Washington Will Have Nation's First Electric Highway

The Washington State Department of Commerce and WSDOT are teaming up to implement the nation’s first “electric highway,” a basic network of public access electric vehicle (EV) recharging locations along Interstate 5. Once implemented, Washington will have the first border to border highway to offer fast charge technology. The project supports the West Coast Green Highway ,  an initiative to promote the use of cleaner fuels along I-5 from British Columbia to Baja California.

In addition, Washington is creating the nation’s first electric vehicle-friendly scenic byway along U.S. 2, a 120-mile route from Seattle to Wenatchee.  Eco-tourism opportunities will be promoted at several tourist destinations including Stevens Pass Ski Area ; Leavenworth’s Sleeping Lady Resort and Icicle Ridge Winery where drivers will be able to “fuel up” while enjoying the location’s activities

Article courtesy of Smart Growth Online by Anna Nelson , AICP

 

 

 

Tsunami's effects in California offer clues about future, more powerful seismic events

 

Researchers are gathering data from the tsunami damage in Northern California to gain a more detailed understanding of how a powerful earthquake or undersea landslide could trigger a tsunami and what those waves could do.

 

Although the effect of the tsunami was minuscule in California compared with Japan, the scattered damage is providing a rare opportunity to study how the waves work and to help officials better prepare for what could be a far more destructive seismic event along the state's coast.

 

Read More….. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-california-tsunami-20110321,0,1491352.story

 

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Abby Sewell

Judge places California's global warming program on hold

 

A San Francisco superior court judge has put California's sweeping plan to curb greenhouse gas pollution on hold, saying the state did not adequately evaluate alternatives to its cap-and-trade program.

In a 35-page decision, Judge Ernest H. Goldsmith said the Air Resources Board had failed to consider public comments on the proposed measures before adopting the plan, which affects a broad swath of the state's economy.

In particular, the judge noted, officials gave short shrift to analyzing a carbon fee, or carbon tax, devoting a “scant two paragraphs to this important alternative” to a market-based trading system in their December 2008 plan.

The air board said it would appeal the judge's decision, which was filed late Friday and released Monday

 

Read more:     http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/03/california-global-warming-program-put-on-hold.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

 

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Greenspace

 

Green Your Water Use: Have Some Sense

March 22 is World Water Day, so this week's tips are about how to help protect our world's water supply.

The next time you need to replace a water-using appliance — whether a toilet, a faucet, or a showerhead — remember to look for the WaterSense label. Fixtures with that seal of approval have been tested and certified to save at least 20% more water than a non-certified counterpart; here's a complete list of WaterSense products

 

 

Green Your Water Use: Fix a Leak

The EPA's WaterSense program has declared this "Fix a Leak
Week" and is advising people to check their plumbing and
irrigation systems and fix them if needed.

According to the agency, water leaks in U.S. homes account for
more than 1 trillion wasted gallons per year. To find out
whether your home has a leak, check your water meter. Then wait two
hours without using any water. Then check the meter again. If the
reading changes, you've got a leak. American Water's
leak-detection kit provides other useful ideas for
detecting sources of wasted water

Article courtesy of The Green Life (thegreenlife@sierraclub.org)

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Good News for America's Rainforest

Last week, the Sierra Club and its allies won a big victory when a federal judge overturned the Forest Service's exclusion of Alaska's Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule. That's great news for the old-growth trees and abundant wildlife of this magnificent region.

But what does it have to do with stabilizing our climate? As it turns out, the Tongass is also one of the world's largest rainforests and, as Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune explains in his "Coming Clean" blog, "The health of our forests and that of our climate are deeply intertwined."

 

Article courtesy of Sierra Club Insider

 

Digging a Hole for China

Demand for coal in the United States is dropping, thanks in large part to the Sierra Club's successful fight against coal-fired power plants. But China's economic boom demands more coal than that country can furnish.

Plans are now under way to ramp up coal production in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, put it on trains, and ship it down the Columbia River and overseas. But first they have to go through Longview, Washington, where locals are working to block this climate-altering trade route. Sierra magazine writer Peter Frick-Wright reports from the front lines in the ongoing battle over coal.

Article courtesy of Sierra Club Insider