Weekly Green: August 4, 2015

Good afternoon, all. In recent headlines:

• Obama's Clean Power Plan hailed as US's strongest ever climate action;
• Gov. Brown praises President Obama for new greenhouse gas rules, and California is ahead of the game;
• Oil refinery profits set a record in California;
• Drought news, and much more.

» Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Green, your no-frills news roundup provided free of charge by the California League of Conservation Voters. If you're not a regular subscriber, sign up for your free subscription today: http://ecovote.org/wg »

Top News: Clean Power Plan

Obama to impose deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
President Obama will impose even steeper cuts on greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants than previously expected, White House officials said early Sunday, in what the president called the most significant step the country has ever taken to fight global warming.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-global-warming-20150801-story.html

CLCV Statement: http://www.ecovote.org/news/clean-power-plan-statement-080315

Gov. Brown praises President Obama for new greenhouse gas rules
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday welcomed President Obama's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and noted that California is ahead of the federal government in the effort.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-gov-brown-praises-president-obama-for-new-greenhouse-gas-rules-20150803-story.html

Obama's clean power plan hailed as US's strongest ever climate action
Hundreds of businesses including eBay and Nestlé back federal rules to cut emissions and encourage a switch away from coal to renewable energy.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/03/obamas-clean-power-plan-hailed-as-strongest-ever-climate-action-by-a-us-president

How Obama's Clean Power Plan actually works — in 7 steps
For those curious about how the rule actually works, here's a more detailed step-by-step guide to what EPA is doing.
http://www.vox.com/2015/8/4/9096903/clean-power-plan-explained

California is ahead of the game as Obama releases Clean Power Plan
President Obama's plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants over the next 15 years will force states to address climate change by pushing them to act more like California.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-climate-change-20150804-story.html

NY Times Editorial: President Obama's Tough, Achievable Climate Plan
President Obama's Clean Power Plan, announced on Monday, is unquestionably the most important step the administration has taken in the fight against climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/opinion/president-obamas-tough-achievable-climate-plan.html

2016 candidates weigh in on Clean Power Plan
This week President Obama unveiled the finalized Clean Power Plan... prompting praise from Democrat presidential contenders and immediate backlash from Republicans, who called it an expensive job killer.
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/2016-candidates-weigh-in-on-clean-power-plan-125853850086.html

Obama's new emissions rules likely to help shape White House race
With Monday's release of landmark rules to combat global warming, President Obama is putting into place what probably will be the last piece of his ambitious second-term agenda – one that highlights deep divisions in the country and helps shape the race to succeed him.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-climate-20150802-story.html

How Obama’s New Clean Power Plan Might Be Just Enough To Stave Off A Climate Catastrophe
Obama’s actual Clean Power Plan is the bare minimum the United States can do and remain a moral nation. Here’s why.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/03/3686977/moral-urgency-epa-clean-power-plan/

President Obama's Clean Power Plan Has The Wind At Its Back
As news of the finalized version of the Clean Power Plan swept through the energy sector, the press releases starting flowing in. While skepticism abounds, there’s still a lot of fanfare surrounding Monday’s announcement — with much of it coming from green energy corners.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2015/08/04/president-obamas-clean-power-plan-has-the-wind-at-its-back/

McSwain: Obama ignores California’s green power experience
With his Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama is repeating California’s expensive mistake of ignoring the engineering realities of saving the planet and imposing political quotas requiring solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/03/obama-ignores-californias-green-power-experience/

Only One Loser In Obama's Clean Power Plan
Natural gas, renewables, nuclear and efficiency are the winners. Coal is the loser.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/08/04/only-one-loser-in-obamas-clean-power-plan/

More California Environmental News

Kevin de León brings climate change appeal to California Latinos
Joined by billionaire activist Tom Steyer, De León appeared on Univision Los Angeles on Sunday to make the case to Spanish-speaking audiences.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article29872852.html

Cap and trade: Is California a leader or a loner?
It was mid-morning one day in May and somewhere deep inside a 25-story tower in Sacramento, an auction, cloaked in secrecy, was about to begin. There was no gavel pounding. No shouting. No frenzy of traders running around.
http://www.calmatters.org/articles/cap-and-trade-is-california-a-leader-or-a-loner/

California poll finds Republicans don't see global warming as serious threat
A majority say they don't believe that climate change is happening and that they don't think it will be a serious problem in the future. They also support expanding fossil fuel production -- from increasing offshore oil drilling along California's coast to expanding fracking.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28558430/climate-change-new-poll-finds-californians-support-more

Oil refinery profits set a record in California
Oil refinery profits set a California record of $1.61 a gallon in July as consumers in the Los Angeles region paid as much as a dollar more than the rest of the nation.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-refinery-profits-record-20150731-story.html

Environmental group seeks injunction to stop fracking in California
A national environmental organization went to court this week demanding an immediate halt to hydraulic fracturing and other intensive well-stimulation methods until California petroleum industry regulators can consider new scientific findings of troubling health and environmental threats.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20150731/NEWS/150739890

Here’s how you can report water waste with your smartphone
Seen somebody wasting water? Don’t know who to call? The state of California can help. State water officials this week launched the drought-inspired website, SaveWater.CA.Gov, which allows anyone in California to report water abuse with a simple touch of their smartphone or other digital device.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Here-s-how-you-can-report-water-waste-with-your-6417675.php

California says water use fell by 27 percent in June
Water use in California fell by 27 percent in June, passing the conservation target set by Gov. Jerry Brown during the drought, regulators said Thursday. Data released by the State Water Resources Control Board shows 265 out of 411 local agencies hit or nearly reached savings targets.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_CAOL-?SITE=CASON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-07-30-14-31-44

Who’s Saving Water in California and Who Isn’t
Almost 40 percent of urban water suppliers cut their water use dramatically, by 30 percent or more. About a third of water districts, 140 in all, fell short, mostly in Southern California.
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/07/30/whos-saving-water-in-california-and-who-isnt/

California judge says she'll likely uphold farmer water cuts
A California judge says she'll likely side with state regulators seeking to cut agricultural water use in the drought. At a hearing Thursday, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang said she believes the state's revised approach to warning farmers of insufficient supplies is legal.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_WATER_CUTS_CAOL-?SITE=CASON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-07-30-14-34-19

California water officials seek penalties in Santa Barbara oil spill
California water quality regulators have asked Attorney General Kamala Harris to consider enforcement action against the owner of an oil pipeline that ruptured near Santa Barbara in May, spilling petroleum onto beaches and the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/us-usa-california-oilspill-idUSKCN0Q81XD20150803?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Many snags ahead for California water bills
Publicly and privately, California lawmakers are pushing to get a big water bill off its current glacial pace. But history cautions that California legislation this ambitious always takes time, and plenty of it.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article29887015.html

Drought could hurt endangered fish caught in water fight
The delta smelt lives in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the West Coast's largest estuary that supplies water to Central Valley farms and millions of Southern California residents.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_ENDANGERED_FISH_CAOL-?SITE=CASON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-08-04-01-22-45

In California, Even Firefighters Conserve Water
Wildfires scorching California this summer have already cost one life, 24 homes and millions of dollars. They are also consuming another precious resource: water.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-california-even-firefighters-conserve-water-1438645150

Hospitals seek water savings amid drought
From nurses washing their hands every time they enter a patient’s room to steam scalding surgical instruments sterile, water is everywhere in a hospital.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/02/tri-city-water-savings-drought/

New homes offer water, energy efficiency
Sprinklers with sensors that determine if the lawn needs to be watered and faucets that cut water use by half used to be luxurious home upgrades. Now, they have become standard features in some new developments.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article29893630.html

Decker: Trickle-down politics: Drought could force real change among city, state leaders
It's something of a relief, if a mixed one, that the drought has surged into the role of the latest scourge to freak out California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-california-politics-drought-20150802-story.html

$3B to restore Salton Sea
That’s how much money local officials now say they want from California, as detailed in a plan approved Tuesday by the Imperial Irrigation District’s board of directors. It’s less expensive than a $9 billion plan that died in the state Legislature, and local officials hope it will pressure state officials to live up to their promise to restore the lake.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2015/07/28/iid-imperial-county-want-billion-salton-sea/30811085/

Proposed bobcat trapping ban feeds debate over government’s role
The California Fish and Game Commission will consider a statewide ban on bobcat trapping this week, a proposal that has reignited debate over wildlife protections and the power of regulatory agencies.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article29835886.html

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