opportunity for aquatic species to be more resilient. The wildfire is a perfect example of why that's needed, says Jacobson.</p><p>"It really gives the aquatic species the mobility they need to move around in response to drought, floods and wildfires," she says. "It's good for all sorts of species, too, not just fish."</p>
Ripple Effect
<p>With the dam removals in the Cleveland National Forest nearing completion, Donnell says she's hoping to soon begin presenting her data and methodologies so others can learn from the project.</p><p>"We've definitely heard from other forests and other districts wanting to know how we went about it, because this is new," she says.</p><p>McClain says American Rivers has been sharing the project's success story because it's a good example of how to think holistically about managing water and restoration opportunities for aquatic ecosystems.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg4NzYwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTA4NzU0Mn0.OZ3RwgvKJ3cSBF2gOZa3aUVfUvKuN9Kic_2WrfqjyO0/img.jpg?width=980" id="59d33" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c958a8d85d9dd55c95135c3597ed6f7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/cleveland-forest-dam-removal/">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>San Juan Creek in the Cleveland National Forest shortly after a dam was removed. Julie Donnell / USFS
<p>But it also makes sense fiscally. Why spend money maintaining dams we don't need?</p><p>"Even from a federal budget management perspective, we should be looking at where there may be projects on the federal books that are no longer serving a purpose," she says.</p><p>Thanks to the coordinated efforts in the San Juan watershed, southern steelhead will have a better chance of survival. But efforts to try and aid their recovery also have a larger benefit.</p><p>"We're not only restoring their environment, but also ours," Jacobson says. "We're actually improving the rivers overall."</p><p>And in the process, they may have established a model for mass dam removal across the country.</p>From Your Site Articles
- 4 Exciting Dam-Removal Projects to Watch - EcoWatch ›
- Jump-Starting the Dam Removal Movement in the U.S. - EcoWatch ›
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Mt. Rainier and Reflection Lake on Sept. 10, 2015. Crystal Geyser planned to open a bottling plant near Mt. Rainier, emails show. louelke - on and off / Flickr
Bottled water manufacturers looking to capture cool, mountain water from Washington's Cascade Mountains may have to look elsewhere after the state senate passed a bill banning new water permits, as The Guardian reported.
<p>The state, with its glacier-fed springs and rainforests, will become the first state in the country to put a total ban on new bottling operations looking to plunder the state's natural resources. The proposal is one of several in the works in Washington to protect local groundwater and to fend off the growing bottled-water industry, as the <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/02/14/washington-state-opens-groundwater-fight-against-bottled-water-companies/" target="_blank">Tribune News Service</a> reported.</p><p>The bill, once signed into law, will go into effect retroactively and apply to all new permits filed after Jan. 1, 2019, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/bottled-water-ban-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"Washington State is carving the path towards a groundbreaking solution," said Mary Grant, the director of Food & Water Action's public water for all campaign, in a statement, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/bottled-water-ban-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "This legislation … would ban one of the worst corporate water abuses – the extraction of local water supplies in plastic bottles shipped out of watersheds and around the country."</p><p>Across the country, local activists have warned that bottling companies are taking their water almost for free and then shipping it elsewhere, leaving local aquifers depleted.</p><p>"I was jolted to the core to realize the depth and breadth and magnitude of how they have lawyered up in these small towns to take advantage of water rights," said Washington state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, who sponsored the bill to ban bottling companies from extracting groundwater, as the <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/02/14/washington-state-opens-groundwater-fight-against-bottled-water-companies/" target="_blank">Tribune News Service</a> reported. "The fact that we have incredibly loose, if virtually nonexistent, policy guidelines around this is shocking and a categorical failure."</p><p>One of the jolting actions was revealed in leaked emails after Crystal Geyser planned to open a bottling plant near Mount Rainier. Locals feared that the company's plan to pump 400 gallons a minute from the site would lead to dry wells. In emails, Crystal Geyser mounted a legal campaign to sue the local subdivision opposing the plant and then it intended to conduct an underground public relations campaign to garner support for their proposal, as the <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/02/14/washington-state-opens-groundwater-fight-against-bottled-water-companies/" target="_blank">Tribune News Service</a> reported.</p><p>"Pumping water out of the ground, putting it in plastic bottles and exporting it out of the state of Washington is not in the public interest," said Craig Jasmer, a leader of the Lewis County Water Alliance, the group that sprung up to oppose the Randle plant and has pushed for the statewide ban, as the <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/02/14/washington-state-opens-groundwater-fight-against-bottled-water-companies/" target="_blank">Tribune News Service</a> reported.</p><p>Crystal Geyser has recently proven its disdain for public safety. Last month, the company pleaded guilty to storing toxin-laden <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wastewater">wastewater</a> in arsenic in eastern California, and then delivering the water to treatment plants without disclosing its hazard, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/bottled-water-ban-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The Environmental Priorities Coalition, a network of groups including Americans Rivers, Audubon, and Sierra Club Washington State, advanced the legislation on its highest priorities list, saying it would stop "new water bottling plants from proliferating in Washington state, effecting small rural community water supplies necessary for both agriculture and threatened salmon species," as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/17/safeguard-public-welfare-and-public-interest-groundbreaking-measure-washington-state" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a> reported.</p><p>"Washington's waters belong to the people of Washington," said the Center for Environmental Law & Policy, according to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/17/safeguard-public-welfare-and-public-interest-groundbreaking-measure-washington-state" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. "There has been an increasing number of proposals to locate commercial water bottling plants in Washington. These plants would allow Washington's water to be taken for the benefit of corporations and users outside of the local area, perhaps out-of-state."</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/bottled-water-ban-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> noted that the tide is turning against bottle-water manufacturers, with bills also introduced in Michigan and Maine, and local measures introduced in Oregon and Montana.</p>
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The Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes, Washington. John Westrock / Flickr
The Washington Department of Ecology responded to an oil spill that took place Friday night when a Crowley Maritime Barge was transferring five million gallons of oil to the Shell Puget Sound Refinery, CNN reported.
<p>Around 20 gallons spilled, of which five entered the water, and that oil was contained within an area that was boomed before the transfer began. The cleanup was completed by 8:30 a.m. Sunday, the department said.</p><p>"There were no impacts to the shoreline or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>," department spokeswoman Cheryl Ann Bishop told CNN in an email.</p><p>The spill occurred at around 11:45 p.m. in Anacortes, Washington, according to the department. The barge was transferring an Alaska North Slope crude-oil blend at the end of a pier that extends into Fidalgo Bay when crew members saw oil spilling from the barge, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/oil-spill-in-fidalgo-bay-late-friday-appears-contained-ecology-says/" target="_blank">The Seattle Times reported</a>.</p><p>An oil sheen was visible on the water inside the containment boom, which covered an area of 225 by 30 feet, roughly the size of a tennis court.</p>
<div id="163e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TT9DKO1576661128"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1195719372523749376" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The amount of oil is still unknown but there is a crude oil sheen on the water inside the containment boom covering… https://t.co/Yp4D3v3AVJ</div> — WA Dept of Ecology (@WA Dept of Ecology)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcologyWA/statuses/1195719372523749376">1573916688.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Washington state law requires that containment booms be put in place before transferring oil over water as a preventative measure, and Bishop told CNN that the law was one reason the spill was so successfully contained and cleaned.</p><p>"In this case, it was pre-boomed, as it's supposed to be," Ty Keltner, the Department of Ecology's communications manager for spill response, told The Seattle Times.</p><p>The crew identified the cause of the spill as a pressure relief valve that was then secured, stopping the spill.</p><p>"No oil in the water is acceptable for any of us who do this kind of work," Suzanne Lagoni, deputy public information officer for Shell Puget Sound Refinery, told <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/crews-work-to-cleanup-oil-spill-at-shell-puget-sound-refinery-in-anacortes?fbclid=IwAR1BRL1pxf-mKRarIBWLkpQIqpDg38d_ENihmwO2KLIMVgXDSoF2d-Qw-YY" target="_blank">KOMO News</a>. "It's not acceptable to the people of Washington or to the people of Anacortes."</p><p>Shell said that there were no injuries as a result of the spill, and that it did not impact air quality, The Seattle Times reported.</p><p>The Shell refinery where the spill took place was opened in 1958 and was originally owned by Texaco. It currently processes around 5.7 million gallons of crude oil from Alaska and Central and Western Canada daily.</p><p>The risk of more oil spills is one reason why environmental advocates and indigenous groups oppose the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trans-mountain-pipeline" target="_self">Trans Mountain Pipeline</a> expansion, which would lead to a seven-fold increase in the number of oil tankers moving through the Salish Sea between Washington State and British Columbia, according to <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/u-s-tribes-decry-trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion-approval" target="_blank">Earthjustice</a>.</p><p>"The Tulalip Tribes are extremely disappointed with Prime Minister Trudeau's approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline," Tulalip Tribes Chairwoman Teri Gobin told Earthjustice after the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trudeau-approves-trans-mountain-expansion-2638915731.html" target="_self">approval was announced in June</a>. "We face the very real threat of an oil spill that puts the Salish Sea at risk. We will continue to oppose this and other projects that threaten our ancestral waters in the Salish Sea."</p>
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Massive Winter Storm Kills 9 in Midwest, Stretches 1,400 Miles to Mid-Atlantic
14 January 2019
Climate
A man snowboards using a kite on the National Mall as storm hit the nation's capital Sunday. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP / Getty Images
A massive winter storm dumped snow on the midwest Friday, killing at least nine, before moving east to bring snow and freezing rain to the Mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas Saturday and Sunday, AccuWeather reported.
"We have a strong snowstorm that's stretching 1,400 miles from Kansas to the East Coast," CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said. "St. Louis is seeing its worst snowstorm in five years. We're going to see a significant snow event for the mid-Atlantic to start the year for 2019."
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d8a98" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QWEQLB1576663290"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1083873627412545536" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the expected snow accumulations for this weekend's #snow storm from the Midwest into the Mid-Atlantic, wit… https://t.co/cakWraUICI</div> — National Weather Service (@National Weather Service)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWS/statuses/1083873627412545536">1547250584.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>The storm prompted winter storm warnings or advisories for more than 35 million people in the Ohio River Valley and Mid-Atlantic regions. Heavy snowfall in the Midwest and eastern U.S. is consistent with predictions about the impacts of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.climatecommunication.org/new/features/extreme-weather/winter-storms/" target="_blank">Climate Communication explained</a>, as a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which can fall as greater amounts of snow when the conditions are right.<br></p><p>The town of Montgomery City, Missouri, which is to the northwest of St. Louis, got 20 inches of snow, CNN reported. </p><p>The storm was deadliest in Missouri, where four people died in car accidents, including a 53-year-old woman and her 14-year-old relative, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/13/least-dead-including-state-trooper-after-snowstorm-batters-midwest/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f6eeffbd2943" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. The state saw more than 800 crashes and 57 injuries.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="c1a2c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Q5E61S1576663291"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1084204593918160896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">As of 2:00 pm this afternoon, MSHP has responded to:
• 3918 calls for service
• 1790 stranded motorists
• 878 cras… https://t.co/QiVAATC6lm</div> — MSHP General HQ (@MSHP General HQ)<a href="https://twitter.com/MSHPTrooperGHQ/statuses/1084204593918160896">1547329493.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>In Kansas, three people died including one 62-year-old man who lost control of his car. In Illinois, Illinois State Police Trooper Christopher Lambert was struck by a vehicle and killed while standing outside his car at the scene of another crash.<br></p><p>"Trooper Lambert deliberately placed his vehicle in a position to protect the lives of the victims of the previous crash, and took on the danger himself," Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz Schmitz said in a statement reported by The Washington Post. "He will be remembered for his dedication to the Illinois State Police and for giving the ultimate sacrifice to protect and serve the citizens of Illinois."</p><p>A ninth death took place in Indiana, AccuWeather reported. </p><p>The storm then moved east Saturday and Sunday. North Carolina reported more than 125,000 power outages Sunday as freezing rain caused ice to accumulate.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="4ecf1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0SZXDK1576663291"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1084534970327187456" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">County Volunteer Fire Departments are dealing with hundreds of downed trees and many downed power lines. They're wo… https://t.co/0eZq1gjijb</div> — Forsyth County North Carolina (@Forsyth County North Carolina)<a href="https://twitter.com/ForsythCountyNC/statuses/1084534970327187456">1547408261.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Parts of Virginia and Maryland received up to six or seven inches of snow, and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency, The Washington Post reported. In the nation's capital, seven inches of snowfall led to the cancellation of at least 500 flights as of Sunday afternoon and the temporary suspension of the city's metrobus service, AccuWeather reported. The storm is the biggest Washington, DC has seen since 2016.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f36e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QQT8SB1576663291"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1084668680934436864" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">36 Hours, 11.7 inches, 113 seconds. Take a look at the biggest snowstorm the DC region has seen in three years!… https://t.co/w8QYlOGMmk</div> — Logan Giles (@Logan Giles)<a href="https://twitter.com/LoganGilesWx/statuses/1084668680934436864">1547440140.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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‘Finally Some Good News Out of Washington’: Nation’s Capital to Go 100% Renewable by 2032
19 December 2018
Renewable Energy
DC will get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2032. Glow Images, Inc / Getty Images
Washington, DC made history Tuesday when its council voted unanimously to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2032, the Huffington Post reported. The commitment is part of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, which also includes measures to reduce emissions from buildings and transportation and gives the nation's capital the most comprehensive climate policy of any city in the country.
<p>"This bill should be a boost to advocates nationwide," DC campaign director for the <a href="http://ccanactionfund.org/" target="_blank">Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund</a> Camila Thorndike said in a statement reported by the Huffington Post. "Finally some good news out of Washington. We did it."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="984af" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KZ4UE91576663232"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1075144399183581184" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">As Trump backtracks, local DC legislators are leading the nation. @DCclimate just passed the most ambitions clean… https://t.co/oXYhyvJybD</div> — CCAN Action Fund (@CCAN Action Fund)<a href="https://twitter.com/CCANActionFund/statuses/1075144399183581184">1545169374.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Campaigners and supporters touted the bill as an act of defiance against one of DC's most famous residents, current President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>, who is infamous for denying <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> and promoting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>.<br></p><p>"The guy in the house a couple of blocks away has abdicated complete leadership in how we are moving our country and our world forward," Democratic Councilmember Charles Allen told <a href="https://wamu.org/story/18/12/18/d-c-commits-to-all-renewable-energy-by-2032/" target="_blank">WAMU 88.5</a>. "The folks on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue don't seem to care that much. So the responsibility has fallen to our cities and our states to act."</p><p>That rebuke is not merely symbolic. Federal buildings, including the White House, will need to follow the stricter energy efficiency standards that the new law has empowered a task force to draft for all existing DC buildings, the Huffington Post reported. The bill also includes an ambitious transportation goal: all public transportation and private vehicle fleets, including ride-share programs Uber and Lyft, must be carbon free by 2045.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0319d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="IPVIDA1576663232"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1075142896343506944" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">VICTORY! DC just passed the strongest climate bill in the country, two blocks from the White House. Thanks… https://t.co/p61eLOX30I</div> — DC Climate Coalition (@DC Climate Coalition)<a href="https://twitter.com/DCclimate/statuses/1075142896343506944">1545169016.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>The bill should reduce the city's total greenhouse gas emissions 42 percent by 2032, WAMU 88.5 reported. This brings it close to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">recommendation</a> in the latest <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">International Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) report on limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That report found that to cap warming at 1.5 degrees, global emissions would have to fall to 45 percent of 2010 levels by 2030.<br></p><p>The bill, introduced by Democratic Councilmember Mary Cheh, would have originally reduced total emissions by 50 percent, but that goal was weakened somewhat after compromises with utility companies, which ultimately backed the current version of the bill. Activists said the companies did so in part to avoid a carbon tax, an alternative policy supported by some council members.</p><p>"We built such a thunderhead of political pressure for ambitious and comprehensive climate policy that not doing anything was not an option," Thorndike told WAMU 88.5. </p><p>The bill also doubled DC's ambitions. Previously, the city had pledged to be 50 percent renewable by 2032.</p><p>"This bill is historic," Cheh told WAMU 88.5 before the vote. "It will place the District of Columbia at the national forefront in efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and achieve 100 percent renewable electricity."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="35999" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F01KU91576663232"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1075146492845936640" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">And to put this vote into perspective: When I first joined @councilofdc, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) was… https://t.co/ynR517nWJ4</div> — Mary M. Cheh (@Mary M. Cheh)<a href="https://twitter.com/marycheh/statuses/1075146492845936640">1545169873.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Currently, 90 cities have pledged to go 100 percent renewable by 2030, but no state has set a goal as ambitious as DC's within as short a timeframe. <br></p>
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Washington Gov. Proposes 'Herculean Effort' to Save 74 Remaining Southern Resident Orcas
14 December 2018
Animals
Southern Resident killer whale mother and her calf swimming. NOAA
With only 74 left in the wild, the Southern Resident orca population in Puget Sound needs help now more than ever. That's why on Thursday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's office announced "an unprecedented investment" to help boost the population as well as the Chinook salmon they eat.
"We are undertaking a herculean effort to save these iconic creatures. It will take action at every level of the environment across our entire state," Inslee said in a news release. "We need to restore the ecosystem to one that sustains orcas, salmon and the quality of life for all Washingtonians."
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="eff3a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WFXJO41576662601"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1073362594851782656" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are undertaking a herculean effort to save these iconic creatures. It will take action at every level of the env… https://t.co/bqhXtek1iq</div> — Governor Jay Inslee (@Governor Jay Inslee)<a href="https://twitter.com/GovInslee/statuses/1073362594851782656">1544744559.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The population of the beloved killer whales is at a 30-year low. Their plight was underscored this summer when a mother whale Tahlequah, or J35, carried her dead calf for at least seventeen days and 1,000 miles in her heartbreaking "tour of grief" this August.
</p><p>
Then in September, the ailing J50, another member of Tahlequah's pod, was <a href="https://www.whaleresearch.com/j50" target="_blank">declared</a> missing and presumed dead after a three-day search in the waters between Washington state and Canada.
</p><p>
Inslee's orca recovery plan is part of his 2019–21 state budget, which proposes about $1.1 billion in combined investments to address the main problems faced by the critically
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered</a> killer whales: a lack of salmon; <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/orca-whale-lulu-pcbs-scotland-2390741690.html" target="_self">toxic contaminants</a>; and vessel traffic and noise.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f484e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="XXOUU01576662601"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1041008870548795392" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Orca Whale #J50 'Missing and Now Presumed Dead' https://t.co/dLEFpXP6hB @NOAA @CWROrcas @oceana</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1041008870548795392">1537030830.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Much of the investment will go towards improving the diets of Southern Resident orcas, which mostly eat Chinook salmon. But the salmon's numbers are <a href="https://www.epa.gov/salish-sea/chinook-salmon" target="_blank">down 60 percent</a> and if they continue to decline, the orca population will too.
</p><p>
For that reason, Inslee's proposed budget will provide $363 million in the capital budget for salmon recovery, culvert removal, water quality and water supply projects that will expand and improve salmon survival across the state.
</p><p>
Other proposals include a ban on commercial whale-watching of the Southern Residents for three years, increasing the distance boats must stay away from the orcas from the current federal rules of 200 yards to 400 yards, reducing risks of catastrophic oil spills, and removal and prevention of toxic contaminants in the waters. The money will also go towards scientific research and monitoring efforts.
<span></span>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAwMzM1NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjI0ODc4OH0.dmKkXG52mrVw5GgCRnu88De6EnU4yciJrDDn_YSoR5U/img.png?width=980" id="0201c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63b6536da427408d8ea0e8088e60f9e6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>
Inslee's orca recovery plan follows recommendations issued this fall by the governor's Southern Resident Orca Task Force. The
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/orcas-gov-orders-protections-2547956591.html" target="_self">task force</a> recommended an initial target of increasing the population to 84 orcas over the next decade.
</p><p>
<span></span>Tax increases will be needed to pay for Inslee's plan, the <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/gov-jay-inslee-wants-1-1-billion-to-help-save-puget-sounds-critically-endangered-orcas/" target="_blank">The Seattle Times</a> reported.
</p><p>
The Democratic governor, who is "<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/01/inslee-iowa-2020-856801" target="_blank">not ruling out</a>" 2020 run for president, is a strong <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/us-climate-alliance-2487955480.html" target="_self">climate and environmental advocate</a>. Saving the orcas will require the sacrifices of the state residents to help the imperiled orcas, he told the Times.
</p><p>
"Everybody is involved in this mission and everyone has to be for it to succeed," Inslee added. "These expenditures have to be done now. There are lots of things in life you can put off for a decade. This is not one of them … This is a one-time shot."
</p>
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Trending
Fossil Fuel Companies Blocked From West Coast Ports Keep Pushing to Bypass Local Governments
28 November 2018
Energy
Port of Longview, Washington. Sam Beebe / Ecotrust, CC BY-SA 3.0
By Shawn Olson-Hazboun and Hilary Boudet
A year after Washington state denied key permits for a coal-export terminal in the port city of Longview, the Army Corps of Engineers announced it would proceed with its review—essentially ignoring the state's decision.
This dispute pits federal authorities against local and state governments. It's also part of a larger and long-running battle over fossil fuel shipments to foreign countries that stretches up the entire American West Coast.
<p>
We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MHv76OkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao" target="_blank">sociologists</a> who have studied how people respond to news about plans for big <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a1e-_ycAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao" target="_blank">energy facilities in their communities</a>. With President Donald <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> pushing hard for more fossil fuel production and exports, we believe it could get significantly harder for local communities to have a say in these important decisions.
</p><p>
<strong>Access to Asia</strong>
</p><p>
Oil and gas exports have dramatically increased nationwide over the past decade, ever since technological advances turned the U.S. from a top importer of these fuels to a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-exports/why-record-u-s-oil-exports-are-poised-for-even-more-growth-idUSKBN1AC0ER" target="_blank">growing exporter</a>.
</p><p>
Energy companies have <a href="https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783642821301" target="_blank">sought more access to West Coast ports for decades</a> for routes to Asia and Australia. The region's deepwater ports, railroad and pipeline networks, and proximity to some of the nation's most productive oil, gas and coal fields make it particularly attractive for export terminals.
</p><p>
In some cases, exporting through the West Coast is the only economically viable option, as <a href="https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/115975-lng-canada-given-green-light-by-shell-partners" target="_blank">longer overland transportation routes would be too costly</a>. Moreover, shorter trips by sea <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36632" target="_blank">to reach China and other growing Asian markets</a> cut costs.
</p><p>
Yet Western ports do not <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_MOVE_EXPCP_A1_Z00_EP00_EEX_MBBL_A.htm" target="_blank">export as much crude oil</a> as other American coastal areas.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkzMTY4MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODMzNTcxOX0.pvBoFtE6kuVAz14vZ2AjoJZWWLceTA2vb_9Zibf-3W0/img.png?width=980" id="a8941" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f40667d840d0f085ab1fc51ff90ec7c1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Source: <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_MOVE_EXPCP_A1_Z00_EP00_EEX_MBBL_A.htm" target="_blank">U.S. Energy Information Administration</a> </small>
</p><p>
In addition, there are no facilities yet in California, Oregon or Washington for exporting liquefied natural gas, a form of the fuel that has been cooled to very low temperatures for easier storage and shipping.<br>
</p><p>
This is not for lack of trying. All the numerous export terminals energy companies have proposed for liquefied natural gas up and down the West Coast have faced significant public opposition that <a href="https://www.sightline.org/2017/06/20/mapping-the-thin-green-line/" target="_blank">made securing permits</a> hard if not impossible.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkzMTY4Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODI0NDg1Nn0.LvX0FtWmiTlKYdH-NErmYJdl14pHZNqnjfTkrN4ftnw/img.png?width=980" id="0f3c9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3796a846041107db145ca96fe0b2b635" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Source: <a href="https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/monthly/" target="_blank">U.S. Energy Information Administration</a></small>
</p><p>
Likewise, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/pdf/t13p01p1.pdf" target="_blank">relatively small volumes of coal</a> are being shipped abroad from ports on the West Coast despite efforts to build new export terminals there.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkzMTY4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODE0OTE0NH0.LYqW7PW2JzZv38_SIZQZEwU_1UmJqXUpaAltwapeI-M/img.png?width=980" id="b6ce8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d9a250c276a1ceba44c5cacf866306e8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Source: <a href="https://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/" target="_blank">U.S. Energy Information Administration</a></small>
</p><p>
<strong>Energy Dominance</strong>
</p><p>
With his "<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-energy-dominance-the-right-goal-for-us-policy-79825" target="_blank">energy dominance</a>" policy, Trump has emphasized expanding production and export of fossil fuels and weakening environmental regulations—including those that address <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>.
</p><p>
His administration is <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/jordan-cove-lng-oregon-gas-export-rises-project-again-with-support-from-the-rockies" target="_blank">siding with energy companies and landlocked states</a> like Wyoming and Colorado angling to ship coal, oil and natural gas mined and drilled within their borders to lucrative and growing Asian markets.
</p><p>
At the same time, many local and state governments on the West Coast are <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-coos-bay-jordan-cove-lng-ballot-measure-2017-fossil-fuels/" target="_blank">on board with demands</a> made by environmental activists for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> development and advocates for more local control over development.
</p><p>
Local supporters of fossil fuel exports point to the positive local effects these facilities can have. <a href="http://thelens.news/2017/10/12/labor-urges-passage-of-millennium-bulk-terminals-permit-to-boost-economy-create-jobs/" target="_blank">Labor unions</a>, <a href="https://tdn.com/news/local/county-sides-with-millennium-in-coal-suit-cancels-health-study/article_8490e300-e7d9-56af-b111-d520bc813f45.html" target="_blank">county governments</a>, business councils and ports frequently argue that bolstering fossil fuel exports would create jobs, entice investment and increase the tax base.
</p><p>
Opponents argue that transporting, storing, handling and shipping fossil fuels—via railroads, pipelines and ships—endangers nearby communities and contributes to <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/san-francisco-bay/dirty-energy" target="_blank">climate change</a>.
</p><p>
They point to <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/series/oil-trains/mosier-derailment-cost-9-million/" target="_blank">oil train derailments</a>, the public health perils of increased <a href="https://tdn.com/news/local/health-study-diesel-fumes-bigger-hazard-than-coal-dust/article_11e75f2c-b5b2-54e7-81fe-b582402a8a0d.html" target="_blank">diesel fumes</a> and <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/environmentalists-sue-bnsf-to-cover-coal-trains-prevent-water-pollution/" target="_blank">coal dust</a>, and pipeline explosions and leaks. They also highlight the <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/effects-of-proposed-coal-export-terminal-outlined-in-study/" target="_blank">climate implications</a> of shipping fossil fuels abroad that may affect the carbon footprints of other countries, where the fuel would be burned.
</p><p>
These people have maintained a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/reuters-america-u-s-eyes-west-coast-military-bases-to-export-coal-gas-report.html" target="_blank">virtual blockade against new export facilities</a> so far. But in our study of this issue, we have found it remains unclear if the federal government will overturn or override local and state decisions to deny permits.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkzMTY4Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTM4MTEyN30.LK2GbMvECcvj22CqK64JYqhCxGU5HROGEXg17I1HFoc/img.png?width=980" id="7a5a3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b39e80777ec0877ecfd87075bd1d6f00" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Source: <a href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2W42P/6/" target="_blank">Shawn Olson-Hazboun and Hilary Boudet</a> </small>
</p><p>
<strong>Mobilization</strong><br>
</p><p>
Public opinion research indicates both support and opposition for fossil fuel export depending on fuel type. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.05.066" target="_blank">2017 national survey</a> showed that about a third of U.S. citizens sampled opposed exporting natural gas, while about half supported it and almost a fifth were undecided. Our forthcoming survey of Washington residents found similar levels of opposition to natural gas exports. We also detected higher rates of disapproval of oil and coal exports, with about half of residents opposing them.
</p><p>
Activists in the Pacific Northwest have established what they call a "<a href="https://www.sightline.org/research/thin-green-line/" target="_blank">thin green line</a>" of resistance against any big new fossil fuel infrastructure. Their protests have contributed to state and local decisions to deny permits, as well as the passage of ordinances and resolutions limiting such development. Cities like <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-portland-fossil-fuel-ban-constitutional/" target="_blank">Portland, Oregon</a>, have banned these projects altogether.
</p><p>
Tribal governments have actively opposed many of these proposals, too. For example, the Lummi Nation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.10.019" target="_blank">played an essential role</a> in stopping the Gateway Pacific coal terminal proposed for Bellingham, Washington.
</p><p>
Legal fights have ensued. After Washington denied the permit for the Millennium Bulk Terminals coal export proposal, <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/05/13/5-states-join-utah-in-legal-fight-over-washington-state-coal-export-terminal/" target="_blank">six interior states and several industry groups</a> joined the company in a lawsuit. They allege that the state's decision violated the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/commerce_clause" target="_blank">Constitution's commerce clause</a>, which grants Congress—not states—the power to regulate trade.
</p><p>
In some cases, the courts have determined that local bans <a href="https://www.apnews.com/54c9749da3744cb993568fb188b7b5f0" target="_blank">are not allowed</a>. In others, companies have simply <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/no-oil-train-terminal-on-the-columbia-river-vancouver-energy-gives-up-plan/" target="_blank">withdrawn proposals</a>, especially after sustained public protests.
</p><p>
<strong>Silencing Local Voices</strong>
</p><p>
The administration is pursuing multiple workarounds for expanding fossil fuel export, including a recent proposal to set up export facilities on retired <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/reuters-america-u-s-eyes-west-coast-military-bases-to-export-coal-gas-report.html" target="_blank">military bases</a>. Energy companies and energy-producing states are trying to capitalize on the fossil-friendly administration.
</p><p>
For example, senators from Texas, Colorado and Montana have <a href="https://tdn.com/news/local/millennium-backers-still-confident-despite-web-of-legal-challenges-to/article_1136806e-466d-5723-afa7-31012ab61355.html" target="_blank">encouraged Trump</a> to use his authority under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/30/nafta-canada-agrees-join-u-s-mexico-new-trade-agreement/1453244002/" target="_blank">deal that may replace it</a>, to override Washington state's denial of the coal export permit.
</p><p>
These moves at the federal level appear to be restricting opportunities for public participation in siting decisions, a development we find troubling.
</p><p>
In the case of the Jordan Cove natural gas export project in Oregon, the federal agency with permitting authority over the proposal used a <a href="https://theworldlink.com/news/local/business/ferc-employs-new-comment-format-at-scope-session/article_78f51c97-6cb8-59b9-8d80-2f3b3a71a9cb.html" target="_blank">new process</a> for soliciting public comments in 2017. Instead of taking part in a hearing where those attending could hear all comments, members of the public met one-on-one with agency staff and a stenographer.
</p><p>
In <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0739456X10373079" target="_blank">previous research</a>, we have shown how public hearings on energy projects are critical to the formation of active community groups, who use these opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals.
</p><p>
While one-on-one meetings may seem more efficient and less prone to conflict, they may also stifle important local debates on these issues. And they could potentially push activists toward more <a href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/09/25/necessity-defense-valve-turners-climate/" target="_blank">confrontational tactics</a> because they do not feel their voices are adequately heard through official channels.
</p><p>
In addition, some companies have used existing permits and zoning to start handling <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/07/global_partners_clatskanie_oil.html" target="_blank">a different fuel</a> or <a href="http://www.knkx.org/post/conservationists-press-army-corps-complete-its-environmental-review-expansion-bp-refinery" target="_blank">expand facilities</a> without undergoing environmental review and associated public comment processes.
</p><p>
Despite years of successfully blocking fossil fuel exports from the West Coast, whether the thin green line will hold is far from clear. Its resilience will partly depend on what happens with <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/sd-fi-sempra-lngtariff-20180928-story.html" target="_blank">global fossil fuel markets</a> and the success of export proposals in <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-kitimat-bc-residents-brace-for-boom-after-lng-canadas-go-ahead/" target="_blank">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/08/25/is-utah-coal-bound-baja/" target="_blank">Mexico</a>. Its resilience will also depend on how hard the Trump administration is willing to push and how hard the West Coast is willing to push back.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="7df38" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7V4ARH1576662896"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="913160115246829568" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Washington State Rejects Coal Export Terminal https://t.co/fPwPGQazhA @BeyondCoal @dirtyenergy</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/913160115246829568">1506549311.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/companies-blocked-from-using-west-coast-ports-to-export-fossil-fuels-keep-seeking-workarounds-106300" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em><br>
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World’s Largest Fracked-Gas-to-Methanol Refinery Must Be Stopped: Submit a Comment Today!
15 November 2018
Fracking
Rick Rappaport
Tuesday, a report written by the company proposing the world's largest fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery was released by the Port of Kalama and Cowlitz County, Washington. The proposed fossil fuel refinery is controversial because of the impacts on both local residents' health and our climate. Despite the company's claim that the refinery could result in a climate benefit, the refinery would consume a stunning amount of fracked natural gas—one-third as much gas as the entire state of Washington.
<p>"There is no way to make the world's largest methanol refinery look pretty. The project is dangerous, harmful to our health, and locks in decades of fossil fuel use," said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of <a href="https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/" target="_blank">Columbia Riverkeeper</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODg0MDg0Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTUzMTg2OX0.nG2_nmhhrL_fmk9i2zKHhEW-dnl22P6CnJF1F5xJau0/img.png?width=980" id="5c086" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="041a710470cdcafbf2764c2dd14cad4d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>A 2016 <a href="https://www.sei.org/about-sei/press-room/press-releases/kalama-ghg-emissions/" target="_blank">study by the Stockholm Environment Institute</a> concluded that Northwest Innovation Works' proposal could increase overall global greenhouse gas emissions and is likely inconsistent with a low-carbon future. Last year, Northwest Innovation Works lost a lawsuit that required the company to evaluate the lifecycle greenhouse gas impacts of the methanol refinery. The report, released Tuesday as part the project's environmental review by local governments and Washington State, underestimates the refinery's greenhouse gas impacts: the report relies on cherry-picked studies, outdated information and highly speculative assumptions to frame the project as a win-win for climate and business.<br></p><p>"Governor Inslee understands the dangers of fracking and fossil fuels," said Cecile Gernez, conservation organizer with the Sierra Club Washington State Chapter. "Now is the critical moment for our governor to call out this fracked gas refinery for what it is: a dirty fossil fuel project." </p><p>Columbia Riverkeeper, Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity faulted Northwest Innovation Works' report because it:</p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li><strong>Underestimates both the the amount and the potency of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, that would be associated with the Kalama facility due to increased fracking.</strong> The company ignores or downplays multiple comprehensive studies finding a significantly higher methane-leakage rate than the report relies on and, in turn, underestimates the climate impacts of extracting and transporting the gas that will be processed at the facility. The report also relies on outdated metrics that underestimate the climate-disrupting impact of methane.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li><strong>Fails to properly evaluate the climate impacts of fracking if the company relies on fracked gas from the U.S. rather than Canada in the future. </strong>The report primarily assumes that Northwest Innovation Works will purchase gas from British Columbia for the lifetime of the project, ignoring shifting gas markets and plans for more gas pipelines from the Intermountain West to serve Pacific Northwest markets. Furthermore, the report underestimates the amount and greenhouse gas potency of U.S. gas.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li><strong>Relies on highly speculative assumptions about global methanol markets and China's use of coal-based methanol production. </strong>The report relies on a series of questionable assumptions about global methanol markets, energy commodity prices, Chinese government policy, and U.S.-China trade relations to conclude the project results in a net climate benefit.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>Does not properly account for the greenhouse gas impacts of <a href="https://www.sightline.org/2018/02/14/how-northwest-methanol-is-likely-intended-for-chinas-gas-tanks/" target="_blank">methanol as a fuel source</a>, a probable use of the methanol produced in Kalama.</strong> An April 2017 China Daily article quotes We Lebin, the chairman of the Kalama project's parent company, saying that the plant's output could "replace diesel, coal and gas with methanol to power vehicles." Lebin doubled down on the claims in a December 2017 Reuters article, saying that, "[the company] also wants to drive use of methanol as a transportation fuel for cars and ships." Yet the report does not analyze the greenhouse gas impacts of using the facility's methanol as fuel in comparison to non-fossil alternatives such as electric vehicles.</li></ul><p>"The report spills a lot of words trying to justify polluting our air, risking our health, and taking private property to make petrochemicals to send to China. We're hopeful that Washington leaders choose a brighter future over this dirty plan," said Marrene Jenkins, a retired nurse and Kalama resident.<br></p><p>"This massive refinery would be a disaster for the climate, public health, and wildlife that rely on clean air and water," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "The last thing we need is another fossil fuel project spewing pollution into our environment."</p><p>In addition to climate and health impacts, the methanol refinery would require a new pipeline to carry fracked gas. Landowners on the pipeline route have already received notice that the company can use eminent domain to take their land.</p><p>The Port of Kalama and Cowlitz County will hold a public hearing on Dec. 13. The Port of Kalama, Cowlitz County and the Washington Department of Ecology have authority to deny the project.</p><p><strong>The good news:</strong> You can protect our climate and the Columbia. A critical public comment period is open now on the supplemental environmental review of the Kalama fracked gas-to-methanol refinery. </p><p>Protect the Pacific Northwest from new mega-fracked gas infrastructure by <a href="http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50797/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25645" target="_blank">submitting a comment today</a>!</p>
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With her win, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became one of four Democrats heading to Congress to push for a Green New Deal. Rick Loomis / Getty Images
Results from the U.S. midterm election are mostly in, and, when it comes to what they mean for the environment, they're a real mixed bag.
<p>On the plus side, the Democrats took the House of Representatives, which, as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46067264" target="_blank">BBC News pointed out</a>, means that President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> can't pass any more major legislation without their approval. Since big legislative pushes in the Republican controlled House over the past two years included an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/endangered-species-act-republicans-2586332924.html" target="_self">attack</a> on the Endangered Species Act and a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/farm-bill-anti-environment-policy-riders-2582389975.html" target="_self">Farm Bill</a> that would have limited controls on toxic pesticides and water pollution, this can only be an improvement.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b3823" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KYY06Z1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1060089995078365185" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The latest US election results: Democrats have won their 218th House seat, securing their majority and setting up a… https://t.co/xEe718OY0x</div> — Financial Times (@Financial Times)<a href="https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes/statuses/1060089995078365185">1541580125.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>On the minus side, the Republicans increased their majority in the Senate. Since the Senate is the body that confirms all of the president's judicial and political appointments, there will still be nothing blocking Trump from appointing more judges like Brett Kavanaugh with a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/kavanaughs-environmental-record-2610220986.html" target="_self">dubious environmental record</a>. They will also be able to sign off on whoever Trump finally chooses as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="_blank">Scott Pruitt</a>'s permanent replacement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="_self">EPA</a>). The House is more likely now to investigate corruption-prone, industry-friendly Interior Secretary <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ryan-zinke" target="_self">Ryan Zinke</a>, but the Senate could go right ahead and confirm a replacement equally likely to sell out <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public lands</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> interests.<br></p><p>When it comes to the environmental implications of individual races and ballot measures, the night was about equally full of gains and losses. But it's important to remember that no matter who wins, popular movements can always make a difference. So whether your favorite candidate won or lost last night, you can and should continue fighting to halt <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> and ensure a healthy, thriving environment for all life on earth.</p><p>That said, here are a few of the key takeaways from last night.</p><p><strong>1. Big Oil's Big Spending Paid Off</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGbWVkaWElMkZEclgyeUV4VkFBRW11elouanBnJTNBbWVkaXVtJmhvPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGcGJzLnR3aW1nLmNvbSZzPTk0NiZoPWZmNDVhMjg3MzRhYThlNjZlYjMwOWVlODhmMzQzNjhjZTFmYzMxYmIwNjI1MDk1YzBiNDA5YmQxYzY2Njc4ZjMmc2l6ZT05ODB4JmM9OTQ1MTk3NjY0IiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODA0Mjk5OX0.-X-2nrVyWzI_WcIkEf99DusQZiOaUCPuc3ZKiXmQQ2g/img.jpg" id="ddafc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7a0e4dd5257c851e2194534ee7509b14">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A graphic showing the results of Washington state's voting on I-1631</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrX2yExVAAEmuzZ.jpg:large" target="_blank">pbs.twimg.com</a>
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</p><p>Probably the most disappointing result from a climate change perspective is the fact that Washington's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/washington-carbon-tax-big-oil-2616808725.html" target="_self">Initiative 1631</a>, which would have created the nation's first fee on carbon emissions, was defeated in the polls. Colorado's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/colorado-fracking-homes-2608344422.html" target="_self">Proposition 112</a>, which would have banned oil and gas drilling on 85 percent of the state's land, also failed. The fossil fuel industry put more than $73 million into defeating the two initiatives, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/green-new-deal-progressive-democrats_us_5be26f5be4b0769d24c6a954" target="_blank">the Huffington Post reported</a>, so in this case money power was sadly stronger than people power.<br></p><p>In terms of the other ballot measures <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/environmental-ballot-measures-to-watch-2618270364.html" target="_self">EcoWatch was tracking</a>, Arizona's Proposition 127, which would have upped the state's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> target to 50 percent by 2030, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_Proposition_127,_Renewable_Energy_Standards_Initiative_(2018)" target="_blank">was also defeated</a>, as <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Ballot_Measure_1,_Salmon_Habitat_Protections_and_Permits_Initiative_(2018)" target="_blank">was Alaska's Ballot Measure 1</a>, which would have imposed new restrictions on projects that threaten <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/salmon" target="_self">salmon</a> habitat. Florida's unusual Amendment 9, banning both <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling" target="_self">offshore oil drilling</a> and indoor vaping, was the <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_9,_Ban_Offshore_Oil_and_Gas_Drilling_and_Ban_Vaping_in_Enclosed_Indoor_Workplaces_Amendment_(2018)" target="_blank">only one to succeed</a>. </p><p><strong>2. Climate Change Tipping Point</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e05e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OOHBCD1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1060004940414926848" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Carlos Curbelo didn't lose, @DebbieforFL won.
This race was fought on climate change and won on climate change.
T… https://t.co/hc6DMi0XSc</div> — Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus)<a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/statuses/1060004940414926848">1541559846.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Climate change was also a campaign issue in several key races, and, while it's hard to pinpoint what issue tipped a candidate over the edge to victory, there were some wins where it might have made a difference.<br></p><p>Before the election, <a href="https://grist.org/article/midterms-2018-climate-election-map/" target="_blank">Grist</a> assembled an analysis of five hotly contested races in districts where more than two-thirds of residents were worried about climate change. Turns out, all of the Democrats in those races won or are currently leading in the polls, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-house-elections.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Anti-pipeline and offshore drilling Democrat Tom Malinowski beat Republican incumbent Leonard Lance in New Jersey's seventh district.</li><li>Democrat Colin Allred, who wants to rejoin the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a>, defeated incumbent Republican Pete Sessions, who wants to scale back the EPA. This is in Texas' 32nd district, which saw unusually deadly storms and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> this fall. </li><li>Also in Texas, Republican incumbent John Culberson lost to Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher in the seventh district that includes parts of Houston deeply impacted by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey" target="_self">Hurricane Harvey</a> last year. </li><li>Florida's 26th district is its southernmost point, already grappling with tidal flooding due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>. Republican incumbent Carlos Curbelo <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/gop-new-carbon-tax-bill-2590411558.html" target="_blank">was not a climate denier</a>, and in fact founded the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. But Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell promised more environmental action and won.</li><li>The race between Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher and Democratic challenger Harley Rouda for California's 48th district, which includes parts of coastal Orange County at risk from sea level rise, is still too close to call. But Rouda, who opposed offshore oil drilling and promised clean energy, is leading. </li></ul><p><strong>3. Rise of the Green New Deal:</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The Green New Deal: fixing climate and the economy?</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcQZtpbgVoY" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p>The brightest glimmer of hope to come out of the midterms is the fact that there are now four Democrats in the House who are calling for a Green New Deal, a massive government push to turn away from fossil fuels and build renewable energy infrastructure, The Huffington Post reported.<br></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-climate-2581756053.html" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> confirmed her win after her surprise primary victory in New York's 14th district this summer, and she is joined in championing the issue by the first two Muslim women in Congress: Ilhan Omar in Minnesota's 5th District and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan's 13th. Antonio Delgado beat Republican John Faso in New York's 19th district to round out the group. </p><p>While some influential champions of the idea, like Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, lost their races, Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann said it was important that the idea was gaining ground given the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">dire warnings</a> of the most recent <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> report on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. </p><p>"This is the sort of bold and audacious thinking that we need when it comes to confronting the ever-pressing challenge of averting catastrophic climate change," Mann told the Huffington Post.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="bd989" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FMEBFV1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1055421267803746304" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New Green Strategy: Change the Electorate, Not the Election #ClimateVoter #VoteOnClimate #IVoted https://t.co/JGhLvyxC3Z</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1055421267803746304">1540467013.0</a></blockquote></div>
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