Washington ferries are going hybrid-electric, but disposal of old ones poses environmental, legal risks
An abandoned ferry in the Puget Sound represents a shared struggle across the West Coast: to sell an old ship or destroy it
Environment
Outdated sewage treatment is suffocating fish in Puget Sound
Inadequately treated human waste from 79 sewage treatment plants is an important and growing cause of a breakdown in the Puget Sound ecosystem that is causing unnatural explosions of jellyfish and smelly algae, among other effects.
Trump administration buries dozens of clean energy studies
The Trump administration has bottled up at least 46 studies by government energy researchers detailing how renewable energy could slash the United States’ contribution to climate change.
With nearly 1 million homes at risk, Washington is losing the wildfire fight
In Washington state, nearly 1 million homes sit near forests threatened by seasonal wildfires.
Farmworkers forced to put harvest over health during wildfires
As wildfires increasingly become the norm, farmworkers work in hazardous smoke conditions up and down the West Coast, with few breaks and few protections.
Who Killed the Supergrid? Trump appointees short-circuited grid modernization to help the coal industry
In 2018, Trump appointees short-circuited U.S. grid modernization to help the coal industry by suppressing the Interconnections Seam Study.
As COVID-19 upends wildland firefighting, Pacific Northwest forests poised for conflagration
With nearly triple the usual number of wildfires this year, Washington and Oregon are set to have the worst summer fire forecasts in the nation.
Coronavirus threatens response to wildfires; firefighter camps 'ideal' to spread disease
Coronavirus could seriously hamper Washington's ability to fight wildfires as agencies focus on organizing a response to the global pandemic.
"Comprehensive failure" on climate by 2020 WA Legislature
The 2020 Washington Legislature made it official state policy to reduce production of planet-warming gases but failed to pass any significant measures that would meet those ambitious goals.
Electric cars get a boost in Olympia but broader climate-rescue legislation withers
In the Washington Legislature, some of the most ambitious efforts to pass legislation this year to rein in climate change are failing.
With orcas in jeopardy, Olympia considers making new development pay for past sins
A budget proposal in the Washington House of Representatives would replace the state's current requirement that construction cause "no net loss" to habitat.
Farming to help the climate: Two bills in Olympia promote “regenerative agriculture”
Bills in the Washington Legislature would help scientists learn about storing carbon in agricultural soils, as well as letting farmers invest in GPS-guided tractors and climate-friendly cattle feed.
