Weekly Green: June 15, 2012

Hello and good afternoon all. In this week’s headlines:

Top of the Ticket

California State Lawmaker Wants Fracking Moratorium
A state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would ban the use of hydraulic fracturing in California until regulators write rules governing the controversial procedure. The measure, introduced by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey), would bar oil regulators from approving new drilling permits for wells where firms employ “fracking” to tap oil deposits.
http://insideclimatenews.org/todaysnews/20120615/california-state-lawmaker-wants-fracking-moratorium

Cap-and-Trade cash windfall?
California’s quest to curb greenhouse-gas emissions promises a windfall for the cash-squeezed state, which has cut spending on schools, roads and services for the poor.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/14/tp-where-would-money-go-how-did-we-get-here-whats/

Nonprofit groups scramble to keep California state parks afloat
Dozens of California state parks struck down by the budget ax are slated to close their doors in three weeks. Yet that process remains so unsettled that even state officials can't say with certainty how many parks will actually close.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/10/4550671/nonprofit-groups-scramble-to-keep.html

Historic Ballot Initiative On Food Labeling Could Influence Future Of Food
The California Secretary of State announced this week that the Right to Know initiative to label genetically engineered foods will be on the state’s November ballot. This will be one of the most closely watched ballot measures in the nation this fall.
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/historic-ballot-initiative-food-labeling-could-influence-future-food

Global warming's evil twin threatens West Coast fishing grounds
Within the next few decades, ocean acidification – an effect of global warming – could leave sea creatures along the West Coast unable to maintain their protective shells, according to a new study.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2012/0614/Global-warming-s-evil-twin-threatens-West-Coast-fishing-grounds

Hunters, animal-rights groups face off over California ban on using dogs to hunt bears, bobcats
The issue, this year's most heated environmental battle in Sacramento, is drawing intense passions. Critics say hunters with packs of yapping dogs fitted with radio collars chase exhausted wild animals for miles, cornering them in branches and shooting them point blank.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_20826406/bear-hunting-battle-hunters-animal-rights-groups-face

The Salton Sea Fades Away, And A Town With It
In the middle of California's driest desert is the Salton Sea, the state's largest lake. Once a popular tourist destination, the storied salty and toxic lake nestled in the Imperial Valley has been slowly shrinking over the years. A water transfer deal passed in 2003 could speed up that process, and some are now worried it could be an environmental and health disaster for the region.
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154860717/californias-salton-sea-slowly-fading-away

The Water That Fuels California’s Power Grid
We hear a lot about how green our energy is in California. Instead of using coal, the state runs on natural gas and increasingly, renewable power. But there’s a hidden cost to our energy supply: water use.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2012/06/12/the-water-that-fuels-californias-power-grid/

California to shun power from coal-fired plant
The state Department of Water Resources will stop buying electricity from a coal-burning power plant in Nevada next year to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/15/4564035/california-to-shun-power-from.html

Environmental objections in path of bullet train
The California bullet train is promoted as an important environmental investment for the future, but over the next decade the heavy construction project would potentially harm air quality, aquatic life and endangered species across the Central Valley.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bullet-green-20120611,0,7566489.story

'No document exists' on bullet train's speed, lawsuit claims
But according to a lawsuit filed by project opponents, the state High-Speed Rail Authority has not done any studies or written reports to verify that the trains actually will go fast enough to follow the law.
http://www.baycitizen.org/transportation/story/no-document-exists-bullet-trains-speed/

EPA complaint says cap and trade racially biased
A coalition of environmental justice and civil rights activists has filed a complaint alleging that cap-and-trade provisions in California's pioneering program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions discriminate against people of color.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/12/BAQI1P08C6.DTL

L.A. fights Owens Valley air pollution standards
Los Angeles and the Owens Valley are at war over water, with the city trying to rework a historic agreement aimed at stopping huge dust storms that have besieged the eastern Sierra Nevada since L.A. opened an aqueduct 99 years ago that drained Owens Lake.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/15/BA0Q1P17U2.DTL&type=green

Jerry Brown administration to support disputed trash-burning plant
Gov. Jerry Brown's administration says it will support a Canadian company's effort to vaporize garbage and turn it into electricity in Monterey County, despite concerns raised by environmentalists.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/14/4560750/jerry-brown-administration-to.html

Pressured, E.P.A. Proposes Soot Limit
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new national air quality standards that would significantly reduce levels of fine-particle soot.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/e-p-a-proposes-crucial-rule-limiting-soot/

Report finds quake risks linked to carbon storage, fracking wastewater injections
A major new report concludes that more research is needed to better understand risks of seismic activity linked to injections of wastewater from natural gas drilling, potential large-scale underground storage of carbon dioxide emissions and other energy technologies.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/232967-report-long-term-quake-risks-linked-to-carbon-storage-fracking-need-review