Weekly Green: November 28, 2012

In recent headlines:

• Toxic couches: In a home near you?;
• Air pollution may be a factor in autism;
• Cap-and-trade spending legally limited;
• Veterans find jobs, and new mission, and cleantech;
• Climate skeptic group works to reverse renewable energy mandates;
• And much more.

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Top of the Ticket

Toxic couches: In a home near you?
What you don't know about your couch may not kill you, but it could definitely harm you and your family. So listen up: A new study by UC Berkeley and Duke University researchers reveals that an astounding 85% of U.S. couches contain toxic flame retardant chemicals.
http://www.ecovote.org/blog/toxic-couches-home-near-you

Sign the petition asking Governor Brown to follow through with his commitment to stopping the use of toxic flame retardants in couches and other products:
Take action at ecovote.org/toxic »

Air pollution may be factor in autism, researchers report
Researchers have found that exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy is associated with autism, according to a new study released on Monday.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22070464/air-pollution-may-be-factor-autism-researchers-report

Cap-and-trade spending legally limited
Among the revenue that will strengthen California's general fund this year is cash from the state's new cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse-gas emissions – about half a billion dollars – but officials may be legally barred from spending much of that money.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Cap-and-trade-spending-legally-limited-4065869.php

Veterans find jobs, and new mission, in cleantech
Some are helping build the massive solar farms sprouting up in California's deserts. A black POW-MIA flag flies every day at BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah solar plant under construction in the Mojave Desert, courtesy of a project superintendent who was a Marine in Vietnam.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22009977/veterans-find-jobs-and-new-mission-cleantech

Climate skeptic group works to reverse renewable energy mandates
The Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank skeptical of climate change science, has joined with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council to write model legislation aimed at reversing state renewable energy mandates across the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-skeptic-group-works-to-reverse-renewable-energy-mandates/2012/11/24/124faaa0-3517-11e2-9cfa-e41bac906cc9_story.html

California Environmental News

Central Valley residents tire of receiving L.A.'s urban waste
Thirty-nine of California's 58 counties shipped more than 5% of their trash and recycling across county lines last year. Much of it goes to the Central Valley, which has the vast acreage to handle it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-central-valley-20121126,0,69011.story

Study: California Could Replace San Onofre Nuke With Renewables
The report identifies six major strategies for cutting California's reliance on San Onofre's power -- or indeed, any centralized power station that may fail unpredictably.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/policy/study-california-could-replace-san-onofre-nuke-with-renewables.html

Solar power plants burden the counties that host them
Eager for jobs and tax money, Mojave Desert counties welcomed big solar projects. But they may have been too optimistic. And expanding emergency services and infrastructure isn't cheap.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-counties-20121125,0,4188597.story

Did oil firms manipulate market, senators ask
A group of lawmakers including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer is calling upon federal authorities to launch an investigation into possible market manipulation by oil companies, following a pair of gas price spikes that drove fuel costs above $4 per gallon across the West.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/ben-goad-headlines/20121127-gas-prices-did-oil-firms-manipulate-market-senators-ask.ece

California air board says DWP must control dry lake bed's dust
The board rules the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power must take additional air pollution control measures on 2.9 square miles of the dry Owens Lake bed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1121-owens-20121121,0,4964374.story

Port of Los Angeles oil tanker terminal project canceled
A major oil logistics company has quietly withdrawn plans to build a $500 million oil tanker terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, citing changing industry economics.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_22078179/oil-tanker-terminal-project-at-port-canceled

State's energy commission seeks more information on AES project
The California Energy Commission wants more information to determine if the environmental and health impacts of the proposed AES energy project are significant enough to require a plan to ease any potential negative effects.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/aes-378625-commission-energy.html

National & International News

The Worldwide Vulnerability of Forests
One of the great scientific tasks of the day is to understand how and why trees die. It may seem like a question that would have been answered many decades ago, but it was not - at least not at a detailed physiological level. Now, amid growing signs worldwide that forests are at risk as the climate changes, scientists are trying to catch up to events.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/the-worldwide-vulnerability-of-forests/?gwh=2688E20504EABD8E2A11A53F56F61CAD

EPA strengthens water quality guidelines for beaches
The Environmental Protection Agency updated water quality guidelines for the nation's beaches Monday, moving in response to charges that the federal government has not done enough to protect bathers from polluted water.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-epa-beaches-20121127,0,2220243.story

U.S. defends 'enormous' climate efforts at UN talks
Anticipating an onslaught of criticism from poor nations, the United States claimed "enormous" strides in reducing greenhouse emissions at the opening of U.N. climate talks Monday, despite failing to join other industrialized nations in committing to binding cuts.
http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_22071683/u-s-defends-enormous-climate-efforts-at-un

Australian scientists find excess greenhouse gas near fracking
Environmental researchers have detected excess greenhouse gas levels near the site of Australia's biggest coal seam gas field, prompting calls for halting expansion of hydraulic fracturing until scientists can determine whether it might be contributing to climate change.
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-australia-fracking-leakage-20121116,0,7039884.story

Notes on the Unbearable Whiteness of the Green Movement
"Environmental movement, make a note-to-self: When we look more like a Romney-Ryan election night gathering than an Obama-Biden election night gathering, we're in trouble."
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/the_environmental_movement_doesnt_resemble_the_obama_coalition/

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