#San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund

[hariyhub07]

Kitchen Renovation in Walnut Creek: Top Trends

Introduction

Walnut Creek, a vibrant and thriving community in the San Francisco Bay Area, is renowned for its picturesque neighborhoods, diverse cultural offerings, and exceptional quality of life. As homeowners in this desirable region seek to enhance their living spaces, kitchen renovation has become a top priority. This comprehensive guide explores the key considerations, design trends, and practical steps involved in transforming the heart of your Walnut Creek home.

Assessing the Current Kitchen

The first step in any successful kitchen renovation project is to thoroughly evaluate the existing space. Take note of the layout, the condition of the cabinetry, countertops, and appliances, as well as the overall functionality and flow of the kitchen. Consider the pain points you've experienced, such as limited storage, outdated finishes, or insufficient workspace. This assessment will serve as a foundation for your renovation plans.

Establishing a Budget

Budgeting is a critical aspect of any home improvement project, and kitchen renovations are no exception. Determine the scope of your project, whether it's a full-scale overhaul or a more targeted update, and allocate funds accordingly. Research average costs for various components, such as custom cabinetry, high-end countertops, and energy-efficient appliances, to get a realistic understanding of the investment required. Remember to factor in additional expenses, such as permits, labor, and any necessary structural changes.

Exploring Design Trends and Inspiration

Walnut Creek is home to a diverse array of architectural styles, from charming Craftsman bungalows to sleek contemporary homes. As you embark on your kitchen renovation journey, explore design trends that complement the aesthetic of your Walnut Creek residence. Browse home design magazines, visit local showrooms, and scour online platforms to gather inspiration. Consider incorporating elements like farmhouse chic, modern industrial, or transitional styles to create a cohesive and visually appealing kitchen.

Functionality and Efficient Layout

In addition to aesthetic considerations, the functionality and layout of your kitchen are paramount. Analyze the traffic flow, work triangles (the distance between the stove, sink, and refrigerator), and storage needs to optimize the space. Consult with design professionals who can provide expertise in space planning and ergonomic design, ensuring your new kitchen is both visually stunning and highly practical.

Selecting Materials and Finishes

The choice of materials and finishes can significantly impact the overall look and feel of your kitchen renovation. Explore a variety of options, such as granite, quartz, or marble countertops, hardwood or tile flooring, and a vast array of cabinet styles and finishes. Consider the durability, maintenance requirements, and energy efficiency of each material to make an informed decision that aligns with your lifestyle and design preferences.

Incorporating Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Elements

As environmental consciousness grows, many Walnut Creek homeowners are prioritizing sustainable and energy-efficient features in their kitchen renovations. This can include the selection of Energy Star-rated appliances, LED lighting, and water-efficient fixtures. Additionally, explore the use of eco-friendly materials, such as bamboo cabinetry or recycled glass countertops, to reduce your home's carbon footprint and contribute to a greener future.

Navigating the Permitting Process

Before embarking on any kitchen renovation project in Walnut Creek, it's crucial to understand the local permitting requirements. Consult with your city's building and planning departments to ensure compliance with all necessary permits and regulations. This step can help avoid potential delays, fines, or even the need to undo any work that does not meet the required standards.

Hiring Experienced Professionals

Transforming your kitchen is a significant investment, and it's essential to work with experienced professionals who can bring your vision to life. Research reputable contractors, designers, and tradespeople in the Walnut Creek area, and consider their portfolio, references, and licensing to ensure a successful and stress-free renovation process.

Managing the Renovation Timeline

Kitchen renovations can be disruptive, so it's crucial to have a realistic understanding of the timeline. Work closely with your renovation team to establish a clear project schedule, accounting for factors such as material lead times, permit approvals, and any unexpected challenges that may arise. Effective communication and proactive planning can help minimize disruptions to your daily life.

Conclusion

Embarking on a kitchen renovation in Walnut Creek can be an exciting and rewarding journey, allowing you to create a space that reflects your personal style and enhances the overall functionality of your home. By carefully considering the key elements outlined in this guide, you can navigate the process with confidence and transform your kitchen into a stunning and practical hub for your family's gathering and daily activities.

[skypalacearchitect]

Sandy Saeteurn grew up in Richmond, California, where Chevron’s massive 3,000-acre oil refinery reigns supreme. She’s no stranger to the refinery’s chemical flares, and she spent many of her childhood days home sick. She’s not the only one who has learned to link the refinery and the presence of illness in her community: A 2008 study (co-authored by Grist board member Rachel Morello-Frosch) found that almost half of all homes in the area had indoor levels of refinery-related particulate matter pollution that exceeded the state’s air quality standards.

Every day for nearly 120 years — longer than the city has existed — the refinery has processed thousands of barrels of oil. Its flares regularly paint the sky burnt orange before thick grey clouds of smoke cover the city. Chevron’s influence stretches beyond its pollution and the 3,500 refinery jobs it provides as the city’s largest employer — it also showers money on local elections and even runs a local newspaper, the Richmond Standard, which has been known to cast a positive light on the company.

Ever since Black residents first arrived in large numbers in the 1940s, people of color have been relegated into low-quality housing surrounding the city’s large industrial zones. Today the city, which is 82 percent non-white and home to large groups of migrants from Latin America and Southeast Asia, has worse air pollution than 94 percent of the country, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, which has cited the refinery for environmental violations roughly 150 times since 2016. The city’s childhood asthma rate is more than double the national average and, in the immediate aftermath of an explosion at the refinery in 2012, more than 15,000 people were forced to seek medical treatment for respiratory distress.

Chevron funds around one-third of Richmond’s annual budget through taxes and municipal services the company provides, which includes education and workforce development programs. When the company wanted to modernize its facility in 2008, it offered the city $11 million for the Richmond Police Department to “increase the number of police officers on the street,” according to a document outlining Chevron’s community benefits agreements with the city. The modernization project was eventually blocked after community groups sued the city for failing to do a proper environmental impact analysis, but a 2015 agreement between Richmond and Chevron ultimately set aside $2 million for Richmond police. Over the past decade, Richmond police have arrested hundreds for protesting the plant’s emissions.

As a child, Saeteurn and her family didn’t think to connect the Chevron plant and their disposition to illness. “Growing up there was a lot of explosion drills, and we never understood what they meant,” Saeteurn told Grist. “In elementary school, Chevron would come and have certain programs for kids, giving us money for books and school supplies. I left elementary school thinking ‘oh wow, Chevron’s a great company,’ when in reality they were slowly killing us.”

Saeteurn’s lighthearted view of Chevron didn’t last long. By age 14, she was a dedicated organizer and member of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, or APEN, which is based in both Richmond and nearby Oakland. She’s used her struggles against environmental injustices to fuel her work, helping to organize influential campaigns such as the first-ever county-wide multilingual warning system, which now warns Richmond residents of looming chemical flares in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Lao.

In response to questions from Grist, Chevron provided a statement saying that its Richmond workforce “takes its role as good neighbors seriously and continually works to reduce our environmental footprint and to improve reliability.” The statement listed modernization projects, such as a new hydrogen processing unit, which have contributed to reducing the site’s “air emissions by 86 percent over the last 40 years,” according to the company.

Because of the way issues like a growing housing crisis, immigration, and police violence intersect in the San Francisco Bay area — where more than 350 refineries and fossil fuel companies are based — Saeteurn and other organizers at APEN have been at the forefront of reframing the environmental justice movement to incorporate all aspects of residents’ encounters with their lived environments, whether that’s unwanted interactions with the police or gentrification and the displacement of poorer people from their home communities. This is a reimagining of the traditional focuses of environmental organizations that have long prioritized organizing around issues like toxic waste or access to public parks, while leaving issues like housing and criminal justice to different organizations.

“We think of environmental justice as being about how our communities get to be in relationship with our environment,” Alvina Wong, APEN’s campaign and organizing director, told Grist. “That means trees, air, and water — but also our neighborhoods, our homes, and how we get to be in relationship with each other.”

Saeteurn, a local political director with the group, said that this message resonates with the residents APEN serves.

“When the community talks about the environment, they’re not talking about clean air or water — what they’re really talking about is their struggles,” she explained. “So when we talk with the community about how the environment is impacting them, they’re not saying ‘oh yeah, Chevron’s in my backyard.’ They’re saying, ‘I can’t afford my rent. Oh yeah, the energy bill is going up and now I can’t afford food.’”

Besides continuing a long struggle with Chevron in Richmond, APEN has also been a crucial part of recent campaigns to move millions of dollars away from Richmond and Oakland police to do things like building new supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, as well as increasing residents’ access to healthy food through affordable markets. The organization has worked on recent campaigns for rent control and tenant rights in both cities, including mutual aid projects to crowdsource funds for rent and food for community members. It has fought to pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would grant tenants two months notice and the first opportunity to purchase their home if their landlord plans to put their building on the market.

“Our work is trying to make the connection to a bigger kind of struggle related to racism,” said Saeteurn. “We’re here next to a refinery because of racism, which is the same reason why our members get stopped by the police or harassed on the streets. Environmental justice is about who we can call community, and what access we have to the environment around us.”

APEN came to fruition after a proposal at the First National People of Color Environmental Justice Leadership Summit in 1991, when summit participants noticed that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were largely underrepresented. The summit was attended by activists from everywhere from Puerto Rico to Vietnam and Laos, as well as other territories struggling with American chemical waste. During and following the American bombing of Vietnam and Laos in the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Southeast Asian migrants fled to the Bay area and Richmond in particular. Connecting the dots between environmental injustices in America and the environmental fallout from American firebombing and the use of Agent Orange in their home countries, Bay area delegates decided to form an organization centered on the leadership of Asian immigrant and refugee communities.

“APEN is so successful because our organizing incorporates our cultural heritage and our own legacy fighting aggression and chemical warfare in our homelands,” Wong said. “For us, this memory of how our homelands were affected both physically and culturally by environmental violence and war allows us to really address the root causes of injustice.”

Since 1991, APEN has been an unstoppable organizing force, working to pass bills mitigating pollution, like SB32, which in 2016 laid the foundation for many greenhouse gas emission goals we see today. In 2018, they were part of a coalition that helped push Chevron to pay out a $5 million settlement for its 2012 explosion. Most recently, APEN helped spearhead the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force in Richmond, which just passed a reallocation of $10 million away from Richmond police to fund various community services. (In a short phone interview with Grist, Richmond Mayor Tom Butt acknowledged Chevron’s mighty role in city life and said that the city council is doing everything in its power to act as a counterweight to the fossil fuel giant.)

APEN is hardly alone in its expansive approach to environmental justice. It’s a member of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which includes Bay area groups like Communities for a Better Environment, or CBE, and People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights, or PODER. Two weeks ago, APEN, CBE, and PODER led Richmond’s participation in the 8th annual Global Anti-Chevron day of protest, drawing more than 100 people who participated in chants and painted murals in front of the refinery to protest the refinery’s emissions and hold it accountable for its alleged commitment to racial justice.

Denny Khamphanthong, an APEN community organizer who worked on the campaign to reallocate funds from Richmond’s police budget, says APEN’s approach to justice is not only about saving the environment around him, but also about building a safer future for his family’s next generations.

“What we’re all trying to do is build a better world so that our community can thrive,” Khamphanthong told Grist, “which requires our community to be funded and resourced in a way that feels most important to us, whether it be less police on our streets or less pollution in our air.”

[eastcountytoday]

Brentwood: EPA Announces $1.5 Million Grant for Three Creeks Parkway Restoration Project

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $1.5 million grant award to American Rivers for the Three Creeks Parkway Restoration Project within the City of Brentwood.

The Project will widen the creek to provide flood risk mitigation, plant trees and vegetation to provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and provide recreational opportunities. The ceremony was held at Monarch…

[sagrawal18ahsgov-blog]

Legislative Action

1. Congressman Desaulnier on clean water:

a. Desaulnier does not focus as much on clean water issues as he does with issues important to working families like guaranteeing a livable wage, ensuring education is accessible and affordable, making investments in job training, and keeping good paying jobs. However, he occasionally makes a point to bring awareness to environmental issues, such as introducing the Sustainable Water Supplies Act to increase the water supply in Northern California. Desaulnier stated that ways to guarantee fresh and clean water for the residents of Contra Costa County must be found, and our local industry and economy would greatly benefit from a sustainable water source without the public spending any federal money. However, Desaulnier does not go into much detail on the issue of clean water, as that is not really a pressing issue in the district.

b. Desaulnier has not sponsored any major bills related to the issue of clean water, but he did sponsor the Sustainable Water Supplies Act that addressed providing clean water to areas in Northern California that were dealing with the drought. He also sponsored House Amendment 158 to amend bill H.R.23, which sought to require a review of new technologies for capturing municipal wastewater and recycling it for providing clean drinking water and energy.

Senator Harris on clean water:

a. Senator Harris is a strong supporter of environmental protections, including protecting clean water, stating that California is a leader in clean energy development and the effort to combat climate change. She is opposed to Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s nomination to be the head of the EPA, claiming that Pruitt will only roll back environmental protections and side with corporations and those who will pollute the environment and endanger our clean water.

b. While Harris has sponsored several bills relating to environmental issues on the Environment and Public Works Committee, she has not sponsored any notable bills relating to clean water issues.

Senator Feinstein on clean water:

a. Senator Feinstein has also shown that she supports protecting California’s environment and resources like clean water. She states that the state needs improvements and repairs in our drinking water and investments should be made to ensure access to safe and clean water. Feinstein has made efforts to increase water supply in certain areas of California and improve water quality.

b. Feinstein is on the Energy and Water Development subcommittee, and she introduces the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act, which sought to implement wetlands and habitat restoration projects to improve the water quality in the San Francisco Bay. This bill amended the Clean Water Act and allowed the EPA to grant funding for things like wetlands restoration projects and habitat improvement initiatives.  

2. a. There are many bills that relate to the issue of clean water; there are so many that the number of bills cannot be counted.

b. One bill that pertains to a clean water issue is House Bill #953.

c. This bill amends the Clean Water Act to prohibit the EPA or state from requiring a permit under the National Discharge Elimination System for a discharge of a pesticide from a point source into water if the discharge is approved. 

d. The bill would impact and help to improve the quality of our clean water because permits are required for the discharge from a violated pesticide, as they cannot violate the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Clean Water Act, otherwise known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

e. I would vote yea because this bill would help to prevent harmful substances from entering and contaminating our clean water, thus preserving and improving overall water quality. The requirement of a permit to discharge a pesticide into navigable waters will stop chemicals from polluting water.

f. This bill was introduced in the House in February of 2017, and then was reported to the House without an amendment in early May 2017. The bill was then passed by the House and amended later in the month of May to reduce the Regulatory Burdens Act of 2017. 

g. In regards to the current Federal legislation on the issue of clean water, I am not completely satisfied. It seems that often times pressing environmental issues are put aside and not directly addressed, and less important issues are prioritized. While there are certain actions being taken to protect our clean water and environment, I still think that with the current legislation environmental protections are being limited or not as strong as they could be.

3. SACAPS:

The subject of the article is about conservation groups such as the National Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation suing the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for illegally delaying the implementation of the Clean Water Rule until 2020 and putting Americans’ health at risk. 

The author of the article is the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) itself. 

The context of the article is that the Clean Water Rule was meant to protect the drinking water supplies for Americans and was backed by a clear scientific consensus, however the Trump administration wants to replace the rule with something weaker that favors industry polluters. 

The intended audience is really anyone who wants to be aware of what administration is doing about environmental protections, but also targets organizations like the EPA who are not doing a good enough job of protecting our clean water. 

The author’s perspective is pro-environmental and supports preserving clean drinking water for people’s health, and is against groups who are failing to implement clean water protections when they have the authority to. 

This article is significant because it pertains to the issue of clean water, which is something that affects every person’s health and could be at risk. It is important that groups like the NRDC are filing a lawsuit to protect American waters, because it draws attention towards the relevant and pressing problem. 

I agree with the author of this article and the actions that the NRDC and National Wildlife Federation are taking, because I think we should be calling out groups or people who claim they are going to protect our clean water but in reality are not doing so. 

[bigyack-com]

California Is Booming. Why Are So Many Californians Unhappy?

SAN FRANCISCO — Christine Johnson, a public-finance consultant with an engineering degree, was running for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She crisscrossed her downtown district talking about her plans to stimulate housing construction, improve public transit and deal with the litter of “needles and poop” that have become a common sight on the city’s sidewalks.Today, a year after losing the race, Ms. Johnson, who had been in the Bay Area since 2004, lives in Denver with her husband and 4-year-old son. In a recent interview, she spoke for millions of Californians past and present when she described the cloud that high rent and child-care costs had cast over her family’s savings and future. “I fully intended San Francisco to be my home and wanted to make the neighborhoods better,” she said. “But after the election we started tallying up what life could look like elsewhere, and we didn’t see friends in other parts of the country experiencing challenges the same way.”California is at a crossroads. The state has a thriving $3 trillion economy with record low unemployment, a surplus of well-paying jobs, and several of the world’s most valuable corporations, including Apple, Google and Facebook. Its median household income has grown about 17 percent since 2011, compared with about 10 percent nationally, adjusted for inflation. But California also has a pernicious housing and homeless problem and an increasingly destructive fire season that is merely a preview of climate change’s potential effects. Corporations like Charles Schwab are moving their headquarters elsewhere, while Oracle announced that it would no longer stage its annual software conference in San Francisco, in part because of the city’s dirty streets. “Shining example or third-world state?” a recent headline on a local news website asked. “You get depressed if you listen to everything going on, but you can’t find a contractor and the state continues to create jobs,” said Ed Del Beccaro, an executive vice president with TRI Commercial Real Estate Services, a brokerage and property management company in the Bay Area. Whether it’s by taming bays and mountains with roads, bridges and power lines or grappling with a lack of water and crippling earthquakes, California is perennially testing the limits of growth. Its population has swelled to 40 million and the state’s economy has grown more than previous generations had thought possible, cramming more cars and more people into cities that were supposed to be tapped out, while seeding new companies and new industries as old ones died or moved elsewhere. But today it has a new problem. For all its forward-thinking companies and liberal social and environmental policies, the state has mostly put higher-value jobs and industries in expensive coastal enclaves, while pushing lower-paid workers and lower-cost housing to inland areas like the Central Valley. This has made California the most expensive state — with a median home value of $550,000, about double that of the nation — and created a growing supply of three-hour “super commuters.” And while it has some of the highest wages in the country, it also has the highest poverty rate based on its cost of living, an average of 18.1 percent from 2016 to 2018. That helps explain why the state has lost more than a million residents to other states since 2006, and why the population growth rate for the year that ended July 1 was the lowest since 1900.“What’s happening in California right now is a warning shot to the rest of the country,” said Jim Newton, a journalist, historian and lecturer on public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s a warning about income inequality and suburban sprawl, and how those intersect with quality of life and climate change.” You can see this in California economic forecasts for 2020, which play down the threat of a global trade war and play up the challenge of continuing to add jobs without affordable places for middle- and lower-income workers to live. You can see it in the Legislature, which has raised the minimum wage, and next year is poised to debate a bill that could reshape the state by essentially forcing cities to allow multistory buildings near transit stops. You also can see it in the stories of people like Ms. Johnson and other highly educated workers who have gone elsewhere. For Bryan Diffenderfer, leaving was about acquiring financial breathing room. Mr. Diffenderfer is a 36-year-old native Californian who until recently worked in sales and lived in a 1,200-square-foot townhouse in a Bay Area suburb with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. They had the means to buy a bigger home, but the mortgage payment would have been overwhelming. They bought a five-bedroom house outside Indianapolis for about $500,000, and Mr. Diffenderfer quit his job to work for his wife, who runs an ad-supported fashion blog and social media business.“I love California, but you hear about people who are cash-poor because they have to invest so much in their house,” he said. “Moving gave me the flexibility to leave my job and go into our family’s business.”

The Tech Crunch

A decade ago, California was mired in the Great Recession along with the rest of the nation. Unemployment was 12 percent, the state had a yawning budget gap and foreclosures were bad enough that skateboarders were rejoicing at the surplus of empty swimming pools. Far from lamenting the influence of tech companies, San Francisco extended tax breaks to get them to stay. When growth picked up, driven by a once-in-a-generation tech boom that accompanied the proliferation of social media and the widespread adoption of smartphones, California became the foremost example of an innovation economy. Start-ups pitched themselves as the Uber of X, while cities promoted themselves as the Silicon Valley of Y.But the underlying fault lines were still there. Rents and home prices stayed high, especially in the coastal areas where job and income growth was strongest. As the economy picked up and housing costs resumed their rise, lower-paid service and professional workers moved to distant exurbs, while homelessness spiraled to the point that local political leaders are all but declaring they are out of solutions.Elected officials in Los Angeles have urged the governor, Gavin Newsom, to declare a state of emergency over homelessness, while the governor is in turn telling the federal government that a state with a $215 billion annual budget cannot solve this on its own. But President Trump has belittled California’s homelessness problem and repeatedly sought to punish the state, whose 55 electoral votes went to Hillary Clinton in 2016. With their traffic and trash, California’s biggest cities have gone from the places other regions tried to emulate to the places they’re terrified of becoming.There are increasing complaints in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho that rents and home prices there are being pushed up by new arrivals fleeing California. A recent election in Boise, Idaho, was seen as a referendum on California-style growth. And Oregon’s decision to essentially ban single-family house neighborhoods has been billed by lawmakers as a bold intervention to pull the state away from a California-like trajectory.People have short memories, of course, and as soon as there is another recession, the focus of Californians and their leaders is bound to turn from the strains of growth to creating jobs. From 2009 to 2011, in the aftermath of the last recession, the poverty rate reached 23.5 percent. “A decade ago they were cutting school funding and social services,” said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. “There are people injured by prosperity, but obviously a recession is more damaging to most people.”

Embrace of the Robot Arms

For now, voters and businesses are less concerned about where growth will come from and more concerned with figuring out how to address its discontents. In a recent poll, by the Public Policy Institute of California, homelessness was tied with the economy as voters’ top concern, the first time it has been a top issue in the 20-year life of the survey. Another survey by the institute showed that almost half of Californians have considered leaving because of high housing costs.Restaurants and other businesses are hiring fewer workers than they might because they can’t find enough people who can afford local housing costs. It’s also an issue for giant technology companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, which have pledged a total of $4.5 billion to build subsidized housing.Greg Biggs is adding more machines and moving jobs to cheaper locations. Mr. Biggs is the chief executive of Vander-Bend Manufacturing, a company in San Jose that makes metal products including surgical components and racks where data centers store computer servers. Vander-Bend has doubled its head count over the past five years, to about 900 employees, and pays $17 to $40 an hour for skilled technicians who need training but not a college degree. This is precisely the sort of middle-income job needed in the Bay Area, which like many urban areas is bifurcating into an economy of high-wage knowledge jobs and low-wage service jobs. The problem is he can’t find enough workers. The unemployment rate in San Jose is around 2 percent, and many of Vander-Bend’s employees already commute two or more hours to work. To compensate, Mr. Biggs has bought several van-size robot arms that pull metal panels from a pile then stamp them flush, bend their edges and assemble them into racks. He has opened a second location 75 miles away in Stockton, where labor and housing costs are a lot lower.This is in most ways a success story. Vander-Bend is raising wages and training workers. The machines aren’t replacing jobs but instead make them more efficient, and the company is bringing higher-wage positions to a region that needs more of them. But for workers, even substantial income gains are being offset by rising costs.A decade ago Manuel Curiel made $22 an hour as a production worker at Vander-Bend. Today he is 37 and, after several promotions, makes a six-figure salary. Almost anywhere else, that would be a shining example of how the longest economic expansion on record is reaching more workers, including those, like Mr. Curiel, who dropped out of high school. But this good-news story comes with a catch. In the decade that Mr. Curiel’s salary tripled, the rent on his family’s small two-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara more than tripled, from a little over $600 to more than $2,200, including a 35 percent increase one year. He has since joined Vander-Bend in moving about 80 miles east to Manteca, near the factory in Stockton, where he lives in a house offering more space for about the same rent. Ben Casselman contributed reporting from New York. Read the full article

[agritecture]

SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHT: LIGHT POLYMERS’ GROWBLADE™ FLAT PANEL LIGHTS FOR VERTICAL FARMING

Light Polymers is the newest horticultural LED grow light maker on the market, but at Agritecture we’ve been tracking their innovation since we first met nearly one year ago at a LARTA Institute event in Los Angeles.

After closing a multi-million dollar strategic funding deal, Light Polymers is now announcing its first GrowBlade™ flat-panel LED grow lights, designed for vertical farming and other controlled environment applications. We’re excited to introduce them as Agritecture’s featured Sponsor for September and to highlight their new GrowBlade lights in the +Farm demo at our offices during NYC AgTech Week.  We interviewed Sandor Schoichet, VP of Grow Products at Light Polymers, to learn more. 

Agritecture: Let’s jump right in. What is your team’s background and how did you come together to develop the GrowBlade system?

Sandor: The Grow Products story started almost two years ago when I met Marc McConnaughey, CEO of Light Polymers. We were both part of the Bay Area Alliance of CEOs, a sort of mutual support organization for business leaders. Marc gave a talk where he demonstrated how their Crystallin® photonic film could down-convert blue LED light into beautiful high-CRI (Color Rendering Index) white light. I had recently read The Vertical Farm by Prof. Dickson Despommier and was thinking about opportunities to build a business related to indoor farming. So I asked Marc if his team could formulate a PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) spectrum film. The challenge caught the interest of Dr. Evgeny Morozov, Lead Materials Scientist at Light Polymers, and shortly thereafter we had a lab bench prototype made from a hand-coated film sample and an empty Altoids mints tin. It was destiny calling and we haven’t looked back since!

First GrowBlade prototype made from an Altoids Mints tin

A: Tell us a bit about Light Polymers’ history.

S: Light Polymers is a nanochemistry company with deep domain knowledge of lyotropic materials, which have a wide range of uses in addition to LED lighting, including LCD and OLED flat panel displays, biomedical assays, and advanced building materials. Light Polymers was started in 2013 in San Francisco and our OLED chemistry is now in trial stages with potential commercialization partners in the display industry. Our Crystallin family of LED downlights was launched in select Asian markets in August. The GrowBlade family of flat-panel grow lights that we’re announcing later this month at NYC AgTech Week will be our first step into the commercial horticulture lighting business.

Sandor Schoichet inspecting the Isabel alpha-test site

A: What do you think an entrepreneur or buyer should look for in horticultural LED lights?

S: Both products and vendor services that help growers achieve their operational and financial goals. At Light Polymers, we’re not focused only on high-quality lighting; we’re developing a family of over-canopy lighting and sensing products designed to integrate with farm management software. Delivering robust and profitable growing systems for indoor vertical farming is a challenge that the industry is still learning to meet. We intend to be part of the solution that lets vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) scale into the global food supply sector.

A: How will Light Polymers continue to stay on the cutting edge?

S: There are three different ways we want to push the envelope. First is building a solutions-oriented business culture, delivering high-performance lighting systems. As the industry continues to grow there will be many opportunities for a responsive team to partner with innovative customers. In support of the solutions strategy, our second focus is building real depth in the science of photobiology, in installation design and engineering, and in farm management systems integration. Our third front reflects our team’s experience with virtual production models that leverage the high-volume flat panel lighting and display supply chain. This experience will allow us to be very aggressive on pricing and delivery for our customers.

GrowBlade Edge 1400 panels at Isabel (alpha-test samples)

A: What excites you about vertical farming?

S: I’ve always been interested in the way that technology and society co-evolve. Over the past several years, studying the sustainability of our society and its infrastructure has become a passion. These three themes, technological innovation, social change, and the need for sustainability, are now coming together in a generational wave of change that will impact agriculture and the entire food supply sector. Controlled environment agriculture is a vital part of responding to macro trends like population and economic growth, urbanization, water scarcity, agricultural runoff, climate change, and food security.

As a designer, an engineer, and a developer, helping address a part of this challenge is very exciting. Indoor CEA is just starting to come together as a serious industry sector, and there is huge scope for creative product and service developments. We’ve placed early alpha-test lights with several organizations, including the MIT OpenAg Initiative. The work they’re doing with the open source Food Computer reminds me so much of the early days of distributed computing workstations and homebrew computer clubs, and we know how that scaled beyond all expectation. I’ve worked in a number of different areas over my career, including digital engineering, networking, biotech and business development. Developing our lighting business for vertical farming lets me combine elements of them all.

GrowBlade Edge 1400 panels at Isabel (alpha-test samples)

A: What makes Light Polymers’ GrowBlade product line stand out?

S: Our GrowBlade flat panel grow lights deliver even, wide-area, fully diffused illumination, without hot or cold spots, and will be available in a range of tailored PAR spectra. The whole GrowBlade product family is designed to allow farmers to grow closer, increasing productivity within a given footprint, while improving crop consistency and quality.

What makes our flat panel lights possible is a new generation of remote photonic down-conversion films, based on our proprietary Crystallin® lyotropic coating and suspension chemistry. Remote down-conversion is not a new concept to the LED industry, but implementation and cost issues have kept it from being widely adopted despite its many advantages. Current down-conversion films are made from a silicon resin, using toxic chemistry in a time-consuming, low yield process. They’ve been limited to niche applications where high-quality lighting is required, like museums or photography studios. By contrast, our Crystallin chemistry uses water as a solvent and can be coated on roll-to-roll machines with high yield and low cost. The self-aligning properties of the lyotropic material pack the phosphor particles in a dense layer, maximizing blue light conversion and allowing us to lower both production and operating costs.

Since the output spectrum is generated by the Crystallin film, we can formulate a wide variety of application-specific spectra tailored for leafy greens and herbs, clones, seedlings and grafts, tissue culture, and greenhouse daylight supplementation. In moving crop systems we can tailor spectra for different stages of the lifecycle.  We’re also glad to formulate custom spectra on request.

Other stand-out elements of our solution that will be coming along soon include GrowBlade Hub and Sensor modules. GrowBlade Hubs will simplify power wiring for large installations and transform the individual fixtures into a connected IoT (Internet of Things) platform for active light control, environmental sensing, and crop monitoring. Can’t wait until I’m free to talk about that in more depth!

Stop by Agritecture during NYC AgTech Week to meet Sandor and see the lights in person.

A: Why did you choose NYC AgTech Week as the first place to show your products to the world?

S: The awesome combination of the Agritecture network, being part of Blue Planet’s +Farm demonstration and a week-long opportunity to meet and talk with a wide range of growers and innovators across the industry made it the obvious choice.

A: Last question, what makes you happy?

S: Designing and building cool things that work. Contributing to the evolution of a socially meaningful new industry sector. Meeting new friends who are making a positive difference in the world. Oh, and sailing!

GrowBlade Edge 600 at Agritecture’s Brooklyn Office (alpha-test sample)

[biofunmy]

E.P.A. Accuses California of ‘Significant’ Air and Water Problems

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday, pressing the president’s complaints about homelessness in California, demanded the state improve the way it deals with human waste, arsenic and lead in water as it escalated the administration’s war with the country’s most populous state.

In a letter to Gov. Gavin C. Newsom of California, Andrew Wheeler, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, accused the state of “deficiencies that have led to significant public health concerns” and issued a veiled threat that federal funding to the state could be at risk.

“California needs to fulfill its obligation to protect its water bodies and, more importantly, public health, and it should take this letter as notice that EPA is going to insist that it meets its environmental obligations,” Mr. Wheeler said in a statement Thursday.

“If California does not step up to its delegated responsibilities, then EPA will be forced to take action,” Mr. Wheeler added.

His letter made explicit reference to the “growing homelessness crisis developing in major California cities” — an issue that has captivated the president.

California has sparred with Mr. Trump since the earliest days of the administration. But analysts said the newest skirmish is significant because it shows President Trump’s willingness to use obscure levers of policy to punish states that oppose him.

Mr. Newsom’s office hit back, saying the E.P.A.’s action was of a piece with the Ukraine scandal fueling impeachment talk and engulfing the White House.

“There’s a common theme in the news coming out of this White House this week. The president is abusing the powers of the presidency and weaponizing government to attack his political opponents. This is not about clean air, clean water or helping our state with homelessness. This is political retribution against California, plain and simple,” Nathan Click, a spokesman for Mr. Newsom, said in a statement.

The Trump administration also has taken aim at California in other ways, attacking the state for its handling of the homeless problem, and threatening to cut off critical federal wildfire aid.

The E.P.A. letter lays out a multitude of accusations and says the state’s lack of response to its homeless crisis “prompted E.P.A. to review other programs.” It cites numerous pollution discharges into public water systems. While the letter does not explicitly threaten to take funding away from California, it notes that California has received $1.16 billion in federal water treatment funds over the past five years.

Mr. Wheeler cited press reports that human feces from homeless people in Los Angeles and San Francisco is increasingly common on streets and sidewalks. “The E.P.A. is concerned about the potential water quality impacts from pathogens and other contaminants from untreated human waste entering nearby waters.”

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The letter goes on to cite numerous other problems, including exceeded arsenic and lead levels, and gave the state 30 days to deliver a “remedial plan.”

California has waged its end of the war just as fiercely. The state has 30 environmental lawsuits pending against the administration, most in an effort to stop the rollbacks of climate change regulations enacted under the Obama administration.

Judith Enck, a former E.P.A. regional administrator appointed by President Barack Obama, called the new environmental accusations against California “ridiculous” and said states like Texas and Louisiana have far more problems with levels of lead and arsenic in water that exceed federal standards. When asked how many violations other states have incurred, an E.P.A. spokeswoman sent the link to a federal safe drinking water reporting site.

“I’m not going to say that enforcement isn’t a problem, but there are other states that are far worse than California,” Ms. Enck said. “This an obvious attempt at political intimidation.”

She said the compilation of data about California’s compliance would have involved a large amount of work on the part of E.P.A. staff.

“They apparently have a lot of free time because they are no longer enforcing federal environmental laws,” she said.

Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Water Policy Center of the Public Policy Institute of California, said the E.P.A.’s accusations are not even accurate. When it comes to the issue of homelessness and human waste, Mr. Mount said major California cities collect and treat all runoff. The same goes for the sewage and storm water that E.P.A. complained is discharged into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean.

“The impression is that they are discharging raw sewage into the bay. That’s not true. It’s treated,” Mr. Mount said. He said California’s water quality has been making steady improvements over the past two decades because of state investments.

Mandy Gunasekara, a former policy adviser in the E.P.A. under the Trump administration, defended the letter, saying California had “failed its citizens in the most basic role of any state, keeping them healthy and safe.” She said if California would not fix its problems, Mr. Trump would “step in.”

California has frustrated the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back Obama-era national standards for automobile tailpipe emissions by adhering to an even more stringent standard. In July the state announced that four automakers had signed a deal with California to comply with its tighter standards if the national rollback succeeds.

Mr. Trump then announced he would revoke California’s authority to set its own rules for setting tailpipe emissions levels, and the state hit back with a lawsuit, joined by 23 other states that also want tougher standards.

Bruce Cain, a political scientist at Stanford University, called the letter political posturing by Mr. Trump to paint liberal states and cities as dangerous and poorly run ahead of his re-election campaign.

“He’s trying to position the Democratic Party as a failed party that cannot govern,” Mr. Cain said. “I think everyone in California will see this for what it is.”

For more news on climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter.

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6 questions about carbon offsets for flights, answered

In honor of climate week ...

As a business owner or employee, do you purchase carbon offsets for your business (and personal) travel: (1) Yes, (2) No? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

People today are flying more than ever, and that trend is set to continue: Last year, the International Air Transport Association reported that airline passenger numbers could almost double worldwide by 2037, to 8.2 billion annually.

But while more flying is great news for people who love to travel, it’s bad news for the environment. Flights were responsible for 2.4 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — a figure expected to grow more than threefold by 2050.

In the face of aviation’s rising emissions problem, the United Nations created the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The initiative aims to help airlines cancel out the environmental impact of growth in international flights after 2020, by making airlines buy carbon emissions reduction offsets.

However, it’s not just on airlines to make a difference. If you want to be an eco-friendly traveler, carbon offsets are a top option for you, too. Here’s what you need to know.

1. What are carbon offsets, and how do they work?

Carbon offsets offer a way to balance out your pollution by investing in projects that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If you’re taking a long-haul flight from New York City to Paris, for example, you can purchase a carbon offset to account for that specific environmental impact.

Such offset projects can vary widely.

“It ranges from things like planting trees to improved forest management, where a timber company will allow trees to grow longer and increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the forest,” says Peter Miller, a program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. “It can be capturing of greenhouse gas emissions coming out of a landfill. It could be paying a rice farmer to adopt different practices that reduce the amount of methane coming out of their rice paddies."

Offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent. You can figure out how much carbon dioxide-equivalent you’re on the hook for by using online calculators, either from an independent source or a project’s website. Next, you would find a carbon offset project to support to essentially cancel out your pollution.

Some projects directly help the environment and humans simultaneously, such as building cookstoves in rural communities abroad that only require half the amount of wood as a traditional stove. Less wood means less toxic smoke in the house, as well as reduced carbon emission and spared forests.

As far as accounting for your carbon pollution goes, it doesn’t matter what the carbon offset project is as long as it matches your carbon output.

“By developing projects and investing in these projects to reduce emissions or increase sequestration, there’s a benefit to the climate,” Miller says.

2. Why should travelers buy carbon offsets?

You don’t have to be traveling to be concerned about your carbon dioxide emissions — anyone can buy a carbon offset. But because travel is particularly toxic to the environment, travelers may feel more compelled to account for their participation in the pollution.

“People underestimate how much emissions are associated with air travel,” says Seth Wynes, a climate change researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the author of a forthcoming book on climate change.

“It’s easy on a global level to say, ‘Okay, air travel is only a small portion of global emissions depending on how you look at it, and therefore it’s not a giant contributor.’ But if you do fly, then each flight that you take is likely to be a large chunk of your personal carbon footprint in a year.”

In terms of carbon emissions, Wynes says, flying is a really inefficient way to travel, and prolific flying should be seen as a precious resource — not a necessity. But canceling your honeymoon to Greece or missing that board meeting in Arkansas is not always an option. So, when flights are unavoidable, buying carbon offsets is an easy, low-cost way to negate your impact.

“Offsets can be an important and valuable part of an overall carbon emission reduction strategy,” Miller says. “We all have a collective responsibility to avoid the looming climate crisis. Some people have chosen to not fly anymore as a way to avoid contributing to emissions in the first place. That’s not the answer that many people will adopt.”

3. How can travelers determine which programs are legitimate?

While buying carbon offsets to make up for your travel pollution is a noble effort, it can be pointless if you’re supporting the wrong program. And there are bad ones out there. It’s smart to be skeptical of an industry that has very little regulation and a major lack of transparency.

“Anybody or their brother can say, ‘I’m doing an offset project in my backyard to reduce emissions’ and go out there and sell people credits for their reduced emissions,” Miller says. “You have a willing buyer and a willing seller. And there may be zero credibility there.”

Don’t get duped. Before you get your credit card out, make sure the project is transparent and clearly defines how the emission reduction works and how it’s accounted for.

“It’s hard to ensure that emissions that get reduced by these projects are verifiable and are forever,” Wynes says.

To combat that issue, a carbon offset project should have reserves to account for future reversals. (For example, if you’re paying to plant a tree and the tree dies, the program should have a plan to make up for the carbon deficit.) The program also needs an objective regulatory body.

“A credible, fair project will have third-party verification,” Miller says. “You have a project implementer who does the project according to the protocol and an independent third party who reviews the implementation, reviews the project and ensures it is compliant with the requirements.”

Emission reductions should be tagged so that each metric ton gets a unique serial number — without one, the same emissions reductions could get sold over and over. You also need to look for projects that are truly additional, meaning it wasn’t some already-existing effort now being advertised as a carbon offset.

“An additional project means that the only way the project would exist is because of the funding from the carbon markets,” says Marisa de Belloy, the chief executive of Cool Effect, a San Francisco Bay area 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. “If I’m legally required to capture methane in my landfill site, I can’t sell carbon projects because I had to do it anyway, so it wouldn’t be an additional project.”

4. How do I buy carbon offsets?

Once you’ve decided that you would like to buy a carbon offset, browse sites such as Green-e, Gold Standard and de Belloy’s Cool Effect to find a reputable project to support. There are a lot of programs out there to choose from, so pick one that strikes you personally. Do you want to support a program in a place you like to visit? Or maybe one in your home state? Once you’ve narrowed down your options, refer to the above advice on what to look for to guarantee a quality purchase.

To assure more bang for your buck, consider a project that does more than just reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You may be paying for the environmental side of the project, but it can have humanitarian benefits at the same time.

“There’s a whole range of forest projects that can have tremendous benefits in terms of the local ecosystem, native species or water storage,” Miller says. “An urban forestry project can be really helpful in terms of quality of life or jobs for disadvantaged communities."

5. Are carbon offsets tax-deductible?

Yes. If you’re supporting a project that’s registered as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, you can make your purchase tax-deductible. That means you get to reduce your impact on the environment and maybe ease your tax burden at the same time.

6. Are carbon offsets the only way to be a greener traveler?

Not at all. There are many small steps that you can take to nibble at the edges of the problem, including choosing direct flights and avoiding sitting in first or business class, as those spacious seats take up room that could have fit more passengers. You can also encourage your company to invest in videoconferencing options to replace expensive and environmentally taxing business flights.

In the end, though, “really the best thing that you can do is not fly and find good alternatives to that,” Wynes says. “Take a vacation or staycation around where you live, or a local vacation where you take a trip by train is great.”

[cryptswahili]

State of California Tackles Drought with IoT & Blockchain

The Freshwater Trust, IBM Research and SweetSense Inc. aim to make groundwater usage sustainable

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Freshwater Trust (TFT), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems, is partnering with IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) and SweetSense Inc., a provider of low-cost satellite connected sensors, to pilot technologies which can accurately monitor and track groundwater use in one of the largest and most at risk aquifers in North America. Additional research support will be provided by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Jointly funded by the Water Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the project’s scientists and engineers will demonstrate how the blockchain and remote IoT sensors can accurately measure groundwater usage transparently, and in real-time in California’s Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta.

The sensors will transmit water extraction data to orbiting satellites and then to the IBM Blockchain Platform hosted in the IBM Cloud. The blockchain will record of all data exchanges or transactions made in an append-only, immutable ledger. The blockchain also uses “smart contracts,” whereby transactions are automatically executed when the conditions are matched.

Through a web-based dashboard, water consumers, including farmers; financers and regulators will all be able to monitor and track the use of groundwater to demonstrate how sustainable pumping levels can be achieved through the trading of groundwater use shares in the State of California. Individual users who require groundwater amounts beyond their share cap will be able to “purchase” groundwater shares from users who do not require all of their supply at a market-regulated rate.

For example:

A strawberry farmer is planning to take the season off to prepare for an organic crop the following harvest. The farmer can trade or sell her water credits on the blockchain to another farmer.

Due to a particularly dry season a winery realizes it will need additional ground water to avoid losing the vintage. The vintner can purchase additional water shares, without negatively impacting the aquifer.

“The future success of these sustainability plans hinges on being able to track and report groundwater use, and likely will also require a robust way to trade groundwater shares as well,” said Alex Johnson, Freshwater Fund Director with TFT. “Our strategic intent is to harness new technologies to develop a system that makes getting groundwater more sustainable, collaborative, accurate and transparent process, which is why we are using the blockchain. We now have the project team and funding to do it, and a strong network of partners in the region that are open to an initial testing and building phase.”

“Based on a research project in Kenya with USAID, the Millennium Water Alliance and other partners we are now applying our expertise in building decision support systems for water management for surface and groundwater data aggregation, workflow optimization and analytics to address similar challenges in California. With the addition of the blockchain we can bridge critical trust and transparency gaps making it possible to build a robust, scalable and cost-efficient platform for managing precious groundwater supplies anywhere in the world,” said Dr. Solomon Assefa, Vice President, Emerging Market Solutions and Director, IBM Research – Africa.  

The group will pilot the system in northern California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an area often referred to as the “nexus of California’s statewide water system.” The river delta covers 1,100 square miles and provides water to the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal and southern California and supports dozens of legally protected fish, plant and animal species. In addition, nearly 75% of this land is used for agriculture.

The sensor technology is provided by SweetSense Inc, which is currently monitoring the groundwater supplies for over a million people in Kenya and Ethiopia, with plans to scale to 5 million by the end of the year. The sensor data are transmitted over satellite networks to an online data analytics platform.

“By remotely monitoring groundwater use using our sensors, we’re able to help improve and maintain sustainable access to water supplies for people, farmers, and livestock. The work we’re doing in Africa is directly translatable to California,” said Evan Thomas, CEO of SweetSense and Mortenson Chair of Global Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Our research team at the University of Colorado will assist in modeling groundwater use through the sensor data and satellite detected rainfall and weather correlations.”  

Story continues

The collaboration began in response to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which was signed into California law in 2014. SGMA mandated the creation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), local groups that are responsible for ensuring regional groundwater supplies are sustainably managed. The GSAs are charged with developing and implementing a plan to make their local groundwater usage sustainable by 2040.

Haley Walker, Communications Director, haley@thefreshwatertrust.org, 503-222-9091 X30 Leesa DAlto, IBM, Leesa.DAlto@ibm.com,  +1 212 671 9806 Chris Sciacca, IBM Research, cia@zurich.ibm.com, +41 44 724 8443

About The Freshwater Trust Since 2016, TFT has built multiple programs in the basin. In response to another bill, Senate Bill 88, TFT developed a measurement method for surface water diversion that addresses the unique qualities of the Northern Delta region. In 2017, 148 surface water diversions covering more than 29,000 farmed acres in the region — including wine grapes, pears, corn, alfalfa, safflower, tomatoes and wheat — had enrolled in our five-year study. For groundwater concerns in the same area, TFT helped support the formation of the Northern Delta Groundwater Sustainability Agency. This means 17 local agencies formed into one integrated agency and have begun work on a unified plan for sustainably managing groundwater use. These agencies are understaffed, so TFT provides the capacity to gather and analyze data and develop effective sustainability measures.

About IBM Research For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. For more information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research.

About Sweet Sense SweetSense Inc.’s mission is to improve transparency, accountability, and cost-effectiveness of remote water, energy, and infrastructure projects to improve health and quality of life. Daily, SweetSense is monitoring millions of people’s water supplies across Africa and North America. We fix the Internet of Broken Things®.

The University of Colorado Boulder Mortenson Center in Global Engineering combines education, research, and partnerships to positively impact vulnerable people and their environment by improving development tools and practice. Our vision is a world where everyone has safe water, sanitation, energy, food, shelter, and infrastructure.

  Left, Stephanie Tatge, Ecosystem Services Analyst for The Freshwater Trust and Nathan B Wangusi, Technical Lead for Water Research, IBM Research – Africa, holding a low-cost satellite sensor from SweetSense Inc.

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GGZEM Lays Keel Of First-Of-Its-Kind Flagship Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vessel

Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM), announced the beginning of construction of the Water-Go-Round, the first-of-its-kind hydrogen fuel cell boat. The keel laying ceremony is a celebrated tradition of laying down the backbone of a vessel, which is a milestone in making a ship come to life. The 70-foot catamaran is being built by Bay Ship & Yacht Co. of Alameda. It will showcase the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells for the commercial maritime industry, with construction expected to be complete by September 2019.

Image Credits: ggzeromarine.com

Dr. Joseph W. Pratt, CEO of GGZEM said: “Today’s ceremony symbolizes more than the start of construction of a single vessel, it marks the start of a new movement in the maritime community. Operators all over the world are seeing that hydrogen fuel cell electric drivetrains can provide both environmental and economic advantages. Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine and our partners are proud to be selected by California to showcase this aboard the Water-Go-Round.”

Funding for the CARB grant for the country’s first zero-emission ferry comes from California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is administering the project, alongside other partners including Bay Ship & Yacht Co., BAE Systems, Hydrogenics, Red and White Fleet, Incat Crowther, Hexagon Composites, the Port of San Francisco, and Sandia National Laboratories.

“The Air District is excited to be part of the team for the first zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered ferry project in the nation,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. “By demonstrating cutting-edge, diesel- free technology, we can showcase the benefits of these cleaner solutions which will protect public health and the environment while reducing air pollution and reliance on fossil fuel.”

Once the Water-Go-Round is launched it will be operated for three months in San Francisco Bay, to enable Sandia National Laboratories to independently assess performance and gather data for CARB to determine the marine suitability of the technology. Additionally, partners will be gathering feedback from operators and passengers to determine the best commercial use of the vessel.

Red and White Fleet intends to use the Water-Go-Round as the first of several vessels with GGZEM integrations in order to meet their commitment to a build a 100% zero emission fleet by 2025.

Tom Escher, President of Red and White Fleet said: “The technology for zero pollution is here today and we are honored to be the operator of the Water-Go-Round. I’m convinced it will prove the feasibility of hydrogen fuel cell application on all maritime vessels. The Water-Go-Round is a “seed” and when one puts a “seed” in water, it grows. This growth will include large ferries, crew boats, fishing boats, supply vessels, tugboats and large ocean container ships. The Water-Go-Round is the beginning of the shift from hydrocarbon maritime fuels to zero pollution hydrogen fuels. California is going to prove to the global shipping community that hydrogen fuel cells offer zero pollution for the benefit of the entire world.”

Reference: prnewswire.com

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U.S. EPA awards $173.5 million for California drinking water and wastewater projects | U.S. EPA News Releases

News Releases from Region 09

02/13/2018

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $172.3 million to the state of California for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements, and a $1.2 million grant to the city of Vallejo for sewer upgrades.

“Investing in water infrastructure with our state partners is a priority for the Trump Administration and ensures communities can deliver safe drinking water and wastewater treatment,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “This funding is critical to supporting public health and environmental goals in California.”

EPA awarded the State Water Resources Control Board a total of $172.3 million to capitalize its clean water and drinking water State Revolving Fund programs. These federal funds are supplemented with state funding sources and support California’s water infrastructure needs. Recipients receive low-interest loans for clean water and drinking water projects. As money is repaid to the revolving loan fund, California funds new projects. 

“The State Revolving Fund programs allow us to help a wide variety of communities throughout the state,” said State Water Resources Control Board Vice Chair Steven Moore. “But their financial strength and versatility are especially good at helping small and disadvantaged communities that otherwise might not have access to the capital they need to solve their water treatment problems.”

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund received $94.8 million to support a variety of water infrastructure improvement projects, including the following: 

Monterey One Water will use an $88 million loan to install a new water treatment facility in Monterey County. The facility will treat and reclaim municipal wastewater, urban runoff, agricultural return flows, and food processing wastewater. The purified water will replenish the Seaside Groundwater Basin and provide water to 105,000 people, while reducing the amount of water diverted from the Carmel River. The city of Santa Monica will use a $52.9 million loan, and $4 million in loan forgiveness, to collect and treat municipal wastewater, stormwater, and impaired groundwater. This project will help the city reduce the use of imported water, replenish groundwater supply, increase drought resilience, and improve beach water quality.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund received $77.5 million for drinking water infrastructure improvements to improve public water systems, including the following: 

The city of Sacramento will use a $173.1 million loan to install 36,000 meters on residential and commercial water service connections. Water mains will also be replaced, as needed, as part of the city’s efforts to upgrade 80 miles of water distribution and transmission mains.  Loma Rica Water Company in Marysville will use a $126,734 loan to replace an existing redwood water tank with a new 36,500 gallon bolted steel tank, ensuring that the 200 people served by the system continue to receive clean drinking water.

EPA has awarded more than $5 billion to California’s clean water and drinking water revolving fund programs since their inception in 1988 and 1996, respectively. These funds support California’s efforts to address an estimated $70.5 billion worth of water infrastructure needs.

EPA also awarded a $1.2 million Special Appropriation Act Project grant to the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District to replace a deteriorating force main—a pressurized sewer pipe that transports wastewater. The force main, which crosses the Mare Island Strait, has the potential to severely damage the Napa River and adjoining San Pablo Bay in the event of failure. The replacement sewer pipe will provide long-term reliability in conveying wastewater off the island.

For more information on EPA’s State Revolving Fund programs, please visit:

  For more information on Special Appropriation Act Project grants, please visit: http://ift.tt/2BxNmTt  

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What Lies Beneath: Cities With the Best—and Worst—Infrastructure

savoia/iStock

Savvy home buyers know that when they check out a home, they need to look at the fundamentals. Is the foundation sagging? Is there a whiff of rot in the basement? How old is the roof? Hey, is that a water stain spreading on the bedroom ceiling? All of these could hint at big trouble, and bigger expenses, up ahead.

But most people don’t extend that nuts-and-bolts approach to the infrastructure around the house. And yet: How the heck are you going to get to work, or to the grocery store? Is the water drinkable? Are potholes turning into sinkholes, prompting desperate cries of “What the hell happened to my home investment?”

Highways and sewers and electrical grids—oh my! They’re hardly scintillating topics for dinner-party conversation, but they’re essential to everyday life. And to the future value of your home.

But here’s the harsh truth: Infrastructure in the United States is a stark tale of haves and have-nots. Some cities have pristine and modern systems, investing deeply in future projects; others seem to be decomposing from within. The realtor.com® data team set out to separate the best from the rest.

For a seemingly snooze-worthy subject, infrastructure improvement has gotten plenty of attention lately. President Trump used the subject for sure-fire “stand-up-and-cheer” moments at his campaign trail rallies, as he promised to rebuild aging city systems. So far, little has come from his $1 trillion national infrastructure improvement plan, which was billed as relying on public-private partnerships.

But there’s plenty of stuff happening—or in some cases, not happening—on a local level.

“Cities that keep up with infrastructure needs are a big step ahead in attracting home buyers,” says Scott Muldavin, chair of the Counselors of Real Estate, a Chicago-based industry group. The home buyers, he says, “want short commutes, transit options, and quality roads. Time is money, and being near good infrastructure improves home value.”

Employers, too, are clamoring for locations in markets with first-class infrastructure. Good luck competing for the second Amazon headquarters without an airport that doesn’t have direct flights to Seattle!

On our quest to determine America’s best and worst, we looked at the largest 150 metros. We measured:

Percentage of roads in “good” or “fair” condition

Percentage of bridges that are “structurally deficient”

Transit performance score (tracking frequency and breadth of service)

Airport consumer satisfaction ratings

Bike friendliness, including bike lane access and public spending

Per capita government spending on drinking-water systems, electrical grids, highways, public transit, and sewage systems

OK, let’s hit the road(s)! Just watch out for potholes.

Best Cities for Infrastructure

Tony Frenzel

1. Minneapolis, MN

Median home price: $311,300 Infrastructure strength: Everybody get aboard … the excellent light-rail system

Minneapolis, MN

NicholasBPhotography/iStock

“All the light-rail lines are beating projections and breaking ridership records,” says Will Schroeer, executive director of East Metro Strong in Minneapolis, a transit advocacy group. Forget about renting from Avis next time you take a business trip to Minneapolis. Got a meeting at the state’s capital? Just hop on the Metro Green Line from Minneapolis to Saint Paul, dontcha know?

But to get here, the locals had to make a serious commitment to transit. That first light rail came in 2004, with the opening of the Metro Blue Line—a 19-stop system that cost more than $700 million. It led to further investments, and now a fourth line is expected to open in 2019.

The transit system has been a boon for construction and home values, sparking nearby development.

“We’ve had offices, residences, and condos and restaurants pop up along the line,” Schroeer says.

“Home buyers like being within walking distance to light rails that can take them to downtown Minneapolis, the airport, or Mall of America,” says Pat Paulson, a real estate agent at EXIT Realty Metro. “And that has a big impact on property values.”

But let’s say you get the itch to drive. You’re still in luck! The roads are in great shape. As for traffic—what traffic?

“We have a really good highway system,” Schroeer says. “Everyone likes to complain, but we have almost no congestion.”

2. Seattle, WA

Median home price: $485,000 Infrastructure strengths: Pretty much all of it

You have plenty of options to pick up your Amazon Fresh order in Seattle.

SEASTOCK/iStock

Seattle’s infrastructure doesn’t really have a weak spot.

The city has a gold “Bike Friendly Rating” from the League of American Bicyclists. It also has among the highest scores for transit from AllTransit, a firm that specializes in transit data. So Seattle takes its infrastructure seriously, a big part of the city’s success formula, which helped tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft expand, and turned the city into a booming tech hub.

This place isn’t afraid of big projects. It has kicked off plans to move underground a stretch of State Route 99, an above-ground highway weakened by earthquakes. Cool.

“We’re growing with our business community,” says Rebecca Lovell, deputy director of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. With a steady increase in new residents, “it’s driving us to think creatively about how to accommodate and move them quickly and safely around the city. It’s about figuring out how to access every mode of transportation.”

Indeed, between 2010 and 2015, the city reports that 95% of new commutes have been either via biking, transit, or walking. Or you could drop about $5 to take the ferry service.

3. San Francisco, CA

Median home price: $868,000 Infrastructure strengths: We built this city on rock ‘n’ roll bridges and trolleys

A San Francisco treat

bennymarty/iStock

The San Francisco Bay Area was early to the mass-transit game. San Francisco’s first cable car got rolling in 1873. Then the Bay Area Rapid Transit system launched in the 1950s. Now the issue is maintaining what’s already built—easier said than done.

“We have good bones, but you have to give them calcium,” says Jason Henderson, a professor who specializes in urban mobility at San Francisco State University. “The most [popular] complaint is that the transit is crowded.”

So yes, if you ask BART or Muni Metro (bus) commuters for their thoughts, you’ll get an earful. But the truth is, the system has fewer delays than Boston, Chicago, and New York.

Bonus: While everyone knows San Francisco is home to some of America’s best-known bridges, they’re also among the best-maintained. And you thought the Golden Gate Bridge was just about good looks.

4. Eugene, OR

Median home price: $325,000 Infrastructure strength: A bike mecca

This place is crazy about its bikes, both for fun and work. Eugene has one of the country’s highest rates of bike commuting, nearly double the national rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The infrastructure is what really makes Eugene a great place for bikers. Eugene had a city cycling master plan all the way back in the 1970s—and it’s still adding dedicated bike lanes and lots of shared-use bike paths. Just remember to always pass on the left!

Once you dismount, you’ll see that the city has great roads for cars, too—the scenic drives are a plus. (Try Oregon Route 99, you’ll be glad you did.)

5. Salt Lake City, UT

Median home price: $369,900 Infrastructure strengths: Top-of-the-line highways and byways

Salt Lake City International Airport

Lisay/iStock

They say to play to your strengths, and that’s just what Salt Lake City did. About equidistant from Canada and Mexico, and a gateway to the West Coast, the city has built up its infrastructure to make itself a distribution juggernaut. Now the region is something of a shipping and logistics capital for the entire West.

The jewel in the crown came this year, when United Parcel Service started construction on a new distribution center that, when it opens, will have the ability to process 69,000 packages an hour. Wowza!

Regional planning, a great network of roads, and a top airport all helped to give the city a leg up, says Lara Fritts, director of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development.

It also has a good light-rail system that handles nearly 20 million riders annually, helping with short commutes.

“When I moved from D.C. to Salt Lake City, my commute went from two hours to 10 minutes. So now I can enjoy more time in the mountains or the outstanding arts and culture that Salt Lake City is known for,” Fritts says.

Rounding out the top 10 cities for infrastructure are Omaha, NE; Austin, TX; Miami; Chattanooga, TN; and Atlanta.

Got it? Now let’s go to the dark side.

Worst Cities for Infrastructure

Tony Frenzel

1. Harrisburg, PA

Median home price: $192,200 Infrastructure weaknesses: Lousy bridges and lousier roads

Market Street bridge in Harrisburg, PA

drnadig/iStock

You’d think paying the nation’s highest gasoline tax—58 cents per gallon—might get you some good roads. Think again.

Harrisburg’s bridges are in serious need of repair, too. Within a half-mile of downtown, there are around a dozen that are structurally deficient. The most infamous bridge incident occurred back in 1996, when the middle of the Walnut Street Bridge crashed into the Susquehanna River.

The culprit: decades of population declines as manufacturing and steel firms closed. When people leave, so do their tax dollars. This doesn’t mean Harrisburg hasn’t tried to improve its infrastructure. In fact, it has taken on millions in debt to do so.

But talk about unlucky: The region has a pesky sinkhole problem. In 2014, it was determined that more than 50 homes were uninhabitable due to a massive sinkhole under South 14th Street. This month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would make funds available for homeowners in the area who need to relocate. In all, there are around 40 known sinkholes in the city waiting to wreak havoc. Earlier this year, a bus sank into one.

2. Jackson, MS

Median home price: $230,000 Infrastructure weakness: Cruddy pipes

Jackson, MS, faces a water crisis.

DenisTangneyJr/iStock

In 2015, Tony Yarber, Jackson’s mayor, signed an emergency declaration after a series of water-line breaks throughout the city threatened the drinking water supply and water pressure. The same year, lead levels were found to be above the federal guidelines in several water samples. It was enough to garner this headline from the Guardian: “High levels of lead found in Mississippi capital’s water likened to Flint crisis.”

Not cool.

The problem didn’t come out of nowhere: Jackson has struggled for years to keep up on infrastructure upgrades, and now faces an enormous backlog. In 2014, Jackson voters approved a 1% sales tax increase to pay for improvements. It’s projected to raise $300 million over 20 years in a bid to boost everything from water infrastructure maintenance to pothole repair.

3. Trenton, NJ

Median home price: $290,000 Infrastructure weaknesses: Foul drinking water, poor energy grid, and decrepit roads

What beats a nice cold glass of lemonade during the summer heat? All you need is lemons, sugar … and boiled water. At least you do in Trenton, where drinking water got so bad this summer that Trenton Water Works had to notify some residents to boil their tap water for at least a minute before drinking it.

The issue stemmed from a plant error that caused chlorine levels to drop, according to The Times of Trenton. Like many other former manufacturing hubs, Trenton has lost population and has fewer funds for repairs.

On the bright side, the city has Amtrak routes to Washington, D.C., and New York. That’s great, because you may not want to drive through the city.

“Almost every street in the city has some kind of pothole,” says Scott Miller, 50, a former environmental engineer who moved here 13 years ago.

4. Providence, RI

Median home price: $347,400 Infrastructure weaknesses: Car-destroying bridges and highways

Providence, RI, roads

georgeclerk/iStock

You’ve looked forward all week to getting your car out of the garage and taking it on a joyride. The only problem is the damn potholes.

The quality of roads in Providence—and most of Rhode Island for that matter—is nothing to brag about. To help improve the situation, the state now uses a machine dubbed a “pothole killer” to more quickly turn ugly potholes into smooth road surface. Each specially outfitted truck can patch about 25 potholes per day.

“The roads aren’t perfect, but we are working on them,” says Joshua Deaner, owner of the Rhode Guide Real Estate Company.

The icing on the (rutted, crumbling) cake? Rhode Island has the highest percentage of “structurally deficient” bridges in the country. Just about one in four bridges is need of repairs or replacement.

5. Huntington, WV

Median home price: $144,900 Infrastructure weakness: Low public investment

Cabell County Courthouse In Huntington

traveler1116/iStock

You could say this region has experienced a rough patch. Situated in coal country, the city has been struggling with a steady drop in the once-mighty trade traffic along the Ohio River.

It’s one of the reasons the city has endured more than 60 years of population declines. And after the 2010 death of favorite son U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the region just doesn’t receive the same level of federal support. That did a number on its infrastructure.

But it’s about to get better. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice pushed for additional road funding, which state voters overwhelmingly approved this month. This could free up around $1.6 billion for highway projects, including the heavily traveled Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington—a road that doesn’t get much local love.

Rounding out the bottom 10 cities for infrastructure are Springfield, MA; Oklahoma City; New Haven, CT; and Virginia Beach, VA.

Sources: AllTransit, Census Bureau, the Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration, J.D. Power, the League of American Bicyclists, and TRIP.

The post What Lies Beneath: Cities With the Best—and Worst—Infrastructure appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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The next time you take a trip to see the magnificent beaches of Mali, take a leisurely gondola ride in Venice, or wonder at the architecture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, make sure to bring your best camera. If scientific studies are accurate, photos will be the only way your great-great-grandchildren will see them. Mother Nature has slated a number of places to significantly shrink or disappear from the earth entirely by 2100 due to climate change, changing soil and sea levels, natural disasters and economic problems. It’s not too late, but these places may very well become the next Atlantis.

#1 San Francisco, USA Most people realize the earthquake danger in San Francisco, yet the enormity of the potential devastation is almost beyond comprehension. According to the University of California, research forecasts a 75% probability that an earthquake of a 7 or greater magnitude will occur by 2086. Will the survivors elect to re-build the majestic city? Will they be able to? Prior to Katrina, the population of New Orleans was close to 500,000. Afterwards, the population shrunk by about half. It’s rising again, but the demographics are still far lower than they were pre-Katrina. The population of San Francisco is about 900,000. Tall structures abound and there’s no such thing as a completely earthquake proof structure. In fact, the population of San Francisco is shrinking. Not only is the city pricey, but many are wondering where they or their relatives may end up with the city’s hazardous coastline and predicted disasters!

#2 Venice, Italy One of the world’s most romantic cities has been sinking for about a millennium. The pace has increased rapidly over the last 100 years, with the soil level sinking about 24 centimeters. Venice’s vulnerability to sea and groundwater level change is extremely serious. For example, 100 years ago St. Mark’s Square flooded around nine time per year,  and now it’s inundated with water 100 times per year. The government has been working on plans to protect Venice, but will they work? No one knows. Preserving Venice has been a priority of the Italian Government for about 30 years. Several billion euros have been dedicated to a major flood defense system, called the MOSE Project. Proposed since the 1970s, it’s basically a series of floodgates to stretch across three openings that connect the Venetian Lagoon with the Adriatic Sea. However, the progress of the project has been checkered with stops and starts, new completion dates and now possible illegality. In June the Mayor and other top officials were arrested on corruption charges involving MOSE. It’s been suggested that the City be moved to higher land altogether to protect its population and precious art and frescoes.

#3 Detroit, USA “Motor City” may become “Abandoned City” as the population of Detroit continues to decline. If these trends keep up, Detroit will be changed beyond recognition by 2100. The culprits include major economic and demographic decline, including moves to the suburbs. At its peak in 1950 the population was 1,850,000, compared with its present 701,000. Global competition in the automobile industry, significant unemployment, crime rates and severe urban decay have rocked the city. In 2013, Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in American history. The unemployment rate is 23.1%, and one-third are living below the poverty level. Parts of the city are already ghost towns as urban decay has set into once thriving communities. Some areas look completely wild. Detroit also has some of the highest crime rates in the United States — in 2012 their murder rate was 53 per 100,000, ten times that of New York City. A 2012 Forbes report named Detroit the most dangerous city in the United States for the fourth year in a row. In 2010, Mayor Bing put forth a plan to bulldoze one fourth of the city and concentrate the population into certain areas to improve the delivery of essential city services. In February 2013 the Detroit Free Press reported the Mayor’s plan to accelerate the program and desire for federal funding to tackle Detroit’s problems in order to “right size the city’s resources to reflect its smaller population.”

#4 Ivanovo, Russia This district capital and administrative center of Ivanovo Oblast is in serious decline. Once a major textile center, the city attracted women seeking work. This created a significant gender imbalance that gave it the nickname “The City of Brides.” Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, 60% of the population had to live on food they grew, a survival strategy known as the “dachma movement.” Growing textile competition from China and other emerging economies also eroded the economy. The combination of a low birthrate, high poverty, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, high mortality rates, poor quality of dwellings, and “grey” businesses have all but destroyed the once thriving city as its youth are leaving to seek an education and re-settle somewhere with modern industry.

#5 Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City began as the home of an ancient empire and grew into  one of the world’s largest cities, with more than 20 million people living in this modern metropolis. It’s built on top of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. It was here where, in 1519, Cortes allegedly met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor. After conquering the Aztecs, Cortes, in Spanish tradition, placed the square at the heart of the city, surrounding it by buildings representing the church and the government. Yet the city, home to Diego Rivera murals, cathedrals and palaces, is literally sinking. The problem is its base. A dried lake bed makes a poor foundation. According to government officials, Mexico City is sinking at a rate of four inches a year and has sunk 10 meters in the past sixty years. So be prepared to walk carefully when you visit.

#6 Banjul, Gambia The small West African nation of Gambia may lose its capital due to a combination of the rising ocean and erosion. Banjul is at risk of going underwater as sea levels rise by one meter as a result of climate change. Settlements will be eroded, and over half of the country’s mangrove forests and a fifth of its rice fields will be lost. The decrease in rice production would be disastrous, as would other environmental changes including droughts, floods and storms. As tourist attractions and fisheries are located in the coastal zones, the economy would be critically affected. The government is trying to improve coastal defenses, but whether they can save the city and the coast is unknown.

#7 Timbuktu, Mali When sand dunes advance on fertile land, desertification is a problem. The city in southern Africa facing the greatest danger was a center of Islamic education during the 15th and 16th centuries. Timbuktu is over over 1,000 years old and is known for its tourist attractions, which include beautiful beaches with turquoise reefs and many historical sights. Sadly, your grandchildren may have to find other exotic locations to go snorkeling, as some parts are already half buried in sand despite several projects to re-green the area.

#8 Naples, Italy Naples is the magnificent capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in the country. As of 2012, the population was around 960,000 with an urban area of about 3.5 million, making it one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Naples’ historic city center is the largest in Europe and is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Naples has long been a major cultural center with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. Visitors are treated to historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Its nemesis has been the time-bomb, Mount Vesuvius, located in the Bay of Naples. The volcano that destroyed Pompeii in 79 BC erupts about every 100 years, with the last eruption coming in 1944. It’s expected to do its damage once again in the mid-2000s, putting the city and half a million people in the “red zone” if they’re not evacuated in time.

#9 Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok is in trouble. The city is sinking, while sea levels are rising. Building foundations are being pushed into the muddy soil and underground aquifers are being drained for drinking water. Rising sea levels are the real problem, though, with estimates giving the city no more than a century until the streets become canals. While scientists agree that the problem needs to be addressed they disagree on the best solution, while the government doesn’t appear to be looking for any solution at all. The city won’t flood overnight, but if you want to check out its awesome robot building it may be better to go sooner rather than later.

#10 Other American Cities in Jeopardy Rising seas and global warming have put U.S. coastal cities at risk. Residents should consider either seeking higher ground or avoiding any long-term investments. Since 1889, global sea levels have raised about eight inches, and they’re still climbing. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. One analysis found the odds of floods occurring by 2030 are on track to double or worse. Nearly five million Americans live less than four feet above high tide. In decades, New York City, New Orleans, Boston, Washington D.C., and southeast Florida may be overcome by flood conditions made worse by climate changes. Other cities that could be affected include Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, Galveston, Los Angeles, Long Island, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Delaware, Portland, Providence, San Diego, Savannah, Seattle, Tacoma, Virginia Beach and Norfolk. That pretty much just leaves Kansas, but then you run into the tornado problem. And you’d have to live in Kansas.

Source: TopTenz

[yes-dal456]

Trump Shouldn't Mess With The Clean Air Act, American Lung Association Warns

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WASHINGTON — A new report from the American Lung Association comes with a clear warning for the Trump administration and Congress: Continue America’s fight against pollution or jeopardize public health. 

On Wednesday, the ALA released its 18th annual “State of the Air” report, which found there’s been a “major improvement” in the nation’s overall air quality, crediting it to the success of the Clean Air Act in controlling pollution. Despite continued progress, however, a number of cities saw dangerous spikes in short-term particle pollution affected by climate change.

Roughly 125 million Americans — nearly 4 in 10 — continue to live in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.

“This is simply unacceptable,” Harold Wimmer, ALA’s national president and CEO, said in a statement. “Everyone has a fundamental right to breathe healthy air. Our nation’s leaders must do more to protect the health of all Americans.”

The report, which covers data collected from 2013 to 2015, measures both particle pollution ― the tiny solid and liquid particles found in the air ― and ozone pollution, which is created when emissions from cars, power plants and other sources are exposed to sunlight. These widespread pollutants are associated with early death and a host of health problems, including cancer, asthma and developmental, reproductive and cardiovascular harm.

Along with providing a comprehensive look at the air Americans breathe, the 2017 report urges President Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt and certain congressional lawmakers — who have acted quickly to roll back a number of key environmental protections — to support efforts to improve air quality, including fighting climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Of course, that message may fall on deaf ears. Trump, Pruitt and many Republican lawmakers have denied the science of climate change. And late last month, surrounded by coal miners, the president signed an executive order to undo much of what his predecessor had done to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

The new “report card” finds 125 million people, 39 percent of the population, live in 204 counties where they are exposed to high levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Although shocking, that’s roughly 25 percent fewer people than during the three-year cycle covered by last year’s report. (The 2016 report found 52 percent of the population, or 166 million Americans, were living in the 418 counties where they’re exposed to unhealthy levels.)

Janice Nolen, ALA’s vice president for national policy, told The Huffington Post that part of the decline is because 2012, a year with particularly high levels of pollution, is no longer in the three-year cycle covered by the report. But that’s not to downplay the continued improvement in air quality happening around the country. 

“One of the great things about doing this report for 18 years is we’ve seen the progress, especially in ozone,” Nolen said.

Twenty of the 25 cities with the worst ozone pollution saw a reduction in the number of high-ozone days, according to the findings. Furthermore, 15 of the top 25 cities most polluted by year-long particle pollution saw reduced levels. 

For short-term particle pollution, however, 15 of the 25 most-polluted cities tallied more days with spiked levels, a finding Nolen called concerning. Short-term particle pollution results from weather events like drought and wildfires, often made worse by climate change.

More than 18 million people live with unhealthy levels of all three — down roughly 10 percent from last year’s report. 

“The ‘State of the Air 2017’ report adds to the evidence that a changing climate [is] making it harder to protect human health,” the report reads. 

As has been the case in recent years, California dominated all three Top 10 lists for pollution.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:

Bakersfield, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Modesto-Merced, California

Fairbanks, Alabama

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah

Logan, Utah-Idaho

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Reno-Carson City-Fernley, Nevada

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: 

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Modesto-Merced, California

El Centro, California

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/New Castle, Ohio/Weirton, West Virginia

Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California

Top 10 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities:

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona

Modesto-Merced, California

San Diego-Carlsbad, California

Sacramento-Roseville, California

New York-Newark, N.Y.–N.J.-Conn.-Pa.

Las Vegas, Nevada/Henderson, Arizona

Six U.S. cities recorded not a single day of unhealthy ozone or particle pollution, earning a spot on the report’s list of cleanest U.S. cities. 

Top Cleanest U.S. Cities (listed in alphabetical order):

Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont

Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples, Florida

Elmira-Corning, New York

Honolulu, Hawaii

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida

Wilmington, North Carolina

Nolen told HuffPost there’s been a shift in where the worst pollution problems are occurring. As actions have been taken to clean up coal-fired power plants and reduce vehicle emissions, air quality in the eastern half of the United States has largely improved, with a number of cities falling down, or even off, the list. In contrast, states in the West, plagued by wildfire smoke, have tallied worse air quality grades. 

“We are concerned when we see steps by the [Trump] administration, for example, to try to weaken or roll back steps to reduce emissions from oil and gas,” Nolen said, adding that those tools are needed “to reduce the pollution that’s coming from some of the sources that still continue.” 

The larger message for the Trump administration, Nolen added, is the Clean Air Act is working to improve air quality.

“We want to make sure the administration knows that and understands that,” she said. “It is crucial that we have the Clean Air Act in place — working strong and enforced and funded — in order to make it happen.”

The ALA report urges Trump, Pruitt and other government leaders to “stand up for public health.” It also takes issue with a number of the administration’s actions, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan and a proposed 31 percent cut to the EPA’s budget, and vows to fight for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Much like his boss, Pruitt is no environmental steward. As attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times, including to overturn rules limiting air pollution from power plants. 

Last week, during a visit to a Pennsylvania coal mine that was recently fined for violating environmental laws, Pruitt dismissed concerns from environmentalists who he said think that in a push to increase coal, oil and gas production, he and others are “compromising outcomes with respect to our environment.” 

“Let’s look and think what the past administration achieved,” he said. “Almost 140 million people in this country live in non-compliance right now with respect to air quality.” 

“We’re going to improve the environment in this country, protect our water, protect our air, but at the same time do it the American way — grow jobs, and show the world we can achieve it,” he added.

Of course, what Pruitt fails to recognize is that were it not for the Clean Air Act and other regulations, many more Americans would be breathing filthy air. 

View the full 2017 “State of the Air” report here. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Trump Shouldn't Mess With The Clean Air Act, American Lung Association Warns

WASHINGTON — A new report from the American Lung Association comes with a clear warning for the Trump administration and Congress: Continue America’s fight against pollution or jeopardize public health. 

On Wednesday, the ALA released its 18th annual “State of the Air” report, which found there’s been a “major improvement” in the nation’s overall air quality, crediting it to the success of the Clean Air Act in controlling pollution. Despite continued progress, however, a number of cities saw dangerous spikes in short-term particle pollution affected by climate change.

Roughly 125 million Americans — nearly 4 in 10 — continue to live in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.

“This is simply unacceptable,” Harold Wimmer, ALA’s national president and CEO, said in a statement. “Everyone has a fundamental right to breathe healthy air. Our nation’s leaders must do more to protect the health of all Americans.”

The report, which covers data collected from 2013 to 2015, measures both particle pollution ― the tiny solid and liquid particles found in the air ― and ozone pollution, which is created when emissions from cars, power plants and other sources are exposed to sunlight. These widespread pollutants are associated with early death and a host of health problems, including cancer, asthma and developmental, reproductive and cardiovascular harm.

Along with providing a comprehensive look at the air Americans breathe, the 2017 report urges President Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt and certain congressional lawmakers — who have acted quickly to roll back a number of key environmental protections — to support efforts to improve air quality, including fighting climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Of course, that message may fall on deaf ears. Trump, Pruitt and many Republican lawmakers have denied the science of climate change. And late last month, surrounded by coal miners, the president signed an executive order to undo much of what his predecessor had done to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

The new “report card” finds 125 million people, 39 percent of the population, live in 204 counties where they are exposed to high levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Although shocking, that’s roughly 25 percent fewer people than during the three-year cycle covered by last year’s report. (The 2016 report found 52 percent of the population, or 166 million Americans, were living in the 418 counties where they’re exposed to unhealthy levels.)

Janice Nolen, ALA’s vice president for national policy, told The Huffington Post that part of the decline is because 2012, a year with particularly high levels of pollution, is no longer in the three-year cycle covered by the report. But that’s not to downplay the continued improvement in air quality happening around the country. 

“One of the great things about doing this report for 18 years is we’ve seen the progress, especially in ozone,” Nolen said.

Twenty of the 25 cities with the worst ozone pollution saw a reduction in the number of high-ozone days, according to the findings. Furthermore, 15 of the top 25 cities most polluted by year-long particle pollution saw reduced levels. 

For short-term particle pollution, however, 15 of the 25 most-polluted cities tallied more days with spiked levels, a finding Nolen called concerning. Short-term particle pollution results from weather events like drought and wildfires, often made worse by climate change.

More than 18 million people live with unhealthy levels of all three — down roughly 10 percent from last year’s report. 

“The ‘State of the Air 2017’ report adds to the evidence that a changing climate [is] making it harder to protect human health,” the report reads. 

As has been the case in recent years, California dominated all three Top 10 lists for pollution.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:

Bakersfield, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Modesto-Merced, California

Fairbanks, Alabama

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah

Logan, Utah-Idaho

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Reno-Carson City-Fernley, Nevada

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: 

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Modesto-Merced, California

El Centro, California

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/New Castle, Ohio/Weirton, West Virginia

Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California

Top 10 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities:

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona

Modesto-Merced, California

San Diego-Carlsbad, California

Sacramento-Roseville, California

New York-Newark, N.Y.–N.J.-Conn.-Pa.

Las Vegas, Nevada/Henderson, Arizona

Six U.S. cities recorded not a single day of unhealthy ozone or particle pollution, earning a spot on the report’s list of cleanest U.S. cities. 

Top Cleanest U.S. Cities (listed in alphabetical order):

Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont

Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples, Florida

Elmira-Corning, New York

Honolulu, Hawaii

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida

Wilmington, North Carolina

Nolen told HuffPost there’s been a shift in where the worst pollution problems are occurring. As actions have been taken to clean up coal-fired power plants and reduce vehicle emissions, air quality in the eastern half of the United States has largely improved, with a number of cities falling down, or even off, the list. In contrast, states in the West, plagued by wildfire smoke, have tallied worse air quality grades. 

“We are concerned when we see steps by the [Trump] administration, for example, to try to weaken or roll back steps to reduce emissions from oil and gas,” Nolen said, adding that those tools are needed “to reduce the pollution that’s coming from some of the sources that still continue.” 

The larger message for the Trump administration, Nolen added, is the Clean Air Act is working to improve air quality.

“We want to make sure the administration knows that and understands that,” she said. “It is crucial that we have the Clean Air Act in place — working strong and enforced and funded — in order to make it happen.”

The ALA report urges Trump, Pruitt and other government leaders to “stand up for public health.” It also takes issue with a number of the administration’s actions, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan and a proposed 31 percent cut to the EPA’s budget, and vows to fight for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Much like his boss, Pruitt is no environmental steward. As attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times, including to overturn rules limiting air pollution from power plants. 

Last week, during a visit to a Pennsylvania coal mine that was recently fined for violating environmental laws, Pruitt dismissed concerns from environmentalists who he said think that in a push to increase coal, oil and gas production, he and others are “compromising outcomes with respect to our environment.” 

“Let’s look and think what the past administration achieved,” he said. “Almost 140 million people in this country live in non-compliance right now with respect to air quality.” 

“We’re going to improve the environment in this country, protect our water, protect our air, but at the same time do it the American way — grow jobs, and show the world we can achieve it,” he added.

Of course, what Pruitt fails to recognize is that were it not for the Clean Air Act and other regulations, many more Americans would be breathing filthy air. 

View the full 2017 “State of the Air” report here. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Trump Shouldn't Mess With The Clean Air Act, American Lung Association Warns published first on http://ift.tt/2lnpciY

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Trump Shouldn't Mess With The Clean Air Act, American Lung Association Warns

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WASHINGTON — A new report from the American Lung Association comes with a clear warning for the Trump administration and Congress: Continue America’s fight against pollution or jeopardize public health. 

On Wednesday, the ALA released its 18th annual “State of the Air” report, which found there’s been a “major improvement” in the nation’s overall air quality, crediting it to the success of the Clean Air Act in controlling pollution. Despite continued progress, however, a number of cities saw dangerous spikes in short-term particle pollution affected by climate change.

Roughly 125 million Americans — nearly 4 in 10 — continue to live in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.

“This is simply unacceptable,” Harold Wimmer, ALA’s national president and CEO, said in a statement. “Everyone has a fundamental right to breathe healthy air. Our nation’s leaders must do more to protect the health of all Americans.”

The report, which covers data collected from 2013 to 2015, measures both particle pollution ― the tiny solid and liquid particles found in the air ― and ozone pollution, which is created when emissions from cars, power plants and other sources are exposed to sunlight. These widespread pollutants are associated with early death and a host of health problems, including cancer, asthma and developmental, reproductive and cardiovascular harm.

Along with providing a comprehensive look at the air Americans breathe, the 2017 report urges President Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt and certain congressional lawmakers — who have acted quickly to roll back a number of key environmental protections — to support efforts to improve air quality, including fighting climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Of course, that message may fall on deaf ears. Trump, Pruitt and many Republican lawmakers have denied the science of climate change. And late last month, surrounded by coal miners, the president signed an executive order to undo much of what his predecessor had done to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

The new “report card” finds 125 million people, 39 percent of the population, live in 204 counties where they are exposed to high levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Although shocking, that’s roughly 25 percent fewer people than during the three-year cycle covered by last year’s report. (The 2016 report found 52 percent of the population, or 166 million Americans, were living in the 418 counties where they’re exposed to unhealthy levels.)

Janice Nolen, ALA’s vice president for national policy, told The Huffington Post that part of the decline is because 2012, a year with particularly high levels of pollution, is no longer in the three-year cycle covered by the report. But that’s not to downplay the continued improvement in air quality happening around the country. 

“One of the great things about doing this report for 18 years is we’ve seen the progress, especially in ozone,” Nolen said.

Twenty of the 25 cities with the worst ozone pollution saw a reduction in the number of high-ozone days, according to the findings. Furthermore, 15 of the top 25 cities most polluted by year-long particle pollution saw reduced levels. 

For short-term particle pollution, however, 15 of the 25 most-polluted cities tallied more days with spiked levels, a finding Nolen called concerning. Short-term particle pollution results from weather events like drought and wildfires, often made worse by climate change.

More than 18 million people live with unhealthy levels of all three — down roughly 10 percent from last year’s report. 

“The ‘State of the Air 2017’ report adds to the evidence that a changing climate [is] making it harder to protect human health,” the report reads. 

As has been the case in recent years, California dominated all three Top 10 lists for pollution.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:

Bakersfield, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Modesto-Merced, California

Fairbanks, Alabama

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah

Logan, Utah-Idaho

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Reno-Carson City-Fernley, Nevada

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: 

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Modesto-Merced, California

El Centro, California

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/New Castle, Ohio/Weirton, West Virginia

Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California

Top 10 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities:

Los Angeles-Long Beach, California

Bakersfield, California

Fresno-Madera, California

Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona

Modesto-Merced, California

San Diego-Carlsbad, California

Sacramento-Roseville, California

New York-Newark, N.Y.–N.J.-Conn.-Pa.

Las Vegas, Nevada/Henderson, Arizona

Six U.S. cities recorded not a single day of unhealthy ozone or particle pollution, earning a spot on the report’s list of cleanest U.S. cities. 

Top Cleanest U.S. Cities (listed in alphabetical order):

Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont

Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples, Florida

Elmira-Corning, New York

Honolulu, Hawaii

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida

Wilmington, North Carolina

Nolen told HuffPost there’s been a shift in where the worst pollution problems are occurring. As actions have been taken to clean up coal-fired power plants and reduce vehicle emissions, air quality in the eastern half of the United States has largely improved, with a number of cities falling down, or even off, the list. In contrast, states in the West, plagued by wildfire smoke, have tallied worse air quality grades. 

“We are concerned when we see steps by the [Trump] administration, for example, to try to weaken or roll back steps to reduce emissions from oil and gas,” Nolen said, adding that those tools are needed “to reduce the pollution that’s coming from some of the sources that still continue.” 

The larger message for the Trump administration, Nolen added, is the Clean Air Act is working to improve air quality.

“We want to make sure the administration knows that and understands that,” she said. “It is crucial that we have the Clean Air Act in place — working strong and enforced and funded — in order to make it happen.”

The ALA report urges Trump, Pruitt and other government leaders to “stand up for public health.” It also takes issue with a number of the administration’s actions, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan and a proposed 31 percent cut to the EPA’s budget, and vows to fight for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Much like his boss, Pruitt is no environmental steward. As attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times, including to overturn rules limiting air pollution from power plants. 

Last week, during a visit to a Pennsylvania coal mine that was recently fined for violating environmental laws, Pruitt dismissed concerns from environmentalists who he said think that in a push to increase coal, oil and gas production, he and others are “compromising outcomes with respect to our environment.” 

“Let’s look and think what the past administration achieved,” he said. “Almost 140 million people in this country live in non-compliance right now with respect to air quality.” 

“We’re going to improve the environment in this country, protect our water, protect our air, but at the same time do it the American way — grow jobs, and show the world we can achieve it,” he added.

Of course, what Pruitt fails to recognize is that were it not for the Clean Air Act and other regulations, many more Americans would be breathing filthy air. 

View the full 2017 “State of the Air” report here. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://huff.to/2oU0LPg