General Coast News

August 9, 2010
Plastic Bag Bill Faces Battle In Sacramento
Bill Would Ban Single-Use Plastic Grocery Bags

By Ed Joyce
KPBS FM 89.5

The fate of legislation to ban plastic grocery bags in California may be decided this week. Supporters are fighting for every vote.

June 30, 2010
Proposed Floatopia ban before City Council

By Craig Gustafson
San Diego Union-Tribune

Unable to drink alcohol on the beach, partiers organized a floatopia in March to legally imbibe in the shallow waters of Mission Bay.

Floatopia is about to be deflated. The offshore drinking parties that sprang up in response to an alcohol ban on San Diego beaches could be nixed this month under a proposal headed to the City Council. Police officials said the events are driven by social media, such as Facebook, and are attended by as many as 6,000 people, mostly of college age. Police and lifeguards are forced to closely monitor the Floatopias - the last two cost about $20,600 for safety personnel.

Judge rejects environmental group's request for barrier to protect seals

By Craig Gustafson
CITY NEWS SERVICE

SAN DIEGO - A judge rejected a request today by an environmental group seeking to immediately get a rope barrier erected at the Children's Pool in La Jolla to protect the seals.

June 26, 2010
Rallies link up to oppose offshore oil drilling

By Mike Lee, Leonel Sanchez
San Diego Union-Tribune

The epic oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has turned a Florida-based beach rally into a large-scale international protest against offshore oil drilling. "We don't want more offshore drilling. We want clean energy," said Bill Hickman, coordinator of Surfrider Foundation's San Diego chapter, which organized a demonstration at Pacific Beach that drew more than 200 people. Similar events took place along the state's coastline on June 26.

May 5, 2010
Exclusive: Rep. Garamendi to push for permanent ban on West Coast oil drilling

By Sahil Kapur
rawstory.com

A few days ago, former Lt. Governor, and now Member of Congress, John Garamendi, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives (the "West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010") that would ban offshore oil drilling off of California, Oregon and Washington.

May 13, 2010
National Ocean Service highlights; Gulf of Mexico oil spill

NOAA

A podcast from NOS brings the latest news from an ongoing oil spill response effort in the Gulf of Mexico.

May 3, 2010
Gulf oil spill: Schwarzenegger no longer supports plan to expand drilling off California's coast

Los Angeles Times

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is withdrawing his support of a plan to expand oil drilling off the California coast, citing the environmental tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jordan calls on PXP to end plans to drill for oil off Santa Barbara coast after Governor drops support

jordan4assembly.com

Accident in Gulf proves that state-of-the art technology not good enough to prevent massive spills.

April 10, 2010
Oil spills and NOAA's response to them

NOAA

The National Ocean Service has released a new podcast interviewing Amy Merten from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration. This podcast discusses oil spills and NOAA's response to them.

November 11, 2009
Panel backs no-fishing zones off Southern California coast

By Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times

At an emotional meeting, a state panel imposes the landmark restrictions to help restore species, catches of which have dropped up to 95%. The plan was forged out of contentious negotiations.

Panel expands sanctuaries off county coast
Plan would nearly double areas that ban or limit fishing

San Diego Union-Tribune

A state panel unanimously embraced new and expanded marine sanctuaries off south La Jolla, Encinitas, Imperial Beach and other county spots yesterday in its bid to safeguard sea life along the coast. Meeting in Los Angeles, the five-member Blue Ribbon Task Force issued a landmark recommendation to the state's Fish and Game Commission, which is expected to make its final determination next summer or fall.

November 10, 2009
Marine sanctuary plan wins few fans

By Zeke Barlow
Ventura County Star

After more than a year of debate — and on Tuesday, a shoving match — a task force has reached a decision on which network of marine protected areas will likely be established off the Southern California coast.

State panel recommends Laguna fishing closure

By Pat Brennan
Orange County Register

A state task force recommended a ban on fishing along six miles of Laguna Beach coastline Tuesday, along with a variety of other fishing restrictions up and down the Southern California coast.

October 2, 2009
Diesel emissions down drastically at ports of L.A., Long Beach

By Phil Willon
Los Angeles Times

The year-old program to replace old cargo trucks has made tremendous progress, with an 80% decline in emissions expected by the end of 2010 -- a year ahead of schedule.

September 15, 2009
Plastic bags found to severely threaten bay

By Kelly Zito
San Francisco Chronicle

Despite Bay Area cities' attempts to curb the use of plastic bags, an environmental watchdog group estimates nearly 1 million bags from supermarkets, drugstores and corner shops end up in and along San Francisco Bay each year.

July 24, 2009
Study offers 5 options to reshape Long Beach's breakwater

By Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times

City leaders hope to persuade the Army Corps of Engineers to reconfigure the World War II-era structure. The result, they hope, will be cleaner water, bigger waves and more tourists.

July 22, 2009
Calif. budget plan includes new offshore oil
LOS ANGELES -- The deal to close California's $26 billion budget deficit included a plan to drill for offshore oil, drawing allegations that the fiscal crisis was used for a backroom deal following rejection of the idea by state regulators earlier this year.

July 21, 2009
Judge orders S.D. to disperse seals
A federal court may intervene, given that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation yesterday that would grant the San Diego City Council final say over the fate of the Children's Pool starting Jan. 1.

July 15, 2009
Sea lions are flooding into Bay Area rescue centers
Along the California coast, rescue centers estimate they are treating about double the number of sea lions as they did last year. Some scientists suspect El Nino may be causing a food shortage for the animals.

July 8, 2009
Shipping industry in deep water
Trade at international ports is on track to drop more than 10% this year, one of the steepest declines ever, according to a new maritime industry report.

State, industry differ on power-plant kill rates
When state regulators announced last week they intend to phase out the use of ocean water to cool coastal power plants, including three in San Diego County, they did so in part because the plants kill billions of baby fish and thousands of adult fish when they draw in water.

June 12, 2009
EPA seeks to clean up DDT-tainted site off Palos Verdes Peninsula
The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed spending at least $36 million to clean up the world's largest deposit of banned pesticide DDT, which lies 200 feet underwater off the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

June 10, 2009
EDITORIAL
Don't sell out California coast
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who knows better, is trying one of the all-time end runs. The governor appears ready to ditch his past pledges to bar coastal drilling, leapfrogging past the State Lands Commission, which oversees coastal waters, and urging the Legislature to sign a devil's bargain to permit deep-water oil exploration.

December 19, 2008
O.C. toll road hits dead end in D.C.
The Commerce Department officials uphold Coastal Commission's rejection of the Foothill-South toll road, citing six alternative routes that wouldn't cut through San Onofre and Trestles

November 18, 2008
Study says county to get hotter, sea to rise 18 inches by 2050
The sea level along the San Diego County coast may be a foot and a half higher, temperatures may be 4.5 degrees hotter and the region may have 18 percent less water than it needs in 2050, all a result of climate change, according to a report released Monday by the San Diego Foundation. 

October 9, 2008
Surfers' spirits sink as artificial reef near LAX is dismantled
Pratte's Reef, made of sandbags, was supposed to create ridable waves that a Chevron jetty at El Segundo had flattened. But the structure off Dockweiler State Beach didn't work. 

Supreme Court hears case about Navy sonar and whales
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court justices appeared closely split Wednesday on whether environmental laws can be used to protect whales and other marine mammals from the Navy's use of sonar off the coast of Southern California. 

October 8, 2008
Sand Never Sleeps
On June 3, Election Day, Steve Aceti's cell phone wouldn't stop ringing. Calls came flooding in about Proposition G, a measure to help fund sand replenishment on Encinitas beaches by charging an extra 2 percent tax on short-term rental properties. 

September 27, 2008
Ruling favors Casitas district
The Casitas Municipal Water District won a major battle in its case against the federal government on Thursday when an appeals court ruled the government must pay for any water it takes to help the endangered steelhead survive. 

September 24, 2008
Era of offshore oil drilling ban draws to a close
WASHINGTON -- A long-standing congressional ban on new offshore oil drilling will expire in seven days, with Democratic leaders conceding Tuesday they stand no chance of renewing it this year over President Bush's opposition -- and in an election year in which gasoline prices have become a hot campaign issue. 

September 22, 2008
Crowds pack hearing on San Onofre toll road proposal
DEL MAR - Despite repeated warnings to maintain decorum, supporters and opponents of the proposed state Route 241 toll-road extension both cheered and jeered dozens of speakers at a public hearing Monday. 

September 21, 2008
Beach erosion from Ike may make homes illegal
Redrawn tide lines would put some houses on public property. Texas could seize them and bar rebuilding.  

August 24, 2008
Humboldt County tree sitters, timber firm call a truce
SCOTIA, CALIF. -- Beneath the gnarled green-needled boughs of the North Coast redwoods, a remarkable encounter one recent day shook the roots of the forest's fiercest struggle.  

August 21, 2008
Beach-goer dies after cliff collapses
LA JOLLA - A popular strip of Torrey Pines State Beach has been temporarily closed after a section of the cliffs gave way yesterday and sent a fatal shower of sand and boulders onto a 57-year-old tourist below.  

August 20, 2008
Torrey Pines: Man killed in bluff collapse
SAN DIEGO ---- A 57-year-old Nevada man was killed Wednesday afternoon when a small section of bluff gave way at Torrey Pines State Beach, authorities said. 

August 12, 2008
Endangered Species Act -- parts of it could become extinct
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration Monday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades. 

July 26, 2008
State panel recommends strict measures to reduce plastic marine debris in California
California's leaders should ban smoking on beaches, forbid fast-food joints from distributing polystyrene cups and containers and require markets to recycle plastic bags or ban them outright as part of an aggressive campaign to reduce plastic marine debris.  

April 25, 2008
Beaches closed after fatal shark attack in North County
SOLANA BEACH - Several North County beaches were closed Friday morning after a man was killed in a shark attack north of Fletcher Cove, officials said. 

April 22, 2008
California to sign on Earth Day a compact to help China cut emissions
SACRAMENTO - California, which puts out more greenhouse gases than any other state, is promising to share ideas and research to help China cut back on its own emissions, which rival those of the U.S. as the world's largest. 

Electric car for the masses to be made in Southern California
Norwegian automaker Think Global said Monday it planned to sell low-priced electric cars to the masses and will introduce its first models in the U.S. by the end of next year. 

April 16, 2008
California bans salmon fishing in coastal waters
Fish and Game officials on Tuesday reluctantly voted to shelter a diminished population of Sacramento River chinook by barring all ocean salmon fishing in state waters, out three miles from shore. The state Department of Fish and Game estimates the salmon closure will cost the California economy $255 million and 2,263 jobs. 

April 11, 2008
Plans approved for redevelopment of hotel
IMPERIAL BEACH - The California Coastal Commission approved plans yesterday to redevelop a blighted oceanfront hotel in Imperial Beach using 100 percent condo-investor financing. 

April 8, 2008
Panel kills Coastal Commission bill
Legislation that would have scaled back the California Coastal Commission's power to appeal decisions by cities and counties to issue coastal development permits was killed in the state Senate Tuesday. 

March 19, 2008
L.A. and Long Beach ports propose air cleanup plan
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday unveiled a $19-million plan to persuade shippers to burn cleaner fuel when vessels are near the California coast, a move expected to slash local air pollution by 11%. 

February 25, 2008
Erosion forcing marine researchers from center
LA JOLLA - Eroding sea bluffs have prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to plan a partial evacuation of its marine research facility in La Jolla this summer.

February 24, 2008
Ports clean-up plan threatened
A labor-environmental alliance threatens to sink efforts to decrease pollution at the L.A. and Long Beach facilities.

Navy sonar linked to dolphin death?
The death of a deep-diving dolphin near the site of controversial military sonar exercises last month throws the Navy's claim that it has never harmed a marine mammal in its 40 years of war games back into the spotlight.

For surfing daredevils, it's an Endless Winter
You may not know it, but a few miles off SLO County's coastline, elite surfers are chasing giant storm-driven waves, towing into monster breaks that can be as powerful as any off California's coast

February 22, 2008
Trucks to trains: Port's switch raises concerns
The Port of Oakland must show it won't worsen diesel air pollution before getting up to $445 million in state bond money for railroad and trucking improvements to move more freight, East Bay residents and environmentalists told transportation officials Thursday.

Bluff wall collapses, injuring a worker
Failures of cliffs common in area
ENCINITAS - A makeshift retaining wall at the top of an Encinitas beach bluff collapsed yesterday, trapping a landscaper in thigh-deep dirt until rescuers freed him and took him to the hospital, city officials said yesterday.

February 21, 2008
U.S. calls pelicans an environmental success story
Thriving seabirds, once devastated by DDT, no longer belong on the national endangered species list, officials say.

February 20, 2008
Long Beach harbor panel OKs plan to reduce pollution
Over the objections of environmental, public health and labor organizations, the Long Beach harbor commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a clean-air plan that continues to place the burden of owning and maintaining diesel big rigs on drivers rather than on shipping companies that hire them.

February 19, 2008
Security spotlight focuses on port workers
Beginning next month, more than 200 San Diego Unified Port District employees who work at its two marine cargo terminals and its cruise ship terminal must submit to background checks to qualify for a federal Transportation Worker Identity Credential.

L.A., Long Beach port officials split over truck pollution
For months, officials in Los Angeles and Long Beach have touted plans to jointly combat air pollution generated by their adjacent ports, but a much-vaunted program to replace thousands of polluting trucks has hit a significant snag.

February 16, 2008
Downtown hotel plan hits snag with state
OCEANSIDE - A $187 million luxury hotel and time-share development planned for downtown Oceanside may be fine by the City Council, but the state Coastal Commission staff doesn't like it.

February 15, 2008
Dead zones off Oregon and Washington likely tied to global warming, study says
NEWPORT, ORE. -- -- Peering into the murky depths, Jane Lubchenco searched for sea life, but all she saw were signs of death.