Energy and Environment
More on Energy and Environment
Nov 23, 2016
In The News
There was a distinct buzz around the new Joint Base Lewis-McChord Wastewater Treatment Plant as high ranking military and elected officials celebrated the completion of the $91 million center at a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday. The ceremony served as a chance to thank and praise the work of everyone involved in getting the plant built. It was a group effort by various organizations, including JBLM leadership, state and local governments and CDM Smith, the construction company that built the center.
Oct 19, 2016
In The News
Efforts to restore and protect Puget Sound are getting a big boost from the Obama administration. Local advocates for that work have long argued that, as one of the nation’s largest and most iconic estuaries, Puget Sound is a national treasure and deserves protections on par with Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes. Now a federal task force has formed to prioritize the pressing need for salmon restoration in the Sound, due in large part to what officials say is a steadfast commitment to local tribes’ treaty fishing rights.
Oct 18, 2016
In The News
Local political leaders are calling it “an historic agreement" to restore Puget Sound marine life. President Obama’s White House Council on Environmental Quality announced on Tuesday a new memorandum of understanding that directs several federal agencies to devote resources and money to salmon recovery and protecting tribal treaty rights.
Oct 18, 2016
Press Release
Today officials from the Obama administration and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and U.S. Reps. Denny Heck, Derek Kilmer and Rick Larsen announced new federal actions to help protect and recover the health of Puget Sound, one of the nation’s largest estuaries. These actions demonstrate a firm commitment from the federal government to help restore Puget Sound, and are similar to federal actions taken in recent years to protect other large aquatic ecosystems, such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes.
Oct 18, 2016
In The News
The Obama administration on Tuesday stepped up efforts to protect Puget Sound, including forming a new federal task force to identify priorities for restoring one of the nation's largest estuaries. The task force of federal agencies will work with tribal governments and others to come up with an action plan to better coordinate programs focused on Puget Sound.
Oct 18, 2016
In The News
Lawmakers gathered at The Nature Conservancy in downtown Seattle Tuesday to announce a major effort to restoring the health of Puget Sound. "Nobody here should underestimate how big a day this is. This is a big day," said Rep. Denny Heck, D-10th district. "Fifty years from now if they write the history of restoring the Puget Sound and rehabilitating it, they will point to this day and it will get its own chapter as a significant step forward."
Oct 18, 2016
In The News
The Obama administration has given resources and a long-sought priority to cleaning up Puget Sound, putting Washington's inland sea and rivers on equal footing with Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes as a national water priority. It is creating a federal Puget Sound Task Force and releasing a Memorandum of Understanding directing federal agencies to get about restoration. The feds, the State of Washington and Puget Sound tribal governments are investing $248 million over five years to improve health of estuaries.
Sep 9, 2016
In The News
The Southern Resident orcas are starving. And that’s not all. Lack of prey combined with toxic chemicals in the Puget Sound are a one-two punch for our beloved marine neighbors. Orcas expend precious energy reserves searching for fewer fish and must cope with vessel noise and harassment from boats that are too close. Their energy reserves, in the form of fatty blubber, contain man-made toxic chemicals from eating contaminated salmon.
Sep 1, 2016
In The News
Tucked away on the fringes of an active cow field and the edge of a timber forest in southwest Olympia is a classroom. There are no walls, no Pledge of Allegiance and no detention hall, but there is plenty to learn. On Tuesday, Port Blakely gathered its primetime players together in that sylvan nook in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its unique environmental education program.
Aug 30, 2016
In The News
Congressman Denny Heck, D-Olympia, donned waders and rubber boots Tuesday afternoon to get a closer look at a statewide project that will help protect the health of Puget Sound. Launched in 2014 by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the project targets the spawning habits of species called forage fish.