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Forestry
in State Parks
The 13 million acres of state park lands nationwide are an invaluable
public trust that was used by a total of 730 million people in 2001.
With such a high volume of visitation, state park managers sometimes
have their hands full when it comes to maintaining healthy ecosystems
within their park borders. Forests on state park lands can present
especially daunting challenges. Large, destructive forest fires
in the West during recent years have focused concern on fire suppression
practices on government-owned lands. President Bush's "Healthy
Forests" initiative addresses this issue by increasing allowable
forest-thinning on federal land. Some accuse the President of putting
forest industry profit over ecosystem health, but the long-term
impact of this policy has yet to be seen. Based on the responses
of state park and state forestry officials, most states do not directly
address tree removal in state parks legislatively. Instead, the
policy is set by the state forestry service, or equivalent, and
actions are often taken at the discretion of individual state park
managers. Many state park or state forestry service policies explicitly
prohibit logging for commercial profit within state parks. However,
many states outsource tree removal to private industry, citing lack
of state resources. California has a law that prevents commercial
exploitation of natural resources on state park lands, with certain
exceptions. New York has introduced a bill that would ban all commercial
exploitation of state park lands. Some states have legislation that
sets the tone and priorities for state park management and some
forestry policies require a management plan for each tree removal
project. For more information on forestry policies in state parks,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/forestryStateParks.html. |
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Vermont
Law Aims to Reduce Bear-Human Encounters (Burlington Free
Press 7/7)
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/wednesday/4000h.htm
Following a record-setting year of complaints, a newly-enacted Vermont
law hopes to reduce the number of bear complaints in the state by
placing more responsibility on property owners. The law asks property
owners to remove things that attract bears to their yards, such
as bird feeders. "It puts a responsibility on the landowners,"
said Charles Johnson, a retired state naturalist. "You have
to do something. You can't just shoot the bears. You have to take
steps to keep them away." Since April, when Vermont's black
bear population came out of winter hibernation, Fish and Wildlife
staff has responded to 54 bear complaints. Col. Robert Rooks, director
of law enforcement at the state Department of Fish and Wildlife,
reported that more than 700 bears were shot last fall, far above
the previous record of around 500. The dramatic increase prompted
discussion of how to reduce the number of bear-human interactions
and bear shootings, which led to the legislation. |
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State
Parks -- Public or Private?
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's 2004-05 budget proposal
contained provisions to turn some state park operations and services
over to private contractors. The plan has environmentalists and
state park fans concerned as to whether private management companies
will offer the same quality of service that state employees provide
in maintaining historic structures, and ensuring park environmental
quality. With private companies seeking to make a profit replacing
a state service concerned with breaking even, it is unclear what
kinds of changes will be made to existing services. Park officials
concede that it may be more beneficial to relinquish control of
state-owned golf courses, restaurants, and stores, and direct
state resources toward other more critical aspects of park management.
Overall, the governor's plan claims that roughly $1.4 million
can be saved by privatizing Hickory Knob and the campgrounds at
Myrtle Beach State Park. However, this estimated savings does
not account for loss of revenue from camping and lodging fees
as well as the loss of jobs for state employees. Additionally,
some provisions may limit the amount of taxes paid by private
firms while operating state parks under lease agreements. Georgia
adopted similar state park privatization plans. However, a few
years into the program, the private companies sued to dissolve
the leases with the state, claiming that the maintenance provisions
made the parks unprofitable. Complaints were also registered by
a variety of environmental and consumer groups claiming that environmental
conditions at the parks were deteriorating. Similar proposals
have been introduced in Alaska, New York, Oklahoma, and Tennessee
with varying results. It is unclear what role, if any, privatization
should play in the state park system. States should continue to
support and fund state parks as they are a valuable public asset
and need to be preserved for future generations. Privatization
may make the protection of valuable open space and other precious
land less accessible by increasing costs, depleting remote areas
of jobs, and neglecting the necessary infrastructural maintenance
and improvements to ensure environmental quality. Although the
South Carolina legislature did not adopt the governor's state
park proposals, as financial problems continue to plague state
governments, park privatization may become increasingly popular
and such proposals should be monitored closely. |
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States
Take Lead in Clean Air Quest (Chicago Tribune 7/4)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0407030279jul04,1,7735249.story
Despite the U.S. rejection of the international Kyoto Protocol
to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and Congress' failure to
pass legislation curbing carbon dioxide pollution, states
from California to New England are leading the charge to cut
emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants, autos, and
new building construction. States are feeling the effects
of global climate change, which is wreaking havoc on everything
from wildlife to forests and wetlands. New Hampshire has recently
experienced a die-off of maple trees in the southern part
of the state resulting from rising temperatures. At the federal
level, policymakers are deadlocked on the issue of curbing
carbon dioxide pollution, one of the leading causes of climate
change. Starting with Minnesota in 1993, states have enacted
legislation requiring energy development to consider carbon
dioxide impacts. A few years later, Oregon set limits on carbon
dioxide emissions of new power plants. Recently, New Hampshire
and Massachusetts have adopted similar emissions caps. In
2002, California took the issue even further, passing legislation
to address automobile emissions. The plan would require manufacturers
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22 percent between the
2009 and 2011 model years and by a total of 30 percent by
2015. Northeastern states, like New York, are currently considering
introducing similar emissions reduction legislation. For more
information on how your state can curb carbon dioxide emissions
and other greenhouse gases, visit: http://www.serconline.org/ghg/index.html. |
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California:
Oil Companies File Suit over Offshore Protection (LA
Times 7/8) http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-offshore8jul08,1,1554587.story?coll=la-headlines-california
The owners of 22 offshore oil platforms located in federal
waters off the California coast contend in a lawsuit that
they should not have to comply with strict state rules controlling
the release of oily wastewater and drilling muds into the
ocean. The lawsuit contends that the commission has taken
"illegal actions" and "abused and violated
powers entrusted to them as California's coastal zone management
agency" by insisting on the stricter pollution standard.
It also argues that these state standards have never been
submitted to federal officials for approval, as required under
the Coastal Zone Management Act, and thus cannot be applied
to activities in federal waters. The Western States Petroleum
Association (WSPA) sued the California Coastal Commission
(CCC), arguing that the agency has unlawfully extended its
jurisdiction by insisting that the state's standards on the
discharge of toxic metals and other substances be applied
to platforms located outside the state's 3-mile limit. The
fight between oil companies and the CCC focuses on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) long outdated discharge
permits for existing oil platforms off the coast. All of these
platforms are operating on expired permits, some issued in
the late 1970s, governing the discharge of fluids and muds
used in drilling wells and other oil production operations.
The EPA has been working since 1996 to negotiate tougher standards
that would satisfy the oil industry as well as state and local
officials. Last December, the EPA issued a draft of its updated
permit, which would reduce the amount of oil and grease allowed
to be discharged by 1,250 pounds a day from the 22 platforms
combined. It also requires monthly monitoring for a long list
of pollutants, including arsenic, copper, lead, mercury, and
chromium 6, and imposes limits on the toxic substances released,
if any of them are found in significant amounts. In March,
the 12-member CCC rejected the EPA's draft permit, insisting
that it incorporate the state's stricter standards. Under
federal law, the commission has a voice in many federal decisions
that could affect the state's coastal zone. The case may be
ultimately decided by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. |
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Utah:
Open Space Effort Falls Short (Salt Lake Tribune
7/7)
http://166.70.44.66/2004/Jul/07072004/utah/181599.asp
A ballot initiative effort by environmentalists and open space
proponents fell just short of Utah state requirements. The
ballot proposal would have allowed Utah voters the chance
to approve a $150 million bond for the purchase of open space.
Proponents collected well over the necessary 76,000 signatures,
but failed to fulfill the other initiative condition, requiring
the signatures of 10 percent of the registered voters in 26
of the 29 Senate districts. The effort, led by Utahns for
Clean Water, Clean Air, and Quality Growth, fell two districts
short. After the lieutenant governor's office made an announcement
declining to ratify the proposal, supporters filed an appeal
with the Utah Supreme Court. State lawmakers rewrote the initiative
statutes in 2003 to include the threshold, after the state
Supreme Court overturned a county-based signature requirement.
Supporters of the initiative claim that the legislature has
effectively muzzled citizen-led lawmaking in the process,
but are optimistic that the open space proposal will appear
on the November ballot. |
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San
Francisco Embraces Greener, Cleaner Buildings (ENS
7/6)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2004/2004-07-06-09.asp#anchor4
San Francisco has adopted a Green Building Ordinance, set
to take effect in September, which will require many new city
construction projects, renovations, or building additions
to follow green building design principles. The aim of the
law is to increase energy efficiency, protect the environment,
and increase employee productivity. The Green Building Ordinance,
sponsored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, requires that all city-owned
facilities and leaseholds will need to achieve at least a
LEED Silver certification. LEED, the green building rating
system of the U.S. Green Building Council, stands for Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design. In order for a building
to qualify as green, it is analyzed under six categories:
site consideration and closeness to public transportation;
water efficiency and management of water consumption, distribution,
treatment, and storage; energy and atmosphere, including alternate
energy sources such as solar panels; materials and resources
from recycled products; indoor air quality, including the
use of high-quality cleaning and painting materials; and,
innovation in design. The buildings are rated on a four-step
scale from lowest to highest: LEED Certified, LEED Silver,
LEED Gold, and LEED Platinum. LEED criteria evaluate a building's
environmental and energy efficiency performance from a "whole
building" perspective, over the course of a building's
lifecycle, which provides a definitive standard for what constitutes
a green building. |
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Oregon
to Test Mileage Tax as Replacement for Gas Tax (Seattle
Times 7/5)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001972174_mileagetax05m.html
The Oregon Road Use Fee Task Force has spent the past two
years developing a system for taxing people for the number
of miles they drive. The rationale for such a policy is that,
as gas consumption declines with improvements in vehicle fuel-efficiency,
the government's funds for highways would decline in tandem.
Implementing such a tax policy presents major hurdles in terms
of fairness, environmental protection, public and private
industry support, and technological feasibility. At the task
force's request, Oregon State University researchers have
developed technology that can distinguish miles driven in
Oregon from those driven elsewhere, then allow a mileage tax
to be calculated and paid at the pump in place of the state
gas tax. Next year, the researchers' mileage-recording devices
are to be installed on 400 private cars in Eugene. Some of
the volunteers will become the first people in the country
to pay road taxes based not on how much fuel they burn, but
on how far they travel. Oregon's gas-tax revenues will gradually
level off around 2014. The task force sifted through 27 other
options before settling on the mileage tax as a replacement.
The other possible revenue sources either were not user fees,
had already been claimed by local government, or wouldn't
generate enough money. The test run for the program is scheduled
to start in February 2005, and end in 2007. To see SERC's
Pay-As-You-Drive Auto Insurance policy issues package, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/payd/index.html. |
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Revised
California Forest-Thinning Bill Gains Support (Record
Searchlight 7/2)
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_3007506,00.html
In California, a revised bill to reduce the amount of flammable
forest materials, AB 2420, is gaining support from former
foes. Some environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club California,
that opposed similar bills are registering their support for
the new version. The bill would allow private landowners to
remove small trees and specified other material without being
subject to state review that is normally required in the form
of a timber harvest plan. While previously introduced bills
lacked a size limit for removable trees, prompting protest
from some environmental organizations, this version prevents
trees larger than 18 inches in diameter from being cut without
a harvest plan. Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, the author of the
bill, said he consulted with representatives of the timber
industry, local governments, and environmentalists. He was
rewarded with unanimous approval from the state Assembly and
the Senate Natural Resources Committee in late June. The bill
is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Timber
industry groups and businesses that have complained, for years,
of the high cost of timber harvest plans are applauding the
legislation; the more environmentally-concerned are conceding
that the bill is well-crafted, very specific to fire prevention,
and could help reduce the number of forest fire disasters
in California. |
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States
Filling Administration Leadership Gap on Energy Crisis (Greenwatch
6/22)
http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/print/index.php?i=141
As more states challenge Bush administration air pollution
and energy policies over their harmful impacts on human health
and environmental protection, advocates for clean energy technologies
are finding fertile ground at the state level instead. In
the past two years, California and New Mexico have joined
the growing ranks of states that offer legislative and financial
incentives to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency
resources, bringing the national total to 18 states. This
fall, voters will be asked to pass a renewable energy standard
in Colorado; nascent efforts to pass clean energy laws are
gathering steam in Washington and Utah. Montana -- whose residents
have been hit with a massive bailout of their gas utility
due to Enron-style business practices -- is beginning to eye
its own considerable wind energy resources as a way to pull
the rug from under fossil fuel market manipulators. Significantly,
the human health and environmental benefits of clean energy
are slowly being joined by clean energy's other strong selling
point: it is cost-competitive with many forms of fossil fuel
energy development. Two recent studies by the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) found that America's consumers
would save as much as $13 billion between now and 2020, if
Congress passed a 10 percent renewable energy standard. For
more information on how your state can craft a clean energy
policy, visit: http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.pdf. |
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ND:
Supporters of Biotech Restrictions Gathering Signatures (Grand
Forks Herald 5/2)
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/8574143.htm%20for%20the%20entire%20story
Supporters of a ballot measure that would restrict biotech
wheat in North Dakota are gathering petition signatures. They
hope to get the signatures of 12,844 eligible North Dakota
voters needed to put the proposed measure on the Nov. 2 ballot.
They have until Aug. 4 to get the signatures. The measure
would give North Dakota's agriculture commissioner the authority
to decide if farmers could plant genetically modified wheat.
The commissioner would have to convene a fact-finding committee
of six independent experts, which would consider if genetically
modified wheat could be segregated; if there is a market for
the grain; and, what kind of liability issues might exist.
The proposed ballot measure is not the first attempt to rein
in biotech wheat. For the past several years, lawmakers have
floated bills to either ban or restrict the crop's production,
but those measures have failed. About half of the wheat grown
in the United States is exported and U.S. farmers' largest
customers, including Japan and Europe, say they do not want
genetically modified wheat. For more information about genetically
modified food, visit: http://www.serconline.org/geFood/index.html. |
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Port
of Los Angeles Opens Green Shipping Terminal (ENN
6/22)
http://enn.com/news/2004-06-22/s_25104.asp
As part of a $50 million lawsuit, the Port of Los Angeles
recently opened the first green container port in the world.
The Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) terminal maintains an
electric power grid that will supply power to ships that use
the port while they are unloading. Previously, the idling
ships burned diesel fuel for days. Port officials claim that
the new technology will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by an
amount equivalent to 69,000 diesel truck miles. The ports
of Long Beach and Los Angeles have long been one of southern
California's largest air polluters, producing 4,000 tons of
smog-forming air annually. The AMP resulted from a 2001 lawsuit
initiated by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Clean
Air Coalition on behalf of the city of San Pedro, whose citizens
experience some of the nation's highest rates of respiratory
illness. In another settlement recently approved by a Los
Angeles judge, the city plans on spending $20 million on clean
air initiatives at the port, $20 million on community building,
and $10 million on other clean air efforts. Although the settlements
do not directly address all the issues brought forth in the
lawsuit, it appears to be a step in the right direction. For
more information on how states are cleaning up ports, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/dieselPortPollution.html. |
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California
Assembly Approves Car Labels Revealing Global Warming Gases
(Contra Costa Times 5/21)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8721413.htm
California AB 2906 would require new cars sold in California
to have labels telling potential buyers how much global warming
gases the vehicles produce. The bill would require the state
Air Resources Board (ARB), by January 1, 2007, to revise a
"smog index" decal to include emission figures on
gases believed to contribute to global warming. The revised
decals would have to be used starting with 2009 models. The
ARB is already under orders from legislation passed in 2002
to write regulations by 2005 to "achieve the maximum
feasible reduction" in global warming gases. That could
be done by requiring smoother-rolling tires, quick-shifting
transmissions, and credits for telecommuting, among other
things, supporters of the legislation say. Bill sponsor Assemblyman
Joe Nation said car buyers should have as much information
as possible about a vehicle before they buy it. For more information
on greenhouse gas reporting, see http://www.serconline.org/ghg/index.html. |
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Maryland
Revs Up Car Proposal (ENS 7/1)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2004/2004-07-01-09.asp
Cars with traditional gasoline-powered internal combustion
engines can be made more than 90 percent cleaner with about
$300 worth of better components. A report recently released
by MaryPIRG documents the air pollution risks facing the state
of Maryland, and discusses how the pollution could be curtailed
if cleaner cars and trucks were on the road. Maryland has
14 times more benzene and 15 times more formaldehyde than
standards allow; it has the third highest cancer risk in the
country for breathing benzene and the fifth highest for formaldehyde.
The new report, "Ready to Roll: The Benefits of Today's
Advanced Technology Vehicles for Maryland," documents
new vehicle technology available today and currently under
development. According to the report, cars with traditional
gasoline-powered internal combustion engines can be made more
than 90 percent cleaner with about $300 worth of better components,
while hybrids are already available on the market. Additionally,
Maryland State Senator Sharon Grosfeld intends to introduce
the "Clean Cars Act" next session which would mandate
six percent of new car sales in the state to be clean conventional
vehicles. Eight other states have vehicle emission standards
that are stronger than the federal standards Maryland now
uses. Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Maine, and California
have had clean car standards on the books for years, while
New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island moved to adopt the
standards within the past year. To view the report, visit:
http://marypirg.org/MD.asp?id2=13737&id3=MD&. |
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