Weekly Green: December 14, 2015

The past week's news and opinion:

• Climate accord approved in Paris;
• Jerry Brown's shifting focus on pollutants;
• Drought news: desalination plant comes online;
• And much more.

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Top News & Features

Nations Approve Landmark Climate Accord in Paris
With the sudden bang of a gavel Saturday night, representatives of 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/europe/climate-change-accord-paris.html

How Big Oil Spiked Jerry Brown’s Climate Change Agenda
As Governor Jerry Brown touted California’s environmental initiatives and prodded world leaders in Paris to embrace tougher environmental policies during the United Nations summit on climate change, it was instructive to look back at how one of Brown’s top environmental priorities suffered a major defeat in the California Legislature this year. [Quotes CLCV CEO Sarah Rose, CLCV Board Member Susan Frank]
http://capitalandmain.com/latest-news/issues/politics-and-government/how-big-oil-spiked-jerry-browns-climate-change-agenda-1210/

Why Jerry Brown’s shifting focus on pollutants could help the planet — and his political causes
Brown has emphasized an especially hazardous class of pollutants, including methane, black carbon and fluorinated gases, that sicken millions of people worldwide each year. These pollutants, unlike carbon dioxide, remain in the atmosphere for a relatively short period of time. But they are so potent, scientists say, that removing them from the atmosphere could both slow the pace of global warming and clean the air.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article48700275.html

Plastic Industry's Unusual Strategy Against California Bag Ban
Californians could see two plastic bag measures on next November’s ballot, in a bid that could divide supporters of a statewide ban on their bags in grocery stores.
http://www.capradio.org/62447

Pledge to vote in favor of the bag ban on CLCV's website: http://www.ecovote.org/bagban

More Climate News

A Climate Deal, 6 Fateful Years in the Making
It took almost two weeks for negotiators from 195 countries to finally pass the landmark climate accord this weekend after several espresso-fueled all-nighters and long, passionate debates over the meaning of a single word, such as “shall.” But the story of how the deal came together started long before that — in December 2009, with the failure of the last such summit meeting, in Copenhagen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/world/europe/a-climate-deal-6-fateful-years-in-the-making.html

2 Degrees, $100 Billion: The World Climate Agreement, By The Numbers
The agreement acknowledges that the threat of climate change is "urgent and potentially irreversible," and can only be addressed through "the widest possible cooperation by all countries" and "deep reductions in global emissions." But how deep will those reductions be — and how soon, and who's paying for it? Here are some key figures from the final agreement.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/12/459502597/2-degrees-100-billion-the-world-climate-agreement-by-the-numbers

How US negotiators ensured landmark Paris climate deal was Republican-proof
These were the officials who helped set the US negotiating position for the talks – or, perhaps more accurately, helped craft the deal according to US specifications in order to insulate Obama and the agreement from attacks.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/13/climate-change-paris-deal-cop21-obama-administration-congress-republicans-environment

The Paris Climate Deal Is President Obama’s Biggest Accomplishment
Obama’s climate agenda has lurked quietly on the recesses of the American imagination for most of his presidency. It is also probably the administration’s most important accomplishment.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/climate-deal-is-obamas-biggest-accomplishment.html

The Paris agreement marks an unprecedented political recognition of the risks of climate change
“HISTORY is here,” declared François Hollande, France’s president, on Saturday morning. The UN climate conference in Paris had run over its original deadline, and the final text had yet to be seen, but the mood among the negotiators and ministers he was addressing was buoyant.
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21683990-paris-agreement-climate-change-talks

The Hidden Climate Threat That Gas Companies Noticed, But Rarely Fixed
World leaders left Paris over the weekend with an aggressive agreement to cut methane emissions and other so-called short-lived climate pollutants. Methane doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, but it’s much more potent.
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/12/14/the-hidden-climate-threat-that-gas-companies-noticed-but-rarely-fixed/

Jerry Brown leaves Paris: ‘We’ll see how we do’
The big question surrounding the United Nations summit – and Brown’s trip here – is how ambitious an international climate deal might be, and if it could do enough to turn a corner on the most catastrophic risks of climate change.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article48977250.html

State senate leader looks home from Paris: Now ‘the real work begins’
One day after Gov. Jerry Brown left Paris, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León – having concluded his own meetings on climate change – walked through the Musée d'Orsay on Friday, interpreting art on the left bank of the Seine.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article49248000.html

Jerry Brown in Paris: California governor goes deep on climate change and other global threats
Brown’s swing through Paris reflected not only the environmentalism that could be his political legacy, but also his preoccupation with sources of potential catastrophe.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-pol-ca-climate-jerry-brown-doomsayer-20151210-story.html

Much Of The World Perplexed That Climate Debate Continues In U.S.
"Everybody else is taking climate change really seriously," President Obama said during his visit to Paris at the start of the summit. "They think it's a really big problem." As the president acknowledged, he leads one of the few advanced democracies in the world where climate change is still the subject of political debate.
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/09/458930580/rest-of-the-world-perplexed-that-climate-debate-continues-in-u-s

What people get wrong about climate change
Temperatures and sea levels have been stable enough for agriculture to lead to society and for society to eventually lead to industrialization, science, medicine, the internet, and the device you're using to read these words. Now, with man-made global warming, we are tossing that stability away.
http://www.vox.com/2015/12/12/9894234/climate-change-explained

Is California a climate model?
The state is leading on climate change, these Californians say, with a growing economy and shrinking emissions. They urge the rest of the world to take note.... Yet there are limitations to California’s model status.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article48911660.html

California Environmental News

The Port of L.A. rolled back measures to cut pollution — during its 'green' expansion
Shortly after the Port of Los Angeles agreed to require air quality improvements at one of its busiest terminals seven years ago, top port officials privately began rolling back pollution-cutting measures they promised, government records obtained by The Times show.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-port-pollution-20151215-story.html

Drought worries weren’t enough to force agreement on California water
California lawmakers’ repeated failures to agree on legislation to resolve the state’s seemingly endless battle over how to use its water resources raise new questions about whether they’ll ever be able to find a compromise.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article49320015.html

Southern California desalination plant will help ease water crunch, but price is steep
The newest weapon in the war on drought in California has arrived, an engineering marvel that will harvest drinking water from the ocean on a scale never before seen in the Western Hemisphere.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article49468770.html

Finish line for desalination
Poseidon Water’s desalination plant in Carlsbad is poised to begin regular operations within days — decades after water officials first considered harvesting drinking water from the sea and 14 years after they formally took the first steps toward its construction.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/dec/13/poseidon-water-desalination-carlsbad-opening/

Angry California Republicans call drought bill dead for the year
In a remarkably acrimonious ending to negotiations that once seemed close to bearing fruit, GOP House members acknowledged the bill’s failure while putting the blame squarely on California’s two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article49172085.html

California Drought: Storms Help, Water Supply 'Below Average'
Recent recent storms have helped reduce the percentage of California in drought but forecasters say there is a long way to go. And, while a strong El Niño is predicted, it won’t end the historic four-year drought.
http://www.capradio.org/62448

California members of Congress urge regulators to protect rooftop solar program
Two dozen members of California's congressional delegation urged state regulators this week to protect the compensation program for rooftop solar owners who send power to the electric grid.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-congress-rooftop-solar-20151208-story.html

Another exhausting year for California high-speed rail
California’s high-speed rail might be remembered in 2015 as a real-life example of the Little Engine That Could.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/12/08/another-exhausting-year-for-california-high-spd-rl.html

California Democrat withdraws support for the high-speed rail project
Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando) says she is withdrawing her support for the project, and she says five other Democrats in the Legislature are reviewing their positions.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-bullet-cracks-20151209-story.html

Jerry Brown warns of climate change, terrorists using nuclear weapons and other ‘horrors that might unfold’
In a sprawling speech and on-stage discussion lasting more than two hours, Brown said work among states and countries on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was forming a habit that could be used to address terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article48887080.html

Jerry Brown preparing to engage in 2016 ballot measure fight
Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday he is considering placing a measure on the 2016 ballot, possibly related to climate change, or engaging in an effort to defeat a threat to his Delta water project.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article48961980.html

National & International Environmental News

Lifeline for elephants: Ivory price halves in China after Xi pledges ban
The price of raw, illegal ivory has almost halved in China in the past 18 months because of growing public awareness, a promise from President Xi Jinping to ban the trade, a far-reaching anti-corruption drive and a slowing economy, according a new study by Save the Elephants.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/08/lifeline-for-elephants-ivory-price-halves-in-china-after-xi-pledges-ban/

Politics & Government

Secretary of state hits California’s ‘Frankenstein monster’ campaign finance database
“The guts of Cal Access and how it’s built and how it has evolved leaves much to be desired,” Padilla said during a Senate hearing on campaign finance. “From a technical, a coding standpoint it’s often referred to as a Frankenstein monster of code.”
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article49257065.html

Finally

Trump hits a new high in national poll
Donald Trump just got a little more vault in his ceiling. Nationwide, the polling-obsessed Manhattan multi-billionaire and leading Republican presidential candidate broke into the 40s on Monday.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/poll-trump-new-high-216741

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