Doug Obegi, Staff Attorney, Western Water Project, San Francisco
We all know that our water comes out of the tap, but do we know how it got there? Many of us who work on California’s water issues weren’t surprised to learn that recent polling data released last week showed that the majority of Californian’s don’t know what the Bay-Delta is.
I’m guessing most everyone who reads this blog knows what the Delta is and why it’s important. But if...
Liz Barratt-Brown, Senior Attorney, Washington, DC
First of all, you won’t find tar sands mentioned in any of the polling. And in most polls, you won’t even find oil. It’s just the Keystone XL pipeline, no context, no mention of what it will carry, and certainly no mention of the environmental risks of building a massive pipeline to carry toxic tar sands sludge through the heartland of America to the gulf of Mexico, where it would be exported out of the U.S.
The...
Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco
The countdown to the June 2012 Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development picked up speed last week at the annual Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS). The DSDS, whose timely theme was “Protecting the Global Commons: 20 years post Rio,” brought together a diverse representation of leaders from around the world for annual deliberations, including the Prime Minister of India, Hon. Manmohan Singh, and California’s...
Theo Spencer, Senior Advocate, Climate Center, New York
So far, it hasn’t been a great winter for skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and folks who depend on a lot of snow for their recreation and livelihood. Some states—Washington and Alaska—and some ski areas like Taos in New Mexico, and Telluride in southern Colorado, have gotten dumped on. But most resorts across the country are hurting for snow and hurting for dollars as a result. (See my colleague Kelly Henderson’s...
Rocky Kistner, Communications Associate, Washington, DC
Take millions of gallons of natural gas hydro-fracking waste water then pour it down a hole dug thousands of feet down into the bedrock and what do you get? Well, according to the U.S. Department of Energy and other experts, you may get a whole lotta shakin going on. But right now, no regulations are on the books that force the oil and gas industry to take that into consideration when they dig their...
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst, Water Program, San Francisco
Last week, I posted this piece about Southern California Urban Water Management Plans. Those plans show a significant trend toward investments in local supplies and reduced reliance on imported water. That trend is likely to grow, in part because of the rising cost of imported water.
Our analysis revealed that imported water from MWD now costs LADWP $912 per acre-foot, when all related costs are included....
Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York City
Hyderabad has turned out to be the perfect place to begin my first trip to India. This four-hundred-year-old city is rich in cultural history, but its sleek, gleaming IT sector points the way to India’s future.
Hyderabad was one of the first cities in the world to develop a special economic zone, and the scale of growth is extraordinary. High-tech corporate campuses and office parks dot the horizon, especially in the area known as Hi-Tech...
Peter Lehner, Executive Director, New York City
The fund America uses to repair and expand our highways transit systems is about to go broke. But instead of endorsing responsible and proven ways to balance the books, House Republicans have assembled a transportation bill so extreme it has enflamed everyone from fiscal conservatives to public health advocates.
Not only would it gut long-standing environmental safeguards and expand offshore drilling in places Congress has protected for decades. It...
Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
About a year ago, several of us attended a meeting in Washington at which a prominent smart growth leader was showing a presentation on “the business case for smart growth.” Much of it was based on the need for everyday, face-to-face business communication within companies and the need for dense environments to facilitate efficient productivity and movement of goods. He stressed that this has always...
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst, Water Program, San Francisco
Last week, the Luskin Center at UCLA sponsored a conference called “The Future of Water in Southern California.” The conference lived up to its ambitious title. That event also prompted me to write about an interesting analysis of the plans of Southern California water agencies, which was completed for NRDC several months ago. ...
