Olympia Business Watch

Ecology director reveals what makes her lose sleep at night

Washington Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon discusses her perspective on environmental protection and working with the business community as AWB Director of Governmental Affairs Gary Chandler looks on Tuesday afternoon in Spokane.

The directors of Washington’s departments of Ecology and Commerce pledged continued work to streamline permits and improve regulatory processes during a talk Tuesday afternoon at the AWB’s annual Spring Meeting in Spokane.

Gary Chandler, AWB's director of government affairs, held a panel discussion with Maia D. Bellon, director of the Washington state Department of Ecology, and Brian Bonlender, director of the state's Department of Commerce.

Both directors said Gov. Jay Inslee has made it clear that jobs and working cooperatively with the business community are priorities.

“I will tell you that he, in no uncertain terms, has told me that I must partner with you and your community,” Bellon said.

Bellon, appointed in February as director of the Department of Ecology, said although she is an attorney and enjoys the courtroom, she always prefers to broker agreements that help everyone understand one another’s concerns and move forward rather than resorting to litigation. Not everyone will get everything they want, she said, but sometimes that’s the best outcome possible.

She said one of the biggest worries she had when offered the director position, one that kept her up at night and almost prevented her from accepting the post, is the issue of modifying the state’s longstanding water quality standards. Bellon said the federal Environmental Protection Agency had given her a deadline of this Christmas, but that she pushed for more time to hold a full public process. As a result, the state now hopes to have a new rule in place by the end of 2014. AWB has been working with other member companies on that rule, which stands to affect not only businesses but every municipal water system in the state.  

Here are 7 Washington businesses doing right by the environment

Just after Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact for Starbucks, got through telling AWB members that businesses will solve the world's environmental challenges, AWB handed out awards to seven companies that are already proving him right.

The 21st AWB Environmental Excellence Awards were presented to:

Sustainable Communities & Green Building

Saint Martin’s University, Lacey

 The ground below and the sun above both help keep Cebula Hall energized and comfortable at Saint Martin’s University. This new $7.5 million engineering building, which was crafted from recycled materials, pulls energy from the soil using geothermal heat exchange coils. The three-story building has rooftop garden space and 2,500 square feet of photovoltaic solar panels that produce 15 percent of the building’s electricity. Thanks to its LEED Platinum design, the building uses 64 percent less power and 40 percent less water than the baseline. Some of the duct work, pipes, beams and insulation were deliberately left exposed in the 27,000-square-foot facility to give students in the School of Engineering a glimpse inside the heart of this truly green building.

Green Enterprise & Technology

Liberty Bottleworks, Union Gap

When REI, LL Bean, Willie Nelson and the Dave Matthews Band want an environmentally friendly, toxin-free aluminum bottle, they turn to the high-tech Liberty Bottleworks factory near Yakima. In just three years this company has churned out a half million bottles that are part fashion statement, part reusable container and all-American. The outsides are decorated with high-resolution textural art that you can feel as well as see. The insides are powder coated without use of phthalates or BPA in a closed-loop process, part of the company’s zero-waste philosophy. Water is retreated and reused on site. The infrared lamps that cure the powder are 800 percent more efficient than conventional curing ovens. Since Liberty’s are the only American-made metal bottles in the marketplace, they are the first housewares product that Whole Foods NW has been able to promote as “locally made.”

Starbucks makes the business case for sustainability -- and whipped cream

 

Starbucks' Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact, addresses the winners of AWB's 2013 Environmental Excellence Awards Tuesday.

It's time for business to redefine the conversation about sustainability, Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact for Starbucks, told AWB members Tuesday during the keynote address at the 2013 Spring Meeting.

The conversation has gone off track in the last decade, Hanna said, often turning into a political issue when it shouldn't be.

Business leaders can change the tone, Hanna said, by focusing on what matters for their particular business.

For Starbucks, climate mitigation is the company's primary focus. That's because the company relies upon high-quality arabica beans for its main product -- and the beans only grow in certain conditions. Already, Starbucks is encountering changing soil conditions, increasing pest infestations, soil erosion, and other threats to the bean.

"From a business perspective, it's impacting the longevity of our company," Hanna said. "We need to make sure the bean still exists."

Starbucks is addressing climate issues in a variety of ways, including some that make a significant difference -- and some that are mainly issues of perception.

Video Rewind: Rodney Tom, Ann Rivers and Richard DeBolt

Last week, our weekly Lobby Lunch series featured Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom, D-Medina, Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, and Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis.

Transportation figured prominently in the discussion, which came the day after Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, unveiled a $10 billion transportation funding proposal.

Also, as noted in a previous blog post, Tom suggested that Gov. Jay Inslee's choice to lead the state Department of Transportation may encounter a difficult confirmation hearing.

Here are some video highlights of the rest of the meeting, starting with DeBolt's observations about the 2013 session so far -- a session that he believes sees a "chasm of philosophies" in the House of Representatives that's as deep as he's ever seen.

Brunell: A hydropower renaissance

 

The Grand Coulee Dam in 1942/Photo: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Decades after the "Eighth Wonder of the Modern World" -- the Grand Coulee Dam -- was completed in 1942, the world is experiencing a boom in construction of new hydroelectric dams, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

From China's gargantuan Three Gorges project, with triple the power generation of Grand Coulee, to Peru's plans for harnessing the power of the Amazon river, world leaders are recognizing the value of clean, efficient hydropower.

The Laotian government is proposing a network of 11 dams on the lower Mekong River, similar to our Columbia and Snake River hydro network complete with a mammoth and controversial 1,260 megawatt dam on the lower reaches of the river.

Unlike the controversial Xayaburi proposal in Laos and China's Three Gorges dams, the Columbia and Snake River network did not cover millions of acres of farmlands and forest or displace millions of people, Brunell writes.

"We should realize that we have what the rest of the world is seeking: a reliable source of clean, affordable renewable energy."

Brunell: Biomass a good source of renewable energy

Biomass energy, which once enjoyed support from anti-fossil fuel advocates, is beginning to suffer the same kind of fall from grace that natural gas once experienced, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

For years, anti-coal protesters heralded natural gas as the cleanest of all fossil fuels and a perfect bridge for America's transition to renewable energy. But then the Sierra Club, which had funneled millions to natural gas companies, turned on their former allies and launched a campaign saying it was "dirtier than coal."

The same language is now being used to describe biomass, a turn that Brunell says is "particularly puzzling." He notes that biomass enjoys broad support from state officials who are known for their commitment to environmental stewardship.

"One by one, activists are targeting any energy sources that are more affordable and abundant than wind and solar," Brunell writes. "If their strategy works, it will drive the costs of energy up for families and energy-intensive business.

New Alcoa power deal means job security for workers

 

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire look on as Alcoa executive Bob Wilt (near) and BPA chief executive Steve Wright sign a long-term power deal for Intalco Works. Photo: Gary Sabol/AWB

A new power deal signed during a ceremony in Ferndale Friday between Alcoa Intalco Works and the Bonneville Power Administration means job security for nearly 650 workers at the aluminum smelter.

 “This deal helps protect working families in the state of Washington,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire during the ceremony. “It also provides economic vitality during a needed time for the state.”

Alcoa has been trying to secure a long-term energy deal with BPA since the early 2000s. The 2000-01 West Coast energy crisis shuttered many of BPA’s industrial customers, mostly large aluminum smelters, due to reduced power and high energy costs. Since then, Intalco Works has had short term contracts with BPA but no long term deal. The new contract provides Intalco Works with 300 average megawatts of power over a 10-year period. As part of the 10-year deal, Alcoa will invest $35 million in capital improvements over the next seven years to increase productivity and product efficiency.

Intalco Works, which started operation in 1966 and has been an AWB member since that time, has a capacity of 279,000 metric tons per year. The company says that along with 640 family wage jobs created at Intalco, the operation supports approximately $118 million in personal income in Whatcom County, $5 million in local taxes, $240,000 in annual charitable contributions and thousands of hours volunteered each year by Alcoa employees.

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen, D-Everett, summed up the contract. “Aluminum made in America. Jobs made in America. That’s what this deal represents.”

“One Voice for Working Forests” blog finds a new home

Update your bookmarks or RSS feed: “One Voice for Working Forests,” a blog that began in 2010 as part of an online community of folks interested in the West’s working forests, has a new home on the Washington Forest Protection Association’s website.

The blog is a must-read for loggers, rural residents, educators, reporters -- anyone who depends on the working forests for timber or recreation. Recent posts look at timber payments and the forming of a coalition among government officials, timber industrialists and environmentalists.

The move was made to help consolidate resources and provide visibility to the blog.

If you aren’t familiar with One Voice, check it out and share your thoughts. Its new hosts welcome comments and intend the blog to be a gathering place to “discuss the issues of the day relevant to working forests.”

Brunell: Giving fish a ride helps ensure safe passage, electricity

Some activists believe there is no such thing as a good dam, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column. They want all of them removed.

A better approach is a more balanced one that starts with identifying which dams we can live with and which we can live without.

Some recent examples show when it makes sense to remove a dam and when it's possible to return fish runs through other means, such as trucking.

The Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were demolished last year on the Olympic Peninsula and the Condit Dam was breached on the White Salmon River, but it's a different story on the Lewis River, where PacifiCorp has agreed to spend $120 million to return fish runs.

On the Columbia and Snake rivers, fish ladders and barging have proven successful.

"If the dams on the Elwha and White Salmon rivers were constructed today, they would have included fish passage system," Brunell writes. "Because they did not, they came down.

"But not all dams have to come down," he adds. "When fish passages are an option, it is worth the investment to enchance fish habitat while providing low-cost electricity for our growing economy."

Dams hold potential for new, affordable electricity

Rather than remove dams, as some folks continue to advocate, how about converting some existing dams into electricity producers?

It might come as a surprise to residents of the Pacific Northwest, who rely heavily on hydropower, but only 3 percent of the nation’s 80,000 dams are designed to produce electricity. However, 70 percent of the non-powered dams have the potential to produce electricity.

A new report (PDF) from the U.S. Department of Energy claims that converting a small fraction of those dams into electricity generators could be an affordable way to add a large amount of renewable energy to America’s grid at a relatively low price. Most of that potential is concentrated in just 100 dams.

“The abundance, cost, and environmental favorability of [non-powered dams], combined with the reliability and predictability of hydropower, make these dams a highly attractive source for expanding the nation’s renewable energy supply,” according to the DOE report.

Larry the Lonesome Sockeye has a record number of wild followers returning to the Columbia River system

SUNDAY BLOG:

Remember our old friend Larry the Lonesome Sockeye? In 1992, he was the single male sockeye salmon who managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to central Idaho's Redfish Lake.

Well he has a record number of "WILD" followers this year.

In 2012, a record run of more than 400,000 of the Columbia Basin's farthest-swimming salmon are expected to return, almost all of them wild fish bred in rivers and spawning lakes, not the hatcheries that produce most Northwest salmon.

According to The Columbian this week, Tuesday's count of 41,573 at Bonneville Dam was a record-high, topping Monday's count of 38,756. The old daily count record was 30,690 on June 24, 2010.

Since Bonneville Dam outside Portland, Ore., was built in 1938, there have been  plenty of times there weren't 38,000 sockeye salmon swimming over the fish ladders in a whole year.

Things have been changing rapidly for the best even with the dams on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers intact -- and at Redfish Lake deep in the Sawtooth Mountains following efforts years ago to irradicate the sockeye run completely.

The Snake and lower Columbia river drainages are not the only places where Sockeye salmon are returning in record numbers. Sockeye cross nine dams to reach spawning grounds in northern Washington and Canada.

Biologists credit habitat improvements in the Okanagan Basin of northern Washington and Canada, improved dam operations, and favorable ocean conditions for the numbers. Okanagan sockeye swim more than 500 miles to spawn.

Cindy LeFleur of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, chair of the Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee, confirmed the record run told The Columbian the panel of scientists determined on Monday the sockeye run is on track to be the forecasted record of 462,000. 

In the same story, Steve Smith, a Canby, Ore., fisheries consultant who works extensively with the Colville tribe, said "It's an exciting success story of water management and ever-improving passage over the dams." Smith credits more spill and surface bypass systems at the Columbia River dams have helped sockeye, just as chinook are benefitting.

The Canadians have helped as well. They changed the water levels in the Okanogan River reservoirs, balancing the flows and keeping them high enough to protect the eggs in the gravel.

Sockeye migrate through the lower Columbia in June and July, with the peak counts at Bonneville normally about July 1.They are an inland-origin fish, which needs rearing lakes in their natal watershed as part of their life cycle.

So dams and fish can  and do co-exit. Fish and farming and logging can co-exist.....and fish and people can co-exist. That's good news to start July with.....very good news.

Don C. Brunell, President (DonB@awb.org)

 

 

 

Brunell: Will the Northwest economy be a casualty of the war on coal?

Activists waging a national war on coal have turned their attention to the Pacific Northwest, and the  consequences for the region's economy could be dire, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Specifically, they are lobbying federal officials to add a second, expensive layer of environmental review to proposals shipping terminals that would export coal to China. Such projects already undergo a rigorous review known as the Environmental Impact Statement.

The second review, which some are calling a Programmatic EIS, would look at the potential cumulative economic and environmental impacts across the region, the nation or perhaps the world.

Even if adding another layer of review didn't block a project, it would slow it down for years. And it would establish a dangerous precedent in a state where one of every three jobs is linked to trade.

No one knows if it would go so far as to require, for example, an examination of greenhouse gas effects of jet engine exhaust around the globe in order to expand an aircraft manufacturing facility.

But for employers trying to decide where to locate or expand their business, the uncertainty is enough to make them take their business elsewhere, Brunell writes.

Brunell: Roll on Columbia!

In 1942, the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam was hailed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

Seventy years later, most of us aren't aware of the what the dam or the others on the Columbia River continue to do for us, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Brunell, who recently drove most of the route that folk singer Woody Guthrie traveled decades earlier when he was writing songs about the river and its dams, observed a river system with floodgates open to aid salmon travel.

And when he arrived home in Vancouver, Brunell saw a Columbia River at its high-water mark, as it often is this time of year.

It was not, however, threatening to flood as it did in 1948 when Vanport, once Oregon's second-largest city, was washed away in floodwaters that killed 16 people.

The Grand Coulee and the rest of the dams on the Columbia-Snake River system have provided generations of electric power, flood control and irrigation water.

"For most of us, the dams have always been there," Brunell writes. "We never knew a time without them, when electricity was scarce, when we struggled to grow crops on barren land and lived in fear of raging floodwaters.

"But we shouldn't take them for granted."

Brunell: Some dams should come down, but not the Snake River dams

Demolishing two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles is a good thing, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

The dams, which were blocking salmon from moving upstream, were built in the early 1900s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when salmon and steelhead were plentiful in other rivers.

But breaching the four dams on the lower Snake River is an entirely different matter for a variety of reasons, not least being the success that's coming from years of work to improve fish passage and spawning habitat throughout the Columbia and Snake River system.

Salmon are moving upstream in great numbers.

Other importance differences: The Elwha dams produced relatively little electricity, they did not irrigate thousands of acres of productive farm land and they didn't create a vital marine highway that keeps trucks off the highways.

"All this nonsense about digging a ditch around those four massive structures is just that -- nonsense," Brunell writes.

"We should thank our lucky stars the four lower Snake River dams are there and get on with implementing the cooperative management plan that allows both fish and families to thrive."

Brunell: Rising gas prices threaten our economic recovery

Just as the economy is starting to move again, rising gas prices threaten to put on the brakes, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

AAA is reporting gasoline prices are at the highest point ever for this time of year and experts are predicting $4.25 per gallon by late April.

The rising gas prices lead to higher costs for virtually everything we buy because just about everything that's produced uses refined petroleum somewhere along its journey to market.

The spike is due to a host of factors, including the seasonal shut down of refineries so they can switch from their winter fuel blends to the more costly summer blends mandated by EPA.

In addition, several refineries have closed, the recent fire at BP's Cherry Point refinery further reduces supply, and Iran has cut off oil supplies to England and France.

There is no quick fix to any of these problems, but there are things that America can do to reduce the chance that this happens again.

Perhaps the most important thing, Brunell writes, is for political leaders from President Obama on down to understand the link between a stable energy supply and a strong economy.

Welcome to the first day of session, Hewitt says, on Day 25

Now that the state Senate has voted to legalize same-sex marriage, maybe lawmakers will turn their attention to balancing the budget.

That's clearly the hope of Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, who began his remarks Thursday at AWB's  Lobby Lunch meeting by welcoming everyone "to the first day of session!"

In fact, lawmakers are now four weeks into the session -- seven weeks if you count last year's second special session -- and there has been "very little movement on the budget whatsoever," Hewitt said.

Other issues, he said, have "totally taken time away from what we need to do in a short, 60-day session."

The lunch meeting not only followed the Senate vote on same-sex marriage, but it also coincided with the release of the House Republican caucus's education budget.

Rep. Richard DeBolt, who joined Hewitt and Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, at the meeting, said that after years of proposing a separate, stand-alone education budget and getting nowhere, he's pleased to see it finally get a hearing in committee.

President's State of Union speech didn't address economic growth to create jobs or excessive regulations costing jobs

The fallout from Tuesday's State of the Union address continues. Tom Dononhue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told the Fox Business channel it was a political speech "full of taxes and taxes, regulations and regulations, stimulus and stimulus. It doesn't address the two fundamental questions at hand and that is how do we drive growth into the United States to the extent that, number two, it creates jobs?"

"I heard a lot about how we were going to regulate things, how we were going to constrain things, how we were going to tax issues. But I didn't hear anybody say 'and here's what we're going to do to move forward, to liberate the free enterprise system in this country to put people back to work.' It was all about what government was going to do and what the president was going to do with the arm of government to see what he could do to put people back to work. But that's not gonna help," Donohue concluded.

Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, responded: "The President deserves credit for highlighting manufacturing on a national stage, but presidential leadership requires more than speeches. President Obama had a chance to set a bold manufacturing agenda in motion, and he missed it."

"On regulations, for example, the President touted his Administration’s efforts to rein in some regulatory excesses and costs—$10 billion in savings over the next five years. But, Boiler MACT, Utility MACT, Cement MACT and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, to name just a few of this Administration’s rules, would impose costs that dwarf the savings highlighted by the President.

"And on labor, the President never mentioned the aggressive actions that the National Labor Relations Board took in the past year. If President Obama wants manufacturing to lead the economy, federal agencies cannot swoop in and tell manufacturers where they can do business."

Timmons concluded: "It’s 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the United States than it is among our major trading partners — even after excluding the cost of labor. The best way to create an environment to increase manufacturing employment in America is to lower the cost of doing business through pro-growth tax rates, sensible legal policy, reasonable regulations and affordable and secure energy supplies."

The Association of Washington Business is Washington's state chamber of commerce and manufacturing and technology association as recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers, respectively.

Lawmakers say energy law fix in the works, but downplay scope

A bill is coming soon, perhaps as early as Wednesday, that could fix some of the flaws in the energy law approved by voters in Initiative 937.

Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, chairman of the Senate's Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Wates Committee, made the announcement Tuesday during an energy panel at AWB's annual Legislative Day in Olympia.

But Ranker, who prefaced his comments by restating his support for the underlying goals of the initiative -- developing more renewable energy resources in Washington, and reducing the state's use of non-renewable energy -- cautioned observers not to expect radical changes.

"I have no intention of gutting 937 and turning it on its head," he said.

Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, likewise stated his support for the initiative, and pleaded with the business community to display patience on the issue. "We won't be able to address everyone's concerns this year," he said.

A main concern of the business community is that, unless something changes, I-937 will lead to big increases in the cost of electricity in Washington. Low-cost power has been one of the state's main competitive advantages for years, but that's in jeopardy because of mandates on the state's utilities to increase the amount of power they use from renewable sources.

Brunell: Withdrawing new EPA rule is a good start, but there's a bigger problem

President Obama's decision to order the EPA to delay implementing new industrial ozone emission standards is a temporary reprieve that will save U.S. businesses as much as $90 billion per year, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

The price tag is that high because, as the EPA admits, the technology to comply with its proposed rules doesn't exist yet. Industry would have been forced to invent it within the next few years, or shut down.

But critics charge that the EPA has shown a pattern of inflating the projected environmental and economic benefits of its proposed regulations, and failing to back up the claims with scientific evidence.

"Federal regulations add hundreds of billions of dollars each year to the cost of doing business," Brunell writes. "Federal law says agencies can add to that burden only when they clearly justify the need and show there is no workable alternative. There is a disturbing pattern that the EPA is ignoring that requirement."

 

Richland's PNNL is a big advantage for business

More efficient diesel engines. Scanners that check cars at the U.S.-Canada border for nuclear material.  And eventually, a smarter electric grid.

Those are a few of the ways that research from Richland-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is contributing to the community, Mike Kluse, the lab director, told AWB members Wednesday during the annual Policy Summit.

The lab, one of just 10 national labs in the country, is working on groundbreaking research on everything from national security to energy. It's important for the business community to work with researchers to make sure their discoveries make it into the marketplace, Kluse said.

"Having a national lab in your backyard is a rare and valuable advantage," he said. "We want to help you."

The lab is a unique public-private partnership. It's been run by Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle since 1965 under a contract from the federal government. It employs more than, 4,900 people, and it's been growing fast in recent years, adding staff and buildings to its Richland campus.

Kluse offered AWB members a glimpse into the kind of research being done at the lab to develop a smarter electric grid and better batteries for electric vehicles. The goal, he said, is to develop game-changing science that is linked to the marketplace.

"Partner with us," he implored the audience. "Help commercialize our technology. Bring jobs to all corners of Washington. We clearly are a resource for every one of you."

Like other speakers at the Policy Summit, Kluse was bullish about Washington.

"This state is well-positioned for the future," he said. "The question is whether we have the collective will to make it happen."

Brunell: No perfect solution to energy needs

Could rolling brownouts be part of America's future? What about laws that limit how much electricity you use, and homes equipped with sensors that allow regulators to remotely turn off your energy-hungry appliances?

Scenarios like this might not be as far-fetched as they seem, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Over the years, legislators and regulators have steadily reduced the the supply of affordable energy in the U.S. while the population and demand for energy has continued to grow.

Crude oil has become a pariah. Coal, which provides half the electricity in the U.S. and the world, is a perennial target. Here in Washington, activists want to breach the four dams on the lower Snake River, cutting back on clean, renewable hydropower. Natural gas, once touted by coal opponents as the cleanest fossil fuel, is now under attack. Alternative energy sources such as solar and wind may not provide more than 10 percent of total power supply.

"So we have some tough choices to make," Brunell writes. "Politicians and ideologues should step aside and let the scientists and engineers develop innovative solutions that provide for the future of our nation -- or it could be 'lights out.'"

How best to save Puget Sound?

Everyone agrees that Puget Sound is worth saving. The economy depends on it. Recreation depends on it. It's what makes the region unique.

But figuring out how to imrpove the health of Puget Sound is fraught with challenges and tension, points that were underscored Tuesday by a four-member panel that discussed work underway to update the Puget Sound Partnership's original action agenda. The document was developed in 2008.

The panel consisted of Martha Konsgaard, chairwoman of the Puget Sound Partnership's Leadership Council; Gerry O'Keefe, the partnership's executive director; Sam Anderson, executive officer of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties; and Sandy Mackie, a land use attorney at Perkins Coie and chairman of AWB's Land Use Committee.

Part of the problem, Konsgaard said, is raising awareness of the issue. "People want to save Puget Sound," she said. "But the challenge is they say, 'Is there a problem?' Many people don't know there is a problem."

The source of the problem isn't what it used to be, either. "The era of the bad guy and one chimney stack is over," she said. "It's really how we're living on the land."

Brunell: Under siege from the unchecked federal bureaucracy

Partisan wrangling has brought gridlock to Congress, but federal bureaucrats are finding ways to implement President Obama's programs without congressional approval, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

One example is the National Labor Relations Board, which is carrying out organized labor's agenda after Congress failed to approve union-backed "card check legislation.

Another example is the Environmental Protection Agency, which is systematically implementing its own version of cap-and-trade after the Senate rejected the president's plan.

The end-run around Congress by federal bureaucrats is costing taxpayers and employers trillions of dollars and adding to the national debt, which now stands at $14.3 trillion.

Congress needs to wake up, and regardless of party affiliation, take back control of the legislative branch of government, Brunell writes. "Congress sets policy and federal agencies enforce it -- at least that's how our separation of powers is supposed to work."

Brunell: Dams are the Northwest flood busters

If not for the extensive series of dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers, the Northwest would be experiencing the same massive flooding that's occurring along the Mississippi River, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

The historic flooding could end up resulting in the highest flooding since since the $16 billion claims following Hurricane Katrina, Brunell writes.

In 1948, before the dams along the Columbia and Snake were completed, a levee broke on the flood-swollen Columbia, killing 16 people and wiping away the city of Vanport in what is now North Portland.

"Those who want to remove the dams from the lower Columbia and Snake rivers don't talk about how those dams prevent widespread devastation," he writes. "But we should all remember that without those flood busters, we'd be in a world of hurt."

Canadian diplomat tells Wash. business leaders to look north

Denis Stevens, consul general of Canada in Seattle, made it clear Tuesday that Canada is ready and willing to partner with Washington businesses.

Stevens touted a long list of Canada's economic selling points during his address at AWB's Spring Meeting, including everything from low business taxes and a tech-savvy workforce to numerous free-trade agreements and an economy that weathered the recession relatively well.

"We've emerged in better shape than nearly every other economy around the world," Stevens said.

His message was aimed at strengthening what are already strong business ties between Canada and Washington state. Some statistics:

• In 2009, Washington exports to Canada totaled $5.3 billion, and imports from Canada totaled $11.8 billion.
• Canada was the state's second-largest export market after China, purchasing 13 percent of Washington's worldwide shipments. (Watch for the next issue of Washington Business for more on this topic -- due out next week.)
• Some 174,000 Washington jobs depend on trade between the two countries.

Stevens highlighted three points during his speech at Spokane's Davenport Hotel: Canada's business investment potential, the work that Canada and the U.S. are undertaking to improve perimeter security without hampering the flow of legitimate travelers and North America energy partnerships.

Boeing's Glover helps AWB honor 12 companies for Environmental Excellence

Green business is good business.

That was the message carried forward today by AWB's Environmental Excellence Awards, presented at Spokane's Davenport Hotel in conjunction with the association's Spring Meeting.Twelve AWB-member companies were honored for their initiative, innovation and outstanding achievements in environmental compliance, protection and conservation.

Bill Glover, the Boeing Co.'s vice president of environment and aviation policy integration, served as the luncheon's keynote speaker, sharing his company's achievements in improving its environmental performance.

"We believe that being aggressive in reducing our environmental footprint goes along with good performance," said Glover. "An environmental footprint indicates waste, and waste costs money."

Boeing is moving ahead with numerous environmental initiatives, including using energy saving natural lighting in its giant Everett plant, cleaning up old sites that became contaminated due to lower standards of decades past and aggressively pursuing recycling at all levels of the company.

Glover noted that Boeing's commitment to recycling can be seen in the airplane assembly process where the protective coating used during the installation of airplane flooring is now recyclable, reducing waste tremendously.

And these environmental initiatives are no small effort. Fully 70 percent of all Boeing investment includes some environmental improvement.

Perhaps Boeing's most significant green initiative is reducing the carbon footprint of its airplanes. Aviation demand grows by 5 percent per year, Glover said, and the company is working hard to make sure greenhouse gases do not grow with that increase in air travel. Boeing's airline customers have also  pledged their desire and intention to be carbon neutral by 2020.

"We try to use our name and reputation to leverage other people in a positive direction," said Glover.

Brunell: Rising price of gas no mystery

As the price of gas passes $4 on its way to $5 a gallon, the finger-pointing in Washington, D.C., has reached a frenzy, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

As if on cue, the Obama administration has launched another investigation into charges that speculators are manipulating prices.

But the reason for the recent spike in prices is obvious: It's a simple case of supply and demand.

The principle driver of gas prices is the price of crude oil, Brunell writes. "When the price of crude oil jumped from $68 a barrel last year to $115 this year, gasoline prices spiked accordingly."

And why is the price of crude oil rising?

"The unrest in Libya and Egypt, coupled with strikes by oil workers in Yemen, Oman, Gabon and Ivory Coast, has cut production. Less supply means higher prices."

The United States has enough oil reserves to power the nation for 300 years without OPEC, but much of the nation's untapped reserves are located in places hat have been put off limits by the government or are too costly to develop.

"Suffering at the hands of of foreign oil suppliers while we're sitting on 300 years worth of untapped oil reserves is like a family starving with a basement full of food," Brunell writes.

Fixing stormwater runoff problem must be a group effort, panel says

A few decades ago, the biggest contributors to polluted stormwater runoff were so-called "point sources" -- factories, refineries and the like. Things have changed dramatically since then, however, and now the majority of pollution comes from "non-point" sources -- a range of things from lawn fertilizers and pet waste to cars that drip oil in the driveway.

"It's the way we live," Bill Ruckelshaus, the former two-time administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Wednesday during a panel discussion on stormwater runoff.

Ruckelshaus, who was also the founding chairman of the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council, was joined in the discussion by Josh Baldi, special assistant to the director at the state Department of Ecology, and Grant Nelson, AWB's government affairs director.

It was organized by the nonprofit journalism website Investigte West, and the think-tanks Washington Policy Center and Sightline Institute.

Panelists agreed that cleaning up Puget Sound and solving the problem of polluted stormwater throughout the state will require effort from everyone.

"We're all a part of the problem. We all need to be part of the solution," Baldi said.

Brunell: It's time to quick kicking the can down the road

Two years ago in a speech to U.S. House Democrats, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer predicted that America was headed toward a fundamental economic reset, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

According to Ballmer, the nation's economy was fueled by unrealistically cheap debt.

Since then, our national debt has continued to grow and now surpasses $14 trillion, Brunell writes. Gov. Chris Gregoire has repeatedly told state lawmakers we must make fundamental changes. We have to quit kicking the can down the road in the hope that our problems will magically disappear.

Doing that means reducing spending, refraining from adding new programs we can't afford, sharing in the sacrifice and using our resources to create jobs, reduce our trade deficit and become less dependent on foreign oil.

For decades, local, state and federal politicians have kicked the can down the road, approving programs with little thought of how to pay for them, Brunell writes.

That must stop. Now.

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen wants more diverse economy - and fewer NIMBYs

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen told AWB that Washington needs to diversify its economy in light of emerging Boeing competitors in places diverse as Brazil and China.

Owen, who spoke shortly before the announcement that Boeing won its bid to build the next generation Air Force tanker, noted the growth of Brazil's Embraer, which just opened a manufacturing facility in Florida, as well as China's development of the C919, a competitor for Boeing's 737.

Boeing realizes who its competitors are, Owen said. "The point is, we have to know this," he said Thursday at AWB's weekly Lobby Lunch meeting. "I don't think we can sit here and rely on The Boeing Company to continue to support the state of Washington for the next 30, 40 years down the road. They will continue to be incredibly important, but we need to find ways to diversify."

Owen, who was actually acting governor at the time of his visit, noted that he's now in his 35th year of public service in Olympia, counting his time in the House and Senate. As lieutenant governor, he has traveled on several trade missions, including eight or nine visits to China.

Remembering Justin Taylor, patriarch of Taylor Shellfish Farms

Justin Taylor digging a channel in Skookum Inlet, August 2009.

The Seattle Times ran a nice news obituary yesterday on Justin Taylor, who died Monday at age 90.

It noted that Taylor still came into the office almost everyday at Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, and that he rarely missed going out on the tide flats during low tide.

"I would look out and see Justin in the bay, and I would feel everything is all right in the world," Taylor's  neighbor Brett Bishop, owner of Little Skookum Shellfish Growers, told reporter Lynda Mapes.

That's where I found Taylor in August 2009, when I interviewed him for an article in Washington Business magazine examining the health of the state's shellfish industry.

Brunell: Facts, not hysteria, needed in coal debate

The debate in Olympia over whether to speed up the closure of TransAlta's coal-fired electricity plant near Centralia reveals an anti-coal hysteria that ignores key facts about our economy, families, factories, hospitals and schools, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

1. Even if we reach our energy conservation and renewable energy goals for 2035, we will still need to generate the same percentage of electricity from coal.
2. Activists ignore the fact that not all coal is the same. The coal that TransAlta uses its Centralia plant is the kind of low-sulfur coal that China covets.
3. President Obama supports investments in clean coal technology.

While America fights over the future of coal-fired plants, China is investing heavily in clean coal technology. It makes sense. Wind and solar are going to be important energy sources, but it will be hard to get them beyond 10 percent of the total power supply.

So until nuclear power is the world's main energy source, the question is not whether to use coal, Brunell says, but how to use it better.

Stormwater tax returns: Deja vu in Olympia

It's back. Only now it's called a fee instead of a tax.

A proposal to levy a 1 percent fee on the wholesale value of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and petroleum products has returned to the Legislature this year following similar failed attempts the last two years.

Backers of the idea want to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to fund stormwater cleanup projects throughout the state. No one is opposed to cleaning up Washington's water, but the targeted agriculture and petroleum-related businesses that would be hit with a huge new tax -- one that would raise $345 million over the next two years -- are crying foul, telling lawmakers that it's not fair to make them pay for what's really everyone's problem.

"SB 5604 unfairly singles out two industries, namely petroleum and agriculture, and forces them to pay for a societal problem," Grant Nelson, AWB's government affairs director, told lawmakers Thursday during a meeting of the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

Gov. Gregoire's Keynote Remarks at AWB's 2011 Legislative Day

(Recorded: Feb. 03, 2011) Gov. Chris Gregoire’s keynote remarks at AWB's annual Legislative Day luncheon. Topics include unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, state employee pensions and education.

Brunell: We need to rethink our renewable energy policy

In his state of the union address, President Obama said he wants 80 percent of America's electricity to come from "clean sources" by 2035. That's a tall order, and one that will require us to rethink our renewable energy strategy, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

If we have any chance of reaching the president's goal, we must rethink our renewable energy strategy, particularly with respect to sources like hydropower and pulping liquors.

Hydropower accounts for about 80 percent of our states'e electricity, and yet it was excluded from the list of renwables under Initiative 937, the voter-approved measure requiring utilities to buy 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Pulping liquor also was excluded, even though paper mills such as Longview Fibre in Longview have been able to take this byproduct and generate electricity with it, in some cases producing a surplus that is sold back to the grid.

Americans must be realistic about their energy future, Brunell writes. The federal government must rethink regulations that derail renewable energy products. And the Legislature should do its part by changing I-937 to allow pulping liquors to qualify as a renewable.

Environment and economy: "First, do no harm."

How do you bring back Washington's economy while protecting its environment?

That was the overriding theme at the panel discussion on environmental issues at AWB's 2011 Legislative Day. Featuring Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside; Rep. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island; and Rep. Shelly Short, R-Addy, the panel took questions from moderator Ken Johnson, of Puget Sound Energy, and members of the audience.

"First, do no harm," said Honeyford, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment, Energy & Water Commitee, called on state government to enact no new environmental taxes or fees.

Honeyford rejected Initiative 937's exclusion of plentiful hydroelectric power as a clean, renewable energy source, called for the suspension of stormwater regulations, and insisted nuclear power should be part of any greenhouse gas solution. Additionally, Honeyford called for ending duplication within environmental agencies, doing cost-benefit analyses on environmental programs, and welcomed audits for environmental agencies.

Honeyford suggested that much regulation is overkill, relating that he heard that Washington adopts 1,000 regulations per year, half of those being in the Department of Ecology.

Brunell: U.S. innovation is the answer to safer oil production

President Obama's recent drilling moratorium along the East Coast and parts of the Gulf of Mexico may have helped Washington state's crude oil supplies in the short term, but the long-term fate of energy development in Alaska is uncertain, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Interior Sec. Ken Salazar has said the department will honor existing leases, but he is undecided about future ones.

That's significant for Washington because Alaska is the primary supplier for our state's refineries, which account for 30,000 Washington jobs, $1.7 billion in personal income and nearly $160 million in state and local sales and business and B&O taxes.

American families need affordable energy from reliable and predictable sources, Brunell writes. Accidents like the Deepwater Horizon blowout are not a reason to stop exploring for oil. Historically, America has a history of learning from our mistakes, innovating new technology and expertise in the process.

"Accidents and tragedies in energy production are not reasons to give up," Brunell writes. "Instead, they should spur us to use our expertise, technology and innovation to make energy production safer and more efficient here and around the world."

 

Brunell: Electric cars will be a shock to the grid

Electric cars like the new Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt may well be the future of the automobile, AWB President Don Brunell write in his weekly column. But they are not necessarily a panacea, in part because of their appetite for electricity.

Many view electric cars as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the Edison Institute estimates that driving 10,000 miles in an electric car will use about 2,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 20 percent more than the average home uses in a year.

That electricy must come from power plants, but many of the same activists who promote electric cars are working to constrict the generation of electricity, Brunell writes. Some of them shun hydropower, which supplies 70 percent of our state's electricity.

Ironically, the abundance of Washington's cheap, renewable hydropower was a major reason that German automaker BMW and partner SGL Group chose Moses Lake to make carbon fiber for its upcoming electric-powered Megacity commuter car.

There is little doubt that electric cars are the wave of the future, but there are trade-offs, Brunell writes. "Failing to deal with those trade-offs will only compound our growing problem of supplying adequate electricity to our factories, hospitals, businesses and homes — and cars."

 

Brunell: Return of the sockeye, the legacy of Lonesome Larry

In 1992, a single male sockeye salmon dubbed Lonesome Larry managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to Redfish Lake in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains.

In his weekly column, AWB President Don Brunell recounts the remarkable turnaround of the sockeye since then, as well as the continued threat to Northwest salmon from federally protected sea lions, Caspian terns and double-crested cormorants.

The point of the column is this, Brunell writes: "Those who simply call for the removal of the four lower Snake River Dams should acknowledge the progress irrigators, foresters and dam operators are making to restore Columbia and Snake Rier slamon and steelhead runs - progress that is being made despite heavy losses from sea lions, terns and cormorants."

Brunell: Hidden taxes are killing average Americans

President Obama and congressional candidates like to talk about tax relief, but they fail to mention the myriad of hidden taxes that are killing the average American, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Take electricity, for instance. Ratepayers, wondering why costs are ratcheting up, tend to blame the power companies. Meanwhile, politicians are beating their chests about all of the new requirements they have put in place and not telling us how much they cost.

What's more, Washington lawmakers have failed to amend the law to allow low-cost, greenhouse-free hydroelectric power to count as a renewable energy under the Initiative 937 law, forcing utilities to buy and sell more renwable power - driving up costs.

"The politicians, bureaucrats and activists who cavalierly tell us that we ought to smile and absorb all of these hidden taxes need to sit down with today's seniors and working families," Brunell writes. "They'd get a whole new perspective on ow all of these new mandates, confusing regulations, delays in permit processing and edicts impact people."

Policy Summit on TVW

We were fortunate to again partner with TVW on this year's  Policy Summit. The public affairs network will be airing several of events from the 2010 Policy Summit, including:

• Monday, Sept. 27 @ 7 p.m. and 10p.m. (2011 Legislative Update)
• Tuesday, Sept. 28 @ 2 a.m., 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. (2011 Legislative Update);  8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (Health Care - What Next?)
• Wednesday, Sept 29 @ 8 a.m., 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.  (Health Care - What Next?)
• Thursday, Sept. 30 @ 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (Health Care - What Next?)
• Friday, Oct. 1 @ 4:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m.  (Education Panel)
• Saturday, Oct. 2 @ 4:30 p.m. (Education Panel); 10 p.m. (Dinner program with Gary Langer)
• Sunday, Oct. 3 @ 11 a.m. (2011 Legislative Update); 1:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (Gary Langer)

Panel: America's energy supply is plentiful, if we can access it

The solutions for America's future energy needs are out there, but the country needs to make sure the regulatory structure exists to allow new sources of power to come to market.

That was one of the conclusions of a three-person panel that engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of energy Wednesday at AWB's annual Policy Summit in Blaine.

Panelists included Terry Flores, executive director of the Northwest RiverPartners, a nonprofit representing an alliance of electric utilities, agriculture, ports and businesses in Columbia and Snake river salmon salmon restoration efforts; Joe Sparano, executive adviser to the chairman of the board of the Western States Petroleum Association; and Peter Christensen, commercialization manager for energy technologies developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

AWB President Don Brunell moderated the discussion.

Energy is a particularly important issue in the Northwest where clean, low-cost hydro-electric power has historically been a competitive advantage for business, Brunell said. Some 70 percent of Washington's energy comes from hydro, he said.

Are federal regulators imposing a back door cap-and-trade system?

President Obama says that two of his biggest priorities are jobs and renewable energy, but federal regulators are imposing regulations that are hindering both, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

The oil and gas industry - which employs nine million people - is under siege, and other energy sectors are not faring much better.

Some 381 projects - most of which produce renewable energy - are currently tangled in red tape. Clearing them could provide 250,000 jobs.

Here in Washington, environmentalists and hobby farmers near White Salmon are trying to block a wind farm that could provide electricity to 20,000 families because they say it will ruin the view in the Columbia River Gorge.

Some suggest the federal government's aggressive regulatory approach is intentional, Brunell writes. While the president stands at the front door touting the benefits of renewable energy, his regulators are around back imposing a cap-and-trade system without going through Congress.

Intentional or not, the approach is killing energy projects - and jobs.

AWB Institute: Manufacturing and Distribution Summit (Part Two)(Video)

Greg Weeks, Ph.D. (Director of Labor Market & Economic Analysis, Employment Security Department)

AWB Institute: Manufacturing and Distribution Summit (Part One)(Video)

This is the first of two one-day summits from the Association of Washington Business Institute and McGladrey. It is taking place at AWB's offices in Olympia. Tomorrow's event is in Lynnwood (you can still register). Topics include:

• An industry and U.S. economy outlook
• The impact of global activity on profitability
• Cost management
• Demand for "green" products and processes
• What employee skills manufacturing and wholesale distribution companies are seeking and where they're recruiting

Speakers

Tom Murphy, executive vice president of manufacturing and wholesale distribution, McGladrey: Murphy is a 25-year veteran in the industry and national practice leader. He shares his views on the latest industry trends, and reviews highlights from an annual survey conducted by McGladrey this spring.

Greg Weeks, labor market and economic analysis director, Washington State Employment Security Department: Weeks provides insight into the Washington economy and an out industry outlook from a workforce perspective.

Does President Obama really care about employers?

A representative of President Obama's recently attended a meeting of state manufacturers association presidents and tried to enlist the group's help in persuading companies to invest some of the $1.8 trillion they're holding in reserves, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

The group shares the president's goal, but it wasn't jumping on board, Brunell writes.

The sentiment was that uncertainty about higher taxes, increasing regulations, health-care reform costs, cap-and-trade regulation and lopsided pro-union policies have many employers and investors sitting on the sidelines.

"The Obama representative sincerely promised to take our concerns back to the White House," he writes. "Did any of us believe it would make a dent in the president's thinking?

"Heck no! That's the problem."

Employers fully expect Congress to come back in a lame duck session after the November elections and jam through anti-business legislation, Brunell says.

"It seems today that in the president's haste to set historic political landmarks, such as Obamacare, the impacts of those policies on employers are disregarded, even in the midst of a severe recession."

Check out the full column.

And watch the video below for a portion of an interivew with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in which he confidently predicts the return of card check legislation before the end of the year.

Brunell: 'Burn, baby burn' forest policy wreaking havoc on evironment and people

For decades,the federal government's policy with regard to forest management has been, in effect, not to manage forests, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Because of pressure from environmental groups, many federal and state forests are off-limits to harvest -- even for "housekeeping" activities such as thinning and clearing of undergrowth. This hands-off approach can lead to huge forests fires that not only threaten safety but also release huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

A study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado at Boulder estimated that U.S. fires release about 290 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to 4 to 6 percent of the nation's CO2 emissions from all fossil fuel burning.

"One only has to watch the nightly news to see the devastation caused by wildfires," Brunell writes. "Add to that the human and economic cost to battle the fires and environmental degradation that results.

"Congress and the President must restore sanity and common sense to our federal forest management policy."

Read the full column here.

Brunell: Congressional mega-bills like buying a pig in a poke

Did you know that incandescent light bulbs are going to be illegal in a few years?

Don't feel bad if you didn't, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column. Few people do.

The phasing-out of Thomas Edison's invention -- in favor of compact fluorescent lamps that are more energy efficient but less popular with consumers -- was tucked into an 882-page energy bill signed into law by President George Bush in 2007.

"CFLSs and other energy-efficient bulbs are improving. But rather than let market competition spur that innovation, Congress decided to pick a winner on its own. Their reasoning: If you can't win fair and squre, change the rules," Brunell writes.

Brunell wonders what other land mines are being tucked into federal legislation in this era of controversial mega-bills like health-care reform and the latest energy bill.

"In the old days, country folks scoffed at the idea of buying a 'pig in a poke,'" he writes.

Congress doesn't seem to share that aversion.

Read the full column here.

Brunell: Nuclear power gaining new life

Nuclear power, once a major component of Washington state's energy plans, fell out of of favor after the default by the Washington Public Power Supply System and the partial meltdown of a reactor at Three Mile Island, Pa., AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Now it's showing signs of a comeback. A March Gallup Poll shows that 62 percent of Americans embrace nuclear power while only 33 percent oppose it. "That is a dramatic change from 2001 when people were equally divided," Brunell notes.

It's a good thing, too, with traditional coal-fired power plants losing public and political favor as the nation works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"To meet our nation's energy needs, we must have an integrated power grid where nuclear, hydro, natural gas, biomass and clean coal plants supply electricity to support intermittent supplies from wind and solar," Brunell writes.

Read the full column here.

Business must lead the way on environment, McKinstry exec says

Businesses are the new environmentalists, David Allen, executive vice president of McKinstry Company, told AWB board members Tuesday at the association's annual spring meeting.

The business community does not always get its share of credit for the work it has done to advance issues like sustainability and clean technology, Allen said, but business -- by necessity -- is at the heart of the issue.

"There is no vehicle to do anything for the environment if for-profit business doesn't do it," Allen said.

His remarks prefaced the presentation of AWB's Environmental Excellence Awards. Ten companies received recognition for innovative achievements regarding the environment, everything from AquaSeed, a Seattle company that developed a way to raise farm salmon that received the stamp of approval from the Monterey Bay Aquariaum's Seafood Watch program, to Foss Maritime Company, the Seattle company that developed the first and only hybrid tugboat.

McKinstry, which began in 1960 as a plumbing and heating company, is widely recognized as a leader in sustainable building practices. The company now employs 1,800 people in construction, engineering and facility services.