News
City of Oakland and environmental groups keep pushing to stop waterfront coal terminal
San Francisco Chronicle – November 12
Arguing Oakland’s air quality would be at risk, lawyers for the City of Oakland and environmental groups on Tuesday urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop a developer from storing coal and shipping it from a waterfront terminal at the Port of Oakland. The project won approval in May 2018 from U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who ruled that Oakland officials had violated the city’s 2013 contract with developer Phil Tagami when they banned coal handling and storage within city limits in 2016, and then retroactively applied the ban to the marine terminal project. The district court found that the city had failed to produce adequate evidence to support the City Council’s findings that coal and petroleum coke operations posed “a substantial danger to people in Oakland.” The Ninth Circuit panel gave no indication as to whether that ruling will be upheld.
California says San Diego County could undermine state’s plan to rein in greenhouse gases
The San Diego Union-Tribune – November 11
The stakes are rising in a legal battle over whether San Diego County will be able to approve thousands of new housing units in wildfire-prone areas far from urban job centers using carbon offsets. The Sierra Club spearheaded the legal challenge last year with support from a host of other environmental groups. While county governments across the state came out early this month in support of San Diego County’s offset plan, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office blasted the idea—saying it could undercut California’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Legal scholars watching the case said the court’s decision, which could come as soon as the spring, has the potential to set a major precedent affecting California’s fight against climate change.
CPUC recommends extending life of gas-burning generator at Huntington Beach power plant
Los Angeles Times – November 12
A gas-burning generator at a Huntington Beach power plant could keep firing until as late as 2023, following a state commission’s recent vote. The facility was scheduled to close by the end of next year, but the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously last Thursday to extend its operating life for up to three additional years. Pushing back the plant’s retirement also would delay remediation of the site, as well as prolong the practice of “once-through” cooling — a process that uses sea water to cool the coastal energy transformers, which can kill fish and other marine life. The proposed extension now heads to the California State Water Resources Control Board, which will consider the matter at an undetermined date.
Westlands Water District steps back from Shasta expansion
The Sacramento Bee – November 8
The Westlands Water District (Westlands) last Thursday entered into a settlement agreement with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra which prohibits the water district from working in a formal way on planning to raise the height of Shasta Dam near Redding. The move was applauded by environmental groups, who opposed the proposal out of fears that enlarging the state’s biggest reservoir would swamp a stretch of a protected Northern California river and flood sites sacred to a Native American tribe. Westlands general manager Tom Birmingham said the water district is still allowed to launch a study “in the abstract” of whether raising the dam would harm the McCloud River as claimed. If Westlands’ study shows the project would not harm the river, Westlands would then have to decide whether to re-engage in the formal planning process.
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