Environment
Environment
![Commercial air travel currently accounts for just about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, but those emissions are rising fast. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ap_16207588565762_wide-36aeba5f7ae23b8ad71afd2a38b92f8f151fb569-500x500.jpg)
Choosing Not To Fly Home For The Holidays, For The Climate’s Sake
Carbon emissions from global air travel are rising fast, and U.S. passengers make up the largest share. But some are vowing not to fly at all, motivated by guilt and concern for the environment.
![Adult fall Chinook salmon in the Priest Rapids Hatchery. CREDIT: PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/080314salmon_qslzfg-500x500.jpg)
Wildlife Managers Look To Save Salmon Habitat In Washington’s Chehalis Basin
Biologists say, if things continue, salmon may be extinct from the basin by next century. That’s why they’re coming up with a plan to help restore the area’s 3,400 miles of streams and rivers – which are also home to the largest diversity of amphibians in the state.
![Chief Joseph Dam is on the Columbia River in eastern Washington at Bridgeport. CREDIT: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Chief-Joseph-Dam-CREDIT-US-Army-Corps-of-Engineers-500x500.jpg)
Another Settlement Reached Over Columbia And Snake River Dams Leaking Oil
The environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper has sued dam operators along the Columbia and Snake rivers. They hope to reduce oil spills, require operators to monitor how much oil is leaking into the water and ask dam managers to look into using eco-friendly oil.
![The proposed site at the Port of Kalama where NW Innovation Works is proposing a 90-acre methanol plant. CREDIT: NW INNOVATION WORKS](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190419_kalama-methanol_ms-1-500x500.jpg)
Lower Columbia River Methanol Refinery Halted By Washington Regulators For Environmental Review
A $2 billion methanol project proposed for the Lower Columbia River town of Kalama, Washington, hit a new roadblock Friday, when the Washington Department of Ecology said the environmental review did not adequately assess its greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate change.
![Darlene Yazzie typically hauls water from a windmill 5 miles from her house for her sheep. Officials tell her it's unsafe for humans but OK for livestock. CREDIT: Laurel Morales/KJZZ](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/watertribe2_custom-0fc3c60c18dd8dd72b2eeb21ed001dd0b2dd6ebc-500x500.jpg)
Report Finds Native Americans More At Risk Of Lacking Access To Clean Water
A new report from DigDeep and the U.S. Water Alliance found race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access. This has implications for public health.
![A cross-section of an electroswing adsorber, which is essentially an electrochemical cell — that is, a battery. The battery has two active (negative) electrodes on the outside and a positive (counter) electrode in the middle (red). When electricity runs into the battery, the active layers, which are covered with quinone, collect CO2 from the surrounding air. Image by Sahag Voskian](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/New-Battery-carbon-capture-500x454.jpg)
Developers Of This New ‘Battery’ Are Trying To Spark A Carbon Capture Revolution
Carbon capture technology is slowly being integrated into energy and industrial facilities across the globe. Typically set up to collect carbon from an exhaust stream, this technology sops up greenhouse gases before they spread into Earth’s airways.
![Power lines and power-generating windmills rise above the rural landscape on June 13, 2018, near Dwight, Ill. Driven by falling costs, global spending on renewable energy sources like wind and solar is now outpacing investment in electricity from fossil fuels and nuclear power. CREDIT: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/gettyimages-974537326_wide-ad77f5bcbc9b3463ee74aeb7bbf75b6834c4149a-s800-c85-500x449.jpg)
Opponents Of Proposed Eastern Oregon-To-Idaho Transmission Line File Federal Lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Stop B2H Coalition and Greater Hells Canyon Council, claims the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service failed to adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of Idaho Power’s proposed transmission line.
![Microplastic fibers, like this one from an Oregon river, are less than 5mm and often show up in vivid color under the microscope. CREDIT: TODD SONFLIETH / OPB](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/microplastic-under-microscope-CREDIT-Todd-Sonflieth-OPB-500x500.jpg)
Scientists Discover Microplastics In Northwest Oysters And Clams
Several studies have shown that microplastics, which are tiny pieces of plastic that make up other larger plastic items, can make their way into fish, crustaceans, clams, oysters and ultimately into us, the people that eat them.
![A marijuana plant grows in California's Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This plant is part of an illegal growing operation by highly organized drug cartels that take advantage of the forests' thick canopy to help hide their operations. CREDIT: Eric Westervelt/NPR](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ew-img_9752_custom-8196ad39599a65c08425e175fdaa538fb81abfb4-500x500.jpg)
Illegal Marijuana Grows In Public Forests Are Poisoning Wildlife And Water
Insecticides and other chemicals found at the sites threaten long-term damage to ecosystems. California law enforcement, ecologists and others are cracking down.
![Aerial photograph of adult female Southern Resident killer whale J16 with her calf J50 in 2015, when the calf was in its first year of life. CREDIT: JOHN DURBAN (NOAA FISHERIES), HOLLY FEARNBACH (SR3) AND LANCE BARRETT-LENNARD (VANCOUVER AQUARIUM), TAKEN BY AN UNMANNED HEXACOPTER DURING RESEARCH AUTHORIZED UNDER NMFS PERMIT #16163](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/J16-and-J50-orcas-John-Durban-Holly-Fearnbach-Lance-Barrett-Lennard-500x480.jpg)
Federal Managers Propose Northwest Habitat Protections For Orcas And Humpback Whales
One of the habitat designations is specifically for Southern Resident Killer Whales, which spend about half the year in the Salish Sea north of Seattle. They feed on salmon. There are fewer than 80 of these orcas remaining.
![Bannack is a 2-year-old Alpine goat bred to haul loads into and out of the backcountry. National forests are formalizing pack goat regulations as they revise their forest plans. CREDIT: Nick Mott/Montana Public Radio](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Goat-packing-Montana-Nick-Mott-Montana-Public-Radio-500x500.jpg)
As Backcountry Travelers Shift Load To Goats, National Forests Eye Risks
The number of people using goats to pack gear, game and food into the backcountry is rising rapidly, and national forests in at least 10 western states have proposed partial pack goat bans to prevent the spread of pathogens that could prove deadly to the west’s iconic populations of bighorn sheep.
![Paradise Camp fire - football team on field](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Paradise-California-football-team-CREDIT-Eric-Westervelt-NPR-500x500.jpg)
Paradise Bobcats Football Team Inspires And Motivates 1 Year After Camp Fire Devastated Town
Many are commuting to school in Paradise from surrounding cities and towns, including almost all of the town’s high school football team, the Bobcats. The team is undefeated, and is about to find out if they are making it to the playoffs.