Weekly Green: February 9, 2015

Good afternoon, all. Recent news and opinion:

• Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León to propose sweeping climate-change legislation;
• Oil industry doubled spending on lobbying in California last year;
• Study shows widely used neonicotinoid insecticide impairs bumblebee brains;
• Fracking: thousands march, federal rules due out soon; 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

California Environmental News

State senate leader to propose sweeping climate-change legislation
Senate leader Kevin de León plans to propose sweeping climate change legislation this week that would begin building a regulatory path for cutting vehicle gas consumption by up to 50 percent in California by 2030, according to people familiar with the plan.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/blog/morning-roundup/2015/02/state-senate-leader-to-propose-sweeping-climate.html

Lawmakers take step toward fulfilling state climate change goals
State lawmakers are preparing a sweeping package of bills that would fulfill several of Gov. Jerry Brown's climate change objectives by increasing California's reliance on renewable energy and alternative transportation fuels.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-climate-change-20150208-story.html

California OKs oil field dumping into drinking water
Regulators in California, the country’s third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/02/06/california-oil-field-dumping/22998483/

Oil industry doubled spending on lobbying in California last year
The oil industry nearly doubled its spending on lobbying in California last year, as the Jan. 1, 2015 date approached for gasoline to be included in the state’s cap-and-trade program.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/the-public-eye/article9261986.html

Oil lobby leads list of California's top spenders in 2014
California's oil and gas industry kept its long-running title as the biggest employer of lobbyists in California last year, according to numbers released this week by the California Secretary of State.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/02/oil-gas-lobby-california-western-states-petroleum.html

With climate change on the California Legislature’s agenda, utilities ‘making the rounds’
Soon after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed expanding greenhouse gas reduction policies in his State of the State address, California’s influential utilities praised Brown’s agenda but moved quietly to craft a version that could be easier for them to meet.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/gov-jerry-brown/article9321191.html

Thousands march and rally in Oakland to call for ban on fracking
Thousands of people from up and down California marched in Oakland on Saturday for the largest protest to date against the state's use of hydraulic fracturing to harvest oil and natural gas.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27482290/thousands-march-and-rally-oakland-call-ban-fracking

Fracking puts California governor, environmentalists at odds
Climate change is one of Brown's key issues, and he said in his inaugural address last month that his goal is to have California get half its energy from renewable sources within 15 years. But because he has refused to ban hydraulic fracturing for oil, protesters, or "fracktivists," have dogged Brown for more than a year.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Fracking-puts-California-governor-6066443.php

Solar farm, one of the world's largest, opens near Joshua Tree
About 4,000 acres of shiny black solar panels stretch across Riverside County near Joshua Tree National Park, where on Monday U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell dedicated one of the largest photovoltaic solar energy farms in the world.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-solar-farm-20150209-story.html

California Legislature Wants Oversight On Water Bond Money
In total, California has $7.5 billion in bond revenue to work with. Most will be allocated to state departments through the budget process. Democrat Marc Levine chairs the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife committee, which will hold an oversight hearing on the bond. Levine says the state should be cautious.
http://www.capradio.org/42069

Jerry Brown ‘not ready’ for mandatory water restrictions in drought
Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that he remains reluctant to impose mandatory water restrictions on Californians, saying the state is doing “pretty well” conserving water voluntarily as it enters a fourth year of drought.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article9406694.html

Federal drought relief money to help state save salmon run
California will get a big chunk of federal drought relief money directed at Western states, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Friday, in part to pay for refrigerating water at a Shasta fish hatchery where water levels are so low, and what’s left is so warm, that federally protected salmon cannot survive.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Federal-drought-relief-money-to-help-state-save-6067561.php?t=4e25f11c1f1210a92f&cmpid=twitter-premium

Recent storms did little to boost California snowpack
Here’s the bad news: Despite days of precipitation, California’s snowpack was barely boosted after a weekend of storms that brought power outages, downed trees, thunderstorms and a threat of tornadoes.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article9554321.html

Patch of California emerges from drought, experts say
After years of historically low rain totals and record-setting temperatures, California’s drought situation is looking... less awful. The latest evidence of this is a patch of southeastern California near Lake Havasu and the Colorado River. But if you want to see it on a map, you'd better take out a magnifying glass.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-drought-monitor-report-20150205-story.html

California Manufacturers to Pay More Under Toughest Carbon Curbs
California manufacturers from food processors to apparel makers are warning costs will skyrocket if state regulators proceed with a plan to reduce their allocations of free greenhouse gas emission credits.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-06/california-manufacturers-to-pay-more-under-toughest-carbon-curbs

Dahle, Rendon: Aggressive path forward for California's precious state parks
With such rich assets, our state parks should be a foundation of California's tourism industry, a magnet for visitors to admire our stateís natural wonders, and a driving force supporting local businesses. Instead, state parks have long been mismanaged, leading to a system that -- thanks to years of budget cuts and neglected upkeep -- is frequently falling into physical ruin.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article9125675.html

Bill aims to crack open SoCal carpool lanes
State lawmakers again this year will debate whether to crack open some of Southern California’s carpool lanes to all drivers before and after rush hours.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/feb/08/sacramento-carpool-mike-gatto-HOV-lanes/

Brown seeks money for fixing roads as gas tax value plunges
California lawmakers are looking at new ways to pay for crumbling roads, bridges and highways as the traditional repair fund from gasoline taxes dries up.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/02/08/49721/brown-seeks-money-for-fixing-roads-as-gas-tax-valu/

California drivers could face new $52-a-year fee
California drivers would pay a new “road user” fee to help fund $2 billion in annual road repairs under a plan unveiled Wednesday by state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-drivers-could-face-new-52-a-year-fee-6063178.php

National & International Environmental News

Federal fracking rules due out soon
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told reporters Monday that the rules from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management are “very close” and can be expected “in the coming weeks.” The fracking rules would set the first ever standards for using the controversial process on federally-owned land that is leased by oil companies.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/231498-federal-fracking-rules-due-out-soon

Bumblebee's Brain Impaired by Widely Used Insecticide
That was the conclusion reached by a team of researchers from the universities of St. Andrews and Dundee, which studied neonicotinoid insecticides to assess their impact on the bumblebee and its nests.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/insects/bumblebees-brain-impaired-by-widely-used-insecticide-150205.htm

Elections

ACLU: California DMV Fails at Voter Registration; Lawsuit Possible
It’s been more than two decades since Congress passed the so-called Motor Voter Act requiring state DMVs to let residents register to vote at their offices — but the ACLU of California says the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is falling asleep at the wheel, and it’s threatening to sue.
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/04/ACLU-threatens-suit-over-motor-voter-DMV-failure/

New research offers four lessons from California’s top-two primary
What difference did California’s top-two electoral system make in statewide contests in 2014? On the outcome, not much. But the system, in which the top two vote-getters in each race advance from the primary election to a runoff regardless of party affiliation, did influence the field of candidates who got into races and some of the tactics they employed.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article9474170.html

Quinn: Redistricting and the Supreme Court: Be careful what you wish for
In 2010, Californians voted to give the Citizens Redistricting Commission the power to draw congressional district lines in the 2011 redistricting. No one at the time thought its actions were unconstitutional, but they are under assault now.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article9170435.html

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