A polluted river runs through the heart of industrial Seattle. The Lower Duwamish waterway was designated a Superfund site in 2001 . Now the community coalition that has spent years helping shape the cleanup plan for this 5-mile stretch of the river says that plan is under assault.

Irreversible sea-level rise is among the permanent consequences of human-caused climate change. That’s one of the findings of the new report out this week from the United Nation’s panel of scientists, the IPCC. On the front lines of the new challenges that poses are Washington’s coastal tribes....