Puget Sound Stormwater Map shows enormity of Stormwater Problem

UW GIS students produced a map of all the public storm drains carrying pollutants into Puget Sound.

"This map shows the enormity of the stormwater problem which impacts most of Puget Sound," said Bruce Wilshart, Policy Director for People for Puget Sound. "It demonstrates that we need significant funding to address the problem."

The new GIS map can be downloaded at the People for Puget Sound website: http://pugetsound.org/programs/policy/stormwater

Stormwater related pollutants and stressors havee been identified by scientists as the most important water quality problem in the Puget Sound Basin.

Thank you, People for Puget Sound!

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Presenters discuss securing and preserving the public's legal right to access records

The Washington Coalition for Open Government and the League of Women Voters of Kittitas Valley will present a special program focusing on Washington’s Public Records and Open Meetings laws from 6:30 to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, April 22 at the Hal Holmes Community Center, 209 N. Ruby Street in Ellensburg.

A panel of expert presenters will fuel the discussion on securing and preserving the public’s legal right to access the records and proceedings of the government agencies created to serve the people of the state. The panelists include: former State Representative Toby Nixon, Assistant State Attorney General Tim Ford, former Director of the Public Disclosure Commission Graham Johnson, and Cynthia Mitchell, Central Washington University professor of Communications. Todd Schaefer, head of the Political Science Department at CWU will moderate the discussion.

The forum is free and open to all, and questions and comments from the audience are welcome. This civic event is sponsored by the Daily Record.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government is a statewide non-partisan, non profit group of individuals and organizations dedicated to strengthening and preserving the public’s right to know what its government is doing. The Coalition has presented a series of similar programs around the state to educate the citizens of Washington on their rights of access.

For more information, contact the Washington Coalition for Open Government, 6351 Seaview Av NW, Seattle, WA 98107-2664, phone 206.782.0393 or by email at info@washingtoncog.org

2,340 lobbyists hired to influence federal policy on climate change

A Center for Public Integrity analysis shows that more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy on climate change in the past year, as the issue gathered momentum and came to a vote on Capitol Hill.

That's an increase of more than 300 percent in the number of lobbyists on climate change in just five years, and means that Washington can now boast more than four climate lobbyists for every member of Congress. Although some see the proliferation of voices engaged on the issue as a positive, the lobbying onslaught has caused growing alarm among some advocates of climate action.
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Center for Public Integrity website: http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/climate_change/