February 11, 2016: Blue Herons, Oil Sheens, and Polluted Urban Waters: Puget Sound's Biggest Water Quality Challenge

Water bodies across the nation are under steady assault from legacy pollutants, petroleum products, stormwater runoff, and contaminants of all kinds. In this feature we take a tour of waterways in Seattle with the Puget Soundkeeper, a member of the global water keeper alliance, a grassroots movement devoted to protecting specific watersheds. Decades after the Clean Water Act was passed, you may be surprised at some of the pollutants the Soundkeeper finds and the challenges in preserving water bodies for wildlife and future generations.

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November 18, 2015: “Climate 8” Assert a Stable Climate System Is a Human Right

If the "climate 8" get their way in Seattle's King County Superior Court, the right to a stable climate system could become as "inalienable" - and as groundbreaking - as any right conceived by the founding fathers, similar to the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In an era of growing climate chaos where youth the world over will pay the highest price, the lawsuit argues that the state Department of Ecology has a mandatory duty to protect natural resources, including the atmosphere, for future generations. The eight tween and teen students who brought the legal action against the state argue that they do, and that it's government's responsibility to protect those rights. Martha Baskin has more from Seattle.

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November 3, 2015: Stopping Shell in Its Tracks: Washington State Communities Say No to Oil Trains

“Shell No!” is again a rallying cry for environmentalists in Western Washington committed to derailing the oil giant's plans to build a railspur for its Puget Sound refinery. Years of derailments and explosions throughout North America combined with Shell using the Port of Seattle as a homeport for its Arctic drilling plans, spurned a new coalition, Stand Up To Oil, Communities Fueling Change, whose goal is to stand up to threats posed by rapid and dramatic changes in oil transportation while working to improve safety measures for oil currently traveling through the region. Martha Baskin reports.

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September 25, 2015: Terra Nostra - A Symphony for the Planet

Many symphonies have been written as musical testaments to war - Shostakovitch's "Leningrad," written to honor the estimated 25 million Soviets who lost their lives in World War II, is just one example. But a symphony about climate change is altogether new. And something a French composer and environmental scientist based in Seattle decided the times demanded. Terra Nostra, "Our Earth" in Latin, has its multimedia symphonic premiere later this month. What happens after that remains to be seen.

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September 14, 2015: Plastic on the Rise in Oceans & Waters Everywhere

Plastic, large and small, macro and micro, has become a scourge of oceans and waterways everywhere. Researchers reported in the August issue of Science that about 4 million to 12 million metric tons of plastic washed offshore in 2010 alone - enough to cover every foot of coastline on the planet. That’s just the beginning of the problems, the team says, as scientists still don’t know where more than 99% of ocean plastic debris ends up. We take a look at the problem beginning with a clean up crew on a beach on Vashon Island, southwest of Seattle.

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July 28, 2015: Pilot Water Transfer Project Fights Drought with Innovation

Drought isn't new in the west. But in Washington state, those who grow the region's food have never experienced a growing season as water-challenged as this year. Farmers in the fertile Snoqualmie River Valley outside Seattle have come up with a temporary solution, a pilot water transfer project. The pilot is helping some farmers grow and harvest the organic fruits and veggies many have come to rely on.

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July 13, 2015: Edible Gardens & Cool Tips for Growing in a Hot Summer

Drought in the West has hit Washington state pretty hard in the summer of 2015. Fires are raging in traditionally wet rain forests on the coast while farmers are stealing water in the Eastern part of the state to feed thirsty crops. Urban gardens are also feeling the pinch in cities like Seattle. But with the right techniques – there's no water rationing in the city to date - many edible gardeners are reaping a harvest. Martha Baskin took an edible garden tour and brings us this story.

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