Weekly Green: May 12, 2014

In recent headlines:

• Fed government failed to inspect higher risk oil wells;
• Climate Change in California;
• Ethnic Voters Want Environmental Protections;
• Plastic bags caused sewage backup;
• ... and much more!

» Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Green, your 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

Top News

Fed government failed to inspect higher risk oil wells
The government has failed to inspect thousands of oil and gas wells it considers potentially high risks for water contamination and other environmental damage, congressional investigators say.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/11/6395665/fed-govt-failed-to-inspect-higher.html

What Does Climate Change in California Look Like? [Infographic]
Be it torrential rains or severe droughts, huge wildfires or rising sea-levels, every corner of the United States has been — and will continue to be — impacted by the effects of human-induced climate change. That’s the scenario presented last week by a team of scientists who described a series of sweeping environmental changes of near biblical proportions… So how does California make out in all of this? Not so hot, it turns out (or actually, really hot).
http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/05/12/2014/california-climate-change

Ethnic Voters Want Environmental Protections, But Do Their Lawmakers?
Ethnic minorities in California strongly favor environmental protections, yet their elected representatives -- for the most part – don’t share the same values. New America Media analyzed the environmental voting records of Asian, African American and Latino legislators, using a 2014 scorecard by the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) that assigns an overall score to all state legislators based on how they voted on dozens of key environmental bills during the 2013 legislative year.
http://newamericamedia.org/2014/05/ethnic-voters-want-environmental-protections-but-do-their-lawmakers.php

California & Climate Change

The Fresno Bee Editorial Board: Climate change is here; it's time for action
Climate change isn't news to Californians. Central Valley farmers, as it is, are drilling for groundwater and fallowing bone-dry fields. Snowpack in the Sierra is barely at 18% of the average. Reservoirs are half full. Wildfire season, which used to start this month, has been ongoing since January, when Cal Fire responded to more than 400 fires, compared to zero for January of 2013. From Foster City to Newport Beach, cities are shoring up against rising sea levels. Still, the latest National Climate Assessment, released this week, makes for urgent reading. It's blunt, and its findings have dire implications nationally and for California…
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/09/3919001/climate-change-is-here.html

Report: Climate change effects extreme for California
Californians should brace for hotter temperatures, reduced water supplies, longer droughts and more wildfires in the future, a new federal climate-change report warned Tuesday.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/06/climate-change-report-california/8788503/

Climate change could clobber California
Human-caused climate change may radically reshape the Central Valley’s agricultural economy, warns a new report Tuesday.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=25795

LA Times Editorial: How California should budget for climate change
There are many ways of combating climate change with cap-and-trade money. Long-term strategies such as Steinberg's smart-planning proposal have an important place in the state's green portfolio, but they should not dominate it, earmarking the money for specific state projects for years into the future at a time when the state must redouble its efforts to meet short-term goals.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-cap-and-trade-20140508-story.html

NRDC Switchboard Blog: Climate Change Hits the Grocery Store and Dinner Plate
You might start seeing some changes at the grocery store this spring. The price of lettuce is expected to jump 34 percent. The cost of an avocado is likely to increase from 35 cents to $1.60 each, and meat prices are also likely to climb as well, since wholesale beef prices have hit record highs this year. Many of these price spikes can be traced back to the record-breaking drought in California. But California farmers aren’t the only ones struggling in the face of extreme weather.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/climate_change_hits_the_grocer.html

Bay Area Weatherman Weighs-in on Climate Change at the White House
A new White House report on climate change has a simple but powerful message: the future is now. In California, the current drought, milder winters, hotter summers and wildfires can all be chalked up to growing levels of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere. Weatherman Bill Martin of KTVU in Oakland was the only California meteorologist invited to the White House this week for scientific briefings and a chat with President Obama.
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201405091630/a

California: Time for Plastic Bag Ban*

Plastic bags caused sewage backup
Plastic bags are what caused the backup at the Fresh Ketch restaurant and subsequent sewage spill into Lake Tahoe. A plumber from Summit Plumbing in his work order said he found a 4-inch sewer line backed up and overflowing on May 3. He also removed plastic bags from the line.
http://www.laketahoenews.net/2014/05/plastic-bags-caused-sewage-backup-fecal-numbers-high/

Garbage beats humans to the deep seas: Bottles, plastic bags are everywhere, says survey
Scientists have found that human garbage has reached even the most inaccessible parts of the ocean floor. Latest wide-scale survey of the ocean floor in Europe indicates that marine pollution has gotten worse.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/6341/20140505/garbage-beats-humans-to-the-deep-seas-bottles-plastic-bags-are-everywhere-says-survey.htm

* Take action with CLCV at http://ecovote.org/PassTheBagBan »

More California News

California drought: Parched state braces for fire season
Already this year, state fire crews have battled 1,250 blazes in foothill areas, records show - more than twice the average for this point in the season. Federal crews also report higher-than-usual numbers in forests under their watch.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-drought-Firefighters-brace-for-worst-5466923.php

California drought: El Niño probability raised to 78 percent for next winter
Drought-weary California, heading into a long, hot summer of water shortages and extreme fire risk, received some potentially good news Thursday: Federal scientists announced there is now a 4-in-5 chance of El Niño conditions developing by the end of the year.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25723802/california-drought-el-ni-241-o-probability-raised

California almond farmers, lured by high profits to expand orchards, face a drought struggle
This town calls itself the “Apricot Capital of the World,” but the slogan is out of date. Nowadays, it’s almond orchards that dominate the landscape in this part of Stanislaus County, along with much of the rest of the San Joaquin Valley… Drought, however, has brought big problems to the almond industry, perhaps more than any other segment of California agriculture.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/11/6395024/california-almond-farmers-lured.html

Public invited to learn about Delta restoration project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to restore 90 acres of tidal marsh in the Delta near Bethel Island, and the public is invited to comment and learn about the project at a meeting Friday in Sacramento.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/08/6389773/public-invited-to-learn-about.html

Clean Diesel Technologies seeks to jump-start sales, turn first profit
Some companies run from California's strict regulatory standards on air pollution and emissions. Not Clean Diesel Technologies Inc., where the executives can't imagine being anywhere else.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stock-spotlight-clean-diesel-20140512-story.html

SeaWorld will keep its orca shows, but is still recovering from 'Blackfish'
In spite of a recent win in the state Legislature, it’s been a rough year for SeaWorld. The marine theme park found itself in an uncomfortable spotlight after last year’s release of “Blackfish,” a documentary about a killer whale that killed a trainer at the Orlando location in 2010. The film argues that orcas are unfit for captivity.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/seaworld-613346-park-orcas.html

High-speed rail agency OKs Fresno-Bakersfield route
The California High-Speed Rail Authority approved its Fresno-Bakersfield section Wednesday -- the second piece of what is planned as the backbone of a statewide passenger train network.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/07/3914799/high-speed-rail-board-approves.html

National News

President Obama, in California stop, makes push for energy efficiency
Making the first-ever presidential stop at a Wal-Mart on Friday, President Obama urged U.S. businesses to join his administration’s efforts to improve energy efficiency -- arguing that "there are cost-effective ways to tackle climate change and create jobs at the same time."
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-obama-energy-efficiency-20140509-story.html

Americans Actually Think They Can Do Something About the Environment
It's one of the few areas where a big majority of Americans firmly believe they can make a difference.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/big-questions/americans-actually-think-they-can-do-something-about-the-environment-20140509

EPA Weighs New Fracking Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency moved a small step closer Friday to forcing industry disclosure of data on chemicals and chemical mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing. EPA solicited comment on what a potential regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act might look like, but it isn't committing itself to writing an actual rule. The idea of formulating a regulation has been kicking around for quite a while.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/epa-weighs-new-fracking-rule-20140509

Obama administration limits on soot pollution upheld by appeals court
The Obama administration on Friday scored its third major legal victory on air pollution in less than month when a federal appeals court rejected an industry challenge to its latest health standards for fine particulate matter, or soot.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/09/6393161/obama-administration-limits-on.html

Climate change could worsen ozone levels across the U.S., study says
Americans can expect the number of days with unhealthy air to jump 70% by mid-century unless emissions of smog-forming pollutants are slashed, according to a study led by the federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-ozone-smog-20140505-story.html

Marco Rubio says human activity isn't causing climate change
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a GOP star and possible 2016 presidential contender, does not believe human activity is causing climate change, he said Sunday.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-rubio-denies-climate-change-20140511-story.html

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