4/20 Sparrow, hauling salmon, pumped storage, solar backlog, electric plane, Canada carbon, First Nations Power Authority

White-crowned Sparrow [Bruce Gates]

 

White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
White-crowned Sparrows appear each winter over much of North America to grace our gardens and favorite trails (they live in parts of the West year-round). As spring approaches, listen out for this bird’s thin, sweet whistle. Male White-crowned Sparrows do most of the singing, but sometimes females also sing. A migrating White-crowned Sparrow was once tracked moving 300 miles in a single night. Alaskan White-crowned Sparrows migrate about 2,600 miles to winter in Southern California. The oldest recorded White-crowned Sparrow lived in California and was at least 13 years, 4 months old. (All About Birds)

B.C. conservation group moves thousands of salmon that will produce millions of eggs
Members of the Mill Bay Conservation Society, a group of volunteers near Kulchyski’s home, 50 kilometres north of Victoria, have taken the fish into their own hands — literally. They have built a human-propelled salmon run, carrying thousands of spawning salmon from a fish trap in the Salish Sea, up a hillside, above several waterfalls and across the Trans-Canada Highway before releasing them into nearby Shawnigan Creek. Katharine Lake Berz reports. (Canadian Press)

Energy shift creates opening for 'world's largest batteries'
A question is hovering over the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy such as wind and solar: What happens when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine? The hydropower industry says the answer is developing more pumped storage plants. They function like giant batteries, pumping water from a lower reservoir to an upper one. When power is needed, the water is released downhill through turbines. (Associated Press)

Good luck getting solar any time soon. Here’s how Bellingham, Whatcom colleges plan to help
Markus Virta wants to add six more employees to the 13-person solar installation team at Western Solar — now. The Bellingham-based business, where Virta works as director of sales and business development, is seeing the longest wait times for rooftop solar installations in the company’s history. Call Western Solar today and you might be able to get solar panels installed on your roof by January 2023, at the earliest. Ysabelle Kempe reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Arlington electric aircraft maker logs order for 75 planes
Eviation Aircraft, the Arlington company that has built a fully electric commuter airplane, got a hefty boost this week when one of the nation’s largest commuter airlines, Cape Air, signed a letter of intent to buy 75 of the Eviation Alice model. The nine-passenger airplane, which produces no carbon emissions, has been undergoing ground taxi tests since December. It is expected to take a maiden flight this year. Janice Podsada reports. (Everett Herald)

How Canada’s new carbon capture tax credit aligns (or doesn’t) with the latest climate science
In the same week the Canadian government released its latest budget with billions pledged for carbon reductions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put out a daunting report calling for rapid decarbonization in order to avoid catastrophe. But are the two aligned? Drew Anderson reports. (The Narwhal)

The Coming Indigenous Power Play
Creating a First Nations Power Authority would be ‘a reconciliation project,’ says Cole Sayers, who is working to make it happen. ‘First Nations have the right to access the power grid. And being denied that is wrong.’ Zoe Yunker reports in the second of a two-part series. (The Tyee)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  244 AM PDT Wed Apr 20 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  E wind 15 to 25 kt becoming SE in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 3 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of rain in  the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 20 to 30 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 3 to 5 ft subsiding to 1 ft or less after midnight. SW  swell 6 ft at 9 seconds. Rain in the evening then a chance of  rain after midnight.

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