With concerns about climate change grabbing headlines, experts gathered in Fresno in mid-December to point out the important role California agriculture, particularly row crop farmers, can play in helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the environment. Presentations covered various aspects of implementing Assembly Bill 32, the 2006 California Global Warming Solutions Act, and focused on opportunities for agriculture to potentially generate revenue from coming changes and maintain long-term profitability. Symposium presenters said specific opportunities for row crop growers include carbon sequestration, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, more efficient nitrogen use and preventing harmful emissions in the first place. California Farm Bureau Federation 1/09/08
A honeybee nutrition expert will present research results on honeybee nutrition and its relation to honeybee life expectancy today at the National Beekeeping Conference in Sacramento, Calif. Better bee nutrition may help combat colony collapse disorder and problems afflicting U.S. honeybees, the nation’s leading pollinators of an estimated $14 billion worth of seeds and crops annually. Reuters 1/09/08
In his State of the State Address, the Governor seemed optimistic about the prospects of universal health care, saying, “Now, when the Senate finishes its deliberation, I'm confident that the people of California in November will approve the most comprehensive health care reform in the nation. In any number of cases we have tackled politically risky things that no one in the past wanted to touch. To me, this is progress.” KCRA 1/09/08
He also urged the public and legislators to embrace his campaign to build a peripheral canal and more dams to increase water exports. Bay Indie Media 1/08/08
A report put out in association with UC Fresno concludes that air freight might gain importance on trucking in getting California produce to market. Ag products shipped by air saw an increase of nearly 25 percent compared to 10 years ago, accounting for $579 million in sales last year. The reports data counts domestic shipping, but also highlights the growing international market for Cali ag. Fresh Plaza 1/07/08
California-based Arcadia Biosciences is working with the Chinese government to reward farmers in China that grow the firm's genetically modified (GM) rice, with carbon credits that they can sell for cash. Arcadia says its GM rice requires less nitrogen fertiliser, and so farmers that grow it will lower their emissions of nitrous oxide - a greenhouse gas some 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The Guardian UK 1/08/08
On Monday, worries over high bacteria levels around the SF Bay coastline from human and animal waste topped the list of immediate concerns by local water quality managers. After massive storms, the overflows and leaks from sewage systems, animal waste, road grease, pesticides and fertilizers — have ended up in local waterways, creating what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cites as among the largest collective sources of pollutants of the nation's waters. Inside Bay Area 1/08/09
Watercrunch Blog has a list of five water bills currently pending in congress that deserve watching. Among them, the Twenty-First Century Water Commission (H.R. 135) is charged to assess current and future water supplies for the next 50 years, demand, and management practices and then develop recommendations for a comprehensive national water strategy. 1/09/09
Although there has been intense media coverage and attention by the governor and legislators on looming state water issues, it has been difficult to get the public to focus on the state's water problems. SJ Mercury 1/04/08
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has completed its revised operational model to determine water supply impacts from a recent federal court decision on Delta pumping. If 2008 is a dry year, State Water Project customers will receive seven to 22 percent less Delta water than would have been available without the court decision. If 2008 is an average water year, exports will be reduced 22 to 30 percent. DWR News Release 12/24/07
Three senators from the Northwest have introduced a bill that would restore free public access to national forests in California and across the West. If S2438 is passed and signed into law, plans to charge the public to park, hike, fish and hunt in national forests in Northern California would be scuttled and current fees charged on Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland and parts of Los Padres national forests would end. SF Chronicle 12/27/07
California's two raw milk producers filed suit in San Benito County Superior Court to keep the state from imposing a strict new standard that, they say, would put them out of business. SF Chronicle 12/28/07
No comments:
Post a Comment