As part of the Down To Earth expansion we will occasionally feature some of our longer articles outside of this familiar DTE Blog space, on the DTE News page. In doing so, we hope to widen our outreach, heighten awareness on local issues and help…
We’re in for some serious weather in the Inland Northwest this week. A foot of snow and maybe even 10 below? Bring it on. Actually, please don’t. Be safe. In case you missed it in the S-R, public agencies have been getting the word out…
“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.” --- Mahatma Gandhi
Outside a laboratory, a toy wagon is used to carry radioactive material at Hanford Atomic Energy plant in 1955. Photo by Nat Farbman, from the amazing LIFE/Google archive.
This is sort of funny but par for the course. As Spokane County proceeds with a proposed $145 million wastewater treatment plant, commissioners had an idea for funding problems: The City of Spokane Valley, whose residents would actually represent three-fourths of the facility's customers, could…
Photo of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan - one of DTE's favorite mountains *photo from Faisal.Saeed @ Flickr Today is International Mountain Day , a distinguished day first recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2003. For today, DTE is looking back on all of our…
Does “wildlife refuge” invoke the sound of gunshots? Well, officials at the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge near Cheney have authorized hunting for the first time since it was established in 1937. Apparently, the area has reached its carrying capacity for large elk herds which are…
For those of you on the fence with whether or not to become members of the Main Market Co-op here is a great opportunity for you to go where the grass is greener. Join by December 31, 2008 and receive these special thank you gifts!…
Photo Courtesy Of The Prairie Protection Association. That's always a bad sign. The Spokesman-Review reports “Spokane County Commissioners are plowing ahead with a plan to widen Bigelow Gulch Road despite a federal lawsuit that could block or delay federal funding for the project.” Federal funds…
The wild year that was 2008 is coming to its uncertain conclusion, and now is the time media publications let loose a flood of year-end lists. (Presumably so some journalists can take vacations.) Time Magazine has one such list: 10 Green Stories. While we don’t…
The eagle has landed. Lake Coeur d’Alene is experiencing an influx of bald eagles, hungry for spawning kokanee salmon. The Spokesman-Review reports “a weekly winter survey found 127 eagles in the bay on Monday, up from 88 last week and 59 the week after Thanksgiving.”
Photo courtesy of Greater Spokane. STA budget dilemma might include raising fares. The Spokane Transit Authority has a problem: While ridership has increased, revenue is falling since more than 70 percent of their funding comes from sales taxes. According to the S-R, the $79 million…
Perhaps readers were unsure of what we were talking about in yesterday's edition of Another Green Monday with the “new New Deal.” In his weekly address at Change.gov, President-elect Obama promised the first part of his plan would “launch a massive effort to make public…
Picture from ms pingy on Flickr Just because temps are dropping doesn’t mean you are left in the cold when it comes to local farmers market goodies. Local Spokane blogger A Year of Plenty posted last week on the farmers’ market options. Get informed, and…
EWU Rec Center awarded LEED gold certification In what seems like forever ago (2005), Down To Earth voted in a special election as students at Eastern Washington University to approve student funding for a state of the art recreation center. Little did we know back…
Thinking ahead, Conservation Northwest has named it’s top priorities for 2009, hoping to connect and protect old growth and other wild areas across the state. Without further adieu: ---We will introduce and pass a management plan including wilderness designation for the Colville National Forest in…
What happens when a group of misfit local bloggers get together? They produce the ultimate pocketbook and tie a ribbon through it for display on a tin Christmas tree. (Almost like “Festivus.”) They screen the cheesy time-capsule “Hackers.” Freed from their secure digital veil, they…
The Spokesman-Review reports that county officials are pushing hard to go ahead with the bid by CH2M Hill Constructors Inc. to build and operate a $142 million wastewater treatment plant that would help remove pollutants, like phosphorous, from the Spokane River. While others, like the…
DTE received an email from the University of Idaho regarding a group of scientists at the school who studied young fish transportation programs as a means to bypass dams during migration. They learned salmon and steelhead trout along the Columbia and Snake rivers, had lower…
This is what Andrew Sullivan refers to as a "mental health break." Goo goo g'joob.
The 2009 Environmental Priorities are focused on promoting a vibrant and growing green economy. Now is the time to create new jobs, build new infrastructure, and promote new economic stimulus in a way that will drive us towards healthier, more efficient, and more livable communities.…
Rachael Paschal Osborn, The Sierra Club’s Spokane River Project Coordinator, has issued a direct letter asking County Commissioners to not enter a multi-million dollar contract with CH2M Hill to design, build, and operate a wastewater treatment plant that can’t meet discharge limits. Drafted with assistance…
It was too good to be true – Al Gore back near the White House, helping make changes from an official role in the Obama administration. While it wasn’t too far fetched given that Obama specifically stated back in April his intentions to offer the…
Always shaking things up at the DTE camp. Our latest little fun project: Contributing to a "Spokane Blog Bible", featuring twelve local blogs that has URLs, site descriptions, and medieval graphics in a hand-held guide. Published by Dreyer Press, the pocketbook’s introduction states “your neighbors…
Pow. Anderson Cooper is back. As a follow up to last year’s “Planet in Peril,” an investigative report on global environmental issues, you should get ready for more action because on December 11th, at 9pm EST, “Planet in Peril: Battle Lines” will premiere on CNN…
The DTE blog is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.
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