Weekly Green: December 21, 2012

In recent news:

• President says climate change a top priority;
• California releases first fracking regulations;
• Clock running out on wilderness bills;
• A win for California's coast;
• And much more.

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Top of the Ticket

Obama: Climate change among top three priorities for second term
President Obama has identified climate change as one of his top three priorities in his second term after coming under fire from environmentalists for giving the issue short shrift during the campaign.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/273737-obama-climate-change-one-of-top-three-priorities

Draft of fracking regulations released
California would require oil companies engaged in the controversial practice of fracking to pressure-test their wells first, notify the state in advance and make sure they aren't working too close to a fault line under regulations proposed Tuesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Draft-of-fracking-regulations-released-4129560.php

Calif. Releases Initial Fracking Regulations
On Tuesday, state regulators released draft rules for hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling technique known as fracking. Energy companies hope the new rules will give them the green light to tap into previously inaccessible oil reserves. But environmental groups say fracking contaminates groundwater, pollutes the air and even induces earthquakes.
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201212190900

Congress: Clock running out on Inland wilderness bills
Every United States Congress for nearly half a century, no matter how divided, has agreed to set aside undeveloped tracts of land for future generations by designating them as wilderness areas. But as the nation's 112th Congress draws to a close, lawmakers have yet to protect a single acre of forest, mountain or desert under the Wilderness Act.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/ben-goad-headlines/20121214-congress-clock-running-out-on-inland-wilderness-bills.ece

California's marine reserve network now complete
Surviving budget cuts, mobs of angry fishermen and death threats, California officials today completed the largest network of undersea parks in the continental United States - 848 square miles of protected waters that reach from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-undersea-parks-20121219,0,4717471.story

California Environmental News

Obama expands national marine sanctuaries, permanently bans oil drilling, up Sonoma and Mendocino coasts
In a move that would permanently ban oil drilling along more than 50 miles of Northern California coast, the Obama administration announced plans Thursday to expand two Northern California marine sanctuaries, extending them up the rugged Sonoma and Mendocino coast.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22231457/obama-expand-national-marine-sanctuaries-permanently-ban-oil

Editorial: A win for California's coast
The president's action does more than move lines on maps. It calls attention to the natural wonders just beyond the state's shoreline and the need for public oversight in ensuring that this prized asset stays healthy.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/A-win-for-California-s-coast-4133147.php

Climate change already playing out in West, report says
A new report says the effects of climate change are already being felt in bug-infested forests of the Intermountain West, in reduced flows of the Colorado River basin and in the amount of snow that falls in the Rocky Mountains.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865569065/Climate-change-already-playing-out-in-West-report-says.html

Editorial: We need these new rules on soot emissions
By 2020, when the standards go into effect, only seven counties are expected to be out of compliance. Significantly, all of those are in California. The tougher standard is a money saver. It will create a huge net benefit for public health and the economy
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/12/16/3103864/editorial-we-need-these-new-rules.html

Utilities benefit in state carbon market
Most businesses say California's new cap-and-trade program, designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions, is a job killer that will suck billions of dollars out of the economy.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/20/5066550/utilities-benefit-in-state-carbon.html

Few pregnant women warned about chemicals
Almost all of the doctors in the new UCSF survey said they routinely discussed smoking, alcohol, diet and weight gain. Eighty-six percent also said they discuss workplace hazards, and 68 percent warn about secondhand smoke. But only 19 percent said they talk to their pregnant patients about pesticides and only 12 percent discuss air pollution.
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Few-pregnant-women-warned-about-chemicals-4122933.php

California appoints carbon watchdogs for cap-and-trade program
Two nonprofits, including one with operations in Sacramento, were appointed to key roles Friday in California's new cap-and-trade carbon market.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/15/5055809/california-appoints-carbon-watchdogs.html

Feds scrap 'dumb idea' of relocating otters
A federal program that attempted to restrict sea otters to a remote island off Santa Barbara while banning them from most of the rest of Southern California was officially scrapped Tuesday after a 25-year run of failure.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Feds-scrap-dumb-idea-of-relocating-otters-4128648.php

UC Irvine's desert research center awarded funds for expansion
Field scientists and students who rough it in UC Irvine's Steele/Burnand Anza Borrego Desert Research Center in eastern San Diego County will soon be settling into a new laboratory, apartment building and dormitory thanks to $2.8 million in Proposition 84 funds awarded by the California Wildlife Conservation Board.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-desert-research-center-20121219,0,7825167.story

State commits matching funds to operate Henry W. Coe State Park
Consider it a fiscal olive branch being extended by the state following the discovery of hidden millions for parks last summer: Henry W. Coe State Park boosters are getting matching operating funds worth $279,000 per a law passed in September.
http://www.mercurynews.com/california-budget/ci_22227931/state-commits-matching-funds-operate-henry-w-coe

Radioactive hot spots remain at former research facility's site
A federal study shows hundreds of hot spots at the 2,850-acre facility, overlooking the west San Fernando Valley, half a century after a partial nuclear meltdown there.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-meltdown-study-20121218,0,2007532.story

National News

EPA Targets Deadliest Pollution: Soot
For years, environmental and public health groups have been suing the EPA to force it to tighten the soot standard. That's because the current limit didn't match what scientists were saying about how much soot is safe.
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/17/167427988/epa-targets-deadly-soot-pollution

Climate change taken seriously by insurance industry, study says
Paying out billions of dollars here and billions of dollars there has made the global insurance industry a believer in climate change, according to a new study that shows insurance companies are staunch advocates for reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the risk posed by increasingly severe weather events.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-that-you-can-believe-in-20121213,0,2503364.story

Power Company Loses Some of Its Appetite for Coal
Coal took another serious hit Wednesday - in the heart of coal country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/business/energy-environment/aep-has-plan-to-close-kentuckys-big-sandy-power-plant.html

Meet Arnold Schwarzenegger, sorta green activist and Keystone XL fan
Arnold Schwarzenegger (hereafter, "Arnold") has long championed environmental action. He recently announced that he planned to spend his post-political life fighting climate change. And yet, in an interview with Politico, he says he supports building Keystone XL.
http://grist.org/news/meet-arnold-schwarzenegger-sorta-green-activist-and-keystone-xl-fan/

NASA rebuts the Mayan doomsday
As you may be well-informed at this point, the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012, leading to many predictions that the world will collapse just a few hours from now. Not so fast, say scientists at NASA: The federal agency is so certain that our world will not end that they have already released a video, dated Dec. 22, explaining why the world did not end on the day prior.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/20/nasa-rebuts-the-mayan-doomsday/
 

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