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| Keep it Clean, From Drain to Stream H2O Jo and Flo are spreading the word about water quality as part of Denver’s Wastewater Management Division’s Keep it Clean campaign. Their message this month is “pick up litter and after your critter!” Help conserve and protect our natural waterways and keep pollutants out of our storm drains by disposing of litter and pet waste properly, which can harm fish, birds and other wildlife in our streams and rivers. |
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| Press Release: California Should Adopt San Joaquin Valley New Development Rule Statewide To Help Meet Global Warming Law Requirements, Study Shows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kathyrn Phillips, 916-893-8494-c, kphillips@edf.org
Sean Crowley, 202-572-3331-w, scrowley@edf.org
(Fresno, CA – July 9, 2008) – A landmark regulation proven in the San Joaquin Valley to reduce air pollution from new development projects could help meet a state law requirement to dramatically cut global warming pollution statewide, according to a new peer-reviewed study released today.
The study, released a few days prior to a June 14 public workshop in Fresno by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on its draft scoping plan for implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), shows there are proven measures the state can be use to capture more global warming pollution, while diversifying housing and transportation choices. The study affirms the value of the rule known as the Indirect Source Rule, adopted by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in 2005.
“We can’t afford to discount any effective tool to cut global warming pollution,” said Kathryn Phillips, manager of the California Clean Air for Life Campaign for Environmental Defense Fund, which sponsored the study. “CARB officials must resist industry opposition to an indirect source rule and other proven land use measures that could cut millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions statewide.”
The new study, “Reducing Global Warming and Air Pollution: The Role of Green Development in California,” was prepared by Lawrence Frank and Company, Inc. (LFC). It focuses on a literature review of building and site design decisions and their connection to air pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, and evaluates the value of the indirect source rule for reducing those emissions.
CARB’s AB 32 draft scoping plan, released last week, notes that an indirect source rule is “under consideration” to cut California’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to one million metric tons by 2020. However, the agency’s plan stops short of including the rule among actions that must be adopted and applied to get emission reductions around the state.
The Indirect Source Rule (ISR) was adopted by the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District in December 2005 and took effect in March 2006. It requires development projects that exceed size thresholds to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) during construction (20 percent of NOx and 45 percent of PM10 from construction equipment exhaust) and after occupancy (33 percent of NOx and 50 percent of PM over 10 years of operation). Mitigation measures may include low-emissions construction equipment, buildings designed with energy efficiency measures, building and site design measures, and a mitigation fee.
A statewide developer trade association, the California Building Industry Association, has tried to prevent local air districts from adopting and implementing indirect source rules and unsuccessfully challenged the San Joaquin Valley rule in court. The group has also worked to limit any application of the rule to meet the state’s global warming pollution reduction goals.
“This new study should convince CARB and the governor to follow the lead of a Fresno County Superior Court judge who rejected the California Building Industry Association’s efforts last February to require developers to cut pollution when they build housing,” concluded Phillips. “The next draft of the scoping plan should include a clear path for applying the indirect source rule without delay. There’s no time left to waste.”
The new study concludes:
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| Press Release: Ag Secretary Urged to Reject Early Release of Land in Conservation Reserve Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sean Crowley, 202-572-3331-w or scrowley@edf.org
Britt Lundgren, 202-492-1063-c, blundgren@edf.org
(Washington, DC – Wednesday, July 9, 2008) Fifteen conservation groups today sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer strongly urging him to reject pressure from Congress and producer groups “to allow the penalty-free early release of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).” USDA has been urged to release up to 24 million acres from CRP – roughly three-fourths of the land currently enrolled in the program – and put it back into production. This move would result in a loss of billions of dollars of taxpayer investment in conservation on these lands.
“A penalty-free early release of the magnitude you are considering – millions of acres – would deliver a devastating blow to the nation’s soil, water, and wildlife habitat, and significantly increase global warming,” said the letter. “Because most CRP lands are marginal for cropping, even if all CRP acres were brought back into commodity production, the impact on aggregate commodity supplies and prices would be modest… We urge you to protect the taxpayers’ investment in soil quality, water quality, and wildlife habitat and not allow landowners to leave CRP contracts early without fully reimbursing the Treasury for the taxpayer-funded investment in those lands.”
CRP is a federal program designed to reward farmers who take fragile land out of production and plant grasses or trees or restore wetlands on the land in exchange for rental and federal cost-share payments. Currently, CRP enrollees who terminate their contract prior to the end of its 10- to 15-year term must reimburse the federal government for the rental and cost-share payments they have received, plus interest, and a penalty of 25 percent of the total rental payments received. The recent CRP proposals would waive all these costs for landowners.
The letter opposing these proposals is signed by Environmental Defense Fund, The Minnesota Project, Sierra Club, Center for Native Ecosystems, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Partners for Sustainable Pollination, Environmental Working Group, Pollinator Partnership, Defenders of Wildlife, American Farmland Trust, World Wildlife Fund, American Rivers, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and American Bee Keeping Federation.
The full letter text is below.
July 9, 2008
The Honorable Ed Schafer
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Schafer:
We strongly urge you to reject proposals to allow the penalty-free early release of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Early release of even a modest number of acres from CRP would waste the money American taxpayers have invested in restoring those lands to grassland or other cover and would eliminate the benefits to soil, water, wildlife and the public that the lands provide. A penalty-free early release of the magnitude you are considering – millions of acres – would deliver a devastating blow to the nation’s soil, water, and wildlife habitat, and significantly increase global warming. The resulting damages could cost taxpayers substantially.
The oldest of the farm bill’s voluntary conservation incentives programs, CRP is a federal program designed to reward farmers who take fragile land out of production and plant grasses or trees or restore wetlands on the land in exchange for rental payments and federal cost-share payments. Since its creation in 1985, CRP has been responsible for reducing hundreds of millions of tons of erosion each year, reducing pollution in our nation’s waterways. CRP is also an important reservoir for wildlife, and has had significant benefits for populations of ducks, grassland birds, and other species. Keeping land in CRP is also critical in the fight against global warming. Allowing millions of acres out of CRP prior to the end of the contract period would quickly erase many of the gains that have been made with CRP and will likely create new problems.
Because most CRP lands are marginal for cropping, even if all CRP acres were brought back into commodity production, the impact on aggregate commodity supplies and prices would be modest. On the other hand, the impacts to soil, water, wildlife, the public, and the recreational industry that has developed around wildlife such as pheasants and waterfowl produced on these lands would be substantial. We urge you to protect the taxpayers’ investment in soil quality, water quality, and wildlife habitat and not allow landowners to leave CRP contracts early without fully reimbursing the Treasury for the taxpayer-funded investment in those lands.
Sincerely,
Environmental Defense Fund
The Minnesota Project
Sierra Club
Center for Native Ecosystems
National Wildlife Federation
National Audubon Society
Partners for Sustainable Pollination
Environmental Working Group
Pollinator Partnership
Defenders of Wildlife
American Farmland Trust
World Wildlife Fund
American Rivers
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
American Bee Keeping Federation
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| VW Golf Twin Drive Plug-In Hybrid Diesel Volkswagen announced the Golf Twin Drive Concept, a step toward a diesel plug-in hybrid. Jalopnik.com reports that the concept car runs in electric-only mode up to 30 miles, using an electric motor that makes 82 hp. In addition, there’s a 2.0 liter 122 hp turbodiesel. The two engines combine for 174 hp. Regenerative braking [.] |
| Mayor Hickenlooper on Colorado Matters Mayor Hickenlooper is a guest on today’s episode of Colorado Matters - a daily production of Colorado Public Radio. With host Ryan Warner, he discusses details of the Greenprint Denver Advisory Council’s recommendations, shares his thoughts about the proposals, and examines next steps. Listen live this evening at 7 p.m. on KCFR 1340 AM, or [.] |