PREVIOUS DIGEST
OF LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
April 28-May 4, 2008

Click on a story title below and you will be linked to the original story at the newspaper's web site. Note: Occasionally a story becomes unavailable online after the original publication date.

1. Cities rallying for 60 Freeway route
   Monday, April 28, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Mike Sprague, Staff Writer
         A group of San Gabriel Valley cities – Alhambra, El Monte, Monterey Park, Rosemead and South El Monte – have mobilized to rally in support of the Pomona (60) Freeway as their preference for a light-rail route from East Los Angeles. Unlike three of the routes, which end in Uptown Whittier, the Pomona Freeway version ends at the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway. There also is a fifth proposal for a busway along the freeway.
         Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park and others are trying to persuade the MTA board to choose the Pomona Freeway as the top route for an eastside line. "If they are engaged in lobbying that is of concern to me," said Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri, who has supported a route to his city. "I don't want it to terminate at the 605 Freeway," he said. "It needs to stop in Whittier.
         Both the San Gabriel Valley communities and Whittier may be competing with other sectors of the county as well as with each other. Three other sectors of Los Angeles County also are reviewing possible expansions of light-rail projects. Whittier Councilman Bob Henderson said, "It's not that you wouldn't like to have it, but I can't see investing time and energy in a project that is a long time off and at the very best is very questionable in funding."

2. Students learn while landscaping campus
   Monday, April 28, 2008, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, By Richard Irwin, Staff Writer
         "We thought this would be a great way to celebrate Earth Day," said Rowland Heights Elementary School Principal Helene Zimmerman. "We couldn't have done it without the generosity of Lanter Landscaping Service.” “When many of the students couldn't afford $2 for a plant, I decided to go ahead and provide one for each kid," owner Jessie Lanter said.
         The landscaper had a busy morning supervising the installation of nearly 500 new plants. Every student from kindergarten to the sixth-grade got a chance to get their hands dirty. Some of the plants populated the new reading garden, others spruced up the front walk. Alicia Vle, 11, said it was easy to bury her plant because Lanter's crew of six had spent the previous day digging holes for everyone.
         Nancy Buck's said her sixth-grade class was very interested in ecology. They are studying ways to recycle materials to help the planet. "We'll use the plants as part of our science curriculum," Buck said. The students' enthusiasm caught the landscapers off guard.

3. White House undermines EPA on cancer risks, GAO says
   Monday, April 28, 2008, Orange County Register, by H. Jposef Hebert, Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) – The Bush administration is undermining the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to determine health dangers of toxic chemicals by letting nonscientists have a bigger - often secret - role, congressional investigators say in a report obtained by The Associated Press. The administration's decision to give the Defense Department and other agencies an early role in the process adds to years of delay in acting on harmful chemicals and jeopardizes the program's credibility, the Government Accountability Office concluded.
         At issue is the EPA's screening of chemicals used in everything from household products to rocket fuel to determine if they pose serious risk of cancer or other illnesses. Cancer risk assessments for nearly a dozen major chemicals are now years overdue, the GAO said.. GAO investigators said extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals. The GAO said many of the deliberations over risks posed by specific chemicals "occur in what amounts to a black box" of secrecy because the White House claims they are private executive branch deliberations.
         The White House said the GAO is wrong in suggesting that the EPA has lost control in assessing the health risks posed by toxic chemicals.

4. Fire may be blessing in disguise for area
   Tuesday, April 29, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Fred Ortega, Staff Writer
   PASADENA - Bill Patzert of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge said the fire season actually begins in the fall as the Santa Ana winds arrive in the Southland. "So this is actually the end of the 2007-08 fire season," Patzert said. And the next season, slated to begin this fall, is looking to be a whopper - considering what is expected to be a particularly hot, dry summer following this year's deceptively wet winter. "People think we had a wet winter, but we did not. All over the Southland we were at 90 to 70 percent of normal rainfal," Patzert said. "The fuel load is high, we have built our communities into high-risk fire areas and the only thing you need is strong Santa Anas and a wacko pyromaniac," said Patzert.
         But as bad as the Santa Anita Fire has been, Patzert considers the event a "bluff." "There has been no damage, no loss of life in an area that hasn't burned in 40 years," said Patzert. "If it had happened during a major Santa Ana event in October, it would have been a full-blown disaster." Furthermore, the fire has completed what would have been the natural wildfire cycle that has been interrupted in modern times by ever more effective firefighting methods.

5. Judge approves use of hiking trails around La Vina homes
   Tuesday, April 29, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
   PASADENA - In a ruling that trail advocates hailed as a major victory, a judge has affirmed the public's right to use hiking trails around the gated La Vina housing development in Altadena's foothills. "I think the big victor is the public," Scott Kuhn, senior deputy counsel for Los Angeles County, which has been embroiled in litigation over public access with the La Vina Homeowners Association for three years. "The public has the right to these trails forever - that's what was at stake here," Kuhn said Monday. The county was also awarded fees and costs, estimated at about $1 million.
         The La Vina Homeowners Association, which owns 180 acres of open space forming a ring around the housing development, posted "No Trespassing" signs in May 2004 along a trail in Millard Canyon popular with hikers and equestrians. The court has ordered the association to dedicate trail easements in locations indicated in the development documents; the county will be responsible for construction and maintenance of the trails. The county was also awarded fees and costs, which Ayers estimates at about $1 million.
         The La Vina Homeowners Association faces two more lawsuits over access, due to be heard in September, from the Save the Altadena Trails group and from Marietta Kruells, a private citizen represented by attorney and trails advocate Paul Ayers.

6. Food scientists say stop biofuels to fight world hunger
   Tuesday, April 29, 2008, Orange County Register, by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some top international food scientists Tuesday recommended halting the use of food-based biofuels, such as ethanol, saying it would cut corn prices by 20 percent during a world food crisis. The three senior scientists with an international research consortium pushing a biofuel moratorium said nations need to rethink programs that divert food such as corn and soybeans into fuel, given the burgeoning worldwide food crisis. The group, CGIAR, is a global network that uses science to fight hunger. It is funded by dozens of countries and private foundations.
         The United States is the biggest biofuel producer. Rattan Lal, an Ohio State University soil sciences professor, said, "We have 1 billion people who are food insecure. We can't afford the luxury of not taking care of them and taking care of gasoline." A World Bank study has estimated that corn prices "rose by over 60 percent from 2005-07, largely because of the U.S. ethanol program" combined with market forces.

7. San Pedro waterfront improvements expected to get green light
   Wednesday, April 30, 2008, Long Beach Press Telegram, By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
         Long-delayed enhancements to the San Pedro waterfront are expected to start taking shape Thursday, when the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners considers $16.9 million worth of contracts to develop the project. The panel is expected to approve an $8.9 million contract with Tetra Design to draw up a blueprint for the San Pedro Waterfront Downtown Harbor and the Salinas de San Pedro Promenade Projects. Separately, the commission will consider an $8 million construction contract with Griffith Co. to build an 18-acre park at the 22nd Street Landing, which once served as the Unocal tank farm. "The big disappointment is that nothing is going forward to improve Ports O'Call, which is what the board said it would do two years ago," said June Burlingame Smith, head of the port's community advisory committee.

8. Students pitch in for Earth Day
   Wednesday, April 30, 2008, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, By Claudia Palma, Staff Writer
   EL MONTE - Students at La Primaria Elementary now have a new hands-on eco-classroom. The school last week unveiled its new Outdoor Science Garden during an Earth Day celebration. Second- and third-grade students, with help from the L.A. County Department of Public Works, planted trees, bushes and native plants Thursday along the San Gabriel River behind the school. La Primaria's science garden also features a trail of rocks that will collect the runoff water from the school and help the water be absorbed by the earth in the garden instead of running off into the riverbed to overflow it.
         The garden is part of the Emerald Necklace, a project whose vision is to create a park network connected by trails and native plant landscaping across a 17-mile loop along the San Gabriel River and the Rio Hondo. Another garden was set up last year during Earth Day behind Twin Lakes Elementary School about a mile down the riverbed as part of the same project.

9. First steps of conservation
   Thursday, May 1, 2008, San Gabriel Valley Tribune,
         OPINIONS – Biwater AEWT, the second-largest desalination plant supplier in the United States, had to move into bigger digs because its business is so good. The Monrovia-based firm is filling orders from Singapore to Algeria, the owner told our reporter. Yes, such technology is becoming economically viable as water prices rise because of higher demand and limited supplies. But before California dips its line into the Pacific Ocean, there are some cheaper and less invasive steps it must take to find more drinking water.
         First: Before water agencies start sucking ocean water and charging the cost of building such plants to their customers, they must work harder to help customers use less water. Second: Water is too precious to use only once. Agencies should invest in water-recycling projects. Third: Unfortunately, almost a third of the underground basin (mostly in the San Gabriel Valley) is contaminated with rocket fuel, nitrates and other cancer-causing chemicals that have leached into the ground over the last six decades. Groundwater - our most inexpensive water source - is our region's first drought insurance. But we must invest in cleaning it up. These three options are cheaper, use less energy and are easier to accomplish than desalinating sea water.

10. Environmental Group To Challenge Navy's Sonar Use
    May 1-7, 2008, Long Beach Gazette Newspapers, By Kelly Garrison, Features Editor
          A national organization has challenged a United States Navy plan that proposes to increase its operations off of the Southern California coast. Representatives from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) say the Navy would use sonar equipment that can put marine creatures at risk for injury or death. The affected area, known as the Southern California Range Complex, includes the Southern California coast between Dana Point and San Diego and about 120,000 square nautical miles of sea space.
          “The EIS addresses potential impacts and is the most comprehensive study we've done,” said Project Manager Alex Stone said the EIS “ has a number of protective measures to minimize the impacts from Navy training on marine life.” Stone said the Navy is working to comply with requests. Federal law requires the Navy to be prepared for combat at sea — a responsibility that military officials say requires active sonar and the real-life training.
          “The Navy has been repeatedly found by different courts to be in violation of the law with regard to their approach for using mid frequency sonar,” said Zak Smith, a litigation fellow for the NRDC. “In the current case, the court's finding was that the Navy's tools they chose to minimize were woefully inadequate.”

11. Study: Warmer ocean water means less oxygen
    Thursday, May 1, 2008, Orange County Register, by Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer
    WASHINGTON (AP) – Low-oxygen zones where sea life is threatened or cannot survive are growing as the oceans are heated by global warming, researchers warn. Oxygen-depleted zones in the central and eastern equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans appear to have expanded over the last 50 years, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. Continued expansion of these zones could have dramatic consequences for both sea life and coastal economies, said the team. Warmer water simply cannot absorb as much oxygen as colder water, explained co-author Gregory C. Johnson. Frank A. Whitney of Canada's Institute of Ocean Sciences said, "As oceans lose oxygen, this will reduce habitat for many organisms."

12. Pittsburgh surpasses Los Angeles as nation's sootiest city
    Thursday, May 1, 2008, Orange County Register, by Noaki Schwartz, Associated Press Writer
    LOS ANGELES (AP) – Pittsburgh overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the American Lung Association's assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy. "It's not that Pittsburgh has gotten worse; it's that Los Angeles has gotten better," Nolen said. "If the trend continues,
          Still, Los Angeles held its own in two other categories measuring year-round soot levels and smog. And statewide, 26 of California's 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations got failing grades for having either high ozone days or particle pollution days. The association's "State of the Air: 2008" report, was based on air quality measurements   between 2004 and 2006. The study looks at three key pollution measures. The eight metropolitan areas considered to be the nation's most polluted by every measure were Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia-Porterfield and Hanford-Corcoran, all in California; Washington-Baltimore; St. Louis; and Birmingham, Ala. The cleanest cities were Fargo, N.D., and Salinas, Calif.

13. EPA plans tougher airborne lead limit
    Friday, May 2, 2008, Los Angeles Times, By Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
          The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it plans to adopt a more stringent health standard for airborne lead to protect the nation's children. Under the proposal, the amount of lead allowed in the air would be dramatically lower than the current limit, which was adopted 30 years ago. Nationally, airborne lead has dropped nearly 98% since the original standard prompted the phase-out of leaded gasoline.
          Only one place in the U.S. -- Herculaneum, Mo., which has the nation's last remaining lead smelter -- had readings last year that violated the current standard for lead. Under the EPA's new proposal, as many as 23 counties could be thrown out of compliance, which means local officials there would have to adopt new regulations for smelters, foundries, mines and other industries. None of the counties that would violate the new standard are in California; all are in the Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, Colorado, Utah and Texas.
          EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson agreed, proposing Thursday to set a new standard within the range of 0.10 to 0.30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air. The current standard is 1.5 microgram. The EPA is under a court order to issue a final new standard by September. EPA's scientific advisors   had said the standard should be no weaker than 0.20 micrograms.
          Only trace amounts of lead remain in gasoline and diesel fuel. But it still pollutes the air from smelters, foundries, mines, metals processing, cement plants and other industrial facilities, as well as some general aviation aircraft. About 16,000 industrial sources release a total of about 1,300 tons of lead into the air each year, the EPA said.

14. Clear Creek off-roader paradise lost due to asbestos
    Friday, May 2, 2008, Los Angeles Times, By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
          On Thursday, the Clear Creek Management Area, a 48-square-mile swath of the Diablo Mountains in San Benito and Fresno counties was labeled a virtual death zone where five visits a year over three decades could lead to lung cancer and other crippling diseases. The recreation area was abruptly closed for the foreseeable future by the federal Bureau of Land Management, after a three-year by the Environmental Protection Agency found that dangerous levels of asbestos dust were being stirred up by motorcycles and other off-road vehicles. Any human use -- even camping and hiking – was deemed potentially dangerous, especially to children, and outlawed until the BLM develops a new plan for the area.
          Clear Creek, which registers 35,000 visits a year, has long been known as the largest U.S. deposit of asbestos, a natural mineral and known human carcinogen. It harbors an EPA-designated toxic Superfund site, the former Atlas asbestos mine. The bureau, which first studied Clear Creek asbestos in 1992, has warned visitors in parts of the area to avoid breathing dust and drinking water from the creek. But off-roaders have largely ignored the warnings.

15. Water shortage worst in decades, official says
    Friday, May 2, 2008, Los Angeles Times, Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press
          California communities face a strong possibility of water shortages and even mandatory rationing this summer because of record dry weather in March and April, a fast-shrinking snowpack and below-normal reservoir levels, state officials said Thursday. "I have not seen a more serious water situation in my career, and I've been doing this 30 years," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California Water Agencies. An outmoded delivery system and court rulings that protect endangered fish are also straining the system, he said.
          He and others urged Californians to rein in water use. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement urging the Legislature to pass comprehensive water reforms, warning that many communities face shortages and possible rationing.

16. Federal agency declares West Coast salmon fishery a disaster
    Friday, May 2, 2008, Orange County Register, by Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Writer
    GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Federal authorities have declared the West Coast ocean salmon fishery a failure, opening the way for Congress to appropriate economic disaster assistance for coastal communities in California, Oregon and Washington. The declaration Thursday stems from the sudden collapse of the chinook salmon run in California's Sacramento River, where the salmon return to spawn. Scientists are studying the causes of the collapse, with possible factors ranging from ocean conditions and habitat destruction to dam operations and agricultural pollution.
          This marks the second year in the past three that a federal fishery failure has been declared for West Coast salmon. The Sacramento chinook run is the backbone of commercial fisheries off California and Oregon.

17. Scientists to capture DNA of trees worldwide for database
    Friday, May 2, 2008, Orange County Register, by Deepti Hajela, Associated Press Writer
    NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Botanical Garden   researchers are about to lead a global effort to capture DNA from thousands of tree species from around the world. The Bronx garden is hosting a meeting this week where participants from various countries will lay the groundwork for how the two-year undertaking, known as TreeBOL, or tree barcode of life, will proceed. to catalog some of the Earth's vast biodiversity
          As in a similar project under way focusing on the world's fish species, participants would gather genetic material from trees around the world. A section of the DNA would be used as a barcode, similar to way a product at the grocery store is scanned to bring up its price. But with plants and animals, the scanners look at the specific order of the four basic building blocks of DNA to identify the species. The undertaking is massive. Trees make up 25 percent of all plants, and there could be as many as 100,000 species.

18. Bill would put local open spaces into US park system
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Fred Ortega, Staff Writer
    PASADENA – The Consolidated National Resources Act - approved by the House on Tuesday - instructs the federal government to study the feasibility of including all or part of the Rim of the Valley trail corridor as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The trail corridor includes almost 492,000 acres of foothills, forest and parkland in the Santa Susanna, Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains and San Rafael Hills. Besides the Arroyo and Eaton Canyon, other area parks that could eventually become national parkland include Bailey Wilderness Park above Sierra Madre, Deukmejian Wilderness Park near La Crescenta and Hahamongna Park between La Canada Flintridge and Altadena. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who included the Rim of the Valley corridor study in the bill, said he was inspired by what he said was the foresight Congress showed when it first established the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in the late 1970s.
          Chuck Cushman of the American Land Rights Association said, "The National Park Service is over $10 billion behind in deferred maintenance, so what are we doing buying more land in Southern California?" adding that federal control of the corridor would stymie development. Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, whose district includes big chunks of the Rim of the Valley, voted against the legislation after receiving many calls from constituents opposing the measure.
          Schiff countered that the bill is not calling for the forcible taking of private property within the Rim of the Valley corridor. He added that it would take two to three years for the study to be completed, and that there would be many opportunities for public comment. Congress would also have to approve the final outlines of the proposed park.

19. Developer promises wetlands, mesa and 1,375 homes in Newport
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Orange County Register, by Jeff Overley,
    NEWPORT BEACH -   A developer today will make significant concessions in its bid to win public support for homes, shops and a hotel on the sprawling Banning Ranch property, company officials say. While local land-use restrictions require that half the 400-acre expanse be preserved, company executives have decided to spare a blufftop parcel from development, thereby preserving 55 percent of the area as natural open space. Officials previously planned to merge the ranch's 85 privately run oil wells into two areas, but will now move them all into a single field, allowing for an uninterrupted stretch of wetland. Other steps will be taken to improve water quality and protect the views of adjacent homeowners, and altogether, the moves are part of a push to mollify critics and put residents at ease.
          Mike Mohler of Newport Banning Ranch LLC noted that in the 18 months since Newport Beach voters prioritized full preservation of Banning Ranch – but at the same time OK'd eventual development if that fails – no money has been raised to acquire the land. And aside from buying the land, decades of oil drilling mean that cleaning up the site will cost "several to many tens of millions of dollars," Mohler said.

20. Delta canal idea revisited
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Jennifer McLain, Staff Writer
          A decades old and unsuccessful conversation about building a canal that could bring more water to Southern California is being revisited. On Tuesday, a Senate committee agreed to shelve a bill calling for the construction of a canal around the Sacramento River, telling the author, Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, to wait for the findings of a Governor appointed task force that is examining solutions to the environmental and seismic problems in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta.
          Voters rejected a bill for the Peripheral Canal in 1982. The word became so politically charged that many have veered from using the word and have started calling it a "bypass" canal or conveyance system. But a canal could be one of the answers to the Delta's many problems, including declining fish populations, rising ocean levels and concerns that the Delta will not be able to sustain a major earthquake.
          Simitian's bill would have asked voters for a $4 billion bond to pay for environmental restoration of the Delta, and would have created a seven-person board to contract for the design and construction of a new facility to move water from the Delta to pumps that send water to cities and farms. The bill increases the fees for MWD,   and the proposed oversight overlaps with those of existing state and federal agencies. Those were some of the reasons why the local water giant did not support the bill.

21. Uranium claims spring up along Grand Canyon rim
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Los Angeles Times, By Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZ. – Thanks to renewed interest in nuclear power, the United States is on the verge of a uranium mining boom, and nowhere is the hurry to stake claims more pronounced than in the districts flanking the Grand Canyon's storied sandstone cliffs. On public lands within five miles of Grand Canyon National Park, there are now more than 1,100 uranium claims, compared with just 10 in January 2003. In the five Western states where uranium is mined in the U.S., 4,333 new claims were filed in 2004; last year the number had swelled to 43,153.
          Environmental organizations have appealed to federal courts and Congress to halt any drilling on the grounds that mining so close to such a rare piece of the nation's patrimony could prove ruinous for the canyon's visitors and wildlife alike.   Mining companies say the raw material they seek is important to the environment, too: The uranium would feed nuclear reactors that could -produce electricity without contributing to global warming. And uranium is in short supply.
          Among the mining critics is Steve Martin, superintendent of the Grand Canyon park and an Interior Department employee himself. "There should be some places that you just do not mine," Add to the list the Metropolitan Water District of Los Angelest. "In addition to the public health impacts, exploration and mining of radioactive material near a drinking water source may impact the public's confidence in the safety and reliability of the water supply," the district's general manager, Jeffrey Kightlinger, wrote in March to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
          Under current mining law the Forest Service had no choice but to allow the drilling, Regional Forester Corbin Newman testified in March to Congress. Many of the companies are based abroad, said Taylor McKinnon, of the Center for Biological Diversity. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has introduced a bill that would withdraw a million acres of federal land around the Grand Canyon park from future mining and mineral leases. The bill would not affect the claims already staked if they are found to contain uranium deposits.

22. Smarter electric grid could be key to saving power
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Orange County Register, by Brian Bergstein, AP Technology Writer
    MILTON, Ontario (AP) – The electric grid, that vast network ferrying energy from power plants through transmission lines isn't particularly smart when it meets our homes. We flip a switch or plug something in and generally get as much power as we're willing to pay for. Power providers and technology companies are making the electric grid smarter. Power companies will be able to cue us to make choices about when and how we consume power. And most likely, we'll have our computers and appliances carry out those decisions for us. Envision your kitchen appliances in silent communication with their power source: The fridge bumps its temperature up a degree on one day, and the dishwasher kicks on a bit later on another.
          In Milton   a test with 200 households reveals what will be possible - and how much more work needs to happen. A customer uses his computer to visit an online control panel that configures his home's energy consumption. He chooses its temperature and which lights should be on or off at certain times of the day. He can set rules for different kinds of days, so the house might be warmer and darker on summer weekdays when his family is out. The family can override those changes manually. But the system guards against waste. If midnight comes and no one has remembered to lower the thermostat and turn off the porch light, those steps just happen.
          In an emergency – perhaps a power plant will be down for maintenance – people in Milton's test are expected to configure a "brownout" setting on their computers, indicating how their homes should respond in such a situation. In this test, Direct Energy can raise the set temperature in a participant's home.
          It appears unlikely that broad swaths of the public will accept remote control from the power company. California officials recently had to back away from a proposal to require remote-controlled thermostats in new buildings. So a more likely scenario is that consumers will get powerful economic incentives to make those decisions themselves. The price of electricity would dip when demand is softest, typically at night or on mild days, and rise in periods of strain. Appliances designed to interact with the smarter electric grid will adjust themselves.

23. What are OC schools doing to 'go green'?
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Orange County Register, by Annie Burris
          The growing trend for more environmental sensitivity has made its way to public and private schools in Orange County, resulting in synthetic turfs on tracks, waterless urinals in restrooms and skylights in classrooms. Newport-Mesa School District recently installed an Internet-based irrigation system, Irvine Unified School District schools are recycling their trash through a contracted sorting plant and seven Capistrano Unified campuses have “cool roofs” that lessen the need for air conditioning. The Hebrew Academy in Huntington Beach installed about 200 solar panels during an Earth Day celebration last month.
          School districts are funding these projects through rebates from energy companies and environmental groups, private donors and their own budgets. At least 11 Orange County schools participate in the Go Green Initiative, an international environmental program that partners with schools to make conservation programs tailored to their campuses. However, school officials   countywide are grappling with what environmentally friendly elements they can afford in the midst of a state budget crisis.

24. Eco-friendly garden takes root
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Pasadena Star News, By Tracy Garcia, Staff Writer
    EAST WHITTIER –   At Scott Avenue Elementary School, a new "Tomorrow Garden" is promising teachers and students yearlong learning with a focus on the environment and recycling, thanks to the generosity of a local credit union and community volunteers. The Tomorrow Garden is the first of its kind in Whittier and California, created by respected landscape designer Greg Rubin. It's part of a national movement to build these gardens in schools and parks across the country to inspire environmental awareness in students.
          The garden was built last weekend by about 80 students, parents, teachers and volunteers from South Western Federal Credit Union, which chose Scott Avenue for the garden and is bankrolling the $15,000 project. The garden is circular in design, about 30 feet in diameter, with a shade-yielding tree right in the center, officials said. Sturdy benches offer solitude for reading as well as a gathering place for classes or friends. The remaining area is filled with drought-tolerant plants, shrubbery, and bulbs for color - but the key design element is its functionality to serve as a sort of outdoor classroom. The garden focuses on the environment and eco-friendliness. In addition, the California native plants included in the design also relate to curriculum on Native Americans.
          For more information, visit www.tomorrowgardens.com

25. Beetle-ravaged forests prompt campground closures in Rockies
    Sunday, May 4, 2008, Orange County Register, by Matt Joyce, Associated Press Writer
    CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Vacationers will have fewer places to pitch their tents this summer in Colorado and Wyoming, and they can place the blame on bugs. The U.S. Forest Service has closed some popular campgrounds in the two states because of concern that trees killed by the bark beetles that are ravaging forests across the West could topple onto unsuspecting visitors. Bark beetles have always been a part of forests in the West, but warming temperatures and an abundance of aging lodgepole pines have allowed populations of the hungry insects to explode. They now infest nearly 3,600 square miles of forest in the two states.
          The Forest Service recently announced the closure of 21 campgrounds and recreation sites in Colorado and Wyoming for the summer. Seventeen other sites will open late, after dangerous trees are removed.