Weekly Green: July 23, 2013

Hello and good afternoon, all. In the news in the past week-plus:

• Lobbying: Big money influences huge money;
• Special elections today may affect legislative supermajority;
• California is a leader on solar power;
• Poll claims Americans support Keystone XL pipeline;
• ... and much more!

» Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Green, a 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

Chevron Fire One Year Later - What Will It Take to Prevent Another?
New America Media spoke with Dr. Michael P. Wilson, director of the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at UC Berkeley, whose revised report, “Refinery Safety in California: Labor, Community and Fire Agency Views,” was released last month.
http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/chevron-fire-one-year-later---what-will-it-take-to-prevent-another.php

Walters: Big money in California influences huge money
The Bee has published an online database about lobbying expenditures during the 2011-12 legislative session totaling $564 million, up about 5 percent from the previous two-year period.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/21/5583075/dan-walters-big-money-in-california.html

Special elections for legislative seats set for Tuesday
It is down to the wire for two special elections set for Tuesday to fill seats in the Legislature: Republican Andy Vidak vs. Democrat Leticia Perez in SD 16, and a crowded field in the Inland Empire's AD 52.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-legislature-special-elections-20130718,0,5205770.story

Supermajority at Risk in Tuesday Special Election
If you don’t live in California’s Central Valley – or even if you do – you might not know there’s a special election Tuesday. But a state Senate race that’s expected to have very low turnout could shape state government for the rest of the decade.
http://www.capradio.org/7236

California is a leader on solar power, Environment California says
California is among a dozen states that have excelled through political will and public policy at producing solar power and should be examples for others on how to shift to renewable energy, according to a report released Tuesday by the group Environment California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-leader-solar-power-20130722,0,642668.story

Americans Support the Keystone XL Pipeline by Wide Margin
United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll finds most Americans back the GOP-supported project despite environmental concerns.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressional-connection/coverage/americans-support-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-by-wide-margin-20130716

California officials wrestle with handling trade secrets on fracking
State officials have been flooded with more than 20,000 comments and suggestions regarding proposed regulations of a controversial oil and gas drilling technique known as fracking, officials said Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-fracking-rules-developing-20130717,0,2605370.story

California Coastal Commission: Bill could give commission teeth to fine violators
Facebook billionaire Sean Parker's extravagant wedding last month made international headlines when he agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle violations of California's coastal laws for building rock walls, a stone bridge, a cottage, dance floor and other structures in a sensitive Big Sur forest without permits. But it turns out the case is the exception rather than the rule.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_23653228/california-coastal-commission-bill-could-give-commission-teeth

Water

Senior water rights holders may face restrictions due to drought
The notice by the State Water Resources Control Board, which regulates water rights, is informational only. But it is a warning that curtailment orders could follow if water users don't begin conserving, said Les Grober, assistant deputy director for water rights at the board.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/17/5571950/senior-water-rights-holders-may.html

State warns drought may bring water cutbacks
State officials warned late Monday that extremely low runoff in California rivers could require even senior water rights holders to reduce their consumption this summer and fall.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/16/5570703/state-warns-drought-may-bring.html

Transportation

Small victory: BART, unions both negotiating
With a possible second BART strike just 13 days away, the transit agency and its labor unions still seemed far apart on Monday but did agree on one thing: Both sides said they want to knuckle down at the bargaining table and work out a deal.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Small-victory-BART-unions-both-negotiating-4680588.php

San Francisco experiment to create parking for car sharing
As many as 900 on-street parking spaces in San Francisco will be reserved for car-sharing vehicles as soon as January under a two-year experiment approved Tuesday by the Municipal Transportation Agency.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-experiment-to-create-parking-for-car-sharing-4669388.php

Toxins, Waste, and Pollution

Hazardous lead paint: Legal battle comes to trial in California
From old cottages in Berkeley and Palo Alto to ranch-style homes in Silicon Valley, the remnants of a hazardous past can lurk in the walls -- lead paint.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_23660238/hazardous-lead-paint-legal-battle-comes-trial-california

A mixed bag: Are California's bans on plastic bags working?
California cities enacting bans commonly cite two main justifications: reducing unsightly street litter and protecting marine life. So, have the bans had the desired result?
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_23474167/mixed-bag-are-californias-bans-plastic-bags-working

Battles won, but war on smog is far from over
Most everyone who lived here in the 1950s and 1960s has teary-eyed smog stories.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ourpast/ci_23709874/battles-won-but-war-smog-is-far-from

Planners Claim Reduction in Car Pollution, But Details Show Overall Increase
Bay Area planning officials say efforts to encourage dense development will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2013-07/planners-claim-reduction-in-car-pollution-but-details-show-overall-increase

More about elections

Rhee: With Voting Rights Act gutted, who will protect electorate?
Attention has rightly focused on highly controversial statewide voter identification laws that had been rejected but have been resurrected by Republicans in Southern states since the ruling. Yet, less-noticed local changes in cities and counties across the country could make a huge and more immediate impact.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/21/5581105/with-voting-rights-act-gutted.html

A tale of two districts: The incumbents go down
In the last election, two Assembly candidates did something that isn’t often accomplished in legislative elections, but is more likely following redistricting: They beat an incumbent. From two of the most liberal, Anglo, affluent, coastal districts in the state, Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, and Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, were able to defeat incumbents, Betsy Butler and Mike Allen.
http://capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=11kw7443iilhxzw&xid=11kvyvvgh7jx901&done=.11kw7443iilrxzw

In Hermosa Beach, a sheen of divisiveness over oil's possible return
After more than 80 years, the South Bay town braces for the possible return of oil drilling. An election will decide the matter.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hermosa-beach-oil-20130722,0,812909.story

Wildlife

Great Blue Herons Die at Solar Project
ReWire reported Wednesday that a surprising number of water birds are being found dead and injured at a pair of solar energy facilities in the California desert. Since publishing that story we've learned that the toll is greater than we reported: two great blue herons have been found dead at one of the projects.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/wildlife/great-blue-herons-die-at-solar-project.html

California water agencies urge overturn of court's Sucker Fish ruling
California water agencies have filed arguments in a federal appeals court challenging a lower court judge's decision that upheld the expansion of the Santa Ana Sucker fish's critical habitat, much of which is in the Inland Empire.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_23710908/california-water-agencies-urge-overturn-courts-sucker-fish

On Navy's San Clemente Island, endangered species stage a comeback
Endangered native species on San Clemente Island clung to life until restoration began two decades ago. The turnaround is dramatic.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-clemente-island-20130722,0,5088911.story

Leopard sharks flourishing in south San Francisco Bay as wetlands are restored
UC Davis researchers are finding large numbers of leopard sharks -- some as big as 6 feet long -- benefiting from five years of work to restore thousands of acres of industrial salt ponds ringing the bay's shoreline from Hayward to San Jose to Redwood City. Ducks, herons and fish are thriving in the former ponds, which are being restored to tidal marshes. But the fact that sharks are also booming is a particularly encouraging sign, scientists say.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23709144/leopard-sharks-flourishing-south-san-francisco-bay-wetlands

Bay Area sea gull population explodes, bringing flocks of problems
In an alarming trend that has scientists scrambling for answers, the bay's population of California Gulls -- squawking, flapping white-and-gray birds that most people associate with the beach -- has exploded from 24 birds in 1980 to more than 53,000 today.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23680401/bay-area-sea-gull-population-explodes-bringing-flocks

Climate

Democrats looking to build support for new climate change action
The testy back-and-forth at a hearing of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), suggests that Congress is still paralyzed on global warming, even as many states aggressively enact their own policies.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-democrats-new-climate-change-action-20130718,0,4590908.story

Climate change forces US Forest Service to shift its strategy on larger fires
Climate change is forcing the US Forest Service to rethink how it fights large wildfires. Global warming has increased the intensity of fires, forcing the USFS to spend more and more of its money fighting them.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2013/07/17/14287/climate-change-forces-us-forest-service-to-shift-i/

Planning and open space

Wildermuth: McClintock Is Right to Fight Yosemite Plan
You won’t often hear anyone with the slightest tinge of environmental green say this about Rep. Tom McClintock: He’s right. At least when it comes to his take on Yosemite’s future.
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013/07/mcclintock-is-right-to-fight-yosemite-plan/

California Coastal National Monument to expand in Mendocino County
The House on Monday approved expansion of the California Coastal National Monument north of San Francisco, adding about 1,255 acres to "this jewel of California's North Coast,'' the area's congressman said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mendocino-monument-20130723,0,1383233.story

CA Signs Off On Controversial Project Next to Joshua Tree Nat'l Park
A giant energy project that would turn an abandoned open pit mine near Joshua Tree National Park into two hydroelectric storage reservoirs got a thumbs-up from California's main water quality agency this week.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/the-grid/hydroelectric-energy-joshua-tree-national-park-eagle-mountain.html

Plan Bay Area adopted by regional planners
Bay Area planning officials adopted a regional plan early Friday morning that aims to steer development toward urban areas near mass transit and stem suburban sprawl.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Plan-Bay-Area-adopted-by-regional-planners-4676169.php

Bay Area officials approve controversial land use plan
Bay Area officials approved a sweeping land use plan that has stirred opposition from a wide spectrum of groups.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2013/07/19/bay-area-officials-approve.html

Environmental documents for proposed delta project criticized
Federal agencies reviewing draft for proposal to re-plumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta call it 'insufficient' and 'biased.'
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-delta-water-20130719,0,1641780.story

Proposed high speed train to Vegas going nowhere fast
The Department of Transportation has decided to "suspend further consideration" of a $5 billion federal loan application from a private company that wants to link Southern California with the gambling and entertainment mecca.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2013/07/18/14296/proposed-high-speed-train-to-vegas-going-nowhere-f

EIR approved for PG&E Hinkley cleanup
The state's water agency charged with overseeing the world's worst known groundwater plume of chromium-6 has approved a key study that engineers say is essential for large-scale clean-up.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_23682874

Plan for 16 potential new East Bay parks approved
A long-term road map to expand the East Bay Regional Park system with 16 potential new park sites was approved Tuesday by the agency's board.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/contra-costa-times/ci_23674543/plan-16-potential-new-east-bay-parks-approved

Energy

Air Force Considers More Drilling Off California Coast
The U.S. Military has taken the lead in getting the nation off fossil fuels and onto renewable energy in a series of well-thought-out programs over the past few years. This isn't one of them.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/petroleum/air-force-considers-more-drilling-off-california-coast.html

PUC staff recommends $300 million fine for PG&E over San Bruno blast
State regulators on Tuesday demanded that PG&E pay a $2.25 billion penalty, including a fine of at least $300 million, the largest fine ever imposed by the Public Utilities Commission, because of its role in the fatal natural gas explosion in San Bruno.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_23671698/puc-staff-recommends-300-million-fine-pg-e

L.A. Expands Electric Car Charger Program
An effort by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to promote customer installations of chargers for electric cars was so successful that the utility is expanding it. LADWP will be offering rebates up to $750 for residents and businesses in its service area who install fast charging stations.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/transportation/dwp-boosts-subsidies-for-personal-car-chargers.html

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