Pollution from Canadian mines is endangering one of Idaho's largest rivers.

Selenium and other pollutants from coal mines across the northern border are impacting fish species in the Kootenai River.

Environmental director for the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Genny Hoyle, said selenium is reducing or eliminating culturally important fish species.

"We have the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon," said Hoyle. "It's a federally listed species. We have burbot - also a culturally important fish species for food. So when these populations disappear, you're also impacting treaty rights."

Hoyle said past cross-border attempts to solve this issue have broken down. Selenium in the Kootenai River has raised concerns in North Idaho for decades.

Jennifer Ekstrom, the North Idaho Lakes conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, said mine operators in Canada need to install wastewater treatment facilities.

To compel them to do so, she said the International Joint Commission needs to be put to work.

Ekstrom said U.S. Sen. Jim Risch - R-Idaho - is in a key position to help this happen, as the highest ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

"The highest levels of government in the United States - the State Department and the EPA - they're calling for a referral to the International Joint Commission," said Ekstrom. "But having our Republican senator's support would go a long way to actually getting the referral to happen."

Hoyle noted that there could be more threats to the river because new mines are going through the permitting process across the border in British Columbia.

"The Kootenai Tribe isn't opposed to mining," said Hoyle. "We just would like them to clean up the pollution coming out of those mines."

Advocates of electric vehicles are countering what they call misleading claims about the effects of EV production in Michigan.

Critics of electric vehicles argued prioritizing EV production could harm traditional auto manufacturing jobs, and said the focus should be on safeguarding such roles and strengthening U.S. control within the auto industry.

David Kieve, president of EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, said EV policies have already generated billions in investments and promise to create more high-paying jobs in Michigan.

"I think one of the things that we've been particularly focused on is the GM Lansing Grand River Plant," Kieve pointed out. "These aren't jobs that might come at some point in the future, these are current jobs that are here right now."

Opponents of the electric vehicle trend also warn more EV projects risk making the Great Lakes State reliant on foreign investments tied to China, raising economic and security issues.

Kieve emphasized Michigan, known for "putting the world on wheels," should not view EV production as a lost cause because China has a head start. He called that view "defeatist," among other things.

"It sells short Michigan autoworkers' ability to compete against the rest of the world, including against China," Kieve argued.

He also noted traditional vehicle pollution affects lower-income and minority communities the most, giving them the most to gain from EVs, in terms of cleaner air and reduced health and vehicle maintenance costs. Michigan has about 43,000 registered EVs on the road, fewer than the 60,000 originally projected by this time by state officials.

Despite their growing popularity, consumers in New York and nationwide still face misconceptions about electric vehicles.

One of the most pervasive is about colder climates reducing battery efficiency, which many energy and environmental agencies have resoundingly found false.

Kate Kruk, president of the New York Capital District Electric Vehicle Association, said given the evolution of EVs since they first hit the road, people can benefit from EVs any time of year.

"Most modern EVs have such advanced battery management systems it kind of minimizes that impact," Kruk pointed out. "You can use features a lot of electric vehicles have called preconditioning, which can ready your car so the car is already warm when you're ready to go so it doesn't reduce that range as much."

From Kruk's own experience as a longtime EV driver and upstate New Yorker, she feels an EV is better equipped to tackle the region's snowy winters, because an EV's battery runs across the bottom of its chassis making for better weight distribution on slippery roads. With a gas-powered car, most of the weight is in the front with the engine which can make it harder to control on the snow and ice.

Aside from driving capabilities, EV's pose many cost, health and safety benefits for consumers. Though it has translated into increasing consideration to buy an EV, there is still some reluctance to purchase one.

Kruk argued the biggest challenge is in a driver's mind, given so many have only traveled in fossil-fuel-powered vehicles.

"Once we get over that general kind of anxiety, it can play out and hopefully we can start to be a little bit more open to different ideas," Kruk contended. "Something, again, only knowing or only coming from a background driving in a fossil fuel vehicle, range anxiety is very real and it becomes a challenge to get people over that hump."

The election could test the country's love of EVs. Former president Donald Trump claims Vice President Kamala Harris will implement an EV mandate to cripple the auto industry, though the claim is false. Kruk added no matter the election's outcome, there will not be much of a change in the country's adoption of EVs.

"The ship has sailed," Kruk emphasized. "I think we're ready to move forward especially knowing that the United States can be and should be a leader in e-mobility and technology."

A national nonprofit dedicated to empowering Latino communities and improving access to public resources has launched a $10 million initiative to increase urban tree canopies in underserved areas across the United States, including the Sunshine State.

Hispanic Access has launched the Nuestros Bosques: Faith-Based and Strategic Local Investments program, which provides grants ranging from $50,000 to $1 million for projects to enhance environmental resilience, particularly in neighborhoods vulnerable to urban heat and pollution.

Amaris Alanis Ribeiro is director of forestry at Hispanic Access, and said the program is designed to empower communities with more than just greenery.

"I think our angle of calling it nuestros bosque signifies that it's about a reciprocal relationship with our forest," said Ribeiro. "This is our environment, and having that long-term relationship with the environment is key."

The Nuestros Bosques program, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, encourages faith-based organizations, Indigenous groups and local nonprofits to apply.

Its 80% funding focus is on disadvantaged communities. Applications are open until November 15, and interested organizations can apply through the Hispanic Access Foundation's website.

Ribeiro said the initiative highlights the role of faith-based organizations and Indigenous groups, among the key eligible applicants, in fostering a community-based approach to environmental care.

"The way our communities, especially Black and brown communities, connect with the environment," said Ribeiro, "with our ancestral knowledge, our indigenous knowledge, has been through a spiritual and cultural way."

Funding will be allocated to projects focusing on urban tree planting and maintenance, planning, and community engagement around forestry.

In Miami Beach, city officials plan to use the funds to expand native tree coverage along the Beachwalk path, which spans Miami's east coast, to mitigate urban heat and flooding risks.

The City of Hollywood plans to use the funds to plant nearly 500 trees in disadvantaged neighborhoods - including species such as the southern oak, royal poinciana and Sabal palms.




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