Fiona Ma's 'garbage equality' bill signed. We're used to lawmakers giving their pet pieces of legislation interesting - and odd - titles, but one by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, will be hard to top.
The bill, AB845 signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this week, prohibits cities and counties from passing laws or ballot measures that restrict the amount of trash from other places that can be imported into their dumps. It grew out of a decades-long spat between San Francisco and Solano County, where the City by the Bay sends a lot of its garbage.
Waters. Atmosphere. $500B Alaskan gold and copper mine in upstream battle with EPA, salmon advocates. The Pebble Partnership believes a mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska, could produce up to 107.4 million ounces of gold.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, has said in a draft assessment that the project could have "adverse impacts on the productivity and sustainability" of the salmon fishery in the watershed. (AP) Using exploration drill rigs, The Pebble Partnership is currently analyzing what may be the largest undeveloped copper deposit in North America, located in southwest Alaska. (Courtesy: Pebble Partnership) Over decades, The Pebble Partnership believes the deposit has the potential of producing 80.6 billion pounds of copper, 107.4 million ounces of gold and 5.6 billion pounds of molybdenum. (Northern Dynasty Minerals, Ltd.) July 13, 2011: T.J. An Alaskan mine that may contain more than $500 billion in gold, copper and other minerals will never get dug if environmentalists get their way.
“I’m in favor of protecting existing jobs,” she said. Sen. GOP favors mining Alaska's Bristol Bay where Frontline reports salmon in danger. Those who visit Alaska’s “Bristol Bay” report it dry and arable – where gold, animals and seafood riches abound – making much of this famed “Bering Sea Land Bridge” one of the nation’s current treasure troves of natural resources.
However, Republicans want to commercialize the “Bay” prompting the “Frontline” program to report “Treasure Hunt: The Battle Over Alaska’s Mega Mine” tonight at 10 p.m. ET on PBS. Treasure Hunt: The Battle Over Alaska’s Mega Mine. In Alaska Gold, airing tomorrow night on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE probes the fault lines of a growing battle in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, home to the world’s last, great sockeye salmon fishery — and mineral deposits estimated to be worth up to $500 billion.
Lake Iliamna, Alaska — Rick Halford is a Manifest Destiny kind of Alaskan. He cleared his land with dynamite. He calls himself the “ideal redneck Republican.” As a longtime leader in the state legislature, he never met a hard rock mine he didn’t like. That is, until he took a long look at the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska. In return for copper and gold worth an estimated half a trillion dollars, state and federal regulators risk poisoning what scientists describe as the last best place on earth for millions of wild salmon – and the risk from toxic mine waste would last forever.
Mexico cancels Baja resort project near coral reef - BlogPost. Posted at 04:48 PM ET, 06/15/2012 Jun 15, 2012 08:48 PM EDT TheWashingtonPost MEXICO CITY — The shallow-water reefs at Cabo Pulmo, in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, are a national treasure, a marine reserve with a remarkable back story about how a once-abused environment can rebound.
The protected waters are now packed with fish. A Spanish real estate developer was planning to build a mega-resort the size of Cancun on the barren Baja coast right at the edge of the marine reserve — which drove Mexican and international preservationists at Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund nuts. Greenpeace activists protest in front of the National Palace in Mexico City on June 4. On Friday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, himself a scuba diver, announced that the government was pulling the permits and canceling the project.
This is a big deal in fish circles. Instead, Calderon says, the government will help the nearby former fishing village of Cabo Pulmo improve its services in a small-scale, sustainable way. USDA Admits Exterminating Birds, Crops, and Bees. The USDA has been under fire recently for its admitted assault against nature, after multiple investigations have uncovered its deliberate tampering with both plants and animals alike. One such investigation has put an end to the mystery surrounding the death of millions of birds, with USDA documents revealing the organization’s role in the massive slaughter. Finding comfort, style and dignity in small spaces. Permanent Daylight Saving Time? Might Boost Tourism, Efficiency. With the end of daylight saving time in most of the United States and Europe comes an annual cry from groups on both sides of the Atlantic—why fall back?
Supporters of year-round daylight saving time (DST) have traditionally touted energy savings, but permanent DST is also being prescribed as a tonic for the tourism industry. The tourism argument is that extra daylight in the evening hours would make people more likely to visit parks and other attractions.