Here’s a thought…
“The competition between Nature and the economy is deep and broad.
In the short term, the economy usually wins. In the long term …?”
BILL APPEL
OPALCO meets with County Council: Energy supply will not meet demand
What’s our energy future going to be? ||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| The OPALCO team attended and presented at the San Juan County Council meeting on February 10. The
Senator Murray on Trump indiscriminately firing workers at Hanford and Bonneville Power Administration
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR PATTY MURRAY ||| Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement in response to reports that the Trump
Trump and Musk are playing ‘Russian roulette’ with the Northwest power grid
||| FROM LATITUDE MEDIA ||| The Trump administration’s layoff spree at the Department of Energy is now hitting federal workers who keep the power grids running, posing serious reliability issues for large swaths of the country. Power
breaking news | CLIMATE CHANGE IS COMING FOR OUR CHOCOLATE!!
||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT ||| Climate change drove weeks of crop-withering temperatures last year in the West African countries that underpin the world's chocolate supply, hitting harvests and likely further stoking record prices, researchers said
Scientists have a new explanation for the last two years of record heat
Rising temperatures are fueled, in part, by declining cloud cover — which could be a potential climate feedback loop. ||| FROM WASHINGTON POST ||| For the past few years, scientists have watched, aghast, as global
Sweeping US energy department layoffs hit offices of loans, nuclear security, sources say
Summary Layoffs hit nuclear offices in security and Cold War cleanup Some NNSA firings were rescinded, essentials can stay -source Loan Programs Office loses 45 workers, grid office 18 DOE has about 14,000 employees, 95,000
Last surviving female orca at Loro Parque is pregnant; Cycle of captivity continues
||| FROM WORLD ANIMAL NEWS ||| The announcement of Morgan’s pregnancy, the last surviving orca at Loro Parque in Spain, serves as a poignant and tragic reminder of the harsh realities faced by orcas in
Letter to Editor | When will lights go out?
||| FROM TOM OWENS ||| San Juan County is literally at the end of the road for our electric energy supplies. Our connection to mainland energy resources is aging and our peak loads are approaching
Guest Opinion | OPALCO has rung the bell
||| FROM BILL APPEL ||| Foster Hildreth, CEO of OPALCO, Vince Dauciunas, chair of its board, and Jay Kimball, consultant, appeared before our County Council in a work session on February 10, 2025, and alerted
Newly released PBS documentary features local scientist
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| A newly released PBS documentary follows the work of a team of Antarctic researchers, including The Whale Museum’s Research Director Jessica Farrer. “Expedition Killer Whale” documents
Cold weather advisory still in effect
||| NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 557 AM PST Wed Feb 12 2025 San Juan County-Western Whatcom County- Including the cities of Friday Harbor and Bellingham 557
Grieving B.C. southern resident orca mom no longer carrying dead calf’s body
The killer whale's 'grief procession' lasted at least 11 days ||| FROM TOFINO-UCLUELET WESTERLY NEWS ||| A mother killer whale's 'grief procession' for her dead newborn calf has come to an end. Observed swimming with other
Why a WA lawmaker wants to collect data on cow farts and burps
||| FROM JACQUELYN JIMENEZ ROMERO for WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD ||| The latest beef in Olympia? Cow burps, farts, and poops. Washington lawmakers are considering a bill that seeks to gather better data on the scale
Small Plates, Big Table | Community feast at 2025 Agricultural Summit
||| FROM REBECCA MOORE for WSU EXTENSION | SAN JUAN COUNTY ||| The San Juan Islands Agricultural Summit invites farmers, food enthusiasts, and community members to gather for Small Plates, Big Table—an evening of local
Big brrrrr coming up
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 205 PM PST Sun Feb 9 2025 San Juan County-Western Whatcom County- Including the cities of Friday Harbor and Bellingham
