Pink Flamingo: Carpetbagger or March Madness?
While Holly Doremus considers the State of the Birds, it might be fair to ask her why she spotted a Greater Flamingo, yesterday, in Northern California. The six Berkeley Law students and this blogger, who accompanied her on a paddle at the Elkhorn Slough and came upon this scene, want to know. Normally, the closest Pink Flamingo to these parts is a casino in Las Vegas. Greater Flamingos like the weather in the Caribbean, and the coast of Africa. Is the curr...
CONTINUE READINGState of the Birds, 2010
Following up on last year's first report, a coalition of government and non-profit agencies has issued a new State of the Birds report. This version concentrates on the effects of climate change. The key conclusions, from the summary: Birds in every terrestrial and aquatic habitat will be affected by climate change, although individual species in each habitat are likely to respond differently. . . [A] majority of birds dependent on oceans, and birds on Hawaiian Islands,...
CONTINUE READINGSettlement marks a step forward on ocean acidification*
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. As Cara and Dan have explained, ocean acidification is the other big climate change problem. As atmospheric CO2 levels rise, more CO2 dissolves in the oceans. That in turn increases ocean acidity, which changes the ecology of the seas, most obviously by reducing the ability of corals and a variety of other marine organisms to build their "skeletons" and protective shells from calcium carbonate. Ocean acidification is a pollution problem, just a...
CONTINUE READINGSalmon season likely . . . but is it a good idea?
For the last two years, there has been no commercial salmon fishing off the California and Southern Oregon coasts because the Sacramento River chinook run has been so weak. This year, after early pessimism, prospects for salmon fishing look more promising. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has made public the three management options it will consider at its April meeting. Two of the three would allow at least some commercial and recreational fishing. The Council'...
CONTINUE READINGEnvironment Now Releases Top So Cal Enviro Achievements
After so much bad environmental news, here's a post that highlights some actual accomplishments just in case you fear they never occur. Environment Now, a Southern California nonprofit group, has released its 6th Annual Top Achivements of the Environmental Community in Southern California. The report includes the top achievements in six environmental areas; Sean Hecht and I served as judges for two of those (Climate and Energy for me, Freshwater Protection and Resto...
CONTINUE READINGDo Californians eat endangered whale meat?
Yes, apparently we do, but only at the most upscale of sushi restaurants. See the LA Times story here (and note the $600 price tag for the meal). Here's some information about sei whales (the species being served), courtesy of NOAA's Office of Protected Resources: During the 19th and 20th centuries, sei whales were targeted (along with blue and fin whales) and greatly depleted by commercial hunting and whaling, with an estimated 300,000 animals killed for their meat ...
CONTINUE READINGEnforcement Pushback–Making It Personal
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that enforcement staff and managers (including the regional office director and an enforcement attorney) in Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were held personally liable for 6.5 million in damages relating to a series of enforcement actions against one company. MFS Inc., a manufacturer of industrial insulation and ceiling tiles, alleged that the four DEP employees pursued aggressive enforcement against it...
CONTINUE READINGDirty Money Supporting Anti-AB 32 Initiative Causes Ted Costa to Withdraw Support
I predicted earlier that an initiative campaign to delay the implementation of AB 32 until the state's unemployment rate falls dramatically would not qualify for the ballot. I made this prediction based on the lack of evidence of significant financial backing and the fact that the initiative appeared to be primarily the work of Ted Costa's People's Advocate -- a group that hardly appears to be well-funded judging from its website. So here's one troubling piece of n...
CONTINUE READINGCash for Transit
Jonathan proposes reinstating the vehicle license fee that Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated back in 2003. The repeal was highly successful in 1) getting Schwarzenegger elected governor and 2) contributing to the destruction of the state's fiscal health. But even reinstating the fee is unlikely to help transit. With the state's huge budget shortfall, that money would likely be used to fill up the black hole that is the state budget, and the legislature would surely r...
CONTINUE READINGHappy Birthday, Legal Planet!
Legal Planet has been up and running for a year now.* In that time, we've had almost 240,000 viewings, 839 comments, and over 860 posts . If we could just manage to have someone to reveal "LegalPlanetgate,"** we could become instantly world famous and ramp up our audience share even more! ------------- *Actually, this is an approximation because we had a predecessor blog (Environmental Law and Policy) for a few months and because we didn't immediately go public...
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