OC Parks is offering several wildflower tours to the public. The next Wildflower Hike is on Saturday, June 12.
Wildflower Hike
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Willow Staging Area, 20101 Laguna Canyon Road
8:30 am to 11:30 am
Call 949-923-2235 to make reservations. Parking $3, plus $2 donation.
Learn more about where to find wildflowers in Orange County with this interactive multimedia presentation.
Also, check out the entries from the Orange County Register’s wildflower photo contest. This year's contest is over, but there's always next year!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Climate Action Facilitator Training
Monday, June 13, 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Ecology Center
Gain skills for engaging people about climate change. Join the Ecology Center for a free Climate Action Workshop Facilitator training session. You'll receive materials and information to involve your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, or others in taking action on climate change through community workshops. The Ecology Center will also provide ongoing support for you to plan and hold your own workshop series. No experience is necessary to participate.
The Ecology Center is located at 2530 San Pablo Avenue, near Dwight Way, in Berkeley. It is accessible by the 49 and 72 AC Transit bus lines.
RSVP to debra@ecologycenter.org. For more info, visit www.ecologycenter.org.
Via the Sustainable Business Alliance.
Gain skills for engaging people about climate change. Join the Ecology Center for a free Climate Action Workshop Facilitator training session. You'll receive materials and information to involve your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, or others in taking action on climate change through community workshops. The Ecology Center will also provide ongoing support for you to plan and hold your own workshop series. No experience is necessary to participate.
The Ecology Center is located at 2530 San Pablo Avenue, near Dwight Way, in Berkeley. It is accessible by the 49 and 72 AC Transit bus lines.
RSVP to debra@ecologycenter.org. For more info, visit www.ecologycenter.org.
Via the Sustainable Business Alliance.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Bike to Work - May 12, 2011
Thursday is Bike to Work Day, an annual event with the goal of getting people to try commuting via bicycle.
Bike to Work Day was initiated 16 years ago to address congestion and pollution...long before greenhouse gas emissions and climate action plans were incorporated into policies and regulations. With the California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32), cities and counties are now required reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are transportation-related, so biking to work has a real and measurable impact towards meeting California’s goals. Plus, you’ll get a little extra exercise and Northgate staff will receive A SMALL GIFT as a token of appreciation for helping to reduce our company’s carbon footprint.
There are lots of freebies and events to enjoy during and after your commute as well. Check out the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s websites for information about energizer stations, free repairs, commuter convoys, raffles, and after parties.
In Southern California you get a whole week to enjoy your bike commute! Check out Orange County Transportation Authority’s website for more information and to sign up for Bike to Work Week--May 16-20, 2011. With your pledge to commute via bicycle at least one day you’ll be entered to win cool prizes, like gift certificates, bicycles, accessories, movie tickets, and more.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
State of the Air 2011
In its 12th annual State of the Air report, the American Lung Association found that despite a drop in the total number of days that Californians breathe smog and diesel fumes, the state continues to be plagued by air pollution.
The association analyzed federal data collected between 2007 and 2009 on short-term and annual average concentrations of ozone, or smog - usually generated by car exhaust mixed with heat - and fine particle emissions from diesel trucks, coal-fired power plants and wood-burning fireplaces.
Roughly 50% the people in the US live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Both Alameda and Orange County ranked near the bottom of the list for air quality; both received F's for high ozone days and Orange County received an F for particle pollution, while Alameda county earned a D.
Read the article on the report in the San Francisco Chronicle, or visit the State of the Air website to review the key findings and see how your county scored. The scoring and ranking methodology is explained here.
The association analyzed federal data collected between 2007 and 2009 on short-term and annual average concentrations of ozone, or smog - usually generated by car exhaust mixed with heat - and fine particle emissions from diesel trucks, coal-fired power plants and wood-burning fireplaces.
Roughly 50% the people in the US live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Both Alameda and Orange County ranked near the bottom of the list for air quality; both received F's for high ozone days and Orange County received an F for particle pollution, while Alameda county earned a D.
Read the article on the report in the San Francisco Chronicle, or visit the State of the Air website to review the key findings and see how your county scored. The scoring and ranking methodology is explained here.
Monday, April 25, 2011
US Forest Map Released
A newly released GIS map, created by Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) scientists, is the most precise representation yet of the height and coverage of US forests and woodlands. The data will provide a baseline for understanding both forest resources and carbon flux, study leader Josef Kellndorfer of WHRC said in a statement.
The combined dataset represents the first hectare-scale maps of canopy height, above-ground biomass, and associated carbon stock for the forests and woodlands of the conterminous United States. The multi-year project, referred to as the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD), produced maps of these key forest attributes at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 30 m.
According to Kellndorfer, "This dataset will advance our understanding of the United States natural resources, provide an invaluable circa year 2000 baseline against which to assess changes in the future, and help to improve our understanding of the drivers for change, and thus supporting good decision making."
Read more at Science Daily or the project website. The digital raster dataset is freely accessible for download.
The combined dataset represents the first hectare-scale maps of canopy height, above-ground biomass, and associated carbon stock for the forests and woodlands of the conterminous United States. The multi-year project, referred to as the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD), produced maps of these key forest attributes at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 30 m.
According to Kellndorfer, "This dataset will advance our understanding of the United States natural resources, provide an invaluable circa year 2000 baseline against which to assess changes in the future, and help to improve our understanding of the drivers for change, and thus supporting good decision making."
Read more at Science Daily or the project website. The digital raster dataset is freely accessible for download.
TSCA Fails to Protect Kids
A policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is riddled with flaws and the government's regulation of the introduction and management of chemicals in the US fails to protect the health of children and pregnant women.
The AAP advocates for an overhaul of TSCA. Recommended revisions include requiring companies to test the chemicals they manufacture before they are brought to market, and that such tests provide information on the hazards of these chemicals to children and the developing fetus.
"It becomes a public responsibility after the chemical is out on the market to discern whether it's hazardous or not," said Jerome Paulson, medical director for national and global affairs at the Children's Health Advocacy Institute in Washington, DC, and lead author of the policy statement.
Read more at LiveScience.
The AAP advocates for an overhaul of TSCA. Recommended revisions include requiring companies to test the chemicals they manufacture before they are brought to market, and that such tests provide information on the hazards of these chemicals to children and the developing fetus.
"It becomes a public responsibility after the chemical is out on the market to discern whether it's hazardous or not," said Jerome Paulson, medical director for national and global affairs at the Children's Health Advocacy Institute in Washington, DC, and lead author of the policy statement.
Read more at LiveScience.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Brown signs law requiring 33% renewable energy
David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
On Tuesday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law which will require California's investor-owned utility companies to get at least 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The utilities are already required to get 20% of their power from renewable sources, a goal which has not been met yet, but which the new law will enforce by the end of 2013.
Speaking to a crowd gathered at a solar panel factory in Milpitas, Governor Brown framed the law in terms of maintaining California's lead in the green technology industry, improving the state's economy and increasing jobs over the long term.
Many clean-tech companies in Silicon Valley favored the law, saying that it will give investors confidence to continue building new factories and renewable power facilities in the state. PG&E, the state's largest utility, opposed the legislation on the grounds that it would restrict their ability to keep consumers' costs low. Southern California Edison, however, supported the law, expressing faith that prices for renewable energy such as solar power will continue to drop as worldwide production increases in response to increased demand.
Read the full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/12/BUA91IVBDL.DTL#ixzz1JQaTfNlY
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
National Standards for Mercury, Arsenic and Other Toxic Air Pollution
EPA Proposes New Emission Standards for Power Plants
John M. Broder and John Collins Rudolf, NY Times, March 16, 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first national standard for emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants.
The rule, which would likely lead to the early closing of a number of older plants, is certain to be challenged by the some utilities and Republicans in Congress.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson pointedly included the head of the American Lung Association and two prominent doctors in her announcement of the rule to highlight that the regulations were designed to protect public health and not to penalize the utility industry.
The EPA estimates the total annual cost of compliance at about $10 billion, in line with some industry estimates (although some are much higher), and the health and environmental benefits at more than $100 billion a year. Ms. Jackson said that households could expect to see their electric bills rise by $3 to $4 a month when the regulation was fully in force after 2015.
The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group of utilities, questioned Ms. Jackson's assertion that the technology needed to reduce emissions of mercury, lead, arsenic, chromium and other airborne pollutants was readily available and reasonably inexpensive. The need to retrofit scores of plants in the same short period of time will tax resources and lead to delays, it said.
One utility executive said compliance would not be unduly burdensome. "We know from experience that constructing this technology can be done in a reasonable time frame, especially with good advance planning," said Paul Allen, senior vice president and chief environmental officer of Constellation Energy. "And there is meaningful job creation associated with the projects."
The new rules bring to a close a bitter legal and regulatory battle dating back to the passage of the 1970 Clean Air Act, which first directed the EPA to identify and control major industrial sources of hazardous emissions. The long delay has meant that emissions of some major pollutants have grown in recent years. The EPA's most recent data shows that from 1999 to 2005, mercury emissions from power plants increased more than 8 percent, to 53 tons from 49 tons. Arsenic emissions grew even more, rising 31 percent, to 210 tons from 160 tons.
Read the complete NY Times article here.
John M. Broder and John Collins Rudolf, NY Times, March 16, 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first national standard for emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants.
The rule, which would likely lead to the early closing of a number of older plants, is certain to be challenged by the some utilities and Republicans in Congress.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson pointedly included the head of the American Lung Association and two prominent doctors in her announcement of the rule to highlight that the regulations were designed to protect public health and not to penalize the utility industry.
The EPA estimates the total annual cost of compliance at about $10 billion, in line with some industry estimates (although some are much higher), and the health and environmental benefits at more than $100 billion a year. Ms. Jackson said that households could expect to see their electric bills rise by $3 to $4 a month when the regulation was fully in force after 2015.
The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group of utilities, questioned Ms. Jackson's assertion that the technology needed to reduce emissions of mercury, lead, arsenic, chromium and other airborne pollutants was readily available and reasonably inexpensive. The need to retrofit scores of plants in the same short period of time will tax resources and lead to delays, it said.
One utility executive said compliance would not be unduly burdensome. "We know from experience that constructing this technology can be done in a reasonable time frame, especially with good advance planning," said Paul Allen, senior vice president and chief environmental officer of Constellation Energy. "And there is meaningful job creation associated with the projects."
The new rules bring to a close a bitter legal and regulatory battle dating back to the passage of the 1970 Clean Air Act, which first directed the EPA to identify and control major industrial sources of hazardous emissions. The long delay has meant that emissions of some major pollutants have grown in recent years. The EPA's most recent data shows that from 1999 to 2005, mercury emissions from power plants increased more than 8 percent, to 53 tons from 49 tons. Arsenic emissions grew even more, rising 31 percent, to 210 tons from 160 tons.
Read the complete NY Times article here.
The Human Costs of Contaminated Drinking Water
Cost to clean contaminated water in San Joaquin Valley would be over $150M
Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee, March 16, 2011
A new study, The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, a collaboration of the Pacific Institute, Community Water Center, Clean Water Fund, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, focuses on the household costs of avoiding nitrate-contaminated drinking water connected to community water systems and the costs to these systems of removing or avoiding nitrates.
The study reports that families in the San Joaquin Valley of California are paying more than $100 a month for both water service and bottled drinking water because local drinking water is often contaminated with nitrates and other harmful chemicals.
Tulare County, one of the most productive farming counties in the country, is the epicenter of the problem, the study says. The state tested 181 drinking water wells in 2006, finding more than 70 tainted with nitrates.
The study also suggests key policies and further research needed to better understand and resolve the situation.
Read the complete Fresno Bee article here.
Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee, March 16, 2011
A new study, The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, a collaboration of the Pacific Institute, Community Water Center, Clean Water Fund, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, focuses on the household costs of avoiding nitrate-contaminated drinking water connected to community water systems and the costs to these systems of removing or avoiding nitrates.
The study reports that families in the San Joaquin Valley of California are paying more than $100 a month for both water service and bottled drinking water because local drinking water is often contaminated with nitrates and other harmful chemicals.
Tulare County, one of the most productive farming counties in the country, is the epicenter of the problem, the study says. The state tested 181 drinking water wells in 2006, finding more than 70 tainted with nitrates.
The study also suggests key policies and further research needed to better understand and resolve the situation.
Read the complete Fresno Bee article here.
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