Posts Tagged: resources

Brown orders historic water cuts

Frank Gehrke, left, the state's chief snow surveyor, and Gov. Jerry Brown at Echo Summit in the Sierra Nevada. Brown announced his executive order minutes later.(Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 04.01.2015

Gov. Jerry Brown, standing in bright sunshine in a dry Sierra Nevada field usually deep in snow, ordered unprecedented measures across California to deal with the state’s historic drought, including 25 percent cuts for residents and businesses. The governor issued an executive order making the reductions mandatory. “As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible,” Brown said.

Fracking’s health impacts must be addressed

An oil derrick at work in Kern County, 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)

by Viki Chaudrue posted 03.31.2015

OPINION: Faced with the decision of whether or not hydraulic fracturing (fracking) should be approved in New York, the state’s Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker publicly asked, “Would I let my family live in a community with fracking? The answer is no. I therefore cannot recommend anyone else’s family to live in such a community either.” In California, some 5.4 million people (14 percent of the state’s population) live within a mile of at least one of the state’s total of 84,000 oil and gas wells, according to the NRDC.

Major new cuts eyed for greenhouse gases

The power plant in El Segundo, Calif. (Photo: Don Solomon, via Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 03.10.2015

Nearly a decade after California’s landmark law curbing greenhouse gases was signed, a key author of AB 32 wants to dramatically boost the crackdown on climate-changing carbon emissions over the next 35 years.

At a glance: Water reports target critical issues

Shasta Lake, 170 miles north of Sacramento. (Photo: Mavensnotebook.com)

by SCOTT SORIANO posted 02.16.2015

There may be lack of water, but there’s no dearth of printer’s ink: Here’s a quick rundown of reports from key government agencies.

OPINION: By accelerating the development and deployment of alternatives to oil, California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard—which the Air Resources Board will consider this week —helps untangle us from regimes that do not share our values. It helps make our nation stronger by weakening regimes that use oil to pay for their murderous acts, and makes the world a little bit safer.

Cap-and-trade: Transportation fuels on the block

As rush hour approaches, traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. (Photo: Frontpage)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 02.11.2015

Permission slips covering an array of fuels used in California – and which account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s carbon emissions – will be put on the auction block as part of the state’s landmark law to curb climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Parched state looks for rain — anywhere

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

by SCOTT SORIANO posted 02.03.2015

John O’Hagan of the Division of Water Rights told the board that the state’s snow water equivalent — which is the amount of water that the Sierra snow pack will produce — is only 14% of average. He added the states reservoirs are only 50 percent of capacity. Both figures elicited a gasp from those present.

OPINION: When the Greek philosopher Aristotle presented fellow scholars with empirical evidence and scientific proof that the world was round—not flat—around 330 BC, he was called a lunatic and a charlatan. More than two millennia later, Sacramento has its own version of the Flat Earth Society — the California Air Resources Board (ARB). Only this time, the debate isn’t over the shape of the Earth; it’s over an obscure regulatory concept known as Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC), a component of the state’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS).

Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins announced today the standing committee chairs for the lower house’s 2015-2016 regular session. Earlier this week state lawmakers came to Sacramento to take their oath of office and to officially elect Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, as their leader. Her committee chair lineup is a peek at which members will play a key role in this session’s legislative process

A glimpse into Brown’s 4th term

California Gov. Jerry Brown at a public event. His wife, Anne Gust Brown, is in the background. (Photo: Randy Miramontez)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 10.31.2014

A little-known panel of Gov. Brown’s top administration officials is poised to play a critical role in his fourth and final term as governor. The newly funded Strategic Growth Council, or SGC, is a cabinet-level body with a portfolio that cuts across virtually all aspects of California government.