Posts Tagged: epa

News

Hawaii, California lead fight for renewable energy

A sugar factory , Puunene, Maui, Hawaii. (Photo: Mike Brake)

Hawaii last month became the first state to establish a goal of relying 100 percent on renewable energy, setting 2045 as the year to reach this ambitious target. Meanwhile, legislation moved forward in California that would significantly expand its pioneering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. The Golden State has an economy larger than all but six nations in the world, and almost anything it does has the potential of having global impact.

News

Money flows in plastic bag fight

A landfill strewn with plastic bags. (Photo: Picsfive, Shutterstock)

With California’s law banning plastic bags on hold, the plastic bag industry and its allies already are pouring money into California in hopes of overturning the law in a referendum two years down the road. Referendum proponents have until Dec. 29 to collect enough signatures to put the referendum before voters in November 2016.

News

DWR: Progress on delta tunnels

Islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an aerial view. The Delta is home to about half of California's drinking water. (Photo: Worldislandinfo.com

California’s top water official told a key gathering of south state water interests that “hard-earned progress” is being made on the Brown administration’s controversial plan to build twin tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The comments by Mark Cowin, director of the state Department of Water Resources, were aimed in part at dispelling rumors that the project had run aground, perhaps permanently.

Opinion

For clean soil, follow the feds

A California farm in the Central Valley. (Photo: Richard Croft)

OPINION: While everyone understands how critical water is to the state’s future, we must not overlook another key ingredient that is right under our feet: clean soil. Without clean soil, farmers like me cannot grow healthy and abundant crops; without these crops, Californians lose easy access to locally-produced, low-cost fruits and vegetables.

News

Negotiations under way on 2014 water bond

Nearly two years before voters go to the polls to decide the fate of a long-delayed plan to borrow $11.1 billion for water projects, the clock is ticking on negotiations over the potential proceeds and the size of the borrowing.

 

“This bond will have many of the elements of the measure certified more than

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