Pesticide Proponents Aim to Keep Power Out of Locals’ Reach
Local communities can often see connections between pollution and environmental health long before big government agencies respond. That’s what happened on the Oregon Coast in 2017 when a small group...
View ArticleEPA Slow to Regulate Neonic Pesticides That May Be Killing Off Bees
The most widely-used insecticide in the world is a compound called imidacloprid. Along with some other best-selling pesticides, it is a member of the neonicotinoid chemical class known as “neonics,”...
View ArticleOregon Legislature Considers Pesticide Reform Bills
Although Oregon has been a laggard in strengthening pesticide regulations, a pair of bills that would shield humans and ecosystems from their potentially dangerous effects is now before state...
View ArticleHow Does Climate Change Affect Northwest Wildfires?
Wildfires have seemed inescapable in the Northwest the past few summers after record-setting conflagrations erupted in the region’s prized forests. These blazes have proved so dangerous and persistent...
View ArticleThis Clause in the US Constitution Is Being Wielded to Attack Climate Change...
Earlier this year, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation requiring that oil transported by rail to refineries in the state must meet a reduced “vapor pressure” threshold, the measure of a...
View ArticleThe Cost of a Salish Sea Oil Spill? We Still Don’t Know
Editor’s note, 1/27/20: This article has been updated with an addendum. An oil spill in the Salish Sea could be ecologically devastating. That’s widely accepted. But how much would it cost? Apparently,...
View ArticleA Win Over Petrochemicals in Anacortes
As December 2019 closed out the decade, it also brought the close of a years-long battle over a petrochemical project planned for the shores of the Salish Sea when the owner of an oil refinery at...
View ArticleThe Macroproblem of Microplastics
Consumer demand for plastic goods fuels nurdle pollution in the world’s oceans. And coronavirus has slowed momentum on plastic bans.
View ArticlePebble Mine, Bristol Bay, and Salmon
Editor’s Note: See the bottom of this article for an important update on September 1, 2020. Editor’s Note: John Abbotts served as an on-site contractor for the US Environmental Protection Agency’s...
View ArticleStates Lead to Rid Food Crops of the Neurotoxin Chlorpyrifos
Editor’s note, 12/30/2020: Readers may have noticed that John has been updating this material, in anticipation of one day reporting that the US has cancelled Chlorpyrifos (see his notes in the comments...
View Article
