Our recent post on the Convergence for Climate Action down in Oregon turned out to be one of the better-read Dateline Earth items for July, so maybe y'all would like to find out what actually happened down there?
It was billed as "eight days of low-impact living and high-impact action." Recall that it sounded like we might see some major civil disobedience, perhaps even recalling the days of the WTO riots.
But no. It sounds like it was a pretty tidy if not staid affair, running the gamut from learning to dry fruits to practicing civil disobedience. In the latter vein, here's one chant recorded by reporter Anne Williams for her story in the Eugene Register-Guard:
I would like to remain silent, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh; I would like to see my lawyer, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Why protect ocean health? In a word: Hawaii. Brent Roraback
Here's what they're worried about, according to a press release from the nonprofit group, Environment Washington:
This proposal would gut the 30-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as it applies to fishery plans in the oceans that affect ocean animals like whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sea birds and fish. NEPA is the country's preeminent conservation law. It would stifle public participation in fishery management decisions and allow fishery managers to make decisions about fishing without fully considering the impacts on marine ecosystems.
The environmentalists said they've gathered 200,000 comments on the planned changes to NEPA, a "record number of official public comments ever generated on any ocean issue." Comments were also submitted at NMFS offices in Gloucester, Mass., St. Petersburg, Fla., and La Jolla, Calif.
They're hoping the demonstration holds some sway as ocean protection is the environmental issue that Bush seems to be interested in as his "blue legacy."
The oldest orca among the pods that frequent Puget Sound and the waters of the San Juan Islands has been missing since December and is believed to be dead.
That's according to Friday Harbor's Center for Whale Research, as cited in this story from the Victoria Times Colonist.
The whale, called Lummi and believed to have been born in 1910, must be missing for a year before officially declared dead.
Granny the orca
If the death of Lummi -- a great-great grandma from the orcas' K pod -- is confirmed, Granny takes over as the elder orca of what's known as the Southern residents.
In 2006, P-I reporter M.L. Lyke wrote an amazing narrative tracking the trials and tribulations of Granny, a member of the J pod thought to have been born in 1911.
We've heard before about researchers who dig into dumps, or landfills, or whatever you want to call them, notably University of Arizona "garbologist" William Rathje. We've even speculated ourselves -- and we certainly weren't the first -- about whether the future would see us mining these big trash piles for metals and other materials as they grow scarce.
The key to bolstering our 401(k)?
Andy Rogers/P-I
Well, now we hear that entrepreneuers are skipping the middleman and just mining the trash before it's ever sent to the dump. This story by Roben Farzad in BusinessWeek* capsulizes the situation this way:
The possibilities have venture capitalists and buyout firms scrambling to invest in a melange of quirky start-ups that might have provoked belly laughs from these same financiers five years ago.
It's a complicated situation in some ways, but this boom traces basically to one factor: high energy prices. And with financiers getting into this as longterm investments, it lends credence to the idea that those high energy prices are not going away soon. Is this Peak Oil? These guys seem to think so.
BTW, there's a word for this: recycling. But as Farzad points out, similar trends blossomed after previous energy shocks, only to fade soon after.
* This post originally said Farzad worked for another publication. Our apologies.
Sunshine at Golden Gardens. Renee Beyer/P-I
Here's a summary of temperature estimates from the UW's Climate Impacts Group (in degrees Fahrenheit, increase is compared to 1970-1999 average):
Rainfall is a slightly fuzzier picture:
A spot of good news from The Associated Press today: The number of endangered Western lowland gorillas living in Africa appears to be much higher than previously estimated.
Here's one of 'em now.
Photo/Adrian Pingstone
The study announced today by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Republic of Congo more than doubles the number of gorillas believed to remain in the wild -- to between 175,000 and 225,000. (Note that the country involved is the smallish one on the central western coast of the continent, not its neighbor, the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. There will be a test.)
The gorillas have been threatened by exposure to the Ebola virus as well as the trade in so-called "bush meat." Because they are so shy, you can't count them individually. So the scientists did the next best thing -- they checked out the gorillas' homes, counting their sleeping nests.
That's not foolproof, but an independent researcher contacted by the AP, University of Southern California anthropologist and biologist Craig Stanford, expressed hope that the findings are accurate:
Seattle smog
Here's a quick primer from PSCAA:
Ozone is the prime ingredient of smog and is formed when volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxides combine in heat and sunlight. These ingredients -- VOCs and NOX for short -- come from a multitude of urban sources including gasoline engines (cars, planes, boats), solvents and paints.
The smog becomes a problem on days like today when there's a temperature inversion.
Said Amy Warren, PSCAA spokeswoman:
"All the pollution is being trapped down toward ground and we get that smudge across the mountains."
Ozone itself is a colorless gas, but there are small, particulate pollutants (again with sources like engine exhaust, dust, etc.) that lend that lovely brown shade.
The carcass of a prematurely born orca calf has been discovered in the San Juan Islands, and scientists are scrambling to figure out if it came from one of the groups of killer whales that frequent the San Juans and nearby waters.
While a newborn orca calf is usually perhaps eight feet long and from 300 to 400 pounds, this one was about five feet long and weighed an estimated 70 to 80 pounds. So it's likely this calf was aborted, according to Amy Traxler, coordinator of the San Juan Islands Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
Apparently a part-time resident of Henry Island, just off the north coast of San Juan Island, noticed the carcass July 26 but didn't notify the Stranding Network until Aug. 1.
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The carcass on July 26
Photo/H. Zemel
... and on Aug. 1 Photo/The Whale Museum
By then it was in what the authorities refer to as "an advanced state of decomposition." Yech! More important than our gentle sensitivities, though, is the fact that this decomposition makes it more difficult for researchers to ascertain what went wrong, and whether the orca is in fact a member of the so-called "Southern resident" killer whale pods that frequent Washington waters. The other possibility is that it's a member of a so-called "transient" pod that comes through here once in a while.
It's an important question, because we know the orcas that live here number among the most polluted marine mammals on the face of the globe. The offending chemicals, especially PCBS, are known to interfere with mammals' reproduction.
A 5-4 decision Thursday by the state Supreme Court will weaken shoreline protections and therefore delay recovery of Puget Sound, enviros are saying.
At issue is a mush of land use rules. The way it seems to play out is that critical areas (such as shorelines) that fall within the jurisdiction of the Shoreline Management Act will be ruled by shoreline master programs, not the Growth Management Act and critical areas ordinances.
Because local governments are updating their shoreline master programs between 2009-2014, that means beach-side development will be dictated by older, less-stringent regulations.
Said Kathy Fletcher, director of People for Puget Sound:
"Best available science shows that protecting our shorelines and the nearshore zone protects water quality, as well as salmon, forage fish, eelgrass beds, and shellfish beds that are important to the food web, our economy, and our future."
I'm waiting for the pro-property rights Pacific Legal Foundation to weigh in on this.
New rules approved Thursday night by the U.S. Senate would dramatically reduce the amount of lead and phthalates (a chemical used to make plastics softer) allowed in children's products. The bill already passed by the House now goes to President Bush.
Toys from Seattle's Archie McPhee must be phthalate-lite if new safety rules are approved. Andy Rogers/P-I
The legislation arose following recalls over the past year of millions of toys for having too high levels of lead. The metal can reduce intelligence. Phthalates, the other chemical targeted for reduction, is linked to developmental defects and other health problems. The ingredient is also used in shower curtains, perfumes and fragrances and other common consumer products.
Local enviros and Gov. Chris Gregoire applauded the feds for catching up with little ol' Washington state, which passed the Children's Safe Products Act in the spring. Said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, environmental health advocate with the Washington Toxics Coalition:
"We're pleased that Congress followed Washington's lead and finally took action to eliminate a few of the harmful chemicals found in toys and children's products. The chemical industry and toy industry are now on notice that toxic chemicals have no place in children's toys."
