Salmon spawn in the upper Columbia River for the first time in 80 years
Since 2014, tribes along the Columbia River have been working on a plan to reintroduce salmon to the river, researching factors such as habitat, fish passage, and others.
Pacific Northwest
San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle ban natural gas in new buildings
In November, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to ban natural gas in new buildings. On December 2, Oakland’s city council did the same. Now Seattle Mayor Durkan announced a proposal to ban natural gas in new commercial and large multi-family construction for space and most water heating.
50 Native American tribes are now implementing climate strategies
Dozens of Native nations and tribal institutions in the United States have designed climate change plans that include formal strategies and initiatives to increase the resiliency of their communities.
Oregon becomes the first state in the U.S. to legalize access to magic mushrooms
Measure 109 apart it distinct from decriminalization efforts in that it offers a legal pathway to psilocybin therapy. It will establish a state-regulated program for using and obtaining them. In essence, accessing psilocybin as an adult in Oregon would be about as easy as signing up for counseling.
Oregon closes state’s last coal plant in favor of green energy
The last plant in Oregon, which opened in 1977, was pushed to close by a lawsuit filed against General Electric for air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions concerns.
Canadian experiment giving homeless people $7500 proves promising
The New Leaf project took 115 homeless people who were confirmed not to have serious mental or substance abuse problems, and put $7,500 in the pockets of 50 of them to see if they could turn their life around. One entire year later, most recipients still had $1,000 in savings and 67% were could still feed themselves every day.
Seattle protects Uber and Lyft drivers with new gig economy wages
The city of Seattle has passed a new wage scale for Uber and Lyft drivers, including a $16.39 minimum wage, to ensure their wages match those of other minimum wage workers in the city.
Global hop supplier installs largest solar array in Washington state
Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), a 100% farmer owned hop supplier for the brewing industry, has announced their latest solar panel installation for a total of 3,706 solar panels, the largest rooftop solar array in Washington state.
Oregon to officially vote on legalizing psychedelic psilocybin therapy
The state of Oregon will officially vote on legalizing psilocybin psychotherapy in the upcoming November election, after well over 150,000 signatures were collected to secure the landmark ballot measure.
Starbucks adds plant-based meat to its U.S. menu
The Seattle-based coffee chain said a breakfast sandwich made with imitation sausage from Redwood City, California-based Impossible Foods is now available at a majority of its U.S. restaurants.