Weekly Green: May 5, 2014

In recent headlines:

• Supreme Court backs rule limiting coal pollution;
• New record CO₂ levels in the atmosphere;
• PPIC: Top-two primary didn't increase turnout, did engage more independent voters;
• State hiring beginners for refinery-inspector jobs;
• The latest on the drought, climate, and much more!

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Above the Fold

Justices Back Rule Limiting Coal Pollution
In a major victory for the Obama administration, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/us/politics/supreme-court-backs-epa-coal-pollution-rules.html

High carbon dioxide levels set a record
Measurements of the climate-changing gas by instruments high on a mountain in Hawaii and around the world show that global emissions from burning fossil fuels rose last month to levels higher than at any time in human history - and higher than it has been in hundreds of thousands of years.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/High-CO-2-levels-set-a-record-5443592.php

State hiring beginners for critical refinery-inspector jobs
State regulators who were handed millions of dollars from the oil industry to improve refinery safety after the disastrous 2012 fire at Chevron's Richmond plant are hiring inspectors out of college with little or no experience in the field, The Chronicle has learned.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/State-hiring-beginners-for-critical-5451372.php

PPIC: Top-Two Primary Engages Independents--Despite Low Turnout Overall
In the first test of California’s top-two primary in 2012, the new system failed to produce the increase in voter turnout that many had hoped for. But it did appear to encourage participation of independent voters.
http://ppic.org/main/pressrelease.asp?i=1508

Water cutbacks looming for California farmers, water agencies
California water officials are on the verge of making an unusually drastic pronouncement in response to the ongoing drought: Ordering hundreds of water agencies, farmers and other property owners to stop diverting water from rivers in which they have longstanding water rights.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/30/6368291/water-cutbacks-looming-for-california.html

Farmers face deadline, possible fine on groundwater
State water quality enforcers are telling farmers it's time to join a groundwater protection program that has been in the making for many years -- sign up by May 19 or face fines.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/04/28/3899785/farmers-face-deadline-possible.html

California water bond fight in flux
The drought-driven quest to put a new water bond before California voters has fluctuated over the last few weeks, marked by new measures appearing, old ones evaporating and legislators shifting allegiances.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/04/california-water-bond-landscape-in-flux.html

A few California cities start water-waste patrols
At least 45 water agencies throughout California, including Sacramento, are imposing and enforcing mandatory restrictions on water use as their supplies run dangerously low. Sacramento is one of the few bigger agencies actively patrolling streets for violators and encouraging neighbors to report waste.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/27/6357581/a-few-california-cities-start.html

California city looks to sea for water in drought
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last time California withered in a severe drought more than two decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/04/6377360/california-city-looks-to-sea-for.html

California drought: Jobs, money dry up in farm towns
While many parts of the state have yet to feel any real impact - no cutbacks, no stiff rationing - that's not the case in the farm towns of the San Joaquin Valley, where water is the touchstone of the economy and underpins the region's standing as the most agriculturally productive in the nation.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-drought-Jobs-money-dry-up-in-farm-5431129.php

Auburn Dam: The Water Project That Won't Die
In California, it's as dependable as the rainy season. Okay, more so. Whenever there's too much water or not enough, people start talking about Auburn Dam. It's California's biggest dam that has never been built — and probably never will be.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2014/04/30/auburn-dam-the-water-project-that-wont-die/

Air quality gains could be eroded by drought, climate change
Almost 15 years of steady improvement to the air breathed by Southern Californians is being threatened by a statewide drought causing the release of lung-damaging particles from dry riverbeds, home fireplace chimneys and local wildfires, according to a national health organization.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20140430/air-quality-gains-could-be-eroded-by-drought-climate-change

Tioga Road in Yosemite opens on earliest date since 1988
Most years, so much snow covers the winding, two-lane mountain road that it can't be cleared and opened until late May or June.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25685400/california-drought-tioga-road-yosemite-opens-earliest-date

Climate Change

Climate change: Pacific Ocean acidity dissolving shells of key species
In a troubling new discovery, scientists studying ocean waters off California, Oregon and Washington have found the first evidence that increasing acidity in the ocean is dissolving the shells of a key species of tiny sea creature at the base of the food chain.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25664175/climate-change-pacific-ocean-acidity-dissolving-shells-key

Scientists race to develop farm animals to survive climate change
When a team of researchers from the University of Delaware traveled to Africa two years ago to search for exemplary chickens, they weren't looking for plump thighs or delicious eggs. They were seeking out birds that could survive a hotter planet.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-climate-chickens-20140504,0,2628316.story

High Speed Rail

High-speed rail agency poised to approve Fresno-Bakersfield section
The California High-Speed Rail Authority board is poised to forge ahead with approval of its Fresno-Bakersfield bullet-train route when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday in Fresno.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/03/3908316/high-speed-rail-agency-poised.html

Greenhut: Rail backers now downplaying mandate
Supporters of California's plan to build a high-speed rail line that had promised to take riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours have long championed the voter-backed initiative (Proposition 1A) that authorized its initial construction as a reflection of the public's desire to build such a system.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/28/high-speed-rail-california/

Wildlife

Yurok tribe works to protect a raptor it reveres: California condor
An agreement signed by the tribe with wildlife groups could make Yurok ancestral land California's northernmost condor release site.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-condors-20140429,0,4273367.story

Decision delayed on "bird friendly" wind turbine experiment for Altamont Pass
An experimental project designed to test whether a new type of wind turbine will prove less lethal to Altamont Pass birds will have to clear a few more hurdles before gaining approval of Alameda County.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_25637653/decision-delayed-bird-friendly-wind-turbine-experiment-altamont

Energy

Energy Commission will fund new hydrogen fueling stations in California
The Sacramento-based California Energy Commission says it will invest $46.6 million to accelerate the development of publicly accessible hydrogen fueling stations throughout California in order to promote a consumer market for zero-emission fuel cell vehicles, which could be on the market in numbers as early as next year.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/02/6373512/energy-commission-will-fund-new.html

Fracking disclosure dispute doesn't clear the air about oil and gas production
Anti-fracking activists are complaining that disclosure requirements about well stimulation are failing, but regulators overseeing oil and gas production in California say those opponents to fracking are overreacting. The dispute points up the ongoing problems around what the public knows about oil and gas production in California.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2014/05/01/16515/fracking-disclosure-dispute-doesn-t-clear-the-air/

City of Carson changes mind on new oil drilling ban
Just weeks after the city of Carson grabbed headlines by placing a moratorium on all new oil drilling, City Council members will allow the temporary ban to die, reopening the door to a massive drilling project in the city.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0502-carson-oil-20140502,0,3788178.story

Switch from gasoline to ethanol linked to higher ozone levels
Scientists have made a surprising discovery about ethanol: The more it was used by drivers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the more ozone they measured in the local environment.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ethanol-ozone-levels-brazil-20140501,0,5517616.story

California Politics and Government

Walters: California politicians jousting over how to spend cap-and-trade money
California may – or may not – be generating a big pot of free political money via the “cap-and-trade” fees extracted from business to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. And there's a political fight brewing on how to spend it.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/28/6356696/dan-walters-california-politicians.html

Jerry Brown won't answer multiple choice voter guide questions
Gov. Jerry Brown's high public approval rating and relatively safe re-election prospects have allowed the Democratic governor to run the barest of races, with no pressure to pay for advertising, to put on public events, or to otherwise take on the grind of a traditional campaign.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/04/jerry-brown-wont-answer-multiple-choice-voter-guide-questions.html

Jerry Brown will lead trade mission to Mexico
California's neighbor has a role to play in the Golden State's push to address its energy and environmental needs, Brown had said in his State of the State address in January.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2014/04/29/jerry-brown-will-lead-trade-mission-to-mexico/

More Environmental News

Golden Gate National Recreation Area proposes major upgrades
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is proposing spending $150 million over the next 20 years on infrastructure, trails, historic preservation and other capital projects at Alcatraz, Muir Woods and the new park in San Mateo County called Rancho Corral de Tierra.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-National-Recreation-Area-proposes-5436978.php

Mayor Lee proposes gutting CleanPowerSF energy program
Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday proposed raiding $19.5 million that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors set aside to fund a renewable energy program, his administration saying the money could be better spent on additional streetlights and subsidies for solar panels on homes and businesses.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Lee-wants-to-use-up-money-for-clean-power-program-5443302.php

Wind-powered S.F. Bay ferry commute tests promising
Take a sleek, carbon-fiber sail that can propel a racing yacht to speeds of 55 mph, combine it with the winds of San Francisco Bay, and make a hefty ferryboat perform like Team Oracle. That's the thinking behind a $355,000 grant awarded by pollution regulators to a group of sailors and entrepreneurs whose goal is no less than making San Francisco the first city in the nation to run wind-powered ferry service.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Wind-powered-S-F-Bay-ferry-commute-tests-5443767.php

Oakland racing to meet demand for bike lanes
"With these really big trends taking off, we are really trying to keep up with a lot of the public's interest," said Jason Patton, the city's bike and pedestrian program manager. "In certain portions of Oakland, we can't keep up with what the public is asking for."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-racing-to-meet-demand-for-bike-lanes-5433977.php

Californians used less electricity in 2013
Whether by conservation or efficiency or some other reason, California in 2013 used 1.3 percent less electricity than it did in 2012. The state's annual peak load in 2013 was down 3.7 percent compared to 2012's peak — and 2013 was a five-year low.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/04/30/californians-used-less-electricity-in-2013.html

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