Weekly Green: April 18, 2014

In recent headlines:

• National Parks Week starts this Saturday;
• EPA drastically underestimates methane released at drilling sites;
• Bombshell: Study Ties Epic California Drought, ‘Frigid East’ To Manmade Climate Change;
• California panel postpones decision on protecting gray wolves;
• ... and much more!

» Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Green, your no-frills news roundup provided free of charge by the California League of Conservation Voters. If you're not a regular subscriber, sign up today! Get your free subscription here: http://ecovote.org/wg

Top News

National Parks Week starts Saturday, April 19
National Parks Week starts this Saturday, April 19, and that means lots of activities, volunteer opportunities, and FREE ADMISSION to many of California's pristine National Parks!
http://ecovote.org/nationalparksweek

EPA drastically underestimates methane released at drilling sites
Drilling operations at several natural gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania released methane into the atmosphere at rates that were 100 to 1,000 times greater than federal regulators had estimated, new research shows.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-methane-emissions-natural-gas-fracking-20140414,0,2417418.story

Bombshell: Study Ties Epic California Drought, ‘Frigid East’ To Manmade Climate Change
Natural variability alone cannot explain the extreme weather pattern that has driven both the record-setting California drought and the cooler weather seen in the Midwest and East this winter, a major new study finds.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/15/3426810/california-drought-climate-change/

California panel postpones decision on protecting gray wolves
The Fish and Game Commission is giving itself another 90 days. Wildlife officials believe California will host a functional gray wolf population within 10 years.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-california-wolves-20140417,0,3584991.story#axzz2z4ooJw00

Drakes Bay Oyster Co. takes fight to U.S. Supreme Court
The appeal to the high court is the latest legal maneuver as the oyster farm attempts to remain open in the face of a federal government order to shut down.
http://www.mercurynews.com/food-wine/ci_25570446/drakes-bay-oyster-co-takes-fight-u-s?source=rss#

Pitzer College selling fossil fuel stocks in environmental move
Pitzer College, a liberal arts school in Claremont, has joined the vanguard of U.S. campuses deciding to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies as a statement of concern about global warming.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pitzer-divestment-20140415,0,1879950.story?track=rss#axzz2ywhVxYit

More on the Drought

A sip to quench the thirst
Some thirsty California cities and farms will receive a sip of water — not nearly enough to solve drought-induced woes but better than the nothing folks had been expecting.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/18/a-sip-to-quench-the-thirst/

Field Poll: Drought responses split California
Californians agree their state is parched, but they diverge by region on how supplies dried up and what should be done about the drought.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/16/6327692/field-poll-drought-responses-split.html

Sneeze, wheeze, allergies: Valley's drought making it worse
The drought is drying up Valley farms -- but not noses. The dry, warm spring has kicked allergy season into overdrive. Pollen counts began spiking early, in February instead of their typical arrival this month, and except for a storm or two in March there hasn't been rain to wash the pollen away.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/04/17/3882818/sneeze-wheeze-allergies-valleys.html

New California drought plan -- more questions
A half dozen representatives of government agencies gathered this week and touted California's newly minted "Drought Operations Plan" to survive the rest of this year on very little water and prepare for 2015. But it all sounds very familiar.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/04/11/3872448/new-drought-plan-more-questions.html

Farms feel drought’s wrath
California’s severe drought is having a profound effect on farming and an unprecedented amount of acreage likely will be left fallow, the Brown administration’s top agriculture official said today.
http://capitolweekly.net/farms-feel-droughts-wrath/

State, federal officials' drought plan already stirring up trouble for competing water interests California and federal officials Wednesday released a roadmap for managing the state's scarce water in a way that they say balances the needs of people and wildlife.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2014/04/09/16334/state-federal-officials-drought-plan-already-stirr/

Environmentalists slam Dianne Feinstein’s drought bill
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s revised drought bill is coming under increasing attack from the left even as the California Democrat tries to woo Republicans to speed the bill’s passage through the Senate without committee consideration.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/04/15/environmentalists-slam-dianne-feinsteins-drought-bill/

California News

Appeals court rules for environmentalists in Delta water fight
An appeals court says federal officials should have consulted wildlife agencies about potential harm to a tiny, threatened fish before issuing contracts for water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_25579335/appeals-court-rules-environmentalists-delta-water-fight?source=rss

PG&E tax, fee payouts throughout California top $302 million
San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. says it has paid property taxes and franchise fees totaling more than $302 million to the 49 counties and 243 cities in which it operates in California.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/17/6332869/pge-tax-fee-payouts-throughout.html#mi_rss=Our%20Region

Gasoline prices jump in California as refineries encounter trouble
The statewide average for a gallon of regular has surged 13 cents in a week. Analysts differ on when prices will begin to drop.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gas-prices-20140418,0,3834291.story

Residents express outcry over Chevron Richmond's modernization project
More than 60 people addressed the city's Planning Commission on Thursday, saying the environmental report describing Chevron Corp.'s proposed $1 billion modernization of its local refinery does too little to reduce pollutants and ensure safety.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/portal/west-county-times/ci_25590885/residents-express-outcry-over-chevron-richmonds-modernization-project

Top Democratic Lawmaker Backs Off ‘Carbon Tax’
The state Senate leader on Monday backed off an unpopular proposal for a so-called carbon tax on consumer fuels and instead wants to dedicate billions of dollars generated by California’s greenhouse gas reduction law to affordable housing, mass transit and high-speed rail.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/04/14/top-democratic-lawmaker-backs-off-carbon-tax/

Sacramento photographer Tom Myers, 88, captured vivid images of the West
Tom Myers, a Sacramento photographer whose vivid images of animals, places and people in California and the West have appeared in national magazines, books and on greeting cards, died April 7 of cancer, his family said. He was 88.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/17/6334183/obituary-sacramento-photographer.html#mi_rss=Our%20Region

California scenic coastal expanse preserved near Santa Cruz
Cementing protection for one of the largest privately owned pieces of land on California's 1,100-mile coastline, a San Francisco environmental group on Monday donated to the public the Coast Dairies property -- a pastoral expanse of rolling meadows, redwood forests and panoramic ocean views north of Santa Cruz.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25566354/california-scenic-coastal-expanse-preserved-near-santa-cruz?source=email

'Condor Watch' enlists citizen to help endangered species
Biologists studying the endangered California condor have launched a new web site to enlist the help of citizen scientists in research aimed at reducing lead poisoning, the primary threat to condors in the wild.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ucsc/ci_25580737/condor-watch-enlists-citizen-help-endangered-species?source=rss

Owens Valley mobilizes against proposed DWP solar project
One by one, a parade of Owens Valley residents rose at a public hearing Tuesday to assail the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's plan to meet its renewable energy goals by covering 2 square miles of high desert with 1 million solar panels.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-owens-solar-20140416,0,1493394.story#axzz2ywhVxYit

New chromium-6 water regulation draws fire from Erin Brockovich, water industry officials
The first water standard in the nation for chromium-6 has drawn fire from Erin Brockovich and residents of the town the movie about her made famous
http://www.dailybulletin.com/article/20140416/NEWS/140419418

Coastal Commission reopens fight over L.A. beach curfew in Venice
The city has long contended that the curfew was needed to deter crime. It also has maintained that the commission has jurisdiction over only physical structures at the beach.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-coastal-commission-20140415,0,4392159.story?track=rss#axzz2ywhVxYit

Household rat poison linked to death and disease in wildlife
Evidence of rat poison is found in a sickly puma whose territory includes Griffith Park. Researchers suspect a link between poisons and mange.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-rat-poison-20140418,0,7729549.story?track=rss#axzz2z4ooJw00

California braces for a massive increase in oil-by-rail imports
There are no pipelines that bring crude oil into California.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/apr/12/no-headline---oil_shipments/

How they killed the Seaworld bill
SeaWorld won the day with a potent mix of persuasive reasoning and hardball politics.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/12/how-the-seaworld-bill-went-down/

San Diego County board opposes curtailing orca shows at SeaWorld
The county Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 1 Tuesday to oppose any attempt by the state Legislature to "eliminate or restrict the use of orcas at SeaWorld."
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln--supervisors-orcas20140415,0,1828229.story#axzz2ywhVxYit

Garcetti makes new pitch for L.A. River plan
Faced with losing an ambitious $1-billion plan to revamp the Los Angeles River, Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday raised the stakes by offering to split the cost with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-river-20140412,0,4788444.story#axzz2yedPEoGS

Report: California still a force in wind power, but trails Texas in key areas
California, a world leader in wind energy development in the 1980s and 1990s, now ranks behind Texas in wind power capacity and industry jobs, according to the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/11/6316662/report-california-still-a-force.html#mi_rss=Business

Barbara Boxer: cancer another Keystone byproduct
Sen. Barbara Boxer opened another front on the battle over the Keystone pipeline, arguing that the Obama administration should further delay a permitting decision until a full study of the pipeline’s effects on human health is carried out, beyond its anticipated effect on the climate.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/04/11/barbara-boxer-cancer-another-keystone-byproduct/

ARB, Tesla at odds over rebate cuts for electric vehicles
Electric vehicles costing more than $60,000 may be eliminated from a major rebate program and the incentives themselves would be reduced to a fifth of their current level – moves that would cut popular Tesla Motors’ models from the rebates entirely.
http://capitolweekly.net/tesla-rebates-california-cap-msrp/

LA leads cities in solar energy production
Los Angeles leads major cities across the nation in the amount of solar energy produced, according to a report released Thursday by the Environment California Research and Policy Center.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/04/10/43425/la-leads-cities-in-solar-energy-production/

Zero energy green houses far from a silver bullet in combating carbon emissions
As a zero net energy house, which produces at least as much energy as it consumes, the home represents the type of construction the state of California is pushing as a tool to control carbon emissions.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/11/6314945/zero-energy-green-houses-far.html

BART's model for new train cars going on a Bay Area tour
A life-size model of BART's train car of the future will tour the Bay Area, making 10 stops over four weeks so the public can have a last say on design before car manufacturing begins.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_25531784/barts-model-new-train-cars-going-bay-area?source=rss

The Sriracha Factory Is a Public Nuisance, Says California City Council representatives in Irwindale have demanded a hot sauce factory do a better job within 90 days to contain its stinging fumes that residents say causes asthma, heartburn, headaches, teary eyes and nosebleeds—or they'll go in and make the changes themselves.
http://time.com/57086/sriracha-public-nuisance-irwindale/

Eric Garcetti signs waste franchise plan to expand recycling
A major expansion of the city’s recycling program was launched Tuesday as Mayor Eric Garcetti signed into law a new waste franchise agreement to expand recycling to businesses and apartments.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140415/NEWS/140419527

National News

Floating nuclear power plants could avoid disasters like Fukushima
Researchers have an idea for how future nuclear reactors can avoid the trauma that led to the 2011 disaster at Fukushima: by building new plants five to seven miles out into the ocean.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/16/5620916/mit-floating-power-plant-concept-could-avoid-disasters

Obama to challenge private companies to boost solar power use
President Obama will challenge companies Thursday to expand their use of solar power, part of his ongoing effort to leverage the power of his office to achieve goals that have been stymied by Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-to-challenge-private-companies-to-boost-solar-power-use/2014/04/16/76bd2b20-c5a3-11e3-bf7a-be01a9b69cf1_story.html?wprss=rss_campaigns

Appeals court upholds EPA limits on air toxicity
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejects challenges from both sides of the issue, finding that EPA limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants are valid.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-air-toxics-limits-20140416,0,1999439.story#axzz2ywhVxYit

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