Weekly Green: February 16, 2012

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Hello and good afternoon all. In this week's news:

• John Laird says Bay Delta Conservation Plan is best option;
• Why State Senator Pavley's reelection campaign is a "must-win" for the environment;
• California almonds need North Dakota flowers and a few billion bees,
• Air pollution bad for your brain;
• San Francisco Bay is (sadly) a garbage can for 7 million people;
• and more.

Leading Off

Why California Almonds Need North Dakota Flowers (And A Few Billion Bees)

Here's the web of connections: a threat to California's booming almond business; hard times for honeybees in North Dakota; and high corn prices. Confused?

State Senator Fran Pavley: Environmental Champion

For CLCV, this opportunity to re-elect one of the best environmental champions our state has ever seen makes this a must-win campaign.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan is best option (opinion by John Laird, CA secretary for natural resources)

The status quo is unacceptable, and fish species could go extinct while talk goes on and on. It is time to decide and move ahead.

More Environmental News

Who is hiding what in your food?

The “who” are large Biotech and Agrochemical companies. The “what” are genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Clovis sues Dow, Shell Oil over fouled water

Clovis is suing two chemical manufacturing giants over the toxic remains of a farm fumigant found in drinking-water wells around the community of nearly 100,000 people. The case will be watched closely by other San Joaquin Valley cities also suing over the same contamination.

California Rules (NY Times editorial)

The Environmental Protection Agency is almost certain to grant the waiver California needs to put the rules into effect. It should also begin pushing the oil refiners to lower the sulfur content in gasoline, greatly improving California’s chances of achieving smog reductions.

Federal agency cites San Onofre for leak

An ammonia leak that caused an emergency alert at the San Onofre nuclear plant in November was caused by employees who failed to recognize degraded equipment and fix it, federal regulators said Friday.

Federal funds for health testing at beaches to be eliminated

Health testing at beaches in California and across the nation is at risk of being cut back under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plan to eliminate federal funds for monitoring whether the water is too contaminated to swim in.

L.A.'s new trash plan: better for recycling or a big mess?

Los Angeles leaders will this week begin debating a controversial plan to radically change the way trash gets collected from businesses and apartment buildings in the city.

Air pollution might harm brain, study says

It’s well established that dirty, sooty air is no good for your lungs and probably not great for your skin. But new research indicates it can damage your brain, too.

L.A. air pollution may increase risk of stroke

Living next to the freeway -- and don't we all -- is sounding worse all the time.

San Francisco Bay: a garbage can for 7 million people

Bay Area residents pollute San Francisco Bay every year with enough trash to fill 100,000 kitchen garbage bags, according to the first comprehensive study of the volume of litter flowing into the bay.

Democrats say they're being shut out of California water bill rewrite

Republican lawmakers led by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, have been quietly overseeing the rewrite of a huge California water bill since last summer. The bill could shape everything from the San Joaquin River to Sacramento Valley water deliveries.

California Republicans' brazen water grab (SF Chronicle editorial)

House Republicans are poised to pass legislation that would usurp California's ability to manage its own water supply, harm the San Francisco Bay Estuary ecosystem and drive California's salmon to extinction.

Disagreements on proposed plant’s wildlife impacts

Wildlife experts and representatives of a company seeking to build a huge solar-energy field in eastern Riverside County sparred Monday over the extent of surveys to judge the project’s impact on migrating birds and eagles.

Leaked Documents Describe Corporate Agenda to Discredit Climate Science

The climate corner of the Blogosphere exploded this week with the alleged leak of numerous documents from one of the nation’s most ardent opponents of action to slow global warming.

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