Environmental protection

Tesla Eyes Texas, But is CEQA the Real Roadblock?

When Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors announced plans to build a $5-billion battery "gigafactory," it listed four states, including Texas, as possible homes — none of them California. Since then, feverish wooing by Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and some state lawmakers has led Tesla to consider building the factory here, but at least two hurdles remain,

By |2014-09-01T07:53:46-07:00September 1st, 2014|Environmental protection|

US EPA Gives Gov’s Bay Delta Tunnels the Shaft

The pair of giant water diversion tunnels proposed in the Delta could violate the federal Clean Water Act and increase harm to endangered fish species, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which released its formal comment on the project Thursday. In a 43-page letter sent Tuesday to the National Marine Fisheries Service and released publicly on the

By |2014-09-01T07:44:02-07:00September 1st, 2014|Environmental protection, Water Reliability & Conveyance|

Latest Carbon Auction Sells Out & Nets $332 Million

Industrial companies and other businesses paid a combined $331.8 million for carbon credits in California’s latest cap-and-trade auction, state officials said Thursday. Environmentalists said the results of the latest quarterly auction were positive in light of recent controversy surrounding the market. Oil refiners, some legislators and others want the state to postpone the scheduled Jan. 1

By |2014-08-27T20:09:09-07:00August 27th, 2014|Air Quality, Environmental protection|

Water Bond Alternates Surface Quickly After Governor’s Plan

A cross-section of city and county officials, farming and business interests joined together Wednesday at Fresno City Hall to support a multibillion-dollar water bond that's nearly twice as large as what Gov. Jerry Brown wants. The governor this week pledged support for a $6 billion water bond for November's ballot -- but no more --

State & US EPA Review Oil Drilling Underground Injection

The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) this week announced steps to review the state's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program in order to ensure it fully complies with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, designed to prevent waste water associated with oil production from being injected into aquifers

UC Researchers on “Two Persistent Water Myths”

As the effects of the drought worsen, two persistent water myths are complicating the search for solutions. One is that environmental regulation is causing California’s water scarcity. The other is that conservation alone can bring us into balance. Each myth has different advocates. But both hinder the development of effective policies to manage one of

Feinstein Says “Environmentalists Not Helpful” on Water Policy

Sen. Dianne Feinstein will try to fast-track farm-friendly drought legislation through the Senate over the objections of environmentalists, who the senator complains have done nothing to help her adapt California's aging water system to deal with climate change and the addition of millions of thirsty residents. Environmentalists "have never been helpful to me in producing good

Nutrient Problems in the Mississippi River

Research by hydrogeologists at The University of Texas at Austin, which appears in the May 11 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, shows for the first time that virtually every drop of water coursing through 311,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of waterways in the Mississippi River network goes through a natural filtering process as it flows

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