After months of refusing to budge on health care reform, Democratic leaders on Monday agreed to key elements of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan, including a new mandate that all Californians have insurance. Democrats also lowered the minimum amount employers must spend from their previous health reform bill, which Schwarzenegger vetoed. SF Chronicle 11/5/07 Democrats also intend to announce that they want to fund a health care overhaul with a tobacco tax increase. Under their proposal, a steep tobacco tax, which could add up to $2.00 a pack to the cost of cigarettes, would fund the plan. San Diego Union Tribune 11/5/07
A new paper issued by a University of California, Davis, agricultural economist challenges recent media reports suggesting that farmers are suffering from escalating labor shortages. The paper was presented Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that favors reducing legal immigration and dismisses arguments that U.S. farms need foreign workers. Farm groups and labor advocates – often adversaries – joined in questioning the substance and relevance of Martin's paper. Critics say the real question is what to do about undocumented farmworkers, who are needed but cannot leave and are not supported by social services. The paper was released this week just as the Senate gears up to consider attaching an agriculture-specific immigration proposal to the new farm bill that would provide a path for illegal farmworkers to become citizens. Sacramento Bee 11/6/07
A device developed by University of California, Berkeley, researchers could help avoid the "wine headache" that some get after drinking red wine. The cause of the headaches is chemicals, called biogenic amines, which occur naturally in a wide variety of aged, pickled and fermented foods prized by gourmet palates, including wine, chocolate, cheese, olives, nuts and cured meats. Chemists working with NASA-funded technology designed to find life on Mars have created a device they say can easily detect these chemicals. Contra Costa Times 11/3/07
Starting next summer, many power plants, hospitals, universities and companies in 36 states, including California, will be forced to store low-level radioactive waste on their own property because a South Carolina landfill is closing its doors to them. In 2000 South Carolina lawmakers ordered the place to shrink because they no longer wanted the state to be the nation's dumping ground. State and industry officials say the not-in-my-backyard resistance will lead to "temporary" storage sites in backyards across the nation. Contra Costa Times 11/2/07
California will get as much as 16,000 cubic feet of renewable natural gas a day, enough to meet the electricity needs of about 150,000 California homes, over 10 years in two biogas deals announced in mid-October. Bakersfield-based BioEnergy Solutions and New Hampshire's Microgy will capture the gas at dairy farms, clean it and deliver it to Pacific Gas & Electric. Biogas produces almost no emissions when generating electricity. Contra Costa Times 11/6/07
Mercury pollution in the vast Delta watershed remains a major public health threat, but a new study suggests it is possible to eat local fish without risking your health. In general, the comprehensive study found relatively low levels of mercury in the fish in the south Delta and high levels in the Sacramento River and its tributaries. State health officials are relaxing an advisory for the southern Delta after the study showed that many kinds of fish in that region tend to have less mercury in them. Another advisory will be developed for the north Delta. Contra Costa Times 11/6/07
The Bay Area's air pollution agency proposed Monday to ban wood fires on bad-air nights and to bar new installations of open hearth fireplaces in homes and buildings. The measure is designed to protect the public from the health effects of tiny smoke particles that can lodge deep in human lungs. No date has been set for the rule to take effect. Contra Costa 11/6/07
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