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Environment Now’s Speaker Series Schedule

Environment Now is hosting a great speaker series once a month. Here is the upcoming schedule sent from EN:

August 10, 2011 5:30-7:30 pm

Please join us in conversation with Wade Graham, Professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. The Los Angeles-based landscape architect, historian, and writer whose work on the environment, landscape, urbanism, and the arts has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, the Los Angeles Times, Outside, and other publications. Graham will read from and discuss his recently published book American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us About Who We Are.

Praise for American Eden

“The American garden has found its destined interpreter in Wade Graham, American Eden moves luminously through landscapes of history, literqature, biography, and design theory. Writing in the mode of Lewis Mumford, Van Wyck Brooks, and Alfred Kazinm, Graham achieves a foundational study fusing sharp-edged analysis and graceful American prose.” Kevin Starr, author of Golden Gate;The Life and Times of America’s Greatest Bridge

Please RSVP to Email: speakerseries -at- environmentnow.org

Environment Now

2515 Wilshire Blvd.

Santa Monica, CA 90403

Drinks and light Hors d’oeuvres provided

 

 Next September 14, 2011 5:30-7:30 pm

Matt Ritter will be presenting his new book, A Californian’s Guide to the Trees among Us (Heyday Books, 2011), which profiles over 150 types of trees found in the urban environs of California, including both native and cultivated species. Used as a field guide or read with pleasure for the liveliness of the prose, this book enables readers to learn the stories behind the trees that shade our parks, grace our yards, and line our streets. Matt is currently a botany professor at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and director of the plant conservatory there. To learn more about his book, visit http://www.heydaybooks.com/guides-and-reference/a-californians-guide-to-the-tr.html

AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2011 Conference & Exhibition in Anaheim

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is holding a fantastic event  in Anaheim next week. Here is the info:

The WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition, the nation’s fastest-growing trade show, will be held in Anaheim, California, May 22-25.  Approximately 20,000 wind industry leaders, government officials and business executives, as well as exhibitors including wind turbine and component manufacturers, wind power plant developers and the full range of supply chain manufacturers and service providers, will convene at the Anaheim Convention Center for the world’s largest annual wind energy industry event. The WINDPOWER Conference program consists of 50 concurrent sessions, four pre-conference seminars, and 300 presenters spanning a variety of topics in the wind power industry. The Exhibition at WINDPOWER will be an impressive indoor and outdoor display featuring the full range of the products and services in the rapidly growing wind energy industry.  For more information about WINDPOWER 2011, visitwww.windpowerexpo.org.

State of the Air Report: LA still the worst…

LA Times

L.A., Bakersfield remain among U.S.’s most polluted cities, report says:

American Lung Assn. says smog and soot levels dropped significantly in Southern California over the last decade, but the L.A. area remains the worst region in the nation for ozone pollution.

Link to Article: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/27/local/la-me-california-air-20110427

LACBA Event: Emerging Environmental Issues

LACBA Event Title: Emerging Environmental Issues – What will you and your clients be working on in the future?

 Date: June 7, 2011

Location: Downtown, Los Angeles

The next wave of environmental legal issues is now being discovered in the field and discussed in the technical offices of regulatory bodies. This lunch program will include a panel of nationally recognized experts who will present information on emerging environmental problems they are currently encountering and how these problems are anticipated to lead to future legal issues.

Among the issues that will be discussed: new and/or more prevalent chemicals of concern, lower analytical testing levels, more stringent regulatory standards, and how these findings can affect site cleanup requirements, methods, and costs. As a key example, a case study on the emerging issues related to the solvent stabilizer, 1,4-dioxane will be presented.

Speakers:
Michael C. Kavanaugh Ph.D., P.E., Geosyntec Consultants
Tom Mohr, Santa Clara Valley Water District

For more info, or to register for the very modestly priced event, click here.

UCLA Extension Courses

Just got an email about some rally interesting UCLA extension classes being taught this summer. If you’ve got the time, I highly recommend checking them out. Here are the upcoming Public Policy programs:

New—Transit Safety and Security
Jun 6

Updated for 2011—Advanced Subdivision Map Act
Jun 13

New—Sustainable Food and Agriculture
Jun 22-Sep 7 (12 mtgs)

Updated for 2011—Renewable Energy Economics and Policy
Jul 9-Sep 10 (6 mtgs)

California Water Projects and Urban Water Supplies
Jun 7

Section 404 and State Permits
Jun 17

Advanced CEQA Roundtable
Jun 22-23

Need more information?
Visit our website: uclaextension.edu/publicpolicy
Check out our blog, The Stuff You Might Have Missed
Follow us on Twitter at @unexpubpol
Join us on Facebook

LA Times: EPA to regulate toxic chemicals in drinking water

It’s about time! LINK

LAT: The Environmental Protection Agency took steps Wednesday to curb toxic substances in drinking water, including perchlorate, a chemical thought to threaten the thyroid gland that has contaminated hundreds of public water wells, mostly in California….

Green LA’s What to Expect in 2011

The Green LA Coalition has recently sent out an extremely informative “Special Memorandum” laying out “What to Expect in 2011” on the environmental front for the Los Angeles region. The memo, compiled by Jonathan Parfrey (Director, Green LA Institute),  is extremely comprehensive, and should be a great resource to anyone in the environmental policy sector looking to envision what’s to come.  The memo can be viewed in full by clicking here:  Green LA Special Memorandum.

The memo covers the following subjects:

• Climate action in Southern California
• Climate action statewide
• Transportation
• Clean Air
• Port of LA and Long Beach
• Renewable energy and energy efficiency
• Electric vehicles
• Rubbish (Waste)
• Green jobs
• Water
• Municipal elections
• Los Angeles River projects are moving ahead
• Open space and parks
• Ocean protection
• Global environmental meetings
• Climate trends, etc…

Here is an example of one of the subjects discussed in detail:

 

Transportation
(Note: Online version includes multiple hyperlinks not included below)

• The Wilshire Bus Only Lane is swiftly (and sadly) losing its potency as a viable transportation option.
• In 2011 preliminary engineering work begins on the Westside Subway Extension, and the Regional Connector. Both projects could qualify for federal funds in next year’s budget.
• A much improved City of Los Angeles Bicycle Plan will be adopted by city council in early 2011.
• Construction will continue on High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) express lanes on I-10 and I-110 freeways and are scheduled to come online in 2012.
• Orange Line extension construction continues.
• Construction continues on Expo Line, Phase One, downtown to Culver City. Service may begin in 2012.
• Metro is expected to award a design-build contract for Expo Line, Phase Two, Culver City to Santa Monica, in Spring 2011.
• Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011 on the Gold Line Extension, Sierra Madre to Azusa, with service beginning as soon as December 2014.
• Governor Jerry Brown plans to restore transit funds. His 2011-2012 budget proposal includes a boost in transit funding.
• Vision Los Angeles releases its report on reducing traffic and spurring economic development.
• Although LA Bureau of Engineering’s Green Streets standard plans were developed last year — first in the nation — seven new standards will be promulgated this year, including a new tree well design by February.

 

CLEAN Contracts: Making Clean Local Energy Accessible Now

Yesterday the Center for American Progress, Energy Action Coalition, and Groundswell released a paper entitled “CLEAN Contracts: Making Clean Local Energy Accessible Now.”Read and download the full report here. The paper looks at the policy that has helped to bring more renewable electricity into the marketplace than any other: the CLEAN contract (which is sometimes called a “feed-in tariff”). These are national, state, or local policies that allow renewable energy project owners to sell their electricity to utilities at a pre-determined, fixed price for a long period of time.

The paper examines how lawmakers and advocates can successfully implement CLEAN Contracts, and it offers recommendations of how to apply CLEAN contracts in ways that create the greatest benefit for consumers, communities, and the economy as a whole. The report was written by Richard W. Caperton, Bracken Hendricks, John Lauer, Courtney Hight

From CAP Action: CLEAN Contracts: Making clean local electricity accessible now with feed-in-tariffs

 

Location Location Location

The next frontier in green building is discussed in an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times. Green Builders Find that Location Matters

Reminds of this great quote–What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?  ~Henry David Thoreau

I’m guest blogging for Ecoangeleno, I will eventually figure out how to create my own profile. For now, I’m going to play around on this site (thank you Daniel for letting me write here).