The sun’s rays were beginning to break through the river mist as Haskal J. Lonesome finished digging his way to the edge of Beaver, Washington. For several days he had traversed the moss-draped rain forests, and even floated for part of his journey on a broken branch, as it drifted for miles down the waters of the Sol Duc River. Haskal’s thick moist pelt shivered in anticipation when he finally entered the perimeter of the village.

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AP Photo by Patrick Semansky

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“The oil industry is the most profitable industry in the history of human enterprise, and as such it is basically the most influential too. Even if you look at the huge cost BP has incurred so far in cleaning up the disaster in the Gulf, it reached 4 billion dollars this week, that is still less than a third of BP’s profits from last year alone. If you look at all of the oil that has spilled into the Gulf of Mexico so far, as much as 184 million gallons of oil, you should know that all of that oil, everything in total that has spilled into the Gulf so far over this past 100 days, every bit of it represents a quarter of the oil we use in America in one day.”

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One of the hardest-hit state economies in the nation, Michigan could save up to 1.5% of its gross domestic product annually by protecting children from environmental exposures, according to a new report released Monday by the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health. Entitled The Price of Pollution: Cost Estimates of Environment-Related Childhood Disease in Michigan, the report examines direct and indirect costs for four childhood diseases that are linked in part or whole to environmental toxins.

The report estimates that the environmentally attributable costs of lead poisoning, asthma, pediatric cancer, and neuro-developmental disorders in Michigan is $5.85 billion annually with a range of $3.65 to $6.68 billion.

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]]> Health impacts on children linked to pollution are estimated to cost billions annually.

One of the hardest-hit state economies in the nation, Michigan could save up to 1.5% of its gross domestic product annually by protecting children from environmental exposures, according to a new report released Monday by the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health. Entitled The Price of Pollution: Cost Estimates of Environment-Related Childhood Disease in Michigan, the report examines direct and indirect costs for four childhood diseases that are linked in part or whole to environmental toxins.

The report estimates that the environmentally attributable costs of lead poisoning, asthma, pediatric cancer, and neuro-developmental disorders in Michigan is $5.85 billion annually with a range of $3.65 to $6.68 billion. (more…)

In an ongoing effort to help strengthen our local food system and eat more sustainably, we recently subscribed to OlyKraut’s seasonal CSA. Now every Thursday we get a new delivery of fresh organic locally-made sauerkraut deliciousness from the burgeoning women-owned company. So far the spicy curry kraut is my favorite, but there are still many different flavors that we haven’t tried yet, including spring nettle, spicy garlic and sea vegetable kraut. Supporting the local economy never tasted so good.

OlyKraut’s beautiful label illustration was created by the brilliant Olympia-based artist Nikki McClure.

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Over-prescribed and under-consumed, prescription drugs are generating both environmental and law enforcement problems. A national take-back day September 25 is intended to heighten awareness of this important issue.

The growing national volume of unused prescription drugs is prompting the nation’s first drug take-back day September 25.  When flushed down toilets — the usual management choice for many health care facilities and households — the drugs can pollute drinking water and may affect fish and other aquatic life. But national drug policies and regulations have thwarted many community take-back efforts.

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Each day was hotter than the one before it. Blistering new temperature records were broken every week, as the parched planet, blanketed in increasingly thick layers of pollution, continued to swelter and bake. Clean water sources evaporated and food was scarce. Drought ravaged the land and displaced billions.

Some people turned ugly very quickly. Racist scapegoating flourished; a few states began enacting hateful separatist immigration legislation, banning entry to anyone from another state or region. Residents had to constantly carry current citizenship papers; anyone found without proper identification was immediately sent to the work colonies in the scorching desert desolation of southern California or the contaminated Gulf Coast, never to be heard from again.

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More than 40 years after the first human health advisories were issued for fish consumption because of Great Lakes toxic contaminants, concerns remain. In at least one of the five Great Lakes, Erie, levels of mercury in fish are actually increasing after years of decline, according to a report publicized this week. Toxaphene levels in Lake Superior fish also persist at levels that could damage human health, although the primary route of contamination has changed since 1970.

Direct industrial chemical dumping contributed to health concerns then. Today’s primary source is often the atmosphere. Chemical contaminants can travel thousands of miles through the atmosphere before falling out and polluting the aquatic food chain. Another source is thought to be non-native zebra and quagga mussels and round goby, which can make contaminants in sediments available in the food chain.

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Mary Clark-Carmago’s tile Phoenix made with materials found in the Deukmejian Wilderness Park, also benefits the park. 100% of proceeds from the sale of all 149 pieces in the group show goes to cleaning up and restoring the parks. The Art From The Ashes exhibit is running through July 24th at 216 S Brand Blvd in Glendale. Being quite an art collector and living on “Gallery Row” in downtown LA, I like to think I know good art from bad. And this is good art. Even better, it brings something of beauty into the world out of the worst fire Los Angeles County has ever experienced. The Station Fire devastated over 250 square miles of Los Angeles’ lungs, I mean, forest.

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A deal closed last week protects almost 190,000 acres of forestland, the largest land conservation initiative in Minnesota’s history, while the private owner will continue timber management.

The public will have recreational access to almost 190,000 acres of privately owned Minnesota forest thanks to the state’s largest land conservation deal ever and one of the largest east of the Mississippi.  The state closed on the $44 million deal with UPM-Blandin Paper Company last week. Coupled with adjacent lands, the purchase protects 4,000 square miles of uninterrupted forest habitat. Instead of buying the land outright — which would entail a far larger purchase price — the state purchased a conservation easement preventing development of the land and opening public access to it, while allowing the company to continue timber management and harvest.  The Conservation Fund helped negotiate the easement. The Nature Conservancy was also instrumental.

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