SIERRA
CLUB NW/AK NEWS
April
21, 2008
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ALASKA
Agencies
conduct massive study of Arctic haze
FAIRBANKS - Mike Cubison has been
flying around in a haze for three weeks, by choice.The University of Colorado postdoctoral student grabs air samples over
Alaska skies,
and using a mass spectrometer, measures floating particles of pollution before
obliterating them into their constituent parts to determine what they're made
of.
Sierra
Club disappointed with herring decision
On April 11, the
National Marine Fishery Service posted on the Federal Register its decision to
deny the Sierra Club's petition to list the Lynn Canal Pacific Herring
population as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species
Act.
Pebble
Partnership sets a $140 million budget
The Pebble
Mine project has set a budget for 2008. The Pebble Partnership, a collaboration
between Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Anglo American plc, says it has
approved more than $140 million to advance the project near the headwaters of
Bristol Bay.
Group
hires Liddy of Watergate fame to promote Alaska petroleum
drilling
ANCHORAGE -
The lobbying group that uses state of Alaska
money to push for petroleum drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has
hired Watergate conspirator and talk radio host G. Gordon Liddy to broadcast
live from Alaska.
Candidate
says tapping oil from Arctic wildlife refuge will reduce gas
prices
PICKENS,
S.C. -
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said Wednesday that tapping oil
reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would help lower gas prices.
“We’ve got this silly battle going on about ANWR," said Thompson, who voted in
favor of drilling the refuge as a former Tennessee senator.
Hunters,
anglers worry about cost of global warming
WASHINGTON -
Global warming could force elk and mule deer from much of the American West.
Wild trout could disappear in lower Appalachian streams. Two-thirds of the
country's ducks may disappear.
IDAHO
18 States to commit
to take action on climate change
California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger predicted Friday that an international deadlock over how to deal
with global warming will end once President Bush leaves office, while a leading
expert warned of dire consequences if urgent action is not
taken.
LTE: Renwable
Energy
Idaho attracting
investors driven by federal tax credit
Although to date, Idaho has developed only
a few renewable energy projects, our state appears to be attracting new
investors. Nordic Windpower is one of several international companies now
investing in Idaho. Nordic is building a 43,000-square-foot
manufacturing facility in Pocatello - to manufacture wind turbines. The
company will employ 160 workers and intends to produce at least 20 turbines by
September 2009. Nordic is expecting to expand its Pocatello site up to four times its current
size to meet the growing demand for wind power.
Tougher Mercury rules
sought
Idaho — An Idaho conservation group
has petitioned the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to expand
regulations on mercury emissions to include the toxic metal's effect in
watersheds.
Is tilapia Idaho’s
next game fish? If so, it could be good and
bad
I t is a small world when it
comes to fishing, and it is getting smaller. Idaho actually has a tilapia record. Tilapia?
Tilapia are from Africa or the Middle East.
Talk about globalization.
OREGON
Kulongoski
will walk the Earth Day talk
On
Monday, Kulongoski will be in Portland to issue an "Earth Day challenge" --
inviting Oregonians to change something in their daily routine to a more
Earth-friendly practice. He'll be joined at that event, set for noon at
Pioneer Courthouse
Square, by representatives from the Sierra Club and
Northwest utilities to promote a variety of environmental practices.
Green With
Envy
Sevent things Portland should do
if we’re serious about global warming
Another Earth Day. How far we’ve come in 38 years! Sure, we’re still
beating up the planet. But these days, melting ice caps and all, we do feel more
guilty when we leave the lights on at home while we drive to the grocery store.
Especially in Portland, “America’s top
green city,” according to February’s Popular
Science. The biggest city in the state that gave birth to the bottle
bill. The first U.S. city to adopt Kyoto Protocol
targets.
Less
gasoline guzzled here
Green
as we Northwesterners think we are, the survey from the Sightline Institute
still came as a bit of a surprise: We're consuming 10 percent less gasoline, on
the average, than we were in 1999.
Small
actions help big environmental picture
Simple
Earth-friendly changes can make your personal space more efficient Being
eco-conscious is one of the best things you can do for yourself, your home and
the planet. Here are several things -- either inexpensive or free -- that will
make your home more Earth friendly.
The
Mystery of Oregon’s Missing Salmon
..the
salmon, which have long defied their surroundings to remain the strongest salmon
stock on the West Coast, have suddenly collapsed. Fish headed to sea vanished
amid a treacherous world of large water diversions, reversing rivers, alien
predators, toxic water and, in the ocean, unpredictable currents and food
supplies.
WASHINGTON
City
Council to vote on easing environmental
reviews
To
encourage development that will accommodate growth in Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels
has proposed easing environmental reviews for developers. Today, the City
Council is set to vote on the issue.
Costlier
gas, new hybrids spur more to go green
When
Mike Reinhardt first started driving, gas cost 25 cents a gallon. “I expect it
will be easily $15 a gallon, if not higher, in my lifetime," said Reinhardt, a
retired attorney who lives in Seattle's Meadowbrook neighborhood. So
two weeks ago he bought a 2008 Toyota Prius."It was time to get a more
fuel-efficient vehicle," he said.