The close of public comments is marked by familiar dividing lines and surprising feedback from an EPA official.
Ocean
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Record heat in Alaska fuels wildfires
Anchorage sees 90 F as nearly 120 fires blaze across the state.
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Washington’s giant sea snail still needs saving
The state’s pinto abalone population is 97% lower today than in 1992. Will adding it to endangered species list help?
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The true vulnerability of coastal California, revealed
A new study suggests flooding could surpass some of the state’s worst natural disasters.
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
How should we treat fish before they end up on our plates?
Seafood harvesting is brutal — but it doesn’t have to be.
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A small island town prepares for a major earthquake
Without a single hospital, Washington’s Vashon Island emergency responders work to avert disaster should ‘the big one’ hit.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Puget Sound orca pod gains a new member
If the calf survives, it’ll be the first addition in three years.
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Two countries, one border and their shared pollution
Communities in South San Diego sue over sewage spills.
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One Inuit family’s life, straddling national borders
Across the Beaufort Sea, Bruce Inglangasak’s 350-mile journey home.
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The impermanence of wonder and whales
A writer comes to grips with the plight of the Puget Sound orca.
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Tiny bits of plastic permeate our world
From alpine headwaters to city water supplies, the West is awash in microscopic pollutants.
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Orcas need more than sympathy and prayers
Will our citizens muster the political will needed to save killer whales and the chinook that sustain them?
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Rapid evolution saved the starfish
West Coast ochre stars make a remarkable reversal after a mass mortality event.
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There’s nothing normal about ‘the new normal’
The phrase is the linguistic equivalent of a shrug.
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How whales converse with the world
Arctic people have been speaking with cetaceans for centuries — and scientists are finally taking note.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
You’re made of the same stuff sloshing around in tidepools
When the tides pull back the water line, a writer takes a trip through time.
Posted inMarch 5, 2018: Drilling Chaco
A shrinking supply of abalone shells affects coastal tribes
Climate change and overfishing have pushed the prized mollusk to perilously low numbers in California.
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
An unfrozen North
The world’s permafrost holds vast stores of carbon. What happens when it thaws?
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
Latest: EPA puts brakes on Pebble Mine proposal
Agency says risks to fisheries and natural resources justify gathering more data.
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California’s hostility to offshore drilling is rooted in past spills
A massive 1960s spill has Californians on edge about Trump’s push for oil extraction.