Weekly Green: June 18, 2013

Good afternoon, all. In the news:

• BREAKING: L.A. tentatively bans single-use plastic bags, cities of Campbell, Richmond could be next;
• Budget deal passes with cap-and-trade loan intact;
• 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

BREAKING: L.A. tentatively OKs single-use plastic grocery bag ban
Plastic grocery bags would become a thing of the past in Los Angeles under an ordinance tentatively approved today 11-1 by the City Council, which will cast a final vote next week that would make the city the largest in the nation to enact such a ban.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_23485294/breaking-l-tentatively-oks-single-use-plastic-bag

The California cities of Campbell and Richmond are also considering bag bans tonight:
http://www.ci.campbell.ca.us/AgendasMinutes/2013/ca06182013/CA06182013.pdf
http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5226

Budget Agreement Diverts Money From Cap-and-Trade
California’s budget agreement borrows $500-million from the state’s cap-and-trade program. Environmentalists say the maneuver neglects polluted communities.
http://capradio.org/4867

CLCV CEO Sarah Rose on the budget deal:
http://www.ecovote.org/blog/budget-deal-undermines-voters-climate-change

More California Environmental News

Oil drilling scrutiny to extend beyond fracking
Concerned that proposals to identify and monitor chemicals injected into oil wells may focus too narrowly on hydraulic fracturing, a Senate committee Tuesday will look more broadly into all drilling techniques designed to stimulate oil recovery.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jun/17/oil-drilling-scrutiny-to-extend-beyond-fracking/

State budget triples refinery inspectors
The state would nearly triple the number of oil refinery safety inspectors under a proposal on the governor's desk that backers say would help close regulatory gaps that federal investigators found played a role in the fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery last year.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/State-budget-triples-refinery-inspectors-4606087.php

Environmentalists take close look at Brown
When Gov. Brown and legislative leaders announced their budget agreement at a press conference Tuesday, the tone was victorious: The budget was on time and balanced, and the Legislature had caved on a number of Brown’s more cautious fiscal proposals. But it was evident the governor still had something of a political Achilles’ heel – his environmental record.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=11i367li3n9ll19&xid=11i35roj1umpg9a&done=.11i36vkncqaxsam

A mixed bag: Are California's bans on plastic bags working?
An employee gathering carts from the sunny parking lot at a Santa Cruz Safeway said shoppers are warming up to Santa Cruz's ban on single-use plastic bags. But some still miss the bags' convenience.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_23474167/mixed-bag-are-californias-bans-plastic-bags-working

Funding to improve drinking water has come at a slow drip
A bright metal drinking fountain is mounted on the wall in the community center of this tiny town west of Fresno. No one pays it any mind: The water is drawn from a well that has been contaminated with arsenic for years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drinking-water-20130617,0,3079074.story

Lawsuits hit new Delta Plan
A plan intended, at least in part, to resolve decades of water conflict in the Delta has instead spawned a flood of lawsuits, with at least five separate suits filed against the plan in recent days.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/17/5503446/lawsuits-hit-new-delta-plan-from.html

Federal oversight board OKs California high-speed rail
The California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction on the first leg of what would be the nation's first bullet train.
http://www.mydesert.com/viewart/20130613/NEWS10/306130016/Federal-oversight-board-OKs-California-high-speed-rail

State grants $18.7M for hydrogen fueling stations
The California Energy Commission has approved $18.7 million in grants to expand the state’s infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-fuel-cell-grants-20130613,0,520900.story

Emission cuts lead to cleaner California air
Cuts in diesel emissions have drastically reduced the amount of pollutants in the air that cause global warming in California, potentially valuable information in the fight to save the world's climate from a predicted catastrophe, a study by University of California and government researchers said Wednesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Emission-cuts-lead-to-cleaner-Calif-air-4597607.php

Fracking bills flop after gusher of opposition cash, report says
Campaign contributions from the oil industry flooded into the California Legislature before it killed several bills that would have closely regulated the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to get oil and gas from the ground, a nonprofit group reports.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/political/la-me-pc-fracking-bills-money-20130614,0,1771756.story

Only One Major Fracking Bill Left Now at California Capitol
A bill that would regulate the controversial oil and gas extraction process known as “fracking” in California has stalled at the State Capitol.
http://capradio.org/4949

Some L.A. County bus drivers say pesticides are making them ill
14 Metropolitan Transportation Authority drivers are pursuing workers' comp claims, and 110 have signed a petition to halt the agency's spraying of the vehicles.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mta-pesticides-20130617,0,3551619.story

Plan opens up acres of California dunes to off-roaders
About 85 percent of an extensive dune system near the U.S.-Mexico border would be open to off-road vehicles under a new federal management plan opposed by environmentalists.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_23480854/plan-opens-up-acres-calif-dunes-off-roaders

UCLA scientists predict Southland will experience a 40 percent drop in snowfall in 30 years
UCLA scientists predict global warming will reduce snowfall in Southern California mountains by 40 percent in less than 30 years, a climate shift that has serious policy implications, not the least being the loss of the quintessential "only in L.A." experience of skiing the mountains by day and riding the surf at sunset.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_23481081

Green bike lanes have Hollywood seeing red
City officials painted a one-and-a-half mile strip of downtown L.A.'s Spring Street bright green to mark the bike lane and encourage similar efforts around town to ensure cyclist safety. The problem? That street is a popular spot for Hollywood film shoots as it one of the only locations in Los Angeles that can double as New York City, Philadelphia or Chicago due to the architecture.
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2013/06/14/green-bike-lanes-have-hollywood-seeing.html

San Bernardino County Bans New Solar Power Plants Temporarily
Responding to what they called a rash of complaints about commercial solar developments in residential areas, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to put a hold on new projects until it can craft a county-wide policy.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/san-bernardino-county-approves-solar-moratorium.html

Hahn: Supreme Court port ruling will impact neighborhoods
All politics are local — even when the U.S. Supreme Court is involved. San Pedro Congresswoman Janice Hahn says the High Court's decision this week on the Port of L.A.'s clean trucks program will have a direct impact on the port's neighbors.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2013/06/14/13996/hahn-supreme-court-port-ruling-will-impact-neighbo/

UC Berkeley to help overhaul green job training for public utilities
The California Public Utilities Commission chose the University of California, Berkeley, to oversee big changes in job training meant to accelerate the state's shift to a green economy.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2013/06/17/uc-berkeley-to-help-overhaul-green-job.html

Regulator: 'Throw the Book at PG&E'
The head of the safety division of California's ratepayer protection agency has blasted Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) over the utility's reaction to a proposed $2.25 billon penalty stemming from a 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/utilities/regulator-throw-the-book-at-pge.html

More California Government

Brown Has Veto Options With New State Budget
Governor Brown’s signature is the last step in a more than six month budget process. But he doesn’t have to accept the document exactly as it is.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jun/17/brown-has-veto-options-new-state-budget/

Report: Redistricting panel did well, can do better
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission generally succeeded in its task of drawing fair new legislative lines, according to a new review of its work – but the state can do even better in the future.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2013/06/12/report-redistricting-panel-did-well-can-do-better/

Researchers revisit California's political redistricting
For proof that headlines don't tell you the whole story, you only have to look as far as one touting a new study concluding 2011's independent political remapping "got the job done."
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=247856

National and International Environmental News

LA Democrat pushes White House on climate change
Democratic hawks on climate change are putting pressure on the White House to use executive power to cut emissions. And L.A. Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman is doing some of the pushing.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2013/06/16/13997/la-democrat-pushes-white-house-on-climate-change/

Al Gore says Obama must veto 'atrocity' of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline
Former vice-president says oil pipeline is 'really a losing proposition' and demands climate plan promised at inauguration
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/15/al-gore-obama-keystone-pipeline

Fracking Is Already Straining U.S. Water Supplies
Some of the most intensive oil and gas development in the nation is occurring in regions where water is already at a premium. A paper published last month by Ceres, a nonprofit that works on sustainability issues, looked at 25,000 shale oil and shale gas wells in operation and monitored by an industry-tied reporting website called FracFocus.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/15/2163531/fracking-is-already-straining-us-water-supplies/

Pentagon bracing for public dissent over climate and energy shocks
NSA Prism is motivated in part by fears that environmentally-linked disasters could spur anti-government activism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/jun/14/climate-change-energy-shocks-nsa-prism

Energy Agency Makes Case for Climate-Wise Energy Steps
The International Energy Agency released a helpful report that charts four climate-wise (if fairly familiar) actions countries can pursue to make a difference in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/energy-agency-makes-case-for-climate-wise-energy-steps/

The bike lobby rolls on
The bicycle lobby is real. Wall Street Journal editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz drew widespread mockery when she suggested in an online video that “the bike lobby is an all-powerful enterprise,” while she blasted the New York City bike sharing program as the product of a “totalitarian” city government.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/the-bike-lobby-rolls-on-92873.html

More: Cities and the Environment

Toxic driveways? Cities ban coal tar sealants
Studies suggest a common sealant using coal tar contains hazardous chemicals that elevate lifetime cancer risk. So some cities and states are banning its use.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/16/toxic-driveways-cities-states-ban-coal-tar-pavement-sealants/2028661/

Bloomberg Plan Aims to Require Food Composting
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has tried to curb soda consumption, ban smoking in parks and encourage bike riding, is taking on a new cause: requiring New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/nyregion/bloombergs-final-recycling-frontier-food-waste.html?ref=earth

Changing the World

On TV and the Lecture Circuit, Bill Nye Aims to Change the World
If he were a politician, college students would be his base.... They have gone from watching him explain magnetism and electricity to defending the scientific evidence for climate change, the age of the earth and other issues they have seen polemicized for religious, political and even economic reasons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/science/bill-nye-firebrand-for-science-is-a-big-man-on-campus.html?ref=science

'The Talk' -- How to Tell Your 8-Year-Old About Climate Change
When Ian Kim imagines the world his 7-year-old daughter will be living in 20 years from now, he says, it keeps him up at night. Images of ever more frequent super storms like Sandy, along with rising seas, or drought and heat waves wreaking havoc with crops haunt his waking hours.
http://newamericamedia.org/2013/06/the-talk----how-to-tell-your-8-year-old-about-climate-change.php

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