Current Stories
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Bottled water sucks
The Nation
11/19/2009
With style, verve and righteous anger, a new documentary exposes the bottled water industry's role in suckering the public, harming our health, accelerating climate change, and contributing to overall pollution.
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Seas absorbing less carbon
New York Times
11/18/2009
The Earth's oceans, which have absorbed carbon dioxide from fuel emissions since the dawn of the industrial era, have recently grown less efficient at sopping it up, new research suggests.
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Tap water far 'greener' than bottled in study
Oregonian
11/18/2009
Even in a best-case scenario, drinking bottled water boosts greenhouse gas emissions 46 times more than drinking water from the tap, an analysis from Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality concludes.
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Pot polluters in Oregon
New West
11/17/2009
It's no secret there are a number of Oregonians who enjoy smoking marijuana. And while that may be the case, there are millions in the West who don't enjoy having their water polluted to produce the plant.
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Study: Farm animals devouring the world's fish
Vancouver Sun
11/17/2009
Consumer campaigns that promote sustainable seafood fail to address the fact the world's fish resources are being gobbled up by chickens, pigs, fish, and other farm animals, a study involving the University of BC concludes.
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Harmful algae could cost coastal communities
Oregonian
11/16/2009
Harmful algae can be deadly, and it can throw an economic punch as well.
A study released Monday shows that a yearlong closure of razor clamming because of toxic algae would cost Washington state $22 million in lost revenue from lodging, gear sales, restaurant receipts and other costs.
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Big algal bloom lingering along coast
KPLU
11/17/2009
Marine scientists have been surprised by the persistence of an unusual red tide along the Washington and northern Oregon coast. This is the algae bloom which produced a slimy foam that killed thousands of seabirds earlier in the fall. Foam turned up on coastal beaches again on Monday, but the bird die-off has not resumed.
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Chefs serve salmon with a message
Anchorage Daily News
11/15/2009
Chefs at more than a dozen Seattle restaurants are serving salmon dishes with a message on the side - a warning that the creature's future could be threatened by a giant gold and copper mine proposed for Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, home to the world's largest sockeye salmon runs.
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Pacific garbage patch threatens birds, boats
USA Today
11/15/2009
Charles Moore has spent most of the past decade sailing through the Pacific. He could regale you with stories of sublime open-water majesty. Just not anytime soon. "It's a swirling plastic cesspool," says Moore of an area called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where he became mired in it during a 1997 sailing expedition.
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Water package lacks clout to reverse Delta's decline
Sacramento Bee
11/15/2009
The momentous reform of California's water system signed into law last week is largely toothless where it matters most: Action to reverse the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's environmental decline.
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Canada is last stop for naming Salish Sea
Toronto Globe and Mail
11/13/2009
British Columbia's cabinet is now the last barrier to officially renaming the body of water that lies off BC and Washington state the Salish Sea, finally recognizing the connection of the shared waterway.
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Portland in tussle with EPA over sewer plant
Oregonian
11/11/2009
Portland's sewer ratepayers are already spending $800 million to route most of the city's foul blend of sewage and stormwater to a treatment plant on the Columbia River -- but it might need to spend more, says the EPA.
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Study: Mercury levels high in lake fish
Oregonian
11/10/2009
A study by the US Environmental Protection Agency found high levels of the neurotoxin mercury in game fish in 49 percent of lakes and reservoirs nationwide. In Oregon, Portland General Electric's Boardman coal plant and an Ash Grove Cement kiln in Baker County have been the focus of mercury reduction efforts.
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Coal dust an ugly problem in scenic AK
Anchorage Daily News
11/10/2009
When the north wind blows in Seward, dust flies off a large pile of coal and covers the town's scenic boat harbor in black grit. Now three conservation groups are alleging that Alaska Railroad Corp. and Aurora Energy Services are discharging coal without a permit into Resurrection Bay - a popular destination with summer tourists.
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Panel backs no-fishing zones off CA coast
Los Angeles Times
11/11/2009
A state panel approved landmark fishing restrictions for Southern California, creating a patchwork of havens for marine life while leaving some waters open for anglers. Catches of rockfish, cod, lobster, sea urchin, squid sea bass, yellowtail and swordfish have been in steep decline, and fisheries scientists have argued some species could disappear entirely without no-fishing zones where breeding stocks can recover.
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BC energy lab has global reach
Vancouver Sun
11/11/2009
Outside of a university or a Mensa social gathering, the single-greatest concentration of PhDs and high IQs in British Columbia is probably employed at BC Hydro's clean-tech research lab in Surrey.
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As oceans fall ill, storm brews over solutions
Juneau Empire
11/09/2009
Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds, puzzling scientists. A thousand miles off California, researchers have discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex roughly twice the size of Texas filled with tiny bits of plastic and other debris.
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WA agencies agree on responsibilities for clean water, livestock
Tri-City Herald
11/09/2009
Two state agencies responsible for livestock and clean water have a new agreement they say will allow them to be more effective regulators.
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Fishermen's association supports Klamath dam agreement
Eureka Times-Standard
11/10/2009
The West Coast's largest commercial fishermen's organization announced on Monday its support for an agreement to tear out four Klamath River dams. The dams were put in beginning in 1916, and have blocked salmon from reaching hundreds of miles of spawning grounds since then. They also contribute to severe water quality problems on the river.
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Oceans give warning signs
Tacoma News Tribune
11/08/2009
Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds. Garbage swirls in ocean vortexes, coastal dead zones appear and every eight months enough oil to fill the Exxon Valdez runs off the nation's streets into the sea. As the grim news mounts, a storm is brewing in Washington, D.C., over who should oversee ocean policies.
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Wetlands could be high & dry without dam
Medford Mail-Tribune
11/08/2009
What happens to marshy properties and miles of adjoining wetlands should Gold Ray Dam disappear is at the crux of a $5.5 million question over whether the Southern Oregon dam will be removed next year, creating 157 miles of free-flowing Rogue River to the sea.
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New antennas help biologists study salmon
Seattle Times
11/08/2009
Biologists studying salmon in the Pacific Northwest have for decades lost track of the fish just as they set out on life's last leg, to spawn and die in remote backcountry streams. That is changing, as crews have installed giant antennas in nearly two dozen rivers and streams across the region to track fish.
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Anxiety ebbs over Green River flooding
Seattle Times
11/06/2009
The odds of severe flooding in the Green River Valley have dropped substantially due to repairs on the Howard Hanson Dam. But that relief was followed by barely contained frustration that months of high anxiety have come at great psychic and financial expense - and that the wait for a permanent fix could sap the region further even if a flood never comes.
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Canada plans inquiry into disappearance of BC sockeye
Vancouver Sun
11/06/2009
Canada will stage a judicial inquiry into the collapse of sockeye salmon runs on the Fraser River, which have been in a two-decade decline and hit a 50-year low in summer 2009. It has prompted concerns that sockeye are heading for a population failure on the scale of the collapse of Atlantic cod.
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Views: Scientist stakes reputation on salmon plan
Idaho Statesman
11/05/2009
The Obama administration and the region’s federal dam managers are pinning their hopes to the scientific reputation of Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a marine ecologist from Oregon State University. And it’s a good call.
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