CleanPowerSF, which aims to provide a cleaner energy alternative to PG&E, is struggling to find a way to keep rates low and supply San Francisco residents with green power. Contract negotiations with the company chosen to implement the city’s clean-energy system have collapsed, and the city is changing the requirements for any new bidders. The goal of 51 percent renewable energy by 2017 seems unlikely, unless the city buys some form of energy credits.
Category: Environment
Posted inCity Hall, Environment, Land use, Social Justice
Is Bayview the new Gulf of Mexico? Activists see parallels
This week’s debates over environmental approval for the $8 billion redevelopment planned for Bayview brought to the forefront comparisons with neighborhoods in the Gulf of Mexico — both in terms of environmental and racial justice concerns. The neighborhood redevelopment plan passed its latest milestone — the contentious environmental impact report — when the Board of Supervisors gave it a thumbs-up after more than nine hours of debate Wednesday morning, by an 8-3 vote.
Posted inEnvironment, Health, News, Treasure Island
Pollution: experts concerned about Treasure Island cleanup as seas rise
Many Treasure Island sites have been decontaminated through soil removal or capping, which entails covering the remaining toxic soil with a clay cap. But there is growing concern that coastal sites once considered sufficiently remediated may become problematic as sea levels rise. Contaminated soil could come in contact with ground water as the sea pushes it higher. Bay Area scientists and regulators are beginning to explore the problem given the large number of former military sites in the region.
Read more…
Posted inClimate Change, Environment, Government & Politics, Land use, Treasure Island
Uncertain about rising seas, developers using mid-range estimate to build up island
Most of Treasure Island will be inundated by the end of this century, if the documented progression of the ocean’s rise caused by climate change continues as predicted. Studies foresee sea-level rise ranging from as little as five inches to as much as six feet. The lowest parts of Treasure Island lie just four feet above the Bay’s low tide.
Read more…
Posted inEnvironment, Media, Treasure Island
Can Treasure Island realize its ecotopian dream?
The Treasure Island redevelopment, which aims to be the most ecologically sustainable community in the world, delivers a positive self-image of San Francisco as a forward-looking, avant-garde, socially and environmentally responsible metropolis. Nothing excites the utopian impulse more than a blank slate — and Treasure Island’s 486 acres have been semi-abandoned since the Navy shut down its base in 1997.
Read more…
Posted inEnvironment
Bird shrink
Dana Strome works in emergency rooms by day and is a bird shrink by night. That’s right, a bird shrink who dedicates much of her life to the rescue of abused and abandoned parrots.
Posted inEnvironment
Saving the ocean by sparing sharks’ fins — Q&A with Goldman Prize winner Randall Arauz
Costa Rican biologist Randall Arauz is working to protect sharks from the practice of shark finning, when a shark’s fin is cut off and it is tossed back into the ocean to die a slow death. Finning has reduced shark populations 90 percent worldwide and is taking its toll on the ocean ecosystem.
Read more…
Posted inCalifornia, Environment, Food Systems
Agricultural production in Central Valley leaves toxic legacy for locals
One of the perks of living in the Bay Area is the wide variety of fresh, local produce we enjoy year-round. Much of that comes thanks to our proximity to the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, this luxury comes at a price, although we aren’t the ones paying it.
Posted inClimate Change, Environment
Cap-and-trade ‘unpollution’ is nonsensical
When I first heard about cap-and-trade — the plan where a company can emit greenhouse gasses up to a point (the cap) then offset its emissions by investing in “unpollution” somewhere in the world (the trade) — well I thought, “This sounds like it’s worth a shot.” But after some looking into it, I have my doubts.
Posted inEnvironment, Parks & Open Space
‘Big Year’ promotes saving local endangered species (Photo Gallery)
In an effort to educate visitors to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area about the 33 endangered species that inhabit it, Bay Area conservationists and local residents gathered Jan. 9 for the 2010 Endangered Species Big Year.