HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, STRONG ECONOMY, VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
Some of the biggest producers of solar power in San Diego County aren’t power companies, they’re water agencies.
That’s because they have a combination of lots of space — the tops of their huge water tanks -— and high energy usage.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/16/water-solar-power-work-together/
SAN DIEGO — Conversations started Wednesday about permanently implementing water use restrictions in the city of San Diego.
Council member Donna Frye is pushing to make the water restrictions permanent. The city’s been operating under temporary conservation methods for about a year. The restrictions dictate when lawns can be watered, how cars can be washed, and which fountains can operate. Frye said these should be in place from now on.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/may/13/converstation-starts-sd-about-permanent-water-rest/
Here's a conundrum as the electric-car future arrives: Once we all start hitting the highway in our Nissan Leafs, Chevy Volts and Think City's, who's going to pay for our roads?
State and federal excise taxes on every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States currently finance a big chunk of road construction and pothole fixing, as Allan Schurr, an IBM executive, pointed out to me Tuesday when we sat down for some green car chat in San Francisco.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-05-07-electric-cars-require-creative-taxation
Three power plants on the San Diego County coastline face major changes — from shuttering operations to building new cooling towers — in the wake of a landmark ruling by California’s water-quality officials to protect sea life.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/11/power-plants-face-closures/
Here’s some good news: St. Louis citizens want robust mass transit, and they’re willing to pay for it. Despite a Tea Party opposition campaign, St. Louis County voters on Tuesday approved a half-cent sales tax increase to stabilize and eventually expand the region’s ailing transit network.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-04-07-st.-louis-votes-for-better-transit-despite-tea-party-campaign
Everyone has heard of green cars and maybe even green boats, but green trains?
Two low-emission locomotives have started chugging away in the county thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the California Air Resources Board and an investment in new technology by San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/01/2-new-trains-on-track-to-cut-pollution/
With the state’s unemployment rate hovering at 12.5 percent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent the last month touring the state, promoting green technologies as the way of putting Californians back to work as well as paving the way to economic growth.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/28/group-aims-to-derail-governors-green-train/
Environmental activists vowed Tuesday to appeal a ruling by a San Diego federal judge allowing the United States to finish building along the border with Mexico despite concerns that it would threaten a wildlife habitat.
The Department of Homeland Security won the right Monday to finish the remaining 5 miles of the border fence in southern California by invoking a little-known federal law that allows the agency to waive state and federal environmental laws in the name of security.
"This isn't just about trees, plants and birds," said Cory Briggs, who represents the environmental activists. "This is about setting the Constitution on fire."
The Department of Justice attorney handling the case was travelling a nd could not be reached for comment. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security said they plan to finish the fence but do not have a starting date.
Briggs sued the federal government in February 2004 on behalf of the Sierra Club , the San Diego Audubon Society, San Diego Baykeeper, the California Native Plant Society, the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The suit asks for a halt to construction of the fence until further environmental impact studies could be done.
Most of the 14-mile, triple-wide fence, begun in 1996, has been completed. But environmentalists have been fighting 5 miles of the fence, including a stretch that crosses Smugglers Gulch in the Tijuana Wetlands and the Tijuana Estuary, havens for endangered species.
Fence plans call for filling the gulch with 2 million cubic yards of dirt.
"If they had a reasonable design that paid attention to the environment , they could have got this built years ago," said Jim Peugh of the Audubon Society "The problem isn't the need for a fence, it's that they are building the wrong fence."
The lawsuit cites comments from state, local and federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior, the California Department of Fish and Game and the San Diego Association of Governments that the fence may damage the natural habitat, h ome to native plants, birds and butterflies.The California Coastal Commission ruled the fence will cause damage in February 2004.
In September, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff invoked an amendment to the 2005 Appropriations Bill that lets the department waive any laws necessary to secure the nation.
Briggs said this is the first time the amendment has been invoked.
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/3261
The 2,630-home Merriam Mountains development proposed for north of Escondido ---- which opponents thought they had stopped in December ---- was rejected again Wednesday when it came back before county supervisors for a second hearing.
Supervisors voted 3-2 against the project, saying they had concerns about everything from increased traffic and fire hazards to air quality and inadequate water supplies.
Opponents also argued it would have violated planning guidelines directing new developments to be built as close to existing infrastructure as possible.
The late-afternoon vote came after more than 100 speakers sparred over the perceived merits and detriments. Opponents wore red; proponents wore green.
http://nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_b9af870d-d1ef-5fd1-b20e-0e902b067840.html
Water is power. Literally.
It takes power to get water to you, power to filter it, heat it, cool it and, once it’s gone down the drain, power to clean it before it’s put in the ocean.
A fifth of the electricity used in California is related to water. So is 30 percent of the natural gas, according to the California Energy Commission.
“Energy is embedded in just about every kind of water use we have,” said Janice Heppell, who works on energy conservation programs for San Diego Gas & Electric.
Water conservation efforts aren’t just about dealing with drought. In a very real way, they’re about reducing energy usage.
So the power company is studying ways it can help customers reduce their water usage, Heppell said Wednesday at a workshop hosted by the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California.
Some savings have come in unusual places, she said, noting some pilot programs the company has tried out.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/17/water-energy-conservation-linked/
