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"content": "\u003cp>For the first time in human history, the monthly average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surpassed the threshold of 410 parts per million.[contextly_sidebar id=”5xXRiGwtizD12R67l83DACY0biOov0fr”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the finding of the \u003ca href=\"https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/category/measurement-notes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scripps CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> Program\u003c/a>, which tracks carbon dioxide measurements in the Earth’s atmosphere every 10 minutes. That data is then plotted onto the \u003ca href=\"https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Keeling Curve\u003c/a>, a graph that illustrates the rise in carbon dioxide levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘The curve symbolizes humanity’s waste dump. I’m hopeful in the next 10 years or so, it begins to bend over and it becomes the curve of hope, not danger. We haven’t reached that point yet.’\u003ccite>Ralph Keeling, geophysicist\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The information is based on continuous measurements taken at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/mlo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mauna Loa Observatory\u003c/a> in Hawaii. The latest threshold was registered in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest record shows that “humans are overwhelming nature” according to \u003ca href=\"http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/personnel_bios/ralph_keeling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ralph Keeling\u003c/a>, a geophysicist and the head of the Scripps CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to realize that we are headed towards pretty dangerous territory if we aren’t already in it,” says Keeling. “So something like 450-500 parts per billion places us in the danger zone. Things are changing already, so it’s become a question of how hard will it be to cope with all these changes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1923491 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-800x480.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-800x480.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-960x576.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-240x144.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-375x225.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-520x312.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, the rate has accelerated decade by decade, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going up at about 2.5 parts per million per year. At that rate we will hit 450 in just 15 years. We’re already in very unnatural territory with respect to carbon dioxide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unabated rise will have major consequences for people and organisms, says Keeling. Sea level rise, heat waves and rainfall patterns will all be impacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Species will go extinct and areas will be flooded. A lot will happen,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason for the rapid rise in CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> is almost entirely based on the burning of fossil fuels, according to Keeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Keeling graph that tracks the rise of CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> going back 10,000 years shows a sudden uptick around the 18th century, when global industrialization was underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1923470\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-800x480.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-800x480.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-960x576.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-240x144.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-375x225.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-520x312.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From 1700 to the present , you see the curve start to rise. Around that period, people relied on coal and the world was industrializing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeling says the fight to save the planet will rest mainly on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1915384/can-california-really-go-100-percent-renewable-energy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">growth of renewables.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The curve symbolizes humanity’s waste dump,” says Keeling. “I’m hopeful in the next 10 years or so, it begins to bend over and it becomes the curve of hope, not danger. We haven’t reached that point yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1923491 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-800x480.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-800x480.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-960x576.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-240x144.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-375x225.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1-520x312.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/mlo_full_record-1.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, the rate has accelerated decade by decade, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going up at about 2.5 parts per million per year. At that rate we will hit 450 in just 15 years. We’re already in very unnatural territory with respect to carbon dioxide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unabated rise will have major consequences for people and organisms, says Keeling. Sea level rise, heat waves and rainfall patterns will all be impacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Species will go extinct and areas will be flooded. A lot will happen,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason for the rapid rise in CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> is almost entirely based on the burning of fossil fuels, according to Keeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Keeling graph that tracks the rise of CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> going back 10,000 years shows a sudden uptick around the 18th century, when global industrialization was underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1923470\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-800x480.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-800x480.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-960x576.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-240x144.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-375x225.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k-520x312.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/co2_10k.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From 1700 to the present , you see the curve start to rise. Around that period, people relied on coal and the world was industrializing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeling says the fight to save the planet will rest mainly on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1915384/can-california-really-go-100-percent-renewable-energy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">growth of renewables.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The curve symbolizes humanity’s waste dump,” says Keeling. “I’m hopeful in the next 10 years or so, it begins to bend over and it becomes the curve of hope, not danger. We haven’t reached that point yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Pressure Mounts to Solve California’s Toxic Farmland Drainage Problem",
"headTitle": "Pressure Mounts to Solve California’s Toxic Farmland Drainage Problem | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Many Americans know the name Kesterson as the California site where thousands of birds and fish were discovered with gruesome deformities in 1983, a result of exposure to selenium-poisoned farm runoff. Thirty-five years later, it is one of the oldest unresolved water problems in the state.[contextly_sidebar id=”sn0yIbuz07uRax3wH5rwT3iPgZrqq3Wm”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Selenium, a naturally occurring element, is essential to people and animals alike in small doses. But selenium continues pouring off many San Joaquin Valley farms in \u003c/span>larger quantities, which can be toxic. The United States Bureau of Reclamation, which is legally obligated to solve the drainage problem as owner of the Central Valley Project irrigation system, has failed to find a fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“It’s not an easy problem to solve,” said Rachel Zwillinger, a water policy adviser at Defenders of Wildlife. “The scope of the problem is large and the consequences of not doing it well – as we learned at Kesterson – are profound.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The Bureau of Reclamation and Congress created the drainage problem in 1960 when they agreed to add Westlands Water District to the Central Valley Project, providing it with irrigation water diverted from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the north. Westlands’ soils were known to be salty and perched atop an impermeable clay layer, so the bureau also agreed to build a drainage system to ensure the land would remain fertile.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their solution, in 1971, was to build Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and fill its ponds with farm drainage. The selenium problem was not recognized at the time, but the project went ahead even though the California Department of Water Resources and biologists at the \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> Fish and Wildlife Service warned the runoff might be harmful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">In 1983, bird embryos at Kesterson were found with missing and deformed limbs, exposed brains and other horrors. Selenium that leached from the soil into farm runoff was to blame. The Bureau of Reclamation then began a decades-long search for another solution. None has been found so far.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923447\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-160x77.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-240x116.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-375x181.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-520x251.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crew pumps selenium-laden water out of the concrete-lined San Luis Drain into a field near Tranquility, California, in the 1980s as part of a previous cleanup project for selenium-contaminated farm runoff that poisoned birds at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge. \u003ccite>(The Fresno Bee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">As a result, Westlands Water District is pressing Congress to let it take charge of the drainage problem. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1769?q=%7B%22search%22:%5B%22hr1769%22%5D%7D&r=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">bill introduced\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Representative David Valadao (R-Hanford), would turn the drainage problem over to Westlands while also absolving the district of its $350 million debt for its share of construction costs for the Central Valley Project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">One solution Westlands proposes is to grow salt-tolerant grasses using the tainted irrigation water, thereby sequestering the selenium in plant tissues. But a 17-year-long experiment using that method has produced mixed results.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A half-dozen smaller water districts clustered just south of Westlands have been running the experiment, known as the San Joaquin River Water Quality Improvement Project. Selenium levels, measured in bird eggs collected at the 5,400-acre site, have varied considerably over the life of the project.[contextly_sidebar id=”0VimOuHUBQAUPc8QkxmHnqHZRR82VRyl”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Results from a 2016 monitoring report show that selenium concentrations in killdeer and redwing blackbird eggs are enough to cause deformities or prevent hatching.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Joe McGahan, drainage coordinator for the water agencies sponsoring the project, provided preliminary results from 2017. These show selenium levels declined significantly for both species, but remain at levels that may be harmful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“Generally, I think the verdict is that it has stabilized, for the most part, over time,” McGahan said. “Certainly we’re watching it, and we’re going to continue to monitor.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">McGahan said the partners have plans to expand the project, and are applying to the state for funds to help cover the cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger is skeptical.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“Selenium is bioaccumulating and showing up in bird eggs on the project site in concentrations that are really concerning,” she said. “This approach, which is touted as a new, better start, is still having really substantial consequences for birds.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"710\" height=\"855\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11.jpeg 710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-160x193.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-240x289.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-375x452.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-520x626.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An eared Grebe, photographed in 1984, was born without eyes and with badly deformed feet at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge as a result of selenium contamination. \u003ccite>(The Fresno Bee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The effort is being watched closely by officials at \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://gwdwater.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Grassland Water District\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. The district delivers water to dozens of state, federal and private wildlife refuge areas, some located downstream from the project area and the adjacent Westlands Water District. Collectively known as the Grasslands Ecological Area, the 240,000-acre complex is the largest contiguous body of wetlands in the western \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> The selenium drainage problem is an ongoing threat to millions of migratory waterfowl and other wildlife that rely on the wetlands.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Ric Ortega, general manager of Grassland Water District, said he wants to see much more rigorous testing and monitoring of the selenium treatment project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“They only pull a few samples a year,” he said. “It’s not comprehensive enough to really ascertain anything. So that’s a concern. We have a hypersaline perched water table out here that’s very tough to manage. I would hope it’s more expansive and more statistically robust moving forward.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger also wants more rigorous monitoring, both at the existing project site and any project undertaken by Westlands, if it successfully wrests control of the drainage problem away from the Bureau of Reclamation. There is no such requirement in Valadao’s proposed legislation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Westlands officials could not be reached for comment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The Bureau of Reclamation has its own incentive to unload the selenium cleanup burden this year. Under a previous legal settlement with Westlands, Reclamation committed to proceed with a drainage cleanup plan estimated to cost as much as $\u003cspan class=\"caps\">3.5\u003c/span>billion, including a mix of farmland retirement and water treatment systems akin to desalination.[contextly_sidebar id=”J9bUCoX4dL0BhmPjFA4bl5dPyt2632Xc”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">In a \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://drive.google.com/open?id=1egBR42iO3ifvnD0xYuJqEZCffxYaD2-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">November letter\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to the federal agency, California senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein urged the agency to update its decade-old environmental impact study on that cleanup proposal. They think the bureau can find a simpler, cheaper solution, and they specifically highlighted the option of growing salt-tolerant grasses – the same approach that shows mixed results in recent monitoring of bird eggs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger expects heavy pressure to pass the Valadao bill before the November election, when Republicans could lose their control of Congress. She is optimistic that language could be added requiring, at a minimum, rigorous monitoring and performance standards for any new selenium-control project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“I think all sides are unhappy with the status quo and motivated to find a solution,” Zwillinger said. “Of all the complex California water issues, it strikes me that [in this case] there could actually be an agreement in the near term that’s protective of both the environment and agricultural interests.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2018/05/02/pressure-mounts-to-solve-californias-toxic-farmland-drainage-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Three decades ago, selenium-tainted farm runoff in the San Joaquin Valley deformed wildlife in horrific ways. Amid political maneuvering in Congress to find a solution, the toxin is still showing up in bird eggs.",
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"description": "Three decades ago, selenium-tainted farm runoff in the San Joaquin Valley deformed wildlife in horrific ways. Amid political maneuvering in Congress to find a solution, the toxin is still showing up in bird eggs.",
"title": "Pressure Mounts to Solve California’s Toxic Farmland Drainage Problem | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Many Americans know the name Kesterson as the California site where thousands of birds and fish were discovered with gruesome deformities in 1983, a result of exposure to selenium-poisoned farm runoff. Thirty-five years later, it is one of the oldest unresolved water problems in the state.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Selenium, a naturally occurring element, is essential to people and animals alike in small doses. But selenium continues pouring off many San Joaquin Valley farms in \u003c/span>larger quantities, which can be toxic. The United States Bureau of Reclamation, which is legally obligated to solve the drainage problem as owner of the Central Valley Project irrigation system, has failed to find a fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“It’s not an easy problem to solve,” said Rachel Zwillinger, a water policy adviser at Defenders of Wildlife. “The scope of the problem is large and the consequences of not doing it well – as we learned at Kesterson – are profound.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The Bureau of Reclamation and Congress created the drainage problem in 1960 when they agreed to add Westlands Water District to the Central Valley Project, providing it with irrigation water diverted from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the north. Westlands’ soils were known to be salty and perched atop an impermeable clay layer, so the bureau also agreed to build a drainage system to ensure the land would remain fertile.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their solution, in 1971, was to build Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and fill its ponds with farm drainage. The selenium problem was not recognized at the time, but the project went ahead even though the California Department of Water Resources and biologists at the \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> Fish and Wildlife Service warned the runoff might be harmful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">In 1983, bird embryos at Kesterson were found with missing and deformed limbs, exposed brains and other horrors. Selenium that leached from the soil into farm runoff was to blame. The Bureau of Reclamation then began a decades-long search for another solution. None has been found so far.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923447\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-160x77.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-240x116.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-375x181.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/SanLuisDrainBee1-520x251.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crew pumps selenium-laden water out of the concrete-lined San Luis Drain into a field near Tranquility, California, in the 1980s as part of a previous cleanup project for selenium-contaminated farm runoff that poisoned birds at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge. \u003ccite>(The Fresno Bee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">As a result, Westlands Water District is pressing Congress to let it take charge of the drainage problem. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1769?q=%7B%22search%22:%5B%22hr1769%22%5D%7D&r=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">bill introduced\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Representative David Valadao (R-Hanford), would turn the drainage problem over to Westlands while also absolving the district of its $350 million debt for its share of construction costs for the Central Valley Project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">One solution Westlands proposes is to grow salt-tolerant grasses using the tainted irrigation water, thereby sequestering the selenium in plant tissues. But a 17-year-long experiment using that method has produced mixed results.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A half-dozen smaller water districts clustered just south of Westlands have been running the experiment, known as the San Joaquin River Water Quality Improvement Project. Selenium levels, measured in bird eggs collected at the 5,400-acre site, have varied considerably over the life of the project.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Results from a 2016 monitoring report show that selenium concentrations in killdeer and redwing blackbird eggs are enough to cause deformities or prevent hatching.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Joe McGahan, drainage coordinator for the water agencies sponsoring the project, provided preliminary results from 2017. These show selenium levels declined significantly for both species, but remain at levels that may be harmful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“Generally, I think the verdict is that it has stabilized, for the most part, over time,” McGahan said. “Certainly we’re watching it, and we’re going to continue to monitor.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">McGahan said the partners have plans to expand the project, and are applying to the state for funds to help cover the cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger is skeptical.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“Selenium is bioaccumulating and showing up in bird eggs on the project site in concentrations that are really concerning,” she said. “This approach, which is touted as a new, better start, is still having really substantial consequences for birds.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"710\" height=\"855\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11.jpeg 710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-160x193.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-240x289.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-375x452.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/Kesterson-deformed-grebe11-520x626.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An eared Grebe, photographed in 1984, was born without eyes and with badly deformed feet at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge as a result of selenium contamination. \u003ccite>(The Fresno Bee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The effort is being watched closely by officials at \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://gwdwater.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Grassland Water District\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. The district delivers water to dozens of state, federal and private wildlife refuge areas, some located downstream from the project area and the adjacent Westlands Water District. Collectively known as the Grasslands Ecological Area, the 240,000-acre complex is the largest contiguous body of wetlands in the western \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> The selenium drainage problem is an ongoing threat to millions of migratory waterfowl and other wildlife that rely on the wetlands.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Ric Ortega, general manager of Grassland Water District, said he wants to see much more rigorous testing and monitoring of the selenium treatment project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“They only pull a few samples a year,” he said. “It’s not comprehensive enough to really ascertain anything. So that’s a concern. We have a hypersaline perched water table out here that’s very tough to manage. I would hope it’s more expansive and more statistically robust moving forward.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger also wants more rigorous monitoring, both at the existing project site and any project undertaken by Westlands, if it successfully wrests control of the drainage problem away from the Bureau of Reclamation. There is no such requirement in Valadao’s proposed legislation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Westlands officials could not be reached for comment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The Bureau of Reclamation has its own incentive to unload the selenium cleanup burden this year. Under a previous legal settlement with Westlands, Reclamation committed to proceed with a drainage cleanup plan estimated to cost as much as $\u003cspan class=\"caps\">3.5\u003c/span>billion, including a mix of farmland retirement and water treatment systems akin to desalination.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">In a \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://drive.google.com/open?id=1egBR42iO3ifvnD0xYuJqEZCffxYaD2-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">November letter\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to the federal agency, California senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein urged the agency to update its decade-old environmental impact study on that cleanup proposal. They think the bureau can find a simpler, cheaper solution, and they specifically highlighted the option of growing salt-tolerant grasses – the same approach that shows mixed results in recent monitoring of bird eggs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Zwillinger expects heavy pressure to pass the Valadao bill before the November election, when Republicans could lose their control of Congress. She is optimistic that language could be added requiring, at a minimum, rigorous monitoring and performance standards for any new selenium-control project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">“I think all sides are unhappy with the status quo and motivated to find a solution,” Zwillinger said. “Of all the complex California water issues, it strikes me that [in this case] there could actually be an agreement in the near term that’s protective of both the environment and agricultural interests.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2018/05/02/pressure-mounts-to-solve-californias-toxic-farmland-drainage-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California's Big Energy Utilities Face Local Rebellion",
"headTitle": "California’s Big Energy Utilities Face Local Rebellion | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Disruption in the electricity market is afoot as more California neighborhoods move away from big companies to locally owned power providers. This model, known as Community Choice Aggregation, appeals to customers interested in cleaner, more affordable power, and the break up of utility monopolies.[contextly_sidebar id=”XAyuBuZ6v0uUS1C2BKO5IniYyxoQVnQ6″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A CCA trade group estimates that by 2020 more than half of California’s residents will be served by a CCA. Currently, \u003ca href=\"https://cal-cca.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">there are 13 active CCAs\u003c/a> in the state. More than 80 California cities are in the process of considering, or forming, a CCA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Local, green electricity-on-the-cheap faces its own battles, however. Skeptics worry CCAs do little to nothing to reduce overall green-house gas emissions. Some caution CCAs may be stifling investment in clean power infrastructure by taking customers away from traditional utilities.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A state law passed in 2002 allowed the formation of these locally-owned agencies. In the North Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mcecleanenergy.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marin Clean Energy \u003c/a>was the first CCA to purchase electricity on behalf of its residents.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\nSome traditional investor-owned utilities, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co., have put a positive spin on the movement, painting a rosy picture of a collaborative synergy with CCAs, rather than a threat to their business model.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We respect the energy choices that are available to customers and we will continue to cooperate with local governments as they develop these CCA programs,” says Paul Doherty, spokesperson at PG&E, which serves central and northern California.[contextly_sidebar id=”IKllBgL1cc4hgXuqKuyfXW7uLglVnZew”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under the setup, PG&E \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">provides billing, transmission, and distribution services for CCA customers. The only thing a CCA does is select its energy portfolio and then sell energy to customers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We view [PG&E]\u003cem>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>as a partner,” says Annie Henderson, the spokesperson at \u003ca href=\"https://ebce.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Community Energy\u003c/a>, which is rolling out services in June for Alameda County and eleven of its cities.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But California energy analysts say those talking points belie a more complicated, if not delicate, relationship. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>The Cost of Escape\u003c/b>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Utilities are not willing to let their customers go without a fight. \u003c/span>PG&E and other traditional utilities are engaged in a contentious dispute with CCAs over “exit fees.” These fees are the cost utilities want to recoup each month from CCA customers for power projects they invested on behalf of those customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1923409\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1200x797.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1920x1275.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1180x784.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-960x638.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wind Turbines line the hillsides outside Bakersfield, California. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The assumption was that those customers would stay in our service territory, and that we would need to serve them,” PG&E Senior Vice President Steven Malnight\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rtoinsider.com/community-choice-aggregator-cca-48422/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> told state senators last year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> during a hearing on the matter. “Today, we know that reality is significantly different.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In April, PG&E and two other energy companies \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20170425_pge_and_other_california_energy_companies_propose_reforms_to_support_the_states_clean_energy_goals_protect_customer_choice_and_ensure_customer_equality_\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">submitted a joint filing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the California Public Utilities Commission proposing a new mechanism for calculating the fee, known as the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment, that would serve to raise the cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CPUC is currently overseeing the issue in a series of hearings and is expected \u003ca href=\"http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M211/K795/211795024.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to submit\u003c/a> a ruling in July.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has already\u003ca href=\"http://www.sandiegoenergydistrict.org/fair-exit-fees.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> raised this fee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at least twice, including in 2015, when the fees jumped between 44 – 127\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/b>percent, depending on the locale. (In 2015 the fee for an average CCA customer \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2015/12/22/pge-nearly-doubles-fee-for-those-who-leave-for-clean-energy-programs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jumped to about $13 from $6.70\u003c/a>.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CCAs and other community advocates \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PCIA/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have strongly come out\u003c/a> against the proposal arguing that it threatens to make CCAs less affordable.[contextly_sidebar id=”JpRa9fEWPmAEEPOZLUPPjSOF8pxK0MVk”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, What is Fair?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>However, allowing CCA customers to walk away from investments made on their behalf risks disproportionately punishing remaining utility customers, says Severin Borenstein, energy policy expert at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“PG&E has argued, and I think there is something to this and so does the PUC, that this [exit] fee was set too low,” says Borenstein. When customers depart the CCA should pay for their share of contracts, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And CCAs have completely rejected that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923407\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923407 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego harbor glows under the night sky. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But community advocates say customers shouldn’t be on the hook for risky business choices made by shareholder-owned companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may be called public utilities but it’s a misnomer because they operate for profit and not for the benefit of the public,” says April Rose Maurath Sommer, whose nonprofit Protect Our Communities Foundation, provided testimony at a recent PUC hearing.[contextly_sidebar id=”iPTDjaiBleBB5dv7W9dvhA6QQHuWDN44″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says that shareholders should bare the burden of poor management decisions. Those decisions include over-procuring electricity which has led to a costly power glut in the state.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Too Much Power\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 2017\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-electricity-capacity/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> report by the Los Angeles Times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that state regulators continued approving the opening of new power plants even as electricity consumption in the state decreased. As a result, these power plants will produce at least 21 percent more electricity than California needs by 2020, according to the LA Times.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that hasn’t translated to lower costs for residents, who pay among the highest rates in the nation. While electricity consumption in California has decreased by 2.6 percent since 2008, the LA Times says that customers are still paying $6.8 billion more for power than they did then.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Customers are paying nearly double the amount of what the rest of the country pays in order to cover the costs of these power plants. And that’s likely to continue for the near future. Customers will contribute “many billions of dollars” because regulators approved higher rates to compensate utilities for reckless investments, according to the LA Times.[contextly_sidebar id=”CkKsUGfXgGt6jkypUYwJ4xgTfS9NYzY4″]\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PG&E in particular fought hard in 2010 to secure approval for the Colusa power plant, an investment that will cost its customers more than $700 million over the plant’s lifespan. The plant has operated “far below capacity” since launching, reports the LA Times.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same 2017 hearing in Sacramento, comments made by regulators suggest that the California Public Utilities Commission is not equipped to deal with these challenges.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We are being deregulated from the bottom up, and there is no real plan as to how it fits together,” CPUC president Michael Picker told lawmakers. “I am looking to you for direction.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A CPUC report issued on Thursday explored the recent developments in the energy market and attempts to outline the main challenges. The aim of the report is to “jumpstart a conversation” and to provide guidance for policymakers, according to the accompanying press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, we are deregulating electric markets through dozens of different decisions and legislative actions, but we do not have a plan,” a statement issued by CPUC President Michael Picker warns. “If California policy makers are not careful, we could drift slowly back into another predicament like the energy crisis of 2001.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs, however, take issue with the report’s characterizations of the changing energy landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Highly regulated locally controlled CCAs were designed to help correct the problems from the energy crisis and they are performing as intended – delivering reliable, affordable and clean energy to local customers, while exceeding the state’s GHG goals,” said Beth Vaughan, the executive director of CalCCA, a trade association that represents the interests of CCAs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Green Comparisons\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with affordability, many customers enrolling in community choice programs are expecting a different, greener type of energy than what the incumbent utilities have offered.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But experts say so far the actual numbers don’t reflect a significant difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1923410\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pacific Gas & Electric repair truck parked on a San Francisco street. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PG&E\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20180220_pge_clean_energy_deliveries_already_meet_future_goals\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> obtains nearly\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 80 percent of its electricity from carbon free resources while 33 percent comes from renewable sources. By comparison, homes covered by EBCE will be powered by 85 percent carbon-free power and at least 38 percent renewable energy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Commercial customers in Albany and Hayward will be powered by 100 percent carbon-free power at the same rate as PG&E.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think in general the difference isn’t all that huge,” says Borenstein. “PG&E is offering an extremely green portfolio.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Musical Chairs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, questions remain over where CCAs are procuring their energy from and whether their entry into the market will help reduce overall greenhouse emissions.[contextly_sidebar id=”EA3qE4w9ywR6M9xJMceykln1EFSta4r4″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If CCAs are simply obtaining electricity from the existing grid rather than generating new energy, then that purchase has not actually increased the total amount of green power. According to Borenstein, it’s simply “reshuffling” what’s already out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs have been under a lot of pressure to ensure that the electricity they provide is actually creating cleaner power, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Merely buying renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean that the purchase is increasing the total amount of renewable energy on the grid, or decreasing greenhouse gases,” says Borenstein.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs would need to invest in the requisite infrastructure allowing them to produce renewable energy. But critics say that CCAs don’t have the financial standing needed to invest in such projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, none of the CCAs have a credit rating and the first rule of business is ‘credit is fundamental to doing business,’” Jan Smutny-Jones, CEO of the Independent Energy Producers Association, told industry publication Utility Dive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Borenstein says that CCAs have increasingly become more sensitive to this. “At first they were doing things that customers would have found disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It remains unclear where EBCE will be purchasing its electricity from. According to their website, “The power portfolio is currently under development, but the intent is to purchase as much electricity as possible from sources located in California at prices that remain competitive with PG&E. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some however, the challenges CCAs may stumble on as they get off the ground are worth the trade-off if it means breaking a monopoly.[contextly_sidebar id=”FrYrE5SsTJYjYdBcAVi1K5ULnTKkffCH”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With community choice aggregation, now people can choose between locally controlled retail energy or Pacific Gas and Electric,” says James Sweeney, management science and engineering professor at Stanford University. “So the first step is about local control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the challenges CCAs may face as they get off the ground, Borenstein says that opening up California’s electricity market to retail competition is likely to benefit the average Californians in the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Disruption in the electricity market is afoot as more California neighborhoods move away from big companies to locally owned power providers. This model, known as Community Choice Aggregation, appeals to customers interested in cleaner, more affordable power, and the break up of utility monopolies.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A CCA trade group estimates that by 2020 more than half of California’s residents will be served by a CCA. Currently, \u003ca href=\"https://cal-cca.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">there are 13 active CCAs\u003c/a> in the state. More than 80 California cities are in the process of considering, or forming, a CCA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Local, green electricity-on-the-cheap faces its own battles, however. Skeptics worry CCAs do little to nothing to reduce overall green-house gas emissions. Some caution CCAs may be stifling investment in clean power infrastructure by taking customers away from traditional utilities.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A state law passed in 2002 allowed the formation of these locally-owned agencies. In the North Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mcecleanenergy.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marin Clean Energy \u003c/a>was the first CCA to purchase electricity on behalf of its residents.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\nSome traditional investor-owned utilities, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co., have put a positive spin on the movement, painting a rosy picture of a collaborative synergy with CCAs, rather than a threat to their business model.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We respect the energy choices that are available to customers and we will continue to cooperate with local governments as they develop these CCA programs,” says Paul Doherty, spokesperson at PG&E, which serves central and northern California.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under the setup, PG&E \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">provides billing, transmission, and distribution services for CCA customers. The only thing a CCA does is select its energy portfolio and then sell energy to customers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We view [PG&E]\u003cem>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>as a partner,” says Annie Henderson, the spokesperson at \u003ca href=\"https://ebce.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Community Energy\u003c/a>, which is rolling out services in June for Alameda County and eleven of its cities.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But California energy analysts say those talking points belie a more complicated, if not delicate, relationship. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>The Cost of Escape\u003c/b>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Utilities are not willing to let their customers go without a fight. \u003c/span>PG&E and other traditional utilities are engaged in a contentious dispute with CCAs over “exit fees.” These fees are the cost utilities want to recoup each month from CCA customers for power projects they invested on behalf of those customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1923409\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1200x797.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1920x1275.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-1180x784.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-960x638.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-518012227-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wind Turbines line the hillsides outside Bakersfield, California. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The assumption was that those customers would stay in our service territory, and that we would need to serve them,” PG&E Senior Vice President Steven Malnight\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rtoinsider.com/community-choice-aggregator-cca-48422/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> told state senators last year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> during a hearing on the matter. “Today, we know that reality is significantly different.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In April, PG&E and two other energy companies \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20170425_pge_and_other_california_energy_companies_propose_reforms_to_support_the_states_clean_energy_goals_protect_customer_choice_and_ensure_customer_equality_\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">submitted a joint filing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the California Public Utilities Commission proposing a new mechanism for calculating the fee, known as the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment, that would serve to raise the cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CPUC is currently overseeing the issue in a series of hearings and is expected \u003ca href=\"http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M211/K795/211795024.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to submit\u003c/a> a ruling in July.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has already\u003ca href=\"http://www.sandiegoenergydistrict.org/fair-exit-fees.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> raised this fee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at least twice, including in 2015, when the fees jumped between 44 – 127\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/b>percent, depending on the locale. (In 2015 the fee for an average CCA customer \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2015/12/22/pge-nearly-doubles-fee-for-those-who-leave-for-clean-energy-programs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jumped to about $13 from $6.70\u003c/a>.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CCAs and other community advocates \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PCIA/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have strongly come out\u003c/a> against the proposal arguing that it threatens to make CCAs less affordable.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, What is Fair?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>However, allowing CCA customers to walk away from investments made on their behalf risks disproportionately punishing remaining utility customers, says Severin Borenstein, energy policy expert at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“PG&E has argued, and I think there is something to this and so does the PUC, that this [exit] fee was set too low,” says Borenstein. When customers depart the CCA should pay for their share of contracts, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And CCAs have completely rejected that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923407\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923407 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-692318646-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego harbor glows under the night sky. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But community advocates say customers shouldn’t be on the hook for risky business choices made by shareholder-owned companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may be called public utilities but it’s a misnomer because they operate for profit and not for the benefit of the public,” says April Rose Maurath Sommer, whose nonprofit Protect Our Communities Foundation, provided testimony at a recent PUC hearing.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says that shareholders should bare the burden of poor management decisions. Those decisions include over-procuring electricity which has led to a costly power glut in the state.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Too Much Power\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 2017\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-electricity-capacity/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> report by the Los Angeles Times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that state regulators continued approving the opening of new power plants even as electricity consumption in the state decreased. As a result, these power plants will produce at least 21 percent more electricity than California needs by 2020, according to the LA Times.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that hasn’t translated to lower costs for residents, who pay among the highest rates in the nation. While electricity consumption in California has decreased by 2.6 percent since 2008, the LA Times says that customers are still paying $6.8 billion more for power than they did then.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Customers are paying nearly double the amount of what the rest of the country pays in order to cover the costs of these power plants. And that’s likely to continue for the near future. Customers will contribute “many billions of dollars” because regulators approved higher rates to compensate utilities for reckless investments, according to the LA Times.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PG&E in particular fought hard in 2010 to secure approval for the Colusa power plant, an investment that will cost its customers more than $700 million over the plant’s lifespan. The plant has operated “far below capacity” since launching, reports the LA Times.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same 2017 hearing in Sacramento, comments made by regulators suggest that the California Public Utilities Commission is not equipped to deal with these challenges.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We are being deregulated from the bottom up, and there is no real plan as to how it fits together,” CPUC president Michael Picker told lawmakers. “I am looking to you for direction.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A CPUC report issued on Thursday explored the recent developments in the energy market and attempts to outline the main challenges. The aim of the report is to “jumpstart a conversation” and to provide guidance for policymakers, according to the accompanying press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, we are deregulating electric markets through dozens of different decisions and legislative actions, but we do not have a plan,” a statement issued by CPUC President Michael Picker warns. “If California policy makers are not careful, we could drift slowly back into another predicament like the energy crisis of 2001.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs, however, take issue with the report’s characterizations of the changing energy landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Highly regulated locally controlled CCAs were designed to help correct the problems from the energy crisis and they are performing as intended – delivering reliable, affordable and clean energy to local customers, while exceeding the state’s GHG goals,” said Beth Vaughan, the executive director of CalCCA, a trade association that represents the interests of CCAs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Green Comparisons\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with affordability, many customers enrolling in community choice programs are expecting a different, greener type of energy than what the incumbent utilities have offered.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But experts say so far the actual numbers don’t reflect a significant difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1923410\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/05/iStock-944869306-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pacific Gas & Electric repair truck parked on a San Francisco street. \u003ccite>(iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PG&E\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20180220_pge_clean_energy_deliveries_already_meet_future_goals\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> obtains nearly\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 80 percent of its electricity from carbon free resources while 33 percent comes from renewable sources. By comparison, homes covered by EBCE will be powered by 85 percent carbon-free power and at least 38 percent renewable energy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Commercial customers in Albany and Hayward will be powered by 100 percent carbon-free power at the same rate as PG&E.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think in general the difference isn’t all that huge,” says Borenstein. “PG&E is offering an extremely green portfolio.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Musical Chairs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, questions remain over where CCAs are procuring their energy from and whether their entry into the market will help reduce overall greenhouse emissions.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If CCAs are simply obtaining electricity from the existing grid rather than generating new energy, then that purchase has not actually increased the total amount of green power. According to Borenstein, it’s simply “reshuffling” what’s already out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs have been under a lot of pressure to ensure that the electricity they provide is actually creating cleaner power, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Merely buying renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean that the purchase is increasing the total amount of renewable energy on the grid, or decreasing greenhouse gases,” says Borenstein.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCAs would need to invest in the requisite infrastructure allowing them to produce renewable energy. But critics say that CCAs don’t have the financial standing needed to invest in such projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, none of the CCAs have a credit rating and the first rule of business is ‘credit is fundamental to doing business,’” Jan Smutny-Jones, CEO of the Independent Energy Producers Association, told industry publication Utility Dive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Borenstein says that CCAs have increasingly become more sensitive to this. “At first they were doing things that customers would have found disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It remains unclear where EBCE will be purchasing its electricity from. According to their website, “The power portfolio is currently under development, but the intent is to purchase as much electricity as possible from sources located in California at prices that remain competitive with PG&E. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some however, the challenges CCAs may stumble on as they get off the ground are worth the trade-off if it means breaking a monopoly.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With community choice aggregation, now people can choose between locally controlled retail energy or Pacific Gas and Electric,” says James Sweeney, management science and engineering professor at Stanford University. “So the first step is about local control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the challenges CCAs may face as they get off the ground, Borenstein says that opening up California’s electricity market to retail competition is likely to benefit the average Californians in the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Science Behind the Brown-Trump Feud: What's Really at Stake in the Emissions Debate?",
"headTitle": "The Science Behind the Brown-Trump Feud: What’s Really at Stake in the Emissions Debate? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The punch-counterpunch \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/becerra-v-trump-california-using-courts-fight-administration/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sparring\u003c/a> between the Trump administration and the state of California over rollbacks of federal environmental regulations is often described as a war of words, with neither the president nor Gov. Jerry Brown giving an inch.[contextly_sidebar id=”Fx6pAtHUYGpzaeeW5Vq0p7i6HRbpL4QG”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the disputes are largely symbolic—foot-stamping gestures from Washington designed to resonate with the president’s core supporters rather than to hold up in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the latest skirmish is serious. The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to unravel \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/epa-poised-roll-back-fuel-efficiency-standards-undermining-californias-climate-goals/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fuel-efficiency standards \u003c/a>for cars and light trucks not only threatens California’s autonomy in setting its own emissions limits but also could derail the state’s ability to reach its future greenhouse-gas-reduction goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a politically motivated effort to weaken clean-vehicle standards with no documentation, evidence or law to back up that decision,” Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board, said in a statement. “This is not a technical assessment; it is a move to demolish the nation’s clean-car program. EPA’s action, if implemented, will worsen people’s health with degraded air quality and undermine regulatory certainty for automakers.”[contextly_sidebar id=”qxgeRQHWeDX75lIpvcEYY5nHN3QiZceO”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gauntlet was thrown down by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a darling of the Trump administration for his zeal in dismantling Obama-era environmental regulations. Even though Pruitt is the target of multiple investigations for alleged ethical transgressions and has found his job security in question, the effect of his current decisions can resonate far beyond his or his boss’ terms in office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been some troubling developments,” said Deborah Sivas, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School. “But I think a lot of this is ultimately not going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Putting the brakes on fuel efficiency\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Sivas said an attack on the fuel-efficiency standard is one of the critical fights for California, which must drastically reduce emissions from the state’s enormous \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/californias-climate-fight-gets-harder-soon-big-culprit-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transportation\u003c/a> sector to stay on track in cutting carbon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are miles-per-gallon standards set near the end of the Obama administration. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/final-rule-model-year-2017-and-later-light-duty-vehicle#rule-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">require\u003c/a> an average 45.4 miles per gallon by 2022 and more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Standards differ by vehicle type and are stricter for cars than for SUVs and light trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chester France, the former EPA senior executive who directed the office that crafted the regulations, termed the fuel-standard rule solid. France, who retired in 2012, said the benchmarks were the product of rigorous technical research and vetting with federal agencies, the California air board and car manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rule was reviewed again during the last days of the Obama administration and determined to be reasonable.[contextly_sidebar id=”K0jcbCHMRn9RaZtNvYXML6rLcO1c5rxK”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mid-term review was thorough and found that advances in auto-industry technology meant that meeting the standards was easier and cheaper than EPA had predicted,” France said. “It concluded that the standards were attainable, and, if anything, they could have gone further.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt called the current regulations inappropriate, saying they “set the standards too high.” He said his agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would revisit them, but he has not yet announced any proposed changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some insiders say a draft document has been submitted that calls for scrapping the next adjustment, scheduled to take effect after 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In explaining its rationale, the EPA has dusted off a decades-old analysis that suggests lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are not substantial enough to withstand crashes and thus pose a danger to drivers. Federal and \u003ca href=\"https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/levprog/leviii/carb_version_lotus_project_peer_review.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state crash tests\u003c/a> disprove that, but Sivas said she anticipates similar arguments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is pushing back hard. Brown, during a recent visit to Washington, told reporters that the rollback is “not going to happen, and the attempts to do this are going to be bogged down in litigation long after we have a new president.”[contextly_sidebar id=”c6g563xKfnne7I2DAWs4mt6xfhDJCyoq”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, California filed its 32\u003csup>nd\u003c/sup> lawsuit against the Trump administration, asserting that in preparing to change the emission standards, the EPA is violating the Clean Air Act and failing to follow its own regulations. In announcing the suit, which 17 other states have joined, Brown conjured images of floods and wildfires ravaging the state as greenhouse gases warm the planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is real stuff,” he said. “I intend to fight this as hard as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to rolling back mileage requirements, Pruitt has signaled that he may revoke California’s legal authority to establish its own emissions standards, independent of federal benchmarks. A dozen other states have adopted California’s standards; together, that coalition represents more than a third of the national auto market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is not the arbiter of these issues,” Pruitt said in television interview in March. While the state may set its own limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, he said, it “shouldn’t and can’t dictate to the rest of the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s right to request a waiver from federal clean-air laws is well established and, legal experts say, the burden would be high for the administration to convince a court that there is a compelling reason to change the longstanding policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt told lawmakers in Washington last week that his agency was engaged in talks with California officials regarding proposed changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California air board spokesman Stanley Young said the state has had three meetings with the EPA since December, adding: “Nothing substantive was discussed, so I wouldn’t characterize them as negotiations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the board had not seen a final proposal, and no future meetings were scheduled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, Nichols tweeted to Pruitt: “Call me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Opening the coast to drilling\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Perhaps the most consequential of the administration’s many moves to expand domestic energy production is the Interior Department’s five-year plan to offer lease sales in federal waters off the outer continental shelf, including parcels where drilling has been banned for decades. That includes the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/trump-administration-unveils-plan-open-california-coast-drilling/\">plan\u003c/a>, announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, envisions drilling in the Arctic, off the Hawaiian coast and in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as expanding existing exploration into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The leasing is scheduled to begin in 2019 off the north coast of Alaska, then move to the lower 48 states, the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zinke said the leasing plans would expand the country’s energy independence. “This is the beginning of an opening up,” he said, promising that the months-long public comment period before enactment would include all stakeholders. “The states will have a voice.”[contextly_sidebar id=”ickvNB3qFdiXRKbYilhBxw5nXV6n34dj”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whose voice will be heeded may be another matter. Florida’s governor has already negotiated directly with President Donald Trump to exempt his state from leasing. Even though Brown had a \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-gov-jerry-brown-asks-trump-1515793472-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conversation \u003c/a>with administration officials relaying California’s wish to be included in a similar exemption, no announcement has been made that would prevent drilling in federal waters off the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this is one issue where the state may get its way, thanks to current market forces and a stubborn regulatory blockade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil and gas industries have shown little interest in exploring off the California coast, and the State Lands Commission has \u003ca href=\"http://ltg.ca.gov/news.2017.6.22_OCSResolution.html\">resolved\u003c/a> to make it much more difficult and expensive for companies to get crude oil to land and into pipelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s policy to prevent construction of onshore infrastructure does nothing to stop drilling but could limit the volume of oil shipped at a time when the low price per barrel is already discouraging new exploration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given those financial and logistical headaches, companies may take a pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A state like California is going to put its full force and resources on the line,” said Timothy O’Connor, a California-based attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. “There’s still an element of local and state control, and we are going to defend our values to their very core. That’s certainly one of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rolling back air rules\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>California has notched two victories over the Trump administration’s effort to undo a methane regulation instituted during Obama’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Waste Prevention Rule was to have gone into effect in January 2017, regulating emissions of natural gas leaking from more than 100,000 oil and gas wells on public lands across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Interior Department delayed enactment of the rule and was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/california-wins-court-says-trump-administration-must-enforce-methane-rules/\">sued \u003c/a>by California and New Mexico. The states prevailed. The agency then suspended part of the new rule and the two states sued again, winning in court once more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victory has significant impact in California, home to vast, aging oil fields and energy infrastructure. Methane’s potent heat-trapping capacity makes it many times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The state Air Resources Board recently limited methane coming from both new and existing oil and gas sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another win came in a suit the state joined after the EPA postponed \u003cstrong>implementation\u003c/strong> of yet another Obama-era rule aimed at combating smog. The “Ozone Rule” reduced allowable concentrations of ozone, a main component of smog.[contextly_sidebar id=”Za1gZ5W754Kb9JRcX40Dt0xkvZ6ZWl6T”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt ordered the EPA to extend the deadline to comply with the new standards by at least a year. Two days after California and 15 other states filed suit, Pruitt reversed his decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also won a suit calling for federal transportation officials to monitor greenhouse-gas emissions along national highways, but the government is considering repealing the regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another pending case, California and other states are suing the EPA to identify areas of the country with the most polluted air. In April, Trump weighed in, directing the EPA to relax restrictions on state governments and businesses that have been key to cutting smog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-administrator-environmental-protection-agency/\">a memo\u003c/a>, the president instructed Pruitt to expedite review of state smog-reduction plans and streamline the process for businesses to get air-quality-related permits. In addition, Trump ordered a review of other air-quality regulations related to public health to determine whether they “should be revised or rescinded.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said the directive was aimed at trimming costs and maximizing efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dropping protection for water\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>In an effort to more precisely define which bodies of water are covered under federal law, the Obama administration adopted a rule in 2015 that effectively expanded the number of protected waterways, including springs and floodplains that appear for only part of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was to safeguard both water quality and water quantity, and to put an end to the time-consuming practice of determining status on a case-by-case basis. The U.S. Supreme Court had already weighed in, but the high court’s definitions of the “waters of the United States” failed to provide adequate clarification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Obama definition-stretching rules were strenuously opposed by developers, who said they swept up much of the undeveloped land in California, including wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after Trump came into office, the EPA launched a review of the rule, and then got rid of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/california-sues-trump-administration-water-protection/\">sued \u003c/a>the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which signs off on development permits in protected wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legal case is still pending, but Sivas said the Trump administration is doing an end-run by requiring the Army Corps to run all permit requests through Washington, rather than making those determinations in regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By centralizing the decision making, Sivas said, political appointees can circumvent scientific and legal analysis performed by field offices and determine the outcome based on other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My guess is they are going to say [to developers] ‘You don’t need a permit,’ ” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Amid the heated sparring between Sacramento and the Washington D.C., the science is getting lost. Here’s what’s important for land, sea and air in California’s fight with Trump.",
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"description": "Amid the heated sparring between Sacramento and the Washington D.C., the science is getting lost. Here’s what’s important for land, sea and air in California’s fight with Trump.",
"title": "The Science Behind the Brown-Trump Feud: What's Really at Stake in the Emissions Debate? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The punch-counterpunch \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/becerra-v-trump-california-using-courts-fight-administration/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sparring\u003c/a> between the Trump administration and the state of California over rollbacks of federal environmental regulations is often described as a war of words, with neither the president nor Gov. Jerry Brown giving an inch.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the disputes are largely symbolic—foot-stamping gestures from Washington designed to resonate with the president’s core supporters rather than to hold up in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the latest skirmish is serious. The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to unravel \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/epa-poised-roll-back-fuel-efficiency-standards-undermining-californias-climate-goals/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fuel-efficiency standards \u003c/a>for cars and light trucks not only threatens California’s autonomy in setting its own emissions limits but also could derail the state’s ability to reach its future greenhouse-gas-reduction goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a politically motivated effort to weaken clean-vehicle standards with no documentation, evidence or law to back up that decision,” Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board, said in a statement. “This is not a technical assessment; it is a move to demolish the nation’s clean-car program. EPA’s action, if implemented, will worsen people’s health with degraded air quality and undermine regulatory certainty for automakers.”\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gauntlet was thrown down by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a darling of the Trump administration for his zeal in dismantling Obama-era environmental regulations. Even though Pruitt is the target of multiple investigations for alleged ethical transgressions and has found his job security in question, the effect of his current decisions can resonate far beyond his or his boss’ terms in office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been some troubling developments,” said Deborah Sivas, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School. “But I think a lot of this is ultimately not going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Putting the brakes on fuel efficiency\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Sivas said an attack on the fuel-efficiency standard is one of the critical fights for California, which must drastically reduce emissions from the state’s enormous \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/californias-climate-fight-gets-harder-soon-big-culprit-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transportation\u003c/a> sector to stay on track in cutting carbon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are miles-per-gallon standards set near the end of the Obama administration. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/final-rule-model-year-2017-and-later-light-duty-vehicle#rule-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">require\u003c/a> an average 45.4 miles per gallon by 2022 and more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Standards differ by vehicle type and are stricter for cars than for SUVs and light trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chester France, the former EPA senior executive who directed the office that crafted the regulations, termed the fuel-standard rule solid. France, who retired in 2012, said the benchmarks were the product of rigorous technical research and vetting with federal agencies, the California air board and car manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rule was reviewed again during the last days of the Obama administration and determined to be reasonable.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mid-term review was thorough and found that advances in auto-industry technology meant that meeting the standards was easier and cheaper than EPA had predicted,” France said. “It concluded that the standards were attainable, and, if anything, they could have gone further.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt called the current regulations inappropriate, saying they “set the standards too high.” He said his agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would revisit them, but he has not yet announced any proposed changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some insiders say a draft document has been submitted that calls for scrapping the next adjustment, scheduled to take effect after 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In explaining its rationale, the EPA has dusted off a decades-old analysis that suggests lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are not substantial enough to withstand crashes and thus pose a danger to drivers. Federal and \u003ca href=\"https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/levprog/leviii/carb_version_lotus_project_peer_review.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state crash tests\u003c/a> disprove that, but Sivas said she anticipates similar arguments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is pushing back hard. Brown, during a recent visit to Washington, told reporters that the rollback is “not going to happen, and the attempts to do this are going to be bogged down in litigation long after we have a new president.”\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, California filed its 32\u003csup>nd\u003c/sup> lawsuit against the Trump administration, asserting that in preparing to change the emission standards, the EPA is violating the Clean Air Act and failing to follow its own regulations. In announcing the suit, which 17 other states have joined, Brown conjured images of floods and wildfires ravaging the state as greenhouse gases warm the planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is real stuff,” he said. “I intend to fight this as hard as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to rolling back mileage requirements, Pruitt has signaled that he may revoke California’s legal authority to establish its own emissions standards, independent of federal benchmarks. A dozen other states have adopted California’s standards; together, that coalition represents more than a third of the national auto market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is not the arbiter of these issues,” Pruitt said in television interview in March. While the state may set its own limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, he said, it “shouldn’t and can’t dictate to the rest of the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s right to request a waiver from federal clean-air laws is well established and, legal experts say, the burden would be high for the administration to convince a court that there is a compelling reason to change the longstanding policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt told lawmakers in Washington last week that his agency was engaged in talks with California officials regarding proposed changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California air board spokesman Stanley Young said the state has had three meetings with the EPA since December, adding: “Nothing substantive was discussed, so I wouldn’t characterize them as negotiations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the board had not seen a final proposal, and no future meetings were scheduled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, Nichols tweeted to Pruitt: “Call me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Opening the coast to drilling\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Perhaps the most consequential of the administration’s many moves to expand domestic energy production is the Interior Department’s five-year plan to offer lease sales in federal waters off the outer continental shelf, including parcels where drilling has been banned for decades. That includes the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/trump-administration-unveils-plan-open-california-coast-drilling/\">plan\u003c/a>, announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, envisions drilling in the Arctic, off the Hawaiian coast and in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as expanding existing exploration into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The leasing is scheduled to begin in 2019 off the north coast of Alaska, then move to the lower 48 states, the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zinke said the leasing plans would expand the country’s energy independence. “This is the beginning of an opening up,” he said, promising that the months-long public comment period before enactment would include all stakeholders. “The states will have a voice.”\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whose voice will be heeded may be another matter. Florida’s governor has already negotiated directly with President Donald Trump to exempt his state from leasing. Even though Brown had a \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-gov-jerry-brown-asks-trump-1515793472-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conversation \u003c/a>with administration officials relaying California’s wish to be included in a similar exemption, no announcement has been made that would prevent drilling in federal waters off the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this is one issue where the state may get its way, thanks to current market forces and a stubborn regulatory blockade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil and gas industries have shown little interest in exploring off the California coast, and the State Lands Commission has \u003ca href=\"http://ltg.ca.gov/news.2017.6.22_OCSResolution.html\">resolved\u003c/a> to make it much more difficult and expensive for companies to get crude oil to land and into pipelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s policy to prevent construction of onshore infrastructure does nothing to stop drilling but could limit the volume of oil shipped at a time when the low price per barrel is already discouraging new exploration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given those financial and logistical headaches, companies may take a pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A state like California is going to put its full force and resources on the line,” said Timothy O’Connor, a California-based attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. “There’s still an element of local and state control, and we are going to defend our values to their very core. That’s certainly one of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rolling back air rules\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>California has notched two victories over the Trump administration’s effort to undo a methane regulation instituted during Obama’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Waste Prevention Rule was to have gone into effect in January 2017, regulating emissions of natural gas leaking from more than 100,000 oil and gas wells on public lands across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Interior Department delayed enactment of the rule and was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/california-wins-court-says-trump-administration-must-enforce-methane-rules/\">sued \u003c/a>by California and New Mexico. The states prevailed. The agency then suspended part of the new rule and the two states sued again, winning in court once more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victory has significant impact in California, home to vast, aging oil fields and energy infrastructure. Methane’s potent heat-trapping capacity makes it many times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The state Air Resources Board recently limited methane coming from both new and existing oil and gas sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another win came in a suit the state joined after the EPA postponed \u003cstrong>implementation\u003c/strong> of yet another Obama-era rule aimed at combating smog. The “Ozone Rule” reduced allowable concentrations of ozone, a main component of smog.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt ordered the EPA to extend the deadline to comply with the new standards by at least a year. Two days after California and 15 other states filed suit, Pruitt reversed his decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also won a suit calling for federal transportation officials to monitor greenhouse-gas emissions along national highways, but the government is considering repealing the regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another pending case, California and other states are suing the EPA to identify areas of the country with the most polluted air. In April, Trump weighed in, directing the EPA to relax restrictions on state governments and businesses that have been key to cutting smog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-administrator-environmental-protection-agency/\">a memo\u003c/a>, the president instructed Pruitt to expedite review of state smog-reduction plans and streamline the process for businesses to get air-quality-related permits. In addition, Trump ordered a review of other air-quality regulations related to public health to determine whether they “should be revised or rescinded.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said the directive was aimed at trimming costs and maximizing efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dropping protection for water\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>In an effort to more precisely define which bodies of water are covered under federal law, the Obama administration adopted a rule in 2015 that effectively expanded the number of protected waterways, including springs and floodplains that appear for only part of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was to safeguard both water quality and water quantity, and to put an end to the time-consuming practice of determining status on a case-by-case basis. The U.S. Supreme Court had already weighed in, but the high court’s definitions of the “waters of the United States” failed to provide adequate clarification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Obama definition-stretching rules were strenuously opposed by developers, who said they swept up much of the undeveloped land in California, including wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after Trump came into office, the EPA launched a review of the rule, and then got rid of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/california-sues-trump-administration-water-protection/\">sued \u003c/a>the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which signs off on development permits in protected wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legal case is still pending, but Sivas said the Trump administration is doing an end-run by requiring the Army Corps to run all permit requests through Washington, rather than making those determinations in regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By centralizing the decision making, Sivas said, political appointees can circumvent scientific and legal analysis performed by field offices and determine the outcome based on other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My guess is they are going to say [to developers] ‘You don’t need a permit,’ ” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"headTitle": "To Manage California’s Groundwater, Think Surface Water | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California’s 2014 legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was significant in that it was the state’s first major groundwater regulation. But Michael Kiparsky the founding director of the Wheeler Water Institute at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, says that it was also significant in another way.[contextly_sidebar id=”p6n5eoIk8uEc0rukiUfqPezrbQBLTJvQ”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It breaks with what had been decades of a legal fiction that groundwater and surface water were not part of a single hydrologic system,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While rivers, lakes and other surface waters are often thought of – and regulated – separately from the groundwater below, the two are connected. Depleted or polluted groundwater makes for depleted or polluted rivers, and vice versa. SGMA acknowledges this by placing some responsibility for surface water conditions in the hands of local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies which need to adopt a plan by 2020 that will keep their local aquifers sustainable and prevent “significant and unreasonable” impacts on both the groundwater and surface water in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This, says Kiparsky, is a very exciting change, but one that is poorly understood. Many Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are not yet thinking about their own responsibility towards surface water, and not addressing these groundwater-surface water interactions could have significant consequences for how they manage their basin. To help bring these issues to the surface, Kiparsky and his colleagues produced a report on several important questions about how surface water-groundwater interactions affect groundwater management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water Deeply spoke with Kiparsky about his report, and about the importance and complexity of groundwater and surface water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: When it comes to understanding how Groundwater Sustainability Agencies should be managing groundwater-surface water interactions, what are the biggest questions?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Kiparsky: The first key question for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to answer is, how does groundwater management in their basin affect surface water and its beneficial uses? That implies that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to understand something about the hydrology of the basin and about those beneficial uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This leads to another really crucial [point], which is that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to make a decision about what “significant and unreasonable” intersections between groundwater and surface water systems will be, and what a “significant and unreasonable” impact on the beneficial uses of the surface water would be. This is where the SGMA statute builds in some legal uncertainty – what does “significant and unreasonable” actually mean in the context of groundwater management in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, there is a two-part answer. The first is is that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to explicitly or implicitly, through the shape of their groundwater sustainability plans, determine what “significant and unreasonable” impacts actually are in their basin, and how they will take action to avoid those impacts.[contextly_sidebar id=”JhhMM9thk2VBolGqyMJwi6CXqBeKV9qR”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second part of that question may come through the courts. If, and when, the groundwater sustainability plans in some basins face legal challenges, then it will be up to the courts to determine whether the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies’ plans are sufficient, ultimately, and to help define that notion of “significant and unreasonable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: Do you foresee a time when the questions that you bring up in this report will be answered definitively?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: Definitive answers to everything about [groundwater sustainability] in the state of California seems to me a lot to ask. I would love to see that clarity, but I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to make their decisions around how to manage groundwater, and how that groundwater interacts with surface water in spite of the significant uncertainty that currently exists in the legal system and in the scientific understanding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By making decisions in the face of uncertainty, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are going to overcome a range of hurdles. Those hurdles could include challenges to plans that they put forth – either legally or politically – or they could include determinations by state agencies to either influence or control a basin’s groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hope is that our work and the work of others can highlight this particular issue and spur more of the kind of integrative thinking that is required to develop solutions to this and a range of other SGMA issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: One of the things that your report goes into is this overlap of responsibilities for regulating surface water and groundwater. Can you talk a bit about that?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: The overarching message here is that collaboration is going to be very important for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies that are facing groundwater-surface water issues. There are multiple entities who have some sort of responsibility for these groundwater-surface water systems, or different parts of them, and there are multiple overlapping areas of law and regulation that have – at least in concept – some interplay between them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, as we argue in our report, in order to manage the risk of failing to consider the multiple different interests that will come to play around groundwater-surface water interactions, it will be important for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to talk with the other various parties, including the other state and federal agencies that have explicit interests in the groundwater-surface water interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, there is also another important reason for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to consider this collaboration, which is that these other entities already may have some expertise in the area. Groundwater Sustainability Agencies don’t need to necessarily reinvent the wheel here. There is potential for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to expand their capacity by working with others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: What would be the implication of not thoroughly and thoughtfully addressing these points?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: One of the implications is that a plan could develop that does not put a groundwater sustainability agency on the path to achieving sustainability by the time the law requires it to. Were that to happen, then the state, namely the State Water Resources Control Board, would have the responsibility and the authority to step in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Were that to happen, then the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies would lose its opportunity to craft creative solutions. A Groundwater Sustainability Agency has the advantage of local knowledge, and to think in novel and nuanced ways. The State Water Board simply does not, and probably will not. Therefore, if the State Water Board were to come in and rely on curtailments of groundwater extraction in a blanket way, then that removes some of what is really promising about SGMA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2018/05/01/to-manage-californias-groundwater-think-more-about-surface-water\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s 2014 legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was significant in that it was the state’s first major groundwater regulation. But Michael Kiparsky the founding director of the Wheeler Water Institute at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, says that it was also significant in another way.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It breaks with what had been decades of a legal fiction that groundwater and surface water were not part of a single hydrologic system,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While rivers, lakes and other surface waters are often thought of – and regulated – separately from the groundwater below, the two are connected. Depleted or polluted groundwater makes for depleted or polluted rivers, and vice versa. SGMA acknowledges this by placing some responsibility for surface water conditions in the hands of local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies which need to adopt a plan by 2020 that will keep their local aquifers sustainable and prevent “significant and unreasonable” impacts on both the groundwater and surface water in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This, says Kiparsky, is a very exciting change, but one that is poorly understood. Many Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are not yet thinking about their own responsibility towards surface water, and not addressing these groundwater-surface water interactions could have significant consequences for how they manage their basin. To help bring these issues to the surface, Kiparsky and his colleagues produced a report on several important questions about how surface water-groundwater interactions affect groundwater management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water Deeply spoke with Kiparsky about his report, and about the importance and complexity of groundwater and surface water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: When it comes to understanding how Groundwater Sustainability Agencies should be managing groundwater-surface water interactions, what are the biggest questions?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Kiparsky: The first key question for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to answer is, how does groundwater management in their basin affect surface water and its beneficial uses? That implies that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to understand something about the hydrology of the basin and about those beneficial uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This leads to another really crucial [point], which is that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to make a decision about what “significant and unreasonable” intersections between groundwater and surface water systems will be, and what a “significant and unreasonable” impact on the beneficial uses of the surface water would be. This is where the SGMA statute builds in some legal uncertainty – what does “significant and unreasonable” actually mean in the context of groundwater management in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, there is a two-part answer. The first is is that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to explicitly or implicitly, through the shape of their groundwater sustainability plans, determine what “significant and unreasonable” impacts actually are in their basin, and how they will take action to avoid those impacts.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second part of that question may come through the courts. If, and when, the groundwater sustainability plans in some basins face legal challenges, then it will be up to the courts to determine whether the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies’ plans are sufficient, ultimately, and to help define that notion of “significant and unreasonable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: Do you foresee a time when the questions that you bring up in this report will be answered definitively?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: Definitive answers to everything about [groundwater sustainability] in the state of California seems to me a lot to ask. I would love to see that clarity, but I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Groundwater Sustainability Agencies need to make their decisions around how to manage groundwater, and how that groundwater interacts with surface water in spite of the significant uncertainty that currently exists in the legal system and in the scientific understanding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By making decisions in the face of uncertainty, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are going to overcome a range of hurdles. Those hurdles could include challenges to plans that they put forth – either legally or politically – or they could include determinations by state agencies to either influence or control a basin’s groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hope is that our work and the work of others can highlight this particular issue and spur more of the kind of integrative thinking that is required to develop solutions to this and a range of other SGMA issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: One of the things that your report goes into is this overlap of responsibilities for regulating surface water and groundwater. Can you talk a bit about that?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: The overarching message here is that collaboration is going to be very important for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies that are facing groundwater-surface water issues. There are multiple entities who have some sort of responsibility for these groundwater-surface water systems, or different parts of them, and there are multiple overlapping areas of law and regulation that have – at least in concept – some interplay between them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, as we argue in our report, in order to manage the risk of failing to consider the multiple different interests that will come to play around groundwater-surface water interactions, it will be important for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to talk with the other various parties, including the other state and federal agencies that have explicit interests in the groundwater-surface water interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, there is also another important reason for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to consider this collaboration, which is that these other entities already may have some expertise in the area. Groundwater Sustainability Agencies don’t need to necessarily reinvent the wheel here. There is potential for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to expand their capacity by working with others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: What would be the implication of not thoroughly and thoughtfully addressing these points?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nKiparsky: One of the implications is that a plan could develop that does not put a groundwater sustainability agency on the path to achieving sustainability by the time the law requires it to. Were that to happen, then the state, namely the State Water Resources Control Board, would have the responsibility and the authority to step in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Were that to happen, then the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies would lose its opportunity to craft creative solutions. A Groundwater Sustainability Agency has the advantage of local knowledge, and to think in novel and nuanced ways. The State Water Board simply does not, and probably will not. Therefore, if the State Water Board were to come in and rely on curtailments of groundwater extraction in a blanket way, then that removes some of what is really promising about SGMA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2018/05/01/to-manage-californias-groundwater-think-more-about-surface-water\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Straw Wars! Bay Area Push to Ban Plastic Straws Picks Up Steam",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oakland is now the latest Bay Area city to consider a proposal to bar food vendors from serving plastic straws unless requested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Abel Guillen, who introduced the proposal in March, says the legislation is part of broader effort in the city to reduce environmental waste. In 2006, Oakland adopted a policy called the \u003ca href=\"http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/o/FE/s/IDR/o/ZW/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zero Waste Strategic Plan,\u003c/a> which aims to dramatically reduce the city’s waste disposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To make further progress on our waste-reduction goals and shift our culture away from single-use products, my ordinance will focus on ‘by request only’ use and better enforcement of existing legislation,” said Guillen in a \u003ca href=\"http://www.abelforoakland.com/abel_s_enews_reducing_waste_and_dumping_standing_up_for_immigrants_updates_on_housing_park_blvd_and_ballpark\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley is considering similar legislation that would go one step further by banning single-use plastic straws altogether. Meanwhile straw-upon-request ordinances are already in place in Alameda, Davis, Manhattan Beach and Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Big Culprits’\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Local environmental advocates say that anti-plastic straw ordinances would eliminate a key source of pollution in San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Plastic straws and stirrers are big culprits in trashing San Francisco Bay and our oceans,” David Lewis, the executive director of Save the Bay, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Plastic-straws-stir-up-environmental-debate-in-11192651.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>In a statement issued\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101864939/the-last-straw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> to KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> radio program, the Plastics Industry Association says that straws are not the problem:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Straws have come under fire in some circles. But the issue with straws isn’t that they exist, it’s that they aren’t always being disposed of properly. No matter what straw is made of, it should not end up as litter. The real challenge is making it easier for everyone to better dispose of straws and single use products by enhancing our recycling technologies.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocate Nicole Kozlowski told Forum that the industry has been pointing the finger at consumers for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have surpassed the tipping point of how much plastic can be in the system and we can’t recycle our way out of this issue,” said Kozlowski, who is the co-leader of \u003ca href=\"https://www.surfrider.org/programs/rise-above-plastics\">Rise Above Plastics\u003c/a>, an initiative of the Surfrider Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Straws are one of the top 10 items routinely found on beaches around the world, according to the nonprofit group \u003ca href=\"https://oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/International-Coastal-Cleanup_2017-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ocean Conservancy. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because plastic litter is not biodegradable, it ends up breaking into small parts that release toxins into the oceans, threatening the habitat of 500 wildlife species,\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Plastic-straws-stir-up-environmental-debate-in-11192651.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> including 23 endange\u003c/a>red species in San Francisco Bay, the Chronicle reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seabirds for example can ingest as much as 8 percent of their body weight in plastic, which for humans “is equivalent to the average woman having the weight of two babies in her stomach,” said Denise Hardesty, senior research scientist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Georgia environmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck calculated that nearly 9 million tons end up in the world’s oceans and coastlines each year, as of 2010, according to her 2015 study in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768\">Science\u003c/a> .\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For every pound of tuna we’re taking out of the ocean, we’re putting two pounds of plastic in the ocean,” said ocean scientist Sherry Lippiatt, California regional coordinator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris \u003ca href=\"https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/\">program.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Bay Area cities are looking into reinterpreting current laws on the books to go after plastic rather than crafting new legislation from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Cruz, for instance\u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/home/showdocument?id=64417\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">, expanded a 2007 ordinance\u003c/a> on food packaging to include straws, among other items. That went into effect in November of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Difficult to Recycle\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Because plastic is potentially recyclable, straws have traditionally been left out of the scope of these ordinances even though many waste-disposal sites don’t accept single-use plastic due to the high costs associated with processing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Straws are especially difficult to recycle because their small size makes them difficult to sort, and they can clog up machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland, Emeryville and Albany have existing ordinances on waste reduction with similar wording to Santa Cruz, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-last-straws-several-east-bay-governments-aim-to-ban-the-plastic-foodware/Content?oid=7855804\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Express.\u003c/a> On the other hand, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4859\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richmond\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/Ch-5_A-11_PolystyreneFoamBan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hayward’s\u003c/a> ordinances explicitly exclude straws from their definition of “disposable foodware” and are therefore exempt from the ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area legislation targeting single-use plastic straws is part of a growing effort in the state to curtail their use. An Assembly bill introduced in January would enact a straw-upon-request policy at restaurants statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Associated Press contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oakland is now the latest Bay Area city to consider a proposal to bar food vendors from serving plastic straws unless requested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Abel Guillen, who introduced the proposal in March, says the legislation is part of broader effort in the city to reduce environmental waste. In 2006, Oakland adopted a policy called the \u003ca href=\"http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/o/FE/s/IDR/o/ZW/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zero Waste Strategic Plan,\u003c/a> which aims to dramatically reduce the city’s waste disposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To make further progress on our waste-reduction goals and shift our culture away from single-use products, my ordinance will focus on ‘by request only’ use and better enforcement of existing legislation,” said Guillen in a \u003ca href=\"http://www.abelforoakland.com/abel_s_enews_reducing_waste_and_dumping_standing_up_for_immigrants_updates_on_housing_park_blvd_and_ballpark\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley is considering similar legislation that would go one step further by banning single-use plastic straws altogether. Meanwhile straw-upon-request ordinances are already in place in Alameda, Davis, Manhattan Beach and Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Big Culprits’\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Local environmental advocates say that anti-plastic straw ordinances would eliminate a key source of pollution in San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Plastic straws and stirrers are big culprits in trashing San Francisco Bay and our oceans,” David Lewis, the executive director of Save the Bay, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Plastic-straws-stir-up-environmental-debate-in-11192651.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>In a statement issued\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101864939/the-last-straw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> to KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> radio program, the Plastics Industry Association says that straws are not the problem:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Straws have come under fire in some circles. But the issue with straws isn’t that they exist, it’s that they aren’t always being disposed of properly. No matter what straw is made of, it should not end up as litter. The real challenge is making it easier for everyone to better dispose of straws and single use products by enhancing our recycling technologies.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocate Nicole Kozlowski told Forum that the industry has been pointing the finger at consumers for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have surpassed the tipping point of how much plastic can be in the system and we can’t recycle our way out of this issue,” said Kozlowski, who is the co-leader of \u003ca href=\"https://www.surfrider.org/programs/rise-above-plastics\">Rise Above Plastics\u003c/a>, an initiative of the Surfrider Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Straws are one of the top 10 items routinely found on beaches around the world, according to the nonprofit group \u003ca href=\"https://oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/International-Coastal-Cleanup_2017-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ocean Conservancy. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because plastic litter is not biodegradable, it ends up breaking into small parts that release toxins into the oceans, threatening the habitat of 500 wildlife species,\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Plastic-straws-stir-up-environmental-debate-in-11192651.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> including 23 endange\u003c/a>red species in San Francisco Bay, the Chronicle reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seabirds for example can ingest as much as 8 percent of their body weight in plastic, which for humans “is equivalent to the average woman having the weight of two babies in her stomach,” said Denise Hardesty, senior research scientist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Georgia environmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck calculated that nearly 9 million tons end up in the world’s oceans and coastlines each year, as of 2010, according to her 2015 study in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768\">Science\u003c/a> .\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For every pound of tuna we’re taking out of the ocean, we’re putting two pounds of plastic in the ocean,” said ocean scientist Sherry Lippiatt, California regional coordinator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris \u003ca href=\"https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/\">program.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Bay Area cities are looking into reinterpreting current laws on the books to go after plastic rather than crafting new legislation from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Cruz, for instance\u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/home/showdocument?id=64417\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">, expanded a 2007 ordinance\u003c/a> on food packaging to include straws, among other items. That went into effect in November of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Difficult to Recycle\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Because plastic is potentially recyclable, straws have traditionally been left out of the scope of these ordinances even though many waste-disposal sites don’t accept single-use plastic due to the high costs associated with processing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Straws are especially difficult to recycle because their small size makes them difficult to sort, and they can clog up machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland, Emeryville and Albany have existing ordinances on waste reduction with similar wording to Santa Cruz, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-last-straws-several-east-bay-governments-aim-to-ban-the-plastic-foodware/Content?oid=7855804\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Express.\u003c/a> On the other hand, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4859\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richmond\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/Ch-5_A-11_PolystyreneFoamBan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hayward’s\u003c/a> ordinances explicitly exclude straws from their definition of “disposable foodware” and are therefore exempt from the ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area legislation targeting single-use plastic straws is part of a growing effort in the state to curtail their use. An Assembly bill introduced in January would enact a straw-upon-request policy at restaurants statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Associated Press contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Sues Over Plan to Scrap Car Emission Standards",
"headTitle": "California Sues Over Plan to Scrap Car Emission Standards | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California and 16 other states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its plans to scrap gas mileage standards and how much greenhouse gases vehicles can emit, Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday.[contextly_sidebar id=”6w2qZi8Le3xkRQPh3FjIHs1Acvm5Y9qE”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a science-based attack that we make on these characters in Washington,” said Brown during a news conference on Tuesday. “That in the name of making America great, are making us weak and making the world more dangerous and unsafe, because climate change is not a joke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit takes aim at a plan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1921958/trump-administration-rejects-fuel-efficiency-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">by the Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a> to eliminate standards for vehicles manufactured between 2022 and 2025. The standards would have required vehicles to get 36 miles per gallon by 2025, about 10 miles over the existing standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt says the standards are not appropriate and need revision. They were set in 2012 when California and the Obama administration agreed to single nationwide fuel economy standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials say the standards are achievable and the EPA’s effort to roll them back is not based on any new research. They argue the plan violates the Clean Air Act and didn’t follow the agency’s own regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Tuesday’s news conference, Brown blasted Pruitt as an “outlaw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about health, it’s about life and death, and this character in Washington with his expensive travel tastes and his funny little redecorating plans that cost the American people all sorts of money, is riding roughshod over the laws of this country and the health of our people,” said Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has a unique waiver that allows it to set its own tailpipe emissions standards for vehicles, which it has used to combat smog and more recently global warming. Twelve other states have adopted the California standards as their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Automakers have argued that the current requirements would have cost the industry billions of dollars and raised vehicle prices due to the cost of developing the necessary technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But environmental advocates say the move is crucial to protecting the current standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Scott Pruitt is recklessly disregarding the vast technical and economic bases for America’s Clean Car Standards,” says Vickie Patton, an attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, “and instead launching an all-out attack that risks Americans’ health and their pocketbooks. We fully support the states’ legal challenge to Pruitt’s unsupported and unacceptable action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Joining California are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California and 16 other states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its plans to scrap gas mileage standards and how much greenhouse gases vehicles can emit, Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a science-based attack that we make on these characters in Washington,” said Brown during a news conference on Tuesday. “That in the name of making America great, are making us weak and making the world more dangerous and unsafe, because climate change is not a joke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit takes aim at a plan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1921958/trump-administration-rejects-fuel-efficiency-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">by the Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a> to eliminate standards for vehicles manufactured between 2022 and 2025. The standards would have required vehicles to get 36 miles per gallon by 2025, about 10 miles over the existing standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pruitt says the standards are not appropriate and need revision. They were set in 2012 when California and the Obama administration agreed to single nationwide fuel economy standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials say the standards are achievable and the EPA’s effort to roll them back is not based on any new research. They argue the plan violates the Clean Air Act and didn’t follow the agency’s own regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Tuesday’s news conference, Brown blasted Pruitt as an “outlaw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about health, it’s about life and death, and this character in Washington with his expensive travel tastes and his funny little redecorating plans that cost the American people all sorts of money, is riding roughshod over the laws of this country and the health of our people,” said Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has a unique waiver that allows it to set its own tailpipe emissions standards for vehicles, which it has used to combat smog and more recently global warming. Twelve other states have adopted the California standards as their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Automakers have argued that the current requirements would have cost the industry billions of dollars and raised vehicle prices due to the cost of developing the necessary technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But environmental advocates say the move is crucial to protecting the current standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Scott Pruitt is recklessly disregarding the vast technical and economic bases for America’s Clean Car Standards,” says Vickie Patton, an attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, “and instead launching an all-out attack that risks Americans’ health and their pocketbooks. We fully support the states’ legal challenge to Pruitt’s unsupported and unacceptable action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Joining California are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "America’s Air Isn’t Getting Cleaner As Fast As It Used To",
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"content": "\u003cp>For decades America’s air was getting cleaner as levels of a key smog ingredient steadily dropped. That changed about seven years ago when pollution reductions leveled off, a new study found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means when tighter federal air quality standards go into effect later this year, many more cities may find themselves on the dirty air list.[contextly_sidebar id=”RYNxv0mlJTIEv2M4O3l36lQfhaVqkVb7″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are several reasons for the flattening of nitrogen oxide levels including hard-to-reduce industrial and truck pollution, said study co-author Helen Worden, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study, in Monday’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proceedings\u003c/a> of the National Academy of Sciences, used satellite and ground measurements to track nitrogen oxides, a major ingredient in smog. Levels fell 7 percent from 2005 to 2009, but only dropped 1.7 percent from 2011 to 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t say anymore it’s going down,” Worden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results also show the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s computer models overestimate how clean the air really is, said University of North Carolina’s Jason West, who wasn’t part of the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smog is created when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cook\u003c/a> in sunlight. Those chemicals come from cars, trucks, power and industrial plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the EPA proposed new air quality standards limiting smog levels to 70 parts per billion, down from the current 75 parts per billion. Those rules are slated to go into effect this fall, but that has been delayed once already. More than 170 counties in the United States are already \u003ca href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/ancl.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exceeding\u003c/a> the older clean air standard for smog, according to the EPA.[contextly_sidebar id=”KX3HNwmQITSI0TC0d02jF0hCXZT9OIQ1″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worden and colleagues tried to figure out what was happening, ruling out the flow of the smog ingredient from China since levels in that country went down since it tightened its air quality rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the 2008 recession may have played a role in the slowdown, Worden said there were other bigger factors at play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest and easiest pollution reductions have already been achieved, leaving smaller, more difficult cuts, Worden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Maryland air scientist Ross Salawitch said exposure to elevated ozone can lead to coughing and difficulty breathing, and make respiratory diseases such as asthma worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Worden, who lived in Los Angeles in the early 2000s when it was smoggier than it is now, she would bicycle to work and check ozone levels daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If smog levels were high, “it would really make my lungs burn,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A new study finds that America’s nitrogen oxides levels, a key ingredient in smog, aren’t falling as fast as they used to and may be leveling off. That means that when tighter new air quality standards go into effect later this fall, more cities may find themselves on the dirty air list.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For decades America’s air was getting cleaner as levels of a key smog ingredient steadily dropped. That changed about seven years ago when pollution reductions leveled off, a new study found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means when tighter federal air quality standards go into effect later this year, many more cities may find themselves on the dirty air list.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are several reasons for the flattening of nitrogen oxide levels including hard-to-reduce industrial and truck pollution, said study co-author Helen Worden, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study, in Monday’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proceedings\u003c/a> of the National Academy of Sciences, used satellite and ground measurements to track nitrogen oxides, a major ingredient in smog. Levels fell 7 percent from 2005 to 2009, but only dropped 1.7 percent from 2011 to 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t say anymore it’s going down,” Worden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results also show the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s computer models overestimate how clean the air really is, said University of North Carolina’s Jason West, who wasn’t part of the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smog is created when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cook\u003c/a> in sunlight. Those chemicals come from cars, trucks, power and industrial plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the EPA proposed new air quality standards limiting smog levels to 70 parts per billion, down from the current 75 parts per billion. Those rules are slated to go into effect this fall, but that has been delayed once already. More than 170 counties in the United States are already \u003ca href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/ancl.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exceeding\u003c/a> the older clean air standard for smog, according to the EPA.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worden and colleagues tried to figure out what was happening, ruling out the flow of the smog ingredient from China since levels in that country went down since it tightened its air quality rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the 2008 recession may have played a role in the slowdown, Worden said there were other bigger factors at play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest and easiest pollution reductions have already been achieved, leaving smaller, more difficult cuts, Worden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Maryland air scientist Ross Salawitch said exposure to elevated ozone can lead to coughing and difficulty breathing, and make respiratory diseases such as asthma worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Worden, who lived in Los Angeles in the early 2000s when it was smoggier than it is now, she would bicycle to work and check ozone levels daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If smog levels were high, “it would really make my lungs burn,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Get Outside This Weekend and Go Flower Hunting, as Rare Blooms Abound",
"headTitle": "Get Outside This Weekend and Go Flower Hunting, as Rare Blooms Abound | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A rare sight now greets visitors at \u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=481\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sugarloaf Ridge State Park\u003c/a>, near Santa Rosa: a flower that hasn’t bloomed there for 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently I joined a friend and naturalist at Sugarloaf on a hike to seek out the flower, known as whispering bells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve got these kind of creamy white small flowers, little bunches of them,” said Tony Passantino, pointing to a mountainside that burned during the devastating North Bay fires last fall. “This is all wall-to-wall whispering bell, and they’re just starting to flower. This is what everyone’s been waiting for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flower has not been seen at this location, he said, since the last time Sugarloaf burned, in 1964.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason they get this name,” Passantino said, “is because later in the season they dry out a little bit. They have [these] kind of papery thin petals, and when the wind blows through, it gets its name, of kind of a whispering sound through the wind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We shake the flowers. The rustling is soft, but the flowers are too fresh to make a sound like chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scientific name of ‘whispering bells’ is \u003cem>Emmenanthe penduliflora\u003c/em> \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>City Nature Challenge\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We snap a few pictures. Tony promises me he will enter one in the “\u003ca href=\"http://citynaturechallenge.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">City Nature Challenge\u003c/a>,” a contest in which dozens of cities will compete “to make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people. The competition starts tomorrow and ends Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, the California Academy of Sciences is asking people to get outside this weekend. They’re hoping citizen scientists will share pictures of the wildlife they see as part of a global competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/staff/ibss/citizen-science/alison-young\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alison Young\u003c/a> of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Academy of Sciences\u003c/a> is helping to coordinate the challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are creating an open database of biodiversity species occurrence records that are available for scientists and managers to use to make our cities better places for humans and other species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalAcademy has helped build an app called \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>, which uses image recognition technology to help identify plants and animals in photos. Images can be shared with a large community of scientists and resource managers who are interested in knowing when and where flora and fauna can be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says wildlands that burned in the Sonoma and Napa fires may be especially interesting as they are now hosting some species of plants that have never been seen in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are going to be things blooming there that haven’t bloomed since the last fires went through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923211 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yellow ‘fairy lanterns’ bloom at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. This year they are especially abundant following the recent wildfire. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Flowers Follow Fires\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though fire is a natural part of Northern California’s ecosystem, it’s historically unusual. Natural records suggest fire occurred once every 50 to 100 years in the Bay Area (though local Native Americans burned areas more frequently to make them more productive).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plants that follow fires can be incredibly rare — only seen once every few decades in particular areas. These plants require the heat, smoke, influx of nutrients or clearing of vegetation after a fire to germinate and spring forth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/article/what-flowers-tell-north-bay-fires/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Writing in Bay Nature magazine\u003c/a>, botanist Lech Naumovich said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“The disturbance created by fire on land is critical to conserving much of our rare flora, and yet our protected habitats are not longer subject to the landscape-scale disturbance that might clear the way for those early succession species to thrive.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For rare plant seekers, get out and see the flowers while you can.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A rare sight now greets visitors at \u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=481\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sugarloaf Ridge State Park\u003c/a>, near Santa Rosa: a flower that hasn’t bloomed there for 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently I joined a friend and naturalist at Sugarloaf on a hike to seek out the flower, known as whispering bells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve got these kind of creamy white small flowers, little bunches of them,” said Tony Passantino, pointing to a mountainside that burned during the devastating North Bay fires last fall. “This is all wall-to-wall whispering bell, and they’re just starting to flower. This is what everyone’s been waiting for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flower has not been seen at this location, he said, since the last time Sugarloaf burned, in 1964.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason they get this name,” Passantino said, “is because later in the season they dry out a little bit. They have [these] kind of papery thin petals, and when the wind blows through, it gets its name, of kind of a whispering sound through the wind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We shake the flowers. The rustling is soft, but the flowers are too fresh to make a sound like chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0897-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scientific name of ‘whispering bells’ is \u003cem>Emmenanthe penduliflora\u003c/em> \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>City Nature Challenge\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We snap a few pictures. Tony promises me he will enter one in the “\u003ca href=\"http://citynaturechallenge.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">City Nature Challenge\u003c/a>,” a contest in which dozens of cities will compete “to make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people. The competition starts tomorrow and ends Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, the California Academy of Sciences is asking people to get outside this weekend. They’re hoping citizen scientists will share pictures of the wildlife they see as part of a global competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/staff/ibss/citizen-science/alison-young\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alison Young\u003c/a> of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Academy of Sciences\u003c/a> is helping to coordinate the challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are creating an open database of biodiversity species occurrence records that are available for scientists and managers to use to make our cities better places for humans and other species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalAcademy has helped build an app called \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>, which uses image recognition technology to help identify plants and animals in photos. Images can be shared with a large community of scientists and resource managers who are interested in knowing when and where flora and fauna can be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says wildlands that burned in the Sonoma and Napa fires may be especially interesting as they are now hosting some species of plants that have never been seen in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are going to be things blooming there that haven’t bloomed since the last fires went through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1923211 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/IMG_0894-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yellow ‘fairy lanterns’ bloom at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. This year they are especially abundant following the recent wildfire. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Flowers Follow Fires\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though fire is a natural part of Northern California’s ecosystem, it’s historically unusual. Natural records suggest fire occurred once every 50 to 100 years in the Bay Area (though local Native Americans burned areas more frequently to make them more productive).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plants that follow fires can be incredibly rare — only seen once every few decades in particular areas. These plants require the heat, smoke, influx of nutrients or clearing of vegetation after a fire to germinate and spring forth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/article/what-flowers-tell-north-bay-fires/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Writing in Bay Nature magazine\u003c/a>, botanist Lech Naumovich said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“The disturbance created by fire on land is critical to conserving much of our rare flora, and yet our protected habitats are not longer subject to the landscape-scale disturbance that might clear the way for those early succession species to thrive.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For rare plant seekers, get out and see the flowers while you can.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Tetra Tech Scandal: Was Radioactive Material Shipped to Pittsburg Landfill?",
"headTitle": "Tetra Tech Scandal: Was Radioactive Material Shipped to Pittsburg Landfill? | KQED",
"content": "\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"http://stateofdrought.tumblr.com/\">For More KQED Reporting on Hunters Point\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11661676/sf-supervisor-calls-for-hearing-into-hunters-point-shipyard-cleanup\">S.F. Supervisor Calls for Hearing Into Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101864720/hunters-point-shipyard-cleanup-called-into-question\">Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Called into Question\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>A Contra Costa County supervisor is asking for an investigation into \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Toxic-soil-went-from-SF-s-Hunters-Point-to-12854269.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">allegations\u003c/a> that radioactive material was possibly sent to the Keller Canyon Landfill in Pittsburg, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to understand what is in the landfill as well as what the risks are. It’s important that we find out for the safety of our communities,” Supervisor Federal Glover told KQED. He has requested Contra Costa County staff prepare a report in time for the next Board of Supervisors meeting on May 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest development in a months-long scandal that began with reports that Tetra Tech, a contractor hired by the U.S. Navy to clean up the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point, may have botched the job so that the area may still be polluted. The shipyard was formerly home to a Cold War-era nuclear warfare testing laboratory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency have reported soil sample data collected by the company was flawed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, for the first time, Tetra Tech defended itself, saying it stands by its work and is willing to pay for an independent contractor chosen by the Navy to independently test the site to prove it met Navy standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we did was proper and followed all Navy and regulatory guidelines,” said William Brownlie, the company’s chief engineer, at a brief press conference. “We believe that any concerns created by false claims can be addressed by resampling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brownlie said accusations of fraud are false; he said whistleblowers claiming the company mishandled the cleanup may be financially motivated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The press conference marked the first time the company spoke publicly about the accusations that have plagued it for months. In a letter dated April 25, addressed to the Navy’s director of base closures, Tetra Tech Chairman and CEO Dan Batrack said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Until now, Tetra Tech and its subsidiary Tetra Tech EC have respected the Navy’s protocol and have not commented on media or public inquiries but instead have referred them to the Navy for response. However, in light of the barrage of recent negative and misleading media reports, Tetra Tech is compelled to defend itself and it’s work at Hunters Point.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Bradley Angel, executive director of the San Francisco environmental justice group Greenaction, agreed the site should be retested but questioned whether it could ever be cleaned up enough for people to live there.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover is asking for an investigation into the possibility that radioactive material was sent to the Keller Landfill in Pittsburg, California.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"http://stateofdrought.tumblr.com/\">For More KQED Reporting on Hunters Point\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11661676/sf-supervisor-calls-for-hearing-into-hunters-point-shipyard-cleanup\">S.F. Supervisor Calls for Hearing Into Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101864720/hunters-point-shipyard-cleanup-called-into-question\">Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Called into Question\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>A Contra Costa County supervisor is asking for an investigation into \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Toxic-soil-went-from-SF-s-Hunters-Point-to-12854269.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">allegations\u003c/a> that radioactive material was possibly sent to the Keller Canyon Landfill in Pittsburg, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to understand what is in the landfill as well as what the risks are. It’s important that we find out for the safety of our communities,” Supervisor Federal Glover told KQED. He has requested Contra Costa County staff prepare a report in time for the next Board of Supervisors meeting on May 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest development in a months-long scandal that began with reports that Tetra Tech, a contractor hired by the U.S. Navy to clean up the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point, may have botched the job so that the area may still be polluted. The shipyard was formerly home to a Cold War-era nuclear warfare testing laboratory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency have reported soil sample data collected by the company was flawed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, for the first time, Tetra Tech defended itself, saying it stands by its work and is willing to pay for an independent contractor chosen by the Navy to independently test the site to prove it met Navy standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we did was proper and followed all Navy and regulatory guidelines,” said William Brownlie, the company’s chief engineer, at a brief press conference. “We believe that any concerns created by false claims can be addressed by resampling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brownlie said accusations of fraud are false; he said whistleblowers claiming the company mishandled the cleanup may be financially motivated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The press conference marked the first time the company spoke publicly about the accusations that have plagued it for months. In a letter dated April 25, addressed to the Navy’s director of base closures, Tetra Tech Chairman and CEO Dan Batrack said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Until now, Tetra Tech and its subsidiary Tetra Tech EC have respected the Navy’s protocol and have not commented on media or public inquiries but instead have referred them to the Navy for response. However, in light of the barrage of recent negative and misleading media reports, Tetra Tech is compelled to defend itself and it’s work at Hunters Point.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Bradley Angel, executive director of the San Francisco environmental justice group Greenaction, agreed the site should be retested but questioned whether it could ever be cleaned up enough for people to live there.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Delta a Flash Point for Conflict as Climate Change Unfolds",
"headTitle": "California Delta a Flash Point for Conflict as Climate Change Unfolds | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is vital to water supplies for 25 million people and 4 million acres of farmland. It is linked to the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco Bay, which makes this water supply uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Yet understanding sea level rise in the Delta is complicated. The largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, it consists of some 70 islands and more than 1,000 miles of levees. It is also fed by California’s two largest rivers, which drain the Sierra Nevada range.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">All of this complicates how sea level rise “propagates” through the Delta. It also increases the urgency of the need to understand how changing weather patterns caused by climate change will affect streamflow through the estuary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">To help with these questions, the Delta Stewardship Council, a state government agency, recently published a comprehensive new white paper on the issue: “\u003ca href=\"http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/docs/delta-plan/climate-change-and-delta-synthesis-public-draft-march-23-2018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.” To summarize the paper, Water Deeply interviewed Ronald Melcer, a senior environmental scientist at the council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923161\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 672px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923161\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1.jpg 672w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Melcer is a a senior environmental scientist at the Delta Stewardship Council, which has released a new white paper examining climate change impacts on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. \u003ccite>(Photo Courtesy Delta Stewardship Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What is the purpose of this report? Is it a first?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Ronald Melcer: We\u003c/span>’ve set out to do a series of synthesis papers that try and really distill the new science since 2013 related to various topics. We see climate change as a major one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t believe there’s been a synthesis of climate change specific to the Delta, though. So in that sense, this is new. It’s a more definitive look at climate change in the Delta than we’ve had before. We were really trying to set the stage for how we think about restoration in the Delta, and at the same time be as comprehensive as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What is your sea level rise projection in this report?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>Melcer: There is nearly a 70 percent chance that by 2100 we’re going to see 2.4ft of sea level rise at the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s with a low-emissions scenario, which is based on the Paris climate agreement. So if we were to do some significant work, it would take really relying on the best available technology, doing carbon sequestration and coupling that with a zero-emissions way of living. The way we operate on the planet would fundamentally change. It’s pretty optimistic to think that we’ll get there. But that’s what the Paris agreement calls for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The high emissions scenario is more akin to the trajectory that we’re on at this point. That\u003c/span>’s sort of a business as usual scenario. So if we don’t do anything, that’s where we’re headed. That shows 3.4ft of sea level rise by 2100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: Will the Delta see the same magnitude of sea level rise as the Golden Gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: Depending on where you are, it will be less than these maximum numbers. But there are some interesting interactions that happen as land elevation changes and the forces of streamflow come in to meet with the tidal waters. That actually drives the water surface elevation up a little bit in localized areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Currently we’re working on engaging some technical expertise to do a climate vulnerability assessment within the Delta. This is a key question we would be looking to answer: What do water surface elevations look like within the Delta? We’ll be identifying assets and vulnerabilities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: How will water flows change through the estuary?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: There is not universal agreement on the total amount of precipitation we would expect. But the big takeaways are that we expect to see higher streamflow due to rainfall in the winter across all the models. That ties back to atmospheric temperature, ocean temperature, warmer storms coming onboard. And on average, the peak of runoff would shift by one month earlier in the season.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What sort of management issues does this raise?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: T\u003c/span>he system is really predicated on a large snowpack that slowly feeds the reservoirs and river systems. So if we see shifts in runoff, that system starts to require changes in how we operate reservoirs. And that then has downstream impacts on our ability to provide for water supply and water quality management. There’s this cascading effect across all the functions that we rely on our reservoir systems for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What are the potential downstream effects?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: The Department of Water Resources has done some interesting modeling that shows the effects of just an increase in the frequency and magnitude of flood flows. There’s also an expectation that the occurrence of atmospheric rivers will increase. So on average, we expect flood volumes to increase 60–80 percent on the San Joaquin River, and 10–20 percent on the Sacramento River. That has to do with elevations of the mountain ranges in those different basins.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">These are significant increases in the amount of water that’s flowing across the landscape during a flood event. Whereas, historically we would see some of that contributing to snowpack and then being released slowly through the melting process later in the year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">For some San Joaquin basin streams, we expect to see more than a 50 percent increase in 100-year flood events. That’s a massive increase in risk. We have an opportunity to start to figure out what that means, what our flood management infrastructure should look like, with some of the modeling work that\u003c/span>’s come out. We should be thinking about what we need on the landscape to pass that magnitude of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: How will salinity change in the estuary?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: There are a couple of implications. An increase in water surface elevation increases the amount of salt water that makes its way into the Delta. We really focus on the implications for habitat, for fish species. That mixing point between freshwater and salt water is really important for the aquatic ecosystem.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">If we are to continue to manage water quality in the Delta with reservoirs, it really is going to require increased reservoir releases to counter that influx of salinity. Some studies have shown that, with 1ft of sea level rise, it would require almost 500,000 acre-feet of additional Delta outflow, generally in the form of reservoir releases, to meet salinity requirements as they stand at this point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: That sounds like a lot of additional pressure on the state’s water system.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: It starts to paint a picture where we\u003c/span>’re having difficulty meeting all of those objectives. The implications of increasing streamflow in winter and less runoff later in the year leave us with reservoirs that are not full, and then we’re unable to really use managed flows to deal with things like salinity intrusion in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">We release flow at certain times of year to protect fish and their spawning activities. Supporting these fish becomes really difficult in these future scenarios where that flexibility continues to be reduced by dynamics of precipitation, sea level rise and salinity intrusion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2018/04/27/california-delta-a-flash-point-for-conflict-as-climate-change-unfolds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Sea level rise and changing streamflows are converging with uncertain results in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Ronald Melcer, a senior environmental scientist at the Delta Stewardship Council, explains what the future may hold.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is vital to water supplies for 25 million people and 4 million acres of farmland. It is linked to the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco Bay, which makes this water supply uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Yet understanding sea level rise in the Delta is complicated. The largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, it consists of some 70 islands and more than 1,000 miles of levees. It is also fed by California’s two largest rivers, which drain the Sierra Nevada range.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">All of this complicates how sea level rise “propagates” through the Delta. It also increases the urgency of the need to understand how changing weather patterns caused by climate change will affect streamflow through the estuary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">To help with these questions, the Delta Stewardship Council, a state government agency, recently published a comprehensive new white paper on the issue: “\u003ca href=\"http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/docs/delta-plan/climate-change-and-delta-synthesis-public-draft-march-23-2018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.” To summarize the paper, Water Deeply interviewed Ronald Melcer, a senior environmental scientist at the council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1923161\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 672px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1923161\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1.jpg 672w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/04/Ron-Melcer1-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Melcer is a a senior environmental scientist at the Delta Stewardship Council, which has released a new white paper examining climate change impacts on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. \u003ccite>(Photo Courtesy Delta Stewardship Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What is the purpose of this report? Is it a first?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Ronald Melcer: We\u003c/span>’ve set out to do a series of synthesis papers that try and really distill the new science since 2013 related to various topics. We see climate change as a major one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t believe there’s been a synthesis of climate change specific to the Delta, though. So in that sense, this is new. It’s a more definitive look at climate change in the Delta than we’ve had before. We were really trying to set the stage for how we think about restoration in the Delta, and at the same time be as comprehensive as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What is your sea level rise projection in this report?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>Melcer: There is nearly a 70 percent chance that by 2100 we’re going to see 2.4ft of sea level rise at the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s with a low-emissions scenario, which is based on the Paris climate agreement. So if we were to do some significant work, it would take really relying on the best available technology, doing carbon sequestration and coupling that with a zero-emissions way of living. The way we operate on the planet would fundamentally change. It’s pretty optimistic to think that we’ll get there. But that’s what the Paris agreement calls for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The high emissions scenario is more akin to the trajectory that we’re on at this point. That\u003c/span>’s sort of a business as usual scenario. So if we don’t do anything, that’s where we’re headed. That shows 3.4ft of sea level rise by 2100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: Will the Delta see the same magnitude of sea level rise as the Golden Gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: Depending on where you are, it will be less than these maximum numbers. But there are some interesting interactions that happen as land elevation changes and the forces of streamflow come in to meet with the tidal waters. That actually drives the water surface elevation up a little bit in localized areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Currently we’re working on engaging some technical expertise to do a climate vulnerability assessment within the Delta. This is a key question we would be looking to answer: What do water surface elevations look like within the Delta? We’ll be identifying assets and vulnerabilities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: How will water flows change through the estuary?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: There is not universal agreement on the total amount of precipitation we would expect. But the big takeaways are that we expect to see higher streamflow due to rainfall in the winter across all the models. That ties back to atmospheric temperature, ocean temperature, warmer storms coming onboard. And on average, the peak of runoff would shift by one month earlier in the season.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What sort of management issues does this raise?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: T\u003c/span>he system is really predicated on a large snowpack that slowly feeds the reservoirs and river systems. So if we see shifts in runoff, that system starts to require changes in how we operate reservoirs. And that then has downstream impacts on our ability to provide for water supply and water quality management. There’s this cascading effect across all the functions that we rely on our reservoir systems for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: What are the potential downstream effects?\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: The Department of Water Resources has done some interesting modeling that shows the effects of just an increase in the frequency and magnitude of flood flows. There’s also an expectation that the occurrence of atmospheric rivers will increase. So on average, we expect flood volumes to increase 60–80 percent on the San Joaquin River, and 10–20 percent on the Sacramento River. That has to do with elevations of the mountain ranges in those different basins.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">These are significant increases in the amount of water that’s flowing across the landscape during a flood event. Whereas, historically we would see some of that contributing to snowpack and then being released slowly through the melting process later in the year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">For some San Joaquin basin streams, we expect to see more than a 50 percent increase in 100-year flood events. That’s a massive increase in risk. We have an opportunity to start to figure out what that means, what our flood management infrastructure should look like, with some of the modeling work that\u003c/span>’s come out. We should be thinking about what we need on the landscape to pass that magnitude of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Deeply: How will salinity change in the estuary?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: There are a couple of implications. An increase in water surface elevation increases the amount of salt water that makes its way into the Delta. We really focus on the implications for habitat, for fish species. That mixing point between freshwater and salt water is really important for the aquatic ecosystem.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">If we are to continue to manage water quality in the Delta with reservoirs, it really is going to require increased reservoir releases to counter that influx of salinity. Some studies have shown that, with 1ft of sea level rise, it would require almost 500,000 acre-feet of additional Delta outflow, generally in the form of reservoir releases, to meet salinity requirements as they stand at this point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Water Deeply: That sounds like a lot of additional pressure on the state’s water system.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Melcer: It starts to paint a picture where we\u003c/span>’re having difficulty meeting all of those objectives. The implications of increasing streamflow in winter and less runoff later in the year leave us with reservoirs that are not full, and then we’re unable to really use managed flows to deal with things like salinity intrusion in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">We release flow at certain times of year to protect fish and their spawning activities. Supporting these fish becomes really difficult in these future scenarios where that flexibility continues to be reduced by dynamics of precipitation, sea level rise and salinity intrusion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2018/04/27/california-delta-a-flash-point-for-conflict-as-climate-change-unfolds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What Happens if Lab-Grown 'Brains' Start to Think?",
"headTitle": "What Happens if Lab-Grown ‘Brains’ Start to Think? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Bits of human brain tissue no larger than a pea are forcing scientists to think about questions as large as the nature of consciousness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These clusters of living brain cells are popularly known as minibrains, though scientists prefer to call them cerebral organoids. At the moment, they remain extremely rudimentary versions of an actual human brain and are used primarily to study brain development and disorders like autism.[contextly_sidebar id=”HMQDzS3yCZ9AE13vUOqetj5aN4FdoSXB”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But minibrain research is progressing so quickly that scientists need to start thinking about the potential implications now, says \u003ca href=\"https://law.duke.edu/fac/farahany/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nita Farahany\u003c/a>, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the director of Duke Science and Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it possible that an organoid far off in the future could develop something that looks like consciousness or any kind of sentience, the ability to feel something like pain,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farahaney and 16 other prominent scientists, ethicists and philosophers posed this question and many others in a \u003ca href=\"http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/d41586-018-04813-x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commentary\u003c/a> in this week’s issue of the journal \u003cem>Nature\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minibrains are usually created by transforming skin cells from a person into neural stem cells. These stem cells can grow into a range of structures like those found in the human brain, and even form networks of cells that communicate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the moment these lab-grown minibrains are limited to a few million cells and don’t get much larger than a pea. In contrast, the human brain is thousands of times larger and contains about 85 billion cells.[contextly_sidebar id=”OCnNd7PwCJuJQVywuWz8tdii1h7nfCKc”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now they’re pretty good proxies for being able to study how certain kinds of human neurons interact with each other and grow and develop over time,” Farahany says. “But they are still far from what an actual human brain would look like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet already, minibrains are helping scientists do remarkable things, Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re talking about something like schizophrenia or autism, if you want to model those things, it is difficult to do so with animal models and it is ethically impossible in many instances to do so with living humans,” She says. But it is possible to grow a minibrain from cells with genetic mutations associated with like autism and watch how it develops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minibrain experiments also helped scientists figure out how the Zika virus interferes with normal brain development, Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just this month, a team at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">evidence\u003c/a> that a human minibrain transplanted into a mouse brain could develop functioning blood vessels. That would, in theory, allow scientists to grow much larger minibrains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s clear the potential of the field is huge, Farahany says. But so are the ethical questions surrounding brain cells that live and grow outside the human body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One area of concern involves the practice of transplanting human brain tissue into animals. That could eventually lead to, say, mice with exceptional mental abilities, Farahany says.[contextly_sidebar id=”5Sb1luecV0vjqwJczHCqy6sXfrIqNXJb”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So now, she says, is when scientists and society needs to start asking questions like, “How comfortable are we with certain kinds of hybrids we’re creating and does that change the way we regard those animals or the kinds of protections that should be afforded to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, researchers may need some guidance on what research rules apply to enhanced lab mouse, Farahany says. Do they assume it’s like a typical lab mouse, which can be killed at the end of an experiment? Or do these mice enjoy the protections given to chimps, which are allowed to retire after their time in research is done?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commentary doesn’t offer answers to those questions, or any specific guidelines for research. Instead, it is intended as a way of guiding future discussions about minibrains and other efforts to replicate the functions of a human brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really the time to get out ahead of these ethical issues before it becomes deeply problematic to proceed without having addressed them,” Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Tiny+Lab-Grown+%27Brains%27+Raise+Big+Ethical+Questions&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Scientists are growing increasingly large and sophisticated clusters of human brain cells. Ethicists are now wondering what to do if these minibrains start thinking.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Bits of human brain tissue no larger than a pea are forcing scientists to think about questions as large as the nature of consciousness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These clusters of living brain cells are popularly known as minibrains, though scientists prefer to call them cerebral organoids. At the moment, they remain extremely rudimentary versions of an actual human brain and are used primarily to study brain development and disorders like autism.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But minibrain research is progressing so quickly that scientists need to start thinking about the potential implications now, says \u003ca href=\"https://law.duke.edu/fac/farahany/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nita Farahany\u003c/a>, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the director of Duke Science and Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it possible that an organoid far off in the future could develop something that looks like consciousness or any kind of sentience, the ability to feel something like pain,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farahaney and 16 other prominent scientists, ethicists and philosophers posed this question and many others in a \u003ca href=\"http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/d41586-018-04813-x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commentary\u003c/a> in this week’s issue of the journal \u003cem>Nature\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minibrains are usually created by transforming skin cells from a person into neural stem cells. These stem cells can grow into a range of structures like those found in the human brain, and even form networks of cells that communicate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the moment these lab-grown minibrains are limited to a few million cells and don’t get much larger than a pea. In contrast, the human brain is thousands of times larger and contains about 85 billion cells.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now they’re pretty good proxies for being able to study how certain kinds of human neurons interact with each other and grow and develop over time,” Farahany says. “But they are still far from what an actual human brain would look like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet already, minibrains are helping scientists do remarkable things, Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re talking about something like schizophrenia or autism, if you want to model those things, it is difficult to do so with animal models and it is ethically impossible in many instances to do so with living humans,” She says. But it is possible to grow a minibrain from cells with genetic mutations associated with like autism and watch how it develops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minibrain experiments also helped scientists figure out how the Zika virus interferes with normal brain development, Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just this month, a team at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">evidence\u003c/a> that a human minibrain transplanted into a mouse brain could develop functioning blood vessels. That would, in theory, allow scientists to grow much larger minibrains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s clear the potential of the field is huge, Farahany says. But so are the ethical questions surrounding brain cells that live and grow outside the human body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One area of concern involves the practice of transplanting human brain tissue into animals. That could eventually lead to, say, mice with exceptional mental abilities, Farahany says.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So now, she says, is when scientists and society needs to start asking questions like, “How comfortable are we with certain kinds of hybrids we’re creating and does that change the way we regard those animals or the kinds of protections that should be afforded to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, researchers may need some guidance on what research rules apply to enhanced lab mouse, Farahany says. Do they assume it’s like a typical lab mouse, which can be killed at the end of an experiment? Or do these mice enjoy the protections given to chimps, which are allowed to retire after their time in research is done?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commentary doesn’t offer answers to those questions, or any specific guidelines for research. Instead, it is intended as a way of guiding future discussions about minibrains and other efforts to replicate the functions of a human brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really the time to get out ahead of these ethical issues before it becomes deeply problematic to proceed without having addressed them,” Farahany says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Tiny+Lab-Grown+%27Brains%27+Raise+Big+Ethical+Questions&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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