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sightline feed test2The War on Trash - Lessons Learned from a Remote Beach CleanupBy OPC Surfrider from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012.
On November 17th 2011, the Surfrider Foundation's Olympic Peninsula Chapter partnered with the Makah Tribe, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary conducting a beach cleanup on a very remote northwest beach. The debris collected both previously and on the day of the cleanup operation totaled more than 1800 pounds . The debris was brought to Arnold and Debbie Schouten's residence in Port Angeles where it was examined by Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Jim Ingraham and student volunteers. Dr. Ebbesmeyer's team discovered a large black buoy which possibly represents the arrival of tsunami debris from the recent Japanese tsunami. An ongoing effort by the Japanese Consulate and others is currently underway to determine the specific origin of the black buoy and other debris. The Chapter would like to thank all volunteers who helped make this day happen. Read the full article here  Help! The Chemical Industry Is Winning!By lmikesell from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. We’re shocked. Sad. And angry. Last night, the Toxic-Free Kids Act was voted out of committee, but with an amendment written by the chemical industry that removed the most important parts of the bill. Now, children won’t be protected from these cancer-causing Tris flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in toys, baby blankets, and other items, unless the Senate votes to strengthen the bill by next Tuesday.George Washington BushBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Surely one of the more fascinating and unjustly overlooked characters in the Northwest's pioneer history is George Washington Bush. He was, by some accounts, the first American to establish a permanent settlement in what is now Washington. He was, in a literal sense, a trail-blazer, a home-steader, and farmer. He was also black, and so became a pioneer against racial discrimination on the frontier. Rather than submit to racially discriminatory laws passed in Missouri, he sold his farm there and headed west in 1844 in search of a freer country in Oregon, aiming to settle in the Rogue River Valley. read more »Outreach and Enablement at this Year's Lobby DayBy David Todd from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. By Robert Franco-Tayar As a new member of People for Puget Sound (new to the world of advocacy as well), Environmental Lobby Day was an exciting experience. There was something special about meeting the legislators that represent my neighborhood, and without Lobby Day I likely never would have taken the opportunity to do it. Putting a legislator’s face behind the name and stump speech that appears in the annual voter’s pamphlet was also illuminating. The handouts covering some of the environmental legislation making its way through the State Congress were comprehensible, concise, and skillfully compiled, and I was impressed with the efficiency with which the day proceeded. More importantly, Lobby Day presents a very important (to me, at least) example of effective outreach. “Outreach” is more than emails, booths, and marketing, though these are also important components. These are the means to a crucial end, which I believe to be “enablement”. The degree to which someone has been enabled to affect change is truly the most accurate measure of a good outreach effort. “Enablement” through outreach is also about meeting people more than halfway. We, in the Puget Sound region, live in a particularly well-educated and conscientious environment. We care about the ecosystem in which we live and our natural surroundings uniquely define us. However, most people simply cannot be as active or involved as they would like ordinarily, and one of our jobs at People For Puget Soundis to provide the opportunity to maintain and restore the Puget Sound to anyone who wants to. We try to accomplish this on an individual as well as institutional level. Sometimes this involves updating a listserv with our restoration events or setting up an informational booth at an Earth Day festival. On January 25th, People For Puget Sound, along with its sponsoring partners, organized Lobby Day.
Robert Franco-Tayar is the Outreach Coordinator or People For Puget Sound
Healthy environment pairs with strong economyBy intern from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. The 2012 Legislature is a particularly vexing one for those who know that a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. Efforts are under way on several fronts to roll back environmental rules and regulations under the guise of jobs creation and economic prosperity.Portland Community College partners with SolarWorld and SolarCity for massive solar-power projectBy suzanne from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. When completed later this spring, the 2,100-panel array is expected to produce 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. That's enough electricity to meet the needs of 40 average-size houses.Sierra Club faces gas-cash fallout | PoliticoBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Is $26 million worth the reputation of a venerable, 1.4 million member environmental group? The Sierra Club may be about to find out. Last week's revelations about the 120-year-old organization's hushed financial marriage to the natural gas industry - and its just-as-secretive divorce - have left some long-time supporters feeling angry, betrayed or misled.The planet doesn’t notice your eco-friendly life | Fast CompanyBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. An economist argues that small individual actions--like eating local--make people feel better at the expense of creating real change. What's the solution, and what can you do to help?USDA: We can fund pickles! | GristBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. In case you think pickling is just another excuse to put Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in goofy wigs, think again. Along with products like jam, flour, and beef jerky, pickles count as "value-added" foods, and they're at the core of what it will take for the local food movement to mature beyond an easily parodied trend.Tiny paycheck? Seattle had lowest pay growth | The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Feel like your paycheck barely went up in the last year? You're not alone. Seattle workers at private companies saw their wages and benefits inch up by only 1 percent last year, the lowest growth among big cities in the West and a rate lower than the national average.Study: Green economy lost fewer jobs in recession | USA TodayBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. The green economy lost fewer jobs than did the overall economy during the height of the United States' recent recession, finds a study out today on California's experiences.OR Senate passes marine reserve bill | Oregon Public BroadcastingBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Otter Rock is one of one of the first marine reserve sites to be closed to fishing off the Oregon coast. If the House of Representatives passes a bill in the Legislature this session, another three sites on the north and central coast will be added to the state's network of protected areas.A challenge for chefs | GristBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Make me a delicious vegetarian entree - or stop claiming to care about sustainability.Landmark day in gay marriage battle | Los Angeles TimesBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage, in a narrow ruling that opponents hailed as historic and supporters immediately vowed to appeal.The great carbon bubble | The NationBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. If we could see the world with a particularly illuminating set of spectacles, one of its most prominent features at the moment would be a giant carbon bubble, whose bursting someday will make the housing bubble of 2007 look like a lark. As yet -- as we shall see -- it's unfortunately largely invisible to us.Newcomers drive Canada’s population growth | Vancouver SunBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 08, 2012. Harpreet Rehlan and his wife, Ravinder Kaur, are emblematic of a new trend that has come to define the changing face of Canada - two-thirds of the country's population growth is now fuelled by immigration.Two internships at CascadeBy Craig Benjamin from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 07, 2012. We’ve got two internships available right now at Cascade: Political Communications Intern The Political Communications intern will help Cascade develop and drive a powerful narrative regarding bicycling. This includes identifying and reviewing best practices from bicycle communications in Washington, across the country and around the world; developing case studies of effective bicycle communications and narratives [...]Feds Say: Traffic Is DecliningBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 07, 2012. The latest traffic figures from the Federal Highway Administration offer a small surprise: through November of 2011, year-to-date vehicle travel in the U.S. hit its lowest level since 2003. As you may recall, traffic plummeted in 2008---back when the economy hit the skids, even as gas prices shot through the roof. But most transportation analysts (including me) expected that traffic would resume its upward trajectory as the economy rebounded and population grew. Perhaps they will yet. But so far, the numbers are telling a different story: appetite for car travel in the US appears to be flattening out. read more »TONIGHT: Celebrate bicycle travel with Willie WeirBy M.J. Kelly from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 07, 2012. Come to Your Senses: A Celebration of Bicycle Travel with Willie Weir TONIGHT! Tuesday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m. REI Seattle, 222 Yale Ave. N Cascade members: $5 General public: $7 Advance tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets Writer, performer, bicycle advocate and adventure cyclist Willie Weir has been entertaining Seattle crowds for more than [...]Australia’s Coal Dust ProblemBy (author unknown) from "Environmental News from our Community" via Environmental in Google Reader. Published on Feb 07, 2012. Those concerned about coal dust from export terminals in the Northwest might do well to cast an eye Down Under. Australia is currently the world’s leading coal exporter, and therefore provides an instructive lesson in the ways that transporting and handling of large volumes of coal can affect nearby communities. Several places in Australia have experienced serious problems with coal dust from railways and export terminals. Here’s how the coal transport industry describes … read more » Document Actions |
