KPCC News In Brief

Posts about “Environment” Category

• City sanitation officals to unveil zero waste plan

  Two years of planning about ways to cut the amount of garbage Los Angeles throws away wrap up this weekend. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that city sanitation officials will unveil a zero waste plan at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

  Molly Peterson: Public works and sanitation officials have been re-thinking how Angelinos make products, use stuff, and recycle it – or throw it away. Planners have fielded comments from thousands of people at neighborhood meetings in recent years.

  All this groundwork is supposed to lead to a 20-year plan for the way the city of Los Angeles manages its waste. A key goal of the plan is to divert 70 percent of waste from landfills, for recycling, composting, or reuse within six years.

  Last January, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that within 21 years he’d like to see the city divert all its waste from landfills. City officials hope these plans could deliver financial benefits, too. After it hears feedback on the plan this weekend, the Department of Public Works will finalize it later this year.

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  • May 29, 2009 4:50 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA city fire chief will retire

  The chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Douglas Barry, announced today that he’s ready to retire. KPCC’s Brian Watt says his announcement follows more than three decades with the department.

  Brian Watt: South Bay native Douglas Barry attended Narbonne High School, Harbor College, and Cal State Long Beach. He spent 34 years moving up the ranks of the city fire department.

  Three years ago, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Barry interim chief as the department was burning with racial and sexual harassment scandals. Barry believes he’s turned the department around. But he understands that some people might think controversy drove him out.

  Douglas Barry: To the contrary. Everyone, from the mayor, the City Council, the Fire Commission, the controller, and the fire department members have been extremely supportive of me and my leadership and have expressed to me their desire that I stay longer.

  Watt: Barry is the L.A. Fire Department’s first African-American chief. His announcement comes as the department prepares to address a deficit of $56 million. The tough budget year begins on July 1st, and Barry says he’ll stay on until August 30th to make some of the tough calls.

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  • May 28, 2009 11:27 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal government delays action again on protections for forests

  The U.S. Forest Service has imposed a “time out” on development and roads in millions of acres of federal land, mostly in the West. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports the move aims to unify a national policy that’s gotten messy.

  Molly Peterson: The federal government will transfer authority over some wildland development to the secretary of agriculture. It’s also placing on hold the so-called “roadless rule” – a regulation first developed under President Bill Clinton.

  Friction between the timber industry and environmentalists over how to manage these lands drove the rule into two federal courts that have issued conflicting opinions about what should happen. In California, the Clinton rule has held sway over about 4 million acres – 20 percent of the state’s federal forests.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger supported that. But the Bush Administration petitioned, and another judge allowed states to make their own plans less restrictive to development – so Idaho and Colorado have been doing that for their forests.

  This latest move by the Obama Administration also requests that federal lawyers reverse previous policy and stop arguing against this kind of wildland protection.

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  • May 28, 2009 4:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Fire officials don't like state borrowing revenue from counties

  The state’s providing less money this year for firefighting, so public safety is more important than ever, Southern California fire officials said today as they announced a new campaign.

  Los Angeles County Fire chief Mike Freeman says he’s concerned about the state’s plan to borrow property tax revenues from counties. Freeman says that even though emergency programs are a state priority, he’s responding to more emergencies these days.

  Mike Freeman: “Buying equipment, buying fuel, fuel has come down but it’s still very expensive. All these things come into play, so we do have a little bit of a fallback right now. But that money is going fast and the basic principle of public funding is that you do not pay for ongoing costs with one-time monies.”

  Along with chiefs from Orange County and Ventura County, Freeman supports the new regional “ready, set, go” action plan. That advises people who live in wildfire-prone areas to prepare their homes and leave early when there’s a risk.

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  • May 27, 2009 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• LA City Council postpones vote on billboard ban

  The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously today on the contentious issue of billboard expansion. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says it’s not the vote people on either side of the matter had hoped for.

  Cheryl Devall: Now that L.A.’s elected Carmen Trutanich as its next city attorney, the city council has decided to let him review a proposed moratorium on new billboards and digital billboard conversions when he takes office in July.

  A temporary ban on new billboards and supergraphics – ads that wrap around multi-story buildings – runs out next month. The city council is expected to extend that ban to September, when it’s scheduled to vote again.

  The unanimous decision to put off a final decision until September disappointed people who testified for three hours on the free speech, commercial, and aesthetic implications of limiting billboard expansion.

  Anti-sign forces object to a provision that would designate 21 “sign districts” to accommodate new billboards in areas including the L.A. International Airport corridor and Hollywood. Outdoor advertising companies don’t like the fines that plan would charge for every violation of the ordinance.

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  • May 26, 2009 4:52 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• DWP unveils monument to those who've died on the job

  The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power unveiled a monument today for employees who have died on the job. DWP Chief David Nahai said it was the suggestion of a current DWP employee that motivated him to push for a permanent memorial.

  David Nahai: “It provided me with what I needed, what my soul told me had to be done, in order to recognize our DWP people who lost their lives.”

  The glass monument is etched on one side with the names of 216 workers. Almost 30 of them died in 1928, when the Saint Francis Dam failed catastrophically. DWP estimates that another 40 men died during the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct – but there are no records of their names.

  Nahai says the agency owes it to the workers who are being memorialized to take safety precautions so that no other names are added to the monument.

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  • May 22, 2009 4:20 PM
  • Categories: Environment, History

• Sole Republican vote for climate change bill is Californian

  Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman of Los Angeles scored a major victory on Capitol Hill last night. The Energy and Commerce Committee he chairs passed a major piece of climate change legislation before Memorial Day, just as he promised. The victory came with help from a fellow Californian from the other side of the aisle. KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Congressman Henry Waxman: The clerk will call the roll.
  Clerk: Mr. Waxman.
  Waxman: Aye.
  Clerk: Mr. Waxman votes aye.

  Kitty Felde: By a vote of 33-25, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The measure battles climate change by promoting renewable sources of electricity. It also creates a pollution credit trading system for industry.

  The vote was largely along party lines. Four Democrats voted no and one Republican, Mary Bono Mack, voted yes. The congresswoman from Palm Springs said the issue of climate change was important enough to move the bill forward. In its present form, she said it was missing one important element.

  Congresswoman Mary Bono Mac: We would really like to see a lot more done to promote nuclear power and don’t feel this bill is doing that.

  Felde: The bill now goes to other House committees and is likely to change quite a bit before coming to the floor for a vote. Even in this committee, members considered nearly a hundred amendments to the bill.

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  • May 21, 2009 8:42 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal stimulus money headed for Southland water systems

  There’s money on tap for water systems in California. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says that much of a $440 million federal stimulus grant will go to the Inland Empire.

  Molly Peterson: Each year, the state gets about a quarter of a billion dollars in support for water infrastructure projects. This year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency says the needs are more urgent, so the agency’s using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for improvements in California and other states.

  Federal money will go to California’s water resources control board, for regional wastewater treatment and storm runoff projects. The state’s public health department will also get some of the money to upgrade local drinking water systems.

  The recent law will bring zero-interest loans to Southern California – in Riverside County, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and the Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District will get a combined $54 million. In Los Angeles County, the Upper San Gabriel Valley project is in line for $11 million.

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  • May 21, 2009 3:27 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Cuts likely in state health and human services budget

  The secretary of California’s health and human services agency says difficult cuts lie ahead, given the state’s projected $21 billion deficit. Secretary Kim Belshe told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that her agency’s considering various proposals.

  Kim Belshe: “Basically we are compelled, given nature of state’s fiscal crisis, to look at every program that’s not required by the federal government. We are endeavoring to put forward proposals, though, that target resources to those who are most in need.”

  Belshe says one proposal would eliminate coverage for more than 200,000 children in the state’s Healthy Families program. The state could also drop its support of HIV and AIDS education and prevention programs. Belshe says it’s also likely that clinics will have fewer state resources to work with after the cuts.

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  • May 21, 2009 2:24 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Apparent aftershock shakes LA, surrounding areas

  A medium-sized earthquake shook Los Angeles and surrounding areas about 11 minutes before 4 o’clock. Here’s an update from KPCC’s Molly Peterson.

  Molly Peterson: The U.S. Geological Survey places the center of the magnitude 4.1 quake about a mile northeast of Hawthorne, and four miles east of El Segundo, at a depth of 7-and-a-half miles.

  In KPCC’s downtown Los Angeles newsroom, ceiling-mounted televisions swayed from side to side. But behind the building, drivers in cars easing onto the 110 freeway didn’t slow or visibly react to the shaking. Another 2.5 magnitude quake followed soon after.

  The Los Angeles Fire Department’s fielded no reports of fire, significant damage, or injuries after the quakes. The fire department is operating in a standard earthquake emergency mode. That means firefighters check their districts for damage or other quake-related problems.

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  • May 19, 2009 4:15 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LAX gets through earthquake with no damage, no service disruption

  Last night’s 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit within just a few miles of Los Angeles International Airport. But the airport got through it with no damage or disruption in service.

  James Butts is director of public safety at LAX. He says the airport has an emergency plan that went off without a hitch.

  James Butts: “We immediately do an assessment of the facilities of the airport when an earthquake happens or any type of major event, and we give status reports. So, I was notified within seconds of the quake that those plans were in place and the people in our emergency management section sent out the notifications. And so I’m very satisfied with our preparation for unusual occurrences here.”

  Butts says, in emergencies, airport police and personnel collaborate with the federal government’s National Incident Management System.

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  • May 18, 2009 2:01 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Earthquake was centered near LAX

  A magnitude 4.7 earthquake and several aftershocks put Southern Californians on edge last night. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the quake was centered near Los Angeles International Airport.

  Steve Julian: The quake didn’t interrupt flights at the airport. But a few miles to the south, business windows broke, including one at a Starbucks where a patron was cut and treated later at a hospital. The quake was fairly deep – more than eight miles down – and mostly shook the cities south of downtown Los Angeles toward San Diego.

  Susan Hough with the U.S. Geological Survey called it a “serious jolt.” Seismologists say last night’s quake likely was along the Newport-Inglewood fault. In 1933, this fault was responsible for a magnitude 6.4 quake that devastated the Long Beach region – 120 people died.

  Last summer, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered about an hour east of Los Angeles made buildings sway, but there’ve been no major quakes in Southern California since 1994’s deadly Northridge Earthquake.

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  • May 18, 2009 10:25 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• 4.7 quake shakes Southern California

  A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook Southern California last night, and several aftershocks kept residents on edge. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: Southern California has been in a relative earthquake lull since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. That one – a magnitude 6.7 quake – brought down buildings and bridges. Last night’s quake was centered eight miles below the surface, but only three miles east of Los Angeles International Airport.

  The airport got through the quake unscathed, but about 15 miles to the south, windows broke at a drapery business and at a Starbucks. And during a showing of the new movie “Angels and Demons,” tiles fell from the theater’s ceiling – everyone apparently ran out.

  The quake was felt mostly from downtown L.A., south to San Diego. A seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey says there could be more aftershocks, but there’s only a slight chance one of them would be larger than last night’s magnitude 4.7.

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  • May 18, 2009 10:23 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Southern California hit by moderate earthquake

  A moderate earthquake shook Los Angeles Sunday night, rattling neighborhoods from the San Fernando Valley to south Orange County.

  The magnitude 4.7 quake struck at 8:40pm. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake’s epicenter was about two miles east of Los Angeles International Airport, and about a half-mile south of Hollywood Park Racetrack and Casino. Residents in that area say the shaking lasted 15 seconds or more. The quake shook items off shelves, but there were no reports of major damage or injuries.

  Two aftershocks - magnitude 2.5 and 3.1 - hit minutes after the initial quake, followed more than an hour later by two smaller shakes.

  The quake was the strongest to strike the Southland since the magnitude 5.5 earthquake that hit in Chino Hills last July 29th.

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  • May 17, 2009 11:21 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Moderate quake rocks Los Angeles area

  By CHRISTOPHER WEBER
  Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A moderate earthquake rocked the Los Angeles region late Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of any major injuries or damage.

  The magnitude-4.7 quake hit at 8:39 p.m. about 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, near Inglewood, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was followed minutes later by at least three smaller aftershocks, with the largest registering at magnitude-3.1.

  The quake jiggled the greater Los Angeles region for about 10 to 15 seconds and was felt as far south as San Diego, said USGS seismologist Susan Hough.

  “This was a serious jolt. It was probably felt within 100 miles,” Hough said.

  The shaking was most intense in the coastal communities south of the Los Angeles International Airport. Some residents said books and other items were knocked off the shelves. However, people who live north of downtown Los Angeles either felt a light shake or nothing at all.

  There were no reports of any damage at LAX, just miles from the epicenter. The Los Angeles Fire Department received plenty of calls, but none to report any major injuries, said spokesman Brian Humphrey.

  Tom Oswalt, 46, said he was packing clothes for a business trip at his home in Long Beach when the shaking started.

  “First thing I thought was ‘Is this the big one?’ It was pretty powerful,” he said. “My first thought was to get out of the building, get my dog and get out of the building. Now we’re just waiting for aftershocks.”

  Hough said there will likely be more aftershocks in the “threes, maybe a four,” but only a five percent chance of a larger quake.

  “People should be on their toes,” she said.

  Seismologists had pegged the quake initially at a magnitude-4.7, then revised it to a magnitude-5.0, but updated it about an hour after the temblor struck back to 4.7.

  It’s the largest quake in the greater Los Angeles area since a magnitude-5.4 quake struck Chino Hills July 29, 2008.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • May 17, 2009 10:42 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Plan to ban smoking at state beaches moves forward

  The State Senate approved a plan to ban smoking at state parks and beaches yesterday. The bill is designed to protect marine life and reduce fire danger. KPCC’s Alex Cohen has the story.

  Alex Cohen: Senate Bill 4 calls for a fine of up to $100 for smoking at a state park or beach. Democratic Senator Jenny Oropeza of Long Beach said she is not trying to punish anyone – she’s just trying to make California a cleaner, safer place.

  She referred to federal Environmental Protection Agency research that’s determined cigarette butts are the most frequently found marine debris item in the country. Oropeza added that ingestion of cigarettes by marine animals interferes with their ability to eat and digest food.

  Cigarette butts contain more than 165 chemicals and are not biodegradeable. More than 100 local governments have already passed smoking bans for parks, beaches, and piers. Oropeza’s bill now goes to the California Assembly for review.

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  • May 15, 2009 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• EPA praises Port of Long Beach's Green Flag program

  In Washington today, federal officials are praising the Port of Long Beach’s efforts to control air pollution. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The port’s green flag program has earned Long Beach officials a blue ribbon. The Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Clean Air Excellence Awards honor a few anti-pollution programs in each state.

  The Green Flag program encourages businesses to slow ships as they approach the harbor – that slows their ability to spew particulate matter and smog into the air. Slower ships may use less fuel, too. A business whose vessels slow within 20 miles of the port 90 percent of the time gets a break in dockage rates.

  The port of Long Beach has put more than $2 million into Green Flag. This year the program expanded to encourage slower shipping within 40 miles of the dock.

  The program’s voluntary – international maritime authorities have the most sway over ships that spend most of their time on international waters. But a few companies in the Green Flag program are returning the money they save on dockage rates to environmental programs in Long Beach.

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  • May 13, 2009 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Santa Monica considers how to handle water shortages

  Santa Monica’s City Council considers a formal plan to respond to water shortages tonight. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that conservation has the city in good shape.

  Molly Peterson: Santa Monica gets water from the Metropolitan Water District. Facing drought, low rainfall, and limited supplies from other parts of California, the district voted to cut how much water it delivers to customers like Santa Monica, and to charge penalties for overuse.

  The water shortage response plan gives the city council the authority to declare an emergency and the power to ration water. Santa Monica public works isn’t recommending limits – but the city council is considering an advisory declaration. City officials say they’ve planned for dry times.

  For almost two years, Santa Monica has asked its people to use 20 fewer gallons each day. If everyone did it, that 20-gallon challenge would add up to a 10 percent reduction in the city. Since August 2007, Santa Monica has almost done that – the city’s public works department reports that water demand is down by 9 percent.

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  • May 12, 2009 3:07 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Jesusita Fire 80 percent contained, but concerns about strong winds remain

  The fire above Santa Barbara is now 80 percent contained, but concerns remain over potentially strong winds this afternoon. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: When firefighters say they have a fire “contained,” they mean they’ve surrounded it, either physically with crews or by depriving it of more fuel. The week-old Jesusita Fire is all but contained – in fact, there’s little left but smoldering remains. But those remains can become dangerous if the wind picks up.

  What’s known as Sundowner winds commonly blow down from the Santa Ynez Mountains onto Santa Barbara – it’s those winds that spread the fire through neighborhoods where it damaged 22 homes and burned down 78 others, along with dozens of outbuildings. In all, the fire’s burned more than 13 square miles; one Ventura County firefighter remains hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns.

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  • May 12, 2009 11:25 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Griffith Park arsonist sentenced to 16 years in prison

  A Glendale man has landed a 16-year prison sentence for setting several fires last year in L.A.’s Griffith Park. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The fires Gary Allen Lintz pleaded no contest to starting didn’t turn into the kind that scorched more than 800 acres in Los Angeles’ biggest park a couple of years ago. But that big one heightened park officials’ concern over any threat of another like it.

  Some hikers reported Lintz last August after they saw him near where a small fire had broken out. Police arrested him and charged him with starting four fires in the park during the summer. He’s been in jail since that arrest.

  During his sentencing hearing, Lintz also admitted to causing injury to a firefighter hurt while he fought one of the fires he’d set, and to having an earlier arson conviction. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed three other charges against Lintz – and he wasted no time ordering the 16-year sentence.

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  • May 11, 2009 3:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• Weather expert worries it could be bad fire season

  Fire officials in Santa Barbara say they’ve contained 70 percent of the Jesusita fire that forced thousands of people to flee their homes last week. Officials say it appears that sparks from a power tool someone used to clear brush started the fire. Forecasters warn the fire could be a harbinger. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  [Radio traffic]

  Frank Stoltze: At the command post in Santa Barbara, Robert Balfour surveyed the mass of firefighters and fire trucks.

  Robert Balfour: This is early May and we are seeing fire conditions like October, and that was the briefing to most of the crews – “Get your game plan, we are fighting extreme fire conditions early in the season.”

  Stoltze: Balfour is a National Weather Service forecaster. He worked as the “incident meteorologist” on the Santa Barbara fire. Each day, fire officials relied on him to predict the behavior of the hot, gusty, erratic sundowner winds that drove the flames.

  Balfour: In the last 10 years, we have seen record-breaking fire seasons, and so it’s easy to say – and true to say – that this year could be the worst fire season we’ve ever seen.

  Stoltze: At the same time, Balfour says significant fires burned in May last year but the summer was quiet. The forecaster says it’s hard to predict.

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  • May 11, 2009 2:36 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Jesusita Fire 70 percent contained, but hotspots remain

  The Jesusita Fire in the Santa Barbara foothills is about 70 percent contained. More than 100 crews are working to finish putting a containment line around the rest of the burn area. David Sadecki is a spokesman for Santa Barbara County Fire. He says there still are some hotspots.

  David Sadecki: “Crews are reporting that there are small pockets of active burns, we call them ‘smokes,’ that need to be extinguished. That’s why those guys are up there.

  “They’re dragging the hose lines up the hill. We have the helicopters flying in – hotspotting, and so there are still some, a little bit of activity, but it’s really diminished.”

  About 145 homes are still evacuated. Sadecki says he’s not sure when their occupants will be able to return. Winds are expected to return tomorrow after several foggy mornings, but they are not expected to be as strong as last week.

  The Jesusita fire destroyed 77 homes and damaged nearly two dozen others. It burned about 8,700 acres. Fire officials believe the fire may have been started by someone using a power tool to clear brush.

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  • May 11, 2009 11:54 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Power tool may have sparked Santa Barbara wildfire

  By AMY TAXIN
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — The wildfire that has scorched 13 square miles and destroyed dozens of homes in the hills above this scenic coastal city was apparently sparked by a power tool being used to clear brush, investigators said Sunday.

  Fire officials said someone, or possibly a group of people, was clearing vegetation on what appeared to be private land near the trail around the time the fire erupted Tuesday.

  “Any time you use any power tool, there’s always a possibility, especially if the conditions are right,” said Joe Waterman, the overall fire commander from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

  Some Santa Barbara County residents recently received annual notices advising them they had until June 1 to clear potentially hazardous brush, county fire Capt. Glenn Fidler said.

  It was not immediately clear whether the blaze originated in an area targeted by such a notice.

  Officials declined to comment further about the type of power tool that may have been used, or if anyone could face charges.

  The fire has destroyed 77 homes, damaged 22 others and forced the evacuation of approximately 30,000 people to safer ground.

  By late Sunday, all but 375 residents from 145 homes had been allowed to return home and firefighters had the blaze 65 percent contained, aided by cooler, more humid weather.

  Relieved to see their homes still standing, grateful residents paid tribute to firefighters by tooting car horns in their honor and posting large thank-you signs on their front lawns.

  More than 4,500 firefighters worked to contain as much of the blaze as they could before the hot, dry “sundowner” winds that pushed flames on homes earlier in the week return, possibly as early as Tuesday.

  “We have a window of opportunity right now to get our lines tied in and to get hot spots mopped up as good as possible because the next couple of days the wind is going to resurface again and we need to be prepared,” said Kelley Gouette, deputy incident commander for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

  Fire officials over the weekend had lauded residents’ removal of brush and fire-prone plants from their properties to bolster the defensible space needed to protect a house from a wildfire and keep firefighters safe while working in the region.

  Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin recalled that a 1990 blaze took out 500 homes, although it didn’t burn across as wide a swatch of land as the 13 square miles covered by this week’s fire.

  “More homes would have burned had they not done their defensible space work,” Franklin said of the residents who gave firefighters the best conditions to work in.

  Richard Martin, a 73-year old retired University of California, Santa Barbara, chemistry professor, rode out the worst of the firestorm from a five-by-seven-foot concrete bunker he built to store important documents.

  Martin and his wife, Penny, ducked in and out of the bunker to battle spot fires on the oak trees surrounding their four-level home tucked away near the Botanic Garden. But he also credited rooftop sprinklers, clearing brush and planting low, fire resistant plants around the edge of his home with its survival.

  “All the trees the leaves are all dead because they’ve been scorched,” Martin said, pointing out the glass door of his wooden deck. “But those plants haven’t been scorched. They look normal.”

  In 2005, California extended the required clearance around homes in an effort to bolster the defensible space needed to protect a house from a wildfire and keep firefighters safe while working in the region.

  In Santa Barbara County, officials can also clear brush from unkempt property and charge homeowners for doing so. Franklin said they usually need to enforce that regulation on no more than a couple of homes a year.

  Firefighters say they are more likely to hunker down and try to save a home that has good defensible space because they have a better and safer shot at getting a handle on the blaze.

  In recent years, many residents have gotten rid of more volatile plant life, replacing it with fire-resistant gardens or just clearing it out entirely. Some have built fire safety into the construction of the homes themselves.

  Some residents are reluctant to hack down the tree branches that shade their homes and give them privacy in the rolling canyons above the city’s downtown, where many houses can’t even be seen from the main roads.

  In the Painted Cave community, most homes are covered with branches and shrouded in trees, said Barry Flores, a Sacramento fire battalion chief working on the western front of the blaze.

  “It’s a firefighter’s worst nightmare,” he said.

  Link: Wildfire coverage from L.A. Times blog
  Link: Ventura County Star fire stories
  Link: L.A. Times Google map of Jesusita Fire
  Link: Jesusita Fire on Twitter

  Associated Press writer Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • May 10, 2009 10:48 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Most Santa Barbara fire evacuations being lifted

  By AMY TAXIN
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of residents were back home Saturday as a blanket of cool, moist air flowing in from the Pacific Ocean tamed a wind-driven wildfire that burned dozens of homes along the outskirts of town during the week.

  Cheers erupted at an evacuation center when Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced that mandatory evacuation orders for most areas were being downgraded to evacuation warnings, meaning residents could return but would have to remain alert.

  Among the first to return were Jonathan Kenny, 44, and his wife, Susan Kim, 42, who found their home covered in ash but still standing near blackened hillsides that showed just how close the fire came.

  “I feel like we dodged a bullet on this one,” said Kenny, who watered plants and fed goldfish in a backyard pond.

  “They’re not floating belly up, so that’s a good sign,” Kim said.

  But a short distance away up a narrow canyon road, gutted homes and burned out cars awaited the return of their owners. A scorched palm tree jutted toward a clear, blue sky and a lawn chair, scorched appliances and metal filing cabinets were among the few recognizable remnants.

  More than 30,000 people had been under mandatory evacuation orders dating back as far as Tuesday afternoon, when the fire erupted just above Santa Barbara on the face of steep Santa Ynez Mountains. An additional 23,000 had been on evacuation standby.

  By Saturday evening, well over half of the those residents were back in their homes, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Commander Darin Fotheringham said.

  Fire officials also revised their count of burnt houses, saying the blaze had destroyed 31 homes and two detached garages, and damaged another 47 homes. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had incorrectly reported on its Web site earlier that 80 structures were destroyed after the count of destroyed and damaged structures was mistakenly combined.

  Notorious local winds known as “sundowners” sweeping from inland and down the face of the mountains drove the fire into outlying neighborhoods Wednesday afternoon, causing most of the destruction, and again late Thursday and early Friday.

  A predicted sundowner failed to materialize Friday night, and instead the normal flow of air from the Pacific Ocean pushed ashore a dense, moist marine layer that didn’t let the sun peek through until nearly midday. Officials had said an onshore flow would raise humidity levels and blow the fire away from developed areas on the foothills.

  The National Weather Service on Saturday dropped fire weather warnings and predicted that overnight clouds and fog would continue through Monday morning before a return of a weak-to-moderate sundowners in the Santa Ynez range Monday night and into midweek.

  Firefighters were cautious but said the blaze that had covered more than 13 square miles was 40 percent contained. Water-dropping helicopters continued to shuttle between reservoirs and hot spots but flames were not apparent and the huge plumes of smoke that loomed over the city for days had vanished.

  “It’s easy on a day like today to look around and go, ‘Wow, you know, we’ve got this thing beat,” Joe Waterman, the overall fire commander from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Saturday evening. “We don’t have this thing beat yet.”

  The blaze was expected to be fully contained by Wednesday. On Friday, it had been active along a five-mile front just above Santa Barbara, west toward neighboring Goleta and east toward the community of Montecito.

  Brown said the evacuations were being lifted in phases to avoid traffic jams from returning residents.

  “We hope to get everyone back as soon as possible, but it’s nice to be able to deliver some good news to you, for a change.” the sheriff said.

  Martha Marsango, an 87-year-old widow, didn’t wait for evacuation orders to lift. She said she made her way back home Friday, adding that she knew she “could replace everything that was in it, but it is still my home.”

  Resident Eric Hall, 59, said he believed the worst was over when he felt the mist sweep in off the ocean.

  “The weather is cooperating,” said Hall, who was having ash cleaned off his daughter’s car at a car wash.

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited evacuees housed at the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus before the sheriff’s announcement.

  “I think one woman came up to me and said ‘I like it here much better than my home because here finally I’m getting served other than me always having to provide for the family.’ So there’s a great sense of humor here,” Schwarzenegger said.

  Actor Rob Lowe, an area resident, said the fire was scary but he shared the governor’s sentiment about how residents have dealt with it.

  “This kind of a fire was touch-and-go for a long time,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of friends who have been evacuated. We’re sheltering people at our house. The community just pulled together.”

  Link: Wildfire coverage from L.A. Times blog
  Link: Ventura County Star fire stories
  Link: L.A. Times Google map of Jesusita Fire
  Link: Jesusita Fire on Twitter

  Associated Press writer Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

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  • May 10, 2009 12:58 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Morning fog brings relief for Calif. fire crews

  By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A cool sea breeze and thick morning fog provided some relief Saturday for crews battling the wildfire that has destroyed scores of homes along the California coast and forced thousands to evacuate.

  There was still a threat that dry inland wind could return to stoke the flames again.

  The fog rolled in from the ocean early Saturday and blanketed the lower elevation areas of the fire.

  “It wasn’t expected,” said Sarah Gibson, Santa Barbara county public information officer. “It was a nice, thick, wet flow.”

  However, the fog was expected to burn off by midmorning, and the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory warning that wind could gust to 20 to 25 mph in the Santa Ynez mountain range.

  Humidity is expected to remain low in the higher slopes although not as low as in previous days.

  “It’s better than before but it’s still of concern,” Gibson said.

  More than 30,000 people have left the area and authorities urged 23,000 others to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

  The blaze was only 10 percent contained as of Friday night, after charring more than 13 square miles and destroying about 80 homes as it menaced this celebrity enclave and other coastal towns.

  The blaze has been fanned by the area’s “Sundowners,” fierce local wind that sweeps down the mountain slopes from north to south and out to sea.

  “When the air is coming off of the ocean the humidity is fairly high and it pushes the fire back away from the community,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said. “But the (sundowner) prediction is still there. The winds could surface, change back around and blow the fire back downhill.”

  The weather service said the sharp north-to-south pressure gradient creating the wind was expected to weaken but remain strong enough to produce gusts through Saturday, and possibly until Sunday morning.

  The fire was raging along a five-mile-long front above normally serene coastal communities.

  “There will be a point in the incident when I will have cautious optimism but I’m not there yet,” Joe Waterman, the overall fire commander from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Friday.

  About 80 homes have been destroyed in neighborhoods on ridges and in canyons that rise up the foothills above the north edge of Santa Barbara.

  The city and adjacent communities are pinched between the coast on the south and the rugged mountains on the north, putting them in the path of the sundowner wind.

  The Santa Barbara area has long been a favorite of celebrities. Oprah Winfrey has an estate in Montecito, where Charlie Chaplin’s old seaside escape, the Montecito Inn, has stood since 1928. A ranch in the mountains that Ronald and Nancy Reagan bought became his Western retreat during his presidency.

  Some 3,500 firefighters were on the scene along with 428 engines, 14 air tankers and 15 helicopters. A DC-10 jumbo jet tanker capable of dumping huge loads of retardant began making runs on the fire Friday afternoon.

  Officials said 11 firefighters had been injured to date, including three who were burned in a firestorm Wednesday. They were reported in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center.

  The cause of the blaze, which broke out Tuesday, remained under investigation.

  Link: Wildfire coverage from L.A. Times blog
  Link: Ventura County Star fire stories
  Link: L.A. Times Google map of Jesusita Fire
  Link: Jesusita Fire on Twitter

  Associated Press writers Amy Taxin and Jeff Wilson contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • May 9, 2009 8:28 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• 88-year-old deals with Santa Barbara fire

  More than 30,000 people are under evacuation orders in the Jesusita Fire area in Santa Barbara County. Eighty-eight-year-old Joe Johnson lives at the base of Highway 154 in Santa Barbara. He told KPCC’s Frank Stoltze the fire forced him from his home last night.

  Joe Johnson: “I wasn’t told I had to evacuate, and I had a chance of going with my son and going to his home, or going to a lady friend who lives about two miles away. And I wanted to keep her company, and you know, be with her ‘cause she was extremely nervous. And so I went down there with her and then we were evacuated from that point. And we over to UCSB at one of those places that had room for us.”

  Frank Stoltze: “And now you’re back at your home even though an evacuation order remains in effect for this area?”

  Johnson: “That’s true. I feel very confident in here that I’m not in danger yet.”

  Johnson said he’s concerned that sundowner winds can easily sweep flames back to his neighborhood. The Jesusita Fire has burned through more than 3,000 acres.

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  • May 8, 2009 7:30 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Firefighters use helicopters to fight Santa Barbara fire

  It’s day four of the Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara. The wildfire has burnt through more than 3,000 acres. During another hot and windy day, firefighters on land and in the air are racing to put out the flames.

  KPCC’s Frank Stoltze stopped by a refilling station for helicopters on the western flank of the fire line.

  [Sound of helicopter]

  Frank Stoltze: A yellow Ventura County Fire Department helicopter now is lowering its hose into a portable tank that’s been set up. That hose will siphon water into the helicopter’s water tank.

  He’s lowering the hose now and it slowly goes into the tank. And then he’ll take off with that water and head back into the hills to drop on the fire.

  Fire officials say it takes about 8 or 10 minutes for them to go up into the hills, drop their water, and then come back for another load of water.

  Note: Emergency officials have ordered close to 30,000 people to evacuate the fire area.

  Tools

  • May 8, 2009 7:28 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Firefighter appreciation day falls on weekend of Santa Barbara fire

  The fire in Santa Barbara is a reminder of how much we rely on firefighters in Southern California – and appreciate what they do. Angelenos don’t have to wait for the next emergency to express that gratitude. Turns out tomorrow is Fire Service Recognition Day in Los Angeles. Inspector Steve Zermeno with the L.A. County Fire Department says city and county fire stations are inviting people to visit.

  Steve Zermeno: “We love making contact with the community. It’s a relaxed time, instead of some type of an emergency, and making contact that way with the community, we like to have it the other way around, where it can be a relaxed atmosphere. They can come out and have a chat.”

  Zermeno says the whole family is invited, including the kids and dogs. He says it’s a little known fact that L.A.’s fire stations are always open to the public for daytime visits.

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  • May 8, 2009 7:25 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• More than 30,000 ordered to flee Santa Barbara fire

  By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Turning the horizon a lurid orange and raining embers on roofs as it advanced, a raging wildfire that has destroyed scores of homes in the hills menaced this celebrity enclave and other coastal towns Friday, and the number of people ordered to flee climbed to more than 30,000.

  Authorities warned an additional 23,000 to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, despite improving weather conditions.

  “There will be a point in the incident when I will have cautious optimism but I’m not there yet,” said Joe Waterman, the overall fire commander from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

  Columns of smoke rose off the Santa Ynez Mountains as the 4-day-old blaze - fanned by “sundowner” winds that sweep down the slopes in the evening - blew up from 2,700 acres to 3,500 in less than a day, creating a firefighting front five miles long.

  “It’s crazy. The whole mountain looked like an inferno,” said Maria Martinez, 50, who with her fiance hurriedly left her home in San Marcos Pass, on the edge of Santa Barbara. The couple went to an evacuation center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

  Predicted sundowner winds didn’t happen late Friday as breezes blew in from the Pacific Ocean, pushing the fire away from homes, said Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin. But he warned that the sundowners “could surface, change back around and blow the fire back downhill.”

  An unknown number of homes were destroyed in the blowup that began Thursday night, in addition to the estimated 75 houses that burned the night before on the ridges and in the canyons above Santa Barbara.

  No deaths or serious injuries were reported.

  The number of people ordered to evacuate rose to 30,500 from 12,000 the night before as the blaze pushed west toward neighboring Goleta and east toward well-to-do Montecito.

  “Literally last night, all hell broke loose,” Santa Barbara Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio said Friday morning, recounting firefighters’ efforts to put out roof fires and keep flames out of his section of the city.

  The eight-member Wasjutin family arrived at the university campus in three cars and a trailer packed with four dogs, eight baby chickens, two cockatiels, an iguana, a rat named Cutie and an African spur tortoise. They fled their 40-acre San Marcos Pass property after watching the flames grow closer. They left three horses and three hens behind.

  “We drove down through fire on both sides,” said Silvia Wasjutin, 48, a speech pathologist.

  In a scene of strange contrasts, students bicycled to classes and midterms as ash fell on campus, and boats bobbed in Santa Barbara’s harbor as smoke rose from the mountains above town.

  The Santa Barbara area has long been a favorite of celebrities. Oprah Winfrey has an estate in Montecito, where Charlie Chaplin’s old seaside escape, the Montecito Inn, has stood since 1928. A ranch in the mountains that Ronald and Nancy Reagan bought became his Western retreat during his presidency.

  More than 2,300 firefighters battled the blaze, using at least 246 engines, 14 air tankers and 15 helicopters. A DC-10 jumbo jet tanker capable of dumping huge loads of retardant began making runs on the fire in the afternoon.

  The cause of the blaze, which broke out Tuesday, remained under investigation.

  Evacuation shelters were set up, and hotels offered deals to evacuees.

  “Right now, if you’re not evacuated in the Santa Barbara area, you are sheltering evacuees,” DiMizio said.

  Oscar Funez, 39, his wife, Patricia, 42, and their son, Augustin, 4, were watching the fire on television Thursday night when they noticed other tenants leaving their Santa Barbara apartment building. They packed a suitcase and fled, too.

  “It’s our fourth fire in Santa Barbara. We know we have to have everything - paperwork, clothes, everything - ready to go,” Oscar Funez said.

  The family spent the night on cots at the university, and their little boy was given a stuffed elephant toy by a Red Cross worker. “We must be bad parents, because we didn’t bring his stuffed animals,” his father joked.

  At historic Santa Barbara Mission, established by the Spanish in 1786, the Rev. Tom Messner was one of three friars permitted to remain during the evacuation. He helped make sandwiches for the firefighters.

  Messner said there was plenty of smoke, but “I can’t see the flames, and we have firetrucks in front of the place, so we feel very safe.” The church, a major tourist attraction, was built in 1820, after an earthquake destroyed the previous structure.

  Officials said 11 firefighters had been injured, including three burned in a firestorm Wednesday. They were reported in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center.

  Link: Wildfire coverage from L.A. Times blog
  Link: Ventura County Star fire stories
  Link: L.A. Times Google map of Jesusita Fire
  Link: Jesusita Fire on Twitter

  Associated Press writers Amy Taxin and Jeff Wilson contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  Tools

  • May 8, 2009 7:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA, Orange County firefighters helping in Santa Barbara fire

  Hundreds of local firefighters are helping to battle the Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara. Los Angeles County and L.A. City Fire sent more than 400. Orange County is contributing more than 100. Emergency officials say that even with some of their crews away, they have adequate personnel to respond to local wildfires.

  OC Fire Authority Captain Greg McKeown is asking people throughout the Southland to stay alert this weekend even though we won’t have the type of windy conditions fueling the fire in Santa Barbara.

  Greg McKeown: “The real danger when a wildfire breaks is obviously the temperature, the low humidities, but really what’s the most dangerous is the high winds and luckily, in Orange County we have not had those high winds. Our season for high winds is usually in the later months of the year.”

  The captain says that these days, his agency prepares for a year-round fire season. Weather forecasters are predicting cooler temperatures this weekend with highs not much above the mid-70s in Santa Ana and around 80 in Los Angeles.

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  • May 8, 2009 4:15 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Ranch owner talks about evacuating horses due to fire

  The Earl Warren Showgrounds is the evacuation center for large animals during the Jesusita fire. The Santa Barbara Equine Association says people have brought more than 100 horses there.

  Stacy McMullen left 20 of her horses. She told KPCC’s Frank Stoltze that evacuating horses is a complicated process.

  Stacy McMullen: “You know when you’re pressed for time, getting that many horses out and being organized about it, making sure everybody has halters, you know the horses are going in the right places. For instance, we have a stallion so we have to be a little bit more careful with putting the right horses in the right spots.”
  Frank Stoltze: “In other words, if you put the stallions in with females?”
  McMullen: “Well, you know, you can only imagine.” (laughs)

  McMullen had to flee her ranch earlier this week. She’s not sure whether it’s still standing.

  Tools

  • May 8, 2009 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Ranch owner not sure whether ranch still stands due to fire

  Stacy McMullen had to flee her home because of the Jesusita wildfire. She owns a ranch and she told KPCC’s Frank Stoltze she’s not sure whether it’s still standing.

  Frank Stoltze: “As of a few days ago, everything had burned up to my home. But my home itself was safe along with all the stables. However, last night I understand that the fire came back through so I am not certain as to whether my facility is intact or not.”

  McMullen also had to evacuate her horses. She brought 20 of them to the Earl Warren Showgrounds. It’s serving as an evacuation center for large animals.

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  • May 8, 2009 3:55 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Monsignor says he believes his house survived Jesusita Fire

  About 200 people stayed at the Dos Pueblos High School evacuation center in Goleta last night. Among them was Monsignor John Christopher Yanek, who’s retired from the clergy.

  He was forced to leave his craftsman-style house at Foothill and Mission Canyon Road in Santa Barbara. Yanek says he believes his house survived the fire, despite the fact that it’s made of 100-year-old wood.

  John Christopher Yanek: “The fire came down the hill, we lost our garage with the granny unit above, but miraculously the fire split and went around the house on either side and spared the main house with the chapel inside.”

  Yanek says that earlier this week he observed the Feast of St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters.

  Tools

  • May 8, 2009 3:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Religion/Spirituality

• Red Cross opens second evacuation center after first fills up

  The Red Cross opened a second evacuation shelter overnight at UC Santa Barbara after the first one filled up. About 600 people spent the night at the university’s recreation center.

  The other shelter is at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Susan Forkush is a spokeswoman for the Red Cross. She says a couple hundred people stayed there.

  Susan Forkush: “They’re watching the television this morning. They’re seeing what’s happened overnight. And they’re wondering when they might be able to go home or find out about whether their homes are still standing.”

  Forkush says the Salvation Army is providing meals at the shelter. Nurses and mental health services are also available to the evacuees, along with phones and Internet access. Both shelters will be open again tonight.

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  • May 8, 2009 11:47 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• 3 Ventura County firefighters undergoing burn treatment

  Three Ventura County firefighters are undergoing treatment for burns they sustained yesterday in the Jesusita fire. Dr. Peter Grossman of the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks told reporters that the firefighters’ condition has been upgraded from serious to good.

  Dr. Peter Grossman: “Ron Topolinski, Brian Bulger, and Robert Lopez – all sustained injuries from the fire yesterday. I’m happy to report that none of them currently have life-threatening illnesses, life-threatening injuries. But as you can all imagine, all burns are quite painful and most burns are quite serious.”

  Grossman said two of the three firefighters will require surgery for their burns. The men tried to find shelter in a building after fire overtook their engine.

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  • May 7, 2009 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health

• Sheriff says Jesusita fire still unpredictable, evacuations still in effect

  More than 13,000 people are under a mandatory evacuation order in Santa Barbara County. The county’s sheriff, Bill Brown, said the Jesusita fire is very unpredictable and those evacuations are still in effect.

  Bill Brown: “We have a great need to let the fire authorities deal with this event. And we need to keep people out of the evacuation area. And we will get people back in as soon as it is deemed to be safe to do so by the fire authorities, but we’re not going to be able to do that prematurely. And we ask for the patience and the indulgence of the population.”

  Brown told reporters that no law enforcement officials have been hurt. Three Ventura County firefighters are being treated for burns at a hospital in Sherman Oaks – doctors expect all of them to survive.

  Tools

  • May 7, 2009 2:15 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Georgraphy of Santa Barbara's Jesusita fire changes

  Firefighters in Santa Barbara expect yesterday’s weather to make a repeat performance today. The winds should pick up in the mid- to late afternoon. Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin told reporters that while the weather patterns might be the same, the geography of the Jesusita fire has changed a lot.

  Tom Franklin: “That southern flank of the fire is not a remote flank now, it’s not up in the mountains and inaccessible. That southern flank is down in the populated area. So we are able to go direct on it. We are able to actually fight the fire in a different manner than we were beforehand.”

  Fourteen-hundred firefighters and 177 engines are battling the fire. A dozen fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters are lending a big assist from above – at least until the wind picks up.

  Tools

  • May 7, 2009 2:12 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Santa Barbara fire chief expects winds to pick up this afternoon

  Firefighters in Santa Barbara are trying to contain the two-mile-square Jesusita Fire. Winds may be cooperating at the moment, but Santa Barbara Fire Chief Tom Franklin says he expects those winds to pick up in the afternoon.

  Tom Franklin: “We’re anticipating a similar weather pattern to yesterday. As you recall, yesterday morning was very similar to this – not much of a wind, pretty pleasant day. Right around 3 o’clock in the afternoon those winds kicked up.”

  Forecasters expect winds to reach 30 miles-an-hour – with gusts of up to 60 miles-an-hour – later today.

  Tools

  • May 7, 2009 2:06 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Santa Barbara fire burns over 1,300 acres

  Fire officials haven’t released official numbers on how many homes the fire in Santa Barbara has destroyed. Governor Schwarzenegger says they number in the dozens.

  The fire has burned 1,300 acres and there’s still no containment. The winds did die down this morning, but Santa Barbara County Fire spokesman David Sadecki told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that they are supposed to pick up again later today.

  David Sadecki: “Right now the fire’s kind of laying down. It’s more of a topography-driven fire. When the wind gets a hold of it it becomes a wind-driven fire – and that’s when it gets really erratic and gets really difficult for us to manage.”

  Forecasters also expect low humidity again today so there’s a red flag warning in effect through tomorrow morning, in addition to a high wind warning. More than 5,400 homes are still under an evacuation order.

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  • May 7, 2009 2:03 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Wildfire burns homes in coastal Calif. enclave

  By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
  Associated Press Writer

  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Fierce winds blew a wildfire into Southern California homes Wednesday, forcing thousands of people to flee as columns of smoke rose from a scenic coastal enclave.

  TV news helicopters showed many homes ablaze in Santa Barbara, but the number could not immediately be determined because of thick smoke columns that scattered embers over the city and streamed out over the Pacific Ocean.

  Huge mansions and humble homes alike were reduced to rubble, leaving palm trees swaying over gutted ruins.

  The fire had burned 200 acres, or about one-third of a square mile, by midday when winds were calm, then was whipped by up to 50 mph gusts. By sunset, it was 500 acres - about three-fourths of a square mile - and winds were down to 25 mph, said Santa Barbara County fire Capt. David Sadecki.

  Authorities could not immediately estimate the number of lost structures but aerial footage showed five or more luxury homes burning along a crest-top road. Many flare-ups dotting the residential hills were apparently burning homes.

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency.

  Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Drew Sugars said 5,430 homes were under mandatory evacuation. The estimated population of those homes was 13,575 people, he said.

  Three Ventura County firefighters received minor to moderate burns and respiratory injuries when their fire engine was overtaken by flames as they tried to protect a structure, Ventura County Fire department spokesman Bill Nash said. Their fire engine was heavily damaged in the incident and an accident review team was en route to the scene to determine what had happened.

  The three were taken by helicopter to the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles.

  Mayor Marty Blum said other firefighters remained perilously close to the flames.

  “We have got a couple firefighters in a real tentative situation up there surrounded by some flames, so we are hoping to get them out of there,” Blum told KABC-TV.

  One firefighter suffered a head injury earlier in the day.

  More than 800 firefighters were on the lines, and 20 more strike teams totaling about 1,300 firefighters were requested.

  “The firefighters are picking houses and seeing if they can make a stand,” Sadecki said.

  Authorities ordered 2,000 homes evacuated Wednesday afternoon, up from an earlier evacuation order of 1,200.

  The blaze bore down on the city at frightening speed, said Chad Jenson, a food server at Giovanni’s Pizza.

  “The sky is just deep orange and black, pretty much our whole hillside is going down,” Jenson said.

  In a city that has experienced a number of wildfires, Jenson said this one was as close to the city center as any he had seen. Less than six months ago a fire destroyed more than 200 homes in Santa Barbara and neighboring Montecito, and in 1990, a blaze killed one person and destroyed 641 homes, apartments and other structures in the county.

  Steve Pivato, a Goleta resident, said the homes in the threatened area cost at least $1 million. “There’s no shacks in that area,” he said.

  Pivato said the smoke from the fire turned from gray to black as he drove home: “That’s the color when homes starts burning.”

  Jason Coggins, a waiter at the Kyoto Japanese Restaurant in Santa Barbara, said several traffic lights went out, causing multiple fender benders and traffic problems, and that the air was thick with ash.

  “It’s raining ash all the way down to the beach,” Coggins said.

  Santa Barbara, which has about 90,000 residents, rises rapidly from the Pacific coastline on the south to the foothills of the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains to the north. It is sometimes subject to “sundowners” - strong winds that blow downslope through passes and canyons of the mountain range and offshore. The tourist destination is about 100 miles west of Los Angeles.

  Elsewhere, firefighters were battling a blaze in rural southeastern Arizona that destroyed three houses near Sierra Vista on Tuesday and injured a man. The fire charred about 4,200 acres near Fort Huachuca, threatening about 50 homes in a subdivision. Containment was estimated at 15 percent Wednesday.

  In southern New Mexico, a wildfire in the mountains near Timberon charred about 100 acres, burning at least three structures. State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware said firefighters hadn’t been able to confirm what types of buildings they were.

  Fifteen residents have been evacuated, and 70 structures were threatened, Ware said.

  Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • May 6, 2009 11:53 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Cal Fire emergency expenditures increased in recent years

  Wildfire season seems to arrive earlier every year. Officials with California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection say it’s also getting more expensive. Cal Fire spokeswoman Janet Upton told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that in recent years, the agency’s spent double the amount it usually budgets for emergencies.

  Janet Upton: “Our state has seen more and more significant, large, complex, damaging firestorms, if you will, that almost reach the point of a natural disaster, and they are very, very difficult to control and to fight and, and thereby very expensive.”

  Most of Cal Fire’s budget comes from the state’s general fund. The agency’s set aside $200 million for emergencies, but Upton said that’s not enough to keep up with the cost of fighting multiple, prolonged wildfires.

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  • May 6, 2009 2:53 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Cal Fire expresses concerns about potential budget-related cuts

  Just as fire season is upon us, the statewide fire management agency faces the possibility of staff cuts. Cal Fire’s budget is up for review at the end of this month. The agency’s Janet Upton told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that officials are hoping for the best.

  Janet Upton: “But in the interest of prudence do have to be prepared if cuts do come down the pike. That could be anywhere from 600 to 1,700 firefighters, 20 fire stations, 11 camps, maybe a Helitack base depending on the amount we are asked to cut.”

  Governor Schwarzenegger has threatened to cut many state program budgets if voters don’t pass several revenue-related ballot measures this month.

  Cal Fire has declared this Wildfire Awareness Week – and the fire that began last night in Santa Barbara County has heightened awareness of just how vulnerable the Southland is to the threat of fires.

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  • May 6, 2009 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Lack of winds helps firefighters in Santa Barbara, but winds may pick up

  The wind – or the lack of it – has helped firefighters in Santa Barbara County keep the Jesusita Fire clear of homes and other buildings. But County Fire Chief Tom Franklin says this afternoon’s weather forecast is worse than this morning’s.

  Tom Franklin: “They’re looking at gusts of up to maybe 60 miles an hour to surface, later this afternoon. Lower relative humidities, below 20 percent, which is critical. So we’re not out of the woods, we have a lot of open line out there and a lot of work left to do.”

  Nine hundred firefighters are battling the Jesusita wildfire. Fire officials haven’t given any containment figures.

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  • May 6, 2009 2:34 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• 900 firefighters battle 200 acre wildfire in Santa Barbara foothills

  About 900 firefighters are battling a nearly 200-acre wildfire in the Santa Barbara foothills.

  Firefighters have been helped by a slight onshore flow that’s pushed the fire back up the hill. Crews were concerned that the fire would head down the hill toward homes in the Mission Canyon neighborhood.

  Captain David Sadecki is a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County fire department. He says firefighters are constructing containment lines.

  David Sadecki: “Because the fire’s kind of laying down and the wind is favorable right now, we’re able to go direct attack and start establishing a line between the unburned fuel and the fire.”

  Evacuation orders are still in place for more than a thousand homes. The fire has not burned any structures.

  But the National Weather Service has forecast strong winds for this afternoon. A high wind watch is expected to go into effect at 3 this afternoon for the Santa Barbara County area. Gusts could reach 60 miles an hour. Forecasters also expect low humidity.

  Tools

  • May 6, 2009 2:26 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Firefighters battle wildfire in Santa Barbara foothills

  Water-dropping helicopters continue to attack a wildfire burning in the Santa Barbara foothills. The fire has burned nearly 200 acres. Santa Barbara fire chief Tom Franklin says calmer winds helped firefighters in their effort to contain the wildfire.

  Tom Franklin: “The other thing working in our favor is the time of year. This is pretty early in the season so the fuel moisture is pretty high. Even though the fuel moisture is high, the reason it’s burning is there’s still a lot of dead fuel there, so it’s that dead fuel that’s really taking off.”

  Officials have ordered the occupants of about 1,000 homes to evacuate. It’s not clear how many actually did. The fire is about half a mile from the closest home.

  Fire officials are concerned about forecasts of stronger winds later today. The National Weather Service says a high wind watch will go into effect at 3 this afternoon for the Santa Barbara County area. Gusts could reach 50 miles an hour.

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  • May 6, 2009 11:07 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• South Orange County officials hold water conservation meetings

  It’s warm and dry… but water’s on the minds of officials in San Juan Capistrano. The city’s begun holding a series of meetings about water conservation. KPCC Orange County Reporter Susan Valot says the latest meeting is tonight at San Juan Capistrano’s city hall.

  Susan Valot: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is cutting the amount of water it provides to the region by 10 percent. Because of that – and California’s drought – San Juan Capistrano leaders later this month will consider whether to impose mandatory water rationing, in the form of a Stage 2 Water Alert. The alert could also mean no washing down sidewalks and no washing your car at home. Francie Kennedy is the city’s water conservation coordinator.

  Francie Kennedy: In 1991, we were under mandatory rationing. And everybody had to turn off their decorative fountain. Nobody could refill their pool. Nobody could wash their car. That’s how it was. Water is so essential, we have to let go of some of those uses.

  Valot: Kennedy says it’s not that bad this time around – at least not yet. She says the city can pick and choose which water-saving measures to put in place.

  She says the solution comes down to education. She’ll be tagging doors with notes when she sees someone wasting water. And the city will use a database to track people who use a lot of water – and offer to send someone out to their home help them figure out how they can use less.

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  • May 5, 2009 3:49 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Fewer greenhouse gases created shipping Asian goods through West Coast

  Containers of goods coming from Asia through U.S. ports may leave a lighter carbon footprint when they dock in Western harbors rather than Eastern ones. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more on a new study.

  Molly Peterson: Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore have long sent cargo ships to New York through the Panama Canal before they transfer goods to Midwestern cities by rail. But a new report commissioned by harbor officials in Seattle finds that route can create more greenhouse gas – and contribute more to global warming.

  Consultants in Northern California compared cargo’s journey from Asia to the middle of the U.S. on different routes. They found that containers might spend more time on rails, if ships dock at Los Angeles and send goods to Memphis – but they’ll spend less time on the open ocean, where seagoing vessels burn dirtier fuel.

  Pacific Northwest ports like Seattle and Vancouver are greener choices to send goods to Chicago, the consultants say – while Oakland, L.A., and Long Beach offer a less-polluting option for goods bound to Memphis and points further south. Still, in a tough economy, with cargo volumes down, shippers are looking for the cheapest way to move goods, not necessarily the cleanest.

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  • May 5, 2009 2:24 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Transportation

• DWP institutes new limits on water use

  As the Southland enters its fourth summer of drought, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is introducing new water conservation measures on June 1st. One limits outdoor sprinkler use to Mondays and Thursdays before 9 o’clock in the morning.

  The other institutes shortage-year rates on customers who don’t conserve. Their water rates could rise almost 45 percent if they don’t limit consumption. KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” asked department chief David Nahai whether the utility’s serious about enforcement.

  David Nahai: “With 5,400 calls answered and 2,800 citations issued already, yes, we mean it. And we mean it because we really don’t have a choice, and even beyond these measures Patt, we’ve got to look long term to the future of the city.”

  The drought and endangered species concerns have caused agencies that direct water to the city from the Sacramento and Colorado rivers to decrease the amount available to Los Angeles.

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  • May 4, 2009 7:10 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Lung Association report says smog in region bad, but improving

  In its yearly State of the Air report out today, the American Lung Association gave four Southland counties failing grades for high pollution. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The American Lung Association released its report on the steps of L.A. City Hall. Association officials praised Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s effort to rid the port area of polluting trucks and warned that the L.A. region continues to produce some of the worst air pollution in the country. The mayor confirmed the association’s assessment that the region’s improved a lot.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: I remember though, when you had to stay in the classroom when the pollution was so bad.

  Guzman-Lopez: The report’s F grades are based on federal measurements. Last year L.A., Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties had too many days of unhealthful spikes in ozone and particle pollution.

  Particle pollution’s made up of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, and chemicals. Ozone smog is the gas formed when sunlight reacts with the vapors of fuel burned in engines. The Lung Association says both pollutants contribute to the deaths of 18,000 Californians each year.

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  • April 29, 2009 2:22 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health

• Lung Association report says Southland pollution among worst in nation

  Smog in the Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Riverside region remains some of the worst in the nation, says an American Lung Association report out today.

  Still, there are signs of improvement, said the association’s Dr. William Stringer. Particle pollution’s dropped 40 percent in recent years and ozone smog’s down more than 25 percent in the last decade.

  Dr. William Stringer: “The good news is that we’re making progress over 5 to 10 years ago. The bad news is that because of our levels of ozone and particulates pollution we’re either first or fourth in the nation. That’s the part we don’t want to be. We don’t want to be in the pole position of pollution.”

  Stringer said about 18,000 people die in California each year from smog-related illnesses. The American Lung Association praised L.A.’s mayor for his effort to rid the port of its most polluting trucks. But Stringer added that local, state, and federal officials must do more to promote public transportation – and better neighborhood planning to reduce pollution.

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  • April 29, 2009 2:02 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health

• Water officials crack down on uncontrolled wastewater in Malibu

  Regional water officials are cracking down on illegal wastewater pollution in Malibu by notifying 39 businesses and facilities they’re not following rules for water quality permits. L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board director Tracy Egoscue says regulators focused an investigation around Malibu’s Civic Center area.

  Tracy Egoscue: “Some of these are first time violators or they are first time receiving notice of violation from the board. Or we found facilities that don’t even have a permit. So they are discharging waste without a permit in violation of the law.”

  Egoscue says poor water quality at Surfrider Beach suggests that the wastewater systems Malibu businesses use aren’t working well enough. Some of the businesses cited – including the Malibu Country Mart – immediately face an array of penalties. Others have 90 days to fix problems on their properties.

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  • April 24, 2009 3:19 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Air Resources Board advisor talks about new emissions requirements

  California’s the first state in the nation that will require fuel producers to significantly cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. Environmentalists consider the California Air Resources Board’s action an important step toward reducing the effects of global warming. Anthony Eggert is an advisor to the board.

  Anthony Eggert: “The ultimate goal of this is to really transform our transportation energy system away from petroleum towards a diverse set of cleaner fuels such as advanced biofuels, hydrogen, and electricity.”

  Eggert spoke with KPCC’s “AirTalk.” Petroleum and ethanol industry officials say the air resources board moved too quickly and overestimated the effects of their fuels on greenhouse gas emissions. They’d hoped to persuade the board to wait another year before it voted on the new rules.

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  • April 24, 2009 3:13 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• EPA decision to regulate greenhouse gases sparks action

  Earth Day in Washington got an extra jolt of energy when the EPA last week decided it has the power to regulate “greenhouse gasses.” KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports the EPA decision is sparking action on Capitol Hill.

  Kitty Felde: For Earth Day, Senator Barbara Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee discussed how to make federal buildings more energy efficient. But the real action was over on the House side with the Energy and Commerce Committee.

  L.A. Democrat Henry Waxman is the chairman. He’s holding a week of hearings on a sweeping bill on climate change. Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a declaration that “greenhouse gases” are harmful.

  The finding lets the EPA regulate carbon emissions – and gives it significant authority over climate change policy. Congressman Waxman says that’s not the right way to control “greenhouse gases.”

  Congressman Henry Waxman: I think that most people recognize that it’s preferable to have Congress deal with this issue than to have the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency have to regulate it under that Clean Air Act.

  Felde: The energy and the transportation secretaries testified that the House bill would reduce American dependence on foreign oil – and create green jobs. On Friday, Waxman’s committee hears from former vice president Al Gore – the Nobel Prize and Oscar-winning climate activist.

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  • April 22, 2009 4:47 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• County launches solar map Web page

  It might be a stretch to call it the “dawn” of a new era in solar power. But KPCC’s Nick Roman says the Web site Los Angeles County launched today can help you figure out whether solar panels on your roof will save you money on your electricity bills.

  Nick Roman: Type in your address – with the city and zip code – and you get a satellite photo of your house, along with a pop-up info box. It’ll tell you how big your roof is, how much of it you can use for solar panels, and how much money they’ll save you on electricity in a single year.

  Here how the Web page analyzed two homes in L.A. County: A ranch-style house in sunny and sometimes smoggy Monrovia could only handle about 150 square feet of solar panels. But a South L.A. house with a flat roof could handle 875 square feet. The South L.A. house looks like a good candidate for solar panels.

  But it all depends on the cost, and that depends on a range of factors – including whether you can fold the cost of installing those solar panels into a home loan. L.A. County’s “solar map” page links to a California Energy Commission calculator that can help you figure out that cost. Here’s the “solar map” Web address: http://lacounty.solarmap.org.

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  • April 20, 2009 7:29 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• LA Times wins Pulitzer for wildfire story

  On a day that’s breaking high-temperature records in the Southland, a Los Angeles Times series about wildfire danger has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. More on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: Times reporters Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart examined the spreading incidence of wildfires in the Western United States – and the spiraling cost of fighting those fires. Their five-part series, “Big Burn,” questions the efficiency of water-dropping aircraft, the increasing use of private contractors in firefighting, and the wisdom of land-use policies that allow more people to move into fire-prone areas.

  The Pulitzer jury proclaimed the series a “fresh and painstaking exploration into the cost and effectiveness of attempts to combat the growing menace of wildfires.” The prize carries a $10,000 cash award.

  The announcement of journalism’s highest honor offered a rare moment of celebration for the Times. Its debt-ridden corporate parent, Tribune Company, is operating under bankruptcy protection. The newspaper has shed sections and staff in response to declining advertising revenue and readership.

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  • April 20, 2009 4:47 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Firefighters put out Chatsworth mansion fire

  Close to 100 firefighters from Los Angeles and Ventura Counties responded to an early-morning mansion fire in Chatsworth. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the crews put out the fire within a few hours, but not without problems.

  Cheryl Devall: The L.A. County fire inspector said the house’s location inside a gated neighborhood didn’t help. Neither did low water pressure at the site, in an unincorporated part of Chatsworth just north of the 118 Freeway. One L.A. City firefighter broke his ankle and was taken to a Simi Valley hospital.

  But the four people who lived inside the 10,000-square-foot home were able to get out unhurt. Flames damaged the roof of the three-story house, and destroyed the garage and the cars inside. Investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire that took about three hours to knock down.

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  • April 20, 2009 4:45 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Contest to see who can travel the farthest on the least fuel

  In Fontana this weekend, college and high school students from around the country are racing to see who can travel farthest on the least fuel. The Shell Eco-Marathon is an international event, with some ultralight vehicles cruising thousands of miles on just one gallon. The company’s Graeme Sweeney says its roots are American.

  Graeme Sweeney: “A couple of U.S. scientists working for Shell decided to have a competition amongst themselves to see who could create a vehicle that could do the best mileage, and the winner did 50 miles to the gallon, which I think probably at the time seemed pretty impressive.”

  Along with combustion engines, teams compete with solar and hydrogen power, and in vehicles designed like conventional cars. Winners take home cash prizes of up to $5,000.

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  • April 17, 2009 8:18 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• LA City Council approves DWP water rate plan

  After prolonged debate, the Los Angeles City Council has approved a rate proposal from the Department of Water and Power. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says that could mean higher bills.

  Molly Peterson: The rate plan encourages conservation. Each house in L.A. has an allotment of water. As of June 1, it’ll be 15 percent smaller. Customers who stay within that amount will pay the same rate.

  If they use more, the rate for extra water jumps 44 percent. Soledad Garcia leads a group of neighborhood councils who oppose the rates. She said the decision merited more discussion.

  Soledad Garcia: Telling everyone about it after it is passed is a travesty. It’s a disrespect of the community and of the neighborhood councils to just bypass everyone to get their own agenda over and finished, that is wrong, wrong, wrong.

  Peterson: DWP Chief David Nahai said most people’s rates won’t go up if they don’t hog water. But he added that the rate plan is crucial. Earlier this week, Nahai noted that one of the city’s suppliers, the Metropolitan Water District, voted to sell less water to L.A.

  David Nahai: We anticipated that that would happen, but it’s not the only thing. We also have to consider the substantial reductions in our own exclusive water supply, from the L.A. Aqueduct and other factors, it hasn’t changed, it hasn’t improved any.

  Peterson: Nahai promised to blanket DWP customers with information right away about how the new rates will work. Those rates take effect June 1st.

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  • April 17, 2009 7:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• New study warns state economy to suffer unless college graduation improves

  Education researchers warn that California’s technology industries are likely to relocate if the state doesn’t boost the number of graduates from its public colleges. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more on the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: In 15 years, predicts Public Policy Institute of California researcher Hans Johnson, the state will be short 1 million college educated workers. Johnson says policymakers should pay a lot more attention to community colleges.

  Hans Johnson: Only about 20 to 30 percent of community college students who intend to transfer end up transferring. Well, there’s a huge number of students in the community college system. Even only slight improvements in transfer rates could lead to a dramatic gain in the number of college graduates.

  Guzman-Lopez: Jim Blackburn monitors enrollment management for the 23-campus Cal State system. He says CSU is already taking steps to improve community college transfer rates and help guide students to graduation day. Blackburn says state budget cuts have hurt those efforts.

  Jim Blackburn: If we were more funded we would first enroll more students in the first place and at the same time we would provide more classes for those who are and will become enrolled.

  Guzman-Lopez: Aware of the need for more graduates, a growing number of public school and community college administrators have begun to concentrate on ensuring that more students earn degrees.

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  • April 17, 2009 7:16 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• LA mayor appoints new environment deputy mayor

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lost a deputy mayor to the Obama Administration this year. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says the mayor’s placed a new cowboy in the city’s top environment post.

  Molly Peterson: Until President Obama took office, the city of L.A.’s top environmental official was Nancy Sutley. Now she’s at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. So the mayor’s named David Freeman to saddle up for the job of deputy mayor for energy and the environment.

  That means Freeman will direct L.A.’s green policies at the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles, Public Works, and other departments. Freeman is already a port commissioner. He’s got a 30 year record managing public utilities. In the late 1960s, he was the first person with responsibility for energy in the federal government.

  He’s won support from industry and environmentalists. Freeman has cultivated his Green Cowboy nickname by wearing a plastic cowboy hat – most recently, while he campaigned for the city’s solar power and green jobs initiative, Measure B. Freeman plans to resign from the harbor commission and start his new job next month.

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  • April 17, 2009 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Task force considers how protecting marine areas will affect fishing

  Members of a blue ribbon task force for marine protected areas are considering how those areas could affect Southern California fishermen’s ability to make a living. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The state’s Marine Life Protection Act has a pretty simple goal – to establish rules for how people can behave in regions off the coast. It’s supposed to help sea life flourish. But poor planning and poor funding have hampered the law.

  In southern California, enacting the rules is complicated by the region’s huge population, the diverse topography of the ocean floor, and the kinds of fish people chase. In Dana Point this week, the task force will hear about a range of very early proposals for what to do along the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

  Each proposal maps different spots where limits and rules might work. A group called Ecotrust is analyzing economic impacts for the state in part by talking to fishermen. Even at this stage, the discussion is heating up.

  In San Pedro, for example, marine protection could cut the local catch of market squid by a little – or by as much as 25 percent. The state Fish and Game Commission will make the final decision on where to limit access. That’s supposed to happen later this year.

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  • April 16, 2009 4:47 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• MWD votes to raise water rates, cut water supply

  The Metropolitan Water District voted today to raise rates and to cut the water it will supply to Southern California agencies. District general manager Tim Kightlinger said dwindling water supplies in the Sacramento River Delta and throughout the West forced the decision.

  Tim Kightlinger: “Eight years of drought on the Colorado River, three years of drought in Northern California, a local drought here in Southern California. So we have been tracking this with a fair amount of concern and alarm and we have fast-tracked all our efforts to both deal with the delta as well as to put online as much conservation and recycling as we can in Southern California.”

  Southland water utilities including the L.A. Department of Water and Power will get less water from Metropolitan this year, and the wholesaler’s rates now go up an average of 20 percent. Most local agencies will pass those costs on to consumers.

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  • April 14, 2009 3:00 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Water and power commissioners pass new water pricing plan

  Los Angeles water customers could face higher rates on bills this summer after water and power commissioners passed a pricing plan aimed at encouraging less consumption. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: What the Department of Water and Power calls shortage year rates now needs approval from the city council. The rate plan would allocate 15 percent less water to customers. Those use more than that would pay higher penalties than before.

  DWP wants the rates in effect by June 1. Neighborhood councils and some members of the city council have complained that’s too soon. But DWP General Manager David Nahai said L.A. has been laying groundwork to cut back on water use since last year.

  David Nahai: The water conservation ordinance became effective last summer. We’ve been talking about conservation in this city now for a very, very long time. So the idea that something is coming out of the blue with inadequate notice and so forth and so on is something that I reject.

  Peterson: Nahai told water and power commissioners his staff would step up public outreach once the rates are approved – the L.A. city council could green light them within a week. The utility already has some information about the proposal on its Web site at LADWP.com.

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  • April 14, 2009 2:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Works at LA and Long Beach ports now need special ID cards

  Workers at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles starting today must show a high-tech ID card at terminal gates to get to their jobs. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says harbor officials are hoping they’re ready.

  Molly Peterson: To obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Card – known around the harbor as a TWIC card – a port worker needs a federal background check, $132, paperwork, and several weeks.

  Technological glitches and a recent backlog slowed TWIC cards to several thousand workers. Federal Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano said security officials would make some allowances for the next 30 days.

  Janet Napolitano: For those who’ve already had a vetting but they don’t yet have their card done, but if they have an e-mail confirmation that their’s is in process they’ll be able to use that as a substitute for the actual card.

  Peterson: The ports of L.A. and Long Beach have kept enrollment offices open longer hours, and they’ve opened new centers in recent weeks. The slow economy could help the program start smoothly – less cargo coming in means less work, and fewer workers.

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  • April 14, 2009 11:16 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• DWP board sends water rates plan back to LA City Council

  Some Los Angeles utility customers may pay more for water this summer. The board of the Department of Water and Power is sending a plan for new usage rates back to the L.A. City Council for approval.

  Last week the council said it needed more time to understand which customers might face higher rates. DWP General Manager David Nahai said that to prevent everyone’s water bills from rising, the city needs to act quickly.

  David Nahai: “The idea here isn’t for us to enhance revenue. The idea is to enhance conversation which is really critical at this point and it’s critical that this happen before the high-use summer months.”

  Under the plan, L.A. customers would have to use 15 percent less water to stay within a given rate. Those who exceed that amount would pay 44 percent more for extra water than they do now.

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  • April 14, 2009 11:12 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Underground carbon storage is gaining advocates

  The idea of storing carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – by burying it the same way we do toxic waste is gaining advocates. Julio Friedmann, director of the Carbon Storage Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is one of them.

  Julio Friedmann: “It’s actually not rocket science, it’s rock science. What you do is you have to take CO2 from some flue gas, something like a power plan, you have to concentrate it up to like 95 percent and then basically you inject it down into porous rock – way deep underground, usually about one half mile or more. And basically you choose a good site and there it stays.”

  Jane Williams, director of California Communities Against Toxics, said she’s wary that this solution will work.

  Jane Williams: “In the horse race for energy technologies, you know this is like the horse with the broken leg starting out. I don’t expect it to cross the finish line. It’s extremely expensive. Just to give you some ideas of the order of magnitude that we would be talking about to sequester carbon just from our coal-fired infrastructure, you are talking like 5,000 million metric tons.”

  Williams added that it takes a lot of energy to keep all that carbon dioxide underground. She and Friedmann spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

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  • April 13, 2009 7:07 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Harbor commissioners approve Middle Harbor environmental review

  A $750 million expansion at the Port of Long Beach will move one step closer to completion. Harbor commissioners today approved an environmental review for the port’s Middle Harbor project.

  Commissioner Mario Cordero addressed the project’s neighbors and activists who lobby the port to cut pollution from operations. Cordero said Middle Harbor will be a green expansion thanks to the pressure they exerted.

  Mario Cordero: “You’ve been here advocating for a number of years and to a certain extent you’ve seen the results of your advocacy.”

  The Port of Long Beach expects Middle Harbor will be capable of handling 3 million containers a year when it’s finished a decade from now. At the same time, port officials say operations at that part of the harbor will emit less pollution than they do now because of environmental improvements.

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  • April 13, 2009 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Metropolitan Water District could cut supplies to customers

  Before the week is through, the Metropolitan Water District could cut supplies to its customers for the first time in 18 years. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports on what that means for Southern California.

  Molly Peterson: Metropolitan serves 24 customer agencies from Santa Barbara to San Diego, including the L.A. Department of Water and Power and several Inland Empire agencies. Last week Met staff recommended a 20 percent increase in what customer agencies pay and a 10 percent cut in what they get.

  Water from the Sacramento River Delta is incredibly scarce thanks to a court ruling limiting pumping for ecological reasons. Water from the Colorado River is slowing too. People whose local agencies are Metropolitan customers will feel the effects in varying ways – depending on what each agency did to shore up supplies from other places.

  Agencies that get Metropolitan water wholesale each set their own rates and usually pass their costs on to customers. In Los Angeles, residents have reduced their use 5 percent under mostly voluntary restrictions.

  An aggressive outreach campaign in Long Beach has taken that city’s water use to 10 year lows in recent months. The Metropolitan board of directors plans to consider rationing at its meeting tomorrow.

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  • April 10, 2009 3:53 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Stimulus includes money for cleaning up school bus pollution

  Stimulus money California’s expecting from the federal Environmental Protection Agency includes money for cleaning up pollution from school buses. KPCC’s Molly Peterson explains.

  Molly Peterson: More than one-and-a-half million dollars will pay for upgrades to buses that will emit less pollution as their wheels go round and round. About a hundred school buses will get filters to trap particulates from their diesel exhaust systems.

  California’s Air Resources Board has funded fixes for old dirty school buses for years. The program’s upgraded 3,000 buses so far. The state plans to clean up another 3,000 in the future.

  The air board says this shot of federal money will pay for 20 bus mechanic jobs. All 50 states and Washington D.C. are getting the same amount of money for clean school buses – California will also compete for another pool of clean diesel dollars the federal government has set aside.

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  • April 9, 2009 3:22 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• LA city councilman Rosendahl discusses proposed water rate changes

  The Los Angeles City Council has returned to the Department of Water and Power a plan that could raise some customers’ water rates. Westside councilman Bill Rosendahl said the DWP proposed a new rate structure because of statewide water shortages.

  Bill Rosendahl: “What they basically presented to us today is that as we get into the summer months we have to use less water. And they’re going to have a two-tiered system. The bulk of us, if we live within a certain percentage of water usage, there’s no difference in your rate.”

  Rosendahl said that users who don’t cut back would pay a higher rate if they used more than their share. He added that the council needs more information to evaluate those new rates. Now, commissioners for the publicly-owned utility must send a modified plan back to the city council in order to change rates.

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  • April 8, 2009 3:00 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA city council delays vote to raise water rates

  The L.A. City Council has delayed voting on a plan that could raise water rates for homes and businesses this summer. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The council is considering a new rate structure for the Department of Water and Power. Right now, DWP customers can pay one rate to use water up to a certain amount – above that amount, the rate goes up.

  DWP commissioners approved a plan aimed to encourage conservation – essentially, it would impose the higher rate sooner. Customers who use 15 percent less water wouldn’t pay more. Those who don’t turn the taps off would pay a financial penalty.

  The DWP calls this shortage year pricing. Some council members called it a rate increase. They said information about the rates arrived too slowly to fully consider them.

  The DWP had hoped to put the new rates in place by June 1, but the utility needs to give customers a month’s notice. Its commissioners must now send a modified plan back to the city council before any rates change.

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  • April 8, 2009 2:47 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Obama adviser in LA to promote green job opportunities

  One of President Obama’s top environmental advisers is in Los Angeles today to promote green job opportunities. Nancy Sutley chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She says Southern California is well-positioned to take advantage of environmental and economic opportunities in federal economic stimulus plans.

  Nancy Sutley: “There’s no question California and Los Angeles have been real leaders in thinking about how you run an economy in a cleaner way and using energy very efficiently.

  “So I think there’s lots of models here in Los Angeles that will help inform the national discussion about how we move our nation to a cleaner energy economy and a more sustainable one.”

  Sutley says that efforts to incorporate environmental issues into lesson plans in community colleges and the L.A. Unified School District will push the local economy forward too.

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  • April 3, 2009 2:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Surveyors find more snow than expected in Sierra Nevada snowpack

  The state’s final seasonal survey of the Sierra Nevada snowpack delivers small comfort to Southern California. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: Storms late in February and early in March mean that California Department of Water Resources surveyors near Lake Tahoe and Mammoth found more snow this round than they’d expected a month ago. Statewide snowpack is about 86 percent of what’s usual, and reservoirs are about 77 percent full.

  As a result the department is projecting Southern California will get about a fifth of its full State Water Project allocation, a little more than previously announced. That’s still nowhere near what the region typically gets. The new survey won’t change much in the southern part of the state, where mandatory or voluntary rationing is already happening.

  In Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power already has approved raising some water rates above certain usage levels. That’ll take effect in June unless the L.A. city council steps in. The council expects to consider new restrictions on outdoor watering, too.

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  • April 2, 2009 4:51 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• State EPA chief says California must anticipate, adapt to climate change

  A new scientific report from the state’s Climate Action Team outlines some environmental and economic effects of global warming. State Environmental Protection Agency chief Linda Adams says research indicates that California must anticipate and adapt to climate change.

  Linda Adams: “Any delay in fighting global warming would be detrimental to our economic stability, costing us billions of dollars and dampening the state’s most important economic sectors. Taking immediate action on climate change is essential to slow the projected weight of global warming.”

  The report includes 37 technical papers on subjects from sea level rise to electricity use. Adams says policymakers will use scientific findings to guide California’s decisions. The report is available for public comment on the state’s Web site – at ClimateChange.ca.gov.

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  • April 1, 2009 2:45 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Environmental conference coincides with climate change bill

  L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman today jumped ahead of scientists working on climate change plan. He introduced legislation to cut greenhouse gases just as a panel of scientists began meeting in Washington, D.C. on the same idea. KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: Congress had asked the National Academy of Sciences to help it craft climate change legislation. But Democrat Congressman Henry Waxman of Los Angeles didn’t want to wait.

  As scientists and academics gathered for this first climate change summit, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee posted a draft of his proposed legislation on the committee Web site. UCLA Chancellor Emeritus Albert Carnasale – who chairs the National Academy of Sciences project – called the Waxman proposal “progress” that was “pleasing rather than otherwise.”

  Albert Carnasale: One of the concerns I do not have is that the challenge of global climate change will be met before our report is completed.

  Felde: The Waxman proposal would – among other things – mandate electric utilities get at least a quarter of their energy from solar, wind, and other renewables in 15 years. Waxman also wants to create a cap-and-trade system to regulate carbon emissions.

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  • March 31, 2009 2:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Gas station owners push back against new gas nozzles

  Gas station owners have been lobbying to push back a Wednesday deadline the state’s imposed for new pollution-controlling gas nozzles. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports they’ve found a new ally in the governor.

  Molly Peterson: Gas station owners are supposed to install new equipment that will prevent pumps from releasing smog-forming vapors. Independent gas station owners have been lobbying hard for more time.

  Now Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the state’s Air Resources Board to put off enforcing new vapor recovery rules for nozzles for a year. Gas station owners say the economy’s made it tougher to get financing for big upgrades, and they say the right equipment only recently became available to meet the new standard.

  Most Southland gas stations have sought permits to upgrade nozzles; about half haven’t done it yet. Still, quality regulators have talked tough about enforcement.

  Just last week local officials sent gas stations notice of fines for lagging behind schedule – scaled, so businesses that have taken some steps to comply would pay less. A spokesman for the Air Resources Board says the agency will respond to the governor’s request soon.

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  • March 30, 2009 4:45 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• 'Earth Hour' will be good time for stargazing

  At 8:30 tomorrow night around the world, thousands of cities have committed to turn off lights to mark Earth Hour – an event that promotes climate change awareness.

  Astronomy educator Shelly Bonus says that in Southern California it’ll be a great time to see the stars city lights usually obscure – especially in the western part of the sky.

  Shelly Bonus: “You can always tell which is the constellation of Orion by the three stars that mark his belt, and in the middle of Orion’s sword with the lights out you’re probably going to be able to see a faint fuzzy patch of light with your eyes.

  “That is the famous Orion nebulae. It’s a cloud of gas and dust and it’s where baby stars are being born right now! It’s magnificent, it couldn’t be more beautiful!”

  Southland locations that’ll take part in Earth Hour by turning off their lights include the Griffith Observatory, City Hall, the L.A. Live complex, and the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel.

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  • March 27, 2009 12:29 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• $351 million in energy efficency grants directed at California

  Federal energy efficiency grants worth millions of dollars are coming to Southland cities. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more on the story.

  Molly Peterson: About $351 million comes to California for energy efficiency and conservation block grants. That pot of money is part of a stimulus package the president signed last month.

  From that pot, the City of Los Angeles gets $37 million. Irvine, Anaheim, and Riverside will pull down 2 to 3 million each. L.A., Orange, and Riverside counties grabbed their own pots of money, too.

  The point of the grants is to encourage energy efficiency in buildings through retrofits, stricter building codes, or incentivized efficient construction. Pasadena may use some of its one-and-a-half million dollars to install more efficient LED streetlights, for example.

  These grants are on top of another pot of money – $411 million – that California got earlier in the month to weatherize low-income homes and build more renewable energy facilities. Federal funding like this comes with strings – state agencies and cities have transparency and accountability guidelines to wade through before they cash the checks.

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  • March 26, 2009 2:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Congress votes to expand wilderness preserves

  Congress has voted to expand wilderness in nine states. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says that includes more than 700,000 acres of territory in the southern half of California.

  Molly Peterson: About two-thirds of the potentially preserved wilderness includes land near Santa Clarita, miles of wild and scenic rivers, and land near the White Mountains along the Nevada state border.

  Another chunk of land in Riverside County in and around Joshua Tree National Park could also gain protected status. And 70,000 acres around the Mineral King valley will stay wild if President Obama signs the bill as congressional allies expect him to.

  Several generations of Southern Californians have used cabins at Faculty Flat, in the Mineral King Valley – so-called for schoolteachers who would spend summers there in the 1950s. Mineral King became a legal lightning rod in the ’70s when the Walt Disney Company wanted to turn it into a ski resort.

  The Sierra Club’s challenge to the project – and a federal court’s decision – established a key concept of legal standing. Now, people use that right to challenge development when it affects their aesthetic enjoyment of the environment.

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  • March 25, 2009 4:08 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Possible that earthquakes clusters increase 'big one' likelihood, but unlikely

  More than 30 small earthquakes today near the Salton Sea and another hundred or so since yesterday are prompting scientists to ask whether clusters of quakes increase the likelihood of a big one. Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that it’s possible, but not likely.

  Kate Hutton: “Normally the value that’s given for a single earthquake being a foreshock, is about 5 percent. And then once you get past 24 hours, it’s down to 1 percent.”

  Hutton said the last major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault near the Salton Sea in Imperial County happened in 1680. She suggested that a lot of strain may have accumulated on that section of the fault.

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  • March 25, 2009 2:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Senator Feinstein wants to protect desert lands from energy projects

  California Senator Dianne Feinstein is planning legislation that would designate a large area of desert land as off limits to solar and wind energy projects. That area could include hundreds of thousands of acres between the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park, off old Route 66.

  Jim Conkle heads the Route 66 Alliance. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that the federal government should protect much of the area.

  Jim Conkle: “What our major contention is that that is a pristine area. Looks just like it did in the ’20s and ’30s when the Okies and Arkies were coming out to the land of milk and honey.

  “We know that 100 percent of that viewscape is not going to stay the same. There’s going to have to be wind and solar out there. What we don’t want is to have every viewscape and all of the Route 66 totally destroyed.”

  Feinstein’s bill would turn the desert land into a new national monument, and would close it off to the renewable energy projects. But the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee suggests that the proposed bill is Feinstein’s way of saying “Not in my backyard.”

  Feinstein disputes that. She says she’s a strong supporter of the energy projects. Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times that she and her staff plan to visit the area to figure out which areas should be off limits to the projects.

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  • March 25, 2009 2:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Feinstein wants desert lands off-limits to solar, wind energy

  Senator Dianne Feinstein is planning legislation that would create a new national monument in the Southern California desert. That means the land would be off limits to solar and wind energy projects.

  Myron Ebell is director of energy policy at Competitive Enterprise Institute. He says huge areas of California desert are already protected. Ebell told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that he thinks the legislation is a bad idea.

  Myron Ebell: “I think you’re going to have to… everybody who has interests and views in California will have to be consulted. But I don’t think the answer is to try to short circuit that process by Congress passing a bill and saying ‘Oh no no no. The federal government has decided that you’re not going to build it in on federal land, you’re going to have to go somewhere else.’ Well almost 50 percent of California is federal land.”

  Feinstein’s proposed legislation would protect hundreds of thousands of acres between the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park, off old Route 66. Feinstein says that she’s a strong supporter of renewable energy, but that she thinks the projects need to be built on suitable lands.

  Feinstein says she and her staff plan to visit the desert to determine which areas would work best for the projects.

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  • March 25, 2009 2:08 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California first lady announces edible garden at state capitol

  Chew on this – California’s capitol in Sacramento is getting its own edible garden. KPCC’s Molly Peterson serves up this story.

  Molly Peterson: A week after Michelle Obama and others began to plant 1,100 square feet of fruits and vegetables on the South Lawn of the White House, California’s first lady says Sacramento’s getting in on the action. Maria Shriver’s edible garden is meant to showcase locally-grown food and how it gets to the table.

  In addition, it will emphasize California’s hot-button water issue – through efforts at conservation. Shriver will work with chef Alice Waters – herself a longtime advocate of edible gardens at public schools and in urban areas.

  All these women are borrowing from the playbook of Eleanor Roosevelt – whose victory garden during World War II helped remind Americans that they could grow their own food in lean times.

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  • March 24, 2009 3:34 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal judge reconsiders parts of Clean Trucks Program

  A federal judge will reconsider parts of the Clean Trucks Program at the port complex after an appellate court ruling. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says labor and environmental groups don’t like the decision.

  Molly Peterson: The ruling by a 9th circuit panel doesn’t affect the ports’ ability to collect fees from trucks in conjunction with the program. Efforts to subsidize cleaner burning trucks for use at the ports will continue. But it does send two other rules back to a district court judge for consideration.

  A trucking industry group is challenging the Port of Los Angeles’ prohibition on drivers working as independent contractors. Unions had sought that provision, and environmentalists backed it because, in their view, it would make truckers work more efficiently.

  The appellate court says those and other rules could place economic burdens on the drivers, and may be illegal. The opinion pleased the trucking industry group involved in the case.

  Environmentalists and labor groups that have defended the Clean Trucks Program said it would slow clean-air efforts at the ports. Now the two rules are sent back to the district court judge, who will decide whether to block them while the underlying case goes forward.

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  • March 23, 2009 12:07 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• White House starts organic vegetable garden

  Now that spring has arrived, many folks’ thoughts turn to their gardens. That includes the occupants of the White House – president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama are installing an organic garden on the south lawn.

  Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, has promoted the idea of a vegetable garden there for more than 15 years. She told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” she’s pleased Mrs. Obama took up the suggestion.

  Alice Waters: “She cares so much about children, what her family is eating, she cares about education, and it seems to have all come together in that vegetable garden, that victory garden in the White House lawn.”

  During the first and second world wars, people on the home front cultivated backyard “victory gardens” to help stretch the domestic food supply. Eleanor Roosevelt helped establish one at the White House more than 60 years ago. Mrs. Obama is scheduled to start tilling the soil of the new White House garden today.

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  • March 20, 2009 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• President Obama visits Pomona electric vehicle center

  President Obama is on the final day of his two-day visit to Southern California. This morning he toured Southern California Edison’s Electric Vehicle Center in Pomona. The President said his administration would focus on putting 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on America’s roads in the next six years.

  President Barack Obama: “Because these cars of tomorrow require batteries of tomorrow, I’m announcing that the Department of Energy is launching a $2 billion competitive grant program under the Recovery Act that will spark the manufacturing of the batteries and parts that run these cars… (clapping) that will allow for the upgrading of factories that will produce them, and in the process create thousands of jobs in facilities like this one.”

  President Obama also announced a tax credit of up to $7,500 for Americans who buy the next generation of plug-in hybrids.

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  • March 19, 2009 1:26 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA city workers still spending on bottled water

  Los Angeles’ city controller asserts that some city employees have a drinking problem. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says it’s not the kind you may imagine.

  Cheryl Devall: Seems many L.A. city workers just can’t quit their bottles – of water. More than four years after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told them not to spend city money on the stuff, an audit indicated that various departments spent close to $185,000 on bottled water last year.

  Public works was far and away the biggest user, with a bill that neared $70,000. Controller Laura Chick echoed the mayor’s reasoning – that L.A.’s Department of Water and Power provides H2O that’s plenty good, so there’s no reason for the city to keep buying bottled water.

  She encouraged employees to drink from the tap, from coolers, or to buy bottled water themselves if they just can’t do without it. Chick’s audit showed, by the way, that the DWP reduced its bottled water consumption by a factor of 10 over four years – and that the library, the fire department, and five other agencies completely dropped the habit.

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  • March 17, 2009 5:18 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Lead-poisoned condor's x-ray shows shotgun pellets

  X-rays of a California Condor brought to the Los Angeles Zoo show shotgun pellets embedded inside the bird. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The Ventana Wildlife Society brought the condor to the zoo from the central coast last week for treatment of lead poisoning. Condors and other birds can develop toxic levels of lead by feeding on the carcasses of smaller animals shot by hunters. The condor’s caretakers can’t tell from the x-rays whether the pellets are lead or steel.

  The condor is in something like intensive care according to a bird curator at the L.A. Zoo who says the animal’s prognosis is guarded. Giant California Condors are an endangered species. More than thirty condors have died from lead poisoning connected to hunting in the last decade. Federal officials now ban the use of lead shot in hunting nationally.

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  • March 13, 2009 5:47 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Joshua Tree area hosts indigenous spiritual conference

  Spiritual leaders from around the globe are gathering in the desert near Palm Springs this weekend. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says they’re there to examine the spiritual challenges facing the economy and the environment.

  Steven Cuevas: Just what does it take to re-ignite our “divine connection” with Mother Earth’s sacred cycles? Is our quest for more money and better technology severing our ties to humanity? Those just a couple of the heady spiritual conundrums a group of global sages will try to enlighten people about at the Interspiritual Conference in Joshua Tree.

  The conference will feature healers and shamans representing ancient spiritual traditions from Mexico, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and elsewhere. Many believe the global economic crisis stems in part from a global spiritual crisis.

  [Music: Lei’ohu Ryder singing]

  Among those participating is Lei’ohu Ryder, a traditional Hawaiian singer and peace worker.

  Lei’ohu Ryder: We are called in service to uplift humanity and life as one, and yes we are not denying that there are many things out there in our world that are catastrophic, that are pulling at life. But we are also here to remember that our stories as humanity have taught us to be one breath of life.

  [Music: Lei’ohu Ryder singing]

  Cuevas: The Interspiritual Conference runs through Sunday at the Joshua Tree Retreat and Wellness Center.

  LINK: Interspiritual Conference

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  • March 13, 2009 5:41 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Religion/Spirituality

• State senator wants air pollution rule delayed due to recession

  Air officials expect gas stations around California to upgrade their pumps and nozzles within the next several weeks. As KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports, one state senator thinks that’s a costly choice.

  Molly Peterson: Senator Ron Calderon, a democrat from Montebello, objects to the new rule from the California Air Resources Board. It requires gas stations to fit their pumps with special nozzles and valves within the next two weeks.

  The regulators’ goal is to cut down on hydrocarbon emissions that pumping gas can release – an estimated 25 tons a day. Those fumes can react with other chemicals in the atmosphere to make smog.

  Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols says retrofitting the pumps will cost about $11,000. Senator Calderon says it’s a burden on business owners to require upgrades that can cost up to $80,000 at a time when credit is tight and loans are hard to get.

  He wants the state to delay the regulation for a year because of the recession. But a spokesman with the board says more than three-quarters of California’s gas stations have sought needed permits to comply with the rule.

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  • March 13, 2009 5:21 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Former shuttle astronaut explains dilemma of space debris

  After almost half a century of launches from earth into space, the universe is getting pretty cluttered with debris. That’s one reason the crew of the International Space Station had to shelter in an escape capsule for 10 minutes. A five-inch cluster of space junk hurled a little too close for comfort. Former space shuttle astronaut Tom Jones says humans can’t be too careful out there.

  Tom Jones: “We have had space shuttles come back, for example, with a hole blown through one of the thermal radiators that almost pierced one of the cooling lines and would have cut short the shuttle’s mission, had that collision occurred just a few inches from where the impact actually occurred. And on the space station, we’re going to see those solar panels eventually perforated by small BB-size or pea-sized holes from orbital debris.”

  Jones told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that the only protection from that stuff is layers of aluminum and Kevlar… the same fabric that lines bulletproof vests.

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  • March 12, 2009 8:00 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• LA designates Griffith Park a historical-cultural monument

  Neighbors of Griffith Park in Los Angeles are noting the park’s designation as a cultural monument today. L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge said the park’s new status gives it more protection against development and change.

  Tom LaBonge: “There’s a review now by the Cultural Heritage Commission of anything that’s proposed. There’s certainly infrastructure that will go in here.

  “But you won’t see crazy ideas that maybe were thought of before. ‘Cause Griffith Park was so big. They just said go put it in Griffith Park. And that doesn’t belong.”

  Park rangers and dozens of activists spoke at a ceremony about Griffith Park’s value for recreation and solace. LaBonge and other Griffith Park lovers unveiled a sign at one of the park’s seven entrances that describes its status as a monument. LaBonge and other city council members unanimously approved the park’s historic-cultural monument status in January.

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  • March 12, 2009 2:24 PM
  • Categories: Environment, History, Politics/Public Affairs

• City of LA continues to count ballots; Measure B still up in the air

  Election workers in Los Angeles continue to count votes this weekend. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The city clerk’s office will first finish verifying 25,000 ballots cast by mail. Then some 12,000 provisionals and 10,000 other ballots, including write-ins, get counted in the next two weeks. That number includes one precinct in the city council’s ninth district where a poll inspector failed to show up. All told, around 46,000 votes stand between the city clerk and a final tally.

  That’s enough to change the outcome of Measure B, the Green Energy and Good Jobs initiative, which would require L.A. to own and operate 400 megawatts of solar power in city limits. It’s losing in the preliminary count by a slim margin.

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  • March 6, 2009 9:38 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California Air Resources Board chair says she can work with automakers

  California policymakers and Detroit automakers are waiting for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to decide whether the state can limit greenhouse gasses from tailpipes.

  Mary Nichols, who chairs the state’s Air Resources Board, testified yesterday at an EPA hearing on whether California should get the okay to regulate. She told a conference at UCLA today that the state can work with Detroit.

  Mary Nichols: “We also recognize that the auto industry desperately wants to find a way to move towards a more unified set of standards that deal with energy efficiency, fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions, at the state and federal level. And we are working with our counterparts in D.C. to move in that direction.”

  Nichols says California also wants to see unified national standards based on the state’s own tougher rules.

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  • March 6, 2009 11:35 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Nevada Senator Reid proposes federal power lines for renewable energy

  Nevada Senator Harry Reid is proposing that the federal government designate special power lines to carry renewable energy from remote places. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Solar, wind, and geothermal power are plentiful in the West’s vast open spaces. But transmission lines don’t always reach the mountains and deserts.

  Senator Reid’s proposal would boost development of renewable energy sources by easing the process of connecting them to the grid. That means the federal government would claim authority over where these lines go and who will pay for them.

  For a dozen or more years, federal authorities have been strengthening their claim over power lines. Then an energy bill four years ago sped up that trend with designated national interest electric transmission corridors.

  Biodiversity activists, and conservationists for deserts and mountains, have challenged those corridors in court. But Reid’s case is bolstered by the president’s interest in a national smart grid.

  Green transmission corridors would benefit the developers of large solar arrays planned in Reid’s state of Nevada. In California, they could help spin wind projects along in the Tehachapi mountains and heat up geothermal and solar in inland deserts.

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  • March 5, 2009 3:26 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Clean Trucks Program continues to face legal challenges

  Supporters of the Southland ports’ Clean Trucks Program faced off against the trucking industry again in a Pasadena courthouse yesterday. More on the story from KPCC’s Molly Peterson.

  Molly Peterson: When the San Pedro harbor complex started making drivers who pick up cargo do their jobs in cleaner-burning trucks, the port of L.A. also made a rule companies should start hiring drivers as employees, not independent contractors.

  Trucking companies are challenging these financial and employment provisions that they must agree to in order to service the ports.

  Lawyers for both sides appeared before a panel of 9th circuit judges. That panel will decide whether to temporarily remove the challenged conditions of the program. That’s all part of a case that’ll determine whether the ports can even impose those conditions. A federal commission overseeing ports is investigating the Clean Trucks Program, and also challenging it.

  At the harbor complex, fee collection for the program has begun after a delay of several months. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have slashed cargo rates to try to hold on to business in a faltering market. Harbor imports were down 18 percent in February compared to the same month a year earlier.

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  • March 4, 2009 6:19 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment, Transportation

• EPA will hold public hearings on California tailpipe emissions rules

  For years, California and more than a dozen other states have battled the federal government over the ability to regulate auto emissions. Tomorrow in Washington DC, the federal Environmental Protection Agency will convene a public hearing on the matter. KPCC’s Julia Mitric offers this preview.

  Julia Mitric: California, the country’s largest vehicle market, has changed its laws to tighten standards for tailpipe emissions. But the EPA blocked that move during the Bush Administration.

  At President Obama’s request, the environmental agency will reconsider its earlier decision. Auto industry officials don’t want California to adopt stricter emissions rules that would force expensive design changes.

  California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols challenges the industry’s argument.

  Mary Nichols: This is not calling for them to use any new exotic technologies that aren’t out there today. In fact, based on the information they’ve filed, they’ve demonstrated that they are meeting these standards right now – for 2008, 2009, 2010.

  Mitric: Nichols says now that 13 other states also want to adopt California’s tailpipe standards, a change in the rules could affect up to half the potential car buyers in the nation. She expects the EPA to make a final decision by June.

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  • March 4, 2009 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Villaraigosa reelected, Measure B too close to call

  A solar power plan in Los Angeles is undecided after voting yesterday. Measure B would require the city’s Department of Water and Power to generate 400 megawatts of solar power, but the results are too close to call.

  Voters, however, reelected Antonio Villaraigosa to a second term as mayor. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the question is whether the mayor will serve all of his second term.

  Steve Julian: Villaraigosa has not ruled out running as a Democrat for California governor next year. Should he run, he would face two well known state politicians in the primary election – Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, and state attorney general and former governor Jerry Brown. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom will run as well.

  Meanwhile, the 56-year-old Villaraigosa captured 56 percent of the vote yesterday to avoid a runoff – something voters will see in May when they decide the fate of the L.A. city attorney’s race and one city council seat. In his victory speech last night, Villaraigosa promised voters that he would work as hard every day as they do.

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  • March 4, 2009 11:25 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Scientists debate how bad California drought is

  Although Governor Schwarzenegger’s called a statewide drought emergency, some scientists are debating whether the water situation is as bad as all that. The Pacific Institute’s Peter Gleick contends that the worst-case scenario – drastic water restrictions to farms, businesses, and residential users – is unlikely. He suggested that the problem has less to do with the amount of water than with the way we use it.

  Peter Gleick: “It would be a mistake in my mind to use any drought, and certainly the current drought, to try and override some of the environmental laws that we’ve struggled to put in place over the last few years – or to try and build infrastructure or put in place other kinds of water policies that might not make sense otherwise, and frankly aren’t going to help us in the short term.”

  Gleick told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that smart and thoughtful stewardship should guide state water policy. This is the third year of drier-than-usual conditions in California.

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  • March 3, 2009 3:49 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• USC awards the Tyler Environmental Prize

  Two scientists who figured out links between human activity and climate change have won an award from USC. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the recipients of this year’s Tyler Environmental Prize.

  Cheryl Devall: The winners detected warnings – and warming – in polar ice caps and the upper atmosphere. Ram Ramanathan of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography was one of the first climate scientists to demonstrate the effects of ozone on greenhouse gases.

  He correctly predicted in 1980 that climate-changing carbon dioxide would be detectable in the upper atmosphere by the year 2000. Richard Alley of Penn State studied ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. In those frozen specimens he found evidence that the planet has withstood extreme climate change before and probably will again.

  Ramanathan and Alley helped write reports for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore two years ago. Winners of the Tyler Environmental Prize receive gold medals, $200,000, and the opportunity to explain their research in a public lecture at USC next month.

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  • March 3, 2009 1:49 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Riverside County residents face week of water rationing

  Some residents of western Riverside County are facing a week of mandatory water cutbacks. But KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the temporary rationing has nothing to do with the state’s ongoing drought.

  Steven Cuevas: It has to do with maintenance problems at a Western Municipal Water District treatment plant in Riverside. The plant needs to shut down for about a week starting today so maintenance crews can make overdue repairs.

  The shutdown will affect about 25,000 residential and commercial water customers in Riverside, Lake Mathews, and at March Air Reserve Base.

  The Western Municipal Water District has urged its customers to use as little water as possible inside the house this week – and skip outdoor watering altogether. And just to make sure that happens, water officials will patrol neighborhoods in search of liquid transgressions.

  First time offenders will get a verbal warning. Get caught a second time and you’ll be written up. If you still can’t turn off your sprinklers, the agency will do it for you. And it won’t turn your spigots back on until all the maintenance work is finished.

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  • March 2, 2009 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Permafrost thaw will release 10 times the methane currently in the atmosphere

  When organic matter decays, it gives off the greenhouse gas methane. Unless it’s trapped in arctic-zone ice. When that ice melts – as researchers say it’s doing now – bubbles that contain methane will surface and release all that gas, says Katey Walters, an aquatic ecologist at the University of Alaska.

  Katey Walters: “In the winter, the ice cover traps the gas in the lake ice. Because of that we are able to quantify where these methane seeps are, how many there are, and how much they’re contributing to the atmosphere.”

  Walters told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that once the permafrost thaws, it’ll release 10 times the amount of methane that’s in the atmosphere now.

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  • February 27, 2009 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Sustainable animal husbandry makes for tastier steaks and curry goat

  When it comes to raising livestock that’s good for the animals and for consumers, sometimes the old ways are best, says Nicolette Hahn Niman. She’s married to a son of the family that produces sustainably-raised Niman Ranch beef and pork. Niman told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that she and her husband run their own ranch now – and that they’re reviving some time-tested practices.

  Nicolette Hahn Niman: “When you put goats and cattle in the same pasture land, either one after another – or they can either be together if you want – but normally they can be one after the other, they actually eat different things.

  “You can have one pasture used for both species and that’s what we’ve been doing. It’s been a great thing for our ranch – it actually helps our pastures get better having both goats and cattle on them.”

  Niman, an environmental activist, is the author of “Righteous Porkchop.” It’s an account of her transition from attorney to rancher. She’s a vegetarian, by the way, but she said she doesn’t have a problem letting her husband eat the meat they raise.

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  • February 27, 2009 2:43 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Environmental satellite launch fails, satellite crashes near Antarctica

  NASA and environmental scientists are trying to figure out what to do now that an important research satellite has crashed in the ocean near Antarctica. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory was to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – and answer nagging questions about global warming.

  But minutes after this morning’s launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the shroud covering the satellite failed to break loose – and the satellite fell back to Earth.

  Caltech’s Paul Wennberg studies geology and planetary science. He watched the launch, and he told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that the failure is a giant blow to environmental research.

  Paul Wennberg: “There’s certainly some of us who have been involved since the get-go, but perhaps it’s a fraction of what we do. But there are a handful of individuals who really, this was their day, their night, their weekend job, and it’s really devastating. And well, we hope that we have an opportunity to do this again.”

  A Japanese satellite launched last month is also measuring carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Caltech’s Paul Wennberg says scientists in the U.S. will try to use that data for the studies they’d planned.

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  • February 24, 2009 1:02 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• LA County harbor complex begins collecting Clean Truck fees

  Los Angeles County’s harbor complex started to collect fees for the Clean Truck program on every truck coming in and out of the ports today. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports it was slow going.

  Molly Peterson: At times, traffic headed into the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles backed up for miles. Now that the Clean Trucks fee is in place, trucks must carry an electronic pass that signals an accounting system to collect up to $70 for each container that moves in or out of the port.

  The fee is meant to pay for cleaner-burning trucks to replace old, dirty diesel models. It’s part of a program aimed at improving air quality around San Pedro and Long Beach. Port officials estimate as much as 20 percent of traffic to the ports didn’t get through because trucks didn’t carry the electronic pass.

  Long Beach port spokesman Art Wong says thousands of trucks are getting through the new checkpoints, but slowly. Hundreds are not getting through, and port officials are still figuring out why. There’s already fewer containers to move – shipments through both ports were down almost 19 percent last month compared to the previous January.

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  • February 18, 2009 4:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• City councilman unsure how he'd vote on solar measure

  A solar initiative on next month’s Los Angeles city ballot heated up at a debate last night. Measure B would require the Department of Water and Power to develop a plan to put 400 megawatts of solar power online in L.A. within 5 years.

  But local activists have complained that voters know too little about what the initiative would do or how much it would cost. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl sponsored the debate. He said he wasn’t sure how he’d vote on Measure B.

  City Councilman Bill Rosendahl: “The risk is worth taking if you believe we have to get off coal and oil and if you believe the cost can be handled in your budget. I am not yet 100 percent certain about the cost factor.”

  The L.A. City Council voted unanimously last fall to send the question to voters. At least three councilmembers beside Rosendahl now oppose the measure. Angelenos will weigh in on the solar initiative and other questions on March 3.

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  • February 18, 2009 12:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Long Beach neighborhood spared from damage after second storm

  Long Beach officials were ready for this weekend’s downpour, a week after storms flooded low-lying streets in the city’s west side. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez visited the neighborhood today and has this story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Under the Wardlow Road bridge, the concrete banks of the L.A. River swell with thousands of gallons of rainwater from far away hills and mountains. On Friday, officials warned people to keep an eye on rising water because Long Beach sits at sea level.

  Rudy Grajeda lives on River Avenue. He said storms a week ago flooded two of his cars and put his family on edge.

  Rudy Grajeda: I was worried about my granddaughter, because when it first happened, she got scared looking out the window, saying, “Papa, papa, what’s happening, I don’t want to die.” I said, “No, you’re not going to die. It’s OK, it’s doing down, it’s doing down.”

  Guzman-Lopez: Grajeda said he’s upset city officials didn’t clear the drains before the storms hit last week. The neighborhood’s dry after this weekend’s rain. A spokeswoman said the Long Beach Police Department received no calls about flooding in the area.

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  • February 17, 2009 4:20 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Long Beach public agencies were ready for weekend storm

  On Friday, a week after flooding damaged homes and cars in West Long Beach, city officials there said public agencies were ready for this weekend’s storm. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports that the area held up well under heavy rain.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: A Long Beach police spokeswoman said her department received no calls of flooding in West Long Beach. City officials cleared drains there a week ago after heavy rains inundated neighborhoods near Santa Fe Avenue and Wardlow Road under more than two feet of water.

  People who live in the area said they’re relieved that this weekend’s rains drained straight into the nearby Los Angeles River. But some say they’re still upset the city didn’t clear those drains before the last storms.

  In a news conference last Friday, Long Beach’s mayor and other officials warned people that the city’s sandwiched between the L.A. and San Gabriel Rivers – that makes many low-lying areas prone to flooding. Some fire stations provided free sandbags and sand for property owners in Long Beach.

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  • February 17, 2009 2:02 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Sylmar burn areas susceptible to mudslides

  The winds and rain pose a particular threat to Sylmar’s Sky Terrace Mobile Home Park. Last year’s Marek Fire destroyed more than half of the park’s 60 homes. The burned areas nearby are vulnerable to mudslides.

  Ronald Owen and his family evacuated from their mobile home during a fire last October. He says they filled their pantry to ride out this storm.

  Ronald Owen: “We always have, are stocked up for a couple of weeks, or a week at least. Bottled water and all the necessary things.”

  Owen is 58 years old. He’s retired from working for the city of Glendale.

  Fire stations near burn areas in Sylmar, Sierra Madre, and Orange County are giving away sandbags. Emergency officials are encouraging people to help reduce potential mudslide damage by placing those bags near areas that used to be covered with thick brush.

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  • February 16, 2009 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Heavy rain, hail hit Interstate 5, send drivers to local motels

  Heavy rain and some hail have changed motorists’ travel plans on Interstate 5 in northern Los Angeles County. In Castaic, near the Grapevine, dozens of stranded drivers pulled aside and checked into nearby motels until the weather eases up. Tyson Schmid manages the Castaic Inn.

  Tyson Schmid: “Most people are just commuters trying to get up further north towards like Fresno or areas like that. And a lot of times they’re just asking for any ways around the 5 or they just stay here because they can’t get any further up north.”

  Schmid says snow in the Tejon pass has booked his 51-room motel solid the last couple of nights. He expects more stranded motorists tonight.

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  • February 16, 2009 4:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Snow closes I-5 Grapevine, travelers stay in area motels

  The final day of a holiday weekend turned busy for motels near the Interstate 5 Grapevine. Snow stranded some travelers and truckers who’d planned to drive through the Tejon Pass. On the Los Angeles County side, some drivers heading north on I-5 decided to book rooms for the night.

  Tim Wildey at the Hyatt Hotel in Valencia near Magic Mountain said that business travelers occupied all but a couple dozen of the inn’s 244 rooms. But he expects weather-related guests to fill the rest. He spoke with KPCC as some of those drivers checked in.

  Tim Wildey: “They really are distressed. They are trying to get home to friends and family or they are trying to drive to an important business meeting somewhere north of here and they simply can’t get there. It’s a stressful situation for them. So we just offer friendly hospitality and make sure they have everything they need.”

  Wildey said his hotel may call in extra staff if the weather keeps the place full through tomorrow morning.

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  • February 16, 2009 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• LA uses LEDs for street lights, cheaper to operate

  The city of Los Angeles plans to retrofit 140,000 of its residential street lights with technology that uses less energy. City Council President Eric Garcetti says that light emitting diodes – or LEDs – cost less to power up than the incandescent lights L.A. uses now.

  Eric Garcetti: “We’re looking at about 10 to 12 million a year in cost savings probably. Just for switching those lights on in a different way than we do now. And we’ve been doing this with our traffic lights already which you’ve seen go from an incandescent bulb to LED. And the nicer thing too is we save costs on the labor side. These last two to four times longer.”

  Garcetti says that loans, rebates, and a citywide street lighting assessment will pay to install the new lights for the next five years. City officials say L.A. expects to repay the loans through energy cost savings in seven years.

  Former President Bill Clinton also was on hand to announce the plan. The Clinton Climate Initiative is working with L.A. and other large cities around the world to promote the use of more LED lights.

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  • February 16, 2009 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Sylmar's burn areas brace for rainstorm

  People who live in Sylmar near mountain areas last year’s wildfires burned are watching today’s rainstorm.

  Donna Cornell lives in the Sky Terrace Mobile Home Park above the 210 Freeway. She says she never unpacked after she evacuated during a fire last October.

  Donna Cornell: “We’re seeing mudslides on the sides of the canyons… yeah, I’m always prepared.”
  Patricia Nazario: “How close did the fire come? We’re talking about the Marek Fire, right?”
  Cornell: “Right, well, everything in front of me and everything in back of me is burned.”

  Cornell spoke with KPCC’s Patricia Nazario. Her mobile home is one of about 20 of the 60 at Sky Terrace that came through the fire intact.

  The wet and windy storm that’s soaked the Southland heightens the potential for mudslides in the hills of that burned during last year’s Marek, Sesnon, and Sayre fires.

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  • February 16, 2009 3:54 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Environmental groups have to wait for state money

  The state’s prolonged budget crisis has held up grant money to environmental organizations. A recent survey by the L.A.-San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council found that 40 percent of the groups the state funds for water conservation projects have laid off some employees. Nancy Steele is with the council.

  Nancy Steele: “A lot of the nonprofits are doing work that was requested in a way, you could say, by the voters when they passed these clean water clean beaches bonds, as diverse as protecting homes from flood, fires, and erosion, water conservation projects, and saving fish that are going extinct.”

  Steele says that most groups surveyed have stopped paying private contractors for work like water monitoring and coastal restoration. Those projects could start back up when the state gets a budget. But Steele says they’ll cost more, take longer, and yield fewer results.

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  • February 16, 2009 10:03 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Storms roll in to Southern California

  Forecasters say there will be about three to five hours of steady rainfall in the Southland beginning this afternoon. That first storm is expected to drop up to an inch and a half of rain in the foothills. Then a bigger storm will roll in Sunday night.

  Stuart Seto of the National Weather Service says the rain raises the chance of flash floods, even in places that haven’t been burned by wildfire.

  Stuart seto: “The problem here is that we’ve already had a couple of storms already that have moistened the ground and actually saturated it, especially with this one that’s coming through right now. Or that will go through Los Angeles this afternoon.

  “So after that the ground will be saturated, so the next one, that comes through with the heavier rainfall amounts. There’s going to be a lot more runoff with the storms.”

  As much as three inches of rain could fall in coastal and valley areas during the second storm, and there could be up to five inches in the mountains.

  There’s a winter storm warning in effect for the mountains of L.A. and Ventura counties today. Seto says the snow level could fall to 3,500 feet in some areas. That could mean problems for drivers on the Grapevine section of the I-5 and on parts of the 14.

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  • February 13, 2009 12:55 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• State agencies pool resources to compile invasive species database

  Several state agencies are forming a joint effort to combat non-native plants and animals. Money’s tight, but KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that California agriculture managers say there’s value in the project.

  Molly Peterson: Invasive species cause different problems for different agencies. For CalTrans, weeds creep up along roadways. Fish and Game has kicked non-native mud snails out of fish hatchery waterways. And the Department of Food and Agriculture keeps watch over state crops. The ag agency’s Mike Jarvis says each department has held a piece of the puzzle.

  Mike Jarvis: Just in our department you can look at the Asian citrus psyllid. This is a pest that can spread what’s known as citrus greening disease. It has devastated tens of thousands of acres of citrus trees in Florida. If you look at the oranges, they look half orange, half green. They’re like a split down the middle. Basically the tree dies.

  Peterson: Food and Ag has $11 million in federal, state, and industry funding to protect California citrus. But few invasive species draw that much attention. Jarvis says the state’s joint effort will pool information, and small amounts of money, to create a joint database.

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  • February 12, 2009 7:32 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• State agencies collaborate to share info on invasive species

  Invasive plants and animals brought to the state can wipe out native species, take over the environment, and threaten agriculture. Now six public agencies are forming a new council to address the problems these invasive species pose.

  Mike Jarvis is an official with Cal Food and Agriculture. His agency and five others will each choose a member to work on the invasives council.

  Mike Jarvis: “They will appoint an advisory committee that’s going to make recommendations regarding the priority in which invasive species are going to be categorized and how the state will develop an invasive species rapid response plan, so I think we’re just looking at a bigger cooperative collaborative approach as compared to single interest, single department, single issues.”

  Jarvis says one plan is to share, in a central database, information about the problems non-native plants and animals cause. All of the agencies are committing some money to the program. Jarvis says he expects the joint effort to move forward even with budget constraints.

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  • February 12, 2009 12:51 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Southern California Edison signs world's largest solar power deal

  Southern California Edison officials say they’ve signed what they believe is the world’s largest agreement for solar power. Edison is pairing up with BrightSource Energy on seven solar power projects. Utility spokesman Stuart Hemphill says the projects will produce enough energy to power more than 800,000 homes.

  Stuart Hemphill: “These are out in the Mojave desert, fairly close to the Nevada border. And what you’d find is six of the projects will be located east of Barstow area.”

  The projects are expected go online in the next half-dozen years. As of last year, renewable sources accounted for 16 percent of Edison’s energy portfolio. Edison believes that proportion will rise to 20 percent after it’s phased in the new projects. The deal still needs the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission.

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  • February 11, 2009 2:21 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Southern California Edison signs deal to increase solar energy

  Southern California Edison has signed a deal to increase the amount of power it generates from solar energy. Edison announced the agreement with BrightSource Energy this morning.

  Stuart Hemphill is Edison’s vice president for renewable and alternative power. He says the deal may represent the world’s largest commitment to solar energy in a single set of agreements.

  Stuart Hemphill: “I think we’re going to be changing the way electricity is produced and consumed in the state and it’s an exciting place to be. I think we’re going to have a very different electrical system 10 years from now than what we have today.”

  Under the deal, Edison would pair with BrightSource on seven projects. All would be located in the Mojave Desert. They’d go online in the next four to seven years.

  The California Public Utilities Commission still needs to approve the agreement.

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  • February 11, 2009 1:48 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Wildfires ravaging Australia hold lessons for the Southland

  Wildfires in southeastern Australia have killed at least 173 people, destroyed more than 750 homes, and burned 850 square miles of land. Officials there say at least 5,000 people have lost their homes. Jon Faine, a morning program presenter for radio station ABC Melbourne, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that people in Southern California shouldn’t underestimate the force of nature.

  Jon Faine: “We’ve been told that the climate change scenario means that you get more natural disasters and more extreme weather. There’s no better illustration of it than a snapshot of Australia today.

  “We had our hottest day, ever, ever on Saturday, every record was broken. And people are saying, well we’ve had hot before, we’ve had fire before, we’ve had drought before, but they are all happening together.”

  Faine said that unlike the seasonal Santa Ana winds that drive Southland fires, the 60 mile-an-hour winds propelling the wildfires in Australia are frighteningly unpredictable. Many of the areas that burned are far suburbs of Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city.

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  • February 9, 2009 5:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA imposing more water use restrictions

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants the city’s Department of Water and Power to set tighter limits on water use. L.A.’s already restricting some outdoor water consumption. The mayor wants more users to fall in line.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Phase three will restrict residents in watering their lawns to two days a week. Mondays and Thursdays only. And prohibit watering between the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.”

  The public utility’s commissioners must approve the new limits. The DWP board will also consider new water rates. Shortage year rates would lower the amount each customer can use without penalty – and would reward water conservation.

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  • February 9, 2009 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA city controller's office releases report criticizing DWP

  A new report from the Los Angeles city controller’s office criticizes decision-making and management at the Department of Water and Power. More on the story from KPCC’s Molly Peterson.

  Molly Peterson: L.A.’s city charter mandates a wide ranging audit of the DWP every five years. This report from a consulting firm found that most goals from five years ago still need work – but that internal politics make it hard to know who’s responsible.

  The DWP has set ambitious goals to obtain more of its energy from renewable sources. But the new study concludes that the Department of Water and Power at this point hasn’t figured out how much customers would pay to switch from cheaper coal to more expensive solar, wind, and geothermal power.

  L.A. City Controller Laura Chick, who commissioned the report, said it showed the public utility shouldn’t be run by political projects and initiatives but by good business judgment and good government.

  Chick used the report’s release to voice her opposition to Proposition B – a measure that would add hundreds of megawatts of power to Los Angeles and hundreds of jobs to its water and power agency. Proposition B goes before L.A. voters next month.

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  • February 5, 2009 3:18 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Schools hold teach-ins on global warming

  College campuses throughout the country and the Southland are conducting teach-ins about global warming today. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Loyola Marymount, UCLA, and UC Irvine are taking part. One focus of the annual event is how to make campuses more sustainable. TreePeople’s Andy Lipkis is leading a discussion about that topic at Cal State Northridge.

  This year, teach-in organizers are pegging the event to the first 100 days of the new presidential administration to try to build support for specific policy recommendations – cutting carbon by 40 percent within 11 years, creating millions of “green” jobs, promoting carbon-neutral power, and developing renewable technology.

  High schools will take up projects on global warming too. A Web site for the teach-in recommends to all campus organizers that they invite policymakers, scientists, and scholars to discuss the consequences and prevention of climate change with students.

  Link: National Teach-In

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  • February 5, 2009 10:02 AM
  • Categories: Education, Environment

• LA DWP buys geothermal energy from Mexico

  L.A.’s Department of Water and Power is buying geothermal energy from the national power agency of Mexico.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the 3-year deal helps move the DWP toward its goal of supplying 20 percent of its power with renewables in two years.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Just to make this deal even sweeter, geothermal power doesn’t vary with the wind or the sunlight. It will be steady, stable, and available for use at virtually all times.”

  Geothermal energy from the Mexicali plant accounted for 2 percent of L.A.’s portfolio last month. Officials of the city-owned utility say it’s gotten as much as 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources in recent months.

  Mexico’s agency says it’s able to sell this power because of an energy surplus.

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  • February 3, 2009 1:10 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• NASA to launch the last civilian-only weather satellite

  A couple hours after midnight tonight, a Delta rocket will lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base north of Santa Barbara. KPCC’s Nick Roman says there’s a story behind the weather satellite on board.

  Nick Roman: The satellite is N-Prime. NASA will launch it. NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, will manage it. They’re the government’s weather guys.

  N-Prime will join four other satellites that circle the Earth 14 times a day in polar orbit. They track weather conditions and collect data on climate change.

  N-Prime was supposed to go up almost a year ago, but five years ago, Lockheed-Martin technicians dropped it on the floor of their Northern California assembly plant. They had to repair about three-quarters of the satellite’s components… and the accident investigation report was not kind to Lockheed-Martin.

  We’ll know in a few hours if they got the repair job right. N-Prime is the last in a 50-year series of U.S. weather satellites for civilian use. The Pentagon launched and managed its own weather satellites.

  In development now are satellites for civilian and military use. The aim is to save some money. The first launch of one of those weather satellites comes up in four years.

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  • February 2, 2009 7:17 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• It's official: it's a drought

  Hot, dry weather is likely to stick around Southern California until Thursday. A high wind warning remains in effect for the mountains of L.A. County, as well as the Santa Clarita Valley, until 3 p.m. today. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde asked an expert what happened to the rain.

  Kitty Felde: It doesn’t feel much like winter this year; days in the 80s and scarcely a cloud in the sky. Climatologist Bill Patzert of Jet Propulsion Laboratory says it’s possible we’ll see some moisture by the end of the week, but not much.

  Bill Patzert: Right now we’re really in the hole in terms of our winter rainfall. It’s drought with a capital “D.”
  Felde: How dry is it?
  Patzert: Well, right now last month, usually in January we usually get over three inches of rain. We only had three tenths of an inch.

  Felde: Patzert says that means unless we get some measurable rain in February or March, the snow pack in the mountains will be thin and we’ll face possible water shortages later in the year.

  The high pressure system that’s made it feel like summer here has intensified winter for folks elsewhere, with below freezing temperatures and ice storms in the northeast and midwest.

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  • February 2, 2009 1:49 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Santa Ana winds expected to continue until Thursday

  The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory until three this afternoon for L.A. County mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley. Gusts could reach 45 miles per hour. Climatologist Bill Patzert at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena says it’s not only windy and dry, it’s hot.

  Bill Patzert: “Right now, there is what I would call a master ridge of high pressure over the west. Which as we know, when it gets over the Great Basin over Nevada, tends to drive the winds offshore in these very, very dry, warm Santa Anas.”

  Patzert says we usually get about three inches of rain in January. Last month, only about three-tenths of an inch fell on Southern California.

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  • February 2, 2009 12:53 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• State parks seek waiver to governor's order

  The governor’s cost-saving order to close state agencies two Fridays a month starts this week. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that California state parks have asked to stay open.

  Molly Peterson: Fridays are popular with park-goers in California – and that means more funds for the department’s operation. So, Cal Parks has requested a waiver of the governor’s order.

  Closing on the first and third Fridays of the month would force the department to grant refunds for standing camping reservations and reduce its revenues from fees. Instead, the department wants to shut down on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, when fewer people go to the beach or for a hike.

  Cal Parks isn’t the only agency in a pickle. The state’s unemployment offices say they’re expecting logjams from the governor’s furloughs at a time when more people are coming through their doors.

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  • January 30, 2009 5:22 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Lands Commission: No new drilling off California coast

  The State Lands Commission has rejected a proposal that could have allowed new drilling off the Santa Barbara coast.

  Last year Central Coast environmental groups announced they would support a bid by Plains Exploration to drill new oil wells. In exchange, the company agreed to end operations within 13 years. Commission member and state Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said that didn’t persuade him to get behind the deal.

  Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi: “I am not convinced that the main benefit of this bargain is achievable or enforceable. In addition to that, this issue goes far beyond the California coast. It is precedent setting.”

  California’s Lands Commission hasn’t approved proposals for new offshore drilling in more than 40 years. Garamendi said that voting for the proposal would send the wrong message to federal authorities, and to other states.

  LINK: California State Lands Commission

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  • January 29, 2009 6:51 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Geologist discusses whether small tremors foretell larger quakes

  After 15 years of relative quiet, the last six months have delivered enough little earthquakes to arouse worry in seismology circles. Lisa Grant Ludwig teaches public health and social ecology at UC Irvine. She told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that several hundreds of faults all over California can generate earthquakes.

  Lisa Grant Ludwig: “The Northridge fault is actually a fairly small one compared to the San Andreas. And most geologists were not aware of it. We all discovered at the same time as other residents of Southern California when it woke us up early in the morning of January 17, 1994.”

  Ludwig said that preparation – making sure you keep bottled water, non-perishable food, and other survival supplies close at hand – is a better approach than worry when it comes to earthquakes.

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  • January 28, 2009 5:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA City Council designates Griffith Park as historic-cultural monument

  Griffith Park isn’t just the biggest urban park in the country. Now it’s a historic-cultural monument. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more on the Los Angeles City Council’s designation today.

  Molly Peterson: The park was born 113 years ago when Griffith J. Griffith donated thousands of acres of Los Feliz Rancho to the city of Los Angeles. More than 4,000 acres big today, it’s home to dozens of historically significant elements - the Greek Theatre, a majestic observatory, the Hollywood Sign.

  The park’s new status - a unanimous gift of the city council - isn’t absolute: the Toyon Landfill and the freeways running through it, for example, aren’t monuments now. But the parts that are enjoy more legal protections. That means development there will require more scrutiny to a higher standard.

  Some city departments are still hammering out how monument status might affect normal operations in the future. The designation’s important to local activists who worried when a draft of the park’s master plan four years ago included commercial development.

  Councilman Tom LaBonge, in whose district the park sits, and who hikes the park frequently, says he’s planning a celebration of the park’s new status this spring.

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  • January 27, 2009 3:31 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Automakers resistant to stricter EPA regulations

  President Barack Obama has asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency to review a Bush administration ruling over state auto emission controls. In California and a dozen other states that want to regulate greenhouse gases by imposing stricter emission standards, officials praised the new president’s move. The response isn’t as enthusiastic in the country’s auto capital, said Neal Boudette, Detroit bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.

  Neal Boudette: “In public, it’s pretty muted, and the automakers, especially GM and Chrysler, are not exactly in a position right now to protest too loudly in public because GM and Chrysler are getting loans from the federal government. And they’re hoping the Obama Administration will continue to help them and increase that help.”

  Boudette told KPCC that the auto industry fears more regulation and increased confusion among potential car buyers. For years, the auto industry has fought the states on this issue.

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  • January 26, 2009 5:14 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger responds to Obama EPA order

  Environmentalists and elected officials are praising President Barack Obama’s effort to reverse his predecessor’s policy on limiting auto emissions. The new administration wants to give states including California a waiver to the federal rules so they can try to control greenhouse gases. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice to a chorus of approval.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “There was a promise made to the people of the America by President Obama and the promise has been kept. That we have just instructed the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington to move forward with the waiver and to complete, you know, all the work, and that we want to get this done, and we want you and the other states to have this waiver. And I then told them that it would be great to actually do this nationwide.”

  Under the Bush administration, the federal agency declined to grant the waiver to California and 13 other states. Along with the auto industry, an EPA undersecretary maintained that the waiver would create an unwieldy patchwork of state emissions regulations. Environmental advocates contend that allowing California to set its own standard will compel the rest of the country to meet the same guidelines.

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  • January 26, 2009 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Congressman Waxman to focus on food safety

  In addition to his work on key committees that deal with health care and energy policy, L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman also expects to focus on food safety. Jack Shaw of Market News International explained how the issue dropped onto Waxman’s plate.

  Jack Shaw: “The Government Accountability Office recently issued a report saying that the federal oversight of food safety is abysmal and is getting worse. This is the third year in a row that the GAO has cited this as a big problem.

  “And Waxman is chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has this issue under his jurisdiction, so he is starting to get the ball moving and trying to see what he can do on the matter.”

  Waxman said last week he hadn’t set a timeline for food safety legislation. Jack Shaw joins KPCC every Monday morning to talk about California’s congressional delegation.

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  • January 26, 2009 12:43 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California Air Resources Board chair responds to Obama EPA order

  The Environmental Protection Agency will reexamine whether it should grant California a waiver from the federal Clean Air Act. California needs the waiver in order to impose strict auto emissions standards. The Bush administration turned down that waiver request in late 2007. Now President Obama has directed the EPA to take another look at that decision.

  Mary Nichols is chair of the California Air Resources Board. She described President Obama’s action as a “shot in the arm” for environmental protection.

  Mary Nichols: “We can’t be 100 percent certain that the decision will come out the right way, because unfortunately for us there does have to be some process, but I think we can be as certain as it’s possible to be.”

  Nichols says that if the EPA does grant the waiver, it wouldn’t take effect until at least May.

  The Bush administration had argued that granting California the waiver would create a patchwork of state regulations. At least 13 other states are also seeking to impose tougher vehicle emissions standards.

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  • January 26, 2009 12:41 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Senator Boxer response to Obama directing EPA on waivers

  President Obama this morning directed the Environmental Protection Agency to re-examine whether several states, including California, should get waivers from the federal Clean Air Act. California needs the waiver in order to enact tough statewide auto emissions standards. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer shared her response with KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  Barbara Boxer: “If I could sum it up in a word, I’d say ‘hooray.’ This is music to my ears. This is what we’ve been fighting so hard for. Every scientist, every professional, and the EPA said California has a right to this waiver, in the past we’ve never been denied a waiver. So President Obama is living up to his promise.”

  Environmental regulators in the Bush administration had rejected the waiver request. They argued that it would create a patchwork of state regulations. But critics accused the Bush administration of making environmental policy on the basis of politics, not science.

  At least 13 other states want to follow California’s lead in imposing the strict emissions standards.

  Automakers are also fighting the California regulations in court.

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  • January 26, 2009 12:33 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Jury selection nearly finished in Esperanza Fire arson trial

  Jury selection is nearly finished in the trial of the man accused of starting the deadly Esperanza Wildfire in the Banning Pass two years ago. Raymond Lee Oyler faces five counts of first-degree murder and dozens of arson-related charges. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says once the jury’s in place, opening statements will begin.

  Steven Cuevas: Riverside County prosecutors plan to portray Oyler as a skilled and ambitious arsonist who set larger and larger fires until he touched off the 40,000 acre Esperanza Fire.

  Five U.S. Forest Service firefighters from Idyllwild were overtaken by flames in the first few hours of the wind-driven wildfire. All five died.

  Many of the arson charges against the 38-year-old auto mechanic stem from smaller fires set in the days before the Esperanza Fire. Oyler has pleaded “not guilty” to all charges.

  Soon after Oyler’s arrest two years ago, the district attorney vowed to seek the death penalty. Oyler’s defense attorney wanted the trial moved from Riverside County - claiming his client faced a vigilante atmosphere.

  Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan refused. The judge and the trial attorneys whittled down a pool of more than 300 prospective jurors. The ones who made the cut can expect a two-month trial.

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  • January 21, 2009 1:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• Guerrilla Gardeners volunteer on MLK Day

  L.A.’s Guerrilla Gardeners routinely weed, water, and plant plots in the Hollywood and Silver Lake neighborhoods. On this national day of service they signed up more volunteers than usual. One of the first-timers – a white-haired woman named Donna – brought a jade plant to adorn a patch of dirt along Sunset Boulevard.

  Donna: “I’m out here because the president-elect wants Americans to give back and give back to their community, and it’s a great sentiment. And I wanted to support him and I wanted to support my community!”

  She says President-elect Obama has inspired her to keep volunteering in her civic backyard during the months ahead.

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  • January 19, 2009 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Environmental agency chief responds to State of the State address

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says California cannot address other policy issues until lawmakers come up with a budget he can sign.

  The chief of the California Resources Agency, Mike Chrisman, says that means the state has no money for local environmental initiatives.

  Mike Chrisman: “All of our grant programs, recent general obligation bond programs that funnel dollars for local projects, parks projects, wildlife mitigation projects, and others. All those expenditures have been put on hold as a result of the state budget crisis.”

  Chrisman says his agency and others will close on the first and third Fridays each month until the governor and legislators agree on a plan to pay for state salaries and programs.

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  • January 15, 2009 12:37 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Obama transition team consults with scientists about ocean policy

  Two of President-elect Obama’s nominees for top environmental posts testified in Washington to a Senate committee today. Nearby in Maryland, scientists met to discuss what the next administration might do about ocean policy. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: Barack Obama’s transition team has been consulting with what some call a green team of environmental and energy scholars. Some of them also study the deep blue. A federal initiative gathered about 60 people from around the country, including Linwood Pendleton of the Coastal Ocean Values Center. He says a proposed economic stimulus plan could influence ocean policy.

  Linwood Pendleton: “Recognition now about the importance of oceans that way fits really well into Obama’s plans for investing in infrastructure and thinking about jobs. So it’s not just the ocean as gosh, isn’t that a fascinating place. This is the ocean: half the nation’s GDP originates from these counties.”

  Peterson: Pendleton says participants in the federal ocean initiative will offer more formal advice to President Obama later this spring.

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  • January 14, 2009 4:36 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Clean Air Project director criticizes Bush environmental policy

  In the waning days of the Bush administration, the president’s defenders and critics are surveying its high and low points. John Walke, director of the Clean Air Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, finds it hard to absolve the White House position on global warming.

  John Walke: “President Bush spent eight years fiddling while the planet burned. Not only taking no action to combat global warming but watching global warming pollution rise steadily, repudiating international treaties that lowered our standing in the world.

  “And allowing the auto industry and power plant industry to continue to pollute without taking anything other than voluntary actions that just did not work.

  Walke spoke on KPCC’s “AirTalk.” The Bush administration has promoted a gradual approach to climate change, saying that mandatory restrictions on industrial emissions would harm the nation’s economy.

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  • January 14, 2009 1:36 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Obama science meetings focus on oceans, economy

  President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has been consulting with scientists about U.S. ocean policy this week. Linwood Pendleton of the Coastal Ocean Values Center is one of several Californians attending a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland this week. He says some of the discussion there has focused on the role oceans play in the country’s economy.

  Linwood Pendleton: “The ocean is this infrastructure that links so much of what’s going on in all parts of the country, whether it’s pollutants that run down the Mississippi from way up into the heartland, or overbuilding on the coast, or overfishing on the Outer Continental Shelf.”

  Leaders of a federal ocean initiative plan to make recommendations to the next president based on the meeting – and on recent science.

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  • January 14, 2009 12:12 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Weather patterns bring warm January weather

  La Niña is back and she may be behind this week’s unseasonably hot weather in Southern California. Unlike El Niño - the pattern that brings cold, wet weather when ocean-borne jet streams heat up – La Niña forces those jet streams farther north.

  That cools down ocean temperatures at the equator and pushes dry, hot weather to land. Josh Willis – an oceanographer and climate scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena – told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” how La Niña is affecting the Southland.

  Josh Willis: “La Niña is a big pattern of sea-surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean. And of course, here in Southern California most of our weather comes right off the Pacific Ocean. So when the Pacific Ocean speaks we really listen here in Southern California.”

  Willis added that at least through this week la Niña will deliver dry, warm weather to the Southland.

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  • January 12, 2009 4:10 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Fire warning issued due to unusually hot, dry, windy January

  Forecasters have issued a red flag fire warning through tomorrow afternoon because of unusually warm, dry, and windy conditions across the Southland. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Under a red flag warning, fire departments place extra patrols in fire prone areas like hillside neighborhoods. In Los Angeles, officials imposed special restrictions that prohibit parking on certain narrow, hilly streets to ensure easy access to fire trucks.

  Forecasters predict strong Santa Ana winds across Southern California, especially through mountain passes and canyons. Winds will blow up to 40 miles an hour in the mountains, with gusts as high as 65 miles an hour.

  Along the coast and in the valleys, expect winds around 25 an miles an hour. Officials warned that drivers of large trucks or vans may have to handle wind resistance.

  While other parts of the country are coping with freezing weather, the Southland will see temperatures in the 70s and 80s.

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  • January 12, 2009 3:09 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Heal the Bay: Too many toxins getting into LA waters

  The environmental group Heal the Bay says regulators aren’t doing a good enough job of keeping toxic substances out of L.A. waters. State and federal laws require industrial plants to test for how wastewater affects aquatic life. In a new report, Heal the Bay scientist Charlotte Stevenson says polluters are failing those tests without penalty.

  Charlotte Stevenson: “Water that is toxic to aquatic life is being discharged into L.A.’s waterways, and likely this is really just sort of the tip of the iceberg, because the lack of action by the state has probably caused this laxness on toxicity enforcement throughout the entire state.”

  Stevenson says California needs clearer standards to measure how toxic wastewater is. State regulators say that they’re working on those, and that in the meantime they’re enforcing water quality rules as well as they can.

  LINK: Heal the Bay

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  • January 8, 2009 6:44 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Home Depot on decision to drop Sunland-Tujunga store

  Community activists in the northeast San Fernando Valley are celebrating today. Home Depot is dropping a long-term effort to build a store in Sunland-Tujunga.

  Opponents had mounted an intense campaign against the store, saying it would drive small hardware stores out of business and hurt the local environment. Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher talked about why the company is giving up.

  Kathryn Gallagher: “It’s twofold. Given the steps required by the city as well as the current economic landscape, and both of those just point to the fact that it just simply doesn’t make sense, business sense, for us to pursue this project.”

  Gallagher spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” As part of its decision not to pursue a store in Sunland-Tujunga, Home Depot is dropping a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

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  • January 7, 2009 2:59 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Anti-Home Depot campaign wins victory in Sunland-Tujunga

  Home Depot is dropping its effort to build a store in Sunland-Tujunga in the San Fernando Valley. The company says it no longer makes business sense to pursue the store, given the recession, and the cost of complying with the city of L.A.’s environmental regulations.

  Community activists fought a long battle against Home Depot. They felt it would kill small hardware stores and harm the environment. Joe Barrett is chairman of the No on Home Depot Campaign.

  Joe Barrett: “The site is surrounded by homes on three sides and there’s an elementary school less than 500 feet away, and the type of traffic that Home Depot attracts is industrial in nature, a lot of trucks.

  “And what we really needed, and what our community plan calls for, is a neighborhood retail center that serves the needs of the community, and we never felt like Home Depot fit that profile.”

  Barrett spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Home Depot operates 13 stores in Los Angeles.

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  • January 7, 2009 2:48 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Leader of anti-Home Depot campaign celebrates victory

  A long battle between Home Depot and community activists in the San Fernando Valley is over. Home Depot is giving up on its plans to build a store in Sunland-Tujunga. The company blamed city regulations and the overall economy.

  Opponents objected to the store on the grounds that it would drive small hardware stores out of business and bring too much heavy truck traffic to the area. They want the site to be a pedestrian-friendly shopping center with such things as restaurants, bookstores, and theaters. Joe Barrett is chairman of the No on Home Depot Campaign.

  Joe Barrett: “If we don’t have the right development on that site, then we would have to live with the consequences for about two generations, and that’s how long Home Depot holds the lease to the property.

  “So, we felt, even if we have to get a vacant site for a while, that ultimately it’s better if we work towards getting the right type of development there.”

  Barrett spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” In giving up its plans for a Sunland-Tujunga store, Home Depot dropped a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

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  • January 7, 2009 2:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• New TV energy efficiency rules to take effect

  It’s pretty easy to find energy-efficiency labels on refrigerators, microwaves, and computers. But not so much on TVs. Art Rosenfeld is a member of the California Energy Commission. Now that wide-screen plasma and LCD televisions are so popular, he said, the state should require stores to sell only the most efficient models.

  Art Rosenfeld: “TVs are the fastest-growing consumer of electricity in your house and it’s time to put labels and standards on them.”

  Rosenfeld spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Doug Johnson, who directs technology policy for the Consumer Electronics Association, told Patt that his organization objects to mandatory efficiency rules.

  Doug Johnson: “Convergence, innovation, and transition from analog to digital have driven a lot of energy savings in our industries, but the California Energy Commission is really viewing the whole situation through regulatory lenses. And that’s not really the way to look at the electronics sector.”

  Johnson argued that market-oriented, voluntary, and consumer-focused programs like Energy Star are more effective ways to promote energy efficiency. California’s new rules would go into effect a couple of years from now.

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  • January 6, 2009 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Air regulators demonstrate cleaner-burning earthmovers and tractors

  Federal and state air regulators used a Puente Hills landfill to demonstrate cleaner-burning earthmovers and tractors as new air pollution rules take effect. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The money for the construction equipment came from $1 million in fines the federal Environmental Protection Agency collected. South Coast Air Quality Management District director Barry Wallerstein says new filters in that heavy equipment could cut most soot pollution from diesel tractors.

  Barry Wallerstein: As we have a debate in the state about moving forward with infrastructure projects, and cutting through so called red tape, by using these types of devices, it’s a way to assure the breathing public they won’t be subject to highly carcinogenic exhaust.

  The demo wasn’t just for the public. EPA’s Wayne Nastri says it’s also meant to promote to a skeptical construction industry the new technology that state and federal air quality rules demand.

  Wayne Nastri: We’re able to show that this can work quickly, this can get out there, and that the immediate benefits are there.

  The Associated General Contractors of America, a trade association for the construction industry, still fights the rules for cleaner engines. The organization says that California’s lost 120,000 construction jobs in the last two years, and that tighter air rules won’t help. The state air board will convene a hearing on off-road diesel equipment regulations later this month.

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  • January 5, 2009 6:43 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• President Bush establishes national monuments in Pacific Ocean

  During his final weeks in office, President George Bush says he’s establishing national monuments in three remote areas of the Pacific Ocean. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more on the marine conservation effort.

  Molly Peterson: The order will immediately protect 195,000 square miles of ocean near Rose Atoll in American Samoa, around islands near the equator in the central Pacific, and close to some of the uninhabited Mariana Islands.

  That last protected area includes the Mariana Trench - a canyon that reaches 32,000 feet below the ocean floor. That’s deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

  Corals and underwater volcanoes occupy these ocean preserves. Beyond rare geology, they’re also home to species like whales and the world’s largest land crab.

  It’s the second time the Bush administration has conserved a big swath of the Pacific this way. Two years ago, the president protected areas of the Hawaiian Islands from fishing, oil extraction, and tourism.

  Naming these areas as monuments will end oil and gas extraction there, but some fishing, tourism, and research may still happen. It’ll be up to the Obama administration to hammer out many of those details.

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  • January 5, 2009 5:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Air Resources Board holds construction to tougher standards

  State and local regulators say federal pollution fines are paying for tractors and bulldozers that propel less cancer-causing soot into the air. California’s Air Resources Board is beginning to hold construction equipment to tougher emissions standards.

  That’s one reason the board’s chair Mary Nichols attended a demonstration of cleaner-burning heavy equipment today in the City of Industry. Nichols said the technology on display can set an example for companies.

  Mary Nichols: “They’re fearful that trying something new may cause a problem, and so the purpose of this kind of demonstration is really to get people comfortable with the devices that exist, that they’re safe, they don’t, you know, destroy the functionality of the equipment, and that the costs are not unreasonable.”

  The construction industry is still fighting the state’s rule. The Associated General Contractors of America has asked the state Air Resources Board and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider their rules about pollution from construction equipment. A state hearing on the subject happens later this month.

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  • January 5, 2009 1:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Stargazers, astronomers lobby for dark skies

  Thousands of stargazers are clustering in Long Beach Sunday for the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that the organization’s focused on getting a better look at the sky.

  Molly Peterson: This is the international year of astronomy; the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first recorded gaze through a telescope.

  This weekend in Long Beach, astronomers are highlighting one of their priorities for the international year of astronomy: dark skies. Dark skies activists will work to raise awareness this year about the effects of artificial lighting that obscures all but the brightest celestial objects.

  Light pollution can also disrupt ecosystems and interfere with animals’ biological clocks… not to mention those of humans.

  The astronomical society’s other projects include interesting more women in the field, placing low-cost “Galileoscopes” into the hands of more amateurs, and raising the public profile of the science that directs us toward the stars.

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  • January 2, 2009 5:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Ban on toxic chemicals in kids products takes effect

  California’s ban on a toxic chemical found in children’s products has taken effect - even as companies and regulators try to figure out how a federal rule also affects those items. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: California retailers can no longer sell toys and other products for kids that contain pthalates – an oily, colorless chemical that softens plastics. The ban’s been a long time coming.

  Big-box stores started phasing out products with the substance last year. Some retailers say California’s ban will set standards for the rest of the country. But that’s not a given in other states that operate under a less-restrictive federal law.

  The Consumer Product Safety Commission says federal law allows companies to keep selling products with pthalates in them as long as those products are made before February 10 of this year. If a company gets the products off the assembly line in time, they can still go to market.

  Senator Barbara Boxer, who sponsored the federal ban, says the commission is incorrectly interpreting the law. Environmental groups worry it’s a recipe for consumer confusion - and a reason to keep reading labels.

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  • January 2, 2009 3:45 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Army Corps of Engineers dredges Marina del Rey channel

  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers starts work on Marina del Rey’s south channel today - and at least one Los Angeles beach can expect a facelift from the project. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The south entrance to the Marina del Rey channel has filled in with sediment - and hazardous contaminants carried along with it - about 50,000 cubic meters of the stuff. So, starting today, the Army Corps is going to dredge the channel back down to a depth of 20 feet.

  Other harbors build up mud on the bottom, but this channel holds plenty of sand. It turns out to be useful. A contractor for the Corps will pull out the fine contaminated materials - about 10 percent of the total - and will use the rest of the coarse sand to fill in Los Angeles beaches, including Dockweiler, where they’ve eroded away.

  A spokesman for the Corps says engineers hope this project can serve as a guide for how to treat dredged-up materials for use on other beaches.

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  • January 2, 2009 1:34 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Attorney general files lawsuit over Endangered Species Act

  State Attorney General Jerry Brown is taking on Washington again - this time over the 35-year-old Endangered Species Act. Brown told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that he’s filed a lawsuit to block new regulations the federal government used to interpret the law.

  Jerry Brown: “Because George Bush at the last minute is sabotaging, or attempting to sabotage, the Endangered Species Act by freezing out important scientific analysis.”

  The federal interior department issued no comment about the lawsuit. President-elect Barack Obama has already pledged to try and reverse the regulations the Bush administration’s put in place during its final days.

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  • December 31, 2008 2:08 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• UCI scientist to study gases in South Pole

  Forget the North Pole. One UC Irvine scientist is spending his holiday season in the South Pole. KPCC’s Susan Valot says he’s studying gases trapped in ice.

  Susan Valot: UC Irvine chemist Murat Aydin and three other scientists are drilling holes into the icy surface buried below the snow in Antarctica. They’re collecting samples of air from below that ice layer. They’ll then bring it back to UCI to study it.

  The scientists want to see how levels of various gases - like propane and butane - have changed over time. Aydin says understanding that will help scientists predict what will happen in the future and will help them understand how to respond to climate change.

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  • December 29, 2008 1:07 PM
  • Categories: Education, Environment, Science/Technology

• Pacific storms roll through Southland

  A couple of more Pacific storms are rolling through the Southland. San Bernardino mountain resorts could see an extra eight inches of snow on top of what they’ve already got. Forecasters say the snow level could drop as low as 4,000 feet.

  San Bernardino County’s Department of Public Works is asking holiday travelers to keep roads clear for snow removal crews. The county even hired private contractors to help clear mountain roads.

  Karen Baldwin runs a home security firm in Lake Arrowhead. She says a lot of unseasoned travelers forget basic of winter driving rules when snow starts falling.

  Karen Baldwin: “It’s just given they don’t have chains. They don’t have just some of the appropriate you would need for winter travel.

  “Carry a shovel. Certainly, have your chains and plan to put them on. Know how to put them on. Carry gravel, rock salt.

  “We send our patrolmen out with gravel so if they get stuck, they can get unstuck. All the common sense stuff that sometimes people leave behind.”

  Forecasters say all the new snow will be accompanied by gusty winds. That’ll make it tough to see on the roads. There’s a chance that flash floods could hit low-lying areas, and in areas burned in recent wildfires.

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  • December 24, 2008 3:27 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• More snow expected in mountain areas in time for Christmas

  A couple of Pacific storms are expected to dump more snow in our mountain areas. The Christmas snow fall should start tonight and linger through Friday.

  Snow levels will drop as low as 4,000 feet. San Bernardino mountain resorts could get another eight inches of white stuff.

  That may sound good to jolly old elves – but not to longtime Lake Arrowhead resident Karen Baldwin.

  Karen Baldwin: “Palm Springs looks reeeally good this time of year. But it’s always fun when it snow and the kids love it. They get to bopping around and sledding. And to have a white Christmas is, you know, everybody’s dream.”

  Unless you’re in a miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, chains are required in most mountain areas. Remember to pull all the way off the road before you strap them on.

  Also: carry a sturdy snow shovel, a few bags of rock salt or gravel for traction, and a basic emergency kit.

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  • December 24, 2008 2:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Reported maintenance lapses at San Onofre plant raise concerns

  The public disclosure of apparent maintenance lapses at the San Onofre nuclear power plant has prompted attention from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Commission spokesman Victor Dricks spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

  Victor Dricks: “The plant is being operated safely. None of these equipment problems rose to the level that would jeopardize plant safety or pose any risk to the public, but we are concerned about what we see here as a pattern of underlying themes, and it’s something that we have directed their attention to and are very closely monitoring.”

  Dricks’ agency is increasing its inspections at the Southern California Edison facility south of San Clemente. Crews there discovered in March that a battery used to power safety systems had been disconnected for four years.

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  • December 23, 2008 5:43 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Yorba Linda adjusts evacuation policy after series of rain storms

  Yorba Linda officials say they’ll stop ordering evacuations near burned-out canyons when flash floods are forecast. The new policy will start with the storm that’s moving into our area now.

  For the first few storms of the season, Yorba Linda ordered everyone out when the rain came down. But so far, none of the storms triggered major mudslides or landslides. Yorba Linda Mayor Mark Schwing says he’s concerned because this is the fourth storm of the season.

  Mayor Mark Schwing: “The hills are saturated now. They’re not, you know, there’s not enough time between storms to dry out. And we’ve got rain coming tonight and tomorrow, maybe a little bit by the weekend. And every little bit of rain is just more saturation in these hills.”

  If the hills do get overly saturated and do give way, then the city will issue evacuations. That’s when they’ll send police with loudspeakers through the neighborhoods.

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  • December 23, 2008 4:04 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Weather service warns of gusty cold winds

  The National Weather Service warns gusty cold winds will blow until late tonight across much of Southern California. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: The strongest winds will blow across coastal areas from San Luis Obispo to L.A. County, in the mountains of Santa Barbara, and in the Antelope Valley.

  The winds won’t be anything like the hot, 70-mile-an-hour gusts that drove the fires of last month. Forecasters say sustained winds could reach 25 miles an hour, with gusts up to 35. They warn gusts could be stronger on the ocean.

  Forecasters say the weak but fast-moving cold front won’t produce a lot of rain, so they’ve refrained from issuing a flash food watch for burn areas. But, up to seven inches of snow could fall in the mountains at elevations of 6,000 feet or more.

  And on the holidays: There’s a 50 percent chance of rain on Christmas Eve (that’s Wednesday) and 40 percent chance on Christmas Day.

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  • December 22, 2008 1:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Weather delays flights to Northeast at start of holiday travel season

  Winter storms in the Northeast are causing flight delays in the Southland. Katherine Alvarado with Los Angeles World Airports says that flights destined for the New York metro area are backed up for hours.

  Katherine Alvarado: “New York International Airport is experiencing delays averaging five hours and 27 minutes. This is also due to weather, snow and ice. And JFK is experiencing delays of three hours and 20 minutes.”

  Alvarado advises travelers to check with their airlines before they head to the airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year. She suggests arriving two hours early for domestic flights and three hours ahead of international departures.

  By the way, if you’re traveling with some snow globes for gifts, pack them, carefully, in your checked baggage. They’re considered “liquid” and security will confiscate them if you try to carry them onto the plane.

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  • December 19, 2008 1:09 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Agua Dulce resident describes snowed-in conditions

  This week’s weather reports for the Antelope Valley, full of high winds and snow, read more like something out of the Midwest than Southern California. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario spoke with Kevin Bennett, who lives with his family a mile up a mountain in Agua Dulce.

  Kevin Bennett: I tried getting home last night, but with the snow it was way too deep. I ended up just parking right here and trekking it home.
  Patricia Nazario: What’s happening up there? Are people who are up there, are they stranded in their homes?
  Bennett: Some people have their tractors out and they’re clearing the snow off the roads and making it bearable, so people can get their smaller cars in. This is a private road, so the city doesn’t care much for it.
  Nazario: This is Juniper Valley Road, a private road that crosses Sierra Highway. It’s really beautiful today. The mountains are snow-capped. It’s brisk. What’s it like out here when it’s not snowing?
  
  Bennett: It’s really nice to actually have snow, because normally we have droughts through here, and there’s a lot of dust because of the dirt roads and things like that. But it’s nice to get snow every once in a while. I don’t know how those people who live in the mountains out in the Midwest do it. It gets pretty annoying sometimes, but maybe California will be prepared for it after something like this, next time.

  That was Kevin Bennett of Agua Dulce, speaking with KPCC’s Patricia Nazario.

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  • December 18, 2008 5:42 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Environmentalist applauds Obama's selection of Hilda Solis

  A prominent environmental activist calls Congresswoman Hilda Solis a true grass-roots hero. Van Jones of Oakland wrote “The Green Collar Economy.” He says Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of Labor has championed environmental justice throughout her career.

  Van Jones: “She understands that the environment is about the planet, but it’s also about people. She thinks holistically. She thinks about health, she thinks about work, she thinks about the environment as one thing. And that’s why Hilda Solis is such an extraordinary leader. And it’s not just that she’s the first Latina in that position. It’s not that she’s brown. It’s that she’s green, too. She’s the first green person in that position.”

  Jones credits Solis with co-sponsoring the first piece of federal legislation that funded training for jobs that promote energy conservation and efficiency. Jones appeared today at a downtown Los Angeles forum on building a sustainable, eco-friendly economy.

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  • December 18, 2008 5:40 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Boxer says green technology could create jobs

  The new Congress meets the first week of January, but U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer says global warming legislation will take a backseat to an economic stimulus package.

  Boxer heads the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. She says she agrees with L.A. Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, who chairs the House committee tasked with global warming legislation, that tackling “greenhouse gas” will strengthen the economy.

  Senator Barbara Boxer: “Henry Waxman and I see the world very much the same way in terms of mobilizing this nation to fight global warming, creating a lot of jobs in the process, making the country energy efficiency; leading to the development of technologies that we can export around the world will make us a great leader in this century.”

  In the short run, Senator Boxer says there is a “green” side to the proposed economic stimulus package, such as building new schools with solar rooftops.

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  • December 18, 2008 4:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Greenhouse gas legislation must wait for economic stimulus

  On Capitol Hill, two committees likely to tackle global warming issues are headed by Californians. Barbara Boxer chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee on the Senate side. Henry Waxman will chair Energy and Commerce on the House side. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde spoke with Senator Boxer about legislation on global warming.

  Kitty Felde: If you were counting on the new Congress to immediately push for a cap-and-trade system on carbon, or to impose stricter rules on “greenhouse gas” emissions, you’ll be disappointed. Senator Barbara Boxer says Congress has a different priority.

  Senator Barbara Boxer: I think the very first thing we’re going to do is this economic recovery package. And in that package, there’ll be a lot of things that will lead us to reduce carbon. Such as … making buildings like this very energy efficient, putting solar rooftops on schools. Things like that are going to be the way we cut down on carbon. But the actual cap-and-trade legislation is going to wait just a little bit until we see what President-elect Obama wants.

  Felde: Senator Boxer says the president-elect has told her he wants to “think about” whether he wants a flexible cap-and-trade program, or a plan where Congress spells out all the details.

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  • December 18, 2008 3:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Panel votes to suspend Clean Trucks ports fee

  A federal panel has voted again to suspend the Clean Trucks fee at the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports complex. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: It’s the second time the Federal Maritime Commission has voted to delay a $35 container fee that the ports have been trying to collect since October. The fee is meant to help replace the oldest, dirtiest trucks at the ports. But the commission has repeatedly moved to block it.

  In this most recent decision, the maritime commission noted the slumping economy - and the struggling cargo industry – as reasons to hold up the fee. A judge who’s hearing the commission’s complaints against the harbor complex won’t decide in that matter until next month.

  In another federal courtroom, the American Trucking Association is also trying to throw out some Clean Trucks program rules that require drivers to be employees, not independent contractors. The association contends that those rules violate interstate commerce laws. Collecting an estimated million dollars a day in fees will depend on settling both of these disputes.

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  • December 18, 2008 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• OC wildfire disaster center temporarily closing

  If your home or business sustained damage during Orange County’s wildfires, you’ve only got a couple more days to grab some help before a holiday break. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: People whose property took a hit in last month’s Freeway Complex fire can qualify for disaster loans from the federal government. The Small Business Administration distributes low-interest loans of up to $40,000 for property damage insurance doesn’t cover.

  That’s for homeowners and renters. Homeowners may also apply for loans of up to $200,000 to cover un-insured damage. Businesses can get help, too. But you’ve gotta’ move quick if you want to start the process before the holidays.

  The government’s shutting down its disaster assistance center on Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim on Friday. It’ll be closed for three weeks, and it’s scheduled to re-open in mid-January.

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  • December 17, 2008 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Exxon Mobil to pay six million dollar settlement to EPA for refinery pollution

  Oil giant Exxon Mobil will pay $6 million in penalties to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that some of the air pollution happened at Exxon’s Torrance plant.

  Molly Peterson: The six million is a national total that covers violations of a settlement Exxon made with the EPA for refineries in California, Louisiana, and Texas.

  Three years ago, Exxon agreed to do a better job controlling sulfur pollution from its smokestacks. The company also agreed to shell out $13.5 million dollars under the original terms of the settlement.

  Exxon has paid almost $8 million in penalties, plus nearly $7 million more for environmental projects in neighborhoods near its refineries.

  Most of the present violations are for failing to monitor and control sulfur in some fuel gas streams. Sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems in surrounding communities. Exxon Mobil says it’s properly monitoring and controlling sulfur at its refineries in Torrance and other places.

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  • December 17, 2008 2:07 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Environment, Health

• Snow and ice shut down parts of I-15 and Highway 138 in Inland Empire

  Ice and snow have once again shut down busy Interstate 15 between the High Desert and the Inland Empire. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has details.

  Steven Cuevas: The California High Patrol closed I-15 between Hesperia and Devore around noon. The icy asphalt temporarily idled a team of San Bernardino county snowplows. The CHP says dozens of motorists and truckers are stranded on the shoulder of the highway.

  Earlier, officers escorted commuters off the summit, and those escorts will resume as soon conditions improve. Authorities could partially reopen the highway later today. Caltrans and the CHP are conducting ‘round-the-clock road evaluations.

  Intense sleet and snow also forced the closure of Highway 138 between Interstate 15 and the desert town of Phelan, as well as a few surface streets in the Barstow area. In the Coachella Valley, persistent snowfall also forced the closure of the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway.

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  • December 17, 2008 1:49 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Storm not expected to hit fire areas hard

  Officials don’t expect the latest storm that’s moving through Southern California to hit the burn areas too hard. No reports of major mudslides or damage in Yorba Linda. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: The storm earlier this week dropped more than 2-and-a-half inches of rain in the Freeway Complex burn area near Yorba Linda. So far, this latest storm has only dropped about a quarter of an inch – and it isn’t expected to add too much more.

  Sandbags and concrete barriers still line high-risk areas, like the neighborhoods in Box Canyon and along San Antonio Road. The hillsides above were stripped bare by the fire. So far, crews have managed to keep mud and debris from damaging homes. They’re working to keep the drains unclogged.

  Further to the north, it’s a different story – one that looks like a winter wonderland, but isn’t so much fun for commuters. Heavy snow in the Antelope Valley has forced officials to cancel local bus service in Lancaster and Palmdale.

  Metrolink trains are also running up to about 45 minutes late in that area because of signal problems caused by the snow. Train engineers have been ordered to “go slow” in that area.

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  • December 17, 2008 1:13 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Study finds natural disasters less deadly than temperature

  California has a reputation as a place that’s prone to earthquakes and wildfires. But a new study has found that the more spectacular disasters aren’t as deadly as things such as heat waves or cold snaps.

  Susan Cutter led the study. She’s a disaster geographer at the University of South Carolina.

  Susan Cutter: “It confirmed what as researchers we had suspected, and that is that it’s not these catastrophic single large events, like the Northridge earthquake or Hurricane Katrina, that drive the patterns of mortality.”

  The study found that between 1970 and 2004, heat and drought accounted for nearly 20 percent of the deaths from natural hazards. Earthquakes, wildfires, and hurricanes caused less than five percent. The study is in the International Journal of Health Geographics.

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  • December 17, 2008 1:04 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• California considers report recommendations on hazardous chemicals

  Efforts to rethink the way California manages hazardous chemicals are getting a boost from a newly released report. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports on the state’s Green Chemistry Initiative.

  Molly Peterson: The new report, a summary of recommendations, is the product of more than a year of talks among scientists, manufacturers, and consumers.

  California environmental managers are promoting policies that scrutinize chemicals – and their potential hazards – more closely, and earlier, than at present.

  Maureen Gorsen, director of the state agency that monitors toxic chemicals, led the initiative.

  Maureen Gorsen: These ideas are less than 10 years old, and what we’ve been doing for 30 years at the Department of Toxic Substances Control is basically managing waste.

  Peterson: Some suggestions in the report have made their way into bills the legislature’s already debating. Other recommendations are complicated.

  Listing a product’s chemical ingredients online sounds like a simple idea, but California protects trade secrets, too. Lawmakers and agencies will have to wrestle with those and other competing interests as they move forward with the initiative.

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  • December 16, 2008 6:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Environmental managers recommend new chemical policy

  State environmental managers are recommending new policies to control toxic and hazardous chemicals. That’s part of a new report from California’s Green Chemistry Initiative. The initiative’s director, Maureen Gorsen, says California should focus on the way companies use chemicals before they’re in consumer products.

  Maureen Gorsen: “So the question is, is there something safer? And if there isn’t something safer than this then what are we going to do in terms of inventing that safer material through R & D, workforce development, technology transfer? So there’s very much an investment in the future science of our materials economy that’s in this.”

  Gorsen’s report also suggests more that the state place more chemical information online, so consumers can make better shopping decisions and scientists can focus their research. Lawmakers have already taken up some of the initiative’s ideas.

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  • December 16, 2008 1:13 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Report suggests California chemical policy update

  A new report from the state’s top environmental agency proposes ways to update California’s policies about chemicals in consumer products. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: The state calls it a Green Chemistry initiative. For more than a year policymakers and scientists have been debating ways to regulate what chemicals are in products we use - and to prevent health and environmental impacts from toxic chemicals.

  Now the initiative’s leaders are making recommendations - from improving pollution prevention programs to increasing the evaluation of certain chemicals. One idea already getting traction is an online database of ingredients in products. Existing state laws that protect trade secrets may complicate that plan.

  The Green Chemistry team also suggests online access to more information about how chemicals are used, and their health and environmental hazards. That could inform consumers and help scientists determine new and relevant research possibilities.

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  • December 16, 2008 12:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Energy Secretary-designate Chu on his selection

  Two of the four people President-elect Obama named to his environmental team are from California. Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu teaches physics at UC Berkeley, and is head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Chu said he has a strong commitment towards alternative energy.

  Steven Chu: “In our current economic crisis, people are losing their jobs and homes, companies are collapsing. Some say we have to concentrate exclusively on re-establishing the health of the economy. I look forward to being part of the president-elect’s team which believes that we must repair the economy and put us on a path forward towards sustainable energy.”

  Obama said that by picking Chu to head the Energy Department, he’s sending a signal that his administration will, in his words, “value science.” Mr. Obama has criticized the Bush administration for letting politics trump science on some issues.

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  • December 15, 2008 5:00 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Yorba Linda escapes storm with little damage

  City crews are roaming neighborhoods in the Yorba Linda burn area. They’re on the lookout for mudflows and clogged storm drains. Officials say sandbags and concrete barriers seem to have worked.

  So far, there are no reports of any major mud damage to homes, even though a mandatory evacuation order remains in effect. KPCC’s Susan Valot says that just because this storm is moving out doesn’t mean the danger’s over.

  Susan Valot: It takes three to five years for enough vegetation to grow back after a wildfire. That growth keeps steep slopes in place during rain storms.

  So far, the hilly Yorba Linda neighborhoods in the Freeway Complex burn area have withstood two storms without major mudslides or landslides. But Assistant City Manager Mark Aalder says they’re not out of the woods.

  Mark Aalder: They really do expect that the major flows or of the most concern are generally the third and fourth rain storms. So that’s why we are paying particular attention with this one. The first one is always kind of the saturation phase, and then after that, they can be far worse off.

  Valot: That’s because the water soaks in. After it reaches a certain point beneath the soil, the land can break apart. During the first storm of the season, fissures formed behind a duplex in Yorba Linda. That hillside has still not broken loose. When it rains, that building gets red-tagged.

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  • December 15, 2008 4:52 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Yorba Linda fire areas fare storm well

  The rainstorm delivered a few mudflows over roadways - but no major damage - to neighborhoods near Yorba Linda’s burn areas. Yorba Linda assistant city manager Mark Aalder says city crews have been out, trying to clean up mud and debris as it trickles down the scorched hillsides.

  Mark Aalder: “Obviously some of the sandbags have collapsed in certain portions, which we’re putting back into place. There have been pools of water behind the K-rails, as well as mud and debris. So those have held quite well, and now the water is just flowing into the storm drains, and they’re not being clogged.”

  Three neighborhoods in the Yorba Linda burn area are under mandatory evacuation orders, in effect since about 7 this morning. Some people chose to stay in their homes. A few miles away, in Anaheim, the rain caused the roof on an adult school to collapse. That hurt about a dozen people, none seriously.

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  • December 15, 2008 2:23 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Orange County officials respond to flooding in Sunset Beach

  Heavy rains and a very high tide flooded sections of Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset Beach today. Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Greg McKeown:

  Greg McKeown: “This morning at about 9:18, our units responded to report of flooding across PCH. They arrived on scene and did indeed find all five, four lanes of PCH under water. Firefighters worked quickly, called in extra resources, and were able to sandbag most of the businesses and homes in the area. One business did sustain minor water damage to the floor.”

  Firefighters, Caltrans, and sanitation employees used gasoline-powered pumps to drain the water into Anaheim Bay. Homeowners nearby complained that Caltrans could have prevented the flooding if the agency had de-activated a bladder device it uses to divert water from drains during high tide. Caltrans could not be reached for comment.

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  • December 15, 2008 2:07 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• First big winter storm of season in San Bernardino Mountains snowbounds many residents

  The storm that’s slicing its way across the Southland has dropped mounds of snow from Ventura County to the High Desert. About 10 inches of snow have piled up in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains. The Rim of the World School District called a snow day for all eight of its schools. Karen Baldwin of Lake Arrowhead is riding the storm out at home with her teenage son and 7-year-old daughter.

  Karen Baldwin: “Actually, the kids are playing – they’ll go out and do snow play later. We’ll be shoveling, lots and lots of shoveling and lots of snow blowing. My daughter’s crushed, she’d much rather go to school – she likes it.

  “So, snowmen and snow angels. But its snowing so hard right now it’s not very inviting. I did my walking tour to see what the roads are really like and its pretty, it’s pretty blizzardy.”

  The Baldwins can’t get their car out of the garage. Some of the roads in Lake Arrowhead are still impassable too. A lot of the county’s snow plows are busy clearing Interstate 15. The Baldwin family plans to hit the slopes at Snow Summit once the weather lets up and they can pull out of their driveway.

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  • December 15, 2008 1:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass re-opened after storm closure

  Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass is open to traffic again. Heavy snow forced it to close around six this morning.

  Snowplows and other emergency vehicles spent all morning cleaning up after fender-benders and escorting stranded motorists down the Pass. This stretch of Interstate 15 between the High Desert and the Inland Valley is a major thoroughfare for commuters and truckers.

  More severe weather could be just around the corner. California Highway Patrol officer Daniel Hesser says that means commuters should be ready for more possible route changes.

  Daniel Hesser: “We understand that’s a main thoroughfare, so Caltrans and CHP will do constant evaluations and if they don’t feel it’s safe, they just won’t, so its just a constant evaluation of weather conditions. Hopefully people have a relationship with their employer that they understand if there’s just no way they can get through. My partner who works here wasn’t able to come down as well. He lives up on the other side of the Pass.”

  Weather forecasters say the wet, freezing weather will probably stick around for another couple of days.

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  • December 15, 2008 1:12 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Storm causes damage and injuries in Orange County

  Parts of Yorba Linda are still under mandatory evacuation orders this afternoon as steady rain starts to turn to showers. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the storm caused some damage in Orange County.

  Susan Valot: Mud flowed into Yorba Linda yards and streets near the Freeway Complex burn area. So far, there are no reports of major damage.

  Mudslides along Carbon Canyon Road forced the Highway Patrol to close that thoroughfare. So people who live in the Olinda Village area are stuck in their neighborhood until the road’s cleared.

  In Anaheim, storm water caused a roof to collapse at an adult school. Fire officials say a drain malfunctioned and water collected on the flat roof at the Orange County Regional Occupation Program building on Ball Road. The roof fell into one classroom shortly after nine this morning. The cave-in trapped one person for a little while. About a dozen people suffered minor to moderate injuries, including back and neck problems. Paramedics took several of them to the hospital to be checked out.

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  • December 15, 2008 1:08 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• First big snowstorm of season coming to San Bernardino Mountains

  Winter is dishing it out this weekend. We’ll have rain across the region, gusty winds in the high desert, and even a sprinkling of snow on the Grapevine. Mountain areas could get a couple of feet of the white stuff. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has the forecast for the San Bernardino Mountains.

  Steven Cuevas: By Sunday morning, a layer of snow should whiten treetops and mountain sides above the 7,000 foot level. The snow should drop to around 5,000 feet by Monday. That’s just right for the popular winter resort towns of Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, and Big Bear.

  The snow should keep falling through at least midweek. But why wait? The slopes are already open at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit with around a 10-inch base of manmade snow.

  If you’re more of a purist, just wait ‘til Wednesday. Snow could fall as low as 2,000 feet - that’s low enough to make snow angels in the Devore area near San Bernardino.

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  • December 12, 2008 3:10 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Weather forecast calls for rain and cold temps

  It’s time to put those flannel sheets on the bed, wear your fleece jacket, and don’t forget those mittens you got from Santa last Christmas. Ol’ Man Winter has arrived a bit early this year and the National Weather Service predicts that Sunday through Wednesday, we’ll be shivering through the coldest nights yet and the longest cold spell to hit Southern California in several years.

  Bill Hoffer: “It will be in the 30s, probably mid-30s somewhere around there at this point in time. It’s a little bit too early to tell because the system is still up there and its still evolving towards us.”

  That’s meteorologist Bill Hoffer with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. He says a Pacific Northwest weather system is spinning south like a giant wheel of rain and snow and it’ll arrive sometime Saturday night.

  Hoffer: “There’s gonna be several impulses that are gonna come down, primarily impacting temperatures, and there will be precipitation, but it’s hard to say at this point in time exactly how much we’re gonna get.”

  But Hoffer says it’s not a stretch to expect mountain resorts to get up to two feet of snow – while the basin may get an inch or more of rain, especially Sunday night through Monday.

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  • December 12, 2008 2:45 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• CA Senate President Pro Tem lays out policy goals for health care, renewable energy, water

  The new president pro tem of the state Senate spoke on KPCC’s “AirTalk” today. Sacramento Democrat Darrell Steinberg said that besides dealing with the gaping budget deficit, he has other policy goals.

  Senator Darrell Steinberg: “First of all, I think we need to get children’s health care done in California within the first 120 days. Secondly, renewable energy. This is of course an issue which is not only crucial to meeting our climate change goals in California but it’s also, I think, the new economy.”

  Steinberg said he also wants to increase water availability. He hopes to get a water infrastructure bond on the ballot in 2010.

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  • December 12, 2008 1:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Audubon Society begins annual Christmas bird count

  Thousands of Californians are expected to participate in the annual Christmas bird count, which begins this weekend. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more on the Audubon Society event, now in its 109th year.

  Molly Peterson: In the late nineteenth century, Christmas was a time for “side hunts,” where teams of hunters would compete to shoot the most birds in a single day.

  Early Audubon members started a one-day count as an alternative. Instead of guns, they used binoculars.

  Now that one day happens at hundreds of places at different times. It’s the oldest count of its kind in the world, and the data gathered helps track the health and decline of bird species.

  Over the next several weeks, teams of experienced birders and first-timers will spot and tally birds in California from San Diego to Tule Lake.

  This weekend, binocular toting bird counters will meet in Malibu and in Orange County to keep up the tradition. The one-day counts will continue through early next year.

  LINK: Audubon California

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  • December 12, 2008 1:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Cold temperatures, rain, and snow forecast for the coming days

  It’s going to be cold this weekend. The National Weather Service says temperatures will drop down into the 50s. That will be the daytime high. Lows will be in the 40s, and could even reach the 30s in some areas.

  National Weather Service forecaster Todd Hall says we may also get some rain.

  Todd Hall: “I think we’re going to see just some showers on Saturday. It looks like a better chance of rain Sunday night into Monday.”

  The chance of rain on Monday is 50 percent in L.A. county and 60 percent in Orange County and the Inland Empire.

  The snow level is expected to drop to 3500 feet on Saturday night, and could drop even lower next week.

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  • December 12, 2008 1:29 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• California to adopt new, stricter air pollution rules for trucks and buses

  California is expected today to adopt what would be the country’s most comprehensive rule to get the dirtiest trucks and buses off the road, starting in 2010. KPCC’s Steve Julian says trucking firms are vehemently opposed.

  Steve Julian: California has the dirtiest air in the nation, so the goal is to get rid of the vehicles that cause that pollution.

  But the California Trucking Association maintains that, in a recession, it’s unfair to force them to replace their vehicles, or outfit them with pollution filters or new engines. The cost to businesses, school districts, and transit agencies statewide is estimated at $5.5 billion.

  Air regulators, however, say the cost would be spread over 16 years. They add that the cost is dwarfed by the tens of billions in health benefits to people who incur asthma and suffer heart attacks from breathing dirty air. The State Air Resources Board says the requirements would prevent 9400 premature deaths over 20 years.

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  • December 12, 2008 1:19 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Former Lawrence Berkeley National Lab director Shank praises likely Obama energy secretary Chu

  President-elect Obama’s apparent choice for energy secretary has a strong interest in pursuing alternative energy as a way to fight climate change. UC Berkeley Physicist Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize winner and former Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. His predecessor at the lab was Charles Shank.

  Charles Shank: “Steven Chu is a remarkable person. He is one of the best scientists of our age. And he has such a range of interest and excitement, that he has moved into many different fields. He’s become passionate about energy, and I think that’s probably why he’s off to where he’s going.”

  Shank spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” He said Chu will face a big challenge learning to navigate the Washington bureaucracy.

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  • December 11, 2008 4:10 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Ex-Lawrence Berkeley Lab chief lauds likely Obama energy secretary Steven Chu

  President-elect Obama’s apparent selection of Steven Chu as energy secretary signals a new direction for the government’s energy policy. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is a strong advocate of alternative energy.

  Charles Shank preceded Chu as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He says Chu will face a steep learning curve when he tries to implement his agenda.

  Charles Shank: “I think that he’s going to be drinking from a fire hose to figure out just exactly how it is to tame that bureaucracy and work with President Obama administration and with the Congress.

  “This is a major challenge and it’s something which there are few people I know that could possibly do that, and I think that Steve is definitely one of them.”

  Shank spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” He called Steven Chu “one of the best scientists of our age.”

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  • December 11, 2008 4:05 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California Air Resources Board passes greenhouse gas reduction plan

  State air regulators have passed a blueprint for California’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction laws. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The Air Resources Board passed what policy wonks call a “scoping plan.” It’s a road map toward an aggressive goal. The state’s planning to cut greenhouse gas emissions within 12 years to their level 18 years ago, with the aim of slowing global warming.

  The devil’s in the details, though, and much of the public comment before the vote focused on whether and how to implement a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases.

  Advocates for people who live near fossil fuel emitters – a big source of greenhouse gases – are worried about health effects from pollution. They say the air could stay dirty in those neighborhoods while polluters pay for carbon reduction projects somewhere else.

  Some air board members said they’d also like to consider an alternative, a carbon tax on emitters. The governor isn’t sure the politics of that option will work. Economists who studied what the board approved say Californians should keep an eye on the costs - some of which are very uncertain.

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  • December 11, 2008 3:40 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Air regulators meet to talk about reducing global warming, disel truck air pollution

  State air regulators meeting in Sacramento today will be talking about cutting global warming - and cutting air pollution from diesel trucks. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The California Air Resources Board released a study this week that the longer truck drivers are behind the wheel, the greater their risk of lung cancer. Air regulators say tightening rules about how much diesel trucks can spew would save the state billions of dollars in health care costs, not to mention thousands of lives.

  The proposed rule would install particle traps on trucks’ exhaust pipes in the first years, then phase in tougher controls over 15 years. But truckers say they’re feeling financial pain over this proposal. Even small retrofits can cost upwards of $10,000 a pop, and clean trucks - the kind the state will eventually require – cost up to $200,000.

  Air regulators say California needs to control pollution from diesel engines so it can meet federal air standards - and protect federal highway money. But lobbyists for the trucking industry are vowing to fill the air board’s airtime with plenty of public comments against the proposed rules.

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  • December 11, 2008 1:25 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Transportation

• California air regulators consider new rules to limit truck pollution

  State air regulators meeting in Sacramento today will be talking about cutting global warming and cutting air pollution from diesel trucks. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The California Air Resources Board released a study this week that said that the longer truck drivers are behind the wheel, the greater their risk of lung cancer.

  Air regulators say tightening rules about how much diesel trucks can spew would save the state billions of dollars in health care costs, not to mention thousands of lives.

  The proposed rule would install particle traps on trucks’ exhaust pipes in the first years, then phase in tougher controls over 15 years. But truckers say they’re feeling financial pain over this proposal. Even small retrofits can cost upwards of $10,000 a pop, and clean trucks, the kind the state will eventually require, cost up to $200,000.

  Air regulators say California needs to control pollution from diesel engines so it can meet federal air standards and protect federal highway money. But lobbyists for the trucking industry are vowing to fill the air board’s air time with plenty of public comments against the proposed rules.

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  • December 10, 2008 8:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southern California fire officials issue red flag warning

  The National Weather Service has issued a red flag fire warning for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The warning lasts until 4 p.m. tomorrow. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Forecasters predict wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour across the passes and canyons of L.A. and Ventura counties, and have issued a high wind warning for the mountains.

  While temperatures will be relatively mild, humidity’s expected to drop into the teens or even single digits. Forecasters say despite recent rain, vegetation remains “exceedingly dry.”

  A National Weather Service red flag warning means there’s “explosive fire growth potential.” Under these conditions, fire departments typically deploy extra resources to fire prone areas.

  In an example of how weather can vary greatly across the region, forecasters have issued a freeze watch for the Antelope Valley. Overnight temperatures there could dip below 28 degrees.

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  • December 9, 2008 11:45 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Caltrans sets new water reduction target

  The state’s transportation agency is setting a new target to reduce water use in Los Angeles under an agreement with the Department of Water and Power. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Caltrans has agreed with the utility to try to cut water by 20 percent within four years. Earlier this year the governor gave the transportation agency 12 years to hit that mark throughout California.

  The state agency and local utility will begin work on this together through pilot projects. Caltrans will run recycled water through two irrigation systems on the 405 Freeway at Sherman Way. Where the 5 Freeway meets the 110, Caltrans will put in a weather-based control system for watering.

  And near the 101 Freeway at Sunset Boulevard, the agency will just use less water. If Caltrans’ regional branch succeeds in cutting water use to its targeted goal, it’ll save enough water to serve about 1,000 homes.

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  • December 8, 2008 12:20 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Quake hits inland Southern California

  LUDLOW, Calif. (AP) - A moderate earthquake struck California’s Mojave Desert on Friday night and could be felt from San Diego to Los Angeles.

  The 5.1-magnitude temblor struck just outside Ludlow on Interstate 40 in San Bernardino County, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The initial reports measured the quake at 5.5-magnitude.

  There were no immediate reports of damage.

  “The ground was rolling underneath but it was very light. Nothing,” said Jeremy Chestnut, 20, who works at a Dairy Queen in Ludlow. “I was standing in front of an ice cream machine and it makes the ground shake, too.”

  USGS geophysicist Rafael Abreu said the closest fault is the Lavic Lake Fault, in the Calico-Hidalgo fault zone, which is part of the San Andreas Fault region.

  He said the movement is related to the gradual movement of the Pacific plate against the North American plate along a strike slip fault that crosses California.

  The quake “is relatively shallow and if it were located in a more populated area it could be very damaging,” USGS seismologist Richard Buckmaster said. “But it’s out in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere.”

  Kelly Ghiloni, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Joshua Tree, said she felt shaking for about 15 seconds but saw no major damage.

  “There was some shaking, a little bit of rattling,” Ghiloni said. “It was enough to wake you up and know there was an earthquake.”

  KCDZ-FM news director Gary Daigneault said he felt the shake in Twentynine Palms, about 40 miles south of Ludlow.

  “It was a rolling motion,” he said. “It was a pretty good ride.”

  The quake was just a few miles from where a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit in 1999.

  (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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  • December 5, 2008 9:06 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• UCLA researchers release report about air pollution effects on pregnant women, infants

  UCLA researchers have released a report about the effects of air pollution on pregnant women and infants. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The school’s Institute for the Environment gives Southern California air pollution a C in its quarterly report card. But the grade’s hardly the point. The researchers’ aim is to focus attention on what air pollution can do to biological development between conception, birth, and the early years of life.

  Los Angeles births account for a quarter of all new babies in California each year - about 150,000 people. Adverse health risks the researchers detail for these and other children include low birth weight, and brain, respiratory, and digestive problems.

  The report points out that state and federal regulations don’t take these studies into account. They’re still fairly new – most epidemiological and other research that links air pollution to children’s health risks has happened in the last 10 years, some of it at UCLA.

  The scientists emphasize that they still don’t know a lot about which compounds in the air pose the greatest threat, or exactly how pollution affects biological health. As you might expect, the report concludes that more research is needed.

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  • December 4, 2008 11:11 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Health

• Forestry expert praises LA County's fire prevention strategies

  California is bracing itself for the next round of wildfires, and is worrying about how much it will cost to fight them. Some say L.A. County is setting a good example for how to prevent fires.

  L.A. County helps pay for a variety of fire prevention measures with a special tax on homeowners in high fire areas. Bill Stewart is a forestry expert at UC Berkeley.

  Bill Stewart: “It’s going to really reduce your fire insurance and reduce, you know, the risk of your house burning down if we start to invest fifty, hundred, hundred-and-fifty dollars per year in doing projects now, and if we do that over the next twenty years, everybody is going to be better off.”

  Stewart spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” He says there are a lot of other ideas floating around in Sacramento about how to raise additional money for fire prevention.

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  • December 1, 2008 3:56 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southland health officials warn about stormwater runoff at beaches

  Southland public health officials are warning people to be careful around stormwater runoff at area beaches this weekend. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Wet weather can fill stormwater systems that run out to the ocean with plenty carried through city streets – from tiny bacteria to trash to other health hazards. So Los Angeles County’s public health office is warning beachgoers to watch out along some coastal areas.

  Discharge pipes, creeks, and rivers that carry rainwater runoff are near some beaches and swimming spots – and that’s what the county says to avoid. L.A.’s warning is in effect until at least Sunday.

  In Long Beach, officials are telling locals to stay out of the water entirely for 72 hours after rainfall. Meanwhile, L.A. County’s beach testing program continues. Orange and Ventura counties lost big chunks of money for beach water quality tests in state budget cuts last month.

  The state water board has since restored that funding, but both counties are waiting for the new paperwork – and they’re only issuing advisories after rainfall and other events while they wait.

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  • November 27, 2008 1:38 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Southern California weathers first fall storm with no major mudslides

  Southern California residents got through their first Pacific storm virtually unscathed. Recent wildfires reduced hillsides to ash, and residents feared a second major problem this month: mudslides. KPCC’s Steve Julian reports.

  Steve Julian: The rain came ashore Tuesday night and, at times, pummeled northern Los Angeles County with an inch per hour. But in neighborhoods where about 30,000 acres of hillsides burned, the major mudslides didn’t happen.

  But 1,500 people were told to leave their homes in Yorba Linda where nearly 120 homes burned just over a week ago. Now that the storm has passed, these residents are back home; as are evacuees in Santa Barbara.

  Despite the threats it brought, the storm was a welcome change for many after a long siege of temperatures in the 80s and 90s. Climatologists say, however, this storm did nothing to alleviate a four-year drought in Southern California.

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  • November 27, 2008 9:55 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Officials unveil why Yorba Linda fire hydrants failed during wildfire

  Yorba Linda water district officials blame a computer for the failure of key fire hydrants during this month’s Freeway Complex fire. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the fire destroyed more than 180 homes.

  Susan Valot: Firefighters in the upper reaches of Yorba Linda arrived at the fire to find raging flames – and no water in the fire hydrants. They had to stand by and watch homes burn.

  Now, a Yorba Linda Water District spokesman says the hydrants may have shut themselves down when something damaged a computerized communications link. Then, the water district says a backup gas-powered water pump failed because it got too hot.

  Water officials say they had no idea the failure happened until they saw coverage of the problem on TV. They say the pump system for the hydrants was designed to deal with fires at maybe one or two homes – but not with a full-on firestorm.

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  • November 27, 2008 9:52 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Nonprofit challenges LA County over Baldwin Hills drilling rules

  A neighborhood nonprofit has filed a legal challenge to Los Angeles County’s new rules about oil drilling operations in the Baldwin Hills. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports it’s one of several lawsuits over the county’s actions.

  Molly Peterson: Last month, L.A. County created a new district around the Inglewood Oil Field. It came with new rules aimed at easing environmental, health, and noise complaints from the field’s neighbors.

  Since then several groups, including some of those neighbors, have challenged the rules. Opponents say the county failed to square them with California planning law requirements. The groups also claim environmental review information was slow in coming, and was incomplete.

  Retiring L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, who spearheaded the move to create the new standards in her district, has defended the county’s planning process.

  Whether or not the county’s rules hold up on court, the oil drilling, which has been ongoing for the past 84 years, is likely to continue. The current leaseholder, Plains Exploration, can apply to the state of California for more drilling permits at any time.

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  • November 26, 2008 5:34 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Rains bring mudslide fears to California burn areas

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rains swept across Southern California on Wednesday, bringing flash flood warnings to areas already burned by wildfire and worries from thousands of residents whose homes were spared by flames that they could now face destructive mudslides instead.

  A torrent of early morning showers spurred an evacuation order in Orange County, where at least 1,500 people in Yorba Linda were told to leave their homes.

  “Nothing has gone down yet, but the rain met the threshold where we needed to get people out,” Orange County Fire Captain Greg McKeown said.

  Voluntary evacuations had already been called for in the city of 65,000 southeast of Los Angeles, which was torched by a huge fire earlier this month.

  In another wildfire-ravaged area in Santa Barbara County, an evacuation order affecting up to 2,200 homes remained in effect Wednesday morning after light rain had fallen in the area for several hours. Many had to evacuate for the second time in a month

  “The fire wiped out all vegetation and the soil is very unstable,” said county spokesman William Boyer. “We’re talking about some very steep slopes up there.”

  In San Diego, flooding forced the closure of northbound lanes of Interstate 5 for several hours Wednesday morning after at least two vehicles hydroplaned in a few feet of water and crashed, the biggest of several traffic-snarling closures as morning rush hour and a rush of Thanksgiving travel arrived.

  Flash flood warnings were issued Wednesday morning in wildfire-charred areas in Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.

  In northern Los Angeles County rain fell at nearly an inch per hour early Wednesday before calming as dawn approached.

  Homeowners hurriedly stacked sandbags on Tuesday and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state agencies to prepare to aid local agencies in case of disaster.

  “The state stands ready to help local governments protect lives and property,” he said.

  A low-pressure area off the coast was heading northeast and could bring an inch of rain through Thanksgiving and up to 4 inches in the mountains, said Stan Wasowski, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

  A series of wildfires stoked by Santa Ana winds damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino counties this month. Those burn areas combined equaled about 65 square miles. In addition, October wildfires burned dozens more homes and scorched the equivalent of more than 35 square miles. Other areas remain scarred from fires in recent years.

  Without the fire-related risks, rain might be appreciated in parched Southern California. Downtown Los Angeles had recorded only .27 inch of precipitation since the July 1 start of the rain year — 1.35 inches below normal for this time.

  Associated Press writers Raquel Maria Dillon, James Beltran and Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 26, 2008 8:30 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Orange County prepares for storm to hit recently burned areas

  The sandbags are up. The concrete barriers are in place. Now, people who live in Orange County’s recently-burned areas are waiting for the rain. Officials in Yorba Linda have already called for a voluntary evacuation of three neighborhoods, including the Box Canyon area and the Brush Canyon area.

  Orange County Assistant Emergency Manager Vicki Osborn told her county’s Board of Supervisors this morning that the agency will station extra patrols in the burn areas once the rain starts. Osborn says the heaviest rain’s expected overnight.

  Vicki Osborn: “Air support between county fire, county sheriff, and Anaheim will be coordinated to ensure that we have a helicopter available night-long for recon missions so we have eyes in the sky as best we can.”

  Emergency officials have also established the Tommy Lasorda Fieldhouse in Yorba Linda as an evacuee shelter if needed.

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  • November 25, 2008 5:51 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Society/Culture

• Volunteer organization helps prevent wildfires

  People who lived in rural areas of Sylmar may have maintained a city way of thinking about their neighborhoods. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario spoke with a fire watch volunteer who said that mindset may explain why the recent Sayre fire left hundreds of people homeless.

  Patricia Nazario: Houses in Sylmar aren’t interwoven in the wildlands as they are in Lake Arrowhead. But some homes cluster in traditional suburban settings along the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

  Abigail Bok: People tend to think that they’re in a safer area.

  Nazario: Abigail Bok is a civilian volunteer with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station near Malibu. She says many Sylmar residents dismissed the idea of a wildfire threatening their suburban-looking neighborhood.

  Bok: And we’ve seen in recent fires that the fires can overwhelm even neighborhoods that are built to fire-safety standards.

  Nazario: Bok supervises two groups of Fire Watch volunteers in Topanga Canyon and Calabasas. Sylmar doesn’t maintain that kind of team. Bok says that watchful homeowners could help prevent another disaster – and help educate people about the very real potential for wildfires.

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  • November 24, 2008 5:01 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• New House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Waxman wants reductions in carbon emissions

  Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman says he will use his new power in Congress to push for more reductions in carbon emissions. Waxman will be taking over the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

  Henry Waxman: “We’ve got to have a very clear policy to reduce those emissions because it’ll take us off using fossil fuels and we will look at alternatives so we don’t have to become so dependent, as we now are, to Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries that don’t have our best interest at heart.”

  Waxman told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that alternative energy policies will also help the economy by creating new, sustainable jobs.

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  • November 24, 2008 4:58 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• 'Arson Watch' volunteer organization patrols mountains to prevent wildfires

  A fire watch volunteer who’s been helping to protect homes in Topanga Canyon and Calabasas thinks Sylmar could benefit from a group like hers. Abigail Bok says her monitors kick into gear on high fire danger days.

  Abigail Bok: “We patrol the mountains in our own vehicles looking for fires or fire hazards and educating the public about what can cause fires, and we communicate via 2-way radio in our cars.”

  “Arson Watch” adapted the “Neighborhood Watch” concept 25 years ago for areas at high risk of fires. Watch groups in Topanga Canyon, Calabasas, Malibu, Agoura, and Chatsworth help to protect the Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains from wildfires. Last week’s Sayre fire in Sylmar destroyed more than 600 structures, including 482 mobile homes.

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  • November 24, 2008 3:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa sets goal to meet 10 percent of city's energy needs with solar power

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa set a goal today to meet 10 percent of the city’s energy needs with solar power within a dozen years.

  Mayor Villaraigosa predicted that the planned solar program would do locally what the next president will do to stimulate the national economy.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “What we’re doing here is exactly what President-elect Obama has been talking about. We need to create and leverage the new economy, build jobs in the clean tech sector, unite our infrastructure investments with that effort, and do so in a way that leverages both local, state, and national goals.”

  The program known as Solar L.A. includes proposals to boost solar on residential rooftops, install systems on city-owned property, and purchase solar energy from developers beyond the L.A. basin.

  The city council, commissioners for the Department of Water and Power, and voters in L.A. must each approve parts of the plan to bring 1,300 megawatts of solar power online.

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  • November 24, 2008 2:17 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• US Geological Survey studying Santa Barbara County areas during storms

  The U.S. Geological Survey will be keeping close watch on the rain forecast for this week. The agency plans to use radar to monitor areas of Santa Barbara County that burned in recent wildfires. Sue Cannon is a research geologist for the Survey. She explained what researchers hope to learn.

  Sue Cannon: “There are areas within the terrain that always get rain. If it’s going to rain, there may be specific valleys or high peaks that always get hit by a storm. So this helps us from a warning point of view, that we can narrow down which areas within a fire are more prone to debris flow production.”

  The areas Cannon and other plan to monitor include the area north of Goleta where the Gap Fire burned, and Montecito, where this month’s Tea Fire started. Last year, the agency used radar to monitor burn areas in Malibu and Ventura County.

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  • November 24, 2008 12:59 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Research geologist warns burst of rainfall could cause landslides

  There’s a chance of rain tonight, but the National Weather Service says the most significant rainfall should begin tomorrow night. Some foothill and mountains areas of L.A. County could get three to four inches. That raises the possibility of landslides in areas that were recently burned by wildfire.

  Sue Cannon is a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. She says it’s not just the amount of rainfall that’s a concern.

  Sue Cannon: “It’s how intense it falls that really triggers the debris flow. So if three to four inches is spread over many days we’ll be fine. But if it comes in a short burst – we need to really be worried.”

  Homeowners and volunteers have been filling sandbags in areas that were recently burned, including Sylmar and Yorba Linda.

  The U.S. Geological Survey will be using radar to monitor the areas that were burned in Santa Barbara County. That will help researchers figure out which parts of that terrain are most prone to mudslides.

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  • November 24, 2008 12:56 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Santa Barbara crews prepare for rain in fire zones

  In Santa Barbara, public works crews have started clearing debris from the Tea Fire to prepare for winter rains. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports residents and volunteers are getting ready for wet weather too.

  Molly Peterson: Even while the Tea Fire still was active, Santa Barbara officials were working on a plan for dealing with erosion that could follow from a rainstorm. City crews are focusing on the Sycamore Creek watershed, which could be a conduit for debris flows. Most of the 2,000 acres that burned drain into Sycamore Canyon.

  The city and county of Santa Barbara have started handing out free sandbags to residents who want to divert mud flows from their properties. And local authorities are encouraging homeowners who have flood insurance to make sure that it’s in order.

  The Mountain Drive Community Association encouraged residents and volunteers to meet this weekend at Cold Spring School with shovels and equipment to help shore up hillsides.

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  • November 24, 2008 12:38 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Deaf family checks into Oakridge Park fire fictims' assistance center

  The only deaf family that lived in Sylmar’s Oakridge Mobile Home Park checked in at the fire victims’ assistance center today.

  Sixty-eight-year old Andre Dubois and his wife Marcella say interpreters have been their lifeline since last week’s disaster. Speaking through interpreter Jonathan Gleicher, Dubois said reorganizing their lives has been a painstaking process.

  Jonathan Gleicher (interpreting for Andre Dubois): Filing paperwork, FEMA. Her Social Security, DMV, lost the license in the fire. No picture ID. Everything was lost. We had to go to the DMV. Luckily, it was all set up in the gymnasium, and they helped us a lot.”

  The City of L.A. is picking up the tab for the couple’s interpreter. Officials say the assistance center at the Sylmar Recreation Center will remain open to fire victims for as long as there’s a need.

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  • November 21, 2008 4:52 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• School leaders urge lawmakers to avoid further education cuts

  California schools leaders today urged lawmakers to keep their budget axe away from state education funds. The comments came a day after a forecast that big budget deficits are here to stay for the next six years. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office told Californians to brace themselves for $22 billion deficits in state funds each year for the next six years. Lawmakers have been closing smaller deficits in recent years by cutting public schools budgets, among other things.

  Bob Wells is with the trade group that represents public school principals and other administrators. He says Californians expect top notch schools, but spending per student lags behind other states.

  Bob Wells: Before this fiscal year, we were reported to be 46th out of the 50 states. We’ve been cut $4 billion since then.

  There’s a very good chance California will fall dead last out of the 50 states.

  Guzman-Lopez: Lawmakers are negotiating midyear cuts in a special legislative session. An official with the governor’s finance office agreed that schools have suffered deeper cuts than other state programs, but they were given greater flexibility in how to spend their funds.

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  • November 21, 2008 4:49 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Crews prepare for possible rain in fire-ravaged Yorba Linda neighborhoods

  Crews are already piling up sandbags in Yorba Linda neighborhoods surrounded by burned hillsides. They’re getting ready for rain that could arrive Wednesday.

  Yorba Linda Public Works Director Mark Stowell says volunteers will fill sandbags this weekend, as crews put concrete barriers in place to direct runoff and mudflows. He says drainage channels are clear now – but they could get clogged with ash-laden mud.

  Mark Stowell: “We will monitor it, but we also have to keep the safety of our work crews because these, these flows are swift and fast and quiet and I don’t want to have any of our crews in there trying to clear channels.”

  Orange County officials also have sandbags and hay bales available every Saturday in the Modjeska Canyon area. That region burned last year – and it’s still at risk for mudslides.

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  • November 21, 2008 4:31 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA Auto Show launches in midst of economic, ecological concerns

  The Los Angeles Auto Show – curtain raiser to a season of similar shows throughout North America – starts Friday at the L.A. Convention Center. KPCC’s Brian Watt says this year’s focus is on green technology, and on driving through some tough economic times.

  Brian Watt: The show begins at the end of a week in which the American auto industry went to Washington hat-in-hand… and retreated, for the time being, with an empty hat. But, says Denise Gray, the show must go on.

  Denise Gray: How I get through it every day is to stay on task.

  Watt: As director of Global Battery Engineering for General Motors, Gray’s leaving the economic crisis to the higher-ups in her company – and to the federal government. She’s come in from Michigan to talk about the battery she’s working on for the Chevrolet Volt. It’s supposed to power the car for 40 fuel-and-emissions-free miles – then plug in and recharge while the driver works or sleeps.

  Gray: My issue is to make sure that battery gets designed, gets developed, gets validated, comes out on time, high reliability, at the end of 2010.

  Watt: Although it’s two years out from dealer showrooms, the Volt is one of many hybrids ready for its sneak preview at the L.A. Auto Show.

  Note: The Auto Show continues through the Sunday after Thanksgiving at the L.A. Convention Center.

  LINK: LA Auto Show

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  • November 20, 2008 7:14 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Transportation

• Water quality board votes to end commercial septic tanks in Malibu

  Los Angeles’ regional water quality control board has voted to end commercial septic tanks in the heart of Malibu. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Water regulators suspect that septic tanks are leaking bacterial pollution into Malibu Lagoon, onto Surfrider Beach, and into area ground water. A sort of manmade wetlands intended to capture bacteria hasn’t solved the problem. Regional water board chair Fran Diamond says regulators have been waiting for the city to take stronger action.

  Fran Diamond: And it’s been many, many years. And we don’t see any real plan, and we certainly do not see any date, even a hoped-for date in the near or even not-so-near future, when that would happen.

  Peterson: Malibu’s city leaders have called a sewer system a gateway to sprawl. They’ve argued that other sources of bacterial pollution are to blame for dirty beaches. Now, Malibu and water regulators will hash out a deal in the next year that would ban septic tanks in the city center, limit them on commercial sites, and develop a wastewater treatment plant in the next several years.

  LINK: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

  LINK: City of Malibu

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  • November 20, 2008 6:33 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• CA Ocean Protection Council makes recommendations for reducing plastic trash

  The state’s Ocean Protection Council is recommending ways California lawmakers could limit plastic trash that ends up in coastal waters. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The council has no legal authority to ban plastic marine debris. But Heal the Bay’s Sarah Abramson says the council’s vote included recommendations for some actions lawmakers could take in the next session.

  Sarah Abramson: Anywhere from placing a fee on single use plastic carryout bags to banning polystyrene food containers. They also encouraged extended producer responsibility and continuing to fund programs like adopt a beach and beach cleanup.

  Peterson: Container manufacturers and some workers showed up and brought letters to oppose the vote. They argued that outright bans on plastic and disposable containers wouldn’t decrease trash and would threaten jobs.

  LINK: California Ocean Protection Council

  LINK: Heal the Bay

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  • November 20, 2008 6:25 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• US Representative Eshoo comments on Waxman taking over Energy Committee

  L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman ousted Michigan Congressman John Dingell today as chairman of the House Energy Committee. Waxman promises to take a more aggressive stance on such issues as climate change.

  Palo Alto Congresswoman Anna Eshoo sits on the committee. She feels Waxman will also push for tougher mileage standards, something Dingell resisted.

  Anna Eshoo: “We have sadly, now today, an American automobile industry that is no longer shining, and I’ve always thought that John Dingell held the pen while the American automobile industry signed their own death certificate.”

  Congresswoman Eshoo spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” House Democrats voted 137 to 122 to turn control of the powerful Energy Committee over to Waxman.

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  • November 20, 2008 5:07 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Ocean Protection Council recommends tougher laws against plastic waste

  California’s Ocean Protection Council is recommending that the state develop tougher laws to limit plastic waste. Six-pack holders, grocery bags, and other plastic can end up in coastal waters. The council has no authority to enact limits on plastic marine debris. But Heal the Bay’s Sarah Abramson says its vote carries sway with the lawmakers who do.

  Sarah Abramson: “So I think some of these very clear recommendations that have been laid out in the plan such as placing a fee on single use plastic bags, potentially banning polystyrene, various ways to get at producer responsibility, these are all very good outlines for legislation in the next legislative session.”

  The Ocean Protection Council continues meeting in San Pedro through tomorrow.

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  • November 20, 2008 4:56 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA Regional Water Quality Control Board takes control of Malibu septic tanks

  The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has voted to take control of all commercial septic tanks in Malibu.

  Board chair Fran Diamond says regulators are concerned that septic tanks are leaking bacteria into Malibu Lagoon and into the water table. Diamond says the board wants to protect water quality.

  Fran Diamond: And we’ve asked and directed our staff that they come back within 12 months for a plan, with teeth, negotiated between the city and the regional board for when they would be ready to break ground on a wastewater treatment plant, within the next two to three years at most.”

  Malibu city leaders argued that animal droppings and stormwater runoff could elevate bacteria levels in Malibu lagoon and at Surfrider beach. The city has also said it’s concerned a sewer system could encourage too much development.

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  • November 20, 2008 4:21 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA Congressman Waxman becomes new chair of House Energy and Commerce Committee

  A local politician has scored a big win on Capitol Hill that could mean cleaner air and tougher rules about greenhouse gas emissions here in California. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: It’s the equivalent of a palace coup in the halls of Congress. The committee that oversees greenhouse gas and automobile emissions has a new leader. Los Angeles Democrat Henry Waxman has ousted the longtime chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Democrat John Dingle of Michigan.

  Dingle has been the Democratic head of the powerful committee for nearly 30 years and has been a fierce defender of the automobile industry in his home state. That put him toe to toe with Waxman, who, with other Californians, has been pushing for tougher environmental regulation of cars and other sources of smog and greenhouse gases.

  The head of one environmental group said “Waxman is more in sync with the Obama change approach” to tackle global warming. Waxman will have to leave his other job, chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

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  • November 20, 2008 10:13 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• San Bernardino approves controversial hilltop housing development

  It has one of the most crushing home foreclosure problems in the country. But that hasn’t stopped San Bernardino from approving a giant new housing development. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says the 400-acre project will be nestled in the hills above Cal State San Bernardino.

  Steven Cuevas: The project was “green-lighted” after three years of negotiations. The development will include nearly a thousand luxury homes, townhouses, and even a few parks.

  It’ll all be built in the foothills right above campus… right in the path of wildfires and mudslides, say the project’s opponents.

  “Not to worry,” says the Newport Beach developer: the homes will be constructed with so-called “irrigation zones” designed to slow advancing flames.

  In exchange, Cal State San Bernardino will get some faculty housing, and a couple hundred acres of land. It’ll turn that space into a nature preserve for biology and geology research.

  The idea just doesn’t fly with hang gliders, though. They worry the development will obstruct a popular flight path and landing zone created more than 10 years ago.

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  • November 19, 2008 6:25 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Sports/Recreation

• World Wildlife Fund's Roberts comments on agreement on deforestation emissions

  Governors and regional leaders from all over the world are wrapping up a climate summit in Beverly Hills. California and other states have agreed to work on rules for counting carbon dioxide emissions related to deforestation.

  The World Wildlife Fund’s Carter Roberts said the agreement represents progress.

  Carter Roberts: “Brazil and Indonesia – if forests are included – rank in the top five emitters. If we don’t find a way for forests to be included in an international agreement, then we’re going to fail to reach the overall goals we set.”

  This afternoon, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, other governors, and regional leaders from a dozen countries are signing another agreement, about ways to approach international negotiations on global warming issues.

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  • November 19, 2008 3:22 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Climate Group CEO says we need to reduce greenhouse gas pollition by two-thirds

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s presiding over the final day of an international climate summit in Beverly Hills. The meeting has assembled leaders from a dozen countries and several states to think about ways to tackle climate change. One of the speakers on the agenda is Steve Howard, CEO and cofounder of The Climate Group, an international nonprofit based in London.

  Steve Howard: “We need to reduce the amount of pollution going that’s going out by greenhouse gases by at least two-third. So that means pretty much all growth, it’s got to be clean growth. It’s all about clean power and highly efficient products and electric vehicles. So that’s the future.”

  Howard told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that everyone – especially leaders – must work together to foster a cleaner, greener planet in the next quarter century.

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  • November 19, 2008 1:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• CAL FIRE chief says firefighters are doing well

  The Sayre Fire and the Freeway Complex Fire forced hundreds of firefighters to work long stretches without a break. CAL FIRE Chief Ruben Grijalva says his crews have held up well.

  Chief Ruben Grijalva: “The forces are doing well; you know, California has the best mutual aid system then anywhere in the world. So you know, Cal Fire, working together with local and federal government, we put out a lot of resources on the ground and we do have opportunity to rehabilitate and rest our firefighters in between fires.”

  Grijalva spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

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  • November 18, 2008 5:51 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Evacuee talks about aftermath of Oakridge Mobile Home Park fire

  A young couple with two small children salvaged slightly-charred pieces of a nativity scene from their home at Sylmar’s Oakridge Mobile Home Park.

  Veronica Salinas says the irony is her husband bought earthquake supplies not long ago, because he’d wanted to be ready for the next disaster.

  Veronica Salinas: “Five, five gallon jugs of water prepared. And he bought sleeping bags and extra food, like canned food, that we could have not only in our garage, but also a kit in each one of our cars. He spent like, he said it was $700, I thought it was more, like two weeks ago. We couldn’t take it with us, so it just got burned.”

  Like most homeowners at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, the Salinas said she and her husband hope to rebuild early next year.

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  • November 18, 2008 4:50 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• California politicians ask Washington DC for disaster aid

  It’s official. President Bush issued a major disaster declaration today for five southern California counties hit by wildfire. The declaration clears the way for federal dollars. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: The declaration arrived one day after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made an official request for the disaster declaration - and on the same day that California’s two U.S. Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, sent a similar letter to President Bush.

  Thirty-nine of California’s 53 congressional representatives also signed that letter. The federal declaration means California homeowners, renters, businesses, even nonprofit organizations can apply for low-interest loans to help repair or replace homes, equipment, and personal property.

  It also provides federal dollars to help with debris removal and firefighting costs. This isn’t the first time California has requested federal emergency assistance this year. Governor Schwarzenegger made a similar request in August after wildfires earlier in the year.

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  • November 18, 2008 4:42 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County Supervisor Antonovich asks for review of what happened at Olive View Medical Center during Sayre Fire

  L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors has asked for a review of what happened at the UCLA-Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar during the Sayre Fire. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Olive View’s main hospital survived the fire. But 37 support buildings there – including a child care facility – burned. Tony Bell is a spokesman for Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

  Tony Bell: Also, we lost power for roughly three hours, because the emergency generator system blew out somehow, which is very, very disconcerting, because this system is supposed to be checked on a regular basis. So we want to find out what happened there and fix that so it doesn’t happen in an emergency situation again.

  Stoltze: Bell said the supervisors have asked their staff to draft a plan for rebuilding the destroyed structures.

  Bell: Sure, municipalities are taking a hit because of economic conditions. Los Angeles County, however, is in better shape than most municipalities because of good long-term planning and saving for a rainy day, if you will. Well, here’s a rainy day.

  The Sayre Fire burned 11,00 acres and destroyed more than 500 homes.

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  • November 18, 2008 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Obama tells global climate summit that he plans to seek international agreements on greenhouse gas reduction

  A bigger star than Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed a global climate summit in Beverly Hills today. In a video message, President-elect Barack Obama told attendees that when he takes office, the United States will seek international agreements on greenhouse gas reduction.

  Barack Obama: “Now is the time to confront this challenge once and for all. Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. The stakes are too high, the consequences too serious.”

  California’s governor, and several hundred delegates from a dozen countries, greeted the message with lengthy applause. California, Illinois, and Wisconsin are among the states that will sign an agreement with regions in Brazil and Indonesia to seek cooperation on forest conservation. Twenty percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.

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  • November 18, 2008 4:09 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California opens local assistance center in Anaheim to help Freeway Complex Fire victims

  The fires have prompted Governor Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties today. The state’s also opening a local assistance center in Anaheim to help victims of the Freeway Complex Fire that burned over 28,000 acres in Corona, Yorba Linda, Brea, and Anaheim. Ruth Ruiz with the city of Anaheim says anyone from the surrounding area with fire-related problems can come to the one-stop Local Assistance Center for help.

  Ruth Ruiz: “Those who need information on specific insurance service, those folks are here to help today. Even companies and nonprofit organizations are here to help clothe people who may have lost all their clothing in the fires. So we have just a lot of great organizations helping those who need the assistance right now.”

  Those organizations include the American Red Cross, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and insurance companies.

  The Local Assistance Center is located at the East Anaheim Gymnasium on East Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim. For at least the next seven days, it’ll be open from 7 in the morning until 8 at night.

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  • November 18, 2008 3:54 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA fire captain talks about last-minute decision to pull crews from Oakridge Mobile Home Park fire

  As people returned to their homes inside Sylmar’s Oakridge Mobile Park Home today, many stepped over melted fire hoses in the street.

  While the fire was active, the incident commander made a last-minute decision to pull crews out. Los Angeles Fire Captain Steven Ruda said the flames were spreading too fast.

  Steven Ruda: “… and when I see these hoses in the street, it gives me an indication that maybe my brothers and sisters on the job, they waited ‘til the very last minute to escape. It’s amazing to me, no injuries to firefighters and no deaths.”

  There’s only one way in and out of that foothill neighborhood. Captain Ruda said a canopy of flames hovered over the streets during the Sayre Fire.

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  • November 18, 2008 3:41 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Governor Schwarzenegger holds 2-day global climate summit; Obama appears via video

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is hosting a two-day global climate summit at the Beverly Hilton. This morning he reminded hundreds of delegates from more than a dozen countries about the state’s landmark global warming legislation.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Let me tell you, when I signed the nation’s first law to cap greenhouse gas emissions, California was leading a revolution, but without any soldiers. We were out there alone. And there was no other state in the United States that was doing anything similar to that.”

  A pre-recorded video address to the conference by President-elect Barack Obama prompted sustained applause. Obama said he would work vigorously to forge international agreements on climate change.

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  • November 18, 2008 1:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Freeway Complex Fire 75 percent contained

  Firefighters hope to fully contain the Freeway Complex Fire by tomorrow. It’s 75 percent contained now. Orange County Fire spokesman Kris Concepcion says nothing’s actively burning, but fire crews still have plenty to keep them busy.

  Kris Concepcion: “What the firefighters are doing is they’re patrolling to make sure there are no embers that will reignite. The weather is in our favor, which is a good thing. And then they’re working to build, make sure they build a cold trail all the way around the fire.”

  Firefighters have about eight miles of line to build.

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  • November 18, 2008 12:09 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Carbon Canyon resident talks about evacuation due to fire

  Authorities lifted evacuation orders yesterday for many areas affected by the Freeway Complex Fire. Jim Tolman had found shelter at the Brea Community Center after officials told him to leave his Carbon Canyon mobile home on Saturday.

  Jim Tolman: “We’ve been here the whole time. We got evacuated out at 8 o’clock on Saturday night. We kinda waited until it was mandatory. We kinda waited until the flames were over the top. Then we knew it was time.

  “They were coming down the hill pretty quick. But we were half packed. It only took us 10 minutes to get up and out. Everyone in the park pretty much left at the same time, so it was no big issues.”

  Tolman, his wife and daughter returned to Hollydale mobile home park last night. They were relieved to find the flames hadn’t touched their home. One of their neighbors wasn’t so lucky. Her mobile home and everything in it had burned.

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  • November 18, 2008 11:40 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• People return to Carbon Canyon area in Brea after wildfires

  After emergency officials lifted mandatory evacuation orders, people who’d fled the Triangle Complex Fire in north Orange County returned to their homes yesterday. Andrea Burns returned to the Hollydale Mobile Home Park in Brea’s Carbon Canyon to find her home intact.

  One home across from hers – the one she said belonged to a 93-year-old lady – was the only one in the complex that burned to the ground. Burns described the house to KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman Lopez.

  Andrea Burns: “This is where her TV was, right where this roof that caved in, that’s where her chair was that she sat every night watching her television. Her lamp was on here every night at this window.”
  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: “You just came back here after being gone for two days, when you pulled up and saw this, what went through your mind. Burns: “I just kept saying to myself, please don’t let it be true, please don’t let it be true, and it was.”

  Burns said that as far as she knows, her neighbor’s fine. She and other neighbors praised firefighters for not letting the flames destroy more homes.

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  • November 18, 2008 11:36 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• 14 year resident of destroyed mobile home park talks about what she lost

  People who lived in Sylmar’s Oakridge Mobile Home Park were able to make brief escorted visits to their homes today. Sharon Parr is one of almost 500 people who lost their homes to the Sayre fire. Outside the park’s gated entrance, she said she’s decided to wait a few days to go back inside.

  Sharon Parr: “I think when I see it, when I go in there and go through the rubble, it’s gonna hit me. I’m in shock now, I think.”

  She reflected on the valuables she was able to get out and the ones she left behind.

  Parr: “My jewelry. I didn’t grab all my jewelry and jewelry cases and stuff and, it’s weird, I had my wedding ring off. I haven’t been wearing my diamond and I just had it on the dresser; I grabbed it. I had an Academy Award at my house. My uncle’s Academy Award. Everybody says when you get out, make sure you get that Oscar, and I got it. I took it.”

  Parr and her husband of 43 years had lived in a two-bedroom home at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park for 14 years.

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  • November 17, 2008 4:48 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Governor Schwarzenegger signs executive order to speed renewable energy implementation

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order today aimed at speeding up California’s embrace of renewable energy. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has the story.

  Molly Peterson: Current law requires California to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables within two years. The state’s investor-owned utilities may not hit that target. Schwarzenegger and other politicians want faster progress, so they’ve sought comments – including from utilities – about ways to achieve the goal.

  This order aims to improve coordination among state agencies like the Energy Commission and the Fish and Game Department while they process permits. It can take 7 to 10 years to power up transmission projects, and new applications have slowed the permitting process. The governor proposes better communication with federal agencies too.

  That could speed construction in areas targeted for solar and wind, like the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. Still, renewables face plenty of obstacles – including the sluggish economy. State regulators estimate that boosting the renewable energy goal to 33 percent could cost the state $60 billion over a dozen years.

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  • November 17, 2008 4:41 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Politicians call for tougher mobile home safety standards in wake of Oakridge Mobile Home Park fire

  Governor Schwarzenegger and other politicians are calling for tougher safety standards for mobile homes in the wake of the disaster at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar. Mobile homes have been exempt from some building codes.

  Chris Anderson of the state’s housing department says the codes were upgraded earlier this year. He believes more homes at Oakridge could have been saved if the new codes had been in effect when it was built.

  Chris Anderson: “They would have fire resistant construction to the roof application. The siding materials would also be ignition resistant. The windows are a big portion of it, requiring safety glaze on one of the panes. Then you also have to look at the vents for the attic area, as well as the basement area around the homes.”

  Gus Colgain, president of the California Mobile Home Resource and Action Association, doesn’t think anything could have saved Oakridge.

  Gus Colgain: “We are looking at a catastrophe – a fire that went so fast that it was uncontainable. And those homes are going to go up no matter what.”

  The new building codes only apply to mobile homes in high fire-risk areas.

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  • November 17, 2008 4:27 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Resident of destroyed mobile home park talks about what's lost

  The Sayre Fire destroyed almost 500 units in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park. Sharon Parr had lived in one since just after the Northridge Earthquake 14 years ago.

  She and her husband had paid just $20,000 for the two-bedroom home back then, but recently they’d installed an $8,000 air conditioning system. Outside the mobile home park, Parr said the place was perfect for her and her husband of 43 years.

  Sharon Parr: “We weren’t facing any mobiles. We had the – the eucalyptus trees across the street, and so it was nice. And it was like being in the country. My granddaughter’s devastated because she loved that place. Loved to come down and go in the pool and stuff. But we just haven’t had any rain and that’s not helping here. Getting all these fires. So I don’t think I’m going to rebuild here.”

  Parr said that before they evacuated, she and her husband packed as many important papers and valuables as possible. They include an Oscar statuette her uncle won for film editing.

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  • November 17, 2008 4:21 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Diamond Bar resident talks about spot fire

  People who live in a Diamond Bar neighborhood right over the ridge from Tonner Canyon, where the Triangle Complex is actively burning, shared a few nervous moments this morning. All of a sudden, a plume of smoke started billowing on the hillside behind a couple of homes.

  It was a spot fire that quickly caught a pine tree. Firefighters showed up en masse and quickly doused the flames before they could spread. The fire was right behind Bridgette Esparza’s house. She’s thankful firefighters saw the smoke before she did.

  Bridgette Esparza: “I am so glad! I love the firefighters. If it wasn’t for them, because I was a nervous wreck. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ If they weren’t around, that could easily have caught into something big, because with all the dry brush.”

  Firefighters say the ember that likely started the spot fire may have been sitting there, smoldering, for a day or two.

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  • November 17, 2008 4:13 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Diamond Bar neighbors get scare with spot fire

  Some people who’ve stayed in a Diamond Bar neighborhood under mandatory evacuation orders got a scare today. The main Triangle Complex fire is actively burning in Tonner Canyon, right over the ridge from the neighborhood. It’s tough to tell, though, because there’s not a big plume of smoke as there was over the weekend. Bridgette Esparza had just gotten home at mid-morning.

  Bridgette Esparza: “I saw my neighbor, started talking to her and stuff and before you know it, I see all these fire trucks starting to come up, you know. And I’m like, ‘Wow, where are they going?’ [laughs]

  “And then all of a sudden they stop and I turn around. And they’re like, ‘There’s smoke. Is that your house?’ I’m like, ‘Yes.’ And I run in, walk to the back yard and up on the hill, the trees was inflamed.”

  Esparza says the flames were shooting up six or seven feet into the pine tree and were starting to ignite another tree. Firefighters jumped on it quickly and put it out. They told her it may have been sparked by an ember that had smoldered since the weekend.

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  • November 17, 2008 3:41 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Southland man sentenced to 4 years in prison, $101 million fine for Angeles National Forest wildfire

  A wildfire in the Angeles National Forest two years ago has landed a Southland man in federal prison for almost four years. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on today’s sentencing.

  Cheryl Devall: The forest was home to Steven Emory Butcher. During his sentencing hearing, he told the judge that he loves nature, and that he’d tried everything to put out the fire he’d started by tossing a cigarette butt near his campsite.

  The resulting fire burned for a month, from early September into October of 2006, and became the fifth-largest wildfire in state history. Butcher was a transient with a long history of living in remote areas of the Angeles National Forest.

  Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank noted that the 50-year-old also has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia and alcoholism, and she recommended a mental health evaluation before his release.

  In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Butcher to pay $101 million in restitution. The 162,000-acre fire cost more than $78 million to fight. It injured 18 people and destroyed 11 buildings.

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  • November 17, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• Evacuees at Brea shelter talk about experiences

  Emergency officials delivered some welcome news this afternoon to fire evacuees at the Brea Community Center.

  KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was there.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Flames from the Freeway Complex Fire forced out hundreds of people Saturday night from homes in the Carbon Canyon area north of Yorba Linda.

  Dozens of them found shelter at the Brea Community Center, where they waited for news of the destruction. Information arrived slowly. Three homes burned to the ground – one in the Hollydale Mobile Home Park, another in Olinda Village.

  Then at 2:30 this afternoon about 25 evacuees gathered to hear news from Brea city officials. It’s safe to return now. Cell phone service is down, officials said; there’s no power in Olinda Village and firefighters are still there putting out spot fires.

  Many people sighed with relief. Most in the room were neighbors, displaced into temporary exile from their homes by the Freeway Complex Fire.

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  • November 17, 2008 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Deputy fire chief remarks on those who lost homes due to Oakridge Mobile Home Park fire

  Residents of the burned out Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar got a chance to survey the damage to their community today. Police drove them through in vans – only those whose homes survived the Sayre Fire were allowed 10 minutes to inspect their property. LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Moore was in charge of the tours.

  LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Moore: “You talk about a group that has just gone through a hellish experience, and many of them have lost their entire life, their life savings, and their possessions.

  “And yet I cannot tell you how many times they have such a gracious and wonderful heart as far as to say thank you, and to help our men and women understand that they really do, are appreciating our first responders’ efforts.”

  Deputy Chief Moore spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” Nearly 500 homes were destroyed at Oakridge; about 120 are still standing.

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  • November 17, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Tax breaks available for people affected by wildfires

  It’s not exactly a silver lining for people affected by the wildfires, but state authorities are offering a number of tax breaks. More on the story from KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde.

  Kitty Felde: November is property tax month. If your property went up in flames or was damaged, your first call should be to your county tax assessor to apply for a reduced assessment. Don’t worry about the upcoming deadline.

  You’re also eligible for a one-month extension on property taxes. Businesses that sustained fire damage can also take advantage of tax breaks. It’s possible to delay sales taxes, alcohol beverage taxes, cigarette taxes, hazardous waste fees, and a whole host of other state taxes for one month.

  Business owners should contact the state Board of Equalization. You should also contact that board if you’ve lost your tax records in the fires. Even if the bill went up in smoke, you’ll still have to pay it.

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  • November 17, 2008 3:03 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• California Air Resources Board head Nichols under consideration to run EPA in Obama administration

  The head of the California Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols, is reportedly under consideration to run the federal Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration. Nichols told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that she’s dismayed at the way the Bush administration has regarded that agency:

  Mary Nichols: “I think it’s fair to say that most states and environmental groups feel that EPA has been systemically ignored, mistreated, undermined. Probably the worst thing that’s happened over the last eight years or so has been the decline in respect for science at the EPA.”

  Nichols has been battling the federal government in court over proposed curbs on greenhouse gas emissions for California. She said she’s honored that people are suggesting her as a candidate to head the EPA.

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  • November 17, 2008 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• California officials consider new building standards to protect property from fire

  State and local officials say they’re considering whether to enact new building standards that could deter property destruction from fire.

  As he toured the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Mike Moore said building codes and zoning can help protect structures.

  Mike Moore: “There are varying standards for standoff distances as well as home construction. The closed eaves, the fire resistant or retardant roof, the concrete. But with a high level of heat, concrete will burn, I’m told. So it’s one of those situations where no matter man’s involvement with physical science, there is a limit.”

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said the city also is considering a more aggressive program for clearing brush – including ornamental vegetation around homes – that can feed fires.

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  • November 17, 2008 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Firefighter discusses working 24 hour shifts battling Sayre Fire

  Some firefighters have worked multiple 24-hour shifts to battle the Sayre Fire that started in Sylmar Friday night. Twenty-seven-year-old Scott Kingsland operated a water-tender truck for almost 24 hours, then rested 12 hours on the ground at Hansen Dam Park near Lake View Terrace.

  Then he was back out to Oat Mountain for another 24-hour shift that ended this morning at 7:30. Kingsland described the smoky conditions he endured on the first night.

  Scott Kingsland: “You couldn’t see! You couldn’t see that far in front of you. Your eyes were just burning even with your goggles on. And sometimes you remove them to wipe your eyes and your eyes would just continue to burn.

  “You couldn’t breathe. You know, but, you know, eventually it would let up for a little bit, just enough for you to do your job, and then you could go back to work.”

  Emergency officials say the Sayre fire is 40 percent contained. They credit firefighters’ hard work, and winds that are calmer now than during the weekend.

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  • November 17, 2008 2:36 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Former mobile home resident talks about losing his home to fire at Oakridge Mobile Home Park

  Many people who lost their homes at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar fondly remember it. Daniel Boone says the park was a beautiful place to live.

  Daniel Boone: “Well, it was probably one of the better mobile home parks anywhere. It was well maintained. Management was pretty good. For my part, we had pretty good neighbors.”

  Frank Stoltze: “What will you do now?”

  Boone: “I remember the words of Maurice Chevalier and when he was asked how he felt about being 80, he said it doesn’t bother me at all when I consider the alternative. So the alternative is what – to fall apart? Nah, I’m OK.”

  Nearly 500 modular homes burned at the park.

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  • November 17, 2008 12:32 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA County Department of Mental Health offers counseling to fire victims

  The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health is offering counseling to fire victims. Counselor Chris Contreras is coordinating efforts at the evacuation center at Sylmar High School.

  Chris Contreras: “The thing is if these symptoms of high anxiety and depression and sadness – some of our older folks are even getting confused because they’re so stressed out and worried – and if these symptoms don’t dissipate somewhat in the next week or two, then I would say we would be concerned about that.

  “And we would want them to come in an be evaluated and see if there’s something that we could do further than talk therapy. Maybe some medications might help them to settle down, be calmer, to sleep.”

  Contreras says the counseling is free.

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  • November 17, 2008 12:30 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Members of different economic groups forced to evacuate due to wildfires

  Wildfires don’t favor one social position over another, as KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez found out when he visited a shelter at Anaheim’s Katella High School yesterday.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Mexican immigrant Silvia Hernandez left her modest, rented home in the Santa Ana Canyon area when smoke made it hard for her to breathe. She lives just minutes south of the Yorba Linda mansions she’s cleaned for a living for two decades.

  Silvia Hernandez: Ahorita me comunique con uno de mis patrones y me dicen que estan bien.

  Guzman-Lopez: Hernandez said she had just called the owner of one of the homes she cleans and he told her that like her, his family was also evacuated and couldn’t return home. A television at the Anaheim shelter showed images of luxurious Yorba Linda homes turned to ashes.

  Hernandez watched closely but didn’t recognize any of them. She said the evacuation’s been tough on her family. Her three grandchildren have asthma. She has diabetes. In the haze of so much smoke at her house, she grabbed her medication, but not the kit to test her blood.

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  • November 17, 2008 11:03 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Nearly 100 people evacuated from fire use Anaheim evacuation center

  Five evacuation shelters took in people displaced by the Triangle Complex fire in north Orange County. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez visited the shelter at Anaheim’s Katella High School and filed this report.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The American Red Cross turned a high school gymnasium decorated with 130 championship sports banners into a shelter for people who’d lost everything. Sixteen-year-old Melody Fang and her family went there after they had to leave their Yorba Linda home.

  Melody Fang: The police came and they were evacuating, I was nervous, I was freaking out of course. I didn’t even bring anything with me, no clothes, no computer.”

  Guzman-Lopez: Her home’s still standing. Fang did manage to carry a thick chemistry book so she could study for an upcoming test. But she found it nearly impossible to concentrate at the shelter, given the official fire department updates, televised fire coverage, and cell phone chats with evacuated friends – some of whom have no homes to go back to.

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  • November 17, 2008 11:01 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Fire evacuee talks about packing to leave for Anaheim shelter

  The Red Cross has helped set up evacuation shelters across the Southland to house some of the tens of thousands of people displaced by the wildfires.

  Beverly Buffet ended up at a shelter in Anaheim with half a dozen neighbors from her senior citizens complex. She says she barely had time to pack her essentials.

  Beverly Buffet: “The winds sort of went from just blowing to just swirling, it was just really like intense, and you couldn’t breathe. I was going to get more stuff out and I finally, I just, I can’t, I can’t go back in there. I got the cats and I got in the car and I said, if it burns, it burns.”

  By last night Buffet and dozens of people from Yorba Linda who’d spent the night at the Katella High School shelter were allowed to return home.

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  • November 17, 2008 10:13 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Evacuee talks about Triangle Complex fire, evacuation process

  Tens of thousands of people left their homes in the last few days to avoid the walls of flames of the Triangle Complex fire in north Orange County.

  Twenty-one-year-old Laura King recalls the quick getaway with her family from her house in the Yorba Linda hills.

  Laura King: “In front of us there was embers the size of your fist, some on fire, some just falling. There was ashes everywhere. It was really hot. There were people trying to put out fires on their trees, on their roofs, with hoses, people didn’t want to leave.

  “So, yeah, that was pretty much it. We were the last ones out. And there was a group, an elderly group home around the corner from us, and they didn’t want to leave, and they were forcing them into cop cars.”

  King and her family stayed the night at Katella High School’s gym. The American Red Cross converted it into a shelter.

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  • November 17, 2008 10:07 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• California firefighters make gains on fires

  By JUSTIN PRITCHARD
  Associated Press Writer

  DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (AP) — With the ferocious Santa Ana winds dying down, firefighters on Monday made gains on three raging wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee.

  Wind gusts had peaked to more than 70 mph at the height of the fires over the weekend, but by Monday morning they weakened to about 20 mph, the National Weather Service said.

  “It’s wonderful news,” Angela Garbiso, a spokeswoman with Orange County Fire Authority, said Monday. “When it calms down, it obviously makes it easier for us to handle this massive undertaking.”

  The fires, which have burned since Thursday night from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and counties to the east, blackened more than 35,000 acres or 55 square miles.

  In Orange and Riverside counties, the fires chewed through nearly 24,000 acres and were pushing toward Diamond Bar in Los Angeles county. A major aerial attack on Sunday raised containment to 19 percent.

  Meanwhile, a 10,000-acre fire that hit hard in the Sylmar area of northern Los Angeles on Saturday moved into the Placerita Canyon area of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains and was burning vigorously, but well outside the city. It was 40 percent contained.

  The Santa Barbara-area fire that swept through tony Montecito has burned 1,940 acres and was 80 percent contained.

  The cause of all the fires were under investigation, although officials said the Santa Barbara-area was “human caused,” said Doug Lannon, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

  Lannon said the fire started in a Montecito landmark known to be a popular hangout for teenagers. He said it was possible someone was smoking in the brush or started a campfire there. Investigators have set up an anonymous tip line in hopes of getting the public’s help in finding out who started the fire.

  Far away from the flames, the smell of smoke pervaded metropolitan Los Angeles. Downtown skyscrapers were silhouettes in an opaque sky and concerns about air quality kept many people indoors. Organizers on Sunday canceled a marathon in suburban Pasadena where 8,000 runners had planned to participate.

  Officials warned of another bad air day on Monday, and classes were canceled at dozens of schools near the fire zones in Orange County.

  Many evacuees began the agonizing process of making their way back to their destroyed homes.

  Starting Monday morning, anxious residents of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, where 484 homes were destroyed by fire early Saturday, will be allowed to return to inspect their property. Firefighters were able to save about 120 other homes in the community, but many were badly damaged.

  Cadaver dogs had been searching the burned units to determine whether anybody perished during the fast-moving fire, but so far no bodies have been found, police said.

  Tracy Burns knew her Sylmar home was gone but still wanted to get into the gated community to see what remained.

  “Even those of us who know there’s nothing left, we want to go in and kick over the rubble and see if we can find something, anything,” Burns said.

  Tears welled in her partner Wendy Dannenberg’s eyes as she echoed: “If I can find one broken piece of one dish - anything, anything at all.”

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 17, 2008 8:23 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Even as winds calm, more Californians flee fires

  By JUSTIN PRITCHARD Associated Press Writer

  DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (AP) — More residents of Southern California were urged to leave their homes Sunday despite calming winds that allowed a major aerial attack on wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and blanketed the region in smoke.

  Fires burned in Los Angeles County, to the east in Riverside and Orange counties, and to the northwest in Santa Barbara County. More than 800 houses, mobile homes and apartments were destroyed by fires that have burned areas more than 34 square miles since breaking out Thursday.

  No deaths have been reported, but police brought in trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile home park where nearly 500 homes were destroyed. They didn’t find any bodies after searching about a third of the homes.

  “This has been a very tough few days for the people of Southern California,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said after touring damage.

  The smell of smoke pervaded metropolitan Los Angeles. Downtown skyscrapers were silhouettes in an opaque sky, and concerns about air quality forced organizers to cancel a marathon in suburban Pasadena where 8,000 runners had planned to participate.

  Fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the fires on Saturday weakened Sunday morning, allowing firefighters to set backfires to prevent flames from advancing to hillside neighborhoods. Air tankers swooped low over suburbs, red fire retardant billowing from their bellies as they painted defensive lines between brushlands and homes. Big helicopters shuttled back and forth on water drops.

  The most threatening blaze had scorched more than 16 square miles in Orange and Riverside counties after erupting Saturday and shooting through subdivisions entwined with wilderness parklands. Multimillion-dollar homes were threatened in Diamond Bar in Los Angeles County as the out-of-control fire pushed northward.

  Fire officials on Sunday morning ordered 1,400 more residents to evacuate, in addition to 26,500 who had already been told to leave.

  Retired aerospace engineer Joe Gomez, who has lived in his palm-tree-lined Diamond Bar neighborhood for 45 years, stayed put despite being under a mandatory evacuation.

  “I’m trying to use some logic here,” said Gomez, 72, trying to gauge the direction of the wind and flames. “I don’t think it’s going to come down this way.”

  In the early morning, winds pushed flames dangerously close to a church and adjacent mobile home park in the Olinda Village area north of Yorba Linda, but firefighters were able to beat it back. Only one mobile home was lost.

  Little fire activity was apparent in Orange County after dark Sunday, but the official containment estimate remained at zero.

  On Saturday, the fire burned 119 homes in the communities of Corona, Yorba Linda and Anaheim. In addition, 50 units of an apartment complex burned, Orange County fire spokeswoman Angela Garbiso said.

  Capt. Guy Melker of the Los Angeles County Fire Department stood on a balcony of a multimillion-dollar home in Diamond Bar, looking down into a canyon with flames on the far side.

  “It’s an interesting chess game right now,” Melker said. “Sometimes Mother Nature puts us in check, and our job is to put her in checkmate.”

  As Melker spoke, a small spotter plane slipped low across a ridge, followed by a big air tanker that dropped its load along a ridge.

  In the Orange County city of Brea, fire destroyed the main building of a high school.

  About 50 miles to the northwest, a large fire that torched a mobile home park in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley had moved into the rugged San Gabriel Mountains and was burning vigorously - but well outside the city.

  Authorities said Sunday that 484 of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park’s 608 units were lost. The fire also destroyed nine single-family homes and 11 commercial buildings.

  The park was home to many elderly residents, and though no fatalities were reported and no one was reported missing, investigators were searching the site using trained dogs. The search was about 30 percent complete by midday Sunday.

  “To this point no human remains have been found,” said Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore.

  Fire officials estimated that at the peak of the Sylmar fire, 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate. However, many evacuation orders were lifted Saturday night, Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson said. Five looting arrests were reported.

  About 90 miles northwest of Sylmar, a 3-square-mile fire that began in the upscale Santa Barbara County community of Montecito on Thursday night was 75 percent contained by Sunday morning after injuring at least 25 people.

  County spokesman William Boyer said 130 homes burned in the city of Santa Barbara and 80 burned in adjacent Montecito. Some of those destroyed were multimillion-dollar homes with ocean views. All evacuees but those from 260 homes were allowed to return by Sunday night.

  Associated Press writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Alex Veiga and Alicia Chang contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 16, 2008 11:13 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Society/Culture

• Southern California firefighters aided by calmer wind

  By JUSTIN PRITCHARD
  Associated Press Writer

  BREA, Calif. (AP) — Calmer wind Sunday aided firefighters battling wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes in Southern California, forced thousands of residents to flee and blanketed much of the region with choking smoke.

  The fires have blackened more than 34 square miles since Thursday in parts of Los Angeles County, Riverside and Orange counties to the east, and Santa Barbara County to the northwest. More than 800 homes and apartments had been destroyed.

  No deaths were reported, but police brought trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile home park where some 500 homes were destroyed. They were focusing on mobile homes where cars still parked in front.

  Even areas far away from the flames were affected as poor air quality forced many people to stay indoors. Organizers canceled a marathon in Pasadena in which 8,000 runners had planned to participate.

  Sunday’s easing of the fierce Santa Ana wind allowed firefighters to set backfires in efforts to block the main fires from advancing into hillside neighborhoods.

  The most threatening blaze had charred more than 16 square miles of Orange and Riverside counties since erupting Saturday and shooting through subdivisions entwined with wilderness parklands.

  Early Sunday, the wind pushed flames dangerously close to a church and adjacent mobile home park in the Olinda Village area north of Yorba Linda, but firefighters were able to beat it back and only one mobile home was lost.

  Billy Bagsby, an inmate firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the flames suddenly shifted direction around 2 a.m.

  “It was like the church was protecting itself,” Bagsby said.

  That fire had destroyed 119 homes in the communities of Corona, Yorba Linda and the Anaheim Hills area of Anaheim. In addition, 50 units of an apartment complex burned, Orange County fire spokeswoman Angela Garbiso said. Flames also destroyed the main building of a high school in the Orange County city of Brea.

  Apartment resident Melody Ma, 24, said she took her sister to piano lessons Saturday morning, when the fire’s smoke appeared to be far away, then found she couldn’t return home.

  “There’s things you can’t replace like photos and stuff,” said Ma, bursting into tears in a shelter.

  Capt. Leonard Grill, a 20-year veteran of the Riverside County Fire Department, watched for flaring embers in a Yorba Linda neighborhood late Saturday.

  “It’s gotten worse and worse every year. I can’t keep track of them anymore,” Grill said of the region’s wildfires. “These used to be the out-of-the-ordinary fires, once-in-a-career kind of fires. Now they’re every year. “

  Six firefighters from various agencies were injured in the blaze, including four Corona firefighters hurt when flames swept over their engine, Garbiso said. Two of the Corona crew members required hospital treatment but were released.

  About 50 miles to the northwest, a fire in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley had spread across nearly 15 square miles and had destroyed more than 500 homes and 11 commercial buildings.

  By midmorning Sunday, firefighters reported the Sylmar fire 35 percent contained.

  Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda said there was almost total devastation in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where 500 mobile homes were destroyed.

  “I can’t even read the street names because the street signs are melting,” Ruda said.

  Fire officials estimated that at the peak of the Sylmar fire, 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate. However, many evacuation orders were lifted Saturday night, Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson said. Five looting arrests were reported.

  Among those who lost homes in the Sylmar fire was Linda Pogacnik, who said that after decades of driving a school bus full of noisy kids, she finally bought her dream house at “the Beverly Hills of mobile home parks.”

  “It had this beautiful oval bathtub, and just a few nights ago I lit candles and put on soft music and got in,” she said, sighing with the memory. “The moon was full, and it made it look like the eucalyptus tree outside had little white lights.”

  She left with only her dogs, some clothes and a few essentials.

  About 90 miles northwest of Sylmar, a 3-square-mile fire in the upscale Santa Barbara County community of Montecito was 75 contained Sunday morning. County spokesman William Boyer said 106 homes were destroyed in the city of Santa Barbara and 77 burned in adjacent Montecito. He said the final total could reach 200, many of them multimillion-dollar homes with ocean views.

  At least half of the 5,400 evacuees there had been allowed to return home by Saturday night. At least 13 people were injured in that fire.

  ---

  Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Thomas Watkins, Alicia Chang, Bob Jablon, and Christopher Weber contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 16, 2008 10:56 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Southern California battles devastating wildfires

  By AMY TAXIN
  Associated Press Writer

  YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — Walls of towering flames pushed by Santa Ana wind raged through Southern California hills early Sunday after destroying hundreds of homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee.

  Evacuees could only watch the wildfires from a distance and wait to learn the fate of their homes and possessions.

  “I’m hoping my house will not burn down, but if it burns down that’s my life, right? I’ve got to start from scratch again,” said Jack Chen, 56, of Yorba Linda as he sat on a cot in a gym at Katella High School in Anaheim.

  Fires in Los Angeles County, to the east in Riverside and Orange counties, and to the northwest in Santa Barbara County had blackened nearly 29 square miles and destroyed more than 800 mobile homes, houses and apartments since Thursday night. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared states of emergency in all three counties.

  Forecasts indicated the Santa Ana wind would abate by Sunday afternoon, but humidity would remain very low.

  The most threatening blaze early Sunday had charred more than 11 square miles in Orange and Riverside counties since erupting Saturday and shooting through subdivisions entwined with wilderness parklands. Containment was just 5 percent.

  More than 60 homes burned in the communities of Corona, Yorba Linda and the Anaheim Hills area of Anaheim. In addition, 50 units of one apartment complex burned, Orange County fire spokeswoman Angela Garbiso said.

  On Sunday, fire was dangerously close to a mobile home park in the Olinda Village area north of Yorba Linda, but firefighters had been able to push it back, said Lynette Round, another fire spokeswoman.

  At one point a firefighter battling the Orange County apartment blaze ran down a street with two Pomeranian dogs - one white and one brown - under each arm and placed them in a TV news truck, then dashed back to the fire. The firefighter, who would not give his name, said he rescued the dogs from a burning apartment.

  Apartment resident Melody Ma, 24, said she took her sister to piano lessons Saturday morning, when the smoke appeared to be far away, then found she couldn’t return home.

  “There’s things you can’t replace like photos and stuff,” said Ma, bursting into tears in a shelter.

  Evacuee Gail Slagel, 61, said she spent Saturday watching flames in the area around her house from the safety of a Yorba Linda strip mall.

  “I just kept sitting there saying, ‘Please, please, please, give me a home to come home to, don’t let it be gone,” she said as she sat outside a restaurant with her ash-covered poodle.

  Capt. Leonard Grill, a 20-year veteran of the Riverside County Fire Department, watched for flaring embers in a Yorba Linda neighborhood late Saturday.

  “It’s gotten worse and worse every year. I can’t keep track of them anymore,” Grill said of recent destructive wildfires. “These used to be the out-of-the-ordinary fires, once-in-a-career kind of fires. Now they’re every year. “

  Six firefighters from various agencies were injured in the blaze, including four Corona firefighters who were hurt when flames swept over their engine, Garbiso said. Two of the Corona crewmembers required hospital treatment but were released.

  A separate fire in the Orange County city of Brea charred more than 2 square miles and destroyed the main building of a high school.

  The largest fire had grown to more than 12 square miles in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley since destroying 500 mobile homes, nine single-family homes and 11 commercial buildings early Saturday. Containment was put at 20 percent.

  Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda said there was almost total devastation in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park.

  “I can’t even read the street names because the street signs are melting,” Ruda said.

  No deaths were reported at the park, but police Chief William Bratton said dogs would be brought in to search the rubble on Sunday to determine whether anyone perished there.

  Fire officials estimated that at the peak of the Sylmar fire, 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate. However, many evacuation orders were lifted Saturday night, Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson said. Five looting arrests were reported.

  Among those who lost homes in the Sylmar fire was Linda Pogacnik, who said that after decades of driving a school bus full of noisy kids, she finally bought her dream house at “the Beverly Hills of mobile home parks.”

  “It had this beautiful oval bathtub, and just a few nights ago I lit candles and put on soft music and got in,” she said, sighing with the memory. “The moon was full, and it made it look like the eucalyptus tree outside had little white lights.”

  She left with only her dogs, some clothes and a few essentials. Left behind were photography books and scrapbooking materials that she said were “going to be all I did for the rest of my life.”

  Northwest of Los Angeles, authorities raised the number of homes lost in a fire that began in the Santa Barbara County community of Montecito on Thursday night. County communication director William Boyer said 106 homes burned in the city of Santa Barbara and 77 burned in adjacent Montecito. He said the final total could reach 200.

  The fire was 40 percent contained Saturday evening, according to city public information officer Browning Allen. Burned acreage was revised downward to 1,500 acres, or over two square miles, and that was expected to hold because of calming winds, Boyer said. At least half of the 5,400 evacuees had been allowed to return home by Saturday night.

  At least 13 people were injured in that fire.

  ---

  Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Thomas Watkins, Alicia Chang, Bob Jablon, and Christopher Weber contributed to this report.

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 16, 2008 7:13 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Wildfires in LA reduce hundreds of homes to ash

  By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern Californians endured a third day of destruction Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways.

  No deaths were reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile home park that housed many senior citizens.

  “We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park,” Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said. “I can’t even read the street names because the street signs are melting.”

  The series of fires has injured at least 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes from coastal Santa Barbara to inland Riverside County, on the other side of the Los Angeles area. Smoke blanketed the nation’s second-largest city Saturday, reducing the afternoon sun to a pale orange disk.

  As night fell, a fire fed by a sleet of blowing embers hopscotched through the winding lanes of modern subdivisions in Orange and Riverside counties, destroying more than 50 homes, some of them apparently mansions.

  A blaze in the Sylmar community in the hillsides above Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley destroyed the mobile homes, nine single-family homes and several other buildings before growing to more than 8,000 acres - more than 12 square miles. It was only 20 percent contained Saturday.

  It sent residents fleeing in the dark Saturday morning as notorious Santa Ana winds topping 75 mph torched cars, bone-dry brush and much of Oakridge Mobile Home Park. The blaze, whose cause was under investigation, threatened at least 1,000 structures, city Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Orange and Riverside counties. Fire officials estimated that at its peak 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate, including residents of the mobile home park.

  Extreme fire conditions were expected to continue into Sunday morning, with humidity at just 10 percent to 15 percent and winds gusting to 45 mph through canyons. Winds, however, could reverse direction and dip to 5-mph breezes Sunday afternoon.

  “We still have another 15 hours of red flag conditions,” Robert Balfour, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, warned fire officials at a briefing Saturday night.

  Many heat records were set as the region withered under the Santa Anas. Downtown Los Angeles was 20 degrees above normal at a record 93 degrees.

  At an evacuation center, Lucretia Romero, 65, wore a string of pearls and clutched the purse and jacket she snatched as firefighters shouted at them to flee hours earlier.

  Her daughter, Lisa, 42, wore a bloodstained shirt and pants. A helicopter dropping water on their home caused the entryway ceiling to collapse. Debris scratched her forehead and gave her a black eye.

  Lucretia Romero said she saw smoke above the hills beyond the front door and then, within an hour, saw that a canyon across from her home was red with flame.

  “They would drop water, the water would squash the flames and then two minutes later the flames would come back,” she said. Firefighters soon banged on the door and gave them 10 minutes to evacuate.

  Flames swept across the park and scorched cypress trees, Ruda said. Firefighters had to flee, grabbing some residents and leaving hoses melted into the concrete.

  Ruda produced a burned U.S. flag on a broken stick as a sign of hope and bravery for firefighters. “The home that this flag was flying from is gone,” he said.

  Police Chief William Bratton said cars were found in the debris at the park, raising concerns that bodies might be found. Crews were waiting for the ground to cool before bringing in search dogs, he said.

  The Santa Anas - dry winds that typically blow through Southern California between October and February - tossed embers ahead of flames, jumping two interstate highways and sparking new flare-ups. Walls of flame raced up ridge lines covered in sun-baked brush and surrounded high-power transmission line towers.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fire caused problems that shut down power lines in places, and he asked residents to conserve power to help avoid possible blackouts.

  Shortly after midnight, the Sylmar fire burned to the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus, knocking out power and forcing officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients.

  The shifting winds caused the fire to move uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains, downhill toward homes and sometimes skip across canyons. It also jumped across Interstates 5 and 210, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down portions of both freeways and some connecting roads.

  More than 60 homes were damaged or destroyed in a fire that erupted in the Riverside County city of Corona and spread west to the Orange County communities of Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills.

  In addition, 50 apartment units burned in a complex in Anaheim Hills. Devin Nathanson, 27, had put down a deposit on an apartment there and planned to move in Saturday. Instead, he watched from the road as it burned to the ground.

  “At least none of my stuff was inside yet,” he said.

  Palm trees lining the entrance to the complex were ablaze, and two firefighters manned hoses at the swimming pool and sprayed water on the leasing center. The roof caved in with a loud bang.

  About 2,000 acres - more than 3 square miles - were charred by that fire, with more than 12,000 people in 4,500 dwellings ordered to evacuate in Anaheim alone. Six firefighters were injured, including four Corona firefighters who were hurt when flames swept over their engine. Two of the Corona crewmembers were treated at a hospital and released.

  Winds began to decrease in the afternoon and were expected to drop further overnight, but humidity was expected to remain low.

  The night before, northwest of Los Angeles, more than 180 homes burned to the ground Thursday in Santa Barbara and the wealthy, star-studded community of Montecito, said William Boyer, spokesman for the city of Santa Barbara. The total could reach 200, he said.

  At least half of the area’s 5,400 evacuees had been allowed to return home by Saturday night, he said. The fire was 40 percent contained, city spokesman Browning Allen said.

  Several multimillion-dollar homes and a small Christian college were damaged in Montecito, a town of 14,000 that has attracted celebrities such as Rob Lowe, Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas and Oprah Winfrey.

  The cause of the fire is under investigation. At least 13 people were injured.

  Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Denise Petski, Alicia Chang, Bob Jablon and Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles and Thomas Watkins and Amy Taxin in Montecito.

  Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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  • November 15, 2008 11:14 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Thousands evacuate as fires destroy California homes

  By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wind-blasted wildfire tore through the city’s northern foothills early Saturday, sending thousands of residents fleeing in the dark, forcing a hospital to evacuate and destroying an untold number of homes.

  The fire broke out late Friday night in the foothill community of Sylmar on the edge of the Angeles National Forest and quickly spread across 2,600 acres — more than 4 square miles — in a few hours as it was driven by Santa Ana wind that gusted as high as 76 mph.

  At least 10 homes were burned, officials said, but aerial footage from television helicopters showed many mobile homes in flames. An Associated Press photographer said a fire crew abandoned one trailer park that was burning out of control.

  Part of the area’s network of highways was shut down.

  Officials ordered huge evacuations in the Sylmar and Porter Ranch communities as the fire jumped two freeways, closing the highways and forcing fleeing evacuees to take surface streets.

  To the west, firefighters were still battling a separate wildfire that destroyed more than 110 homes in Santa Barbara.

  The Los Angeles blaze threatened at least 1,000 buildings, fire spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.

  Flames surrounded Olive View-UCLA Medical Center around 1:30 a.m. and knocked out electricity, forcing officials to evacuate a number of patients in critical care. The hospital’s power and backup generators also failed, and emergency room staff had to keep critical patients alive with hand powered ventilators. A few babies were rushed out in ambulances to another hospital.

  “We have no power, and our generators are not working,” hospital spokeswoman Carla Nino told the Los Angeles Times. “With no power, we have no fans. … We are not circulating any air.”

  Sixteen patients in the neonatal and intensive care units were evacuated, but the hospital was not in danger, said Michael Wilson, a spokesman with the county Department of Health Services.

  Wilson said there was some fire damage to the facility that hospital administrators were evaluating.

  Some residents left their homes even before mandatory evacuation orders were issued.

  “I can see the smoke. It’s terrible. I’m going to take my dog and go,” Dorothy Boyer told The Associated Press from her home late Friday. Some people who refused to leave grabbed water hoses to defend their homes.

  More than 600 firefighters were struggling to protect homes threatened by flying embers. Because of the rough terrain in the forest, they were relying on water-dropping helicopters to tackle flames marching uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains. Authorities said some aircraft were grounded during the night by the savage wind, but they expect six airplanes and a dozen helicopters to attack the fire at daybreak.

  Wind gusted up to 60 mph in the Sylmar area and wasn’t expected to let up until midmorning, National Weather Service meteorologist Jamie Meier said.

  The shifting wind pushed the fire uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains and downhill toward homes, sometimes skipping across canyons. It also jumped Interstate 5 and the 210 Freeway, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down sections of both freeways and some connecting roads.

  The cause of the fire was under investigation. One resident suffered serious burns, Kelley said.

  The blaze also blackened habitat for the endangered California condor and several hiking trails, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea said.

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