The legacy of dirty, old coal

I shot this pix of the infamous Jeddo Tunnel mouth more than a decade ago. Nothing has changed since. The tunnel still discharges an average of 40,000 gallons a minute of acid mine drainage into what use to be a brook trout stream. DRILL BABY DRILL. The Jeddo, by the way, drains about 37 square miles under the city of Hazleton in what the bidness community now calls “upstate” Pennsylvania.

U.S. to commit $78.5M to try to halt Asian carp

Read a news story about the expenditure here. And learn more about this invasive species from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at this link.

Fishing with Darth Vader, aka Dick Cheney

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704259304575043353753285596-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html

Impacts of feral horses on a desert environment

More evidence here on what is really a pretty simple problem that a lot of humans can’t seem to fathom.

Invasive species: Another one makes headlines

It’s the Asian carp. But it’s hardly the only one to have made headlines in North America. Time mag offers this overview of some of the other well-known cases, including zebra mussels and kudzu. Read the mag piece here.

Columbia River salmon runs plentiful now, but don’t count on the trend continuing

The single greatest step that could be taken today to restore Pacific Northwest salmon runs to the former glory is to take down the hydro-power dams that throttle their rivers. Read about the latest counts and forecast here.

Poor snowpack could shrink NW hydropower

One or two good snowstorms do make a trend, as in “global warming” trend. Check out this trend story from the Portland, Ore., Oregonian paper.

‘Whaling ship rammed us,’ Sea Shepherd captain says

From Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, comes news of ship vs. ship glitch.

Locke announces ‘fishery failure’ for Alaska chinook

NOAA’s news release right here.

In Centralia, Pa., underground coal fire is one of hundreds burning in many states

My wife and I drove through this “garden” spot many years ago. Astounding what our appetite for coal has done over the decades. And the last century for that matter.

Read about Centralia here. Meanwhile, as this article from Norfolk, Va., explains, we keep on building more coal-fired power plants — at the same time at which we waste gazillions of watts of electricity daily by leaving the lights on.