Category: Environment
Posted inEnvironment, Parks & Open Space

Lawyer leads fight to save species on city-owned golf course

by Angela Hart

Environmental lawyer Brent Plater has single-handedly brought the fight to close the Sharp Park Golf Course to the attention of San Francisco city leaders, who are on the verge of making the city-owned course in Pacifica a high-profile example of local leadership to save endangered species on public lands.

A leader in several groups such as Wild Equity and the Sierra Club, Plater also is the mastermind behind the Big Year contest to discover more rare plants and animals on public land as a way of saving and expanding sensitive endangered species’ habitats.

Posted inEnvironment, Land use

Boxer concerned about Hunter’s Point cleanup efforts

by Hank Drew

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer recently voiced concerns about the U.S. Navy’s cleanup efforts of the Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard in a letter forwarded to The San Francisco Bay Guardian. http:// http//www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2009/06/boxer_wants_to_be_shipyard_cle.html

“As Chair of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works committee, I am focused on protecting the health and environment of the Bay Area, including the Bayview Hunters Point community,” read Boxer’s letter forwarded to the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Posted inEnvironment, Food Systems, Utilities

Homeless counseling group first on Health Dept. chopping block

by Kevin Stark

Caduceus Outreach Services could close its doors as early as July 1 due to the crippling budget deficit facing the San Francisco of Department of Public Health.

Caduceus, a 13-year-old SOMA-based nonprofit organization, could lose two-thirds of its budget as a result of the Health Department’s efforts to cope with an unprecedented $163 million deficit. Caduceus, which provides psychiatric counseling to about 100 homeless people, is just one of 104 city-based community program agencies facing the budget ax this summer, as the city tries to deal with a total deficit of $438.1 million.

Posted inEnvironment, Food Systems, LGBTQ+, Utilities

Ideologies continue to divide same-sex marriage issue

by Christi Morales

As hundreds gathered in front of the Earl Warren Building on Tuesday waiting to hear the California Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld Proposition 8, a war of words erupted and some even turned into screaming battles that reinforced the deeply divided ideologies about same-sex marriage.

The scene of people arguing amidst the flurry of pro and anti-gay marriage banners illustrates the chasm among Californians that has played out since same-sex marriage took center stage in 2000, when voters passed Proposition 22.

Posted inEnvironment, Food Systems, Utilities

News Notes: Budget cuts lead to UCSC hunger strike

by Leyna Lightman

In anticipation of Wednesday’s Earth Day celebration, Berkeley Farmers’ Market has stepped up to the “green” plate – by becoming the first market in the nation to eliminate all plastic bags and packaging.

“We’ve been anti-plastic for a long time, but we’re also committed to our farmers and didn’t want to negatively impact them through diminished sales or costs,” said Ben Feldman, program manager of The Ecology Center – an environmental non-profit that has run the markets since 1987.

The market launched its “Zero Waste” campaign March 7, demanding all farmers’ market refuse be recyclable or compostable. The new rule includes materials for bagging produce as well as containers and utensils for prepared foods.

Gift this article