Environment

As eating local and organic produce gains popularity, researchers are looking for more crops that can extend the growing season through the winter months in the Northwest. Getting through the dark days of winter is tough for all of us here, but if you’re a farmer, it’s especially hard. The demand for local and organic produce doesn’t go away, but there aren’t that many crops that keep growing. The Organic Seed Alliance is looking for ways to help, by growing trial varieties that have potential

Winter in the Northwest can be challenging, with so many dark days. One strategy for getting through is to go outside and enjoy the weather, whatever it is. Starting this weekend, you can snowshoe with a forest ranger at four locations in the Cascades. They even provide the snowshoes. “We get the snowshoes at a discount, so it’s nice to be able to share that with the public,” said Koreena Haynes, a public affairs specialist with the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. “Our main objective is to

Sixteen environmental groups have sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers with concerns about increasing oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea. They say a final environmental impact statement for expansion of an oil refinery north of Bellingham is long overdue — and needed now more than ever. BP added a second dock to its refinery at Cherry Point , near Ferndale, in 2001. Known as the North Wing, it was originally built without formal environmental analysis, though it doubled the facility’s

The Washington State Department of Ecology is recommending more aggressive efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the state. The agency has submitted new targets to the Legislature.

It’s sometimes called the evil twin of global warming. Ocean acidification happens when carbon pollution from the sky is absorbed by the water. Washington state has been a leader in addressing the issue locally. And now the state has joined a new international alliance to fight ocean acidification on a global scale. Washington state began addressing the problem of ocean acidification in earnest back in 2011, when then-Governor Christine Gregoire appointed a blue-ribbon panel on the issue. Its

More than half of the new revenue in the budget proposal announced by Governor Inslee this week comes from the introduction of a tax on carbon pollution. That’s even after Washington voters resoundingly rejected a carbon tax proposal on the fall ballot. But research from the non-profit Nature Conservancy shows Inslee’s proposal is actually consistent with what voters want, even though only about 40 percent of Washington voters supported Initiative 732, the “carbon-neutral tax swap,” The Nature

Seattle leaders are considering cutting ties, at least temporarily, with a bank financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. Wells Fargo manages $3 billion of the city's operating funds under a contract that began in 2013 and is set to expire at the end of 2018. The bank says it is also one of 17 institutions providing loans for the oil pipeline through the Midwest. City lawmakers took up a bill Monday that would call on the mayor and city finance officials to not renew the contract beyond 2018 and

Canada’s recent approval of an expansion plan for the Trans Mountain Pipeline with a terminus in Vancouver BC is raising concerns in the Puget Sound region. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has written a letter to President Obama , asking him to intervene. She says there’s an increased risk of oil spills and a lack of necessary prevention and response technologies. And she wants President Obama to engage directly with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure that adequate protections are in

Think globally; act locally. The old motto has new validity as the nation gets ready for the change of administration in the other Washington. Regional leaders on climate change are forging ahead, despite President-elect Trump’s threat to withdraw from the Paris accord. Among those in the local business community, Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center stands out. This week, it is hosting a workshop on climate-resilient health care in the Pacific Northwest. Brenna Davis is the center’s

Cities produce 70 percent of the world’s carbon emissions and can do a lot to reduce that pollution, even without national leadership. That was the sentiment at the C40 Mayors Summit taking place in Mexico City this week. While there, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed a new memorandum of understanding with the premier of Mexico City. Murray says it covers partnerships in areas such as sustainability, technology, education and culture, but more than anything, it demonstrates the power of local