Weekly Green: August 11, 2014

Good evening, California. In recent headlines:

• Water bond alternatives working through Sacramento;
• Cap and trade gas price fight: is it about undermining AB 32?
• State-mandated scientific study of fracking to be delayed;
• Drought-busting El Niño looking less likely; and much, 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

Above the Fold

Scrambling on water bond, California lawmakers seek to bump back deadlines
Scrambling to place a new water bond before voters ahead of looming electoral deadlines, California lawmakers are converging on a proposed bond worth $7.195 billion.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/11/6621055/scrambling-on-water-bond-california.html

Governor, Democratic lawmakers craft new water bond compromise
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders floated a $7.195 billion water bond compromise Monday, as the deadline to get a replacement measure on the ballot looms.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-ln-governor-democratic-lawmakers-craft-new-water-bond-compromise-20140811-story.html

'Remarkable' warming reported in Central California coastal waters
Ocean temperatures along the Central California coast experienced a "remarkable" warming during the first three weeks of July, leading to unusual encounters with some fish species, scientists reported.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-warming-california-central-coast-20140811-story.html

CALIFORNIA: Is fight over cap and trade and gas prices aimed at scuttling climate law?
In the battle over whether California should extend its key climate program to penalize pollution from gasoline and diesel, there's a short-term fight, and increasingly what some see as a longer-term war.
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060004296

State-mandated scientific study of fracking to be delayed six months
An independent scientific study mandated by last year's landmark California law regulating oil industry well-stimulation techniques such as fracking will not be completed by the Jan. 1 deadline established by the law.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/environment/statemandated-scientific-study-of-fracking-to-be-delayed-six-months_35598548

Keystone XL could mean more carbon emissions than estimated, study says
Building the Keystone XL pipeline could lead to as much as four times more greenhouse gas emissions than the State Department has estimated for the controversial project, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change that relies on different calculations about oil consumption.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-na-keystone-xl-greenhouse-gases-climate-obama-20140809-story.html

Mercury levels rise in oceans
Man has pumped tens of thousands of tons of mercury into the world’s oceans in the last 500 years, nearly tripling the amount of the toxic heavy metal in sea water, according to a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mercury-measurements-oceans-20140806-story.html

Viewpoints: State should ban plastic microbeads in cosmetics
A tube of face wash can contain as many as 330,000 plastic microbeads; there are more than 1,100 personal care products on the market that use them. In the last two decades, the industry has moved away from using more natural materials as exfoliants, such as almond shells and cocoa beans. In response to recent discoveries about the increasing presence of micro-plastics in the ocean, a number of product manufacturers are going back to the more natural exfoliants.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/01/6596645/viewpoints-state-should-ban-plastic.html

Water and the Drought

California lawmakers considering historic shift in groundwater policy
As California continues to endure a calamitous lack of water from the sky, the state could, for the first time, start to regulate water drawn from the ground.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-water-20140810-story.html

Storage, Tunnels Clog Water Bond Talks As Deadline Nears
Gov. Jerry Brown and California lawmakers are already living on borrowed time as they negotiate a measure to replace the $11 billion water bond on the November ballot.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2014/08/11/storage,-tunnels-clog-water-bond-talks-as-deadline-nears/

California lawmakers struggle to agree on lower-cost water bond
State lawmakers have until Monday night to revise the $11 billion water bond that will appear on the November statewide ballot, but have thus far been unable to agree on a lower spending amount.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-lawmakers-struggle-to-agree-on-5680419.php

Enviro coalition offers its own water plan
A day after Gov. Brown proposed a $6 billion water bond for the November ballot, an environmental coalition offered their own plan with a similar price-tag and with $1.5 billion for recycling and conservation, and $800 million to treat waste water and develop drinking water projects.
http://capitolweekly.net/enviro-coalition-offers-6-billion-water-bond/

California drought: Regulations limiting groundwater pumping under consideration by lawmakers
In what would be the most significant water law passed in California in nearly 50 years, lawmakers in Sacramento are working with Gov. Jerry Brown on a landmark measure to regulate groundwater pumping for the first time.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140810/NEWS/140819979

Anaheim to Approve Water Use Restrictions
Amid an ever-worsening statewide drought, Anaheim could join a growing list of cities and water agencies to enact more restrictions in response to a state mandate.
http://www.voiceofoc.org/oc_north/anaheim/article_70aeaeaa-207c-11e4-8046-0019bb2963f4.html

This L.A. cop gets the drop on water offenders
Rick Silva began his investigation at the end of an alley, on a hot day in L.A.'s Westlake community. Driving down a busy thoroughfare, he spied water runoff on a sidewalk. Silva parked and went inside. After introducing himself as "LADWP," Silva said loudly, "You know there's a drought."
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-water-cop-20140811-story.html

L.A. can do more to reduce costly imported water, activists say
Los Angeles can and should do more to wean itself off of costly imported water, environmental advocates told scores of people who packed a Panorama City forum Saturday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-residents-can-do-more-to-wean-itself-off-of-costly-imported-water-activists-say-20140809-story.html

Improvised devices help water drought-stricken L.A. trees
Los Angeles officials and environmentalists have begun deploying emergency low-tech watering devices to try to save trees in desperate need of water during the drought.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-drought-trees-20140809-story.html

On California Island, Goals for Water and Visitors Collide in Drought
Just an hourlong ferry ride from Los Angeles, Catalina Island is enjoying a renaissance. After years of declining tourism, businesses here have spent more than $40 million updating this quaint island town.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/us/catalina-island-in-drought-poses-tourists-dilemma.html

Water districts offering rebates for getting rid of lawn
In many parts of the Bay Area, homeowners can get rebates ranging from 50 cents to $4 per square foot for replacing their lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Water-districts-offering-rebates-for-getting-rid-5679018.php

Still no answer to CA water crisis in Sacramento
As California’s drought drags through its third straight year, lawmakers in Sacramento have yet to reach agreement on how to tackle the Golden State’s water crisis. That could change on Monday. Some say it has to.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/08/water-bond-California-drought-ballot-election/

Drought-busting El Niño looking less likely
Hope of an El Niño rescuing California from its devastating drought this year appears to be just about gone. Not only have climate scientists downgraded the strength of a potential El Niño, but a report released Thursday by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center indicates that the odds of an El Niño happening at all have decreased.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Drought-busting-El-Ni-o-getting-less-likely-5674795.php

California's severe drought unchanged despite record thunderstorms
A series of thunderstorms that have hit California in recent weeks may have delivered devastating torrents of rain in some areas, but on the whole they were "inconsequential" in terms of easing the state's worsening drought, according to a report issued Thursday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rain-california-drought-20140807-story.html

More California Environmental News & Opinion

Walters: Legislature ducking debate on big fuel price hike
When the Legislature adjourns this month, it will likely leave Assembly Bill 69 still sitting in the Senate Rules Committee, thereby avoiding an election-year debate on whether California motorists should cough up billions of extra dollars when they buy gas.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/07/6613685/dan-walters-legislature-ducking.html

January tax hike fuels fight over greenhouse gas law
In this dry summer, water is on everyone’s mind, but the Legislature will be dealing with the cost of another liquid precious to Californians – gasoline.
http://capitolweekly.net/fuel-taxes-january-fight-greenhouse-gases-california/

UC Davis scientists search for ways to turn carbon dioxide into fuel
Carbon dioxide is a waste product of fuel burned in cars, but some UC Davis scientists are working to turn it back into fuel.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/08/6616116/uc-davis-scientists-search-for.html

Study: It's Possible to Power All of California With Clean Energy, But...
A new study claims that California could power itself entirely with wind, water, solar, and geothermal energy by 2050, but it would require devoting more than 4,800 square miles of the state's land and waters to wind turbines and utility-scale solar power plants.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/science/study-california-could-go-carbon-free-but-itll-cost.html

Ships to slow down off California to save whales and cut pollution
A program being launched off the California coast this summer will tackle two environmental problems posed by thousands of cargo ships that ferry goods to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach each year: Not only are the hulking vessels major sources of air pollution, their shipping lanes overlap with a prime feeding area for migrating blue whales off Santa Barbara.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ships-slow-down-whales-pollution-20140805-story.html

Bill would cap income eligibility for state's clean-vehicle rebates
Sales of electric cars are up but remain well off the pace needed to meet state goals. And the generous subsidies are going largely to some of the state's wealthiest residents.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-electric-car-rebates-20140807-story.html

California community colleges green-energy projects get $45 million boost
California's community colleges are getting greener with the help of a clean-energy tax measure that brought them $40 million in the past academic year alone for infrastructure upgrades and $5 million for green-jobs training.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_26316445/california-community-colleges-green-energy-projects-get-45

De León rose out of the barrio to lead the California Senate
This fall, at age 47, he will become the first Latino since the late 19th century to lead the California Senate as its president pro tem. It has been a journey steered by an abundance of personal charm, dogged perseverance, driving ambition, street savvy, intellectual smarts, and a passion to do right by the memory of his mother.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/politics/de-len-rose-out-of-the-barrio-to-lead-the-california-senate_77807189

Ten Mile River getting reef-to-ridge makeover to save salmon
It is the first time anyone in California has ever tried to rebuild historic floodplains and habitat from the mouth of a river all the way to the headwaters.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Ten-Mile-River-getting-reef-to-ridge-makeover-to-5679302.php

Audit blasts toxics agency for uncollected bills
The state Department of Toxic Substances Control has racked up almost $194 million in cleanup costs since 1987 for which it has either not billed polluters or collected payment, and the department may never recover a portion of that money, the state auditor said Thursday.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/07/6612775/audit-blasts-toxics-agency-for.html

Fresno City Hall torn over study for high-speed rail station
The place that can't get its fill of plans is dragging its heels over whether to spend someone else's money for a study on the bullet train station.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/10/4064411/fresno-torn-over-study-for-rail.html

Kings County hopes to take rail battle to state Supreme Court
Kings County foes of the California High-Speed Rail Authority's bullet-train plans want to take their legal fight to the California Supreme Court.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/11/4065180/kings-county-hopes-to-take-rail.html

Imperial County wants state to require use of more geothermal energy
California's poorest county wants a bigger share of the state's $16-billion wholesale electricity market.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20140811-story.html

eHighway system coming to ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles
Next summer, technology that powers today’s trolleys and streetcars may soon power trucks traveling to and from the nation’s two busiest seaports in a demonstration that officials hope will lead to cleaner air.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140810/NEWS/140819971

Lawmakers McClintock, Costa have competing ideas about expanding Yosemite
The House veterans now have competing bills folding nearly 1,600 acres in Mariposa County into the park's boundaries.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/07/4059574/lawmakers-mcclintock-costa-have.html

A development dream for hidden San Francisco bayfront wildland
There's a tract of land in India Basin that's one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets: 14 acres of wild waterfront grassland that is home to coyotes and hawks and a destination for weekend anglers fishing for stripers. Chances are it won't be secret for long.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Developer-s-dreams-for-India-Basin-S-F-s-secret-5675631.php

Thanks for reading the Weekly Green from the California League of Conservation Voters. If you're not a regular subscriber, don't forget to sign up today! Get your free subscription here: http://ecovote.org/wg

• Next Weekly Green
•  
• Previous Weekly Green