12/16 Drought, salmon virus, shellfish initiative, wood smoke, orca alerts, seed-to-plate, tugs, oil pipelines and tankers, Bud Anderson

Dixy Lee Ray (WA Archives)

Out of Iraq. Thank you, soldiers. Thank you, Mr. President.

New blog: ‘Sewage Is Good For You’  Oh, Dixy.

Climate scientist Cliff Mass checked out the rainfall records at Sea-Tac Airport and, as of Wednesday, we’ve had the “DRIEST FIRST TWO WEEKS ON RECORD at that site.” The Driest First Half of December in Seattle History!

B.C.’s Cohen Commission, looking into the collapse of the Fraser River salmon run, heard testimony that infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus has been present in B.C. For 25 years and that B.C. sockeye salmon have tested positive in a federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans lab.  B.C. sockeye test positive for potentially deadly virus, inquiry told   Is there a coverup? Scientist claims early evidence of salmon virus, feared lab would be closed

Sierra Club isn’t joining the folks jumping up and cheering for the National and Washington Shellfish Initiatives. Ashley Ahearn at Earthfix talks to Laura Hendricks about why. What’s Wrong With Gov. Gregoire’s Washington State Shellfish Initiative?

Robert McClure at Investigate West and Katie Campbell at Earthfix team up to reveal the threats of a substance “known… to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.” Where There’s Smoke There’s Sickness: Woodsmoke a Big NW Pollution Source

$15 a year will get you a text or email message from Preserve Our Islands’ “Orca Blasts” whenever orcas or other whales approach Vashon Island.  Orca alerts will help Islanders see whales

If you like to eat: Martha Baskin at Green Acre Radio reports on Seattle Culinary Academy’s ‘seed to plate’ cuisine, one of the nation’s first programs to teach culinary sustainability. Savory and Sustainable Seed to Table Cuisine at the Seattle Culinary Academy  

If you can build new ferries in Washington, why not new tugboats?  Tulalips lobby Navy to give tug contract to state shipyard

Some of the thousand or so litres of heating oil that leaked from a Saanich home and entered the Colquitz River in late November is still on plant material in the upstream portion of Swan Creek.  Predicted rain could affect Swan Creek oil spill

Chris Genovali, executive director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Misty MacDuffee, chairwoman of the Gulf Islands Alliance, address in a guest editorial the risks associated with Kinder Morgan tripling the amount of crude oil being shipped from Vancouver's Burrard Inlet through Georgia Strait, the Fraser estuary, Gulf Islands, Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait. Tanker and Tar Sands Oil Threaten the Salish Sea 


Meanwhile, a School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary study found that moving Canadian heavy oil to the West Coast, where it can be shipped to markets in California and Asia, could add up to $131-billion (U.S) to Canada’s GDP between 2016 and 2030, translating to $27-billion in federal, provincial and municipal tax receipts. Blocking pipelines to B.C. would entail loss of billions: study  

And, finally for the week, Whitney Pipkin at the Skagit Valley Herald profiles Bud Anderson, head of the Bow-based Falcon Research Group. Go bird, go Bud.  Birding with Bud

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 843 AM PST FRI DEC 16 2011
TODAY
S WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
E WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
SAT
W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS. SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
SAT NIGHT
W SWELL 10 FT. SW WIND 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SUN
W SWELL 9 FT. LIGHT WIND...BECOMING E 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SUN NIGHT
W SWELL 9 FT. E WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.

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