Weekly Green: June 16, 2014

Good evening, California. In recent headlines:

• Environmental leaders applaud Senator Kevin de León’s election to Senate pro Tem;
• California lawmakers approve budget, fund high-speed rail with cap-and-trade funds;
• Solis, Chu propose National Recreation Area for San Gabriel mountains & river;
• Details about crude oil rail shipments shrouded in secrecy; and more.

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Top of the Ticket

CLCV Blog: Environmental leaders applaud Senator Kevin de León’s election to California Senate President pro Tempore
Today, leaders of California’s environmental community applauded the election of Senator Kevin de León to California state Senate President pro Tempore and thanked Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg for his courageous leadership on behalf of California’s environment and public health.
http://bit.ly/CongratulationsKevin
See also: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-sen-de-leon-of-los-angeles-elected-leader-of-calif-senate-20140613-story.html

California lawmakers approve budget to fund rail, preschool
Brown's high-speed rail project, a $68 billion effort opposed by Republicans, will receive $250 million in funding from the state's cap-and-trade program. The state collects a fee after polluters buy and sell their rights to emit carbon into the air.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/16/us-usa-california-budget-idUSKBN0EQ0BS20140616

California's Environment

Solis, Chu hold rally for National Recreation Area bill
County Supervisor-elect Hilda Solis and Rep. Judy Chu — the two people responsible for creating federal legislation that would bring national recognition to the San Gabriel Mountains and San Gabriel River — led a rally of about 150 supporters at Peck Road Park near El Monte on Saturday. Both touted the bill by Chu, D-Pasadena, to turn 615,000 acres of mountain and river wilderness into a National Recreation Area that would be co-managed by the U.S. National Park Service, a model that they say has worked for the Santa Monica Mountains for nearly 40 years.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/government-and-politics/20140614/solis-chu-rally-for-national-recreation-area-bill-for-angeles-national-forest-san-gabriel-river

Does Kevin McCarthy's rise spell trouble for Calif.'s high speed rail project?
It's looking all but certain that Bakersfield Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy will be elected as the next House Majority Leader. But his rise to the number two GOP leadership position could mean trouble for one of Gov. Jerry Brown's pet projects: high speed rail.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/06/13/44705/does-kevin-mccarthy-s-rise-spell-trouble-for-calif/

A Fourth Drought Year for California: What Are the Odds?
Vegas has nothing on Davis. As talk turns to whether California’s drought will stretch into a fourth year, two co-founders of the Center for Watershed Sciences at U.C. Davis decided to handicap it. Their conclusion: don’t bet on wet.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2014/06/15/oddsmaking-on-a-fourth-drought-year-for-california/

Weather officials: California likely faces a long, hot summer
As if the drought isn’t enough to worry about, weather officials say California is likely to experience a hotter-than-normal summer this year, a phenomenon certain to add anxiety for water agencies and fire departments.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/16/6484456/weather-officials-california-likely.html

Drought Intensifies Push for Better California Groundwater Management
Californians are becoming more reliant on underground water during the drought. But policymakers and environmental groups agree better management of the resource is needed.
http://www.capradio.org/25720

Cap-and-trade funds fuel bullet train
Hundreds of millions of dollars from California’s auctions of carbon emission credits are being tapped by the Brown administration to help finance the $68 billion high-speed rail project.
http://capitolweekly.net/cap-trade-funds-fuel-bullet-train/

High-speed rail funding deal far below project needs
Lawmakers have reached a deal on funding the California High-Speed Rail Authority up to a projected $250 million beginning in fiscal 2015, far less than the agency expects it will need to cover construction costs at that time, which is roughly $4 billion a year.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/06/12/high-speed-rail-funding-deal-far-below-project.html

Will nuclear fuel still be stable in 100 years?
Nearly half of the nuclear waste cooling in San Onofre’s spent fuel pools is of a hot variety enigmatically called “high-burnup fuel.”
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fuel-618325-nuclear-burnup.html

Salmon migrate by truck during California drought
In drought-stricken California, young Chinook salmon are hitting the road, not the river, to get to the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/article/20140615/NEWS/140619563

It’s Privacy vs. the People in the Battle for Martin’s Beach
Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, paid $37.5 million in 2008 for a 53-acre parcel of ocean land that includes the beach and the road — and proceeded to close the gate, posting armed guards and signaling that he was prepared to spend what it takes to keep the public off what he contends is private land.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/its-privacy-vs-the-people-in-the-battle-for-martins-beach.html

Details about crude oil rail shipments shrouded in secrecy
Trains carrying a potentially more flammable crude oil have begun rolling with little notice through Sacramento and California in the last year, prompting concerns about safety and calls for more transparency, but state officials said Friday they have decided for now not to release information to the public on where those trains run or how many there are.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/15/6484075/details-about-crude-oil-rail-shipments.html

San Francisco board to consider deal on clean-energy plan
Six weeks after Mayor Ed Lee proposed raiding a $19.5 million Public Utilities Commission fund set aside to help pay for a clean-energy program supported by the Board of Supervisors - and three weeks after a board committee rejected the entire PUC budget because of Lee's stated intention - Supervisor John Avalos brokered a compromise deal that will preserve around $7 million for CleanPowerSF.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-board-to-consider-deal-on-clean-energy-plan-5545065.php

Elections

California’s November Ballot Could Be Shortest Ever
After months of private maneuvering, polling, and even some expensive signature-gathering efforts that appear to have been in vain, November’s statewide ballot in California is looking like the smallest ever when it comes to propositions.
http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/06/13/2014/november-2014-ballot-looks-short

National Environmental News

Obama lambasts climate change deniers as ‘radical fringe’ in California speech
President Barack Obama Saturday tore into those in Congress and the media who deny climate change, calling them a radical fringe that threatens the future by shutting down debate even among those who might agree with the warnings.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/14/6483680/obama-lambastes-climate-change.html

After oil, natural gas may be next on North American rails
As politicians debate the dangers of a massive increase in oil carried by rail in North America, railroads and energy producers are considering the same for natural gas.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/16/us-usa-railway-natgas-insight-idUSKBN0ER0D620140616

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