Bay View Hunters Point illegal dumpers identified

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/02/2011

Two San Francisco companies have been accused of illegally dumping more than 100 tons of debris around Bay View Hunters Point. The city has filed suit and is seeking $1 million in damages. Both companies deny the charges, but the city says it found identifying information in the rubbish that lead to the business owners. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Boehner revels in reversing Pelosi’s green efforts

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/02/2011

Speaker of the House John Boehner has undone Nancy Pelosi’s steps to green the U.S. Congressional cafeteria and reintroduced foam plastic coffee cups. This morning his aid tweeted “The new majority – plasticware is back.” [Guardian]

Possibly, maybe, hopefully a breakthrough in energy efficiency

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/02/2011

The Google Ventures backed start-up Transphorm came out of stealth mode yesterday to reveal its breakthrough energy efficiency technology. It claims to eliminates 90 percent of the energy waste when transforming AC to DC power and vice versa, which could save terawatts of energy. The technology can be applied to any device – from cars to cell phone chargers – that convert power. [Grist]

Let the barn owl streaming video mania begin!

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/02/2011

A webcam of Molly the barn owl and her hatching chicks went viral last year. Millions of people around the global watched, some dubbing themselves as having Molly Obsessive Disorder. Well, now Marin County has its very own barn owl live streaming video capturing the every move of two young birds, who have yet to be named. [Marin Independent Journal]

PG&E’s weak San Bruno gas line noted in 1956

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/02/2011

PG&E chose not to install safety valves on their San Bruno gas lines in 2006 because they concluded that most of the damage from an explosion would occur in the first 30 seconds, officials revealed yesterday during a National Transportation Safety Board hearing in Washington D.C. Documents also revealed that PG&E workers were concerned about the pipe when it was installed in 1956. [San Jose Mercury News] [San Francisco Chronicle]

San Francisco passing urban farming code

By Alison Hawkes

03/01/2011

Urban agriculture is the new hot thing in San Francisco. And with small farms sprouting up in the unlikeliest of places, the city is passing a new planning code that defines where and how these farms can take root. The city is also allowing farmers to sell from their lots, although not in any formal produce stand sort of way. But despite the locavore movement taking hold, there is concern that veggies may become toxic by contaminated soil. And one city agency is also worried about an uptick in water use, given a long term supply shortage. [Civil Eats]

PG&E in the federal hot seat over gas explosion

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/01/2011

The National Transportation Safety Board will seek answers from PG&E officials over the next three days about the San Bruno gasline explosion last September. Specifically, safety officials will try to determine why PG&E lacked any automatically controlled valves to shut off the gas, which gushed uncontrolled for more than an hour. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Khosla and Google Ventures invest $42 million in weather insurance

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/01/2011

Two of the most powerful venture capital investment groups – Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures – have ponied up $42 million for WeatherBill, a San Francisco-based crop insurance company. Founded by former Google executives, WeatherBill operates on the premise that climate change will increasingly disrupt agriculture, making the already precarious business of growing food even more unpredictable. [Wall Street Journal]

Berkeley Earth scientists aspire to end climate debate

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/01/2011

A small team of diverse scientists have received big money to try and resolve once and for all the contentious debate over climate change. Berkeley Earth says they will differ from past similar attempts by making all of their research and analysis open for review. Berkeley Earth is funded by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research and the Koch Foundation, among others. [California Watch]

New state program is hub for all energy efficiency incentives

By Victoria Schlesinger

03/01/2011

A statewide effort to help consumers reduce their energy bills begins today. The federally funded Energy Upgrade California program will offer rebates between $1,000 and $4,000 to homeowners who invest in energy efficiency. The state hopes the new program “reduces consumer confusion” by consolidating all incentive options under one roof. [San Jose Mercury News]

“Science was subverted” in strawberry pesticide approval

02/25/2011

By Victoria Schlesinger

The lead scientist hired by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to independently review the health impacts of methyl iodide, a controversial fumigant, concluded “there is no safe level” of the pesticide. UCLA chemical toxicology professor John Froine went on to say during a California Assembly Committees on Health and Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials hearing that the DPR inappropriately approved methyl iodide last December. [Monterey County Weekly]

Tags: california department of pesticide regulation, john froine, methyl iodide, strawberry fumigant