How fun!
Thin-film solar panels are hitting upwards of 12.8% efficiency.
The cost of solar cells are down 21% so far this year.
Read more here.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday morning: Time to read Hollywood Unbound
Monday morning:
Time to read Hollywood Unbound and see what important BS happening downtown Darryl has culled from City Hall's massively unwieldy pile of public meeting notices.
We don't always agree with his analyses, but we very much appreciate Darryl's work!
Time to read Hollywood Unbound and see what important BS happening downtown Darryl has culled from City Hall's massively unwieldy pile of public meeting notices.
We don't always agree with his analyses, but we very much appreciate Darryl's work!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Breaking News: Ninth Circuit Kills CARB's Cap & Trade
Just got off the phone with relentless Port Activist Jesse Marquez who reported that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal yesterday enjoined California Air Resources Board's (CARB) cap and trade program. Will have more when I see a release. A huge move for Environmental Justice groups...
Friday, May 20, 2011
[HallerWatch] Taking On HatfieldWatch Over Coal, Watch!
"The members of Neighborhood Council Valley Village were asked to weigh in on what could be the most challenging intergenerational issue facing us, even greater than pension reform.
[I'm gonna have to look up intergenerational, but at first glance, it appears to be within the next couple decades. God, what could possibly be more important to four million people over the next 20 years than pension reform? Preventing race riots? Education? Earthquakes, emergency preparedness?]
A representative of the Sierra Club asked the board to pass a motion in support of the DWP eliminating coal as a power source by 2020. [Wha?? ] Due to the constraints of time, her presentation had to be brief and could best be described as an executive summary. [Sounds about right. An executive board should get an executive summary. What were you hoping for? A longer meeting?]
It was good information and food for thought. However, to ask for a motion in support of the 2020 goal (or any goal, for that matter) with an accompanying letter of support to the City Council on an issue so complex, with cost ramifications that could strain an already financially challenged municipality, was disrespectful of the deliberative process NCs should follow. [Not really. It's a normal course of action for a deliberative body per Roberts Rules. A request or motion goes before the executive board and the board has the option to make a decision via vote, table it or kick it to committee for further study. How is that disrespectful?]
It was as if an insurance salesman said “trust me and sign on the dotted line” while placing a contract with a prospectus in front of you. [Ouch! A remarkably unfair characterization particularly when your NC is charged with advising your councilmember, not contracting out insurance services on behalf of the city. If your group wants to set a public health goal (PHG) such as "No Coal By 2020" and advise your councilmember's office, they can. If your NC wants to set PHG regulations and enforce them, they can't.]
I was surprised to learn that about eighteen other neighborhood councils had already passed similar motions at the request of the Sierra Club and sent letters of support. [Familiarize yourself with Roberts Rules and you can take your eyebrows out of your hairline.]
I am fortunate to be a member of a neighborhood council that believes in the vetting process [sorry to interrupt, but I gotta agree with you there, most NCs have no idea what they're doing] and does not rush to judgment on matters of this scale [ookay, but frankly, I'm a little suspicious of how your scale measures things. Seems fishy. A fish scale, if you will...]. There was a spirited discussion with members taking opposing positions. No motion was passed; no letter of support authorized. [Okay, so, an NC board wasted the public's time, no surprise there.]
When it was suggested that members of the NC DWP Oversight Committee make a presentation on the subject at another date, the Sierra Club representative said, as if issuing an adverse warning, "they will simply oppose this position.” I guess transparency is not part of the club’s agenda these days. [Burning coal for energy is an environmental issue and a PHG issue as well as a Utilities issue. Why would it first be sent to a DWP Oversight Committee, of all things? I guess integrity is missing from your own agenda.]
Los Angeles and most of the developed nations will migrate to alternative energy in time. [You mean, the developed nations that survive all the floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, sea level rise, etc. due to climate change?] Coal as a source could also be reduced through conservation and passive solar improvements. [Prove it. We're listening. Just do it before both polar icecaps melt.] However, China, India and other emerging economies will thumb their noses at the rest of us and burn away. [Is that why China is spending $16B+ more than the U.S. on developing alternative energy technologies? From what year are the magazines you've been reading?]
There should be no hard and fast timeline. [On converting to renewable energy? Surely you jest. Ask the U.S. Navy about climate change, sea level rise and national security issues we are already facing. They'll give you an earful.] Technology improves over time – we can expect the same for alternative energy. [With that approach, America should rise to prominence again by AD 2312]. There is no need to lock a major segment of the city’s power generation capacity into applications still in the early stages of development. [... looking forward to your next CityWatch article entitled 'What's With These Newfangled Telephones With Dials?']
It would not surprise me if the state’s objectives will be relaxed once the impact to consumers’ utility bills becomes apparent. There will be pushback from the ratepayers. [You mean, Gov. Brown rescinding the 33% renewable energy target that he set last month? CA ratepayers are going to revolt over that?]
Although fossil fuels will generally rise in price over the long run, the conversion to solar will not be as simple as “build the infrastructure and the rest is free.” Maintenance and replacement of components is still an unknown, not to mention the source of materials and manufacturing. It is naive to assume the United States will be the leader in production in this very competitive world. [Especially if the "Hatfield Plan" becomes law.]
Note: I am a member of the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, but I am also a ratepayer.
[I'm gonna have to look up intergenerational, but at first glance, it appears to be within the next couple decades. God, what could possibly be more important to four million people over the next 20 years than pension reform? Preventing race riots? Education? Earthquakes, emergency preparedness?]
A representative of the Sierra Club asked the board to pass a motion in support of the DWP eliminating coal as a power source by 2020. [Wha?? ] Due to the constraints of time, her presentation had to be brief and could best be described as an executive summary. [Sounds about right. An executive board should get an executive summary. What were you hoping for? A longer meeting?]
It was good information and food for thought. However, to ask for a motion in support of the 2020 goal (or any goal, for that matter) with an accompanying letter of support to the City Council on an issue so complex, with cost ramifications that could strain an already financially challenged municipality, was disrespectful of the deliberative process NCs should follow. [Not really. It's a normal course of action for a deliberative body per Roberts Rules. A request or motion goes before the executive board and the board has the option to make a decision via vote, table it or kick it to committee for further study. How is that disrespectful?]
It was as if an insurance salesman said “trust me and sign on the dotted line” while placing a contract with a prospectus in front of you. [Ouch! A remarkably unfair characterization particularly when your NC is charged with advising your councilmember, not contracting out insurance services on behalf of the city. If your group wants to set a public health goal (PHG) such as "No Coal By 2020" and advise your councilmember's office, they can. If your NC wants to set PHG regulations and enforce them, they can't.]
I was surprised to learn that about eighteen other neighborhood councils had already passed similar motions at the request of the Sierra Club and sent letters of support. [Familiarize yourself with Roberts Rules and you can take your eyebrows out of your hairline.]
I am fortunate to be a member of a neighborhood council that believes in the vetting process [sorry to interrupt, but I gotta agree with you there, most NCs have no idea what they're doing] and does not rush to judgment on matters of this scale [ookay, but frankly, I'm a little suspicious of how your scale measures things. Seems fishy. A fish scale, if you will...]. There was a spirited discussion with members taking opposing positions. No motion was passed; no letter of support authorized. [Okay, so, an NC board wasted the public's time, no surprise there.]
When it was suggested that members of the NC DWP Oversight Committee make a presentation on the subject at another date, the Sierra Club representative said, as if issuing an adverse warning, "they will simply oppose this position.” I guess transparency is not part of the club’s agenda these days. [Burning coal for energy is an environmental issue and a PHG issue as well as a Utilities issue. Why would it first be sent to a DWP Oversight Committee, of all things? I guess integrity is missing from your own agenda.]
Los Angeles and most of the developed nations will migrate to alternative energy in time. [You mean, the developed nations that survive all the floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, sea level rise, etc. due to climate change?] Coal as a source could also be reduced through conservation and passive solar improvements. [Prove it. We're listening. Just do it before both polar icecaps melt.] However, China, India and other emerging economies will thumb their noses at the rest of us and burn away. [Is that why China is spending $16B+ more than the U.S. on developing alternative energy technologies? From what year are the magazines you've been reading?]
There should be no hard and fast timeline. [On converting to renewable energy? Surely you jest. Ask the U.S. Navy about climate change, sea level rise and national security issues we are already facing. They'll give you an earful.] Technology improves over time – we can expect the same for alternative energy. [With that approach, America should rise to prominence again by AD 2312]. There is no need to lock a major segment of the city’s power generation capacity into applications still in the early stages of development. [... looking forward to your next CityWatch article entitled 'What's With These Newfangled Telephones With Dials?']
It would not surprise me if the state’s objectives will be relaxed once the impact to consumers’ utility bills becomes apparent. There will be pushback from the ratepayers. [You mean, Gov. Brown rescinding the 33% renewable energy target that he set last month? CA ratepayers are going to revolt over that?]
Although fossil fuels will generally rise in price over the long run, the conversion to solar will not be as simple as “build the infrastructure and the rest is free.” Maintenance and replacement of components is still an unknown, not to mention the source of materials and manufacturing. It is naive to assume the United States will be the leader in production in this very competitive world. [Especially if the "Hatfield Plan" becomes law.]
Note: I am a member of the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, but I am also a ratepayer.
[Ah, "a member of the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations..." A weak claim to legitimacy, indeed. Kind of like an insurance agent saying, "Trust me and sign on the dotted line."]
LATE ADD: CityWatch announced its "Be Green, CityWatch Cares" Initiative in September 2010, with plans to continue throughout 2011/2012.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Hey LA City: this is CEQA
Attention City of Los Angeles:
THIS IS CEQA. Learn it, live it, love it.
Hat tip to our fellow blogger Joe B at Mayor Sam for this wonderfully simple graphic.
THIS IS CEQA. Learn it, live it, love it.
Hat tip to our fellow blogger Joe B at Mayor Sam for this wonderfully simple graphic.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
25% of LA's kids are obese, yet City budget drains City recreation
Today - if nothing changes - the Los Angeles City Council will be voting a budget for Recreation and Parks that kills recreation and healthy activity for LA's most at-risk kids. Cheers!
Bringing it back to the area around Griffith Park now, guess who didn't show at the City budget hearing for Recreation and Parks to support recreation in Los Angeles? The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council's newly-selected Recreation Representative, Mark F. Mauceri. Or any of the rest of the GGPNC board or committee members, for that matter.
With their selection for Recreation Representative, the GGPNC completes a series of actions by which they have effectively marginalizing the once-thriving community forum on the whole from any truly meaningful existence. The rest of the community will need only to simply step around the very loud carcass. Most people already are.
Bringing it back to the area around Griffith Park now, guess who didn't show at the City budget hearing for Recreation and Parks to support recreation in Los Angeles? The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council's newly-selected Recreation Representative, Mark F. Mauceri. Or any of the rest of the GGPNC board or committee members, for that matter.
With their selection for Recreation Representative, the GGPNC completes a series of actions by which they have effectively marginalizing the once-thriving community forum on the whole from any truly meaningful existence. The rest of the community will need only to simply step around the very loud carcass. Most people already are.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Lopez Canyon hearing: City don't know CEQA
Update: The final ruling was issued late Thursday finding that the City must indeed do a full EIR on this project if they intend to go forward at this location.
As required by CEQA, the City of Los Angeles will be paying the community's court fees for this case.
----
It looks like CEQA does matter in Los Angeles after all. If you take the City to court over it, that is.
Today's preliminary finding against Richard Alarcon and the City's attempt to misuse open space at the now-closed Lopez Canyon Landfill went down as a no-brainer: the City must file a full EIR and go through the full CEQA process if they really really want to shove a truck driving academy on Lopez Canyon park land.
The Lopez Canyon saga is a long story, full of disdain and abuse by the City and Richard Alarcon in particular for residents and the community surrounding the land in question. You can read the sordid background here. But today, the good guys won a big one. The final ruling is due in a week.
If a full EIR is ultimately upheld through the appeals process, it will cost the City and project supporters a pretty penny and delay the project for years. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the grant funds being funneled to the union-sponsored non-profit truck driving academy project. Perhaps project supporters will finally give up the notion of City open space as "free land" and lease flat industrial land for this project - like anyone else would logically do.
Here's the e-blast from the Community Alliance for Open Space:
As required by CEQA, the City of Los Angeles will be paying the community's court fees for this case.
----
Today's preliminary finding against Richard Alarcon and the City's attempt to misuse open space at the now-closed Lopez Canyon Landfill went down as a no-brainer: the City must file a full EIR and go through the full CEQA process if they really really want to shove a truck driving academy on Lopez Canyon park land.
The Lopez Canyon saga is a long story, full of disdain and abuse by the City and Richard Alarcon in particular for residents and the community surrounding the land in question. You can read the sordid background here. But today, the good guys won a big one. The final ruling is due in a week.
If a full EIR is ultimately upheld through the appeals process, it will cost the City and project supporters a pretty penny and delay the project for years. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the grant funds being funneled to the union-sponsored non-profit truck driving academy project. Perhaps project supporters will finally give up the notion of City open space as "free land" and lease flat industrial land for this project - like anyone else would logically do.
Here's the e-blast from the Community Alliance for Open Space:
May 16, 2011 - Tentative Ruling - CAfOS Hearing
Judge Ann Jones of the LA County Superior Court tentatively ruled that the City of Los Angeles neither fulfilled CEQA requirements nor made the findings for a variance to allow a Truck Driving Academy on Open Space at the former Lopez Canyon landfill.
Attorneys for both the City of Los Angeles and CAfOS responded to the tentative ruling and questions from the judge. After more than an hour of discussion the judge advised both parties that her final ruling would be issued by the following week.
The final ruling may not be the end of the Open Space challenge at Lopez Canyon. The final ruling can be appealed and/or an EIR and General Plan Amendment could be required.
Stay tuned concerned community members and Open Space supporters. We will let you know what’s next once the final ruling is issued.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
[HexWatch 2011] "Look Ma, No Hex!"
About a dozen LADWP employees celebrated Friday the 13th by showing up to push tons and tons of contaminated dirt around over at Headworks. The workers didn't wear any kind of respiratory masks, so we have to assume they were born without lungs. 
Either that or after 16 months, LADWP still has not informed its workers of the Chromium VI contamination and its effects on internal organs.
Gotta love the thinking behind the City of Los Angeles and LADWP. I mean, just because there's a snake in the sandbox doesn't mean it's poisonous, so let the kids play!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Capt's Roost restoration finally under way
About time.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Banksy in Griffith Park?
Probably not, but it's a fun thought. Via the Twitter:
twosix Travis Jones
is this a #Banksy? saw it at foot of the trail in Griffith Park http://twitpic.com/4sx9q4
twosix Travis Jones
is this a #Banksy? saw it at foot of the trail in Griffith Park http://twitpic.com/4sx9q4
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Mayor's budget for Rec and Parks targets LA's most underprivileged
Update II: Ron Kaye covers this issue today.
Update: Stephen Box at CityWatch discusses the transparent diversion from any real budget conversation for the Dept. of Recreation and Parks that took place between Commission President Barry Sanders and the B&F committee.
---
Thursday morning, this author went downtown to the City's Budget and Finance Committee hearing on the Mayor's proposed budget for the Department of Recreation and Parks. I went to speak on the social injustice this budget represents, and point out some of the most questionable if not outright illegal charge-backs to the department this budget takes.
As I stood in line for my turn at the podium, I noted that perhaps only 1 or 2 of a committee of 5 were even bothering to listen to the members of the public, concerned people who had taken time from work to go downtown and testify during the public hearing. I therefore suddenly found myself compelled to alter my planned comments.
Here is the full text of what I had planned to say if the committee had actually been listening.
Disturbingly, but not surprisingly, when all was said and done in the hearing no one on the Budget and Fiance committee stood up for The People.
Meanwhile, in a total disconnect from what happened today, Budget and Finance chair Bernard Parks is made to look good once again by the Dept of Recreation and Parks.
Additional:
Read the list of services that the Department of Recreation and Parks has already had to cut during the past three years due to the Mayor's budgeting approach.
Read the full letter and all attachments sent to the Budget and Fiance committee regarding this year's budget by Department of Recreation and Parks.
Update: Stephen Box at CityWatch discusses the transparent diversion from any real budget conversation for the Dept. of Recreation and Parks that took place between Commission President Barry Sanders and the B&F committee.
---
 |
| Image credit: http://www.uwyo.edu/sjrc/ |
As I stood in line for my turn at the podium, I noted that perhaps only 1 or 2 of a committee of 5 were even bothering to listen to the members of the public, concerned people who had taken time from work to go downtown and testify during the public hearing. I therefore suddenly found myself compelled to alter my planned comments.
Here is the full text of what I had planned to say if the committee had actually been listening.
Honorable committee members and Chairman Parks,
During this committee’s discussion on creating an Inspector General on Monday, many of you explicitly expressed your concern that the Mayor’s office has not been doing their job with respect to making sure funds owed to this City are collected. A number of the Controller’s recent audits punctuate this fiscally damaging failure.
So if the Mayor’s office isn’t doing their job, I think it is fair to ask “what are they doing, exactly”?
Declaring outright war through this budget on those citizens in this City who are least able to fight back, that’s what.
If furloughs are now off the table, with this prejudicial budget of the Mayor’s, the Department of Recreation and Parks is left with just 56% of their total appropriation to use to provide parks services to the public – just 56%! That’s less money than Fiscal Year 2000, and since 2000, thousands of acres of parkland and numerous facilities have been added to your districts and are now the department’s responsibility.
This budget is a crime. It preferentially impacts the lower socio-economic children of Los Angeles. It’s these kids who rely on City parks the most. And the vast majority of their families have no idea this resource is under attack. After all, most of them are busy just trying to make ends meet, working blue collar jobs where they aren’t able to look at a computer for budget information or listen to Councilphone to try to keep on top of this.
This committee – especially Councilmember Parks – recently stood up for the Libraries and what they provide to some of the most underprivileged in this City. The Department of Recreation and Parks provides everything Libraries do: safe places to go after school and on weekends where kids receive educational programming. Same as Libraries.
But in addition, parks provide healthy low-cost exercise and sports in a time when childhood obesity is at epidemic levels, especially in LA City and County where in some districts it approaches 26% of our children – children who rely on the civil servants sitting here to provide subsidized, healthy physical exercise opportunities for them.
Recreation and Parks is where you get the most bang for the buck for these kids. Yet the Mayor’s office unveils this travesty of a budget directly targeting these very children.
Much of this budget crime contains some highly unethical and legally questionable “charge-backs”. Let’s talk about some of these very questionable charge-backs:
TRASH: a new charge for FY2012.
Trash is generated primarily by parks visitors exactly like trash on the streets and any other City property… Citizens bring this trash on their own onto park property. It is not generated by the Department. How can you possibly justify this charge as a department expense?
(Trash payment = $3.7 million, equivalent to ~74 employees laid off)
ERIP: Most if not all of the other City departments who offered ERIP are being made whole through borrowing. Why is RAP the only dept being forced to use their allocation to pay their ERIP costs?
(ERIP cash payment = $4.3 million, equivalent to ~86 employees laid off)
NO FURLOUGHS: (+$12 million in expenses, equivalent to ~240 employees laid off)
WATER AND POWER: LADWP is a City-owned utility who uses park properties for their infrastructure (“Infra-squatting”, if you will) yet is still charging another City Department, Recreation and Parks, full price. However, they are not paying Recreation and Parks the requisite franchise fees for use of their various properties. Franchise fees are something they would have to pay to any other regular ratepayer.
Is this legal? It certainly isn’t right or fair.
What it is is a thinly veiled way to sweep charter-mandated parks funds into the General Fund, something explicitly illegal according to the City Charter.
Departments providing “critical services” don’t pay LADWP fees. With childhood obesity fees in your own districts as high as 26%, how could anyone sit there and say Rec and Parks services are not critical City services for the most underprivileged under your own stewardship?
(Utilities cost = $16 million, equivalent to ~320 employees laid off)
You know, as a volunteer I put in more than 900 hours of hard physical work for this department each year because I believe wholeheartedly in their core mission for the people of Los Angeles. All the people.
The funds permanently allocated by the City Charter to the Department of Recreation and Parks says that The People agree with me.
I need to see one of you here on this committee stand up for the most underprivileged in this City. You all need to stand up as a committee against the Mayor’s office.... For this department. For the children of this City who need you to defend them against this assault.
This is war against the citizens of Los Angeles, aimed directly at the underprivileged. End it now.
--
Disturbingly, but not surprisingly, when all was said and done in the hearing no one on the Budget and Fiance committee stood up for The People.
Meanwhile, in a total disconnect from what happened today, Budget and Finance chair Bernard Parks is made to look good once again by the Dept of Recreation and Parks.
Additional:
Read the list of services that the Department of Recreation and Parks has already had to cut during the past three years due to the Mayor's budgeting approach.
Read the full letter and all attachments sent to the Budget and Fiance committee regarding this year's budget by Department of Recreation and Parks.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Being the park
While we were away on holiday, a new FaceBook page has popped up celebrating those wild Griffith Park Love-Ins from the late sixties and early seventies.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Snake pic of the day
Heads up: Rattlers are out in force now.
@bonebraking Timothy Bonebrake took this pic of a very healthy specimin in GP today:
Now that the snakies have emerged full-force, keep an eye on your dogs while in the park. One of our local vets reported three rattlesnake bites last week to dogs who were off-leash and sniffing where they should not have been in Griffith Park. Two of those bites were fatal.
@bonebraking Timothy Bonebrake took this pic of a very healthy specimin in GP today:
Now that the snakies have emerged full-force, keep an eye on your dogs while in the park. One of our local vets reported three rattlesnake bites last week to dogs who were off-leash and sniffing where they should not have been in Griffith Park. Two of those bites were fatal.
Injured hiker rescued near Dante's View
*Injured Hiker* Griffith Park near Dante's Peak; MAP 593-J2; FS 35; PRELIM: Adult male hiker fell on remote trail; LAFD air/ground response; NFD (No Further Details) Ch:7,12 @ 7:42 AM -Brian Humphrey ###
Tue, Apr 19, 2011, 08:08 UPDATE: Griffith Park/Dante's Peak* LAFD copter found patient, lowered medics to ground; Ground transport anticipated - Brian Humphrey###
Good thing LAFD has a helicopter, because Park Rangers don't go on duty in Griffith Park until 10am anymore.
Note to LAFD: There is no "Dante's Peak" in Griffith Park. Only in Hollywoodland where Pierce Brosnan engaged a Mt. St. Helens lookalike in a silly movie. Dantes' View is on Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park, but the Hollywood Sign is not. The Hollywood Sign is on Mt. Lee. Everyone got that?
Saturday, April 16, 2011
[HoffWatch] Budget LA Meeting A Huge Success
Due to space limitations, thousands were left outside in the 90 degree heat, but reports indicate a riot was averted when the Coolhaus truck pulled up. 
Friday, April 15, 2011
[HexWatch 2011] LAT/Glendale News-Press Provide Minimum Daily Required Irony
Fantastic article straight from the lips of an LADWP spokesman and through the pen of writer Bill Kisliuk about multi-million dollar plans to install 110 million gallon water tanks at Headworks that "will keep our drinking water in compliance."
Last I knew, Headworks had a problem with Haxavalent Chromium VI in its soil.
Last I knew, Hex Chrome VI penetrates people, animals, and water tanks, pipes, etc.
If you're an unsuspecting male LADWP worker at Headworks, it's a terrific job if you enjoy the nightlife and don't want the hassle of getting bogged down by a family.
Favorite line:
The locals most familiar with Headworks are equestrians in the Burbank and Glendale Rancho neighborhoods who use tunnels underneath the 134 Freeway to get to Griffith Park trails.
My coffee almost came out my nose when I read the quote from the woman who brought her horse through Tunnel 7 and said that the construction machines can be scary...for her horse...while she stands on contaminated dirt, breathing the dust of an area infused with one of the most deadly toxic substances known to man. A toxic substance that has no safe level.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
[TribeWatch] Kayenta Township: First Tribal Community In Nation To Adopt Green Building Code
This just in from the US EPA:
"Kayenta Township (Ariz.) is the first tribal community in the U.S. to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), a building code designed to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects while keeping safety measures intact and enforceable.
EPA’s Pacific Southwest Green Building Team worked with Kayenta and works with other tribes and federal agencies to support the development of sustainable building codes that meet tribal priorities. In addition, Kayenta will be working with EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities to pilot community Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development.
'As one of the first communities to adopt this code, Kayenta Township is forging a path for sustainable development,' said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. 'Their commitment to green building design will not only protect the public health, but water and energy savings means precious local resources will be preserved.'”
EPA’s Pacific Southwest Green Building Team worked with Kayenta and works with other tribes and federal agencies to support the development of sustainable building codes that meet tribal priorities. In addition, Kayenta will be working with EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities to pilot community Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development.
'As one of the first communities to adopt this code, Kayenta Township is forging a path for sustainable development,' said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. 'Their commitment to green building design will not only protect the public health, but water and energy savings means precious local resources will be preserved.'”
Maybe it's just me, but I had always assumed the tribal communities were way ahead on the green curve...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
[EnviroWatch] EJ Groups vs. Mainstream Enviros Over Cap & Trade?
A little inside baseball here: Environmental Justice groups have been, well, not exactly "under fire" or "under attack" by the more mainstream CA environmental folks, but the AB 32 Cap & Trade slowdown brought about by a suit filed by EJ groups has definitely sparked conversation amongst many enviros statewide. At issue (for my small brain) is the simple question as to when pollution credits are traded, are they traded into areas already experiencing the greatest poverty and the heftiest impacts of pollution?
To assure equal protection, the law and subsequent regulations do need to be vetted properly in court when there is a conflict. But if you look at the video below about 2011 Goldman Prize winner Hilton Kelley, you'll see in just a few frames (at about 1:17) exactly what brings the EJ folk and mainstream enviros together. It's worth the fight.
Brown To Sign 33% Renewables Into Law
Ahhhhh.....
CA Enviros have been working on state legislators and the governor(s) for a long time on a Renewable Portfolio Standard.
"With one action enacting a 33 percent RPS immediately the state can give clean energy investors the green light they need to infuse new life into the state's clean tech economy." Jim Metropulos, Senior Advocate, Sierra Club California
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