Environment
Is the Port Ducking its Responsibility for Protecting the Sound?
With the prospect of Arctic drilling rigs parked in the Port of Seattle, the city preps for a fight
Spring arrived early in Seattle this year. Above average temperatures and dry days were the norm in February. The cherry trees at the University of Washington bloomed two weeks ahead of schedule. Tulips in the Skagit Valley popped open well before the start of the annual April tulip festival. But the pleasure many of us…
It’s Not Easy Building Green
A Seattle neighborhood's complaints about a "deep green" building raise key questions about zoning.
She is nine months pregnant on this sunny fall day. But that doesn’t stop Katherine Bragdon from taking a walk (more like a waddle) from her picture-perfect, red-shingled Wallingford bungalow to the nerve center of the neighborhood where Stone Way rolls down to the north shore of Lake Union. “South Wallingford is a special neighborhood,…
Robert Redford and Activists Speak Out Against Pebble Mine
Film icon Robert Redford joined a chorus of voices when he published his stance against the Pebble Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay on the Huffington Post: The Pebble Mine is a disaster waiting to happen. Now, a long-awaited study by the Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that the Pebble Mine — along with its estimated…
Why Alaska’s Pebble Mine Matters in Seattle
What happens in Bristol Bay doesn’t stay in Bristol Bay: the battle over the Pebble Mine.
Salmon spawn in our rivers, climb our fish ladders, adorn everything from totem poles to T-shirts and grace our plates. They are synonymous with Seattle. And we spend a great deal of time and effort trying to protect their habitat close to home. These days, most of our wild salmon come from Alaska, in particular,…
Can Seattle Scientists Save Orcas from Extinction?
Limited numbers of orcas swim the Salish Sea—and new troubles await them.
This February, a young killer whale washed up on the chilly shores of southwest Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula. Scientists looking at the markings on its dorsal fin and saddle patch (the dark gray splotch behind the dorsal fin) identified the whale as L112, a female just over 12 feet long born in 2009. She belonged…
A New Low of Toxicity Levels
A Ballard resident uses simple strategies to rid her bungalow of harmful, hidden chemicals.
You wouldn’t think a Ballard bungalow with pink asbestos siding and lead paint would appeal to a couple with an interest in the environment, but Rachel and Izaak Koller planned to remodel the Ballard home themselves—wearing suitable hazmat gear. Thanks to the previous tenants, the couple had to remove or remake nearly everything in the…
Inside Seattle’s Super-Eco Homes
You don't have to go totally gaga for green to reap the rewards of a few simple home-improvement mov
Those who grew up in the 1970s may recall the appearance of a brick in the bathroom toilet tank—a popular do-it-yourself water-saving measure. Fortunately, living green has become a little more sophisticated in recent decades. In Seattle—a city famous for its green-built, LEED-certified offices, restaurants and condos—many residents have taken the green-living ethos into their…
Disney Cruises to Embark from Seattle Starting May 28, 2012: Pro or Con?
Family-friendly Seatle vacations just got a boost with the announcement of Disney Cruises departing
Just got word today that starting May 28, 2012, Disney Cruises will sail from Seattle to Alaska, making stops at Tracy Arm, Skagway (aren’t they they known for pie or something like that?), Juneau and Ketchikan as well as Victoria, B.C. We’ve never been on a Disney cruise (or any cruise for that matter, though…
Ted Danson Talks About the Health of the Oceans with Grist’s Chip Giller
Perched on a red chair at pseudo-Mafioso bar Vito’s on First Hill last week, giraffe-legged, rock-jawed Ted Danson presented me with an environmental riddle: He does not surf. Or dive. Or even go sailing, unless someone he likes insists on it. Yet he spends most of his time on the water. That’s because the…
Ocean Acidification: Global Warming’s Doppelgänger
Studies show Puget Sound is particularly susceptible to damaging changes in ocean pH.
At the warm, brine-scented Northwest Fisheries Science Laboratory (NFSL) in Montlake, soft-spoken biologist Paul McElhany and a team of scientists immerse geoduck larvae in a multitude of saltwater baths. The water, trucked in from Elliott Bay and another fisheries lab in Mukilteo, starts as the usual toe-numbing Puget Sound soup. Then the scientists—amid the beeping,…
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