September 20, 2018: Cruise Ships, Heavy Fuel Oil, and Arctic Sea Ice

Arctic sea ice is at its lowest in September, when the ice stops melting and glaciers begin to accumulate again. The National Snow and Ice Data Center tracks ice and says the extent of sea ice this year is expected to be one of the lowest in the satellite record. Climate watchers in Seattle and Amsterdam are bringing attention to the issue by targeting cruise ships that burn heavy fuel oil, a practice amplifying the effects of climate change. Martha Baskin has our story.

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March 29, 2018: Depaving Paradise. LIVE! Hillside Paradise Plots Community Garden

The demand for locally grown food is often higher among immigrants and refugees than the rest of the population. Often fed by agrarian roots or a hunger for foods from home, a resettlement agency recognized the need and decided to take action. World Relief Seattle joined forces with the community, a church, conservation and county agencies; to design one of the area's largest urban community gardens. Not only will the garden grow food that refugees can't find anywhere else, it's designed for a changing climate with on-site irrigation. Martha Baskin has the story.

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March 2, 2018: Puget Sound Energy - in a climate changing world what energy will you use?

Like all for-profit utilities, Puget Sound Energy is required to file an energy resource plan with the Utilities and Transportation Commission every two years outlining how it will meet future energy needs. The most recent plan doesn't sit well with those who testified at a recent public hearing. They say the plan is a blueprint to lock 1.1 million customers into decades of fossil fuels. PSE says the plan is a mandated regulatory exercise and doesn't predict what energy - coal, gas, wind, hydro – they plan to use past the mid-2020s. Martha Baskin has the story.

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February 8, 2018: Winter Seabirds: Are There More or Are They Just More Dispersed? It's a Nuanced Answer with Climate Playing a Big Role

If you're a birder, counting seabirds on a gray winter Puget Sound day is the place for you. While many species are in decline, there's a greater number of seabirds throughout the Sound, driven by migration from northern breeding grounds. But positive sightings don't always mean there's enough food. In the world of seabirds there's a lot of nuance, with climate playing a big role. Martha Baskin has the story.

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January 29, 2018: 100% for Climate: Threading the Legislative Needle

The tag line the environmental community is using to spur climate legislation is "100% for climate action." It's one gaining support from a variety of stakeholders - business leaders and city council members from central Washington. They may not agree on the exact language in bills making their way through the legislature, but their show of support for carbon pricing could thread the legislative needle.

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January 12, 2018: Climate Countdown: Activists, Tribes, the Governor and Lands Commissioner Push the Needle for the 2018 Legislative Session

300+ people from around the state, including tribal members, descended on the State Capital in Olympia this week to instigate a campaign called "Climate Countdown." They say time is running out to pass groundbreaking climate legislation and are demanding the legislature take meaningful action in the 2018 session. Martha Baskin has our story.

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December 12, 2017: Hard Rains, Polluted Run-off, and Salmon

For over a century, cities have been developed in ways that interrupt the natural water cycle. Hard surfaces prevent rain from soaking naturally into the soil. Instead stormwater floods through streets, carrying pollution directly to local waterways. For some species of salmon, stormwater can be lethal. Others can handle it, but only briefly or at certain stages of their life. In this feature Martha Baskin checks out an urban creek on a stormy day when salmon had returned to spawn.

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November 27, 2017: Restoring Urban Forests with a Little Help from Humanity

Without intervention, forested parks in Seattle are at risk of losing 70% of tree cover in just 20 years. It's a problem many cities face, with invasive plants taking over and holding down natural growth. A unique government, non-profit, and volunteer partnership is turning things around. Martha Baskin joined a restoration project in south Seattle and has the story.

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November 14, 2017: Does natural gas have a role in a clean energy future?

Does natural gas have a role in the region's clean energy future? It depends on who you ask. The NW Energy Coalition recently brought policy makers, environmental advocates, utilities and businesses to the table for a Clean and Affordable Energy Conference to explore the issue. With climate goals at risk, it's a high stakes question. Martha Baskin brings us this report.

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October 16, 2017: Bridging the Gap Between Kids and Farms

It's not often that school-age children get to experience the bounty of food grown on farms in Seattle's fertile neighboring valleys. "Farm to table" is best known as a culinary experience at high end restaurants. One after-school and pre-school care program is turning that around. Not only are they sourcing locally grown food with the help of a start-up to "bridge the gap between fields and kitchens," they're working to make sure staff know how to cook with the valleys unique ripe and ready produce. Martha Baskin has the story.

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October 5, 2017: Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life - Interview with David Montgomery

From the Romans through the US Dust Bowl to today's conventional industrial agriculture, great societies that abused their land risked famine and often downfall. In his most recent book, Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Health, David Montgomery, a MacArthur Fellow and geomorphology professor at the University of Washington, offers an optimistic look at how regenerative farming can revive the world's soil, increase food production, boost cost effectiveness,and slow climate change.

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August 29, 2017: Can the Public Push Puget Sound Energy toward a 100% Clean Energy Diet?

At a packed public hearing, majority testimony urged the state's largest private utility, Puget Sound Energy, to shed all fossil fuels – 60% of its energy comes from coal and gas – and adopt a clean energy diet. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will decide whether the utility can increase rates by year's end, but the most contentious issue is what energy mix PSE will use now and into the future. Martha Baskin has the story.

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August 24, 2017: Food in Motion: Rescuing Food - A Moral Win and a Climate Win for the Planet

It's no secret that food loss and food waste are big problems. At least 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted every year – at restaurants and markets, in storage, in fields and during transport in industrialized and developed countries alike. Food waste that ends up in the landfill releases methane, a greenhouse gas that's 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. A non-profit in Seattle is doing its part to rescue food for those living on the streets. Last year they rescued over 900,000 pounds of food alone – a moral win and a climate win for the planet. Martha Baskin has the story.

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July 27, 2017: The Energy Bill No One is Talking About

Packaged in 890 pages of legislation, its little wonder that the Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017 has received little attention. But if you care about how your energy is served, water and land conservation, oil and gas pipelines, and their carbon counterpart, renewables, you may want to take notice. The bill was co-authored by Senators Maria Cantwell and Lisa Murkowski earlier this month and fast-tracked through committee by Mitch McConnell. Martha Baskin has more.

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July 19, 2017: Sierra Club Challenges Washington's Green Governor on Plans to Build Fracked-Gas-to-Methanol Refinery

Ever since the plan to build what would become the world's largest fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery on the banks of the Columbia River was proposed, environmentalists and Governor Jay Inslee have been on opposite sides. For Inslee, considered one of the nation's greenest governors, the proposal by a subsidiary of the Chinese government is a "low-carbon energy" project that will stimulate trade. For the Sierra Club, 350 Seattle and others, a fossil fuel project that will release methane, a powerful warming gas, is one they say neither the state nor the planet can afford. Martha Baskin has the story.

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June 30, 2017: Canadian Trail Looks to Minimize Vessel Underwater Noise for Endangered Southern Resident Orcas

The region's endangered southern resident orcas face a triple threat – the lack of sufficient Chinook salmon, contamination and underwater noise from vessels. While orca and chinook numbers continue to plummet, the Port of Vancouver will conduct a unique vessel experiment this summer. They're asking ships to slow down their speed by half. Orca researchers and the Port of Seattle are taking notice. Martha Baskin has our story.

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June 20, 2017: “Trump-Proof Seattle" Campaign Devises Plan to Protect At-Risk Communities and Programs

With proposed federal cuts to everything from housing and mass transit to job training and environmental restoration, the Trump-Proof Seattle campaign wasted no time in proposing an alternative source of revenue to protect programs at risk. They hosted town hall forums in every city council district to get buy-in from council members. Their plan was to impose an income tax on high net worth individuals in Seattle. This summer, the city council is expected to pass an ordinance that could raise as much as $125 million annually which fewer than 5% of households would pay. Martha Baskin has the story.

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June 13, 2017: Climate Activists in PNW Fight Construction of World's Largest Methanol Refinery

Climate activists have held the line against Shell's Arctic drilling plans, shut down tar sands valves at refineries, and waged wave after wave of actions against new fossil fuel proposals for coal export terminals and oil-by-rail refineries in the Pacific Northwest. Late last year, Portland moved to the forefront of opposition to coal, oil, and gas exports when its city council voted unanimously to prohibit new fossil fuel infrastructure in the city. But opposing a proposal to build the world's largest gas-to-methanol refinery on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State may be the most challenging fossil fuel fight that activists have waged to date. Martha Baskin has our story.

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May 17, 2017: Springer, an Orca Success Story

The rescue of an orphaned orca was the first time a baby orca had been returned to its family in the wild. Nicknamed Springer, the orca's rescue from Puget Sound to her family off northern Vancouver Island, became an overnight success story. 15 years later it remains a good news story for a whale species that's endangered in the US and threatened in Canada. Martha Baskin has the story.

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May 4, 2017: Bird Sanctuaries: A Native Answer to an Ecosystem Under Threat

As birds face threats to their survival, creating native landscapes gives them a leg up in a sometimes hostile world. Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region in which they evolved. Without them and the insects that co-evolved with them, local birds can't survive. Martha Baskin brings us this ambient rich story featuring junkos, flickers, yellow throated warblers and rufous hummingbirds.

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