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Thu Mar 2 2017 (Updated 03/04/17)
The Health of the Bay Area Is at Stake Say Whistleblowers
Thu Mar 2 2017 (Updated 03/04/17)
Bay Area Air Quality Mngmt District Employees Fired For Exposing Destruction of Records
Two Bay Area Air Quality Management District employees charge in a new lawsuit that they were bullied, retaliated against, and fired for exposing the illegal destruction of agency documents that are required to be maintained for a record of the violations of air pollution laws by corporations. They say they had tried to stop the destruction of the documents but that the agency's top managers continued to engage in destroying citations, compliance records, and settlement agreements for air pollution control violations by major companies like Chevron, Shell, Tosco, Pacific Steel Casting, and many other companies.
Wed Feb 15 2017 (Updated 02/16/17)
Monarch Butterfly Population Drops by Nearly One-third
Wed Feb 15 2017 (Updated 02/16/17)
Number of Monarchs Overwintering in California Remains Low
The annual overwintering count of monarch butterflies released on February 9 confirms Monarch numbers fell by nearly one-third from last year’s count, indicating an ongoing risk of extinction for America’s most well-known butterfly. Scientists report that this year’s population is down by 27 percent from last year’s count, and down by more than 80 percent from the mid-1990s. A survey of monarch butterflies overwintering in California shows that the Western population has not rebounded. On the West Coast of California, key sites such as Pismo Beach and Natural Bridges saw lower populations this year than in the prior year.
Tue Feb 14 2017 (Updated 02/15/17)
Trump Administration Waives Water-Protection Rule for California Oilfields
Tue Feb 14 2017 (Updated 02/15/17)
Safe Drinking Water Exemptions Allow Oil Companies to Dump Waste Fluid Into Aquifers
The Trump administration this week granted requests from Gov. Jerry Brown's regulators to exempt three aquifers in California's Kern County from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Approval of these "aquifer exemption" applications by the Environmental Protection Agency gives oil companies permission to dump contaminated waste fluid into these underground water supplies. California officials plan to submit dozens of additional exemption applications for other aquifers across the state, including underground water sources in Alameda, Monterey, Ventura, Kern and other counties.
Mon Feb 13 2017 (Updated 02/14/17)
Marchers in Palo Alto Demand Banks Defund DAPL
Mon Feb 13 2017 (Updated 02/14/17)
Eight Banks Funding the Dakota Access Pipeline Protested
Hundreds of demonstrators took their Rolling March and Rally through downtown Palo Alto on February 11. They hit up eight banks that are responsible for helping to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. Things got started in front of City Hall with a rally featuring indigenous speakers Dr. Maria Michael, Hartman Deetz, and Delphine Red Shirt amongst others. Marchers then made their way to Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Comerica, Bank of America, Union Bank, HSBC, Wells Fargo, and Chase banks. To the end demonstrators cried out "Mni Wiconi - Water is Life!"
Mon Feb 13 2017 (Updated 02/14/17)
Lake Oroville Surges Over Emergency Spillway for First Time in History
Mon Feb 13 2017 (Updated 02/14/17)
Dam Maintenance Neglected as Governor Brown Promotes Delta Tunnels
Water from Lake Oroville flowed over the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam for the first time in the reservoir's 48-year history after the water level exceeded 901 feet in elevation on February 11. The water slowly began to flow over the concrete weir of the auxiliary spillway, down a hillside and into the Feather River. After saying the situation was stable and public safety was not threatened, state officials reversed course and issued evacuation orders late in the afternoon of February 12. On February 13, state officials would give no timeline on when the 188,000 evacuees can return to their homes.
Mon Jan 30 2017 (Updated 02/01/17)
End Domestic Violence, Boycott Driscoll's, and Ban Fracking
Mon Jan 30 2017 (Updated 02/01/17)
Hundreds Attend ChangeFest: A Climate Mobilization at State Capitol in Sacramento
A diverse array of Sacramento community groups participated in ChangeFest, a climate mobilization rally at the state capitol on January 21 as part of a week of anti-Trump street protests in Sacramento centered around the Presidential Inauguration. Speakers and musicians covered issues ranging from violence against women, to the Driscoll’s boycott in support of indigenous farmworkers in Mexico, to successful campaigns to ban fracking in San Benito and Monterey Counties, to the No DAPL struggle at Standing Rock. ChangeFest took place concurrently with the 20,000-strong Women's March in the Capitol.
Mon Jan 30 2017
Keystone XL, Dakota Access Pipelines Back on Table
President Trump signed executive orders on January 24 to push ahead with the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Both projects sparked widespread opposition and protests, especially because of their risks to water, wildlife, climate and people. On January 27, attorneys representing the first ten water protectors arrested in actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline in early August 2016 renewed their motion for a change of venue, on grounds that the state did not adequately respond to their motion and is not taking basic steps to assess bias among jurors.
Over the past several years, Santa Cruz Fruit Tree Project has been working with the City of Santa Cruz to develop the city's first community orchard. Riverside Community Orchard was launched in early 2015 when more than fifty volunteers came out to plant twelve dwarf apple, pear, and citrus trees along a fence line at Riverside Gardens Park. On Saturday, February 4, the group will break ground on a major expansion of the orchard, planting upwards of twenty more trees across the street, in an open area adjacent to the skate park and ball courts of Mike Fox Park, by the San Lorenzo River levee.
Sat Jan 14 2017 (Updated 01/16/17)
California Agency Proposes Turning Monterey County Aquifer Into Oil Waste Dump
Sat Jan 14 2017 (Updated 01/16/17)
State's Proposal Shrugs Off Voters' Approval of Ban on Oil Waste Injection
Just months after Monterey County voters approved a ban on underground injection of oil waste, California regulators have announced a plan to turn an underground water supply in the county over to the oil industry for injection of contaminated waste fluid. The proposal — announced by California's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources — seeks to exempt an aquifer that runs under the town of San Ardo from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. A similar aquifer exemption is currently under consideration in Livermore.
Sat Jan 14 2017 (Updated 01/16/17)
Fruitvale District Has Highest Levels of Lead Poisoning in California
Sat Jan 14 2017 (Updated 01/16/17)
Lead Poisoning in Oakland's Fruitvale District Is Worse Than Flint
Toxic lead levels are dangerously high in Oakland’s Fruitvale district, which has the highest level of contamination in California and are worse than in Flint, Michigan, according to a national report. Unlike Flint’s contaminated water crisis, which caught national attention in 2015, Oakland’s lead is not in the water system but is coming from old buildings and chipping paint that is getting into the dirt and being tossed up in the wind. The result is that 7.57 percent of children under the age of seven who were tested have high levels of lead in their blood.
Tue Dec 20 2016 (Updated 12/21/16)
Tulare County Has Most Agricultural Pesticide Illnesses in California
Tue Dec 20 2016 (Updated 12/21/16)
Santa Cruz County Ranked Second for Agricultural Pesticide Illnesses in 2014
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a report last week detailing the 2014 results of their Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program. The report, documenting all reported pesticide-related illnesses from all California counties, shows 20.1% of agricultural pesticide-related illnesses occurred in Tulare County, making it the county with the most agricultural pesticide illnesses in the state. Santa Cruz County came in second with 17.2%. Of the 53 counties with documented pesticide-related illnesses in 2014, Tulare County accounted for over 1 in every 5 cases of poisonings from agricultural pesticides.
Sun Dec 18 2016
Obama Signs Bill with Water Giveaway to California Big Ag
In a slap in the face to fishermen, Tribes, environmental justice advocates, conservationists and family farmers, President Obama on December 16 signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act into law with an environmentally destructive rider sponsored by Senator Feinstein (D-CA) and Congressman McCarthy (R-CA). The controversial rider, requested by corporate agribusiness interests, allows San Joaquin Valley growers and Southern California water agencies to pump more water out of the Delta, driving numerous fish species closer and closer to extinction, according to Delta advocates.
Fri Dec 16 2016 (Updated 12/18/16)
California Agency Floats Plan to Turn Livermore Aquifer Into Oil Waste Dump
Fri Dec 16 2016 (Updated 12/18/16)
Oil Company with History of Spills Seeking Exemption to Safe Drinking Water Act
An oil company with a long history of hazardous spills in California wants state and federal permission to dispose of contaminated waste fluid into an underground water supply in Livermore. The proposal, announced by California's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, seeks to exempt an aquifer in eastern Alameda County from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act on behalf of E&B Natural Resources, the oil company seeking the exemption. State officials are now taking public comments and will hold a January 11 hearing on the proposal.
Sat Dec 10 2016
Disastrous New City at Tejon Ranch Approved for Kern County
On December 6, the Kern County Board of Supervisors approved Tejon Ranch Company’s disastrous Grapevine project, despite the harm the project will do to wildlife and nearby communities. The 8,000-acre development will straddle the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Mountains and create a new city of up to 12,000 dwelling units and up to 5.1 million square feet of commercial real estate. The project will destroy habitat for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and threatened San Joaquin antelope squirrel, along with up to 36 other rare and imperiled species.
The California Secretary of State’s Office announced that voters narrowly defeated Proposition 53, an initiative requiring voter approval of revenue bonds over $2 billion. Governor Jerry Brown is celebrating the victory because it would have required a vote on his controversial “legacy” projects, the Delta Tunnels and High Speed Rail. Dan Bacher writes: The results of the Proposition 53 vote are disappointing for those who care about salmon, the Delta and the public trust. However, there is no doubt that if an initiative solely requiring a public vote on the Delta Tunnels had been on the ballot, it would have been decisively approved.
From the Calendar:
7PM Tuesday Mar 14
Cannabis Advocates Alliance meeting with updates and...
7PM Tuesday Mar 14
Tell Berkeley not to assist a People's Park raid
12PM Sunday Mar 19
Zero Waste Week Conferences, Local Tours, Film...
7PM Thursday Mar 23
Local History Talk: First People Meet Second People
1PM Saturday Mar 25
The Ecological Crisis: Taking Responsibility and...
6:30PM Saturday Apr 15
Project Drawdown Pre-Book Launch with Paul Hawken
12PM Friday Apr 21
Earth Day at EPA: March for Science Not Polluter...
10AM Saturday Apr 22
SF Earth Day 2017
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Judge Upholds Decision to End “No Otter Zone”
Tuesday Mar 7th 4:39 PM
Strike & Dig at UC Gill Tract Community Farm
Monday Mar 6th 11:50 AM
Low Numbers of Sacramento and Klamath River Salmon Point to Poor Season
(1 comment)
Saturday Mar 4th 9:39 PM
Workers & Environmentalists Demand BAAQMD Executives Be Prosecuted For Destroying Records
(3 comments)
Thursday Mar 2nd 11:09 PM
CalPERS joins investors urging banks to address Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's concerns
(1 comment)
Thursday Feb 23rd 9:29 AM
BA Air Quality Management District Employees Fired For Exposing Destruction of Records
Thursday Feb 23rd 2:15 AM
New Western Monarch and Milkweed Website Launched
Wednesday Feb 22nd 4:39 PM
More Local News...
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On First Day Trump Appointee Rolls Back Protections for Wildlife, Hunters From Toxic Lead
Friday Mar 3rd 5:32 PM
Far From Gone: A Timeline of NoDAPL and Other Pipeline Resistance and What YOU Can Do
Thursday Mar 2nd 7:49 AM
Landmark Report: Hundreds of Native Bee Species Sliding Toward Extinction
Wednesday Mar 1st 5:25 PM
Nuclear Shutdown News February 2017
Sunday Feb 26th 9:14 PM
It's another court victory for Klamath Salmon but court-ordered flows are not assured
Sunday Feb 26th 6:33 PM
Cook Inlet Gas Pipeline Leak Shows Risks of Offshore Drilling
Wednesday Feb 15th 5:44 PM
Army Greenlights DAPL Completion
Tuesday Feb 7th 5:45 PM
We cannot let media and social media divide us
Tuesday Feb 7th 2:06 PM
More Global News...
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Video: "Forget Shorter Showers," 11 min
Sunday Mar 12th 6:47 PM
Amount of Intense Earthquakes Increases in the USGS Full Data 1983 – 2016
(2 comments)
Saturday Dec 31st 1:07 AM
EPA Report Confirms Threat Posed By Fracking
Monday Dec 19th 6:47 PM
Hwy 17 Wildlife Tunnel in Sight: Land Trust Completes Funding for Land Protection
Monday Dec 19th 6:20 PM
GAG Group Declares WOD
Tuesday Dec 13th 10:34 AM
Plastics BAN list report identifies most harmful plastic products and alternatives in CA
Tuesday Dec 6th 2:14 PM
api and BOEM luncheon
Thursday Nov 10th 9:39 AM
San Francisco Green Film Festival Encore Series: Not Without Us
Monday Nov 7th 11:21 AM
Open Newswire...
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