Weekly Green: August 26, 2014

Good evening, California. News and opinions in this final week of our state legislative session:

• California plastic bag phaseout short of votes in Assembly for now;
• Pro Tem Steinberg promises not to take up cap-and-trade delay bill;
• Ongoing drought and high-speed rail coverage;
• Online advocacy, and much, 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

Above the Fold

California plastic bag ban stalls in Assembly
A proposed statewide ban on single-use plastic bags stalled in the California Assembly on Monday, a crucial stumble for one of the of most heavily lobbied fights of the current legislative session. The bill could still be revived this week as the session races to a conclusion on Sunday.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/25/6653871/california-plastic-bag-ban-assembly.html

Senate leader: No delay in cap-and-trade plan
An attempt to delay inclusion of transportation fuels in California’s program to fight greenhouse gases has been blocked by the leader of the Senate, who said any delays would harm the public’s health and diminish air quality. Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the bill, AB 69 by Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno, would not receive a hearing before the legislative session adjourns on Aug. 31.
http://capitolweekly.net/senate-leader-delay-cap-trade-plan/

Editor's note: In this last week of the California legislative session, CLCV offers these opportunities to support the passage of strong environmental laws.
Groundwater regulation (SB 1168 and AB 1739): http://www.ecovote.org/groundwater
Plastic bag phaseout (SB 270): http://www.ecovote.org/bagban
Flame retardant labeling (SB 1019): http://www.ecovote.org/toxic
Microbead ban (AB 1699): http://www.ecovote.org/microbeads
AB 32 defense: http://www.ecovote.org/ab32

President Obama may declare San Gabriel Mountains a national monument
Out of frustration for the slow pace of her bill, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, announced in a news conference Monday that she has had discussions with the White House to act alone and do essentially what her bill proposes — add more federal resources to the heavily-used Angeles and San Bernardino national forests for better recreation, trail upkeep and trash removal.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20140818/president-obama-may-declare-san-gabriel-mountains-a-national-monument

Editor’s note: LCV and CLCV issued a joint statement in support of designating the San Gabriels a national monument: http://www.ecovote.org/news/clcv-lcv-san-gabriels-082614

Water and the Drought

Bills to regulate California groundwater use opposed by farmers
A package of bills aimed at regulating drought-parched California's stressed groundwater supplies has come under fire from agricultural interests, injecting doubt into the measures' fates in the waning days of the state's legislative session this week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-usa-california-water-idUSKBN0GP21N20140825?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews

Drought: Tough Choices For California Water Managers
A federal agency is releasing water from a northern California reservoir to help a salmon run on the Klamath River. The extreme drought conditions are making for tough choices.
http://www.capradio.org/30938

Walters: Drought leads California to rethink water management
On average, rain and snow storms drop about 200 million acre-feet of water on California each year – 65 trillion gallons of the life-giving liquid.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6648571/dan-walters-drought-leads-california.html

Time running out for California water bill [in Congress -Ed.]
Secret negotiations over a California water bill are nearing a make-or-break moment, after a long, dry summer that’s tested some political alliances.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6647180/time-running-out-for-california.html

Drought leaves California homes without water
Hundreds of rural San Joaquin Valley residents no longer can get drinking water from their home faucets because California's extreme drought has dried up their individual wells, government officials and community groups said.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6649406/drought-leaves-california-homes.html

Pressure chambers help Valley farmers save water during drought
Tom Chandler, a fourth-generation farmer, is using a sophisticated suitcase-sized tool to do what farmers used to do largely by guesswork: Size up how much water to give his almond trees.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/23/4083151/under-pressure-technology-measures.html

One desal plant, two countries?
Could water flowing through San Diego taps one day come from across the border in Mexico? The answer is yes, if proposals to desalinate seawater in Rosarito Beach and pipe it to the United States become a reality.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/24/rosarito-Mexico-desalination-plant-binational/

1st big desal plant for thirsty county
The Poseidon desalination plant in Carlsbad is set to deliver a new source of water for San Diego County when it’s completed late next year, but it will be a limited portion of the region’s water menu for years to come.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/24/environment-san-diego-desalination/

California bond funds conservancies with unclear water role
On the outskirts of Los Angeles, the Baldwin Hills Conservancy is a haven of hiking trails, sports fields and a lookout point with panoramic views of downtown to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140823/california-bond-funds-conservancies-with-unclear-water-role

High Speed Rail

California High-Speed Rail—More Questions and Concerns
If David Letterman can put out a Top Ten list night after night for decades, we can certainly make it all the way to Ten in our chronicles of the California High-Speed Rail debates. As a reminder, this is No. 8 in a series on the most ambitious and consequential infrastructure project now under consideration in our infrastructure-degraded land.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/high-speed-rail-more-questions/379046/

L.A. County supervisor's alternate bullet-train route gaining traction
To get high-speed rail from Palmdale to Burbank, planners have focused for years on two potential routes that parallel the 14 Freeway and course through the rural and growing communities of Acton, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita — hostile territory for the bullet train project.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-bullet-train-route-20140824-story.html

Land deals slowing California high-speed rail plan
The California High-Speed Rail Authority needs to buy more than 550 pieces of property to build its first 29-mile stretch of rail line between Avenue 17 in Madera to American Avenue south of Fresno.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/23/4084847/land-deals-slowing-rail-plan.html

More California Environmental News

Stunning views of Silicon Valley open to public with new trailhead, parking area in San Jose hills
Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve, which now sees about 13,000 hikers, bicyclists and horse riders a year, is expected to see many more with a new ridgetop access point off Sierra Road in San Jose.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_26393867/stunning-views-silicon-valley-opened-public-new-trailhead

Kern County mounts defense of oil train shipments
In Sacramento and the Bay Area, recent plans to run trains laden with crude oil through downtowns to coastal refineries have prompted fears and protests this summer.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6649584/kern-county-mounts-defense-of.html

Skelton: Charging for paper bags isn't justified
There's logic missing in the battle of bags now raging in the California Legislature.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-plastic-bags-20140825-column.html

Expert Calls For Diablo Canyon Nuke Plant Closure
A senior federal nuclear expert is urging regulators to shut down the Diablo Canyon Power Plant — California's last operating nuclear plant — until they can determine whether the facility's twin reactors can withstand powerful shaking from any one of several nearby earthquake faults.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/aug/25/expert-calls-diablo-canyon-nuke-plant-closure/

California moves to quicken solar permits
A bill designed to speed up the permit process for home rooftop solar installations in California is headed to the governor's desk for signing.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/25/bill-speeds-solar-permits/

Huge solar farm proposed south of Silicon Valley wins power contract, but loses major investor
A proposal to build one of the world's largest solar farms in a rural area south of Silicon Valley has cleared one of its final hurdles after five years of planning and environmental debate.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26398651/huge-solar-farm-proposed-near-silicon-valley-wins

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