Pollution & Health
California Enacts Nation’s First Comprehensive Fracking Law—And Everyone’s Unhappy
Controversial But Promising, SB 4 Constitutes Tangible Progress on the Fracking Front
Late last month the California Legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law, the nation’s first comprehensive system of regulating hydraulic fracturing, the oil and gas drilling technique more commonly known as “fracking.” It turns out that no one–the oil and gas industry, surface landowners or environmentalists–is particularly happy with the new law. And …
CONTINUE READINGA new treaty on global mercury: not much, but better than nothing
Next week in Japan, an international diplomatic meeting will sign and adopt a new environmental treaty, the Minamata Convention on Mercury Pollution, which was finalized in negotiations earlier this year. In its name – and in locating the conference in Minamata and the nearby city of Kumamoto, in Kyushu– the convention commemorates the victims of …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Chemical Regulations Go Live in California
Making Prevention Real?
Today, after years of discussions and drafts, California’s new Safer Consumer Product regulations take effect. They create a comprehensive chemicals regulatory scheme having three steps: identification and prioritization of consumer products containing chemicals of greatest concern (“product-chemical combinations”); performance of “alternative analyses” by the manufacturers of those high priority product-chemical combinations; and selection of regulatory responses …
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CONTINUE READINGPesticide Registration: Time for an Upgrade
UCLA Study Offers Recommendations to Improve the Pesticide Approval Process in California
We love our fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts in California. They are healthy for us and for our economy; California leads the nation with agricultural revenues of over 44 billion dollars annually, and produces nearly half of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the U.S. But modern agriculture relies heavily on fumigants to produce this bounty …
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CONTINUE READINGDriven Past Endurance
This is probably not the best time to talk about the social cost of driving, given that many readers are probably planning to drive to see family. But no one is saying that you should never drive anywhere — just that reducing driving has some positive benefits. The math is simple. The environmental impact of …
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CONTINUE READINGThe American Way of Eating
Gallup has done a fascinating series of surveys recently on fast food and diet. Here are some highlights: What we eat? About 30% of Americans have fast food at least once a week, while another 30% say they have it once or twice a month. Interestingly, about half of Americans think fast food isn’t really …
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CONTINUE READINGThe House Takes Aim at EPA Regulation of Power Plant Pollution
Last week, the House passed HR 1582 on a 232-181 vote. The law is designed to restrict EPA regulation of power plants, but the House also adopted an amendment that takes a swipe at environmental economists. HR 1582 is mercifully brief and to the point. When EPA proposes a rule that would impose over $1 billion …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: Big Data and the Renewable Revolution
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. Earlier this year, UCLA’s Center for Sustainable Communities launched an interactive energy map for energy use in most of Los Angeles. It was a …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Blogger Ken Alex: Saving Electricity for a Rainy Day
Ken Alex is a Senior Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown and the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The views expressed in this blog post are his own. We are making progress in two more key areas, although California, for now, is not in the lead. Thanks to new developments and a …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Congressional Back Door Attack on California’s Environmental Programs
California’s Environmental Programs
Today’s Los Angeles Times reports on disturbing, broad-based efforts in Congress that threaten to eviscerate a host of California’s cutting-edge environmental initiatives, most prominently its “Green Chemistry” program. The saga begins with the California Legislature’s enactment of the state’s “Green Chemistry Initiative” (GCI) in 2008. The overarching principle behind GCI is to mandate the design of chemical products …
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