Weekly Green: October 7, 2014

In recent headlines:

• California water officials aren’t following own call for conservation;
• Team climbs high to assess redwoods threat;
• Gov. Brown signs phase-out of single-use plastic bags in stores;
• California adds $70 million to firefighting efforts;
• ... 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:
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Top News

California water officials aren’t following own call for conservation
Mike Soubirous is a prodigious water user, pumping more than 1 million gallons per year at his lushly landscaped home on a hot, windy Southern California hilltop. Soubirous also is a member of the Riverside City Council, which in July voted unanimously to impose tough new water conservation rules in this desert city of 317,000.
https://beta.cironline.org/reports/california-water-officials-arent-following-own-call-for-conservation/

Team climbs high to assess redwoods threat
Flood, fire and famine have been no match for California’s mighty redwoods. The giant trees that hug the coast from Big Sur to Oregon date back centuries, sometimes to the Roman Empire, and rank among the planet’s oldest living things.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-drought-Will-stressed-redwoods-5805245.php

Gov. Brown signs phase-out of single-use plastic bags in stores
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday fulfilled a promise by signing a measure that will phase out single-use plastic bags from checkout stands at California supermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores and pharmacies.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/30/6746966/brown-says-hes-likely-to-sign.html

California adds $70 million to firefighting efforts
Firefighters may have finally gotten the upper hand on the massive King fire, but its legacy continues as the state wrestles with how to pay millions in firefighting costs incurred in what is being called one of the worst fire years in recent history.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-wildfires-budget-20140929-story.html?track=rss

California Environmental & Political News

Air turns corrosive in October heat wave
Valley air authorities are urging residents to drive less, avoid letting vehicles idle at drive-up windows and put off yard work that involves gasoline-powered equipment. In other words, pretend it’s late August instead of early October.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/10/07/4165671_air-turns-corrosive-in-october.html?rh=1

Tapping Into the Ocean With San Diego’s Billion Dollar Desalination Plant
San Diego's water supplies could be seriously tested if a punishing four-year drought extends through another winter. But there is relief on the horizon.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/oct/07/tapping-ocean-san-diegos-billion-dollar-desalinati/

Can California Make It Rain With Drones?
Faced with extreme drought, California continues its experiment with weather modification.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/can-california-make-it-rain-with-drones-20141007

California water use drops 11.5 percent in August
California water agencies are reporting their largest monthly decline in water use this year as the state confronts dire drought conditions.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/California-water-use-drops-11-5-percent-in-August-5807072.php

Anti-ALEC Activists Pressure eBay to Drop Conservative Group
More than 80 organizations are asking the e-commerce company to follow the lead of Google and other tech giants and divorce itself from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/anti-alec-activists-pressure-ebay-to-drop-conservative-group-20141007

Gov. Jerry Brown returns PG&E donations amid inquiry
Gov. Jerry Brown reported Monday that he returned campaign contributions from six Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials, as the utility released more emails in the controversy surrounding its close ties with state regulators.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/10/06/6765864/jerry-brown-returns-pge-donations.html

Drought cuts California food exports sharply, costing growers millions
Exports of California food products took a dive in August, with fruit and tree nuts decreasing by 8 percent when compared to the same time last year and vegetables dropping by 7.8 percent, according to data released Friday by Beacon Economics.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/10/06/drought-cuts-california-food-exports-sharply.html

In virtual mega-drought, California avoids defeat
A few years ago a group of researchers used computer modeling to put California through a nightmare scenario: Seven decades of unrelenting mega-drought similar to those that dried out the state in past millennia.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-megadrought-20141006-story.html#page=1

In wake of drought and fires, turtle habitat becomes death trap
Biologists strode along the cracked, dry mud surrounding this evaporating north Los Angeles County lake last week, pausing periodically to pick up an emaciated turtle and wash alkaline dust off its head and carapace.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-1005-turtles-20141005-story.html

Sacramento River fall salmon run will get $1 million water chillers
State and federal wildlife officials this month are preparing extraordinary measures to protect Chinook salmon returning to spawn in California's drought-depleted rivers.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/10/04/4160207_fall-salmon-run-will-get-1-million.html?rh=1

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