HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, STRONG ECONOMY, VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
A development team based in San Diego is leading an effort to build the world's largest wind farm in Mojave.
The $1.6 billion Alta Wind Energy Center consists of more than 600 wind turbines on desert ridge lines between Lancaster and Bakersfield.
In June 2009, an ordinance limiting lawn and garden watering with sprinklers to two days a week took effect in Los Angeles. Citywide water consumption dropped by more than 20%.
Yet, 13 months later, the ordinance that pushed Los Angeles to the fore of the Western water conservation movement is about to be gutted, having become collateral damage in a roiling brawl over rate hikes and green energy between the City Council and the mayor's office.
As San Diego's City Council prepares Tuesday to consider spending $6.6 million on a purified sewage demonstration plant, new analysis from a nonpartisan local nonprofit concludes the new drinking water source would be "a strong, viable addition" to the region's water portfolio. READ MORE
Thirty House Democrats signed on to a new bill on Thursday that would save Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, which have been under attack from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. PACE is a finance tool that helps homeowners afford energy-efficiency retrofits and renewable-energy installations.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently concluded that a proposed $11 billion water bond he personally nursed for three years will probably flop in November and has called on lawmakers to take the measure off the ballot and put it before voters in 2012 instead.
Wrap your mind around these figures:
In 1800, only 3 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Today, the figure is roughly 50 percent. By 2050, it’ll be about 75 percent. Read More
The threat to businesses arising from unchecked biodiversity loss is larger and more immediate than that presented by climate change.
That is the stark conclusion of a long-anticipated UN-backed report to be launched in London later today, which warns that the vast majority of firms are ignoring risks associated with biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, despite the fact that they pose a serious and growing threat to their operations. Read More
Global investment in green power was led by wind and solar in 2008, and reached a record level of US$112 billion and remained broadly stable in 2009 despite the economic downturn, explains IEA’s ‘Energy Technology Perspectives 2010.’
More than five years after first proposing a big power line linking San Diego to the Imperial Valley, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. today is getting the news it has been waiting for — the last big roadblock to construction of the $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink is gone. READ MORE
Annie Leonard used to spout jargon. She reveled in the sort of geek-speak that glazes your eyeballs.
Externalized costs, paradigm shifts, the precautionary principle, extended producer responsibility.
That was before she discovered cartoons. Read More