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3 police officers sue Everett, allege racial discrimination

By Diana Hefley and Rikki King, The Herald

EVERETT — Three Everett police officers are suing the city alleging that they were denied promotions based on their race and subjected to a hostile work environment when they complained about being passed over.

One officer, retired Sgt. Richard Wolfington, alleges that he was forced to quit in February after 20 years with the department. He claims that he was repeatedly skipped over for promotions in favor of white officers. Wolfington is Native American.

He also alleges that Capt. David Fudge retaliated against him when Wolfington complained that Fudge was violating department policies. He said the mistreatment caused his health issues.

Two other officers, Sgt. Manuel Garcia and Sherman Mah, also allege that their civil rights were violated when they weren’t promoted.

“Everett’s police department is in charge of upholding the law, not breaking it,” Bellevue attorney Victoria Vreeland said. “City leaders were informed about these repeated civil rights violations and retaliation, but did nothing to correct it.”

Garcia was the first Hispanic and bilingual officer in the department. He started in 1988 and has been a sergeant since 2002. Mah has been with Everett since 1995. He has sought promotions for 15 years and has been skipped over multiple times, according to the lawsuit. He claims he wasn’t promoted because he is Asian-American.

All three officers allege that the city ignored and failed to investigate their complaints.

Police Chief Kathy Atwood and Fudge also are named in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Attorneys for the complaining officers initially filed a claim for damages with the city on Oct. 10. The documents say each officer could seek $1 million or more.

The city plans to fight the lawsuit, spokeswoman Meghan Pembroke said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

“The city investigated the plaintiffs’ allegations and determined they were without merit,” she said.

The Everett Police Department conducts employee evaluations and promotions based on officers who are the most capable and effective leaders, she said.

“It is important to underscore that the Everett Police Department’s core values include integrity, professionalism and honor, and the department is dedicated to providing a supportive, nondiscriminatory work environment,” she said.

Garcia alleges that he has repeatedly reported to his superiors derogatory remarks made about his race. In the initial claim, Garcia alleged he was told by supervisors not to attend National Night Out events in a neighborhood where “rich people” live, but to instead stick to an event sponsored by a Hispanic community group.

Garcia in 2010 ranked first on the eligibility roster for a lieutenant position. He said he was passed over for a white officer who was ranked third on the list.

In 2011, he was promoted to lieutenant and placed on a standard six-month probation. He alleges that Fudge “treated him more harshly and put extreme pressure and unreasonable expectations on him which Fudge did not place on Caucasian lieutenants on probation or otherwise,” Vreeland wrote in the lawsuit.

Garcia reported to his chain of command that he believed he was being unfairly targeted. He claims neither the city nor the police department investigated his complaints of unfair and unequal treatment.

At the end of the probationary period, Fudge recommended that Garcia be demoted back to sergeant. The lawsuit says that Atwood was aware of Garcia’s work history, good performance and “long-time work dedicated to improving the Everett (Police Department’s) relationship with the minority community.”

Garcia is well-known in Everett as the face of the annual Casino Road Futbol Academy. The camp offers soccer lessons and mentoring to hundreds of children primarily from low-income or minority families, especially from south Everett. Before coming to the U.S., Garcia played professional soccer in Mexico.

Atwood approved the demotion without any further investigation, according to the lawsuit. Garcia claims that he is the only officer in at least the last 20 years to be demoted immediately after the expiration of the probationary period. He alleges white officers have been given extensions or transferred to different supervisors.

Wolfington and Mah also allege that promotions were given to white officers who ranked lower than them on the eligibility list. They also say that they weren’t appointed to acting positions to gain experience for higher levels.

In one instance, Wolfington alleges that another sergeant was promoted to acting lieutenant over him even though the other officer hadn’t sought the promotion and wasn’t on the eligibility register, according to the lawsuit.

Wolfington claims that Fudge retaliated against him when he reported that the captain was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate female officer. Wolfington said he complained about Fudge treating him and Garcia more harshly. He said the city ignored his complaints.

Wolfington said he “forced to call in sick numerous times” because of ongoing mistreatment. He said he was disciplined for his increased use of sick leave.

NCAI President On Five Promise Zones: This Is The First Step In Realizing The Potential Of Indian Country

Source: National Congress of American Indians

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the news that President Obama included the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in his Promise Zones initiative, National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Brian Cladoosby issued the following statement:

“It will be exciting to see how the already innovative Choctaw Nation utilizes the Promise Zones resources to achieve even greater successes in tribal job creation, education, and resource development. I want to congratulate the Choctaw on their inclusion in the initiative and thank President Obama for making Indian Country a priority in this new program.

President Obama’s Promise Zones initiative gives a clear roadmap for how the administration plans to support and invest in communities across the country. The goals of the program are in line with the goals tribal leaders have set forth for decades: investing in tribal economic development and growth is beneficial for the surrounding communities and the rest of the country.

Indian Country faces many challenges but also has great potential for success. Investing in tribal lands through this program is just the first step towards realizing that potential.”

Wildlife cops bust black market crab ring

by GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News

Bio | Email | Follow: @gchittimK5

January 8, 2014

BLAINE, Wash. – Washington State Fish and Wildlife officers and Lummi Tribal police teamed up this week to bust an alleged illegal seafood ring that involves distributors, commercial outlets and fishermen in three counties.

Officers simultaneously swooped in on 16 commercial fishermen, two wholesale fish companies and 10 retail establishments in Whatcom, Snohomish and King Counties. Investigators said the fishermen captured undocumented and undersized crab and sold them through the back doors of businesses that included some restaurants and nail salons.

The crab were taken before they could mature enough to spawn, stealing a future generation from a delicate and wild population.

Undercover video shows illegal crab being sold through the back doors of businesses.

“If you’re buying your shellfish from a nail salon, chances are it’s illegal,” said WDF&W Deputy Chief Mike Cenci who joined in the arrest of two fishermen at the Blaine Marina.

In that case, officers watched as the fishermen loaded two, 55-gallon buckets into the back of a pickup truck. They surrounded the vehicle and counted 60 undersized crab in large 55-gallon cans.

Officers spent several months recording illegal crab sales in back alleys and behind businesses involving tens of thousands of dollars worth of crab.

Lummi Tribal Police assisted in the arrests of tribal fishermen and the seizure of boats and vehicles used to carry out the alleged illegal transactions.

Some of those arrested face crimes ranging from civil charges to class ‘C’ felonies that carry fines and possible jail time

Wall Street Giant Backs Away From Washington Coal Export Project

David Steves, Earth Fix

A multinational banking giant is backing away from a proposal to build the West Coast’s biggest coal export project near Bellingham, Washington.

New York-based Goldman Sachs has sold its stock back to the companies proposing to build the Gateway Pacific Terminal. If built it would transfer 48 million tons of Wyoming coal each year from trains to ocean-going vessels bound for Asia.

The move comes less than six months after Goldman Sachs published a research paper titled, “The window for thermal coal investment is closing.”

Before the stock transfer, Goldman Sachs had a 49 percent stake in the Gateway Pacific project. The company proposing the project is SSA Marine. Its parent company is Carrix, Inc.

SSA Marine President Bob Watters said in a statement that after Goldman Sachs sold back its stock, a Mexican businessman named Fernando Chico Pardo made an investment in SSA’s parent company that gives him a 49 percent ownership.

Coal-export opponents said the departure of Goldman Sachs as an investor is the latest sign that Wall Street no longer sees a profitable future in mining, shipping and burning coal – considered the dirtiest sources of energy and one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.

“Goldman Sachs’ stepping away from coal export is yet another sign from Wall Street that coal export is a losing investment,” said anti-coal activist Crina Hoyer, the executive director of Bellingham-based RE Sources for Sustainable Communities.

SSA Marine and Carrix, Inc., sought to cast the departure of Goldman Sachs in a more positive light. According to their press release, Chico Pardo and the project’s original investors had stepped in with a “substantial capital injection” and remained committed to the coal export project.

Overall, the push to export Montana and Wyoming coal through the Pacific Northwest’s has struggled. Of the six coal export terminal originally proposed in Washington and Oregon, three have been dropped. In addition to the Gateway Pacific terminal on the northern shore of Puget Sound, the two other terminals still being considered are proposed for ports on the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon.

— David Steves

Gateway Pacific Terminal: near Bellingham, Wash.

Seattle-based SSA Marine wants to build a terminal within the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve. It would ship millions of tons of coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia. The company says it would create thousands of jobs and generate millions in tax and other revenues.

Players: SSA Marine, Peabody Energy, Gateway Pacific, Korea East-West Power

Full Capacity: To be reached in 2026

Export Plans: 48 million tons/year

Train: 18 trains/day (9 full and 9 empty)

Train Cars: 1,370/day

Vessels: 487/year

What’s Next: Environmental review of the project is expected to take two years. In July 2013, Washington Department of Ecology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Whatcom County, Wash. announced they will consider climate change, human health and the environment. They will also look at the entire route from Western mines to coal-burning plants in Asia. The public’s input was a factor in the decision for a broad review. Government agencies took in public comments from close to 125,000 people from September, 2012 to January, 2013. As part of the public-input process, 9,000 people attended seven meetings in Washington in 2012. The government agencies are required to solicit public input before they issue an environmental impact statement and from there, approve development permits. A summary of the public comment can be found here.

Coal Ships And Tribal Fishing Grounds

Ashley Ahearn, 1/9/14

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Dozens upon dozens of crab pot buoys dot the waters around Jay Julius’ fishing boat as he points the bow towards Cherry Point. The spit of land juts into northern Puget Sound.

SSA Marine says Cherry Point is an excellent location to build a terminal because it’s surrounded by deep water with quick access to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. If the company has its way, up to 48 million tons of coal could move through these waters each year aboard more than 450 large ships bound for the Asian market.

But if the Lummi and other tribes exercise their treaty fishing rights, there may not be any coal ships servicing American terminals in these waters.

Watch: Tribal members talk about coal exports and their fishing rights:

‘People of the Sea’

One out of every ten members of the Lummi Nation has a fishing license. Ancestors of the Lummi, or “People of the Sea” as they are known, and other Salish Sea peoples have fished the waters surrounding Cherry Point for more than 3,000 years. Today Lummi tribal officials are sounding the alarm about the impacts the Gateway Pacific Terminal could have on the tribe’s halibut, shrimp, shellfish and salmon fishery, which is worth a combined copy5 million annually.

“You have numerous fishermen up here right now,” says Julius, a member of the Lummi tribal council. He’s gesturing at the nearby crab pots as his boat idles a little more than 50 yards from the proposed site of the Gateway Pacific Terminal, one of three coal export facilities under consideration in Oregon and Washington. “What does that mean to our treaty right to fish? This would be no more.”

Tribal treaty fishing rights could play a major role in the review process for the Gateway Pacific Terminal. According to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, nine tribes’ treaty fishing grounds would be impacted by the Gateway Pacific Terminal and the vessel traffic it would draw.

‘Usual and Accustomed’ Fishing Areas

In the mid-1800s tribes in this region signed treaties with the federal government, ceding millions of acres of their land. Native American populations plummeted and the survivors were relegated to reservations. But the tribal leaders of the time did a very smart thing, says Tim Brewer, a lawyer with the Tulalip tribe in northwestern Washington.

“They insisted on reserving the right to continue to fish in their usual and accustomed fishing areas. It is an extremely important part of the treaty,” Brewer says.

Lummi tribal fishermen at the end of a day on the water. (Ashley Ahearn)

Those treaty rights weren’t enforced in Washington until a landmark court decision in 1974 known as the Boldt Decision. It forced the state to follow up on the treaty promise of fishing rights that were made to the tribes more than a century before.

Brewer says the phrase: “usual and accustomed”—language that appears in the treaties signed by the Lummi and many other Northwest tribes—has implications for development projects, like coal terminals.

“If a project is going to impair access to a fishing ground and that impairment is significant that project can not move forward without violating the treaty right,” he says.

Since the mid-‘70s, tribes have begun to flex those treaty muscles.

In 1992 the Lummi stopped a net pen fish farm that was proposed for the waters off of Lummi Island by a company called Northwest Sea Farms.

The Lummi demonstrated that constructing the floating net pens would block tribal access to their usual and accustomed fishing grounds. “In that case the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers denied that permit on that basis,” Brewer says. “There was no agreement that was able to be worked out there.”

But, in other situations, agreements have been made.

Dwight Jones, general manager of Elliott Bay Marina. (Ashley Ahearn)

Though it’s a ways away, the iconic Seattle Space Needle peeks out amongst the masts of hundreds of sailboats neatly tucked into their berths at the Elliott Bay Marina, just north of downtown. It’s the largest privately-owned marina on the West Coast. And it was built within the usual and accustomed fishing area of the Muckleshoot tribe, back in 1991.

It took 10 years of environmental review. The Muckleshoot fought the project.

“It was contentious, I guess would be the right word,” says Dwight Jones, the general manager of Elliott Bay Marina. The Muckleshoot “could have stopped the marina from being built.”

But instead the tribe came to an agreement with the backers of the Elliott Bay Marina.

Muckleshoot tribal members contacted for comment on this story did not respond.

Jones says the owners of Elliott Bay Marina paid the Muckleshoot more than copy million up front and for the next 100 years they will give the tribe 8 percent of their gross annual revenue.

“Anyone who’s in business can tell you that 8 percent of your gross revenues is a huge number,” he says. “It really affects your viability as a business.”

When asked if he had any advice for companies that want to build coal terminals in the Northwest, Jones laughed.

“I’d say good luck. There will be a lot of costs and chances are the tribes will probably negotiate a settlement that works well for them and it will not be cheap,” he responded.

Deal or No Deal?

SSA Marine and Pacific International Terminals—the companies that want to build the terminal at Cherry Point—have lawyers and staff members working to make a deal with the Lummi to get the terminal built. The companies declined repeated requests to be interviewed on the subject.

“I think they’re quite disgusting,” says Lummi council member Julius when asked how he feels about the terminal backers’ efforts to make inroads with the Lummi. “It’s nothing new, the way they’re trying to infiltrate our nation, contaminate it, use people.”

This past summer Julius and the Lummi tribal council sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal agency will have final say over the key permits for the coal terminal.

In the letter the Lummi assert their “unconditional and unequivocal” opposition to the project, and lay out the reasoning behind their position, which centers around threats to treaty fishing rights and the tribe’s cultural and spiritual heritage at Cherry Point.

But there’s a line at the end of the letter, which legal experts and the Army Corps of Engineers say leaves the door open for continuing negotiation on the Gateway Pacific Terminal. It reads:

“These comments in no way waive any future opportunity to participate in government-to-government consultation regarding the proposed projects.”

Diana Bob, the Lummi tribal attorney who was involved in drafting the letter, declined to be interviewed for this series.

This is the second of a two-part series originally published at Earthfix.opb.org. ICTMN posted Part I last week.

More Than 4,000 Indigenous Children Died in Canada’s Residential Schools: Commission

DAVE CHAN/POSTMEDIA NEWSKimberly Murray, executive director of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, says there is evidence that at least 4,000 indigenous children died in residential schools. — DAVE CHAN/POSTMEDIA NEWS
Kimberly Murray, executive director of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, says there is evidence that at least 4,000 indigenous children died in residential schools.

ICTMN Staff 1/7/14

The dark years of the residential schools era in Canada have long obscured the fate of many of the 150,000 indigenous children who were taken from their families from the 1860s through the 1990s and “educated” with the goal of “killing the Indian in the child,” as the motto went.

Though about 80,000 of these former students survive, many were never accounted for. Until now.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), mandated to unmask what really went on at the schools, has documented the deaths of at least 4,000 children during that chapter in Canada’s history. And that’s just the ones they know about, Postmedia News reported on January 3.

The figures, based on only partial federal government records, is expected to rise as more complete records come to light, Postmedia News said.

From fires, to abuse, to disease, even to suicide, indigenous children died in droves. They were buried in unmarked graves near the schools because the Canadian government did not want to pay to have them shipped back home. Moreover, in many cases the parents were never told what happened to their children, Postmedia News said.

A lack of fire escapes was one glaring example of how the system not only didn’t care for the children but also outrightly put them in danger. Many schools refused to install fire escapes, instead putting poles outside of windows for children to slide down, fireman style. But with windows locked to prevent escape, children were unable to reach the poles, PostMedia News said. Neither were there sprinkler systems, despite numerous reports calling the schools firetraps and recommending the measures.

“It’s amazing that they didn’t make those corrections in those schools,” said TRC Executive Director Kimberly Murray, in an interview with PostMedia News. “There are just so many deaths that I think could have been prevented if they had done what they were supposed to do.”

Part of the commission’s work has been to establish a data base of the children’s names, cause of death and burial places, known as “The Missing Children Project,” Postmedia News said. The TRC’s full report, due out in 2015, will tell the full story of the deceased children.

Full story: At Least 4,000 Aboriginal Children Died in Residential Schools, Commission Finds

‘Not Even Human’ How Canadian Govt. Abused Aboriginal Children in TB Experiments

Tulalip cyclist hit by car is on life support

Herald staff

SEATTLE — A Tulalip man remained on life support Wednesday after being struck by a car while riding a bicycle the night before.

Joseph Harvey, 35, was being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said his brother, John Harvey.

Joseph Harvey is a tribal member and attended Arlington High School, according to his family.

He was in critical condition Wednesday, hospital officials said.

The collision was reported about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday along 35th Avenue NE, just west of I-5.

The Snohomish County sheriff’s collision detectives are investigating.

The driver stayed at the scene and called 911, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. At this point in the investigation, police don’t expect to seek criminal charges.

Attawapiskat Chief Spence calls for chiefs to form united front and confront Ottawa

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence last January on Victoria Island during her fast.

APTN National News
With one of her closest aides on a walk to Ottawa, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence released an open letter Tuesday calling on First nation leaders to form a united front and confront Ottawa.

Spence’s letter is addressed to Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo and senior chiefs in Ontario.

“Chiefs, why are you watching your people agonize when they raise their voices and struggle for their rights and protect our signed treaties?” said Spence, in the letter. “It’s so anguishing to watch the walkers go through the discomfort…as the chiefs are in comfortable zone. What does it take for the leadership to understand and feel the distress for the people that are fighting for the rights for justice, peace, freedom and to renew the treaty relationship and to honour the spirit and intent of the treaty?”

Danny Metatawabin, Brian Okimaw and Paul Mattinas and Remi Nakogee began walking Saturday from Attawapiskat down a snowmobile trail that passes through Kashechewan and Fort Albany before hitting Moosonee, Ont.

The walk is dubbed, “Reclaiming Our Steps Past, Present and Future.”

Metatawabin was one of Spence’s closest aides during the Attawapiskat chief’s liquids-only fast which lasted from mid-December 2012 to mid-January 2013.

Spence said the walk is meant to remind chiefs about the promises that were made to end her fast.

“Danny’s quest is to remind all chiefs and the government of Canada of the undertakings promised during last year’s struggle which remain outstanding,” said Spence.

In her letter, Spence calls on First Nations chiefs to form a united front to confront Ottawa.

“I call upon you, to listen to the concerns of your membership, to heed their advice, and to call upon your fellow chiefs and set up a special meeting to develop a united stand for the future of our nations,” said Spence.

Spence calls on the chiefs to also organize a meeting with the federal government.

“If the chiefs fail to heed the advice contained in this open letter to engage in solidarity with their members to advocate for their members and to protect the needs of our people and treaties, I will call upon my grassroots people, treaty partners, Canadians and our neighbours from other countries to expose all of the wrongful acts and abusive actions…imposed to our people and continue to impact generations of our people to this day.”

Is ‘Polar Vortex’ Attributable to Climate Change? Yes.

A person walks in frigid temperatures near Constitution Avenue, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, in Washington. The National Weather Service said the mercury bottomed out at 3 degrees before sunrise at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport, with a wind chill of minus 16. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

As temperatures plummet, a reminder: ‘Every weather event in the modern world is attributable to climate change.’

By John Queally Mint Press News

Weather isn’t climate and the climate isn’t weather, but if someone asks whether the ‘polar vortex’ now being experience by tens of millions of people across the country is driven by climate change, you don’t have to wait for the next wave of scientific research to come out. The answer is ‘Yes.’

Sadly and predictably, however—as much of the nation faces the coldest temperatures seen in nearly two decades on Monday and into Tuesday— the push of bone-chilling arctic air into southern Canada and much of the United States has the climate change denialists pushing their familiar falsehoods about how near-record lows nationwide somehow disproves global warming.

In just one example, multi-millionaire and political pundit Donald Trump took to Fox News on Monday morning to say that the freezing temperatures help prove that there is a great “hoax” around climate change. “You know,” Tump said when asked to explain, “I think the scientists are having a lot of fun.”

On Monday, federal and state agencies issued dire warnings about freezing temperatures that have blanketed the midwest, saying that millions of Americans are under threat by windchill temperatures today and tomorrow that could be life-threatening. Temperature readings, factoring in windchill effect, were reported as low as -63°F in Montana and -50°F in places in North Dakota and Minnesota.

But the effort by Trump and others to portray the phenomenon known as the “arctic vortex” as some an event that discredits the international scientific consensus on the relationship between industrial society’s relationship to planetary climate change, however, is being met with a firm rebuke of its own by climate activists, weather experts, and scientists.

As climate justice campaigner Jamie Henn of 350.org tweeted Monday:

No, the cold snap doesn’t mean global warming is over, the Arctic is just drunk: http://bit.ly/1cwuOOP

The article referenced by Henn, wrriten by Greg Landen at ScienceBlogs.com, says that the “apparent contrast between extreme cold and global warming is actually an illusion.”

In what way? Landen continues:

The Polar Vortex, a huge system of moving swirling air that normally contains the polar cold air, has shifted so it is not sitting right on the pole as it usually does. We are not seeing an expansion of cold, an ice age, or an anti-global warming phenomenon. We are seeing the usual cold polar air taking an excursion.

So, this cold weather we are having does not disprove global warming.

In fact, it may be because of global warming. The Polar Vortex can go off center any given winter, but we have been having some strange large scale weather activity over the last few years that is thought to be related to global warming that may have contributed to this particular weather event (explained here). This may be an effect of this strangeness, though the jury is still probably out on this particular weather event.

According to Dr. Dim Coumou, a senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) near Berlin, who spoke to Agence France-Presse, what drives the polar vortex is the difference in temperature between the Arctic region and those in the mid-latitudes closer to the equator.

“The reason why we see these strong meanderings is still not fully settled,” Coumou told AFP, “but it’s clear that the Arctic has been warming very rapidly. We have good data on this. Arctic temperatures have risen much more than other parts of the globe.”

The idea that any particular “weather event” is or is not climate change, however, belies the deeper fact that all weather events are complex results of underlying climate conditions. As Jim Naureckas, a journalist at the media watchdog group FAIR, explained to his readers in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last year, “attributing particular weather events to climate change is ridiculously easy.”

The reason for that, he continues, is because (emphasis his):

“Every weather event in the modern world is attributable to climate change. This is because weather is a chaotic system, which is to say it varies wildly based on initial conditions. Once we raised global temperature by a degree Celsius—which is an enormous intervention in the physical world—we irrevocably changed all weather, producing an entirely different set of events than the ones that would have otherwise occurred.”

In other words, the whole debate about whether this hurricane, that tornado, or the current ‘polar vortex’ is or isn’t climate change misses the point.

Writing about the climate dynamics that are driving the current ‘polar vortex’ event Jeff Masters, meteorologist and founder of the popular Wunderground blog, explains:

In the winter, the 24-hour darkness over the snow and ice-covered polar regions allows a huge dome of cold air to form. This cold air increases the difference in temperature between the pole and the Equator, and leads to an intensification of the strong upper-level winds of the jet stream. The strong jet stream winds act to isolate the polar regions from intrusions of warmer air, creating a “polar vortex” of frigid counter-clockwise swirling air over the Arctic. The chaotic flow of the air in the polar vortex sometimes allows a large dip (a sharp trough of low pressure) to form in the jet stream over North America, allowing the Arctic air that had been steadily cooling in the northern reaches of Canada in areas with 24-hour darkness to spill southwards deep into the United States. In theory, the 1.5°F increase in global surface temperatures that Earth has experienced since 1880 due to global warming should reduce the frequency of 1-in-20 year extreme cold weather events like the current one. However, it is possible that climate change could alter jet stream circulation patterns in a way that could increase the incidence of unusual jet stream “kinks” that allow cold air to spill southwards over the Eastern U.S., a topic I have blogged about extensively, and plan to say more about later this week.

Lastly, this video posted at the Mother Nature Network and featuring Masters as well as Rutgers University professor Jennifer Francis, helps explain the dynamics by which a warming planet can result in freezing cold weather patterns and extremes of all kinds:

EPA Proposes Standards For Cleaner Burning Wood Stoves

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new standards that would require cleaner burning wood stoves. | credit: EPA/Flickr

By Amelia Templeton, Earth Fix

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed stricter air emissions standards for wood stoves. It also plans to regulate, for the first time, emissions from pellet stoves, fireplace inserts and other wood burning devices.

The EPA proposal comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Oregon and six other states. They alleged that the EPA’s failure to update manufacturing standards for wood stoves since 1988 violated the Clean Air Act and left rural residents at risk of health and breathing problems.

Read: Oregon, Puget Sound Air Agency Sue EPA For Tougher Wood Stove Regs

Craig Kenworthy, executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, said in the short term the EPA’s proposed rule would in effect catch the rest of the country up to the Northwest, where state emissions standards require new stoves to emit no more than 4.5 grams of particulates per hour.

“The technology and the ability of companies to make cleaner devices has made leaps and bounds. I think Oregon and Washington have proved that the first EPA standard is achievable. We’ve had a market, and had manufacturers meeting that market,” Kenworthy said.

Over a five-year period, the EPA has proposed ramping up its standards, eventually requiring new stoves to emit no more than 1.3 grams of particle pollution per hour. The fine particles of pollution in wood smoke have been linked to asthma, respiratory problems, heart attack, cancer and premature deaths. Several cities in the Northwest including Tacoma, Wash., Oak Ridge Ore. and Klamath Falls, Ore. have struggled to meet national air quality standards due to wood stove and fireplace smoke. In Oregon, homeowners are required to remove old wood stoves before selling their home and Washington bans the sale of older models.

But tightening standards for new stoves is also an important part of tackling wood smoke pollution in growing communities, Kenworthy said.

“As growth occurs in these communities, over time even the cleaner devices could overwhelm the gains we’re making in removing the older devices.”

Wood stove manufacturers located in the Northwest said they welcome the new proposed standards and have invested heavily in research and development of clean-burning technology. One of the largest wood stove builders in the country, Travis Industries, is located in Mukilteo, Wash. and has built a reputation for designing high efficiency clean-burning stoves.

Last year, Travis was selected to compete in a “Wood Stove Decathlon” that highlighted the best stove designs from around the world.

The Cape Cod

Travis’s Cape Cod stove emits less than a half-gram of particulates per hour, making it the cleanest-burning EPA certified wood stove.

Perry Ranes, the national sales manger for Travis, said the stove uses two engineering techniques to achieve its emissions reductions: a system that preheats the stove’s air, creating a hotter fire that combusts the wood more completely, and a catalytic combustor that burns up any leftover soot particles. The real trick, Ranes said, is a design that’s efficient and also looks good.

“The secret to all of this is not only designing something that the average individual can use, but at the same time is something that’s eye-appealing that you’d really like to have in your home,” Ranes said.

The EPA estimates the health and economic benefits of the proposed standards at $1.8 to $2.4 billion annually.  The agency is taking comments on the proposed rule for 90 days and expects to issue a final rule in 2015.