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FROM SPEAK UP! SPEAK OUT! RADIO
Interview with Stephanie Buffum, FRIENDS of the San Juans, watchdog of the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea
Aired: December 9, 2015
Join Ginny Wolff in a discussion with Stephanie Buffum, Executive Director for Friends of the San Juans, a public interest environmental organization based in Friday Harbor, which acts as watchdog to protect the environment of the Salish Sea. Friends of the San Juans has done a study predicting a 43% increase in marine vessel traffic in the Salish Sea from multiple new proposals for the transport of both fossil fuels and bulk commodities. In response to new environmental threats, the group is making application to the International Maritime Organization for a “Particularly Sensitive Sea Area” designation for the Salish Sea. In this interview, Stephanie describes the origin and nature of projects which will impact our waters, and the work they are currently doing to protect them.
Visit the website for Friends of the San Juans at: http://www.sanjuans.org
Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality)
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FROM SIGHTLINE DAILY
The Thin Green Line is Stopping Oil and Coal in Their Tracks
Northwest communities have won key battles. Can they win the war?
http://daily.sightline.org/2015/08/13/the-thin-green-line-is-stopping-coal-and-oil-in-their-tracks/
…in big ways and small—from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia—the Thin Green Line has held fast. Big energy projects have faced delays, uncertainty, mounting costs…and then failure. A review of these projects makes clear just how successful the region has been in denying permission to dirty energy companies as it stays true to its heritage as a center of clean energy, sustainability, and forward thinking.
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SIGHTLINE INSTITUTE EXPLAINS
Why Bakken Oil Explodes
http://daily.sightline.org/2014/01/21/why-bakken-oil-explodes/
In early January, a federal agency alert made clear what many already knew: that crude oil from the Bakken formation is more prone to explosion than other types of crude oil.
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SAFE SHIPPER LOVEL PRATT REPORTS (Whatcom Watch)
Economic Impacts of an Oil Spill
http://www.whatcomwatch.org/php/WW_open.php?id=1795
The economic impacts of a major oil spill in this region would far exceed the estimates made to date…. Ecology estimates that a major oil spill in the state would cost 165,000 jobs and $10.8 billion in annual economic activity. However, these figures are undervalued because, in addition to being two years outdated, this estimate does not include any costs associated with the impacts of oil spills to privately owned shoreline and water-view properties.
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Where Could Oil Go?
SALISH SEA SPILL MAP PROJECT
From Raincoast Conservation Foundation: website: In an effort to predict the behaviour of oil from a spill in the Salish Sea, and to alert coastal residents to that very real possibility, Raincoast and its partner the Georgia Strait Alliance have launched a study to map the potential spread of oil along the Kinder Morgan tanker route. For some of our drops, we have also teamed up with the Friends of the San Juans and the City of Vancouver.
http://www.raincoast.org/salish-sea-spill-map-project/
Journal of the San Juans related article: http://www.sanjuanjournal.com/news/280678202.html
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Are Tar Sands Dirtier Than Regular Oil?
Yes, they are!
To learn more, go to this laser talk* from Citizens’ Climate Lobby:
*Just as a laser is powerful and focused, a laser talk is a brief but powerful statement on a specific topic.
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Let’s Reject the ‘Inevitable’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/opinion/mark-bittman-lets-reject-the-inevitable.html?_r=1
The New York Times Op Ed piece by Mark Bittman. September 16, 2014.
EXCERPT: There remain several possible responses to climate change. One is stupidity: “There is no crisis.” (A subset of this is to acknowledge the crisis privately, but deny it or choose to ignore it publicly.) A second is hopelessness: “It’s all over.” (Sadly, many of my friends fall into this category.) A third is blind faith in technology, as if it were easier to modify the power of nature than to change a system that resists not only radical change but even tinkering.
San Juan Islanders for Safe Shipping 