10/8 St. John's wort, saving orcas and salmon, Seattle 'streamline,' climate protest, saving forests, Snohomish R junkers, oil profits, ghost forests

St. John's wort [Jennifer Anderson/USDA]

Common St. John's Wort Hypericum perforatum
Common St. John's wort is a Eurasian perennial weed and a serious pest in fields, pastures and on roadsides and waste places, common from about Tacoma south to California, and scattered north to central Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser Valley. It was introduced from Europe where it has been used in medicine since ancient times. In herbal medicine it has been widely employed to alleviate nervous disorders and it was applied to wounds where the nerves were exposed. It contains a phototoxin concentrated in the glandular dots on the leaves. Recent studies indicate that 2 compounds isolated form this species strongly inhibit a variety of retrovirus, leading to speculation about its effect on HIIV. (Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)

How to help Puget Sound's orcas and salmon: What Seattle-area leaders say can make a difference
Leaders around our region had lots to say when asked what should be done to restore threatened salmon runs and Puget Sound’s endangered orcas...Some Seattle-area leaders said nothing will change unless we get serious about land use and reverse the destruction underway of the habitat salmon and orcas depend on...A carbon tax, fishing ban and more funding for habitat recovery were also among the things that would be needed, they said. Explore more of the potential solutions in our interactive. Lynda Makes reports. (Seattle Times)

Seattle council votes to 'streamline' environmental reviews for upzones, some housing projects
The City Council passed legislation Monday that supporters say will speed up environmental reviews for some major policies and projects needed to make Seattle more sustainable, such as denser zoning and large apartment buildings. Councilmembers Abel Pacheco and Mike O’Brien sponsored the legislation, and the vote was 8-0, with Councilmember M. Lorena González absent. Representatives of urbanist environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and 350 Seattle asked the council to adopt the changes, arguing neighborhood opponents have time and again used misused State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) appeals to obstruct policies and projects related to smart urban growth. Daniel Beekmam reports. (Seattle Times)

Climate protesters arrested after blocking Burrard Street Bridge for hours
More than 100 rain-soaked climate activists took over the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver Monday morning, blocking traffic in order to draw attention to a global demonstration demanding world leaders take urgent action to cut carbon emissions and prevent environmental disaster. Rhianna Schmunk reports. (CBC) Dancers in red protest Trans Mountain pipeline expansion  Seven dancers dressed in crimson robes with their faces painted white, theatrically protested the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline outside of a storage yard containing materials for the pipeline in Kamloops on Monday. Dominika Lirette reports. (CBC) Climate Change Protests: With Fake Blood, Extinction Rebellion Hits N.Y. Tourists and workers on Wall Street on Monday were met by a jarring spectacle: protesters, some lying in pools of fake blood outside the New York Stock Exchange, some dancing and others chanting, all to call attention to people killed by climate-related disease and disaster. Anne Barnard reports. (NY Times)

‘Thin it or watch it burn’: How Washington is chewing up trees and spitting out resilient landscapes
Using machinery and prescribed burns, land managers are hoping to safeguard 2.7 million acres of forest from catastrophic fires like the one that destroyed Paradise in California. Courtney Flatt reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

Snohomish River almost rid of its worst abandoned junk boats
Weeks after crews worked to dismantle and remove the 100-foot Midas from the Snohomish River, another sunken boat nearby awaits a similar fate. The state Department of Natural Resource’s Derelict Vessels Removal Program took custody Monday of a 50-foot sailboat about half a mile north of where the Midas sat for more than a year. Contractors have until Oct. 15 to submit bids to remove the wreck, with the hope of having it out of the river by the end of the month, program manager Troy Wood said. If a contractor is selected quickly, work could start Oct. 21 Joseph Thompson reports. (Everett Herald)

Oil Companies Ponder Climate Change, but Profits Still Rule
Two decades ago, John Browne rocked the oil industry by saying that the “possibility cannot be discounted” of a link between man-made carbon emissions and global warming, and that it was time for “action.” In 1997, Mr. Browne, then chief executive of BP, the London-based oil company, was a lonely voice among his peers. How much has changed since his speech? Most large oil companies no longer deny the connection between burning fossil fuels and climate change. In fact, they are scrambling to position themselves to be seen as part of the solution to what is increasingly seen by worried citizens as a major threat. Stanley Reed reports. (NY Times)

As Sea Levels Rise, So Do Ghost Forests
Up and down the mid-Atlantic coast, sea levels are rising rapidly, creating stands of dead trees — often bleached, sometimes blackened — known as ghost forests. The water is gaining as much as 5 millimeters per year in some places, well above the global average of 3.1 millimeters, driven by profound environmental shifts that include climate change. Moises Velasquez-Manoff and Gabriella Demczuk report. (NY Times)


Now, your tug weather--West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  215 AM PDT Tue Oct 8 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING   
TODAY  W wind 15 to 25 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 8 ft at 8 seconds. A chance of rain in the  morning. 
TONIGHT  N wind 5 to 15 kt becoming E after midnight. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 7 ft at 10 seconds.



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