Governor Schwarzenegger just gave solar power a boost in California, especially for relatively small-scale solar generators.

Taking notes from Europe, perhaps, Schwarzenegger signed legislation for a “feed-in tariff” earlier this week that requires Calfornia utilities buy solar power from relatively small generators and at higher than market-value prices.

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California State assembly rejects offshore oil, budget still passes

Shortly after winning approval from the California State Senate, a controversial deal that would have allowed the first new offshore oil leases in California state waters in forty years, was rejected by the California State Assembly by a vote of 43-30.

The deal would have revived a lease that had been rejected by the State Lands Commission earlier this year and allow a single oil company, Plains Exploration and Production Company, to bypass the existing public environmental review process and gain access to oil reserves off of the Santa Barbara coast — the site of a massive spill in 1969 that poured 80,000 barrels of crude into the Pacific and onto Southern California beaches, effectively halting the issuing of any new offshore leases in state waters.

Despite improvements in offshore drilling technology, small spills are still fairly routine. In 2007, the oil industry spilled 2,256 barrels of oil, fuels and chemicals, into the oceans off America’s coasts. Even though natural oil seepage rates are much higher, an estimated 1,700 barrels per day off the coast of North America, Californians are still leery of another Santa Barbara.

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Proposed deal would allow first new offshore oil leases in 40 years

The same state budget crisis that could shutter 220 of California’s state parks and beaches, may also open the door for the first new offshore oil leases in state waters in forty years. That is, if a proposal floated in the closed-door state budget negotiations on Thursday wins approval from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If approved, the deal would pave the way for the first offshore oil leases in California state waters since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the California Sanctuary Act. In so doing, it would effectively bypass the current regulatory process for formalizing the leases.

“It would be a complete corruption of the safeguards that Californians have demanded in order to protect the coastlines from oil development,” said State Assemblymember Pedro Nava, via telephone on Thursday afternoon.

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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has owned a Tesla Roadster for almost a year now, and while he has publicly praised the electric car manufacturer’s work, he’s not a fan of the car itself and has been looking to get his money back.

The news, disclosed by the tech gossip blog Gawker, seems to have been kept under wraps by both the governor and Tesla Motors. However, it’s unclear what exactly is delaying the transaction from happening.

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In light of California’s third consecutive year of drought, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency, falling short of instituting mandatory water rationing - at least for now.

“Even with the recent rainfall, California faces its third consecutive year of drought and we must prepare for the worst - a fourth, fifth or even sixth year of drought,” said Governor Schwarzenegger in a statement.

Calling the situation a crisis as serious as an earthquake or wildfire, Schwarzenegger said: “Last year we experienced the driest spring and summer on record and storage in the state’s reservoir system is near historic lows. This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment - making today’s action absolutely necessary.”

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On Monday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President-Elect Barack Obama to waive the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements to help jump start the Nation’s flailing economy.

Schwarzenegger met with Obama last month in Philadelphia, where he urged the Federal government to invest in infrastructure. Something he’s been peddling alongside New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg since early 2008.

The Governor’s administration has identified four key areas where they “can work together” in stabilizing and expanding California’s economy: investment in infrastructure, energy security, stabilization of the housing market, and assistance to states to help meet the needs of the medically indigent.

>>More on Schwarzenegger’s environmental policy

During their meeting Schwarzenegger had identified $28 billion in infrastructure projects ready to break ground, that number is now $44 billion! The projects are in communities across California and include:

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Mounted on the roof of a distribution center owned by Prologis in Fontana, 50 miles east of LA, the 600,000 square feet of panels will produce about 2 megawatts, enough electricity to power up to 1,300 homes. The thin-film panels were installed by First Solar. Even better, this is only the first of about 150 similar projects planned for factory and warehouse roofs in SoCal.

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Since it was announced last week that a deal had been reached for the probable removal of four dams on the Klamath River, I’ve been ecstatic. The Klamath dams have been the cause of massive fish kills, are owned by the richest man in America Warren Buffett, do not provide green energy, have shut down west coast fisheries, and have hurt the Native American culture.  Of course, since the Bush administration negotiated the deal, I am wary there may be a hidden agenda for this once mighty river in my neighborhood.

Should the nonbinding deal go through, this would be the largest dam removal project in US history.  The alternative for PacificCorp to re-license the dams was to build fish ladders mandated by federal biologists costing $300 million. Dam removal is the cheapest option and the best decision for the health of endangered salmon on the Klamath River. The California Energy Commission reported PacifiCorp could save $101 million over the next 30 years if the dams were removed and replacement power bought.  As part of the deal, ratepayers will foot $200 million in removal cost, and California will ask voters to approve a $250 million bond.  Studies and analysis will occur until 2012, at which point the dams could be removed in 2020.  Under the deal, PacificCorp would receive immunity from the dams’ environmental liabilities.

Bush wanted the deal to remove the dams, yet his administration has always backed farmers in the dispute over water rights, such as when irrigation was shut off to under the Endangered Species Act in 2001. Even after the Klamath dams’ removal deal was announced on November 13, 2008,  Bush released a statement saying, “Together, we have produced an agreement that will greatly reduce the risk of future shutdowns of the irrigation system.“  Already, the Klamath deal is under attack for supporting farmers over fish. Many suspect the deal will shut down California water quality hearings that may have doomed the dams anyway.

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On Tuesday, more than 600 environmental officials and activists, along with five U.S. governors and regional politicians from local and foreign regional entities gathered in Beverly Hills for a two-day Global Climate Summit, hosted by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Conferees were greeted with an unannounced video welcome from president-elect Barack Obama, which, according to reports, received a standing ovation from those in the Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton.

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In an executive order signed on Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger committed to getting a third of California’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Schwarzenegger made the announcement while speaking at a solar panel factory in Sacramento. California Executive Order S-14-08 puts the state’s renewable energy requirement at 33% by 2020, securing its place as the most aggressive renewable energy mandate in the country.

The order comes Just three days after Schwarzenegger issued another unprecedented executive order to state agencies telling them to make preparations for rising sea levels caused by global warming.

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California’s water supply and coastal resources, including valuable natural habitat areas, are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise over the next century, and according to an executive order issued by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday, the state could suffer devastating consequences if adaptive measures are not taken.

In a first-of-its-kind executive directive, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has ordered the state to begin taking immediate action to mitigate the impending damage to state resources caused by climate change.

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1. Introduction
It’s obvious why Sarah Palin got the VP nod. And Saturday Night Live makes this point most brilliantly: Hillary Clinton.

2. Sarah Palin On The Environment
Just one day before being picked as the GOP vice president, she wrote a letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging him to shoot down policy aimed at pollution.

3. Sarah Palin On Ethics
Palin’s record is already dirty enough to warrant a trip to the free clinic, and that’s just as Governor! What is she capable of if elected as VP?

4. Sarah Palin On Energy and Big Oil
Sarah Palin dismisses alternative energy in favor of a pipeline built by God.

5. Sarah Palin On Foreign Policy
Colin Powell is jumping party lines because of Palin - can we afford her on the job training?

Image Credit: bobster1985 via flickr

Just how green California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is is definitely up for debate. He has his moments of somewhat progressive policy, which he then dilutes with moments of complete and utter ignorance. For example, when he signed California’s way overdue budget, he lined-out $3.1 million in funding from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to restore salmon, steelhead and other endangered and threatened species.

“We are deeply disappointed that the governor would opt to severely limit DFG’s ability to protect our environment at this critical time,” said California Trout Chief Executive Officer Brian Stranko. “Particularly given the dramatic recent reductions in salmon populations and other threatened and endangered species, this action seems especially short-sighted. His action is particularly troublesome given the relatively minor savings achieved to our multi-billion dollar state budget.”

Amusingly enough, this was followed up by the Governator taking center stage in San Francisco at a Commonwealth Club event to celebrate the state’s success in its leadership on fightingglobal warming.

“The global warming debate is over,” Schwarzenegger reminded everyone. He went on to say that Washington is “asleep at the wheel,” and that he would not wait.

Yet, Schwarzenegger has limiting critical funding for DFG’s Biodiversity Program staff. Thy are responsible for enforcing California’s Endangered Species Act (CESA),  as well as overseeing timber harvesting plans. The state’s efforts for recovery of threatened and endangered species are budgeted under this program, according to California Trout.

Here are some other fouls listed by Indybay:

• The refusal of his appointed officials on the State Water Resources Control Board and regional boards to hold agricultural polluters to the same standards as industry and municipalities, in spite of pleas by fishermen, conservationists and farm workers.

• His veto of historic suction dredge mining legislation, sponsored by the Karuk Indian Tribe and California Trout, last year. More recently, the Governor pressured the Legislature to remove interim suction dredge mining restrictions that were to have been incorporated as part of an omnibus resource trailer bill, AB 1338 (Huffman) that was adopted by the Legislature last Monday night as part of the state budget package and sent to the Governor.

• His persistent fast-track advocacy of “no fishing zones” on the California Coast, under the guise of “Marine Protected Areas.” These areas kick sustainable commercial and recreational fishermen off the water while doing nothing to stop water pollution, habitat degradation, water diversions and water exports that have resulted in huge fishery declines. Could it be that Schwarzenegger is removing fishermen from the water, forcing them to find work elsewhere, in order to eliminate the most persistent critics of his water policies?

• The failure by the DFG under the Schwarzenegger administration to support a volunteer rescue of tens of thousands of striped bass, Sacramento blackfish, Sacramento splittail, largemouth bass and other species last November when the Bureau of Reclamation drained Prospect Island in the California Delta. Before the volunteers were finally allowed to do the rescue, thousands of fish died, making Prospect Island the largest fish kill ever documented on the Delta and one of the largest fish kills in California history.

As campaign director of Restore the Delta Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said, “Schwarzenegger is as green as a silk plant. When you get up close, you realize that is all a big fake.”

Image source: Night Star Romanus at Flickr

When Schwarzenegger took the stage Friday in San Francisco at a Commonwealth Club event, celebrating California’s success in its global warming fighting leadership, the once-action star did not pull his punches. "We know that Washington is asleep at the wheel. We cannot look for leadership there,” so "We are not waiting for the federal government."

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Okay, that’s not true. However, it summarizes how environmentally out-of-touch I feel the Alaskan Governor is. For example, just one day before being picked as the GOP vice president, she wrote a letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging him to shoot down pollution-reduction efforts aimed at cargo containers. Palin’s concerns were aimed at the Alaskan economy, and well…not the environment. Oh, and it gets better! Check out some of the other things Palin has had to say on the topic.

From Think Progress

Palin Denies Man-Made Global Warming. When asked for her “take on global warming,” Palin replied, “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.” [Newsmax, 08/29/08]

Palin Says She’s Not A ‘Doom-And-Gloom Environmentalist’ Who Blames Global Warming On ‘Human Activity.’ “I’m not an Al Gore, doom-and-gloom environmentalist blaming the changes in our climate on human activity, but I’m not going to put my head in the sand and pretend there aren’t changes.” [Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 12/4/07]

Challenging ‘Uncertain Climate Models,’ Palin Is Suing To Lift Protected Status For Polar Bears. After a multi-year court battle, the Bush administration recognized in 2008 that polar bears are threatened with extinction by global warming. Announcing Alaska’s suit to block the listing, Palin said, “We believe that the listing was unwarranted and that it’s unprecedented to list a currently healthy population based on uncertain climate models.” [Reuters, 5/22/08]

Palin Established Illegal Fly-By Wolf Hunting Bounty. In 2007, Palin illegally established “a $150 bounty to the state sanctioned airborne wolf hunters as an added incentive to increase their kills,” soon overturned by the Alaska State Court. [Alaska Wildlife Alliance; Anchorage Daily News, 3/31/07]

Related posts:

Palin Changes Position on Global Warming - Then Denies It
Why Palin is a Bad Choice for the Environment
World Views of Sarah Palin & The Environment

Image source: bobster1985 on Flickr

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Palin’s concerns were aimed at the Alaskan economy, and well…not the environment. Duh! Claiming that shippers are already burdened by high fuel prices, she said this “may harm California by driving port business away from its ports.” As those three ports together account for over 40-percent of U.S. goods, that kinda seems unlikely. The bill’s author isn’t impressed by Palin’s suggestion either.

“We are losing about 3,400 Californians each year because of pollution. … I don’t think Gov. Palin truly understands the impacts going on here,” says state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D), who sponsored the bill. “She certainly displays a lack of understanding,” Lowenthal went on to say.

Many California environmentalists consider this to be the most important pollution reduction effort made in the state this year.

“Why should Gov. Schwarzenegger take into account what out-of-state interests are saying?” said Lisa Warshaw, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Clean Air. “It’s unfortunate that she is using her popularity to push her agenda on this state.”

The bill would impose a $60 fee for every 40-foot cargo container entering those ports. It would bring in about $400 million per year, which would go towards the installation of cleaner truck and train engines and projects aimed to reduce congestion and idling. That sounds pretty good to me!

Image source: tinou bao at Flickr

“We’re hoping for the best, that we’re going to have a good storm season and be able to meet the needs of California,” said state Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow. “However, we would be negligent if we didn’t prepare for the worst.”

This “water bank” was last used in 1992, during the final year of a six year drought. Those that sold water were in districts holding generous, century-old water rights on the Sacramento, Yuba and Feather rivers. The buyers were urban communities in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. The largest buyer in ‘92 was the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Schwarzenegger officially declared a drought this past June, stating that nine counties in the farm-rich Central Valley are in a state of emergency due to low water supplies after two years of below-average rainfall. In the Northern Sierra, this spring and summer were the driest on record since 1921. Additionally, 2007 and 2008 made up the ninth driest two-year period in 88 years of record keeping for the Northern Sierra.

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Move over evolution:  Now you can add climate change to the list of controversial science topics taught in public schools.  That’s right, the governor that sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t want to mandate California’s children are educated on climate change.  Why the apparent contradiction?

SB 908:  Global Warming Education in Schools, sponsored by Senator Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would have revised the existing state framework to include climate change as part of children’s environmental education, but unfortunately it was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Not only did the bill include climate change in public school science curriculum, but also added to the science framework, and thus science textbooks, seven other topics:

1. Integrated waste management
2. Energy conservation
3. Water conservation and pollution prevention
4. Air resources
5. Integrated pest management
6. Toxic materials
7. Wildlife conservation and forestry

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Two weeks ago, the presumptive Democratic candidate for President of the United States, Barack Obama had the gall to suggest that proper tire inflation could actually reduce national gasoline consumption, thereby lowering our carbon emissions and reducing our demand for oil.

GOP strategists saw an opportunity to pounce on this bold claim by Senator Obama. And they, along with their friend Rush Limbaugh, lampooned and ridiculed Obama’s tire pressure assertion as a joke. The McCain campaign even went so far as handing out tire gauges branded with the slogan “Obama’s Energy Plan” to reporters traveling with Senator Obama. Let me just say this, whomever was in charge of that “brilliant” move at McCain HQ should be canned.

Today several more groups were added to the growing list of organizations that stand behind Senator Obama’s claim that properly inflated tires can indeed reduce gasoline consumption.  Speaking on behalf of these groups, and helping to launch the EcoDriving initiative were the Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Democratic Governor of Colorado Bill Ritter.

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