Proposed Gas Tax May Drive Prices Higher/ Claudia Paredes

AB2558 is a piece of legislation that is being introduced by Assemblyman Mike Feuer and supported by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that would effect drivers in Lost Angeles County. Motorists would pay a fee of up to 3% of the price of gas (which translates into an extra 9 cents per gallon) or an additional fee of $90 on their vehicle registrtation that would all go towards fighting global warming. This registration fee would be higher for cars, trucks and SUVS in the hopes to discourage drivers from using these vehicles. The funding gained from this fee would be used for improvements to mass transit and programs aimed to relieve traffic congestion.

Opponents of this bill say that this is exploiting public sympathies to increase funding for a public transportation programs that already exist. They also point to the fact that gas is already taxed enough.

With the current budget deficit, funding for transportation and other local concerns must look towards new sources. Though the decision to put this bill on the ballot remains in the air, environmentalists argue that it is a local action to the problem of climate change that the federal government is not adequately responding to.


Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-taxes1apr01,1,7566510.story

Fireplace Use Restricted/ JoAnne Golden

In San Joaquin Valley, residents are looking at three times the amount of
days that they are restricted from burning wood in their fireplaces. This
is in response to the air pollution and the consequences of it (more
specifically "asthma, heart disease and early death").

This new plan would ban the burning of wood in fireplaces for up to 30% of the year (which angers many who use this as their main source of heating). Since November, this has been an additional 10% increase on restrictions in San Joaquin Valley.

Link: http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/792645.html

Full Stream Ahead for Lower Owens/Karla Saia

The Lower Owens river, little more than a dry riverbed since the advent of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, is being deliberately flooded in an effort to repair nearly 100 years of ecological damage to the area.

Steady man-made floods, referred to as “pulses,” have been in place since December, 2006. Beginning next year, the Lower Owens will be flooded each spring: the pulses are intended to wash away decades of dry vegetation and cattle waste buildup, while simultaneously carrying seeds along the course of the river to encourage growth of ecosystems along the river’s edge. The idea is to turn the now-arid plain into a riverbed and accompanying forest capable of luring tourists.

While the program, a byproduct of environmental litigation, currently has the support of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and environmentalists, fear of water shortages leaves the future of the restored river in limbo. As project consultant Mark Hill noted, “If there [is] not enough water to go around and people [are] suffering, this project [will] be the first thing to go.”

It may be 15 or 20 years before the full fruition of the flooding is realized and the river can sustain commercial and recreational enterprises such as fishing and kayaking.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-owens11mar11,1,1534895.story

California Water Worries/ Lisa Sweet

As a result of higher temperatures supposed to have been caused by global warming, the snow pack in the Western mountainous regions is decreasing. Higher temperatures result in a higher rainfall over snow while melting the current snow pack without replacing it. The trend is expected to intensify through the decades which will have an adverse effect on the fragile balance of the California reservoir system leading to flooding in the winters and shortages in the summers.

In recent decades, the amount of precipitation as snow has steadily decreased by an average of 4.3% per decade as temperatures have climbed on average by 0.34% Celsius in winter months. Researchers and scientists point to greenhouse gases as the culprit of the temperature change. The data modeling suggests that gases are 35-60% responsible depending on which climate model is used. In order to prepare for future water worries water conservation and reservoir construction are suggested as part of the solution.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-sci-water1feb01,1,7686108.story

Tougher environmental rules will apply to O.C. toll way/ Hagob Boyadjian

President Bush signed an amended military bill last week which negated an exemption sought by Orange County toll road planners in an attempt to avoid state environmental laws. The estimated $875-million project would build a toll way, which would complete Orange County’s network of turnpikes and would cut across San Onofre State Beach, which is a popular camping and surfing spot. Toll road officials claim that the project would be extremely effective in relieving traffic. Opponents, however, argue that it would affect campgrounds, wild lands, Native American burial sites and famous surf spots. Orange County toll road planners had obtained a federal exemption which had enabled federal law to have jurisdiction over lawsuits involving the agency and the Foothill South as opposed to state law which is much more inflexible. Members from the board that governs the Foothill-Eastern toll way explained that they sought the exemption not because they sought after special legislation but because they needed to determine which authority, state or federal, it was to follow for the proposed route.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tollroad30jan30,1,5217670.story

"Big Brother" Changes Your Thermostat?/ Pete Peterson

In a plan leaked and destroyed before it could even go before a Legislative committee, the California Energy Commission recommended changing new building construction codes to mandate the usage of "smart" thermostats. These pieces of hardware are "smart" because they can be controlled remotely...like by the utilities.

The plan was to give utilities the power to regulate energy usage during peak and/or emergency situations. The Energy Commission calls this eerie idea one of their "demand-response strategies."

Upon learning of the proposal, legislators from both sides of the aisle rejected the idea as something bordering on a "nanny government" intrusion.

Link: http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_7992487

Wavering over Emissions Waiver/ Aimee Dewing

In response to the EPA’s denial of California’s application for a waiver that would allow the state to set its own emission standards, angered critics spoke out against the current administration, yesterday. The waiver, if approved, would have enabled California to adopt its own strict curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

California, home to six of the ten most polluted cities in the entire country, already has the most severe air quality problems in the nation. Yet, the EPA stated that because global warming is a worldwide problem, only national measures such as the energy bill signed by President Bush last month, could adequately address it.

Under the typically smoggy skies of Los Angeles, Sen. Barbara Boxer stated at a briefing with state officials at city hall that she would consider taking actions to reveal White House interference in the EPA’s decision to deny the waiver. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has already begun a law suit against the EPA in an effort to overturn their decision.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-epa11jan11,1,5236978.story