🚀 go-pugleaf

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Faultline News July 10, 2002 Volume 2, Number 6

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NOW PLAYING AT WWW.FAULTLINE.ORG -
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     => Golden State Warmer
     => Unhappy Animal Activists Come From California
     => Politically Caffeinated
     => SUV Industry Suffers Climate Bill Setback
     => Working for the Onion is No Joke
     
See "New On The Site", below editor's note

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QUOTE
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"We're afraid of the contamination of the air, the soil,
the water." 

- Enedina Chavez, resident of the Stanislaus County hamlet of
Patterson, on plans expand the Fink Road landfill on the
county's west side. Quoted in the Modesto Bee, July 10

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
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Ah, summer. The thermometer hit treble digits in much of
California this week, and it's supposed to stay in that
range until the weekend. With heat comes accelerated power
use to run all those air conditioning units and ceiling
fans. We're just standing down from a Stage 2 alert as I
write this, saving every few seconds lest the power go off
unpredictably. A power outage this afternoon forced a
refinery in Rodeo to shut down, venting a thick cloud of
unburned hydrocarbons into the air over the Sacramento Delta
and prompting another inning of Contra Costa County's
official sport, "Shelter In Place." More hot weather is
expected this summer, and - if you read Joe Eaton's two-part
climate change article referenced below - we can expect
things to get even hotter in the next few years.

Among all this news is a swelling murmur of discontent with
public commitment to turn off lightswitches. The newpapers
are beginning to claim that Californians aren't conserving
energy quite as diligently as they did last summer.

This is not exactly a surprise. We all responded rather
selflessly to the calls to turn off lights last year, cut
statewide consumption by a double-digit percentage, only to
find out that the crisis was a manufactured one, that Enron
and its corporate cronies manipulated the market, creating
spot shortages to drive up the price of power and then sell
just enough electricity to reap the benefit of those
inflated prices.

It's a natural reaction. If our own profligate ways didn't
cause the crisis last year, and our conservation didn't end
it, then why should we sit through three-digit temperatures
without flicking on that air conditioning?

Faultline News readers know the proper answer to that, of
course, but it's still an understandable reaction, and
people in the energy conservation awareness biz have their
work cut out for them this summer. In the meantime, compact
fluorescent lightbulbs are cheaper than they've ever been,
and it probably wouldn't hurt to back up your hard drive a
bit more often this summer.

Or you could turn everything off and go outside.

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NEW ON THE SITE
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Unhappy Cows
by Philip Krayna
A legal action by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals asks: Do happy cows really come from California?

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/cows.html

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Green Coffee
by Rick Young
Conscientious Berkeley voters should approve November's
coffee initiative.
A Faultline guest editorial.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/coffee.html

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Special two-part climate report:
A Change in the Weather
by Joe Eaton
A new report on climate change gives a timely preview of
what the future may have in store for California's
landscapes.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/place/2002/07/climateterr.html

A Change in the Sea
by Joe Eaton
Climate change isn't tomorrow's problem. Human activity is
warming the ocean off the coast of California, with
startling results.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/place/2002/07/climatemar.html

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Where "Free Trade" is More than an Acronym
by Michelle Nijhuis
A visit to the onion fields of the Colorado Delta.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/place/2002/06/cebollas.html

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A New Whale Living?
by Joe Eaton
Though we think we know the natural world, scientists keep
turning up new species. The latest big one? A new whale off
the coast of California.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/place/2002/06/beaked.html

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Critical Habitat Protection Ordered for Eight Native Plants
Federal judge orders FWS to designate habitat for endangered
flora.

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/8plants.html

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AB1058 heads to Governor's Desk
Revised version undercuts auto industry smear campaign

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/AB1493.html

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Court Orders Gale Norton to Move on Golden Trout Listing
FWS far overdue on deadline for listing decision

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/trout.html

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Pesticide Lingers in Smith River
Free water testing brings out local opposition in lily
capital of the world

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/smithriver.html

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Back from Extinction. . . Barely
Critical habitat proposed in two California counties for
endangered Keck's checkermallow

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/checkermallow.html

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Interactive Maps of Nuclear Waste Routes Go Online
Transport of radioactive waste may hit close to home for
millions of Californians

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/nukeroads.html

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Cadiz Exec Sneaks Onto Southland Water Board
Group charges conflict of interest

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/07/liencadiz.html

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San Francisco PUC Lies About Endangered Species
Controversial gravel mine project hit with allegations of
government cover-up

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/06/sunol.html

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Groups Target Mojave Hunting
Enviros petition Park Service to limit hunting in Mojave
National Preserve

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/06/mojavehunt.html

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Environmentally-Damaging State Programs Cost $23 Billion
Report identifies wasteful projects

Read it: 
http://www.faultline.org/news/2002/06/greendog.html

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COMING SOON . . .
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Environmental Justice Resources
Faultline's Intern Emily George has been hard at work
compiling a list of statewide websites dealing with race,
class and the environment. They'll be online in our
Resources section Real Soon Now.

California's Endangered Rivers
David Bolling looks at the wild - and wildly diverse -
watercourses that shaped this unique state. In some places,
they don't even have dams on them.

Frogs and Gnatcatchers
Joe Eaton brings us up to speed on recent Endangered
Species decisions.

Bring Back The Griz!
Restoring condors and pronghorns and such is just fine, but
if we really want to put our beliefs on the line, how about
restoring a California native that can stalk and eat us?
Mark Palmer has a glimmer of an idea.

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Tell a friend about Faultline: feel free to pass this
newsletter on to people you think may be interested.

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Copyright 2002 Faultline Magazine
Faultline is a publication of the Faultline Media Project,
a project of the Earth Island Institute.

Faultline's intent is to bring Californians accurate and
compelling environmental news and information, on subjects
ranging from environmental justice to wilderness protection.
We want to foster a sense of awareness of California as a
unique place with unique issues, to accentuate and promote
the community of environmentally-aware Californians, and to
encourage ways of living that are appropriate to the state's
distinct environment and diverse cultures.


-- 
Chris Clarke             | Editor, Faultline
http://www.faultline.org | California's Environmental Magazine