News items for March 27, 2024
-
1. Preparing for train disasters in the Columbia River Gorge
Trains carrying oil regularly pass through the Columbia River Gorge. In Oregon, agencies are coordinating with officials from Washington, tribal and federal governments to prepare for future oil spills.
-
2. As WA tackles PFAS, some worry about ‘piecemeal’ approach
State-mandated testing revealed a San Juan Island community was drinking toxic water. But who is responsible for paying for a new water source?
-
3. Coast Guard alert system aims to reduce whales hit by vessels
In Washington State, the US Coast Guard has launched a pilot program to alert ships to whale sightings in the Salish Sea and Puget Sound. The goal of the agency’s new Cetacean Desk is to try to better protect marine mammals from boat strikes and underwater disturbances.
-
4. Creating a glossary of Indigenous environmental terms
To help explain the changes caused by a warming climate that people are seeing on the land and in the water, two Alaska Indigenous women are embarking on a project to compile a glossary of Indigenous environmental terms.
-
5. Should Orcas be considered one species?
Scientists have drawn upon decades of research to suggest that two killer whale populations often observed off the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada are actually so different from each other, and from other orcas, that they should be considered separate species.
-
6. What’s next for Trans Mountain pipeline?
Here’s a look at what milestones to expect in the coming weeks as the massive pipeline gets ready to start shipping Canadian oil to BC.
-
7. National monument on CA-OR border survives legal challenge
The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, a remote expanse of wilderness along the California-Oregon border, will not lose any of its acreage after the US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up two challenges to its expansion.
-
8. How Canada investigates ‘greenwashing’ complaints
As the climate crisis worsens, convincing your customers your business is part of the solution, not the problem, can translate to a lot of revenue. The question is, how legitimate are those claims, and what happens when someone reports you for not meeting your own lofty standards?
-
9. American walking data is getting worse
A recent shift in how the federal government measures Americans’ travel behavior may have undercounted walking trips by more than half, and as transportation leaders look to that flawed data to make infrastructure decisions, it could have dire implications for the pedestrian of tomorrow.
-
10. Climate and the high cost of your chocolate Easter egg
Higher chocolate prices this Easter after bad crops on the other side of the world are just the latest example of disruptions in the food supply chain, a trend experts say consumers are noticing in growing numbers.
More News from March 27, 2024
-
BC has ambitious climate goals. Do they leave room for gas?
Natural gas giant FortisBC drew a plan the regulator has ruled ‘a reasonable first step towards a low carbon future.’ What’s in it?
-
Canada still hands billions to fossil fuel industry
A new Environmental Defence analysis reveals that despite government promises to cut, the amount of taxpayers’ money given to the industry remains high.
-
Youth homelessness presents unique challenges in OR
Oregon has the highest rate of unaccompanied, unsheltered homeless youth in the nation, according to some recent federal data. But in some ways, these young people are invisible.
-
Where WA plans to burn before wildfire season
The state Department of Natural Resources will burn up to 2,580 acres in Central and Eastern Washington before the summer season, aiming to prevent severe wildfires later.