"Oregon is poised to adopt the strictest standard for toxic water pollution in the United States, driven by concerns about tribal members and others who eat large amounts of contaminated fish."
"Formerly rare beak deformities are spreading rapidly among crows in southwestern B.C. and Puget Sound, according to researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey."
Portland, Oregon is completing a network of "Big Pipes" to replace its aging combined sewer overflow system and reduce the flow of sewage and stormwater into the Willamette River. But how long will this pipe do its job unless it is accompanied by more investments in "green infrastructure" as well?
The map and report on known greater sage grouse high-density breeding populations is a starting point that can be refined with the input of state fish and wildlife agencies. But you can use it right away as you cover various land use and environmental issues.
"The Department of Energy plans to provide a loan guarantee to the world's largest wind farm, increasing the agency's total loan guarantees or conditional commitments to almost $16 billion."
"Rainwater channeled by logging roads into rivers and streams is pollution and can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. That was the decision today from the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case involving the Tillamook State Forest."
"Pacific oysters in the wild on Washington's coast haven't reproduced in six seasons. Scientists suspect ocean-chemistry changes linked to the fossil-fuel emissions that cause global warming are helping kill these juvenile shellfish. The oceans are becoming more acidic, and that corrosive water is finding its way into Puget Sound."
"The waters in Puget Sound's main basin are acidifying as fast as those along the Washington Coast, where wild oysters have not reproduced since 2005."
As drought blankets much of the western U.S. and Canada, so do grasshoppers, Mormon crickets, and other associated bugs. The cyclical insect infestations, which are occurring in pockets in every state west of the Mississippi and in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, range from light to very severe.
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