Having just spent a week examing what local means to us by partaking in the 7vs7 100 Mile Locavore challenge (and concluding that "local" is nearly impossible to define), we were thrilled to pick up a copy of The Inlander to see their cover story about how large corporations are branding themselves as local using the same marketing techniques as greenwashing.  To our surprise, the article spent little time picking the low-hanging fruit that is Starbucks' sorry attempts at going local (as The Inlander's cover might suggest), and more time examing how the fight over the authenticity of local might be good.  "In a way, all of this corporate local-washing is good news for local economy advocates," said Stacy Mitchell in her commentary.  "It’s the best empirical evidence yet that the grassroots movement for locally produced goods and independently owned businesses is having a measurable impact on the choices people make." 


In a week where it seemed we'd have to go out of our ways to eat locally, we realized we didn't have to go that far at all.  Pepper in some circumstantial miles combined with an earnest attemp at supporting local manufacturers and producers and we're talking living sustainably in the Inland Northwest.  And that's really what it's all about this month of Sustainable September - searching within to learn things about our own habits and principles and bringing those findings to the table at one or more of the many events being held - now that's a potluck with all the local fixings! 

Goodbye Anonymous - if only we'd met.  Think of all the times you casually passed over the Cheers and Jeers section of The Inlander.  After you read the following "Cheers", you may start paying attention.  Found on page 58 of the September 3rd Inlander is an anonymous letter written by someone saying goodbye to Spokane - it's a sincere piece of writing that anyone who fights to make Spokane a better place ought to feel good about.  Read it HERE.

Kicking coal to the curb.  According to a recent report by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC), 85 percent of the Northwest's new energy needs can be met simply with energy conservation via more energy-efficient technology and practices.  According to the AP, the panel said energy efficiency in homes, businesses and factories could offset most of the demand for increased power supplies in the four-state region for two decades.  The panel alsoo said natural gas plants and wind energy could take care of the rest of the demand, and it did not envision new coal-fired plants.  Read more

Idaho researchers receive grant to study changing snowpack in Western US.  The University of Idaho, Boise State University and the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service project members recently received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to embark on a three-year hydrologic study that, according to a UI press release, "will contribute to a greater understanding of the altered distribution of winter snowpack, one of the greatest climatic impacts on the semi-arid mountains of the western U.S"  Over three years, water researchers will not only learn to remember the name of their study ("Collaborative Research: A WATERS Testbed to Investigate the Impacts of Changing Snow Conditions on Hydrologic Processes in the Western United States") but will "understand how combinations of hydrological conditions and different soil properties interact to control water flow and temperature dynamics", and "demonstrate how hydrologic observatories can be used to facilitate community science efforts to address critical water resource problems that are common to many semi-arid and arid regions across the globe."  Read more about this critical study HERE.  

Silver Valley Community Resource Center and Waterkeeper call to action. We just received another press release regarding the Eastern Mission Flats Repository which nicely summarizes what’s at stake for them. They have to be feeling a bit more optimistic: Congressman Walter Minnick has contacted EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Details below.


SVCRC/SVWaterkeeper Call to Action to stop the 20 acre, Toxic Waste Repository EPA Region Ten and Idaho Dept. of Env. Quality is establishing at the Old Mission at Cataldo has resulted in getting Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick to make a call to Lisa Jackson EPA Administrator. Ms. Jackson recently sent Manty Stanislaus Administrator of Emergency Response and Solid Waste to the area to hear and see our concerns.

Recall if you will some basic facts regarding this toxic repository, site location is at a National Historic Landmark, a Mission church built by Jesuits and native American tribes about 1850. The site is in a floodplain well documented by EPA and IDEQ, a major wetland where beaver, moose, bear, deer, elk, muskrat, a number of wildfowel including swans and blue herrings inhabit. It also is a few hundred feet from Interstate 90. A reported 400,000 to 600,000 cubic feet of toxic lead and mine waste from downstream in the CDA/Bunker Hill Basin Superfund site will be dumped there standing 60 feet tall when finished.

In spite of an OIG investigation which stated the site was not scientifically sound to be a repository and more than 2000 individuals finding out by reading a news article in 2007 and strongly opposing the location, EPA and IDEQ began destruction of the site this past week.

Please help the people of the Silver Valley who have worked against extraordinary obstacles to take back their community and improve quality of life:

Calls/emails into Congressman Minnick and Manty Stanislaus, EPA National Emergency Response office asking them to declare an immediate moratorium to the Old Mission Repository are still needed!

Congressman Minnick, staff, Devin.Nagy@mail.house.gov

Lisa Jackson: Jackson.Lisa@epamail.epa.gov

Mathy Stanislaus: Mathy.Stanislaus@epa.gov

 

 

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