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When Disaster Strikes, Building Codes May Make Things Worse [1]

They may not be the sexiest topics on the environmental agenda. But building codes and zoning can become a matter of life and death when natural disasters strike. This week’s TipSheet runs down the reporting challenge when floods, earthquakes and wildfires threaten your coverage area.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
People & Population [8]
Planning & Growth [9]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [10]
Alaska and Hawaii [11]
California [12]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [15]
Visibility: 
Public [16]
  • Read more about When Disaster Strikes, Building Codes May Make Things Worse [1]

Washington State Bans Firefighting Chemicals That May Cause Cancer [17]

"Firefighting foam with a chemical thought to cause cancer and other health problems will be banned in two years for local fire departments and districts in Washington."

Chemicals [18]
Environmental Health [19]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: Spokane Spokesman-Review [20], 03/28/2018
  • Read more about Washington State Bans Firefighting Chemicals That May Cause Cancer [17]

Enviros Sue Feds Over Decline Of Willamette River Salmon And Steelhead [21]

"A pair of dams in Lane County are at the heart of a lawsuit focused on declines of salmon and steelhead in the Willamette River and its tributaries."

Fish & Fisheries [22]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: Eugene Register-Guard [23], 03/14/2018
  • Read more about Enviros Sue Feds Over Decline Of Willamette River Salmon And Steelhead [21]

"This Is Why You Don't See People-Size Salmon Anymore" [24]

"While the orcas of Puget Sound are sliding toward extinction, orcas farther north have been expanding their numbers. Their burgeoning hunger for big fish may be causing the killer whales' main prey, chinook salmon, to shrink up and down the West Coast."

Fish & Fisheries [22]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: KUOW [25], 03/13/2018
  • Read more about "This Is Why You Don't See People-Size Salmon Anymore" [24]

"Washington Carbon Tax Bill Clears Key Fiscal Committee" [26]

"A measure to tax carbon emissions from fossil fuels to fight climate change has cleared a key fiscal committee in Washington state."

Climate Change [3]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: AP [27], 02/26/2018
  • Read more about "Washington Carbon Tax Bill Clears Key Fiscal Committee" [26]

"Sea Level Rise Threatens to Wipe Out West Coast Wetlands" [28]

"Unless people intervene, U.S. Pacific Coast marshes could vanish as the ocean rises, eliminating wildlife habitat, storm surge protection and carbon storage."

Climate Change [3]
Natural Resources [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Public [16]
California [12]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: InsideClimate News [31], 02/23/2018
  • Read more about "Sea Level Rise Threatens to Wipe Out West Coast Wetlands" [28]

"Oregon Elevates Threatened Marbled Murrelet To Endangered Status" [32]

"After a deadlocked 3-3 vote, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-2 Friday to elevate the marbled murrelet from a “threatened” species to “endangered.”"

Forests [33]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [34]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: OPB/EarthFix [35], 02/13/2018
  • Read more about "Oregon Elevates Threatened Marbled Murrelet To Endangered Status" [32]

Critics Call Trump Cuts To Hanford Cleanup Budget 'Downright Dangerous' [36]

"Reaction in the Pacific Northwest was swift to President Trump’s proposed cuts to the cleanup budget at the Hanford Site. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, called the proposed $230 million cut “downright dangerous for everyone who lives near the Columbia River.”"

Environmental Health [19]
Environmental Politics [37]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [38]
Pollution [39]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: OPB [40], 02/13/2018
  • Read more about Critics Call Trump Cuts To Hanford Cleanup Budget 'Downright Dangerous' [36]

"Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Rejects Vancouver Oil Terminal" [41]

"Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has rejected a permit to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver."

Energy & Fuel [42]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting [43], 01/30/2018
  • Read more about "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Rejects Vancouver Oil Terminal" [41]

"U.S. Pacific Northwest Under-Prepared For Tsunamis, Experts Say" [44]

"The U.S. region most vulnerable to tsunamis - the massive waves of water unleashed by undersea earthquakes - is dangerously under-prepared, experts and officials in Oregon and Washington state said after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake this week."

Disasters [4]
Government [5]
Water & Oceans [30]
Public [16]
California [12]
Northwest (OR WA) [14]
Source: Reuters [45], 01/26/2018
  • Read more about "U.S. Pacific Northwest Under-Prepared For Tsunamis, Experts Say" [44]

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Source URL:https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=34

Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/when-disaster-strikes-building-codes-may-make-things-worse [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns [10] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [11] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii [12] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california [13] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [14] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [15] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [16] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [17] https://www.sej.org/headlines/washington-state-bans-firefighting-chemicals-may-cause-cancer [18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [19] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [20] http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/mar/27/washington-bans-fire-fighting-chemicals-that-may-c/ [21] https://www.sej.org/headlines/enviros-sue-feds-over-decline-willamette-river-salmon-and-steelhead [22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [23] http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/36546554-75/environmental-groups-sue-feds-over-decline-of-willamette-river-salmon-and-steelhead.html.csp [24] https://www.sej.org/headlines/why-you-dont-see-people-size-salmon-anymore [25] https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/03/12/591222003/this-is-why-you-dont-see-people-sized-salmon-anymore [26] https://www.sej.org/headlines/washington-carbon-tax-bill-clears-key-fiscal-committee [27] https://www.apnews.com/97d733a9d0bf45dbb8c9fb9f398035c7/Washington-carbon-tax-bill-clears-key-fiscal-committee [28] https://www.sej.org/headlines/sea-level-rise-threatens-wipe-out-west-coast-wetlands [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [31] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21022018/sea-level-rise-coastal-wetlands-global-warming-mitigation-wildlife-habitat-storm-surge-usgs [32] https://www.sej.org/headlines/oregon-elevates-threatened-marbled-murrelet-endangered-status [33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests [34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [35] https://www.opb.org/news/article/endangered-species-oregon-marbled-murrelet/ [36] https://www.sej.org/headlines/critics-call-trump-cuts-hanford-cleanup-budget-downright-dangerous [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [40] https://www.opb.org/news/article/hanford-nuclear-reservation-trump-administration-budget-2018/ [41] https://www.sej.org/headlines/washington-gov-jay-inslee-rejects-vancouver-oil-terminal [42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [43] https://www.opb.org/news/article/washington-governor-jay-inslee-rejects-vancouver-oil-terminal/ [44] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-pacific-northwest-under-prepared-tsunamis-experts-say [45] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-quake-tsunami/u-s-pacific-northwest-under-prepared-for-tsunamis-experts-say-idUSKBN1FE2PI [46] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=33 [47] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=30 [48] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=31 [49] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=32 [50] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=35 [51] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=36 [52] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=37 [53] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=38 [54] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=74