Groundbreaking Legislation Passed in California State Assembly

The California State Legislature today passed legislation aimed at greatly reducing the use of single-use plastic bags. The bill would require a 25 cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags at large grocery stores and pharmacies statewide, if a 70% reduction in bag usage is not achieved by the end of 2010. Similar fees in other countries have had extreme success, reducing bag use by upwards of 90%. Paper bags have been included in the fee provisions of the bill, further encouraging the use of reusable bags by shoppers. Surfrider Foundation supports the strengthening of the bill to include biodegradable bags in the bill as these bags do not decompose in the ocean and present the same hazards as other bags to marine life. The groundbreaking legislation, which can set a national precedent, now moves onto the California State Senate. Check these pages for further updates on the bill which is entitled AB 2058, Recycling: plastic carryout bags, paper carryout bags.

Save Trestles: It's Far from Over and WE NEED YOUR HELP

They are still coming after us. They want that Toll Road so that they
can build more sprawl in Orange County. I was at the Karl Strauss Beach
to Brewery Festival yesterday and got to speak to hundreds of folks
about Trestles. You'd be surprised at how many people said something to
the effect of "Trestles, I thought that was over and 'they' rejected
that." Ummmmm, no, it's not over people and as long as the TCA has
millions of dollars of cash in their coffers and the support of
spineless politicians, they'll keep fighting. They're appealing this
decision to the US Secretary of Commerce and are hoping that he will
overturn the California Coastal Commission. We need to let him know
that we do not want a toll road through a state park. Please help us by
taking a few minutes for this alert.

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/tollroadappeal0408

Thanks much!

Johnny

Encinitas EAC report

The newly formed Encinitas Environmental Advisory Committee met tonight, 4/24/08. They completed the drafting of their mission statement and then moved on to a brainstorming session. There was discussion of several topics of interest to Surfrider, including watershed restoration, expanding marine protected areas, and addressing stormwater runoff and marine debris. The committee members will each select their top priority items to discuss further at the next meeting. The EAC also decided to hear presentations from various city departments at future meetings regarding environmental matters of interest to the committee.

Forum: Water crisis can be solved

North County Times By TONY BOGAR - commentary | Thursday, April 17, 2008

California has enough water. Surprised?

We hear endlessly about the "water crisis." Politicians like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein are pushing to build more dams, at a cost of several billions dollars each. Even the Peripheral Canal has resurfaced as a solution to our crisis.

But do we really need to pile on to the state's debt and wait decades for these "solutions" to be built? Isn't there a quicker, cheaper, smarter answer to our problems?

Let's be clear. California certainly faces major water challenges like global warming and increased demand. So some people are rushing to build dams ---- expensive 19th-century solutions to 21st-century problems.

We don't need solutions that are expensive, destructive and useless. A little common sense shows us that the real answers to our problems are easy, efficient and smart....

Common sense can help to save water. Conservation really does work. California has cut its per capita water use by 50 percent during the past 40 years, even as the state has boomed.

Simply using the tools we already have (new appliances, drip irrigation), we can easily cut our water use another 20 percent and still support a growing population and a bigger economy.

Recycling water is efficient. Why spray clean, clear drinking water on our golf courses and median strips? We can use the rainwater than runs into our storm drains and recycle our wastewater. Through reclamation and recycling, we can save enough drinking water each year for 1.5 million households ---- roughly all of Los Angeles.

Click here for the entire article.