Environment
Environment
![Fish advocates say sending water through spill bays is the best way to ensure fish survival through dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers. CREDIT: CASSANDRA PROFITA](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/img_5625__1__1522362026746-500x500.jpg)
How The Trump Administration’s Environmental Policy Rollback Affects The Northwest
A new Trump administration plan to scale back a bedrock environmental law could affect all kinds of projects in the Northwest, including timber sales, hydroelectric dams, and large energy developments like the controversial Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project with its 235-mile Pacific Connector pipeline.
![](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/volcano-9c34a53ed96377b894fc8d1e7a1c9a0644df06f9-500x500.jpg)
Video: Mexico’s Most Active Volcano Erupts, Spews Ash Cloud Nearly 20,000 Feet
The dramatic explosion of Popocatépetl, about 40 miles south of Mexico City, sent columns of ash and debris shooting into the sky.
![Protesters call for the removal of dams on the Snake River to help salmon spawn — and consequently feed Puget Sound orcas. The protest came outside a meeting of the governor’s orca task force in Wenatchee on Tuesday. CREDIT: ELLIS O'NEILL/KUOW/EARTHFIX](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/20180807-orcas-task-force_eilis_o_neill_1533682070047-500x424.jpg)
Dams Vs. Salmon: Workshops Aim To Get Past ‘My Study Can Beat Up Your Study’ On Snake River
More than 300 people showed up to hear speakers talk about why it’s important to either keep or alter the dams. The panel stems from a Washington state study that will guide the state’s position on dam removal.
![A new sign graces the entrance onto the Hanford site near Richland, Washington. CREDIT: ANNA KING](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/121918AK_Hanford_Tunnel_2_tour_PHOTO_2-500x500.jpg)
Washington State Regulators Fine Feds More Than $1 Million Over Hanford Cleanup Data
Washington Department of Ecology leaders say without access to this data, they can’t effectively protect the land, air and water for residents in eastern Washington and surrounding communities. They say they’ve attempted to negotiate this issue with federal Energy managers for years.
![The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. CREDIT: BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/image-dam-1-500x500.jpg)
Public Invited To Clarkston-Pasco-Vancouver Workshops On Question Of Snake River Dams
Upcoming public workshops will examine a draft report that gauges how people in Washington want to deal with the fate of the dams. At the workshops, officials will present the report’s findings, followed by a panel discussion. People can submit written and online comments on the draft report through Jan. 24.
![No Man Cave photo](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/no-name-cave-500x360.jpg)
A Father-Daughter Journey To Northwest Caves In Search Of Creepy Crawlers
An Oregon conservation group is exploring a cave to discover new spider species.
![The Newtown Creek is seen in the Queens Borough of New York. Newtown Creek is a waterway approximately 3.5 miles long between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Superfund designation will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to go after the polluters of the waterway forcing them to pay an estimated $500 million for the cleanup. CREDIT: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/FILE-PHOTO-Newtown-Creek-in-Queens-Borough-of-New-York-CREDIT-Shannon-Stapleton-REUTERS-500x500.jpg)
Backlog Of Toxic Superfund Cleanup Sites Grows Under Trump Administration
The Trump administration has built up the biggest backlog of unfunded toxic Superfund clean-up projects in at least 15 years, nearly triple the number that were stalled for lack of money in the Obama era, according to 2019 figures quietly released by the Environmental Protection Agency over the winter holidays.
![John Thelen's home well near Burns, Ore., produced this pile of black sand before it ran dry. He dug deeper only to reach drinking water contaminated with arsenic. Emily Cureton/Oregon Public Broadcasting](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/or-water-1_wide-b54fbbe8d3773413266ce80a466609a5a6a710f8-500x500.jpg)
Water Crisis In Eastern Oregon Puts Rural Community At A Crossroads
Groundwater in southeastern Oregon is drying up. Farming, which uses a lot of that water, could decimate the region unless communities make drastic changes soon.
![Jack George, an employee at Royal Lighting, looks at chandeliers using incandescent light bulbs at the store in Los Angeles. A federal judge is allowing California to enforce updated efficiency standards that will affect such specialty lightbulbs. CREDIT: Jae C. Hong/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ap_19365798533968-42aad0a873eee94ae87ef99b16e4e6f96297fd83-500x500.jpg)
California Will Enforce The Energy-Efficient Lightbulb Rule President Trump Wants To Reverse
California and other states are challenging the Trump administration over its reversal of standards for energy-efficient lightbulbs.
![High school skiers compete in the annual Lynx Loppet race at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. The park has 30 miles of trails, but competitors were limited to a mile-long loop of man-made snow. CREDIT: Nat Herz/Alaska's Energy Desk](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/img_9894_custom-d99bd708e6dd67ab4d00abd548eb502e63003e62-500x500.jpg)
More Ice And Less Snow Gets A Chilly Reception In Anchorage
As the climate warms, recent winters in Anchorage, Alaska, have seen more ice. The trend is leading to safety concerns and new measures to cope in this city where winter is defined by snow.
![Kevin Dunn, who fishes off the coasts of Oregon and Washington, holds a rockfish at a processing facility in Warrenton, Oregon. A rare environmental success story is unfolding in waters off the U.S. West Coast as regulators in January 2020 are scheduled to reopen a large area off the coasts of Oregon and California to groundfish bottom trawling fishing less than two decades after authorities closed huge stretches of the Pacific Ocean due to the species' depletion. CREDIT: Gillian Flaccus/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/rockfish-Kevin-Dunn-fisherman-CREDIT-Gillian-Flaccus-AP-500x500.jpeg)
West Coast Scores Rare Conservation ‘Home Run’ As Fishery Rebounds From The Brink
After years of fear and uncertainty, bottom trawler fishermen — those who use nets to scoop up rockfish, bocaccio, sole, Pacific Ocean perch and other deep-dwelling fish — are making a comeback here, reinventing themselves as a sustainable industry less than two decades after authorities closed huge stretches of the Pacific Ocean because of the species’ depletion.
![Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay, Ore. CREDIT: Ore. Dept. of State Lands](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Elliott-State-Forest-near-Coors-Bay-ORE-CREDIT-ORE-Depth-of-State-Lands-500x500.jpg)
Not Logging Some Northwest Forests Could Offset Climate Change, Study Finds
Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California-Berkeley looked at which forests in the Western United States should be prioritized for preservation under climate change scenarios.