Environmental and Policy Focus
Sacramento Bee - Jul 20
State drought regulators went on the offensive against another agricultural irrigation district Monday, proposing a $1.55 million fine against a Delta-area agency accused of diverting water illegally over a two-week period. The State Water Resources Control Board’s complaint against the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District in the east Contra Costa County city of Byron is the second charge levied in less than a week against an agricultural district, and the first against a senior water rights holder. The complaint is likely to ratchet up the friction between the state and California farmers dealing with diminished supplies in the fourth summer of drought. Already the State Water Board has officially notified thousands of irrigation districts that they don’t have surface water available to them.
NBC News - Jul 22
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday granted Royal Dutch Shell its final two permits to explore for oil in the Arctic this summer, but said the company cannot drill until required emergency equipment arrives. The department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) conditionally granted Shell permits for oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. But Shell must have emergency equipment to contain a potential blown out well deployable within 24 hours before drilling into the oil zone, the office said. Environmentalists have criticized Shell's drilling plans in the Arctic, which is home to sensitive populations of whales, walrus, and polar bears.
Los Angeles Times - Jul 22
Santa Barbara City Council members on Tuesday unanimously approved spending $55 million to reactivate a mothballed desalination plant that could provide the city with nearly a third of its drinking water. The Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility was built during a drought in the 1990s but closed in 1992 when the desperate need for water subsided. The plant was never utilized beyond a testing period, but the city maintained it in the event a severe water shortage might once again threaten the city. The process of reopening the plant began last September, when Lake Cachuma, the city’s main reservoir, dipped below 30 percent capacity. The City Council voted at that time to jump-start efforts to bring the desalination plant back online. The plant is expected to be operating by fall 2016.
Wall Street Journal - Jul 17
California Governor Jerry Brown called on state leaders Friday to develop a plan to transition to zero-emission technologies in the freight industry. In an executive order, the Governor said the state has set “aggressive targets for reducing pollution” by 2030, including decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting petroleum use in automobiles by half. He ordered more than half a dozen state agencies to “develop an integrated action plan by July 2016 that establishes clear targets to improve freight efficiency, transition to zero-emission technologies, and increase competitiveness of California’s freight system.” That will mean big changes for freight businesses in California, one of the nation’s top gateways for international trade. Freight transport operations in the state, from ocean port complexes to trains and trucks (the primary mode of freight transport), already face some of highest environmental standards in the country.
San Jose Mercury News - Jul 23
Governor Jerry Brown has created a panel to study how California should monitor hydraulic fracturing for oil. The panel will review a state-ordered study released this month which found that some of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing in California may pose a risk to public health, and that the state has failed to track the use of these chemicals. The study ordered by state lawmakers also urged greater oversight of hydraulic fracturing and other intensive oil field production methods.
New York Times - Jul 23
A few miles off the coast of Block Island, part of Rhode Island, a small flotilla has been gathering: crane vessels, tugboats, and barges that began this week installing the 1,500-ton foundations of the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. It is a moment that its supporters have long anticipated, billing it as nothing less than the dawn of a new clean energy future for the U.S., which lags behind Europe and China in harnessing ocean gusts for electricity. Unlike the U.S., Europe lacks adequate inexpensive, relatively cleaner alternatives to replace coal, diesel, and nuclear plants, and electric rates are generally higher, natural gas is more expensive, and open land for wind and solar fields is harder to find than in the U.S., making an expansion to the seas more economically viable. In the U.S., the offshore wind industry has been hampered by local opposition, fluctuating subsidies, and a lack of specialized suppliers and expertise.
