Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director of People for Puget Sound, has an opinion piece at the PI on the future of Puget Sound.  She says it's time to understand the scope of the challenges facing us in restoring Puget Sound to health.  First she reminds us that the Puget Sound ecosystem is just that - an ecosystem, not a set of stovepiped "issues", i.e. clean water, a healthy orca populution, enough salmon for a decent fishery.  

"To bring Puget Sound back to health, we need to do the things that will most quickly and effectively restore the health of the Sound. Stopping sprawling development, cleaning up and preventing toxic pollution, restoring healthy habitat in river-mouth estuaries and shorelines, using rain gardens, green roofs and pervious pavement to absorb rainwater and curtail stormwater pollution -- these are the priorities that will save the Sound."

The die-off of pollinating bees alarms researchers, farmers, and everyone else around the world. The die-off, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), threatens about a third of the food we eat. It has been difficult finding a culprit, from cell phones to parasites, but nothing has proven to be realistic or true. Until now.

It's an idea I like a lot better than oil rigs. 

In an article published by the Tacoma News Tribune, Les Blumenthal of McClatchy's Washington Bureau, writes about the possibilities of generating all our energy needs from huge windmills located just over the horizons of our coasts.  "Picture 400 super-size windmills spinning in a steady, stiff ocean breeze just beyond the horizon off the Washington coast, generating enough electricity to supply the needs of Seattle and Tacoma." 

Blumenthal reports that Walter Musial, a senior engineer with the Energy Department’s Wind Technology Center in Colorado, says that offshore windmill projects could start to appear between 2012 and 2015. 

Kevin Fullerton, the Policy and Government Relations Liaison at IWF, has written an opinion piece for the Everett Herald discussing a crucial new role for biofuels in agriculture.  He states that it is foolish to bank on corn and soybeans as a transportation fuel source.  Then he proposes we "redesign biofuel incentives to ensure the industry becomes a tool for improved agriculture, providing new resources that foster renewable farming systems. This is how we create a resilient food supply and healthier climate". 

He sees that biofuels can be crucial way to capture nutrients that are now wasted.  This is a valuable new way for us to think about biofuels.  Take a look.

Tilth Producers of Washington and the Washington State University Small Farms Team sponsor Farm Walks each month in Washington.  This month the walk is being held on Monday, August 18th, at 21 Acres Farm in Woodinville, a working farm that is also utilized for research, experimentation and education.

According to the Press Release, "Visitors will tour the sustainable farm and future site of the multi-purpose Agriculture Center, with a focus on urban farming, green technology, and building urban community support for agriculture.  Participants will learn about the construction of the permanent farmers market, integration of animal husbandry into an urban setting, alternative pest management, and the on site community gardens."