Weekly Green: May 1, 2013

Hello and good afternoon, all. In recent news:

• Sen. Boxer finds herself at odds with environmentalists;
• Mark Zuckerberg group draws fire over ads;
• California regulator eyes tracking of fracking chemicals;
• Three efforts to halt fracking advance in CA Assembly;
• ... and much more!

Your Weekly Green is here! It's the no-frills news roundup provided free of charge by the California League of Conservation Voters. Don't forget to pass it along to your friends and colleagues. And if you're not a regular subscriber, sign up for your free subscription today!
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Top of the Ticket

Sen. Boxer finds herself at odds with environmentalists
Barbara Boxer has long been one of the Senate's environmental champions, racking up perfect scores for each of the last five years on the League of Conservation Voters' report card on key votes. But the Californian now finds herself on the opposite side of an issue from her usual environmental allies and some of her fellow Democrats. Environmentalists are upset because she is pushing legislation that would impose deadlines for environmental reviews of water projects, a move they see as "tilting the scales" toward rushed approvals.
http://lat.ms/11Ysmdf

Take action with CLCV! Tell Sen. Boxer: Don't weaken the environmental review process provided by NEPA. Strike sections 2032 and 2033 from the Water Resources Development Act now: http://ecovote.org/NEPA »

Mark Zuckerberg group draws fire over ads
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking fire from the left in his quest to reform the country's immigration system. Progressives and environmental activists are fuming over recent television ads from the subsidiaries of Zuckerberg's FWD.us umbrella group that tout lawmakers' pro-Keystone XL pipeline and oil drilling positions.
http://politi.co/18rptDM

California regulator eyes tracking of fracking chemicals
California may set up its own system for tracking chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing by oil and natural gas producers, rather than depend on the current voluntary registry, the state's energy industry regulator said.
http://bloom.bg/104oGoA

California Assembly panel OKs three measures to halt fracking for more study
In the latest sign of Democrats' determination to rein in the disputed extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a California Assembly committee has advanced three bills that would halt the practice in the state for the foreseeable future.
http://bit.ly/10to1vW

California legislation often 'sponsored' – or even written – by interest groups
At first glance, the role interest groups play in crafting laws in California seems easy to spot. Unlike in many states, legislative analyses list "sponsors" for many bills, indicating that a lobbyist suggested – perhaps even wrote – and martialed forces for the measure. But a Bee review of sponsored bills found that the forces behind legislation are often masked, leaving the public in the dark about the interests driving the creation of some new laws.
http://bit.ly/ZWH7yA

More California Environmental News

Governor urges fast review of Delta tunnels
Gov. Jerry Brown wants federal officials to expedite review of the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan, his proposal to build two giant water diversion tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
http://bit.ly/12oqyZW

Lanare lacks health care, clean water, schools
In the wide-open spaces of southwest Fresno County, living in Lanare (population 590) is deceptively risky. People in Lanare's ZIP code die a decade sooner than those in the Woodward Park area of northeast Fresno, according to a Fresno State study released last year.
http://bit.ly/12Xu1RV

California bullet train groundbreaking faces new obstacles
California's bullet train agency is facing a series of new regulatory and political problems that could jeopardize its July construction kickoff, which already has been delayed more than six months.
http://lat.ms/16pZ6S5

Nuke plant may close if restart denied
Operators of the San Onofre nuclear plant may decide to retire one or both reactors by year-end if regulators deny or delay a request to partially restart the plant, as outage costs surpass $700 million and uncertainties mount.
http://bit.ly/18rpIPb

Yellow frog, Yosemite toad close to ESA protection
The Yosemite toad and the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog share some critical mountain habitat and now an unenviable distinction: both are being proposed for federal Endangered Species Act protection.
http://bit.ly/ZX2Yrb

California officials split on how to divvy up $500 million in clean-energy funds
The fight over Proposition 39 didn't end at the ballot box. Six months after voters overwhelmingly approved a change in the corporate tax code that's expected to net the state an additional $1 billion in revenue for five years, lawmakers are wrangling over how to spend an estimated $500 million a year the measure earmarks for energy efficiency projects.
http://bit.ly/10WwPSg

Students passionate about banning bags
The kids have done their homework. They know that many plastic bags end up in oceans and waterways, and inevitably the plastic bags find their way into the food chain.
http://bit.ly/16pZe45

Construction starts on Warren Buffett's solar project
Construction has launched on a solar project its developers are calling the world's largest, on more than 3,200 acres straddling the Kern-Los Angeles county line west of the Antelope Valley town of Rosamond. Antelope Valley Solar I and II are being built for MidAmerican Solar, a Phoenix-based energy development company indirectly owned by financier Warren Buffett.
http://bit.ly/10WwQFZ

Todd Woody: California's dream to be the Saudi Arabia of solar is dead
Three years ago California regulators in quick succession approved nine multibillion-dollar solar thermal power plants. They were to be built in the desert and would generate 4,142 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free electricity. The state, it was said, was on its way to becoming the Saudi Arabia of solar.
http://bit.ly/Ynvqme

Lead ammo ban – will it fly now?
In November, one of the oldest condors in Central California died from lead poisoning after being found with tiny bullet fragments and a .22-caliber slug in his gullet that he apparently swallowed with a mouthful of meat.
http://bit.ly/104oPbq

Defense Department becomes a wildlife protector
The military is working with environmental groups and local governments to create buffer zones around bases where development threatened to encroach on combat training. It's been a conservation boon.
http://lat.ms/18rpXK6

Oil severance tax measure to start circulating
A proposed ballot measure to enact an oil severance tax, with most of the revenue spent on education, has received its official title and summary and is about to start circulating for petition signatures.
http://bit.ly/12oqXvj

New Leaf Community Markets to require labeling of GMO foods
New Leaf Community Markets is following in the footsteps of Whole Foods, announcing Wednesday that it will require labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms by 2018.
http://bit.ly/14XhguJ

U.S. plans to drop gray wolves from endangered list
The planned ruling would eliminate protection for the top predators, but scientists and conservationists say the proposal is flawed.
http://lat.ms/12XuB1T

Just for Fun

Frogs 'have a lot on the line' in annual Capitol jumping contest
Democracy! One of its greatest aspirations is treating elected representatives and the everyday people who elected them equally – a leveling that, once a year in Sacramento, includes California lawmakers trying to grasp slimy frogs and then dancing around and stomping to encourage said frogs to hop.
http://bit.ly/ZWHmJS

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