News

This page features excerpts from news about environmental justice advocacy in the San Joaquin Valley and links to their original sources. Use the features on the right to sort by topic, news source, date, key word or author. You may also subscribe to receive the news by e-mail or through an rss reader. Please note that links to original sources may expire over time.

Turning Idealism Into Action

Article by Jill W. Iscol. Published October 25, 2011 in The Daily Beast.

In the Oct. 24 issue of New York, Noreen Malone writes about coming of age in “post-hope America.” She draws a very bleak picture of what it means to be growing up in a recession that doesn’t look to be ending soon. According to Malone, her generation—20-somethings and the early-30-somethings—are “screwed, coddled, mocked” and depressed, seemingly more interested in the Internet than in social justice.

Idealism turned sour in one so young is tragic. We are living in tough times, and young people have a lot to be concerned about. But, Noreen, don’t give up. There is a hope; your generation is turning hope into action.

DAVID LINCOLN EXPOSES THE COVER-UP OF THE BIRTH DEFECTS AND DISEASE CAUSED BY PCB’S

Radio by Rayelan Allan. Published October 25, 2011 in Rayedio Lounge.

Alabama, the Hudson Valley, and Kettleman City, California, are just a few of the sites, worldwide, adversely affected by toxic PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) waste.

David Lincoln is a geologist, environmental consultant, and author of a book called “Deep Horizons Exposed” who jumped off the corporate ladder and changed careers after he saw how Enron was being operated for the benefit of a select few. He maintains a website called WereYouPoisoned.com.

California sets carbon trading rules, despite concerns

Article by Felicity Carus. Published October 24, 2011 in Environmental Finance.

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has adopted final regulations for the world’s second largest cap-and-trade system, despite unresolved concerns over allowance allocations, buyer liability for offsets and the size of the overall market.

Representatives from steel manufacturers and oil refineries – the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the state – said that benchmarking to determine the allocation of allowances was inadequate.

Stationary sources that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually and electric utilities will be allocated 90% of their allowances for free from 2013. But that level will decline at 2% a year, starting from the initial cap of 162.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent of emissions.

Children of Kettleman City, California

Video by Chuck Potter. Published October 24, 2011.

This is a short clip that touches on an environmental issue in the small farming community of Kettleman City, California. There have been multiple births in the area over the past two years.

The community is located less than two miles from the largest toxic waste facility in the western United States.

This clip is from a future documentary project about the environmental issues surrounding Kettleman City.

Cap and Trade: Sweating the Small Stuff

Blog post published October 22, 2011 in Felicity Barringer.

One thing built into a politician’s DNA is a sense of occasion. Regulators tend to lack that gene.

One of the most startling things about California’s groundbreaking adoption of a market-based policy to cut emissions of the heat-trapping gases was how unstartling the final meeting was. The California Air Resources Board’s all-day hearing Thursday was such a well-oiled exercise in democracy and administrative procedure that the momentousness of the occasion was almost lost in the footnotes.

At the end of the meeting, the board adopted a state-of-the-art system to cap greenhouse gas emissions and create a market by distributing marketable emission permits to polluters. Those with efficient pollution controls can generate an income stream by selling unneeded permits. As the cap ratchets down, the value of the permits should go up.

Recent Air Quality Trends

Blog post by Tom Frantz. Published October 22, 2011 in airqualityguy.

The chart below shows violations of the old, less health protective, 8-hour ozone standard over the past five years. Since the Arvin Bear Mt monitor was surgically removed from the monitoring system at the end of the 2010 ozone season by CARB and our Air Board, it is only logical to remove all the solo violations that monitor contributed to the total in the years 2007-2010 (about 43 in total).

Ugly Air in Bakersfield

Video by Tom Frantz. Published October 21, 2011 in YouTube.

October is generally a bad month for breathers in the Southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. But, the air quality can vary significantly every few miles. These scenes are from one of the worst areas in Bakersfield. The nearest air monitor is in a much cleaner part of town six miles away to the west.

Deal made over Altamont’s bad air

Article by Alex Breitler. Published October 21, 2011 in Stockton Record.

As anyone in Tracy knows, the wind blows east over the Altamont Pass.

So does the pollution.

On Thursday, San Joaquin Valley air regulators approved a deal with the developer of a landfill power plant just a few miles over the hill, near Livermore.

Ameresco Vasco Road LLC will voluntarily pay the Valley air district about $200,000 to help cancel out the pollution created by its $13 million plant.

This kind of bargain is becoming more common, as power plants or other industrial facilities sprout in eastern Alameda County close to the San Joaquin County line. Pollution from those facilities mostly wafts into the Valley, while the Bay Area gets the property tax benefits.

California becomes first state to adopt cap-and-trade program

Article by Julie Cart. Published October 21, 2011 in Los Angeles Times.

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday unanimously adopted the nation’s first state-administered cap-and-trade regulations, a landmark set of air pollution controls to address climate change and help the state achieve its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The complex market system for the first time puts a price on heat-trapping pollution by allowing California’s dirtiest industries to trade carbon credits. The rules have been years in the making, overcoming legal challenges and an aggressive oil industry-sponsored ballot initiative.

The air board met in Sacramento for more than eight hours in a packed hearing room. Board members listened to sometimes scathing comments from union workers fearful of losing their jobs and a parade of industry representatives who likewise characterized the regulations as anti-business. Other speakers called the proposal historic and groundbreaking.

Ag spray hits school bus near Caruthers

Article by Marc Benjamin. Published October 21, 2011 in Fresno Bee.

A school bus was apparently sprayed by an agricultural chemical this afternoon near Caruthers.

Fresno County sheriff’s deputies were en route to the area near Nebraska and West avenues, where the overspray was reported.

 About 2:15 p.m., one student from Caruthers Unified reported being sick on the bus after the vehicle was driven through a cloud of a chemical that had just been sprayed. The bus was being driven south on West Avenue near Nebraska Avenue at the time.

 

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →