Weekly Green: September 22, 2014

Good evening, California. This past week in news and opinion:

• Governor Brown signs Charge Ahead legislation promoting eco-friendly vehicles;
• NYC climate march numbers 310,000+, rallies held around the world;
• Outside election spending eclipses all past midterms;
• Drought news, 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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Above the Fold

Brown signs bill to urge more drivers into eco-friendly vehicles
Seeking to put more California drivers in electric cars, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Sunday providing financial incentives and other perks to entice consumers to buy the environmentally friendly vehicles.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-brown-electric-cars-20140922-story.html

With UN Climate Summit Opening, Marchers Rallied Around the World
Two days before a United Nations summit on climate change, thousands of people marched in cities around the world Sunday to urge their leaders to act boldly to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the changes.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/1409021-climate-change-march-united-nations-new-york-environment/

Photos: NYC Climate Change March Rallies Over 310,000
On a cloud-heavy Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of people snaked down Manhattan’s west side for a march calling attention to the impact of climate change.
http://www.newsweek.com/photos-nyc-climate-change-march-rallies-over-310000-272166

Hundreds protest climate change along 2 miles of Wilshire Boulevard
Hundreds of people protesting climate change picketed street corners Saturday along a 2-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-environmental-protest-20140920-story.html

The Changing Face of Climate Change
The people at the front of the march were themselves a sign that the face of mainstream climate activism has shifted from polar bears and Priuses toward marginalized communities. It is, in theory, a shift from what climate researcher Angela Park wrote in 2009 was a movement that “still suffers from the perception, and arguably the reality, that it is ... led by and designed for the interests of the white, upper-middle class.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/09/people_s_climate_march_new_york_protest_is_largest_ever_led_by_indigenous.html

South Asians Ring the Alarm on Climate Change
One of the signs at the event read “Defend our homes, defend our homelands,” a reference to the fact that South Asia is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions of the world, with crop failures in India, floods in Pakistan, sea level rise in Bangladesh, intense rain in Sri Lanka, glacial lake outburst floods in Nepal and Bhutan, and the potential disappearance of the Maldives.
http://theaerogram.com/south-asians-ring-alarm-climate-change/

Outside spending eclipses all past midterms
With 43 days still to go until Election Day, outside spending has now surpassed the mark for most money ever spent in a midterm election. In fact, the $228 million (and climbing) spent by outside interest groups is not only the most ever spent in a midterm, but it’s also more spent in any election except the 2012 presidential election, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/outside-spending-eclipses-past-midterms/

See the Worst Place to Breathe in America
If you think about smog, you’re probably picturing a major city like Los Angeles, where in the 1960s and ’70s the air was so bad that smog alerts telling people to avoid outdoor activity were regular occurrences. The air has improved in L.A. and other big cities in recent years, thanks to cleaner cars and air-pollution regulation. But the real capital of air pollution in the U.S. is a farming city that sits to the northwest of L.A.: Bakersfield.
http://time.com/3399134/air-pollution-climate-change-bakersfield-caifornia/

Businesses and investors pressing for green policy
Hundreds of corporations, insurance companies and pension funds are calling on world leaders gathering for a U.N. summit on climate change this week to attack the problem by making it more costly for businesses and ordinary people to pollute.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Businesses-and-investors-pressing-for-green-policy-5772869.php

Water and the Drought

National Geographic: Amid Drought, New California Law Will Limit Groundwater Pumping for First Time
Despite California's reputation as an environmental policy leader, its regulation of groundwater extraction has long been among the weakest in the nation. That changed Tuesday, when California Governor Jerry Brown signed a package of three bills designed to regulate the pumping of water from underground aquifers.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140917-california-groundwater-law-drought-central-valley-environment-science/

KQED: What to Know About California’s New Groundwater Law
Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday that will require the first-ever rules for pumping groundwater in California. Why lawmakers and the governor acted, and what the new laws mean.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2014/09/17/what-to-know-about-californias-new-groundwater-law/

When the Snows Fail
We have altered the driest parts of California, Nevada, and Arizona to fulfill our ambitions, and for years we have been able to ignore their natural limits. Now a growing population and a changing climate are exposing those limits as never before.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west-snow-fail/

Drought May Be Driving Increase in West Nile
Public health experts say the state’s historic drought is partly to blame for the recent rise in West Nile virus infections. Cases this year have more than doubled to 311, compared to the same time last year.
http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2014/09/21/drought-may-be-linked-to-increase-in-west-nile/

Congress leaves town without agreement on drought legislation
Congress adjourned on Thursday and won't return to Washington until Nov. 12, while California lawmakers return to the state where wildfires, record high temperatures, and power outages are reminders that it's still not raining and they still haven't reached a compromise on a drought bill.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/09/19/46831/congress-leaves-town-without-agreement-on-drought/

More California Environmental News

Sen. Boxer tells climate activists to keep pressuring Congress
In response to a record-breaking climate rally on Sunday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told activists to continue pressuring Congress on policies aimed at global warming. Boxer warned environmentalists and those involved in the march, however, that Republicans will continue to stop legislation on climate change in Congress.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/218546-sen-boxer-tells-climate-activists-to-keep-pressuring-congress

University of California rejects student call to divest from fossil fuels
The University of California voted on Friday to maintain its investments in fossil fuels, frustrating a student-led effort to divest its portfolio in oil, natural gas and coal. UC is among the major college endowments have been reluctant to shake up their portfolios by pulling out of fossil fuels after Stanford University, one of the most prestigious and wealthiest in America, took that step in May.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/19/university-california-fossil-feul-investment-divest-climate-change

California Coastal Agency Takes on a Novel Role
The California State Coastal Conservancy, which ordinarily funds shoreline amenities such as walking trails through grants, has agreed to invest $400,000 toward the estimated $12 million to $14 million cost of a resort-campground project overlooking San Luis Obispo Bay. In return, it would share in future revenue with the Port San Luis Harbor District, which owns the land planned for development.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/california-coastal-agency-takes-on-a-novel-role-1411345457

Deal struck over Coastal Commission vacancy
In a rare move, a seat on the state’s powerful Coastal Commission will remain vacant for weeks following an unsuccessful effort in the Capitol to allow the newly elected mayor of Long Beach to serve on the 12-member panel. The position officially became vacant this week.
http://capitolweekly.net/coastal-commission-appointment-vacancy/

A group's opposition to a possible gas tax increase gets no traction
Over the summer, the group California Drivers Alliance -- which is backed by the oil, agriculture, retail, tourism and other industries -- has run radio, online and print ads to warn the state's almost 25 million motorists that they could be hit with a "hidden gas tax." The expensive public relations effort struck out in the Legislature last month when a coalition-sponsored bill failed to get a hearing. And it appears to be doing no better with Gov. Jerry Brown.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20140922-story.html

Destructive California wildfire burning in two national forests
The King Fire has blackened more than 80,000 acres (32,374 hectares) and become the most menacing of seven major blazes in drought-parched California.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/20/us-usa-wildfires-idUSKBN0HC21P20140920

Poll: 78% oppose pushing toll road through San Onofre preserve
The vast majority of registered voters in Orange County oppose construction of a new tollway through popular San Onofre State Beach, according to a public opinion poll.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-tollroad-san-onofre-trestles-20140922-story.html

Hundreds turn out for California Coastal Cleanup in Long Beach
The annual cleanup takes place on the third Saturday in September. In 2013, over 58,000 volunteers removed almost 750,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from California’s beaches, lakes and waterways making it the largest volunteer event in the state.
http://www.presstelegram.com/environment-and-nature/20140920/hundreds-turn-out-for-california-coastal-cleanup-in-long-beach

Marin volunteers lend hands to California Coastal Cleanup Day
A hardworking 1,301 volunteers had picked up 6,487 pounds of trash "with 75 percent of the cleanup sites reporting Saturday afternoon," said Eben Schwartz, outreach manager for the Coastal Commission.
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_26575493/marin-volunteers-lend-hands-california-coastal-cleanup-day

Jerry Brown signs bill for bike lane fee
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that would allow local voters to consider a yearly fee on vehicle registrations to build bike lanes, bike lockers and other bicycle facilities.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/21/6724537/jerry-brown-signs-bill-for-bike.html

Great white sharks partly to blame for otter recovery stall
The population of California sea otters, a species whose painfully slow recovery from near extinction has been as baffling as it has been disturbing, is nearly the same as it was last year despite intensive efforts to bring the frolicsome marine mammals back from the brink.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-sea-otter-population-declines-5772806.php

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