Carbon emissions by the tech giants that dominate cloud computing are surging, even as companies like Amazon and Microsoft take steps to tame their climate impact.Read More
Environment
The remarkable discovery of an intact ancient cypress forest in the Gulf of Mexico may reveal a lot about climate change — the past and the future.Read More
The whales off the West Coast depend on sound to communicate, navigate and find food. So, what happens to their health when we fill their habitat with noisy ship traffic?Read More
The head of Cooke Aquaculture says he's furious about "scare tactics" that he says are driving a push to end Atlantic salmon farming in Puget Sound. The Washington Senate voted 35-12 Thursday to phase out aquatic leases for net pens holding non-native fish.Read More
In January 2018, around 100 homes were destroyed by mudslides in Montecito, California. The same conditions that brought that destruction could exist here in the Northwest – after all, we’ve had the same kinds of wildfires that California saw in December.Read More
A Washington climate activist is the first “valve turner” to go to prison for shutting off the flow of oil from Canada’s tar sands region into the U.S.Read More
It’s 8 a.m. on a rainy, windy Saturday morning, and John Hoac and Brandon Teeny just got to school — Cleveland High in south Seattle. They’re here to measure air and noise pollution on campus.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is taking input on the administration’s plan to open waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to oil drilling. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says that would endanger the Oregon Coast’s environment, tourism and fishing industry.Read More
Last month, a Washington resident was fined more than $8,000 for poaching three wolves in 2016. DNA evidence linked him to three separate kills, but other poaching cases remain unsolved. Read More
Washington doesn’t want your offshore drilling. That was Gov. Jay Inslee’s resounding message at a press conference Monday, where he spoke out against a federal plan for offshore oil and gas drilling.Read More
Oregon lawmakers held a joint committee hearing Monday on a bill that would create a cap and trade program to reduce the state’s carbon emissions.Read More
The 21 young people who are suing the federal government over climate change are waiting for an appeals court in Oregon to rule on whether their case can go forward. Read More
Washington state has tightened the screws—again—on an Atlantic salmon farming operation. The state Department of Natural Resources Saturday terminated the lease for Cooke Aquaculture's Cypress Island fish farm near Anacortes.Read More
The intense fire season of 2017 led to calls for more "treatment" of federal forests to remove excess fuel that can make for bigger, hotter wildfires. But while there's broad bipartisan agreement that more needs to be done to promote forest health, the opposing sides can have very different pictures of what that looks like on the ground.Read More
Portland City Council closed a major loophole in regulations protecting children from exposure to lead in paint. Lead-based paint in homes is the leading cause of lead poising in the nation.Read More
The landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima is likely going to be a slow one—it could take years or decades to fully come down. Now, residents can return. That’s the upshot of a new independent geology report commissioned by the state.Read More
Washington health officials have penned an uncommonly stern letter to the U.S. Department of Energy. It details concerns over the radioactive contamination spread at a Hanford demolition site.Read More
The oceans off Oregon and Washington are ground zero for acidification, and Northwest scientists are working on new ways to adapt.Read More
Three Washington state agencies have released their investigation into what happened when the Cooke Aquaculture salmon farm collapsed last August on Cypress Island north of Anacortes.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is calling on state lawmakers to “step up” and pass a carbon tax this year. He made the comments Tuesday as the midpoint of the legislative session approaches.Read More
A failure to clean and maintain its nets led to the collapse at Cook Aquaculture’s Cypress Island facility this summer -- and the escape of 100,000 more Atlantic salmon than originally reported. That’s the conclusion of an investigation by three Washington state agencies.Read More
Scientists are one step closer to making more snow fall during winter storms. The controversial process is called cloud seeding. There’s now evidence that it is actually working. Read More
Biologists released a handful of weasel-like animals called fishers into the Washington Cascades in 2015. Two years later, the scientists returned to see if they were surviving and reproducing.Read More
Geology experts with Washington's Department of Natural Resource have quit making predictions for when a slow-moving landslide might break loose. About 20 acres of the hillside are in motion near Union Gap, just south of Yakima.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has rejected a permit to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver. Inslee sided with state regulators, who unanimously voted late last year to reject the project, citing significant and unavoidable risks. Read More
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced plans to reopen the West Coast to offshore oil and gas leasing. But with strong opposition and unproven oil and gas reserves, it’s unclear whether anyone will take that chance.Read More
Two Hanford workers have tested positive for radioactive waste in their bodies. It happened at the Plutonium Finishing Plant—a massive factory being demolished at the nuclear cleanup site in southeast Washington state.Read More
The Yakama Nation is asking Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency for the Rattlesnake Ridge landslide. It’s a steep slope outside of Yakima that is moving slowly and clings above a small community, a railroad corridor, Interstate 82 and the Yakima River.Read More
As the Pacific Northwest economy booms, it’s using a lot of concrete to build buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Making all that concrete is a big part of our carbon footprint, and it all comes from one plant: Ash Grove in south Seattle. Read More
SolarWorld, based out of Hillsboro, Oregon, is hiring back workers and planning to ramp up its production now that President Donald Trump has approved a 30 percent tariff on imported panels. Read More
The Washington House Environment Committee hosted public hearings Tuesday on two bills that would restrict a class of chemicals found in everything from firefighting retardant to food wrappers.Read More
A 7.9 earthquake off the coast of Alaska triggered a tsunami watch that stretched from Washington to California early Tuesday morning. But many coastal residents slumbered right through it.Read More
The last herd of caribou found anywhere in the lower 48 states is in the Pacific Northwest. To be clear, this caribou herd is tiny.Read More
Northwest farmers, cities and conservationists rely on melting snow to water their crops, feed their aquifers, and fill streams and rivers for fish. But, usually, no one has any idea how much snowpack—and, thus, snowmelt—to expect until it’s too late.Read More
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MTBA) is the primary federal law protecting birds in the U.S. It initially targeted poaching and a feather-obsessed fashion industry that was laying waste to migratory birds across the continent.Read More
The U.S. Forest Service gave an update on the conditions of Columbia River Gorge trails recently, indicating that some of the most damaged trails “may take several years to reopen.” Forest Service employees and volunteers have been working since the fall to assess damage from the Eagle Creek Fire to more than 20 miles of trails. Read More
Uncertainty reigns about what federal public lands will be open if the congressional budget standoff leads to a partial government shutdown. Closed national parks and forest campgrounds were among the most visible effects the last time the federal government partially shut down in October 2013.Read More
After huge cracks appeared on Rattlesnake Ridge last year, geologists expect a landslide is coming at the mountain near Yakima. But they're having a hard time nailing down just when it will go.Read More
If you’re considering buying an electric car in Oregon or Washington, you might want to pay attention to possible changes in tax policy. There’s uncertainty about the tax incentives meant to spur electric car sales.Read More
Every winter, hundreds of bald eagles migrate through Idaho’s panhandle. This year, eagles numbers are at a record high. Migrating eagles start to arrive in mid-November, just as the blue-backed kokanee salmon return to the lake.Read More
A new study claims government killing of wolves can increase the risk to nearby farms, providing further evidence for the ineffectiveness of the so-called “lethal control” policy approach. The report also casts doubt on an earlier research paper, which government agencies often use to support the practice.Read More
It took the threat of a lawsuit, but a federal agency is no longer killing the Beaver State’s beavers. Environmental groups had challenged the practice in Oregon because, they said, it’s a threat to more than just the state animal. Like much in the Northwest, it touches on salmon.Read More
For more than 10 years, Seattle leaders have said the city will lead the nation in fighting climate change. But the lofty words have been matched by continuing clouds of carbon emissions. Seattle dumps as much carbon dioxide into the sky as it did 25 years ago.Read More
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is calling for an investigation into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s use of wildfire preparedness funds after news reports revealed Zinke used the funds for unrelated travel.Read More
Researchers had long suspected salmon have lost huge amounts genetic diversity over the years. But they’d never tested the hypothesis -- until now.Read More
A federal judge has approved a plan to spill more water through dams in the Columbia River Basin this spring.Read More
A federal judge has ordered Malheur occupation leader Ryan Payne back into custody in Oregon. A day earlier, Payne and members of the Bundy family were handed a stunning legal victory in Las Vegas in a separate case. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is making another push for a state carbon tax. He unveiled his latest proposal Tuesday during his State of the State addressRead More
Even though it was a separate case from the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation, many environmentalists and opponents of the occupation viewed the Nevada Bundy case as an opportunity to get what they viewed as justice.Read More
Climate activists rallied today at the state capitol, the first day of the legislative session. They want Washington state to be powered exclusively by renewable energy within 10 years. Read More
