The place where ocean meets land has long been inspiration for poets,
artists, scientists and beach lovers. It is the subject of Waves and Beaches,
a classic guide to the stirring science of sand, surf and waves, written in
1963 by engineer, scientist and adventurer Willard...
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On April 20, a new coalition of environmental justice groups called the
Braided River Campaign launched their first call to action, demanding that
the city of Portland declare the Portland Harbor - currently a Super Fund
site - a Green Working Waterfront, and to get busy...
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For nearly two decades communities across the Pacific Northwest have been
fighting off multiple efforts to turn the region into a fossil fuel export
hub. Today we’ll look back at the successes of what Eric de Place with
Sightline Institute calls the Thin Green Line,
On thi...
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In 1980, Oregonians passed a ballot measure prohibiting the siting of any new
nuclear power plants until there is an operating federal repository for
high-level nuclear waste. The law also requires a vote before any future
nuclear facility is approved. Forty years later sti...
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On his first day in office Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline. That
was great news. But that’s not the only fossil fuel pipeline that needs to
be stopped. Here in Oregon people are still trying to stop for good the
nearly dead Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline, while ...
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Before European settlers transformed the north reach of the Willamette River,
near its confluence with the Columbia, it was a braided river of shallow
channels and islands rich in biodiversity. Today the area is designated an
industrial sanctuary, but the communities that w...
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Salmon are the principal iconic species here in the Pacific Northwest, but
once salmon were iconic for all northern latitude countries around the world.
As we watch the once abundant salmon runs dwindle in the few remaining places
where they have thrived over the past centu...
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Beavers have been called “Nature’s Engineers.” In fact, the Army of
Corps of Engineers could learn a lot from beavers. Instead of re-engineering
nature to serve narrow human interests, beavers engineer the natural
environment to serve not just their own needs, but the needs...
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In the aftermath of massive wildfires that burned across much of Western
Oregon last summer, an inevitable slew of post-fire logging proposals
threaten to clearcut over 10,000 acres of fire-impacted federal lands along
the iconic McKenzie and North Umpqua rivers.
On this s...
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When you think of West Virginia you probably think of coal. But as the coal
industry dies a slow death Appalachia is now pulled in two different
directions. On the one hand natural gas fracking now dominates the Ohio River
Valley and countless miles of gas pipelines spread ...
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