Weekly Green: April 28, 2014

In recent headlines:

• Mounting evidence of fracking risks bring call for a time-out;
• Study links California drought to global warming;
• California drought putting fish, birds and tree species at risk;
• Climate change threatens California's air quality;
• ... and much more!

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Top News

Sarah Rose and Andrew Grinberg: Mounting evidence of fracking risks bring call for a time-out
When the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality, chaired by Sen. Jerry Hill, votes on SB 1132 on Wednesday, we expect our representatives to stand up for our health, clean water, and a sustainable future, and not Big Oil's bottom line. We expect them to vote "Yes."
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25653699/sarah-rose-and-andrew-grinberg-mounting-evidence-fracking

Study links California drought to global warming
While researchers have sometimes connected weather extremes to man-made global warming, usually it's not done in real time. Now a study is asserting a link between climate change and both the intensifying California drought and the polar vortex blamed for a harsh winter that mercifully has just ended in many places.
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_25636808/study-links-california-drought-global-warming

California drought putting fish, birds and tree species at risk, scientists say
California’s drought is imperiling tricolored blackbirds, large trees and native fish, with some of the affected species already on the state’s endangered list and others likely headed there because of rapidly declining numbers, scientists say.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/25/6355521/california-drought-putting-fish.html

Climate change threatens California's air quality, report says
Climate change and extreme weather could set back decades of improvement in California’s air quality, a new report by the state’s pollution control officers says.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-california-air-pollution-officers-20140423,0,2814744.story

The Public Eye: Big business channels money to California’s moderate Democrats
They are Democrats, yet their votes in the Capitol have helped big business continue fracking in California and defeat a bill dictating pay and benefit levels for Wal-Mart workers
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/27/6356478/big-business-channels-money-to.html

California's (Unreasonable) Drought

Editor’s Note: Take the CLCV quiz, Beyond a Reasonable Drought, to test your knowledge... and get a free sticker!
http://CaliforniaQuiz.org »

California’s record drought just got a lot more serious
As the drought worsens and wildfire season approaches, the state is taking drastic measures to conserve water.
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/28/californias_record_drought_just_got_a_lot_more_serious/

Gov. Brown orders more emergency drought measures
Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed a sweeping new emergency drought proclamation, cutting red tape for a variety of government functions to help water agencies find new supplies, and to press the public to use water carefully.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/25/6354618/gov-brown-orders-more-emergency.html

In California Drought, Desperation May Make Water Flow Uphill
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and California’s severe drought is already inspiring a few. Water districts in the San Joaquin Valley are proposing a drought tactic that’s never been tried: they want to reverse the state’s plumbing by running the California Aqueduct backwards.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2014/04/22/in-california-drought-desperation-may-make-water-flow-uphill/

California drought: Jobs, money dry up in farm towns
Fields that normally come to life by April with the planting of tomatoes and melons have been left barren due to insufficient water. And that means less farm work to go around.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-drought-Jobs-money-dry-up-in-farm-5431129.php

California Drought Spurs Bonds for 30-Mile Water Tunnels
California water agencies plan to sell the first $200 million in bonds toward a $25 billion project to bolster supplies for about 25 million people as the worst drought in a century threatens farms and cities.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-28/california-drought-spurs-bonds-for-30-mile-water-tunnels.html

California rethinking groundwater
With water tables plummeting in places from the wine country of Paso Robles to the almond orchards of the San Joaquin Valley, the state Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown could soon adopt measures to retool California's approach to groundwater.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2014/04/27/california-rethinks-groundwater/8251263/

California News

New map could refocus state's pollution battles
After being criticized for assessing environmental hazards only by the state's 1,800 ZIP Codes, Cal/EPA issues scores for its 8,000 census tracts.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-0423-pollution-neighborhoods-20140423,0,1487851.story

Dan Walters: California politicians jousting over how to spend cap-and-trade money
California may – or may not – be generating a big pot of free political money via the “cap-and-trade” fees extracted from business to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. And there’s a political fight brewing on how to spend it.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/04/28/3897007/dan-walters-california-politicians.html

Fresno ranks No. 1 on California pollution list
New Cal/EPA maps show that Fresno contains eight of the 10 areas most heavily burdened by pollution. But the data tell just part of the story.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-fresno-pollution-20140424,0,5860295.story

Sweet Crude on the Seashore: The Past, Present, and Future of Goleta’s Oceanfront Oil Facility
Tucked in a coastal canyon between the sands of Haskell’s Beach, the Bacara Resort, and Sandpiper Golf Course is the oil and gas processing plant known as the Ellwood Onshore Facility (EOF), which treats the flow of fossil fuels being collected by Platform Holly from deep beneath the ocean floor and sent to shore every second of the day.
http://www.independent.com/news/2014/apr/24/sweet-crude-seashore/

San Jose Mercury News editorial: Californians deserve clear labeling of genetically engineered food
Fortunately, Prop 37's supporters went back to the drawing board with Sen. Noreen Evans' SB 1381. The bill still needs work, but it's a big improvement over the 2012 initiative. The Senate Agriculture Committee should refine it before approving the bill at a hearing next week.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25622710/mercury-news-editorial-californians-deserve-clear-labeling-genetically

Air quality regulators give truckers more time to meet smog standards
California Air Resources Board extends deadline for diesel trucks to cut emissions and comply with strict pollution rules.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-diesel-trucks-20140426,0,3351398.story

Oil firm accused of hazardous South L.A. emissions agrees to upgrades
The agreement settles a probe by the EPA, launched after residents of the South L.A. neighborhood complained of health problems.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-0425-fumes-20140425,0,5681734.story

Ridding L.A. of rat poison
Earlier this month, a photo of Griffith Park’s only mountain lion made the rounds on the Internet. P-22, the name scientists gave him, wasn’t his usual majestic self – as seen in a National Geographic photo passing by the Hollywood sign. P-22 is ill with mange and may not survive. It highlighted a problem affecting cougars from Hollywood to Malibu.
http://www.losangelesregister.com/articles/mountain-598360-lions-state.html

A variety of California kingsnake is wreaking havoc in Canary Islands
An albino variety of the snake, popular in the pet trade, is decimating native bird, mammal and lizard species that have had no time to evolve evasive patterns.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-kingsnake-20140428,0,2901782.story

National News

The promise, the growing pains of oil boom town
Oil already has transformed the landscape. Construction cranes tower in the sky. Houses and hotels are proliferating. Trucks rumble along Highway 85, creating bumper-to-bumper traffic. Tongues of flame flare from new wells. Help wanted notices beckon from billboards and roadside signs. And the free-flowing cash has drawn investors from as far away as China and France.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-promise-the-growing-pains-of-oil-boom-town-5435627.php

Politicians split over energy
The U.S. energy boom is blurring the traditional political battle lines across the country. Democrats are split between environmentalists and business and labor groups, with the proposed Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline a major wedge.
http://www.mercurynews.com/News/ci_25601293/Politicians-split-over-energy

Jury awards Texas family nearly $3 million in fracking case
A family says fracking and other drilling by Aruba Petroleum near their ranch created severe health problems. The civil jury verdict may be the first of its kind in a fracking case.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-fracking-lawsuit-20140424,0,508199.story

25 Years of 'The Green Nobel'
For the past quarter century, San Francisco's Goldman family has been honoring grassroots environmental activists from around the world. The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to six honorees each year, and includes $150,000. We'll talk to several of the 2014 winners who will be recognized at a ceremony in San Francisco on Monday.
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201404280900

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