[Sign up to receive the Daily Green via email.]

Hello all. In today’s news:

• House and Senate roll out spill bills;
• Oil Industry Is Driving Force Behind Proposition 23’s Attack On California’s New Greenhouse Gas Regulation;
• Democratic donor gives $5 million to Prop. 23 foes;
• California, other states agree to carbon trading system;
• Wind farm ‘mega-project’ underway in Mojave Desert;
• Ohio coal company that backed Fiorina also gave to Prop. 23;
• Brown, Whitman to debate at least three times;
• Schwarzenegger threatens to leave office without signing budget;
• BPA found in some cash register receipts;
• San Diego team behind world’s largest wind farm;
• Heat breaking records across the globe — but not in Sacramento;
• Biz Break: Leaf vs. Chevy Volt: Nissan, GM in electric-car battle;
• Valley-L.A. water deal may be in works;
• Sacramento County may open 20,000 acres to development;
• SunPower builds 1-megawatt installation for California’s Yolo County;
• Harry Alford: Environmental regulations threaten minority community jobs;
• Silicon Valley Power’s smartmeters to come with Wi-Fi;
• Whale-watching a feast for the eyes;
• State political news;
• National and international news;
• David Allgood’s enormous news roundup is your Cure for Insomnia.

Top News

Green (NY Times blog) 7/27/10
“House and Senate Roll Out Spill Bills”
“As promised, Senate Democrats introduced their version of energy and oil spill legislation Tuesday afternoon. The package includes new offshore drilling requirements, a lifting of the liability cap for oil spills, subsidies for home energy-efficiency projects, incentives for electric and natural-gas-powered vehicles and new spending for federal land and water projects.”
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/house-and-senate-roll-out-spill-bills/

Los Angeles Times (column) 7/27/10
Michael Hiltzik: “Oil Industry Is Driving Force Behind Proposition 23’s Attack On California’s New Greenhouse Gas Regulation”
“If a ballot initiative is known by the company it keeps, we should be just a teeny bit suspicious about Proposition 23, the Nov. 2 measure designed to eviscerate California’s new greenhouse gas regulation… But that’s what we’ve come to expect from these corporate-sponsored ‘people’s initiatives.’ Whether the sponsor is Pacific Gas & Electric, Mercury Insurance or the oil industry, the goal is the same: Pretend you’re protecting citizen democracy, but do it for your own pocketbook.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-fi-hiltzik-20100727,0,1708771,print.column

Sacramento Bee, CA Majority Report 7/27/10
“Democratic donor gives $5 million to Prop. 23 foes”
“Thomas Steyer, a San Francisco hedge fund manager and a big backer of Democratic candidates, will donate $5 million to a group opposing the ballot measure to roll back California’s landmark climate change law.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/27/2916352/democratic-donor-gives-5-million.html
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=4443&ptid=9

Sacramento Bee, Associated Press 7/27/10
“California, other states agree to carbon trading system”
“California and 10 other states and Canadian provinces have moved ahead with plans to create a $260 billion market for buying and selling pollution allowances. The Western Climate Initiative on Tuesday unveiled new details of its cap-and-trade system, which is a cornerstone to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions regionally by 15 percent by 2020.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/27/2918324/california-other-states-agree.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hgABVefweI7bvthTYMEmiTSahocQD9H7KC303

Los Angeles Times 7/27/10
“Wind farm ‘mega-project’ underway in Mojave Desert”
“The Alta Wind Energy Center — with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes — officially breaks ground Tuesday.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-windfarm-20100727,0,7972223.story

California Watch 7/27/10
“Ohio coal company that backed Fiorina also gave to Prop. 23”
“Appalachian coal interests pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into political campaigns each election cycle, but hardly any of the money finds its way into California campaigns… Why the interest this year? Ohio environmentalists presume that Murray, who has dismissed global warming as ‘hysterical global goofiness,’ would like to take out Boxer, a liberal and a big booster of measures to check climate change. The two went head-to-head over the issue at a 2007 Senate hearing.”
http://www.californiawatch.org/watchblog/1-ohio-coal-company-donated-fiorina-also-gave-prop-23

Multiple sources 7/27/10
Brown, Whitman to debate”
“Whitman plans to participate in three, including the Sacramento-area event announced today. She has also agreed to two debates in October — one sponsored by The Fresno Bee and Univision and one sponsored by NBC and Dominican University.”
http://www.kcra.com/mostpopular/24409406/detail.html
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/07/post-16.html

Los Angeles Times 7/27/10
“Schwarzenegger threatens to leave office without signing budget”
“California governor demands legislative reforms to budget and tax systems before he’ll approve any spending plan. Senate president suggests Democrats are willing to wait it out.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-arnold-20100727,0,381772.story

State Environmental News

San Francisco Chronicle 7/27/10
“BPA found in some cash register receipts”
“First, baby bottles. Then food-can linings. Now, a toxic substance watchdog group is sounding the alarm about the chemical bisphenol A in another everyday item: cash register receipts.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/27/BA351EK767.DTL

San Diego Union-Tribune 7/26/10
“San Diego team behind world’s largest wind farm”
“A development team based in San Diego is leading an effort to build the world’s largest wind farm in Mojave.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jul/26/san-diego-team-behind-worlds-largest-wind-farm/

Sacramento Bee 7/27/10
“Heat breaking records across the globe — but not in Sacramento”
“Worldwide, 2010 is on track to become the warmest year on record. Surprisingly, Sacramento has been one of the cool spots.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/27/2916593/heat-breaking-records-across-the.html

San Jose Mercury News 7/27/10
“Biz Break: Leaf vs. Chevy Volt: Nissan, GM in electric-car battle”
“Today: GM and Nissan reveal more sales and price details for the electric Leaf and Volt. Solar upstart Solyndra replaces its CEO. Apple unveils new Macs and other products.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15614209

Fresno Bee 7/27/10
“Valley-L.A. water deal may be in works”
“Drawn together by water losses due to drought and endangered species protections, two fierce competitors for California’s water are trying to cut a rare deal.”
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/26/2019652/valley-la-water-deal-may-be-in.html

Sacramento Bee 7/27/10
“Sacramento County may open 20,000 acres to development”
“Despite a home construction collapse caused by the recession, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is considering opening 20,000 acres of land to future development.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/27/2916587/sacramento-county-may-open-20000.html

San Jose Mercury News 7/27/10
“SunPower builds 1-megawatt installation for California’s Yolo County”
“San Jose solar power system manufacturer SunPower has finished construction of a 1-megawatt solar installation at the Yolo County Justice Campus in Woodland.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15614176

San Jose Mercury News (opinion) 7/27/10
Harry Alford: “Environmental regulations threaten minority community jobs”
“California is known as a leader, a progressive state that is regularly in the forefront on a wide variety of issues. Taking this leadership role, however, comes with a great responsibility to make sure that our forward-thinking policies don’t negatively affect minorities, lower-income families and other at-risk Californians.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_15608169

San Jose Mercury News 7/27/10
“Silicon Valley Power’s smartmeters to come with Wi-Fi”
“Silicon Valley Power, the municipal utility that provides electricity to 51,000 customers in the city of Santa Clara, is set to announce today that it has chosen Elster Solutions of Raleigh, N.C., to provide smartmeters. And that’s not all. Once the smartmeters are fully installed by the end of 2012, residents will have access to free Wi-Fi across the city through Tropos, a technology vendor based in Sunnyvale.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15607927

San Francisco Chronicle 7/25/10
“Monterey Bay: Whales’ buffet a feast for eyes”
“In a blast of foam and spray, the body and flukes of a humpback whale surged upward from beneath the cold waters of Monterey Bay and vanished in an instant, without a trace on the heaving surface.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/25/MN8K1EJ0U6.DTL

State Politics

Forum (KQED-FM) 7/26/10
“General Election Update”
“With the California senatorial and gubernatorial races heating up, we take a closer look at the latest on the November 2010 general election. Where do the candidates stand? What’s important to state voters, and what should we watch for between now and November?”
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201007260900

Associated Press 7/27/10
“GOP reserves $1.75M for ads in Calif. Senate race”
“Republicans have reserved $1.75 million for television ads to help Carly Fiorina in the final week of the California Senate race.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izR0RQfdGTjHLMZUgQBlF14LqGKQD9H70V481

Los Angeles Times 7/27/10
“Funders of new pro-Fiorina group are hard to trace”
“Today in Los Angeles, a group called The Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles announced what they say will be a $1-million campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/07/funders-of-new-pro-carly-fiorina-group-are-hard-to-trace.html

Political Blotter 7/27/10
“Poll: Boxer and her hair are in the lead”
“The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is shopping around a new poll that shows incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., leading GOP nominee Carly Fiorina by nine percentage points – and Boxer’s hair leading Fiorina’s by five.”
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2010/07/27/poll-boxer-and-her-hair-are-in-the-lead/

Los Angeles Times 7/27/10
“What labor may like best about Brown: He’s not Whitman”
“Unions are giving the candidate plenty of financial support, even though he has made no commitment to their causes.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-unions-20100727,0,3152621.story

Good Morning American 7/27/10
“Meg Whitman on California’s Economy”
“Former eBay chief discusses her run for governor of California.”
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/meg-whitman-california-governors-race-11257694

Associated Press 7/27/10
“Whitman : No interest in White House run”
“Republican California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman says she has no interest in a future run for the United States presidency. She says she is focused on helping recession wracked California climb out of its 12.3 percent unemployment rate.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jul/27/whitman-no-interest-in-white-house-run/

San Luis Obispo Tribune 7/27/10
“15th state Senate District hopefuls debate minus Sam Blakeslee”
“California should impose an oil extraction fee to help solve its budget problems, including a shortfall in education spending, two of three candidates running for the state Senate said Monday night. Both Democrat John Laird and Nipomo’s Jim Fitzgerald, who belongs to no political party, said they oppose offshore drilling and favor an extraction tax.”
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/07/26/1228843/15th-state-senate-district-hopefuls.html

Sacramento Bee (column) 7/27/10
Dan Walters: “Long California budget stalemate could affect Prop. 25”
“Remember the state budget? The one that the state constitution says should have been done by June 15 for a fiscal year that began on July 1?”
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/27/2916516/dan-walters-long-california-budget.html

California Report 7/27/10
“Untangling the Local-State Knot”
“Most of the taxes we pay in California are paid to the state, but end up going for local programs. And yet, often, local leaders have very little say in how the money is spent.”
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201007270850/a

National & International Environmental News

CNN 7/27/10
“What became of the world’s worst environmental disasters?”
“Bhopal. Chernobyl. Love Canal. They’ve seen some of the worst environmental disasters in history, and they’ve taken decades to recover. Some are still impacted today. Is this what’s in store for the Gulf Coast?”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/27/interactive.disaster.recovery/index.html

Washington Post 7/27/10
“Among House Democrats in Rust Belt, a sense of abandonment over energy bill”
“In the aftermath of the gulf oil spill, the Senate is set to take up a stripped-down bill next week, but the controversial carbon-emissions cap is conspicuously missing. This has left some House Democrats feeling badly served by their leaders.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072605656.html

Washington Post 7/27/10
“BP to claim $10B U.S. tax credit because of losses in gulf spill”
“BP said Tuesday it plans to seek a $10 billion tax credit from the U.S. government because the company has lost so much money from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/27/AR2010072704437.html

Los Angeles Times 7/27/10
“Smaller oil slicks harder to find but seen as good sign”
“The capped BP well has led to broken-up oil patches on the surface. But undersea plumes are still a concern.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100727,0,1562602.story

David Allgood’s Cure for Insomnia

The Big Spill, Day 98:

BP fires CEO.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/bp-reports-record-quarterly-loss-on-oil-spill-as-dudley-replaces-hayward.html

Gulf towns riled over being shut out of access to BP disaster cleanup funds.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/bp-spill-costs-rile-gulf-governments-shut-out-of-20-billion-feinberg-fund.html

BP moves toward “bottom kill” to staunch runaway gusher.
www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0726/From-static-kill-to-bottom-kill-next-steps-in-Gulf-oil-spill

BP catastrophe likely to spawn longest and largest legal battle in history.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/bp-oil-spill-legal-mess-l_n_660382.html

Booms used to cleanup BP disaster are a threat to marshlands.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704700404575391260543199790.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

Fossil Fuel Funtime:

Federal appeals court blocks fast track licensing for four coal fired power plants.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/federal_appeals_court_blocks_r.html

Texas sues EPA again over permits for refineries.
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7125787.html

News From the Golden State:

Porterville man charged will killing protected eagles.
www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/26/2019620/porterville-man-charged-in-poaching.html

Glendale plans to ease way for buildings to go solar.
www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-panels-20100727,0,184889.story
State and local officials look at ways to deal with algae problem in Clear Lake.
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/15110/919/

California Conservation Corps tackle wilderness cleanup.
www.lodinews.com/news/article_eafa09db-7068-52c1-8238-22cfd5b987fd.html

Deal to reduce pollution from state park expected to be approved.
www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/07/26/1228748/dust-reduction-deal-to-be-approved.html

News from the Homeland:

EPA to focus on protecting health of the poor.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704700404575391680656965648.html

Renewable energy standard seen as political impossibility in Washington.
www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100726/NEWS02/100726035/Renewable+energy+standard+seen+as+a+political+impossibility+

Senate Democrats battling for viable energy bill.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58924

Car rental company buys 500 electric cars for rental use.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/nissan-sells-500-leaf-electric-vehicles-to-enterprise-for-rental-fleet-use.html

Greening the Empire State building.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/26/empire-state-building-green-refit

Funding secured for largest US wind farm in history.
http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/26/1-2-billion-secured-for-what-will-be-the-largest-us-wind-farm/

Scientists stalk cemeteries searching for wildlife.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128786311

Climate change will drive more Mexican immigration to US.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58930

Public swimming pools found to pose health risk.
www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/41585

Children’s exposures to toxic chemicals costs Michigan billions.
www.detnews.com/article/20100726/LIFESTYLE03/7260387/1040/Report–Children-s-exposure-to-toxic-chemicals-costs-Michigan-billions

Radioactivity rampant in New Jersey well water.
www.newjerseynewsroom.com/healthquest/radioactivity-rampant-in-new-jersey-well-water

Airport body scanners raise radiation concerns.
www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/27road.html

Paper receipts expose recipients to bisphenol A.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072605001.html

Delinquent polluters must pay New Jersey Superfund cleanup costs.
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2010/2010-07-26-092.html

Renewed court challenge to Arizona jaguar capture permits.
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2010/2010-07-26-091.html

News Of The World:

Time running out to limit impacts of acidification on ocean life.
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=threatening-ocean-life

Warming climate contributing to spread of disease.
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/07/disease-spread

India, Pakistan water treaty set to burst.
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/india-pakistan-water-treaty-poised-to-burst/article1652763/

Lionfish boom threatens Atlantic ecosystem.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/26/lionfish-boom-threatens-atlantic-ecosystem

Egypt softens stand on use of Nile waters.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58927

News from the EU:

Activist hackers shut down carbon trading site.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/26/eu-carbon-trading-website-hacked

News from the Land of 1.4 Billion People:

Dalian oil spill cleaned up 9 days after accident.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58932

A quarter of China’s water too polluted to use.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58931

Growing water shortage threatens development.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2298

News from the Damp Isles:

BP reports biggest corporate loss, $17 billion, in British history, despite saving $500,000 on cost of blowout preventer for Gulf drilling rig.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10770252

Gov’t to back wind and nuclear energy to avert crisis.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/27/huhne-wind-nuclear-energy

Ofgem proposes rules to enhance UK power grid.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58925

News From The Land Of the Four O’Clock Sun:

British Columbia disputes forestry job loss data attributed to invasive beetle.
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/province-disputes-projected-forestry-job-losses-due-to-beetle/article1649144/

Group want Newfoundland to kill annoying moose.
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/group-demands-nl-government-take-care-of-nuisance-moose-near-roads/article1651875/

News From the Rest of the World:

Ecuador moves to establish more control over oil companies.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10772445

Brazilian tribes release workers held captive to protest devastating dam project.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10770358

Frogs In The News:

Frogs evolved jumping before landing.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/07/26/study-belly-flopping-frogs-evolved-big-jumps-before-smooth-landings/