Ashley Ahearn

Environmental Reporter

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Energy
2:55 pm
Thu October 25, 2012

$178 Million Smart Grid Project Launches In Northwest

Credit KUOW Photo/Ashley Ahearn
Jamie Rowe, a graduate student at the University of Washington, shows Senator Maria Cantwell how personal energy monitoring technology works.

The University of Washington got its launch Wednesday as the country's biggest testing ground for smart grid technology.

Smart grid is a catch-all term for something power providers are still trying to figure out — namely, how do you use modern technology, like the Internet, to manage how much power is flowing through the grid at any given time?

Read the full story on KUOW's EarthFix

Clean Water Act
9:41 am
Wed October 17, 2012

How We Got Into Such A Mess With Stormwater

Diver exploring outfall drain in Puget Sound
Credit OPB Photo/Michael Bendixen
Laura James swims inside a stormwater outfall in Puget Sound that she has come to call "The Monster" because of how much runoff billows from it when it rains.

The Clean Water Act took effect 40 years ago Thursday. In 1972, stormwater pollution was nowhere near a top priority. Today, it’s taken the lead as the top water contaminator. How bad is it? Puget Sound diver Laura James takes us where nobody wants to go — inside a stormwater outfall — to get an upclose look.

Read the full story on KUOW's EarthFix

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