Nor-Cal Environmental News Feed
SacBee -- Environment
Environmentalists, political leaders push to derail San Francisco Bay Saltworks development
Shallow salt beds cover a 1,436-acre former salt production site in Redwod City where agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. and Arizona-based DMB Associates want to build up to 12,000 housing units. More than 100 environmental and political leaders have singed a petition opposing the project.
REDWOOD…
Science panel says Delta pumping restrictions are justified in California
A high-level science panel Friday concluded that federal rules that limit water diversions from the Delta to protect endangered fish are "scientifically justified," dealing a blow to south state water interests that had hoped the review would punch holes in the rules.
The panel of 15 experts was…
U.N. group rejects bans on polar bear hunting, bluefin tuna fishing
Fish dealers prepare to slice bluefin tuna in Tokyo. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species rejected protections Thursday for Atlantic bluefin tuna.
WASHINGTON A U.N. organization that regulates wildlife trade voted Thursday against bans on hunting polar bears threatened…
U.S. agency to protect habitat for Twain's famed jumping frog
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it will designate 1.6 million acres in California as critical habitat for the endangered red-legged frog.
The frog, featured by author Mark Twain in his famous story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was listed as threate…
Clark Pest Control gets environmental award
Lodi-based Clark Pest Control is a recipient of the Integrated Pest Management Innovator Award from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
The award is given to organizations that develop and promote methods of pest control that reduce risks associated with using traditional chemical…
Elk Grove's southward growth plan -- three perspectives
The battle surrounding Elk Grove's bid to expand southward by 10,500 acres won't be the last land war.
But for people living in or near the proposed expansion area, the stakes are high:
For landowners, the current plan to create a mile-wide buffer straddling Eschinger Road threatens to lim…
Rio Vista trying to land federal Delta fish-breeding project
Rio Vista, long a hub for levee building and dredging in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, could find its next fortune in fish restoration.
The town of 4,500 along the Sacramento River is being courted by a who's who of state and federal agencies that see a former U.S. Army property on the water…
Schwarzenegger wants more drilling, less greenhouse gas
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday simultaneously defended the state's greenhouse gas reduction law and repeated his support of expanded oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast.
On Monday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office concluded that AB 32, the landmark 2006 law that mandate…
Legislative analyst: California greenhouse gas law could cost some jobs
The Legislature's nonpartisan analyst says California's landmark greenhouse gas reduction law could cost jobs in the near term, while its long-term impact is uncertain.
But, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor concluded in a letter released Monday, the overall impact of the law on the state's gargant…
Sausalito's Bay Model still moving water, visitors
Linda Holm, park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, squirts dye to simulate an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. More than 150,000 people a year visit the 145,000-square-foot Bay Model in Sausalito, a hydrologically precise scaled working replica of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta…
New visions for the Delta: A national park, perhaps?
University of British Columbia architecture student Ariel Mieling sketches a building in Locke. Often lost in the debate over Delta water is the Delta's potential for recreation and tourism. But most of the islands are hard to reach, and no-trespassing signs are legion.
The Sacramento-San Joaqu…
Thousands expected at Green California Summit
Thousands of environmental leaders, green tech business representatives and government officials are expected to attend the fourth Green California Summit and Exposition March 15-17 at the Sacramento Convention Center.
Sponsors include Siemens and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
S…
Study of hospitals puts price tag on California's dirty air
California's dirty air led to nearly $200 million in hospital spending over a three-year period including $9 million in Sacramento County because of asthma, pneumonia and other pollution-triggered ailments, according to a study released today.
With its research, Rand Corp. attempts to put …
Chilean earthquake offers lessons for California
The massive earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday provides a good look at how California might fare after a large temblor, experts said Monday.
Chile and California are both leaders in seismic safety engineering due to the frequency of large quakes in both places. Their strengths lie in diffe…
Lawsuit: Striped bass to blame for California's salmon decline
Some fish do the eating and others get eaten. That is the nature of nature.
But if man helps one voracious eater that doesn't belong, is that fair?
This is the essential question in a lawsuit over the striped bass, a non-native fish introduced to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from the Eas…
Feds plan 5% to 30% water allotment to San Joaquin farms
A pink umbrella shields, from left, Tasia Choates, Lydia Nance and Rhina Romero at Sacramento State on Friday. If the rain trend holds up, a 5 percent to 30 percent allotment for the San Joaquin Valley may go up.
Capping weeks of political debate over the water-starved west San Joaquin Valley, …
$90 million earmarked for clean energy firms
The California Energy Commission announced this week that it will oversee $90.1 million in programs to provide financing to clean energy manufacturers.
The Clean Energy Business Financing Program will provide $30.6 million in low-interest loans to private businesses that improve or expand their …
New report cautiously optimistic on Sacramento River salmon
A report released Wednesday suggests better times may be ahead for the Sacramento River's fall-run chinook salmon.
The preseason report by the Pacific Fishery Management Council estimates 245,483 chinook will make up the 2010 fall run. That's about six times more than 2009's fall run, which set …
California water diversion plan 'a work in progress,' Feinstein says
WASHINGTON Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's controversial bid to divert more water to San Joaquin Valley farms has prompted furious maneuvering but no agreement.
Behind the scenes, negotiators are swapping ideas. In public, though, the Senate on Wednesday approved a streamlined jobs bill th…
Project to protect habitat of rare plants completed
The American River Conservancy announced that it has completed the final phase of a project to protect 1,447 acres of rare-plant habitat in El Dorado County known as the Kanaka Valley property.
The cooperative acquisition effort of the conservancy, the federal Bureau of Land Management and Bure…
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