Environmental News from Sightline Daily

If it seems like you're buying less gas these days, you're probably right. A new study from a Seattle-based sustainability think tank finds total gasoline consumption across the Northwest dropped sharply last year. In fact, per-capita gasoline use has dropped in 8 of the last 9 years, and it's now at its lowest level since 1965.

A record hot June and a winter snowpack more than 2,000 percent of normal in places have combined to detonate an explosion of waterfalls this summer in the Central Cascades.

Fans of the giant Palouse earthworm are once again seeking federal protection for the rare, sweet-smelling species that spits at predators. They filed a petition Tuesday with the US Fish and Wildlife Service requesting the worm be protected as an endangered species.

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down the Bush administration's change to a rule designed to protect the northern spotted owl from logging in national forests.

A group of farmers has joined two environmental groups in filing a lawsuit to block a feedlot proposed to be built near Pasco, Wash., from using a well that is exempt from state permits to water up to 30,000 cattle.

Crews are testing residential yards near W.R. Grace & Co.'s former insulation factory in Spokane for asbestos fibers that can cause cancer. The work was prompted by the recent declaration of Libby, Mont., as a public health emergency.

Idaho, Washington, and Oregon drivers cut back their per-capita gasoline consumption by 5 percent in 2008. Total gasoline consumption in the three states fell about 180 million gallons between 2007 and 2008, the largest drop since 1980, according to a new study from Sightline Institute.

Groups are starting to meet again on water supply in WA's arid Yakima River Basin, the heavily irrigated region that's home to thousands of acres of tree fruit, wine grapes, hops and other crops. In drought years, fish suffer in low rivers and farmers and towns with newer water rights have their water supply rationed.

Seattle politicians like to jockey over who is more green than the other. But candidates need business support too, and the battle for endorsements reveals some ideological divides between local environmentalists, developers, and independent thinkers who wonder if all urban growth is good.

Nearly all of the abandoned fishing nets in Puget Sound that kill marine animals and damage habitat will be removed with the help of $4.6 million in federal stimulus money. The net-removal efforts are among six projects in the state that will receive $16.5 million for marine and coastal habitat restoration.

Sen. Maria Cantwell on Tuesday made her strongest statement to date supporting President Obama's idea to create a national public-health plan, but said she hasn't decided exactly which option she'll vote for. Cantwell was the most prominent member of Washington's congressional delegation who until now had not voiced wholehearted support for the public-plan option.

In the Pacific Northwest, the federal agency that oversees ocean life will spend stimulus funding to reconnect tidal wetlands, remove obsolete dams and clean up marine debris by hiring dozens of out of work crab fishermen.

While the tough economy has slowed the influx of new residents into Washington, Seattle's growth has sped up, according to new population estimates.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced Monday that Peninsula, which has clinics in Bremerton, Port Orchard and Poulsbo, will receive an $861,275 grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Capital Improvement Program, according to a press release from Murray’s office.

Let us follow a strawberry, flush from the field as it travels on wind and water - but without petroleum - from Sequim to the big, hungry city. People in Seattle want these oil-free Sequim berries with the Nash's Organic name on them, according to David Reid, owner and operator of Seattle's Sail Transport Co.

Walking trails, picnic facilities and natural beauty are getting increased attention in a new master plan for Lions Park in East Bremerton. If approved Wednesday by the Bremerton City Council, renovation of the park could begin next spring.

State and federal officials plan to meet with other stakeholders in the Yakima River basin to talk about how to improve water supplies there.

Agricultural guest workers in Washington State will be paid higher wages, starting Monday. But that's only for new hires. Workers who already have contracts will likely be stuck with a smaller paycheck.

Are we ready to start saving ugly species? Though we gravitate towards iconic creatures like salmon, scientists say they're noticing a little more love for the unlovely lately. Plain-Jane plants, birds with fluorescent goiters and beetles that meet their mates at rat corpses are getting new respect - valued as homely canaries inside treasured ecosystems.

Seattle's new light rail trains won't quite take people to Columbia City's old brick storefronts built along an electric streetcar line. The challenge is to forge a transportation and psychological bond between the stop on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and the bustle on Rainier. Otherwise, ridership will sag.