City Council Proposes Solar Ballot Initiative

The Los Angeles City Council is proposing a new initiative that is tentatively being called the Los Angeles Basin Solar Power, Green Energy and Jobs Development Mandate for Los Angeles Initiative. The motion for the initiative passed handily in the October 15 council meeting and is being looked at by the Rules and Government committee.

The initiative would mandate that the DWP produce 3 percent of its energy demand from solar power; create a solar jobs recruitment and training program; and offer bid preferences and other incentives to support the creation and expansion of solar-related industry in the City.

But they're going to have to come up with a snappy acronym if the thing is ever going to go anywhere! LABSPGEJDMLAI is just not going to cut it.

No mention of how this initiative might be duplicating mandates set forth in AB32.

Heal the Bay Founder Dies

Dorothy Green, founder of Heal the Bay, died Oct. 13 at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 79.

From her first gathering Santa Monica residents concerned about the health of the ocean in 1985, Green created Heal the Bay, an organization that became one of the leading water quality watchdogs in California.

Heal the Bay first successfully advocated to have the Los Angeles Hyperion and Carson sewage treatment plants comply with the federal Clean Water Act. The group also devised the Beach Report Card, providing water quality grades for more than 500 beaches statewide.

“Dorothy Green was simply the most influential water quality activist in California for the last 30 years,” said Mark Gold, her protégé and current president of Heal the Bay. More of Gold's thoughts about Dorothy can be read in his blog.

A public memorial service will be held Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 2 p.m. at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Heal the Bay, the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council or California Water Impact Network.

Valley Bicycle Concept Plan

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is working with the Metropolitan Transit District to develop a Concept Access Plan to improve bicycle and pedestrian access to six transit hubs in LA County.

The LACBC website a new "Current Projects" tab, which has the history of the program, updates and powerpoint presentations of the Newhall and Van Nuys stations' existing conditions and recommendations. You can also find a link to an email so any comments you have on the plan may be included in the final report.

L.A. County Approved New 'Green' Ordinances

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved three new ordinances that they hope will improve the quality of life in Los Angeles.

As reported in the Los Angeles Daily News, the three ordinances will require builders of new homes, and businesses, to "use power more efficiently, retain storm water on site, and use drought-tolerant plants."

More on this to follow...

The San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center has reported a marked decline in air quality in large swatches of the San Fernando Valley, coupled with a decline in the ozone layer reports Daily Sundial Staff Reporter Reiko Kanazawa for the CSU Northridge student daily publication.

Writes Kanazawa:

The particulate concentrations in the East Valley are rising and mixed results were found for the West Valley, which is worse by state standards but better by federal standards, according to the study.

Besides ozone and particulates, all pollution measures registered well below federal and state standards and their levels either fell or remained low, the study said.

The dichotomy between state of California and federal pollution standards shows just how stringent California has become in tackling gross polluters, of which there are many in the industry-heavy San Fernando Valley.

As one of the most dedicated local news sources in the Valley, serving the CSU Northridge community, the Daily Sundial consistently reports these concerns in a way that your average anti-treehugginghippie environmentalite can understand.

And we're not biased. Not at all (:

The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute video that makes an even better case for personal environmentalism than Inconvenient Truth in my humble opinion. Why, you ask? Mainly because it shows how the consumption of everything, not just natural resources, is impacting the world. Buy less stuff, save the world (and money, too!) Watch the whole video by going to The Story of Stuff website. Here's a teaser video. 

Solar Tax Credits Also Extended

The Solar Electric Power Association also weighed in on provisions in HR1424 that will have a positive impact on that form of alternative energy.

According to their press release, the solar investment tax credit provisions in the bill include:

1) Extension for 8 years of the 30% tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations;

2) Elimination of the $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations, creating a true 30% tax credit (effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2008);

3) Elimination of the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit;

4) Allowance for Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) filers, both businesses and individuals, to take the credit; and

5) Authorization of $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.

Biodiesel Tax Incentives Extended

The Bailout Bill approved by the House of Representatives today (officially known as H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act) would extend certain tax incentives that directly affect alternative energy production. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

Specifically, according to The Biodiesel Bulletin, H.R. 1424 will:

1) Extend the biodiesel tax incentive for one year through Dec. 31, 2009.

2) Allow all biodiesel to qualify for the $1 per gallon biodiesel incentive. (Currently, biodiesel produced from yellow grease is eligible for a 50 cents per gallon tax incentive.)

3) Close the so-called "splash-and-dash" loophole. Splash-and-dash is where foreign finished fuel is sent to the U.S.; splash-blended to claim the tax incentive; and then shipped to a third country for final use. Effective May 15, 2008, fuel produced outside the U.S. for use outside the U.S. does not qualify for the biodiesel tax incentive.

4) Redefine the biodiesel incentive to exclude co-processed renewable diesel.