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Ban on gas leaf blowers passed in Portland; gradual phase-out begins in 2026

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The whine and stench of gas-powered leaf blowers will soon be a thing of the past in Portland.The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a gradual ban on gas leaf blowers that will eliminate the machines year-round within the next four years.Multnomah County, which co-wrote the ban ordinance, pledged to help small and immigrant-run landscaping businesses with the expense of transitioning to electric and battery-powered blowers. The phase-out will launch in January 2026. For the first two years, gas leaf blowers will be prohibited for nine months out of the year – between January and September – and their use will be allowed during the wet leaf season from October to December.The year-round ban will start on Jan. 1, 2028.Portland is the first in Oregon to pass such a ban. It joins more than 100 U.S. cities, at least one county and the state of California in banning or restricting gas-powered leaf blowers or prohibiting their sale.Portland leaders said gas-powered leaf blowers pose a serious health risk to residents and particularly to the landscape workers who operate them and are exposed all day to their pollutants and noise.Operating a leaf blower for an hour emits the same amount of smog-forming pollutants as driving a Toyota Camry about 1,100 miles, or the distance from Portland to San Diego, based on calculations by the California Air Resources Board. Many gas leaf blowers exceed 85 decibels, which can damage hearing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“This policy will improve physical and mental health for everyone in our city, whether they use gasoline blowers for a living or simply experience them in their neighborhood,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio whose Bureau of Planning and Sustainability worked on the new ordinance.The policy applies to backpack and hand-held leaf blowers. Enforcement will focus on property owners who use leaf blowers or who hire contractors who use them. It will not be directed at landscape businesses or yard-care workers.“The reason for this is to ensure that small businesses and landscape workers, especially those from marginalized communities, don’t bear the brunt of enforcement,” Sonrisa Cooper, the Sustainable Economy and Just Transition Analyst at the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, told the City Council. “The onus is on the property owner to ensure that gas leaf blowers aren’t used on their property.”Implementation, including enforcement of the ban through a complaint-based system, will be managed by Multnomah County acting as the city’s health officer. The county will run a rebate program to help smaller businesses defray up to half the cost of a new electric blower. Local homeowners will be on the hook for replacing their own equipment. Residents and local leaders have tried to restrict use of gas leaf blowers over the past decade. The movement gained momentum five years ago when Portland passed a resolution, sponsored by late Commissioner Nick Fish, directing city bureaus to transition to electric or battery-powered devices and calling for a workgroup to consider a city-wide ban.That workgroup, convened by the city and county two years ago, came up with the phase-out approach. The city received 850 comments on the ban policy, with more than 80 percent of them in support of the ban.During last week’s council meeting, ban supporters emphasized the urgency of the ban due to the machines’ negative health impacts.“Eliminating gasoline blowers from Portland has overwhelming popular support. The sooner, the better. … It’s clearly the will of the people,” Michael Hall, the co-chair of Quiet Clean PDX, told the council. The group has for seven years lobbied city, county and state lawmakers for a ban.City officials said a gradual ban is needed to give homeowners and businesses time to replace their gas-powered equipment. The two-year phase-out also means electric leaf blower technology can further improve.Opponents of the ban – representing golf courses and large landscapers – argued that electric leaf blowers are not yet ready to replace gas-powered ones, especially at the commercial scale, and that the ban would add significant costs beyond the purchase of electric blowers, including multiple battery packs and chargers.“The drawbacks and deficiencies, particularly in a commercial operation, include limited battery life runtime, insufficient power, limited charging infrastructure, the event of regional power grid reliability, recycling limitations and the overall cost of new equipment, batteries and charging stations,” Chuck Wolsborn, a manager at Gresham Golf Course, told council members. “The cost of commercial-grade battery equipment can be two to four times that of gas counterparts.”In voting in favor of the ordinance, council members said it allows the city to recommend code amendments if the electric technology doesn’t sufficiently improve before the full ban goes into effect.Once the ban goes through, enforcement will happen through a complaint-based system. A first violation will result in a warning, but subsequent violations can result in fines of $250, $500 and $1,000. Each day an owner is in violation will be deemed a separate violation.But city and county officials said they hoped the transition would happen without resorting to fines. The county plans to launch a multilingual education campaign on the ban starting in July. It will also partner with nonprofit organizations and the landscaping industry to reach businesses, land owners and residents.City bureaus will also have to abide by the ban. Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees Parks & Recreation, said the bureau has already replaced its hand-held gas blowers with electric ones, but still needed to replace backpack blowers and electrical and charging infrastructure.Last month, the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s advisory committee recommended allocating $1.6 million to the bureau to cover those costs. That’s significant given that 90% of the city’s leaf blower users are employed by Parks & Recreation, according to Ryan.City and county officials acknowledged that Oregon’s electricity isn’t clean yet and continues to rely on natural gas and coal – though that will change over time. State law requires investor-owned utilities – Portland General Electric and Pacific Power – to reach zero emissions by 2040.They also acknowledged the transition to electric blowers would mean higher upfront costs, but the benefits – a quieter city, less air pollution, fewer carbon emissions and lower long-term costs – would outweigh those expenses.“New battery electric blowers suitable for the landscape industry are not cheap,” said John Wasiutynski, the county’s Office of Sustainability Director. “But operators can save money over time since there’s no fuel and less maintenance.”— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a gradual ban on gas leaf blowers that will eliminate the machines year-round within the next four years.

The whine and stench of gas-powered leaf blowers will soon be a thing of the past in Portland.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a gradual ban on gas leaf blowers that will eliminate the machines year-round within the next four years.

Multnomah County, which co-wrote the ban ordinance, pledged to help small and immigrant-run landscaping businesses with the expense of transitioning to electric and battery-powered blowers.

The phase-out will launch in January 2026. For the first two years, gas leaf blowers will be prohibited for nine months out of the year – between January and September – and their use will be allowed during the wet leaf season from October to December.

The year-round ban will start on Jan. 1, 2028.

Portland is the first in Oregon to pass such a ban. It joins more than 100 U.S. cities, at least one county and the state of California in banning or restricting gas-powered leaf blowers or prohibiting their sale.

Portland leaders said gas-powered leaf blowers pose a serious health risk to residents and particularly to the landscape workers who operate them and are exposed all day to their pollutants and noise.

Operating a leaf blower for an hour emits the same amount of smog-forming pollutants as driving a Toyota Camry about 1,100 miles, or the distance from Portland to San Diego, based on calculations by the California Air Resources Board. Many gas leaf blowers exceed 85 decibels, which can damage hearing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This policy will improve physical and mental health for everyone in our city, whether they use gasoline blowers for a living or simply experience them in their neighborhood,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio whose Bureau of Planning and Sustainability worked on the new ordinance.

The policy applies to backpack and hand-held leaf blowers. Enforcement will focus on property owners who use leaf blowers or who hire contractors who use them. It will not be directed at landscape businesses or yard-care workers.

“The reason for this is to ensure that small businesses and landscape workers, especially those from marginalized communities, don’t bear the brunt of enforcement,” Sonrisa Cooper, the Sustainable Economy and Just Transition Analyst at the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, told the City Council. “The onus is on the property owner to ensure that gas leaf blowers aren’t used on their property.”

Implementation, including enforcement of the ban through a complaint-based system, will be managed by Multnomah County acting as the city’s health officer. The county will run a rebate program to help smaller businesses defray up to half the cost of a new electric blower. Local homeowners will be on the hook for replacing their own equipment.

Residents and local leaders have tried to restrict use of gas leaf blowers over the past decade. The movement gained momentum five years ago when Portland passed a resolution, sponsored by late Commissioner Nick Fish, directing city bureaus to transition to electric or battery-powered devices and calling for a workgroup to consider a city-wide ban.

That workgroup, convened by the city and county two years ago, came up with the phase-out approach. The city received 850 comments on the ban policy, with more than 80 percent of them in support of the ban.

During last week’s council meeting, ban supporters emphasized the urgency of the ban due to the machines’ negative health impacts.

“Eliminating gasoline blowers from Portland has overwhelming popular support. The sooner, the better. … It’s clearly the will of the people,” Michael Hall, the co-chair of Quiet Clean PDX, told the council. The group has for seven years lobbied city, county and state lawmakers for a ban.

City officials said a gradual ban is needed to give homeowners and businesses time to replace their gas-powered equipment. The two-year phase-out also means electric leaf blower technology can further improve.

Opponents of the ban – representing golf courses and large landscapers – argued that electric leaf blowers are not yet ready to replace gas-powered ones, especially at the commercial scale, and that the ban would add significant costs beyond the purchase of electric blowers, including multiple battery packs and chargers.

“The drawbacks and deficiencies, particularly in a commercial operation, include limited battery life runtime, insufficient power, limited charging infrastructure, the event of regional power grid reliability, recycling limitations and the overall cost of new equipment, batteries and charging stations,” Chuck Wolsborn, a manager at Gresham Golf Course, told council members. “The cost of commercial-grade battery equipment can be two to four times that of gas counterparts.”

In voting in favor of the ordinance, council members said it allows the city to recommend code amendments if the electric technology doesn’t sufficiently improve before the full ban goes into effect.

Once the ban goes through, enforcement will happen through a complaint-based system. A first violation will result in a warning, but subsequent violations can result in fines of $250, $500 and $1,000. Each day an owner is in violation will be deemed a separate violation.

But city and county officials said they hoped the transition would happen without resorting to fines. The county plans to launch a multilingual education campaign on the ban starting in July. It will also partner with nonprofit organizations and the landscaping industry to reach businesses, land owners and residents.

City bureaus will also have to abide by the ban. Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees Parks & Recreation, said the bureau has already replaced its hand-held gas blowers with electric ones, but still needed to replace backpack blowers and electrical and charging infrastructure.

Last month, the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s advisory committee recommended allocating $1.6 million to the bureau to cover those costs. That’s significant given that 90% of the city’s leaf blower users are employed by Parks & Recreation, according to Ryan.

City and county officials acknowledged that Oregon’s electricity isn’t clean yet and continues to rely on natural gas and coal – though that will change over time. State law requires investor-owned utilities – Portland General Electric and Pacific Power – to reach zero emissions by 2040.

They also acknowledged the transition to electric blowers would mean higher upfront costs, but the benefits – a quieter city, less air pollution, fewer carbon emissions and lower long-term costs – would outweigh those expenses.

“New battery electric blowers suitable for the landscape industry are not cheap,” said John Wasiutynski, the county’s Office of Sustainability Director. “But operators can save money over time since there’s no fuel and less maintenance.”

— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.

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Where the sky keeps bursting

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McDOWELL COUNTY, W.Va. — Carol Lester remembers every flood.The epic one in 1977, when she fled over a mountain with her young children to avoid rising water. The deluges of 2001 and 2002, which left a trail of destruction in this area but somehow spared the modest house she and her husband have shared for more than a half century.But like many others who have spent their lives in the coalfields of southern West Virginia, she had never seen the likes of what arrived on a frigid day this past February. Days of rain sent the Tug Fork River surging from a relatively calm 6.8 feet to a raging 22.7 feet in just 10 hours, filling the river and its tributaries far beyond their banks.“It was like you could hear the devil and his demons in that water,” recalled Lester, 73, who endured a harrowing escape thanks to friends who came to the couple’s rescue. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”“The next flood that comes, there might not be any house.”— Carol LesterAcross McDowell County, the rising water wrecked roads and bridges and left residents stranded. It swallowed cars and trucks, sent debris downstream, flooded homes and claimed three lives, including that of a 2-year-old boy. In the town of Welch, the flood swamped city hall, the library and the sheriff’s station. It also blocked the main road to the hospital.This time, the devastation carried the fingerprints of a mostly invisible but profound atmospheric shift: As the air gets warmer and wetter over time, states within central Appalachia lie within a region particularly vulnerable to the extreme rainfall and the flooding that often follows.To understand how that increasing moisture in the skies has driven these downpours, The Washington Post examined a metric called integrated vapor transport (IVT) — which characterizes where plumes are flowing from and their intensity. Across much of the planet in recent decades, the analysis has found rising temperatures and shifting wind patterns have waterlogged the atmosphere, raising the odds for more destructive, torrential rainstorms that can cause floods.That is true in swaths of the eastern United States, as well as parts of California and other states in the Intermountain West, where atmospheric rivers rising from the Pacific Ocean are slamming into the region with increasing force.But some hot spots in the American West and Northeast are wealthier and have homes and businesses distributed over a wider area, which help make them less vulnerable to punishing storms.In central Appalachia, the changes high above are exacerbating devastation below in an area where mountainous terrain, widespread poverty and infrastructure built along snaking waterways makes preparing for floods difficult — and recovering from them that much tougher.The broader hot spot in the East is one of the longest ones in the world — stretching about 2,000 miles from Florida to Newfoundland, an expanse that is home to roughly 131 million people.Trends dating to 1992 show that central Appalachia sits in an area where this conveyor belt of moisture has increased at some of the highest rates anywhere in the nation. A Post analysis of 75 years of rain gauge data for central Appalachia shows that the area now experiences about two more days of heavy rainfall each year, a 35 percent increase compared to 1950.And in central Appalachia — in a swath where around 8 million people live in cities like Knoxville, Tennessee; Asheville, North Carolina; and Charleston, West Virginia — warming waters in the Gulf create plumes that repeatedly flow across the mountainous region. In West Virginia and Kentucky, for example, around 79 and 93 percent of land area respectively has seen moisture flows increase significantly, repeatedly driving heavy rain.Sometimes, heavy rains that hit these hot spots come as a relief, helping to break droughts. But more often, they arrive as the kind of deluges that can trigger damaging floods.Josh Gibson rides his bike in Welch. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Again and again in recent years, some of central Appalachia’s most devastating disasters have unfolded during periods when plumes of intensely moist air fueled catastrophic rainfall.Such moisture drove the storms in southern West Virginia earlier this year and those the year before. It helped to fuel 2022 floods in eastern Kentucky and April’s floods in northern and western Kentucky. A historic storm battered much of West Virginia in 2016, when as much as 7 inches of rain fell over a period of 24 hours, with flash floods killing at least 23 across the state.The region’s floods have claimed nearly 300 lives since 2000, on average about a dozen per year, a Post analysis of National Weather Service storm events data found.The trend shows no signs of slowing. As long as the planet keeps warming, the atmosphere’s capacity to hold water will increase — at about 4 percent per degree Fahrenheit.Chart showing heavy rain days in Central Appalachia“It’s going to continue to intensify and get worse, and it’s going to happen more frequently,” said Nicolas Zegre, director of the Mountain Hydrology Lab at West Virginia University, whose work is focused on trying to help communities in the region become more resilient to extreme weather events.“We are underprepared in so many ways.”But preparation is complicated, and not just because it’s hard to predict where the next flood will hit.So much of what humans have built in Appalachia is susceptible. That includes homes, businesses, railroad tracks and fire stations.According to the West Virginia Flood Resiliency Framework created by researchers at WVU, the state has more than 80,000 structures that lie in a zone deemed high-risk by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Nearly 200,000 residents also live in these areas.And other factors, including waterways that have long been choked with debris, only exacerbate the rain’s impact.Flooding, Zegre and others are quick to note, is just one of the many challenges of life here and elsewhere in Appalachia. The area is among the poorest in the nation. It has endured the opioid epidemic, population loss and the decline of the coal industry.“Before the disaster even strikes, communities are already stressed,” Zegre said. “There’s food insecurity, there’s drinking water insecurity, there’s employment insecurity, there’s poor public health.”All that combined, he said, leaves many Appalachian communities “in a precarious place.”Children play in a pool on Summers Street in Welch. (Tom Brenner/The Washington Post)Many of the buildings in Welch lie in areas considered at high risk of flooding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Linda Lou Woods stands outside her back door where a watermark is still visible from the February flooding. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Carol Lester is among the stressed, wondering what lies ahead.“This one, it wasn’t normal,” she said of the February storm one afternoon in the living room with donated furniture and the new floor her brother had installed to replace what got ruined. “The water came down so fast, and then it rose so fast. … There was water coming from places I’ve never seen water come from.”She and her husband, John, are back in their home. But even as she says how grateful she is for that, she gestures at the water line still visible on her front door, and the babbling brook out front.“The next flood that comes, there might not be any house.”‘Ground zero for flooding’So many floods have hit the region in recent years, they have become impossible to ignore.“It rains harder and more often than any time I can remember,” said Rodney Fouch, the city manager in Morehead, Kentucky, 60 miles east of Lexington. “We get closer [to flooding] a lot more often.”That was evident last year, when Hurricane Helene dumped biblical rains across five southern Appalachian states. Most deadly in western North Carolina, the floods that followed also killed residents, destroyed homes and wrecked roads in South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.“If we can’t use the rainy day fund for a literal rainy day, why does it even exist? If we can’t use it for an actual emergency, then why do we have it?”— Rev. Brad DavisWhen the flooding hit southern West Virginia in February, the rains also sent rivers rising through Tennessee, Virginia and eastern Kentucky, where nearly two dozen people died. The storm brought reminders of Kentucky’s 2022 flood.“It happens so often now, you kind of forget the year and the time,” Fouch said.If there’s a bull’s eye to the Appalachian flooding hot spot, it’s the hollers where Kentucky meets West Virginia.Map key explaining the colors on the following map representing the share of properties in U.S. counties facing risk of extreme damage from floodingMap showing the share of homes at risk of extreme damage from flooding in U.S. counties. 29% of homes in McDowell County, West Virginia are at risk. Data on the map is from Cotality.Of the 16 U.S. counties that have experienced the most frequent federally declared flooding disasters since 2004, 11 of them are in Kentucky, according to a Post analysis of FEMA disaster declarations. In three of those Kentucky counties, there has been an average of one federally declared flooding disaster every year for the past two decades.Especially in eastern Kentucky, floodplains tend to be among the only places flat enough for towns to grow, said Brian Storz, the Licking River basin coordinator for the Kentucky Division of Water.“We’re kind of ground zero for flooding,” Storz said.There, and in other parts of Appalachia, that recognition is starting to spur more action.In the hardest-hit Kentucky counties, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launched a study this year of how to lower flood risks in the future, whether through infrastructure like dams or levees, or measures such as buyouts of at-risk buildings. The study process typically takes three years, but could take longer given that it covers such a large area, said Laura Mattingly, chief of the planning formulation division of the Army Corps’ Louisville district office.West Virginia will soon embark on two similar studies, its governor announced this summer, nearly a decade after the crippling 2016 floods that spurred calls for ways to protect vulnerable valley towns.A resident of Welch shovels out mud from a damaged downtown apartment building basement. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Officials have been working for years on a project that would guard the West Virginia town of Milton from floodwaters flowing out of the Mud River. And they have acknowledged the project’s rising importance, estimating that if it experienced what is considered a 100-year flood event, waters would inundate some 650 buildings.In east Tennessee, there are efforts to plant hundreds of trees across the barren stretches of packed soil where mines once stood, so that more rain is absorbed into the soil instead of flowing into the Cumberland River. It flows to Nashville, where there are also efforts to increase tree cover and remove pavement to reduce runoff, said Mekayle Houghton, executive director of the Cumberland River Compact.The hope is that, even if the efforts cannot stop the most disastrous flooding, they can limit the damage, Houghton said.In Kentucky, there are ongoing efforts to build entire new communities at higher ground — in some cases, atop former mines. Researchers also are working to develop improved warning systems to detect signs of floods earlier.Scientists have estimated that for every mile of any steadily flowing stream, there are about 10 miles of ephemeral streams that feed it, said Christopher Barton, a professor of forest hydrology and watershed management at the University of Kentucky.Such streams are shallow, narrow and usually dry gullies, and they quickly fill up in a downpour. When many of these small tributaries begin gushing into rivers at once, even the larger waterways can rise quickly and overflow their banks.When a torrent comes, Barton said, “It doesn’t take long to overwhelm those systems.”An abandoned house along the hillside overlooking downtown Welch and the Tug River. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)In eastern Kentucky, some communities are mulling projects that could lower floodwaters by even a few inches. Storz is working with nearly two dozen towns and county governments on plans to widen and deepen floodplains to allow for water that perennially overflows from tributaries of the Licking River.Engineering estimates suggest that in Morehead, that effort could lower floodwaters by at least a few inches, Fouch said.“Two inches doesn’t sound like a lot, unless you’ve had 2 inches in your house before,” he said.You won’t find better people,” Howard Short, who has lived on Summers Street since the 1970s, said of his neighbors in Welch. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Clothing on a tree branch on Elkhorn Creek. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Work to explore the idea, which organizers have dubbed “green sinks,” is funded through FEMA grants that have been frozen by the Trump administration.For now, state and local officials are left hoping the agency will still be able to help the project move to the engineering and construction phase, or that some other source of funding will materialize.Trying to prevent ‘so many heartaches’On a Friday in early April, lawmakers in West Virginia’s capital paused for a moment of prayer for flood victims in the state.House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle (D-Cabell) soon rose. Prayers alone were not enough, he said. “We have the ability to do something earthly.”He had proposed to set aside $250 million — with half of it coming from the state’s $1.4 billion rainy day fund — to help communities in the state better prepare for floods. When that failed, he led an effort to earmark $50 million in the state budget to go toward flood mitigation projects. That proposal failed, too.“It’s just the worry of, is it going to happen again?”— Linda PearsonFor Hornbuckle, there is an economic argument to be made that the state could avoid costly flood damages on the back end with some up-front investment, as well as lessen unemployment and job loss. But also, he said, “It’s a moral issue. We have the obligation as a state to help our residents when they are in need.”But his efforts, like those before, so far have foundered. In 2023, with the backing of then-Gov. Jim Justice (R), lawmakers had created a Flood Resiliency Trust Fund intended to help struggling communities adapt and prepare for the flood risks.Years later, the trust has yet to be funded.Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), whose office did not respond to requests for comment, has acknowledged more extreme rainfall will come. He said he wants to ensure the state is learning from each flood, using damage assessments and post-disaster reviews to guide preparations for the next catastrophe.But he also has stressed how difficult those preparations can be.“It’s pretty unbelievable,” he said during a June news conference after yet another deadly bout of flooding struck northern parts of the state, adding, “You could have large areas where there’s some rain but then in one concentrated area it’s a torrential downpour, and you’re seeing massive quantities of water dumped. It’s just Mother Nature at its worst. And so, it’s not something that’s easy to foresee.”Welch’s downtown, which sits at the confluence of the Tug Fork River and a creek, is particularly flood-prone. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Dried mud from the February flood seen through a downtown storefront window. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Shawn Rutherford talks about the floodwaters that tore through his home in February in Berwind. 'If it does it again, I'm done,' he said. 'I'm out of here.' (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)As lawmakers debated in the state capital and flooding plagued other parts of the state and region, recovery remained a struggle in McDowell County.Long after the February floods, piles of debris and ruined appliances sat stacked in yards and driveways. Many houses remained unlivable or in various states of disrepair. Some residents decided to forego planting gardens over the summer, fearful of what contaminated floodwaters had left behind.The looming threat of future floods only compounds the unease. In the small community of Berwind, Linda Pearson keeps jugs of bleach on her basement stairs as she tries to keep the mold at bay and continues to eye a nearby creek.A downed utility pole near Lester's residence on June 3, months after the floods. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)She finds it hard to rest when it rains and stays awake watching the creek that not long ago swallowed part of her home. “I have a bag packed, and I keep it by our bed,” she said.The Rev. Brad Davis, who pastors five local United Methodist congregations, has been displaced ever since he fled the rising waters inside his Welch home on Lake Drive. It was built in 1950, but until this year had never flooded on the main living area. For now, he still lives in a spare apartment owned by one of his parishioners.“I’m not a scientist, but it seems to me as though the amount of rain being dumped is increasing in a much shorter time window,” said Davis, who grew up in nearby Mingo County.He has been an outspoken critic of the state’s lack of action, and has pushed lawmakers in Charleston to fund the state’s flood resiliency efforts.“We have got to do some things to help ourselves, because it’s going to happen again.”— Mayor Harold McBride“If we can’t use the rainy day fund for a literal rainy day, why does it even exist?” he said. “If we can’t use it for an actual emergency, then why do we have it?”Welch Mayor Harold McBride said he has written to state officials too, asking for more money to build flood walls and an overpass along an especially problematic road in town.At the same time, McBride said, people here take pride in their ability to carry on and persist without outside help. Even the mayor has spent the months since the February flood helping to rebuild parts of town himself — on a June day, he was part of a crew racing to restore the Coaltown Creamery, a city-run ice cream shop, ahead of a weekend festival in town.A young neighborhood resident points to an elevated, occupied home along the Riverside Drive hill in Welch. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)Still, he is hopeful help will come — from the governor, from FEMA, from anywhere. But he also knows residents can’t wait around for support that might never arrive, that they must figure out how to better protect this place from the water that can change so much in a flash.“In the past, the only thing we do is shovel the mud and forget about it,” he said. “But we have got to do some things to help ourselves prepare, because it’s going to happen again.”About this storyStory editing by Paulina Firozi, Simon Ducroquet, Anu Narayanswamy and Katie Zezima. Additional editing by Juliet Eilperin. Photo editing by Dominique Hildebrand. Video editing by John Farrell. Copy editing by Gaby Morera Di Núbila.Design and development by Talia Trackim and Hailey Haymond. Design editing by Betty Chavarria.MethodologyTo examine trends in heavy rainfall The Post analyzed 75 years of rain gauge data from 28 stations in three central subregions of Appalachia produced by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. The area encompasses all of West Virginia and portions of Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.To define what counts as a heavy rainfall day, The Post used the period from 1950 to 1989 as the base for determining the 95th percentile precipitation event at each station. Days with at least 0.5 millimeters of precipitation were included. Using a simple linear regression, The Post measured the change in frequency of the 95th percentile rain events at each station from 1950 to 2024.The analysis showed a significant positive trend in 95th percentile rain events in the central regions of Appalachia, where the number of days each year with heavy rainfall has increased by two, a 35 percent increase.To investigate global changes in extreme precipitation, The Post measured the amount of water vapor flowing through Earth’s atmosphere, a metric called integrated vapor transport (IVT). The analysis also identified days and locations where heavy rainfall coincided with high IVT. See more about The Post’s methodology for the IVT analysis here.

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Group Unveils Vision to Upgrade Limón Costa Rica

Eco Innovation Group has released a detailed redevelopment plan for Limón, aiming to turn the Caribbean city into a key economic center for Costa Rica. The company, in partnership with WRA Holdings, outlined the initiative as part of a proposed merger that could bring major infrastructure changes to the region. The plan focuses on building […] The post Group Unveils Vision to Upgrade Limón Costa Rica appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Eco Innovation Group has released a detailed redevelopment plan for Limón, aiming to turn the Caribbean city into a key economic center for Costa Rica. The company, in partnership with WRA Holdings, outlined the initiative as part of a proposed merger that could bring major infrastructure changes to the region. The plan focuses on building a connected network of transport systems in Limón. It calls for upgrading the port with better cargo facilities, new tech for cleaner shipping, and more space for cruise ships. A new international airport would move to the city’s western side, linking directly to rail lines and logistics routes. This setup would help move goods and people more efficiently across the country. Limón’s city center would see updates too. The vision includes a walking path along the waterfront, a small marina area with shops, and a refreshed main street that keeps the area’s Caribbean style. A central square and updated church would serve as spots for people to meet. WRA Holdings leads the effort, with projects that include a national rail system tying the north and Caribbean areas together. Other parts cover waste-to-energy plants, water cleaning systems, beach fixes, and health facilities. The first steps involve a facility in Abangares for turning waste into power and a share in the Pacífico rail line. Leaders from both companies see this as a way to grow the economy while caring for the environment. Richard Hawkins, head of Eco Innovation Group, said the plan links infrastructure, people, and green practices on a country-wide scale. Cornel Alvarado, who runs WRA Holdings, added that they aim to build a growth model that honors Costa Rica’s past and sets up for future trade. The overall effort fits into Costa Rica’s larger push for rail and green updates, valued between $3.8 billion and $5 billion. Early work could see $800 million spent, with expectations of $3 billion in earnings over five years. Jobs would come in areas like shipping, clean energy, and travel, drawing more people and firms to Limón. Limón has long served as a trade point, but faces issues with old setups and growth limits. This plan seeks to fix that by making it a main entry for visitors and business from the Caribbean side. It also stresses green steps, like renewable power sources, waste handling, clean water lines, parks, and protected zones to cut down on harm to nature. The merger between Eco Innovation Group and WRA Holdings remains in early talks, with a letter of intent signed to swap shares. If it goes through, the combined group would handle these projects under public company rules. Eco Innovation Group trades as ECOX and helps small firms go public. Costa Rican officials have not yet commented on the plan, but it lines up with national goals for better trade and tourism. Limón’s role could strengthen, helping the province catch up with other parts of our country in development. Residents in Limón might see better living conditions from new jobs and fixed-up spaces. The plan pushes for training programs to prepare locals for roles in the updated systems. This comes as Costa Rica works to balance growth with its strong environmental record. The Caribbean coast holds rich natural areas, and the plan claims to protect them while adding modern features. More details could emerge as the merger talks advance. For now, the vision offers a clear path to remake Limón into a bustling hub that serves both locals and the wider economy. The post Group Unveils Vision to Upgrade Limón Costa Rica appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Business
Energy
Health

Environmental activists battle nurdles on Galveston shores, calling for regulation

Environment Texas and the Turtle Island Restoration Network held a beach cleanup in Galveston on Nov. 7 to help rid the shore of nurdles. The groups also recently asked state leaders for more nurdle regulation since they said the pellets can be a threat to wildlife and people.

Julianna Washburn/HPMVolunteer Laura Leavitt works alongside another volunteer to collect nurdles at a beach cleanup in Galveston on Nov. 7, 2025.On Nov. 7, Laura Leavitt knelt on the Galveston shore beside her best friend, picking tiny bits of plastic out of the sand. The two friends were among around 20 other volunteers working piece by piece to help rid the beach of nurdles — small plastic pellets used to create plastic products such as soda bottles or cottage cheese containers. "What we don’t take care of circles back to us, and I think just from picking up a piece of trash in your neighborhood, you’re contributing," Leavitt said. The group of volunteers was part of Environment Texas and the Turtle Island Restoration Network's Galveston cleanup. Along with continued nurdle beach cleanups, the groups also recently asked state leaders for more nurdle regulation since they said the pellets can be a threat to wildlife and people. "We’re not asking for plastic production to be stopped. We’re asking for regulations to be in place to keep it safe for our environment," Joanie Steinhaus, who is the ocean program director for the Turtle Island Restoration Network, said. There are 36 facilities in Texas that produce nurdles, with three facilities along Galveston Bay, according to Turtle Island. Steinhaus said companies transport the microplastics to other facilities by truck or train in order to make the plastic products. Steinhaus said since nurdles are lightweight, when they spill during manufacturing or transport, they escape into the environment and eventually work their way onto Texas beaches. On Nov. 7, volunteers collected 1,216 nurdles. Since 2020, Steinhaus said Turtle Island has collected over 16,000 nurdles on Galveston beaches, which she said is a concern for wildlife and humans since nurdles attach to toxins in the water. "If you happen to eat fish that’s ingested nurdles, you’re not eating the plastic nurdles, but you could be eating the toxins that work their way into the flesh of the fish," Steinhaus said. "If there’s fertilizers or pesticides or chemicals, gas, oil that’s released out into the gulf and it attaches to these nurdles, then that’s not good for us to have in our bodies." Julianna Washburn/HPMA volunteer holds the nurdles they collected at a beach cleanup in Galveston on Nov. 7, 2025.Steinhaus said environmental groups across Texas, along with charter boat captains and businesses, have called on Gov. Greg Abbott to direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to include nurdles in its updated surface water quality standards, a process that is expected to be finalized in 2026. "That would give [the facilities] some regulations, some push if there’s a discharge, if there’s a train spill or a truck spill," Steinhaus said. At its Oct. 23 meeting, the Galveston City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the state to enact policies to protect the city from plastic pellets and other forms of pre-production plastic pollution. Only one day before the beach cleanup, however, Abbott announced that Formosa Plastics will open a new facility in Jackson County, near the Matagorda Bay, located southwest of Galveston. "Texas leads the nation in chemical production and exports," Abbott said in the news release. "This $150 million investment by Formosa Plastics will grow good-paying jobs for Texans, expand economic opportunity in Jackson County, and further our state's manufacturing leadership." In 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Formosa Plastics, with claims that the company violated the Clean Water Act by discharging nurdles into the bay at its Point Comfort facility. The lawsuit was settled, and Formosa Plastics agreed to prevent the further discharge of plastics. Steinhaus said she thought the announcement of a new facility was unfortunate, since it will add to the number of existing plastic-producing facilities. "We don’t need more, we need less,” Steinhaus said. “We can’t recycle our way. We need to stop our consumption of plastic because there’s so much plastic in the world." Abbott and Formosa Plastics did not respond to a request for comment on nurdle production regulations.

Business
Chemicals
Pollution

Lights out: can we stop glow-worms and fireflies fading away?

From night walks with children to switching off streetlights and rewilding areas, naturalists are working to save Europe’s dwindling populations An hour or so after sunset, green twinkles of possibility gleam beneath the hedgerows of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset. Under an orange August moon, the last female glow-worms of the season are making one final push at finding a mate.For almost 20 years, Peter Bright and other volunteers have combed the village’s shrubberies and grasslands, searching for the bioluminescent beetles as part of the UK glow-worm survey. Most years, they have counted between 100 and 150, rising to 248 in 2017.Ben Cooke, a National Trust ranger, places a glow-worm trap near Winspit Quarry in Dorset. Photograph: P Flude/Guardian Continue reading...

An hour or so after sunset, green twinkles of possibility gleam beneath the hedgerows of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset. Under an orange August moon, the last female glow-worms of the season are making one final push at finding a mate.For almost 20 years, Peter Bright and other volunteers have combed the village’s shrubberies and grasslands, searching for the bioluminescent beetles as part of the UK glow-worm survey. Most years, they have counted between 100 and 150, rising to 248 in 2017.During last year’s wet summer and this year’s dry one, they found barely 50, says Bright, a retired science teacher taking a group on a late-night glow-worm walk. By August, the remaining lights are something of a lonely hearts club – many of the adult males have already died.Glow-worms and fireflies comprise about 2,200 species of bioluminescent beetles around the world, with 65 found in Europe. The UK has two, including the common glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) – which is not a worm and only the females truly glow – while Italy has 17 species.Across Europe, five species of glow-worm are threatened with extinction, another two are endangered, and the common glow-worm is classified as near threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.“Once, these things were much more common than they are now,” says Tim Gardiner, an entomologist. “Nobody could have realised what would happen to them.” His 18-year survey found that the numbers of L noctiluca in Essex were falling by about 3.5% a year.Similar trends have been observed in France, Germany and Spain, though the insects, which live quiet, secretive lives in the foliage, are not easy to survey accurately. “There is so much that we don’t know about fireflies,” says Ana Catalán, who researches firefly genomics at Germany’s Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.Their vulnerability is part of a much larger story: more than 40% of insect species are in decline, according to a global review from 2019, and scientists have warned that the picture may be more dire than is already known. Ana Catalán, an evolutionary biologist, checks a global firefly collection for a DNA study at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich’s biomedical centre, and a researcher checks his trap for fireflies “We need more data,” says Alan Stewart, an ecologist at the University of Sussex, adding: “We haven’t really got the luxury of waiting another 50 years to find out.”For glow-worms, some of the threats are clear. Hotter summers threaten the slugs and snails they feed on as larvae, while habitat loss and fragmentation have extinguished whole populations. As female glow-worms cannot fly, they are bound to spend their lives close to where they hatched, so a change as seemingly minor as a new ditch can devastate a population.Light pollution disrupts their mating displays, with artificial lights sometimes luring males away from the female’s green glow. “Street lights are a real hazard to them,” says John Tyler, a naturalist who has studied the insects for decades.These trends recur around the world. In Italy, more agricultural activity on the plains of northern Italy and in the northern Apennine mountains has been linked with declining numbers of a range of different species, according to a 2020 study published in the journal BioScience.In Spain, the abandonment of small orchards – and the lack of irrigation that follows – makes it harder for snails, glow-worms’ preferred food, to thrive. In both countries, more streetlights seem to correlate with fewer glow-worms.We realised that to protect and preserve this place, we had to make people love itSome people have attempted to take matters into their own hands. Fabio Falchi, an Italian physics professor and light-pollution expert in Mantua, Lombardy, took steps to reduce light pollution in his garden, including using motion sensors for outdoor lights and allowing it to grow wild.Now, Falchi says: “Every May, our lawn comes alive with their tiny flickers. It’s beautiful to watch them move.” Their cat, he adds, is mesmerised.Others have proposed more drastic steps. Since 2020, Pete Cooper, an ecologist and species-reintroduction specialist in Bristol, has bred glow-worms in captivity, with a view to re-establishing healthy populations in places where they have not been seen for decades.As part of a partnership between Restore, an ecological restoration business, and the Wildwood Trust, a conservation organisation with parks in Kent and Devon, many of these insects will be reintroduced to Nosterfield nature reserve, near Ripon in North Yorkshire.But it will take years to determine the success of their efforts – glow-worms have a two-year life cycle – and some optimism is involved, Cooper says. “That’s the thing with glow-worm reintroduction – it’s not as simple as you’d think.”Tyler says: “We don’t know what habitat is good for them, in any detail. You can find sites that look ideal, but if you try to introduce or reintroduce glow-worms, you can never guarantee that they’ll take.”Glow-worm enthusiasts are divided on reintroduction efforts, which they worry may distract from preserving existing populations or embolden developers to build in ancient countryside.“Before you reintroduce something, you really need to know why it disappeared in the first place,” says Stewart. “Otherwise, they’re not going to survive.”Rewilding can help bolster the insects in riverside areas where they already thrive, says Gardiner. “You need to manage the habitats quite well,” he says. “The corridors between them have disappeared in the last 70 years – hedgerows removed, meadows ploughed up.”Areas that have been rewilded sometimes see glow-worm populations boom. In the early 1990s, a group of volunteers in the Italian village of Binasco, near Milan, began reclaiming and revitalising a plot of land between the highway and a local sports pitch.After a few years, they noticed more and more fireflies, says Ruggero Rognoni, a member of the local environmental association.“We realised that to protect and preserve this place, we had to make people love it,” Rognoni says.A first step was inviting local children to come for night walks to see the fireflies with their parents, a tradition that has continued. “That’s how we’ve managed to protect it,” he says.Such walks exist around the world and are growing in popularity. On the glow-worm walk in Westbury, locals linger along country paths, as a barn owl screeches overhead. Over a couple of hours, careful eyes spot almost a dozen female glow-worms waiting at ankle-height.The average glow-worm female lays 100 to 150 eggs – it’s a numbers’ game. You might have a brilliant year, then it might suddenly crashAmanda Bennett, 48, gently pulls a female from the grass and places it on her hand, transfixed by the green glow that spreads across her fingers. “I can’t believe I’ve never seen one before,” she says.Glow-worms were once a far more common sight, especially for people strolling on summer nights.Tyler was first introduced to them about 50 years ago, in a family friend’s garden. “I didn’t even know they were real,” he says.That night, Tyler saw more than he has on any single occasion since. “It was like looking down on a village,” he adds. “All these dots of light.”They have an unusual capacity to captivate people. John Horne, an amateur naturalist, first discovered them in his Hampshire garden about 25 years ago.After observing them for years, including discovering Phosphaenus hemipterus, a rarer species, Horne is more optimistic about their prospects than some. “The average glow-worm female lays 100 to 150 eggs – it’s a numbers’ game,” he says. “You might have a brilliant year, and then it might suddenly crash.”Where many species find it harder to capture the imagination, glow-worms can be a “gateway drug”, as Cooper puts it, for connecting with nature.Tyler says: “If it has to start with something that glows out of its bottom, then so be it.”Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage

Business
Conservation
Extinction

Opinion: Make Oregon a magnet for opportunity

The warning signs of an economy under pressure are all around, from mass layoffs to companies moving out of state, writes Karla S. Chambers, co-founder and co-owner of Stahlbush Island Farms. The state must focus on how to reduce barriers, grow the economy and help businesses stay competitive.

Karla S. ChambersFor The Oregonian/OregonLiveChambers is co-founder and co-owner of Stahlbush Island Farms, Inc. in Corvallis. She also served on the Federal Reserve Boards of San Francisco and Portland and serves on the Oregon State University Board of Trustees. Oregon’s job market is flashing red warning lights – and the numbers tell a troubling story. Mass layoff filings now rival or exceed levels seen during the 2008–2009 housing crash, as The Oregonian/OregonLive recently reported, (“Oregon mass layoffs approach Great Recession levels,” Sept. 14.) State data show nearly 25,000 net job losses over the past year, with layoffs cutting deep into manufacturing and technology. Intel, Nike, ESS Tech, Fred Meyer, Roseburg Forest Products and JELD-WEN are among major employers announcing reductions. In ESS Tech’s case, the company closed altogether. Job losses aren’t the only concern. The Tax Foundation ranked Oregon 35th in the nation for tax competitiveness, falling from 33rd last year. Oregon ranks near last in manufacturing growth according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and seventh nationally for regulatory burden, according to George Mason University. Oregon’s business friendliness ranks 47th, according to CNBC, and we’re 43rd for cost of doing business.Meanwhile, the main sectors adding jobs are health care and government — and even hospitals report operating losses under rising costs and staffing mandates. When employment depends on government and health care instead of private-sector innovation, the warning lights are flashing. Oregon depends on personal income taxes for 81% of the general fund. To fund government and support schools, health care, environmental stewardship and the services we all value, the state needs a stable, growing private sector. But Oregon is making it harder for private businesses to flourish. Business has survived COVID-19, a spike in inflation, higher interest rates and tariffs. State and local governments are trying to solve their rising costs by passing on higher taxes, fees, fines, annual permit costs – to business – all while making compliance more complicated. We are watching many businesses leave the state; expand their operations elsewhere; reduce staff or close. Locally, our water bill has eight additional taxes and fees that have nothing to do with water, including charges for street maintenance, transit, urban forestry and sidewalk maintenance. Meeting payroll means ensuring compliance with new minimum wage rates, new overtime rules, new taxes based on payroll and family-leave program taxes. The state’s transportation bill has new gas taxes, vehicle registration fees, mileage charges and more. It is not any one cost but the total burden that is making Oregon uncompetitive. Neighboring states continue to grow jobs and attract employers – including those that used to call Oregon home. Dutch Bros’ headquarters has relocated to Arizona, a state which recently crowed about the billions in new investment anticipated from overseas companies and expansions of existing employers.Oregon, by contrast, is watching the Oregon forest products industry expand billions into North and South Carolina; our agricultural firms expand into Idaho; food processing plants like Pacific Foods closing its Tualatin facility and moving manufacturing out-of-state; and a record number of job losses in high tech and manufacturing. When we lose a manufacturing business, we lose family-wage jobs, innovation and the broad economic impact. These companies have many employees, vendors and customers and add value to basic commodities, creating new products through innovation.Oregon can change course, but it will take courage and accountability. We must:Reduce regulatory burdens that discourage investment. That means taking a sharper look at the collective fees and taxes the state puts on businesses and reducing them. Streamline state government to improve efficiency: For example, our food processing company must go through the industry’s most rigorous food safety audits, which take three or four days compared to cursory one-day audits conducted by state agencies. The state can reduce the time and expense for businesses by accepting the certification provided by these higher-intensity audits rather than insisting on an Oregon-specific one. Other industries have similar examples of redundant requirements. Reignite innovation by linking business, universities, and community colleges in public-private partnerships. Between Silicon Valley and Seattle lies a natural home for advanced manufacturing and sustainable technology. The University of Oregon and Oregon State University help create many new business start-ups. Our culture of innovation is strong, however we do not retain these new businesses due to our costly business policies. Fix our business climate, put Business Oregon into a public/private partnership and reinvigorate recruitment.We have everything we need to thrive — forests, farmland, clean water, renewable energy, world-class universities and a skilled workforce. What we lack is leadership that rewards productivity and entrepreneurship rather than layering on cost and complexity. Oregonians know how to innovate – Corvallis once had the highest patent rates per capita, powered by research and private collaboration. That same spirit can rebuild our economy, if we summon the will to lead again. Where will our children and grandchildren build their futures? If we want them to stay in Oregon, we must make this state a magnet for opportunity — not regulation.Share your opinion Submit your essay of 600-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. No attachments, please. Please include your email and phone number for verification. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Business
Climate
Energy

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