Just over a year ago, Gov. Jay Inslee launched his “Washington Maritime Blue” initiative. It aims to make the state’s seafaring sector the most sustainable in the nation, by boosting innovations and clean technology that help the environment and also grow jobs.

When the Canadian government bought the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline from Kinder-Morgan last year, it also bought a 69-mile-long spur that extends from the border with the U.S. and feeds Canadian crude to four Washington refineries. The change in ownership triggered a required update to the oil-spill response plan for the spur, which has been operating since the 1950s.

The population of critically endangered orca whales seems to have reached a tipping point. Just 74 Southern Residents are left in the wild, a number that will likely drop this year after news broke this week of two more starving orcas. A wildlife veterinarian on Orcas Island has one idea that could help: a comprehensive health database to enable intensive care to each and every member of the J, K and L pods.

Environmental law in the U.S. regulates pollution, but often doesn’t protect the things we love. A movement to change that by securing so-called "rights of nature" is taking hold globally – and locally, too.

What if we could radically improve human intelligence and treat mental disorders through neuroscience that connects our brains to the internet? It sounds like science fiction. But an entrepreneur from Los Angeles has a company working on it. He also wants to use technology to help solve climate change — and recently unveiled that vision during a talk in Seattle.

When you think of high-rise buildings, you probably don’t imagine wood as the weight-bearing material. But Washington recently approved a change in its building codes that will allow engineered mass timber in structures up to 18 stories tall. That’s three times as high as current code allows.

This story originally aired on January 20, 2018. Feeling out of place takes on whole new dimension when you’re in a foreign country. Perhaps no one understands this more than new immigrants and refugees. And there’s a woman who meets lots of them here in the Seattle area. Sophorn Sim is an outreach worker for the environmental non-profit, ECOSS , connecting other refugees and new immigrants with resources and ways to live healthier lives. One place she’s done a lot of that lately is a fishing

It’s long been known that shellfish and other marine life are sensitive to ocean acidification caused by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Some fish lose their sense of smell in acidic waters. There was a hope that salmon would not be affected. A new study shows otherwise.

Representatives of the state Department of Natural Resources will be in Belfair on Monday evening. They’re meeting with members of the community to address concerns about an unregulated increase in target shooting in Tahuya State Forest.

People who love Puget Sound orcas and want to save them from extinction will rally in Olympia tomorrow. And Gov. Jay Inslee plans to join them, immediately after announcing his budget priorities for the coming year.