12/6 'Magic' 'shroom, no KM, Battle Ready, What's Upstream, BC emissions, DNR plans, sewage dump

'Magic' mushroom (Peter Dejong/AP)

Psilocybe semilanceata
Psilocybe semilanceata, commonly known as the liberty cap, is a psilocybin or "magic" mushroom that contains the psychoactive compounds psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin. It is both one of the most widely distributed psilocybin mushrooms in nature, and one of the most potent…. In Canada it has been collected from British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Quebec.[45] In the United States, it is most common in the Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascade Mountains, where it fruits abundantly in autumn and early winter. (Wikipedia) See: The Life-Changing Magic of Mushrooms  A single dose of magic mushrooms can make people with severe anxiety and depression better for months, according to a landmark pair of new studies. Olga Khazan reports. (The Atlantic) And: Hallucinogenic Drug Psilocybin Eases Existential Anxiety in People With Life-Threatening Cancer   (Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Pipeline opponents start groundwork for B.C. referendum to halt Kinder Morgan
A B.C. non-profit is moving forward with plans to put the Kinder Morgan pipeline to a popular vote. The Dogwood Initiative — an advocacy group that calls themselves a 'citizen action network' — announced plans to pursue a referendum soon after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave the pipeline the go-ahead Nov 29. This weekend, the group started canvassing the public for support…. Unique to British Columbia, a citizen's initiative allows a registered voter to propose a law or changes to an existing law where the province has jurisdiction. The voter must collect signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in each provincial electoral district — within 90 days of the official launch — for the referendum to go through. The referendum has been a popular tool in B.C. political history. (CBC)

Battle Ready: The secret history of the U.S. military’s environmental legacy in the Northwest. 
When America was drawn into World War II the Pacific Northwest answered the call with lumber, shipyards, an atomic weapon plant and B-17 bombers. Battle Ready explores the hidden history of the military, the Northwest, and the environment. Great work in multiple installments by EarthFix reporters.

Agency to address farming group's complaints about Swinomish campaign
A state agency will determine by the end of the month if a Swinomish Indian Tribal Community campaign funded by the Environmental Protection Agency is an illegal grassroots lobbying effort, as alleged by local nonprofit Save Family Farming. On Thursday, Swinomish Environmental Policy Director Larry Wasserman and the EPA submitted to the state Public Disclosure Commission their responses to Save Family Farming’s complaints. The complaints allege the Swinomish’s “What’s Upstream?” campaign ultimately encourages passage of anti-farming laws, and violates grassroots lobbying laws because the campaign was not registered as a lobbying effort and was being funded by public money. Aaron Weinberg reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

B.C. to fall far short of 2050 emissions targets, report says
British Columbia is on track to break through targets set for greenhouse-gas emissions in its Climate Leadership Plan by more than four times by 2050, according to a new analysis, due to a projected doubling of emissions from the province’s natural gas sector and development of a liquefied-natural-gas export industry. The estimate, released Monday by the Vancouver forecasting firm Navius Research, projects B.C.’s greenhouse-gas emissions will hit 66 megatonnes by 2050, which is eight megatonnes higher than 2016 emissions but soars above the province’s stated goal of reducing emissions to just 12.6 megatonnes — 80 per cent below 2007 emissions — by 2050. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Department of Natural Resources offers draft plans for comment on harvest, seabird
The state Department of Natural Resources has released draft environmental impact statements on the agency’s 10-year sustainable harvest calculation and its marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy. Public comment will be taken until 5 p.m. March 9 on both documents, DNR spokesman Bob Redling said. Public meetings and webinars are planned next month. The 160-page sustainable harvest draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, and instructions for submitting public comments are available here. The 600-page marbled murrelet draft EIS and instructions for submitting public comments are available here. Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Protect Puget Sound and ban boats from dumping sewage
The Salish Sea is part of the economic engine of the state, the source of communal pride, our shared vernacular and a spiritual, hallowed ground. Let’s think ahead. Let’s stop dumping sewage in it. Martha Kongsgaard opines. (Seattle Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  246 AM PST TUE DEC 6 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY  AFTERNOON  
TODAY  NE WIND 20 TO 30 KT...BECOMING E 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS...  SUBSIDING TO 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS  IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING E 15 TO 20 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

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