Weekly Green: December 8, 2014

In recent headlines:

• Money flows in plastic bag fight;
• Sen. Kevin De León leading delegation to Peru on climate change;
• California wildlife managers ban prizes for competitive hunts;
• California’s holiday gift: forecasts of a wet winter;
• ... and much more!

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TOP NEWS

Money flows in plastic bag fight
With California’s law banning plastic bags on hold, the plastic bag industry and its allies already are pouring money into California in hopes of overturning the law in a referendum two years down the road.
http://capitolweekly.net/money-flows-fight-plastic-bag-ban/

Sen. Kevin De León leading delegation to Peru on climate change
De León is accompanied to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by members of the Brown administration including Matt Rodriquez, the secretary for environmental protection. Brown himself is not attending the conference.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-sen-de-leon-leading-delegation-to-peru-on-climate-change-20141204-story.html

California wildlife managers ban prizes for competitive hunts
California wildlife managers on Wednesday banned the awarding of prizes for hunting contests targeting non-game animals like coyotes in what is believed to be the first such measure in the country aimed at lessening the appeal of such competitions.
http://bit.ly/CoyoteKillingContests

California’s holiday gift: forecasts of a wet winter
Meteorologists say periodic showers are likely through the middle of December, while new federal climate models, including a bumped-up forecast for El Niño, hint at definitively soggier months ahead.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-s-holiday-gift-Forecasts-of-a-wet-5938485.php

DROUGHT NEWS

Study: California drought is the most severe in at least 1,200 years
Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the University of Minnesota reconstructed California’s temperature and precipitation history back to 800 A.D. using tree ring data. Hidden in this millennium of data they found as many as 66 dry periods of at least three to nine years. In the entire 1,200 year period they studied, there were only three droughts that were similar in nature to the current drought.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/12/04/study-california-drought-is-the-most-severe-in-at-least-1200-years/

How California’s Water Rights Make It Tough to Manage Drought
The system is largely invisible, buried in legal contracts, court decisions and stacks of century-old papers. To get a sense of what it all means, there is a place you can go to actually see water rights in action: east of Interstate 5, near Los Banos, in the Central Valley.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/how-californias-water-rights-make-it-tough-to-manage-drought/

Redwoods Damaged by South Bay Experiments With Recycled Water Irrigation
With a drought continuing to punish California, cities across Santa Clara County are expanding their use of recycled water to irrigate parks. But the water-saving step may put a local icon at risk: redwood trees.
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/12/07/recycled-water-could-damage-redwood-trees/

Seminar will discuss climate change and California water supplies
The public has a unique opportunity Tuesday to learn about how climate change may alter the availability of water in California and to offer ideas on adapting to those changes.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4330128.html

California Christmas tree farms doing well in spite of drought
Kim Bouye calls them her “babies,” tiny pine tree seedlings that in about four years will grow into mature Christmas trees. That is, if the drought doesn’t sap their strength.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/article/20141206/NEWS/141209577

Drought dries rural wells, residents carry water in buckets
Drought hits rural wells two ways: No precipitation to replenish groundwater and deeper wells draw down shallow ones. A day comes when the tap sputters.
http://rtumble.com/archive/14_12_06.htm

California's GOP congressmen flex muscles with new water bill
After the collapse of secret negotiations that sought to change federal policy to send more water to Central Valley farmers, California's Republican lawmakers have come up with Plan B: a completely new water bill.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/12/03/48439/california-s-gop-congressmen-flex-muscles-with-new/

CALIFORNIA NEWS

CLCV Blog: Honey Bees Need Our Help!
An epidemic is wiping out the honey bee population in North America. Here in Californians, we have a special responsibility to respond to this threat: Our state's agricultural production accounts for more food than any other state in the nation – and that means our local economies depend on the health of honey bees.
http://www.ecovote.org/blog/honey-bees-need-our-help

Clue Into Climate
In order to help students understand the science of climate change, KQED, the University of California Museum of Paleontology and the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University have partnered on a new iBooks Textbook series and iTunes U course, called Clue into Climate. The four-part series explores the causes of climate change, its impacts on freshwater and ecosystems, and strategies for curbing and adapting to climate change.
http://bit.ly/ClueIntoClimate

Mayor Kevin Johnson to propose plastic bag ban in Sacramento
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will announce Monday a proposal to prohibit single-use plastic bags at stores in the city in the event that opponents of a newly adopted statewide ban are able to force a public vote on that legislation.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/city-beat/article4319919.html

Helping hand for greener homes: San Francisco moving to finance upgrades
Four years ago, San Francisco was ready to become one of the first counties in California to adopt an innovative program giving homeowners an easy, affordable way to finance energy efficiency upgrades and solar installations.
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Helping-hand-for-greener-homes-S-F-moving-to-5941872.php

Feather River train derailment raises new concerns
The Feather River north of Sacramento serves as a life source for California, providing drinking water to millions of residents as far south as Los Angeles and helping irrigate nearly 1 million acres of farmland.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article4315150.html

Judge orders billionaire to open gate to Martins Beach
The billionaire owner of a Peninsula beach was ordered Friday by a San Mateo County judge to open the gates to the sandy haven, which he insists is his exclusive property.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judge-orders-billionaire-to-open-gate-to-Martins-5938974.php

Tricolored blackbird gains endangered species protection in California
The California Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday granted endangered species protections to the tricolored blackbird, approving the designation on a temporary, emergency basis.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-1204-blackbirds-20141204-story.html

Why San Francisco is moving 42,000 tons of sand down Ocean Beach
It’s part of an effort by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, working with the National Park Service, to move 42,000 tons of sand — 30,000 cubic yards — from the north end of the wide beach to the south, which is where it came from in the first place.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Why-S-F-is-moving-42-000-tons-of-sand-down-Ocean-5936234.php#photo-7228724

NATIONAL & GLOBAL NEWS

Peru climate change talks slowed by clashes of rich and poor nations
International climate talks in Lima, Peru, are entering their final week, with few hints of whether a newfound optimism that marked the start of negotiations will ultimately translate into an agreement that would rein in climate change.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-climate-talks-20141207-story.html

The Last Time the Arctic Was Ice-Free in the Summer, Modern Humans Didn’t Exist
Ice has been a relatively constant feature of the Arctic for most of the past 36 million years, but there have been some gaps. Scientists aren’t exactly sure what happened during the most recent major ice-free period, but it’s often considered an analog to our future, warmer Earth. The only difference is, the gap in Arctic sea ice that scientists believe will happen by midcentury is being caused by us.
http://slate.me/1wrxzOm

Bisphenol A Is Safe for Approved Uses In Food Containers, Packaging, FDA Says
Bisphenol A is safe at the current levels found in foods, the Food and Drug Administration said in a Dec. 5 announcement. The agency said it reached that conclusion based on a four-year review of more than 300 scientific studies.
http://www.bna.com/bisphenol-safe-approved-n17179918114/

Pink Fracking
When big-time frackers Baker Hughes, Inc. launched a breast cancer "Pink Ribbon" campaign, The Daily Show's Samantha Bee checked in with Karuna Jagger from Breast Cancer Action.
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/yosyx6/pink-fracking

Boxer: NRC has dropped the ball on nuclear safety
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer lit into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday for not living up to its mission of protecting the public and the environment by acting on recommendations following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2014/12/03/boxer-nrc-has-dropped-the-ball-on-nuclear-safety/

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