Weekly Green: November 17, 2014

Good evening, California. Recent news and opinion:

• Breaking: Senate rejects Keystone XL pipeline;
• President Obama announces climate deal with China, $3 billion contribution to new climate fund;
• Plastic bag makers spend $2.7 million against SB 270, the plastic bag ban, since it was signed;
• Drought, election results, & 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

Above the Fold

Breaking news: Senate Narrowly Defeats Keystone XL Pipeline
Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a bill 59 to 41 that would have approved the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, rebuffing their Democratic colleague, Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, who had hoped to muscle the legislation through in advance of her uphill runoff election fight back home.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/us/politics/keystone-xl-pipeline.html

Millions poured into effort to bag the plastic-bag ban
Plastic bag manufacturers have poured $2.7 million into efforts to overturn California’s statewide ban on plastic bags in the seven weeks since Gov. Jerry Brown signed the historic legislation.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Millions-poured-into-effort-to-bag-the-5895777.php

Walters: What will it cost to cut our carbon?
When Democrat Jerry Brown succeeded Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor four years ago, some gubernatorial policies changed and some didn’t.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article3941530.html

New York Times Editorial: Playing Politics With Tar Sands Oil
Just when President Obama marches forward on the issue of climate change, Congress scuttles backward.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/opinion/playing-politics-with-tar-sands-oil.html

Waste Water from Oil Fracking Injected into Clean Aquifers
State officials allowed oil and gas companies to pump nearly three billion gallons of waste water into underground aquifers that could have been used for drinking water or irrigation. California’s Department of Conservation’s Chief Deputy Director, Jason Marshall, told NBC Bay Area, “In multiple different places of the permitting process an error could have been made.”
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Waste-Water-from-Oil-Fracking-Injected-into-Clean-Aquifers-282733051.html

Might California’s Low Voter Turnout Spark 2016 Initiative Frenzy?
Here’s one to ponder as we await the tallying of tens of thousands of uncounted ballots: Will this fall’s voter malaise in California plant the seeds for a ballot initiative frenzy in two years? What’s the connection, you say? Simple. It’s in the state constitution — a little-talked-about provision that uses votes cast in a gubernatorial election as the measuring stick for future initiatives.
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/11/12-might-california-low-voter-turnout-spark-2016-initiative-frenzy/

L.A. lawmakers press for action on fracking ban despite new report
Two lawmakers who want Los Angeles to bar hydraulic fracturing and other kinds of "unconventional drilling" at oil and gas wells are pushing back after city staffers cast doubt on the idea, urging them to swiftly draw up rules that would bar such practices.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-planning-fracking-ban-20141113-story.html

National & International Environmental News

U.S. to Give $3 Billion to Climate Fund to Help Poor Nations, and Spur Rich Ones
President Obama announced on Saturday that the United States will contribute $3 billion to a new international fund intended to help the world’s poorest countries address the effects of climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/us/politics/obama-climate-change-fund-3-billion-announcement.html

In Climate Deal With China, Obama May Set 2016 Theme
President Obama’s landmark agreement with China to cut greenhouse gas pollution is a bet by the president and Democrats that on the issue of climate change, American voters are far ahead of Washington’s warring factions and that the environment will be a winning cause in the 2016 presidential campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/world/asia/in-climate-deal-with-china-obama-may-set-theme-for-2016.html

Remember Solyndra? Those loans are making money
Lost in the hubbub following President Obama's climate agreement with China was a smaller bit of surprising environmental news Wednesday: the Department of Energy's loan program is expected to make money for taxpayers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/13/wonkbook-remember-solyndra-those-loans-are-making-money/

Massive starfish die-off in Pacific Ocean linked to mystery virus
Marking a major breakthrough in the mystery of one of the largest wildlife die-offs ever recorded in the world's oceans, scientists believe they have found the cause of a disease that has killed millions of starfish since last year along California and the Pacific Coast.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26954958/massive-starfish-die-off-pacific-ocean-linked-mystery

Drought

California drought not likely to end this winter, experts say
As California heads into its annual rainy season, water managers, farmers and millions of residents with parched yards are hoping huge storms will finally break the state's historic three-year drought. Don't count on it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_26932356/california-drought-not-likely-end-this-winter-experts

High court allows delta water contracts to be challenged
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed environmentalists to challenge the government’s renewal of 41 long-term contracts for irrigation water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, in a lawsuit seeking greater protection for the endangered delta smelt.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/High-court-allows-delta-water-contracts-to-be-5899299.php

Water thievery on rise amid California drought
Parched places like the East Bay hills have experienced not only an increase in water theft in recent months, authorities say, but a bump in brazenness.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Water-thievery-on-rise-amid-California-drought-5893260.php

More California

Heat, drought worsen smog in California, stalling decades of progress
The uptick has stalled decades of progress toward cleaner air and increased health risks. The state's prolonged dry spells have brought more temperature inversions, concentrating pollution near the ground.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-air-pollution-20141110-story.html

California leads by example on climate change
As the U.S. and China — the world's top two polluting nations — turn to implementing new rules aimed at curbing climate change, the countries can look to the most populous U.S. state as an example of the costs and challenges of fighting global warming.
http://news.yahoo.com/california-leads-example-climate-change-053640676.html

Chemical firms try to reverse setbacks [sic] over California's fire retardant rules
First, it was foam padding in cushions. In 2012, the governor tossed out a 39-year-old requirement that padding not catch fire easily when exposed to an open flame. In August, lawmakers mandated labels on furniture that alert buyers of the presence of flame retardants.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20141117-story.html

Bera continues to lead Ose in close race
With thousands more votes counted the last two days, Democratic Rep. Ami Bera’s lead over Republican Doug Ose was virtually unchanged at 697 votes in the race to represent Sacramento County’s 7th Congressional District.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article3942080.html

Patty Lopez: The upstart defined
Patty Lopez is more comfortable speaking Spanish, but she’s not afraid to be a voice for her community. That’s why she decided to compete against a well-known, well-connected incumbent for a San Fernando Valley Assembly seat.
http://capitolweekly.net/patty-lopez-upstart-defined/

Skelton: California Legislature is looking more moderate due to voting reforms
Until last week, no Democratic state legislator running for reelection had lost to a Republican in 20 years. Then suddenly three did.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-moderates-20141113-column.html

GOP Assemblywoman-elect Catharine Baker seeks bipartisan policies but faces tough politics
Catharine Baker, the first Republican the Bay Area has elected to the Legislature or Congress since 2006, seeks bipartisan cooperation but will be targeted for removal by Democrats in 2016.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_26949787/gop-assemblywoman-elect-catharine-baker-seeks-bipartisan-policies

Sacramento’s salmon run in full swing, but drought still a worry
One hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean, the valley hosts one of the largest annual salmon spawning runs in America.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article3972980.html

Plan for Bay Bridge bike path from Oakland to San Francisco in high gear
The popular Bay Bridge eastern span bike path should finally reach Yerba Buena Island next summer, and now transportation officials are preparing to take it all the way to San Francisco.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Plan-for-Bay-Bridge-bike-path-from-Oakland-to-5889208.php

Landfill to generate renewable energy
In two years, the Bowerman in Irvine landfill will generate enough electricity to power more than 14,000 homes in Anaheim. How? Burning the methane all that garbage generates.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gas-642075-landfill-waste.html

John Muir's legacy questioned as centennial of his death nears
John Muir is the patron saint of environmentalism, an epic figure whose writings of mystical enlightenment attained during lone treks in California's wilderness glorified individualism, saved Yosemite and helped establish the national park system.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-rethinking-muir-20141113-story.html

More Politics

Pew Research: Little Enthusiasm, Familiar Divisions After the GOP’s Big Midterm Victory
After a sweeping midterm election victory on Nov. 4, the Republican Party retook full control of Congress. But the public has mixed reactions to the GOP’s big win – much as it did four years ago, after Republicans gained control of the House though not the Senate.
http://www.people-press.org/2014/11/12/little-enthusiasm-familiar-divisions-after-the-gops-big-midterm-victory/

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