washington

Seattle County Files 11th U.S. Climate Liability Lawsuit Against Big Oil

Seattle County Files 11th U.S. Climate Liability Lawsuit Against Big Oil

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, […]

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    Washington Governor Inslee Rejects Major Oil-by-Rail Project

    Washington Governor Inslee Rejects Major Oil-by-Rail Project

    By Justin Mikulka On Jan. 29, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee rejected a permit required for Tesoro-Savage to build the Vancouver Energy oil-by-rail facility, the largest such project in the nation, at the Port of Vancouver, along the Washington-Oregon border. The governor explained the basis of his decision, which followed a several year long process, in […]

    Governors Weigh in on Water, Climate and the Environment: What We Know So Far

    Governors Weigh in on Water, Climate and the Environment: What We Know So Far

    By Brett Walton State of the State speeches are where governors sketch their legislative priorities and report on the overall health of their dominions. The state of the state is almost always “strong” and water issues are occasionally mentioned. Below are summaries of the governors’ references to water, climate and the environment. This post will […]

    Washington State Rejects Coal Export Terminal

    Washington State Rejects Coal Export Terminal

    Washington state regulators denied a water quality permit for a major coal export terminal Tuesday, dealing a possibly lethal blow to the project. The Washington Department of Ecology denied the permit for the Millennium Bulk terminal project, finding that the proposed terminal would have caused “significant and unavoidable harm” to the nearby city of Longview. […]

    Kids Get Day in Court, Accuse State for Failing to Take Climate Action

    Kids Get Day in Court, Accuse State for Failing to Take Climate Action

    Judge Hollis Hill ruled Monday that the youths who sued the Department of Ecology for failing to take action on climate change can again move forward, now with a constitutional climate rights claim that adds the state of Washington and Gov. Jay Inslee as defendants. The court granted the youth’s request “due to the emergent […]

    Washington Becomes First State to Sue Monsanto Over PCBs, Accused of Knowing Its Toxicity for Decades

    Washington Becomes First State to Sue Monsanto Over PCBs, Accused of Knowing Its Toxicity for Decades

    Monsanto is facing yet another lawsuit over its alleged negligent handling of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), a banned and highly toxic group of chemicals that the company manufactured decades ago. But this time it’s not another city suing the biotech giant—it’s an entire state. Highly toxic PCBs have been found throughout Washington state, with more than […]