May 2, 2014: They Can Fly a Thousand Miles Without Food Or Rest, Remember Every Single Flower They Visit, But Can They Survive Looming and Present Risks?

If you stop to think about it, birds are our most direct connection to nature. Their songs delight us, their journeys capture our imagination. Birds are the wildlife we interact with the most. But that bond is breaking. Each year more and more of them succumb to a host of threats: pesticides, the loss of habitat, climate change, and the biggest urban threat of all, cats. In this bittersweet tale Martha Baskin brings us their sounds and their plight.

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April 17, 2014: First Hill on Edge as Residents and Workers Worry About Proposed Cuts to Bus Service

Proposed cuts to Metro are raising concerns for people across the socioeconomic spectrum. Voters across King County will decide April 22nd on Prop 1, a county wide measure that would add a tenth of a cent to the sales tax and set an annual car-tab fee of $60, to maintain service at current levels and help fund road and bridge projects. The car-tab fee will be $20 for those earning $31,000 or less. Martha Baskin caught up with riders and workers on First Hill who unanimously oppose the cuts.

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March 28, 2014: Salish Sea Map Comes Online Ahead of Anticipated Jump in Tanker Traffic

The rapid rise of tar sands oil shipments from Canada to the Northwest coast is leading to increased worries about oil spills on coastal waters. Tanker traffic is expected to increase 600% from 60 tar sands oil tankers a year to over 400. With memories of Exxon Valdez, the Deepwater Horizon, and more recently Galveston, residents of the San Juan Islands northwest of Seattle launched a drift card study to simulate the route of a potential oil spill in the Salish Sea. Martha Baskin reports from the San Juan Islands.

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Leave Your Old Flame Behind: Wood Smoke Runs Afoul of Clean Air Act Raises Alarm for Clean Air Agency

It's the region's dirty little secret and it doesn't come from coal or crude oil but from tiny particulates released when wood is burned in old stoves. The particulates are pushing the region to run afoul of the Clean Air Act. Hot spots are Tacoma and parts of urbanized Pierce County. Solutions are underway from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. But time is running out for customers to follow the agency's advice and "leave your old flame behind."

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March 6, 2014: In an Age of Climate Crisis, It Takes an (Eco)village

In a world of dwindling natural resources and mounting environmental crisis, who is devising ways of living that will work for the long haul? And how can we, as individuals, make a difference? To answer these burning questions, Professor Karen Litfin embarked upon a journey to many of the world’s ecovillages – intentional communities at the cutting-edge of sustainable living from LA to South India and Denmark to Senegal. Rural and urban, high tech and low tech, she discovered an under-the-radar global movement making positive and radical changes from the ground up.

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February 19, 2014: Oil on the Tracks

The rapid rise in oil terminals in Washington State coupled with mounting oil train explosions in the US and Canada is prompting a slate of proposals on how to address the issue. In this news feature Martha Baskin catches up with a city council president, legislator, policy analyst and activist in a raging debate which shows no sign of ending soon.

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February 7, 2014: Re-Defining Environmental Equity in the Duwamish Valley with Lessons from the South Bronx

Talk to community organizers from the South Bronx and Seattle’s Duwamish River Valley and you’ll learn environmental justice isn’t just about public health impacts and toxic exposure, but about equity – quality of life, feeling good about where you live, good jobs and affordable housing. In this feature set in the Duwamish Valley, where cleanup and revitalization are underway, we talk with local organizers and Majora Carter, a nationally recognized urban revitalization expert, who became known for her work in the South Bronx.

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