Northwest just finished warmest fall on record, scientists report and NCAR Research shutdown

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Al Bergstein

The Washington State Standard is reporting that not only did we finish the year with the warmest year on record but our recent rain will not do much to help the ongoing drought in central and eastern Washington. Why? Because it’s falling as rain and not as snow.

This record warm spell includes all temperature data going back to 1880. These floods, this warming, is exactly what scientists have been predicting for decades. Now we reap what we have sown in fossil fuel use. So what is the government doing? It’s shutting down research on the atmosphere.

The Trump Administration has announced the closing of the greatest atmospheric research lab in the world, at National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the largest federal climate research lab outside Boulder in Colorado. This cynical ploy to rob of us global climate data is directly linked to the fossil fuel industry that underpins this administrations every action. Every drop of gas one buys is funding this destruction of our most valuable commodity, the scientific research to understand the processes of our planet. The announcement was made by OMB chair Russell Voight, the author of Project 2025. His statement said, “This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country…” without providing any evidence except his own opinion.

The Governor of Colorado stated, “Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science,” Polis said. “NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families. If these cuts move forward we will lose our competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery.”

If you supported Trump and the politicians who make up his sycophant society you are helping support these disastrous decisions that continue to destroy our country and turn us into something resembling the Soviet Union or worse. Clearly our Senators and House members do not support this shut down of NCAR Colorado. Is this the kind of country you want to leave to your children and grandchildren?

This is not Making America Great Again, it’s an attempt to create a totalitarian government based on the beliefs of the fossil fuel industry. Better rethink your support of this maniac and act now to stop him before it’s too late. Send your donations to the ACLU and other organizations fighting for out rights. Contact friends in Red states to make sure they have heard this news and tell them to contact their Federal representatives to overturn this insane dictate.

You can support a green economy now by buying or leasing electric vehicles, walking and biking whenever possible, donating to the national organizations fighting the administration in court and supporting local farmers who strengthen our resilience to the effects of climate change .

Our hope is when this administration is finally out of office, that we can rebuild better the destroyed institutions that they have worked to eliminate in the name of the gas station of yours down the street. But that will take more than words on a blog. It takes every one of us doing something to change the direction of this out of control ship of state.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/climate-change/trump-administration-break-climate-research-center-ncar-rcna249668

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Washington’s last coal power plant will transition to natural gas – Washington Standard

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Al Bergstein

The Washington Standard is reporting on the conversion from coal to natural gas for the Chehalis power plant. The roots of this go back to the 2000s, when People For Puget Sound (I was a board member and lobbied for our legislative priorities) , The Sierra Club and many other environmental groups started lobbying to shut down the plant.

Finally, almost 20 years after we started the efforts we are just now seeing the conversion discussed as happening soon. There was no mention in the article about *when* the conversion would happen, only that it *is* going to happen. The company (a Canadian firm) waited until the very last month of the very last year before they would have legally been mandated to announce the conversion rather than the shut down of the plant. It has to be asked whether or not the Legislature, in their 2011 agreement couldn’t have simply pushed the deadline to 2012 and we could have seen the coal particulate gone 13 years ago? How many more cases of cancer did we see and have to pay for medical bills between then and now? We’ll never know.

Obviously, this shift to natural gas, another fossil fuel, only minimally reduces our need on those fuels or the harm to the environment. It does reduce the particulates in the smoke that causes cancer, but continues to accelerate our slide towards an unstoppable global warming scenario.

Once again, our politicians acted with no urgency, in the benefit of a foreign corporation who exploited their lack of urgency to the last minute they could. Wonder how much lobbying money went to the swing votes in that legislation? Again, who knows. Those politicians are long gone, maybe even to the company itself. It is no wonder that the voters continue to see little value in the political class who seem undermine every effort to protect the environment and take the lobbying money thrown at them by the very people they are supposed to be protecting us from being harmed by their industries.

“And so it goes.” Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

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Ralph Munro walks on

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Al Bergstein

The master of bi-partisan politics and perhaps the greatest politician this state ever had the honor to call one of its own, Ralph Munro, passed yesterday at the age of 81.

I had the good fortune to interview Ralph and spend a few hours with him a decade ago. He was a gentle, always upbeat and positive person. But his accomplishments are one of the greatest list of public service achievements we have ever seen.

Ralph was Secretary of State for five terms. During that time, he instituted vote by mail and voter registration (Motor Voter) when getting a drivers license or renewal.

But Ralph was also the person that Governor Dan Evans called on to go down to California and see about the Vietnamese refugees after Democratic governor Jerry Brown did not want them relocated there. Munro helped to bring them here to resettle in Washington State.

He was a champion of developmentally disabled children and helped get the first law in the country passed to support their needs, called the “Education for All” act. He befriended a 7 year old with developmental disabilities, eventually becoming his legal guardian.

He was a champion of environmental causes. He personally was responsible for ending the Orca hunt and capture in Puget Sound.

He was well respected by Puget Sound tribes. He allowed the tribes to do archeological digs on his property and was honored by them.

And on a personal note, he was the only Republican that I have ever voted for.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends. We will miss him. I doubt, given the current political system that we will ever see anyone like him again in Washington politics.

https://www.kuow.org/stories/remembering-ralph-munro-5-term-washington-secretary-of-state-and-statesman

Filed under: Environmental Activism, Environmental Protection, Government, Politics | 1 Comment »

Hilary Franz’s DNR work prioritized political gain, some staffer say: Seattle Times.

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Al Bergstein

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) head Hilary Franz, is again in the hotseat, as allegations surface from numerous staff of hers that her image and race for higher office has been the focus of her tenure at DNR. As someone who has covered the Commissioner of Public Lands since her first run for office, I can say that these charges do not surprise me at all. Her lack of honesty in dealing with issues has been a hallmark of her tenure to those of us who have needed her support. A simple example is that she denied she ever approved the controversial DNR leasing to an industrial aquaculture company of the waters inside the Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge, even when shown her own signature on the DNR documents. Her comment to me at the time was, “I have no idea about that.” That staffers openly say her only goal was higher office also goes hand in hand with what I’ve witnessed in her dealing with Jefferson County Democrats during fundraisers. As readers know, this blog has come out in favor of her opponent, Emily Randall.

The Times has endorsed Franz, and even beloved cartoonist David Horsey decided that the charges were not worth worrying about in his editorial. Needless to say, he has never worked with her, nor needed to deal with her department to try and protect the shores of our waters. And this is the problem, to a casual observer, she appears to be a great choice, but when one actually has to work with her and her department, it’s a totally different story. Horsey claims Hilary doesn’t kowtow to industry, when all of us who have been involved in following her choices know that is just not true. To Horsey, I would only say, Hilary is not just an ambitious politician, she is all about whatever it takes to promote Hilary’s march to Washington. And the environment is just a prop to gain power and distract those that are not paying attention.

Franz came and talked to the Jefferson County Democrats in her first race for Lands Commissioner. We welcomed what seemed like a bright, energetic woman who claimed she was all about protecting the environment. We also could tell how ambitious she was, in her slapping her buttons on the chests of those of us in line to get in before even introducing herself to us. It was an odd introduction. But after she took office, we began to see that she was far more interested in promoting industry over the environment and that all the issues were about Hilary and her supposed accomplishments. It was not listening but telling. Always a warning when dealing with a politician.

Long time Jefferson County Democratic party activist and environmental leader Connie Gallant, tried to work with Hilary on numerous occasions and came to same conclusion. Ms. Gallant sent a strong letter describing her feelings about the Times article to her environmental email list, redoubling her support for Emily Randall.

If this candidate was a Republican, or Donald Trump, the Times would likely have more real outrage about the allegations. But given that Hilary plays well with the environmental movement leaders in places like Bellevue and Seattle who never seem to get out of their tower offices to see what is happening on the ground in places like the Olympic Peninsula, papers like the Times will cheer her on.

It’s totally likely that she will be our next Congressional Representative, given the support Franz has received from the usual suspects. I guess we could at least say she will be out of our hair on a local level and worrying about a much wider range of issues than the environment. Her support of business over the environment will likely have less negative impacts. She will have a replacement who hopefully will care more about protecting the environment than she has, though our state’s reliance on turning forests into tree farms and turning virgin shorelines into industrial aquaculture farms means the fight will have to go on indefinitely.

Here’s the crux of the Times story. Please either subscribe to the Times, as it is one of our only regional newspapers left or go to your local library and read it for free. And take a look at our choices for elected officials we have found listen to us, do the hard work to stand up for environmental protection, or have pledged to do so. Our recommendations are at

Election24: primary recommendations | Olympic Peninsula Environmental News (olyopen.com)

Fifteen current and former DNR employees described in interviews with The Seattle Times how Franz aggressively used the agency to burnish her image to run for higher office — first for governor and now for Congress — in ways that some say blurred lines governing the use of public resources for political purposes.

The current and former employees, including women and men who have worked as senior aides and managers, said they were pressured to organize official events driven by Franz’s campaign needs and to help her secure political endorsements.

The current and former employees, including women and men who have worked as senior aides and managers, said they were pressured to organize official events driven by Franz’s campaign needs and to help her secure political endorsements.

Hilary Franz’s DNR work prioritized political gain, some staffers say | The Seattle Times

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