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. On the plus side, the Democrats took the House of Representatives, which, as BBC News pointed out, means that President Donald Trump can’t pass any more major legislation without their […]
By Starre Vartan It was once Washington state’s largest coal pit, a terraced, open-to-the-sky strip mine, five miles from the city of Centralia and halfway between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Today, the coal beds are quiet and blanketed in green, but an adjacent TransAlta power plant with three tall stacks still churns out electricity the […]
King County, which covers the Seattle metropolitan area, followed the lead of 10 other cities and counties in the U.S. when it filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the world’s five largest oil companies for damages incurred by climate change, a county press release announced. “The science is undisputable: climate change is impacting our region today, […]
In 2015, the FDA approved genetically engineered salmon, the first ever GE animal to be approved for human consumption anywhere in the world. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians called for sufficient consultation with Tribes to assess the environmental impact of GE salmon production, a legal requirement the FDA did […]
By Justin Mikulka The Motley Fool has been advising investors on “How to Profit From the Re-Emergence of Canada’s Crude-by-Rail Strategy.” But what makes transporting Canadian crude oil by rail attractive to investors? According to the Motley Fool, the reason is “… right now, there is so much excess oil being pumped out of Canada’s […]
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order this week to aid the recovery of critically endangered southern resident killer whales and the Chinook salmon they eat. There are only 76 orcas left in Puget Sound, down from 98 in 1995. Their numbers have dipped due to pollution, underwater noise and disturbances from boat traffic, […]
By William J. Kinsella Seventy-five years ago, in March 1943, a mysterious construction project began at a remote location in eastern Washington state. Over the next two years some 50,000 workers built an industrial site occupying half the area of Rhode Island, costing more than $230 million—equivalent to $3.1 billion today. Few of those workers, […]
By Andrea Germanos A group of 13 youths have filed a lawsuit against the State of Washington for breaching its constitutional and Public Trust obligations. Why? Failure to act on climate change. In their suit (pdf), filed Friday in King County Superior Court, the plaintiffs, aged seven to 17, say the state, Gov. Jay Inslee, […]
By Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky Bill McKibben is right. Last summer, the co-founder of climate change organization 350.org penned a Rolling Stone article titled How to Tell If Your Reps Are Serious About Climate Change. One way to tell, said McKibben, is if “[t]hey understand natural gas could be the most dangerous fuel of all.” A new […]