Weekly Green: June 30, 2014

In recent headlines:

• CLCV Honors Environmental Champions at Annual Awards Gala;
• California State Parks turns 150 years old today!
• Obama mocks climate skeptics at LCV dinner;
• The Coming Climate Crash;
• ... and 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

Top News

CLCV Honors Environmental Champions at Annual Awards Gala
The California League of Conservation Voters — the nonpartisan political action arm of California’s environmental movement — honored four of California’s leading environmental champions at its annual Environmental Leadership Awards on June 26, 2014, at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.
Read More: http://www.ecovote.org/news-clcv-awards-062614
View & Share Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152284825786245.1073741828.60158871244

California State Parks turns 150 years old today!
In 1864, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation granting the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove (known as the Yosemite Grant) to the state of California to be "held for public use, resort, and recreation, and shall be inalienable for all time." In September of that year, California Governor Frederick Lowe accepted the grant and appointed the first State Parks Commission.
http://www.150.parks.ca.gov/

Obama mocks climate skeptics at LCV dinner
President Barack Obama lit into GOP climate change skeptics in a speech tonight, delighting a crowd of 800 to 900 environmentalists in Washington’s Ronald Reagan Building.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/barack-obama-climate-skeptics-lcv-dinner-108334.html

Henry Paulson: The Coming Climate Crash
When the credit bubble burst in 2008, the damage was devastating. Millions suffered. Many still do. We’re making the same mistake today with climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/lessons-for-climate-change-in-the-2008-recession.html

News About Carbon Rules

California low-carbon rule survives big legal challenge
California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, one of the centerpieces of the state’s fight against global warming, survived a significant legal challenge today when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit brought by oil-industry and out-of-state farm groups.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/30/6523178/california-low-carbon-rule-survives.html

Industry groups stir opposition to a cap-and-trade expansion they say will lead to higher gas prices
In a conference call with oil industry analysts in late 2012, Mike Wirth, a Chevron Corp. executive, took stock of California’s greenhouse gas reduction policies and warned that the state’s plan to expand its controversial cap-and-trade program to vehicle fuels in 2015 would result in higher prices at the pump.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/30/6521238/industry-groups-stir-opposition.html

California earmarks a quarter of its cap-and-trade riches for environmental justice
One-quarter of the $872 million generated by California's 18-month-old cap-and-trade scheme will go to housing and public transit programs for poor and minority communities this year, according to the recently approved state budget.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/29/231840/california-earmarks-a-quarter.html

Activists say California fighting pollution globally but not locally
In the Bay Area oil port city of Martinez, where a colossal Shell refinery has long tainted the air, the landmark California law that requires polluters to ease their carbon footprint seemed to some to promise new relief.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fi-climate-credits-20140630-story.html

News About Drought

State to target upper Russian River water rights holders
State water officials Tuesday will be considering new regulations aimed at cracking down on people who have ignored orders to stop diverting water from several California streams, including the upper Russian River.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140629/articles/140629539

Santa Cruz water customers overwhelmingly meet rationing limits
An overwhelming majority of Santa Cruz's residential water customers have kept their consumption within mandated rationing limits and the city is on target to keep overall production below its drought-driven conservation goal, officials said this week.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_26059176/santa-cruz-water-customers-overwhelmingly-meet-rationing-limits

California drought blankets entire state; El Nino forecast dims
Not too long ago in this season of California’s massive and extended drought, climate experts saw a small glimmer of hope on the horizon: Predictions for a wet El Niño season coming in the winter that would bring badly needed rain and relief to a parched state.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140627/NEWS/140629477

Drought Pushes Milk Prices To All-Time High
Milk prices hit an all-time in March and April this year. That's some relief for California dairy farmers, who saw their industry shrink from 2,100 to 1,500 farms in the last five years because of low prices and high production costs.
http://www.capradio.org/26885

Fruit and vegetable prices going up as California drought continues
Fresh fruits and vegetable prices will go up an estimated 6% in the coming months, the federal government said Wednesday, as California’s ongoing drought continues to hit price tags in grocery stores across the country.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fruit-and-vegetable-prices-california-drought-continues-20140625-story.html

Flood of back room activity on drought legislation
Congress leaves town today for its 4th of July recess without any agreement on California drought legislation. But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a water fight behind the scenes.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/06/26/44993/flood-of-back-room-activity-on-drought-legislation/

Drought Gives Cities Reason To Reuse Sewage Water
A portion of Quist's irrigation water was once raw sewage. Quist’s farm is just across the road from the City of Fresno’s wastewater treatment plant. It’s been giving him water for 50 years.
http://www.capradio.org/26755

News About Water

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal intensifies water bond negotiations
Gov. Jerry Brown's call for a drastically cheaper water bond set off a fresh round of negotiations in the Capitol on Wednesday, as lawmakers and stakeholders seek to craft a plan that addresses the state's myriad water needs without a bloated price tag.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-pol-water-bond-20140626-story.html

Governor's bond plan seeks tunnel neutrality
Water bond politics look poised to dominate the remainder of California's legislative session, with Senate leadership and Gov. Jerry Brown billions of dollars apart on the size of a revised water bond for the November 2014 ballot. But they agree on one thing: the bond can't be about the tunnels.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/06/governors-bond-plan-touts-tunnel-neutrality.html

Skelton: California lawmakers should not procrastinate on water plan
How soon people forget: One spring day just three years ago so much water was rampaging down the Sacramento River nobody knew where to put it.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-water-bond-20140626-column.html

Greenhut: Legislators lack direction for a water fix
Few issues are more important to the future of California than providing a reliable source of water for the state’s growing population. But despite the sense of urgency caused by this year’s particularly severe drought, legislators still aren’t sure exactly what to do about the problem.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/25/legislators-fail-proposed-water-bond-ballot/

More News About California & The Environment

State seeks more disclosure from railroad on plans to ship Bakken crude oil through Sacramento
One trainload of Bakken crude oil passed through Sacramento in the first two weeks of June, according to a report shared with The Sacramento Bee by the California Office of Emergency Services.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/25/6512502/state-seeks-more-disclosure-from.html

U.S. Supreme Court turns down Drakes Bay Oyster Co. appeal
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a popular Marin County oyster farm that is facing closure. The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place lower court rulings against Drakes Bay Oyster Co.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140630/wire/140639992

Next leg of California bullet-train line approved
The U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval Friday for work to begin on the second leg of California's proposed $68 billion high-speed rail line, endorsing the state's environmental review for the section running between Fresno and Bakersfield.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/27/first-leg-of-california-bullet-train-wins-approval/

State says FedEx Ground mishandled hazardous waste materials in California
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has filed a civil complaint against FedEx Ground Package System Inc. alleging more than 1,500 instances that resulted in multiple violations of California’s hazardous waste control laws.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/26/6514590/state-says-fedex-ground-mishandled.html

Feds Set To Issue First Eagle Kill Permit To California Wind Facility
Under the terms of the permit, the Shiloh IV Wind Project, a 100-megawatt wind facility in Solano County's Montezuma Hills near Rio Vista, will be allowed to kill up to five golden eagles over a five-year period without incurring penalties under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA).
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/wind/feds-set-to-issue-first-eagle-kill-permit-to-california-wind-facility.html

New L.A. ordinance outlaws single-use plastic bags at small grocers
A new Los Angeles city ordinance taking effect Tuesday will outlaw single-use plastic bags at mom-and-pop convenience stores.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0629-bag-ordinance-2-20140629-story.html

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