Groundswell: CLCV Blog

Budget deal undermines voters on climate change

Jun 11, 2013

Statement on the State Budget Deal: By CLCV CEO Sarah Rose

California voters expect our leaders to make timely investments in activities that fight climate change, create jobs, and improve the environment and public health. Each time the question of whether our state should invest in climate change solutions and a clean energy economy is put to a vote of the people, including Proposition 39, they overwhelmingly vote “yes.” And yet today, our elected leaders have delayed the investment in the future that Californians have said they want. This is a particular insult to voters that the Governor used the passage of Prop 39 last November – which should have made our efforts to fight climate change more robust – as an excuse to borrow the revenue. Read More >

California: Fracked!

Jun 7, 2013

Last week, the California Senate passed SB 4, a comprehensive fracking regulation bill authored by environmental champion Senator Fran Pavley. It passed on a party-line vote, with all 28 Democrats voting for it and all 11 Republicans voting against it.

(Take action on fracking now; tell your Assemblymember to stand up to the oil industry and vote YES on SB 4: www.ecovote.org/fracking) Read More >

Bag ban bill is dead, but the movement is alive (and growing)

Jun 5, 2013

Last Thursday, a bill that would have banned single use plastic grocery bags in California narrowly failed to pass the Senate floor. The bill is dead for this year, but the movement to ban the bag is growing. Read More >

How convenient are plastic bags, really?

May 29, 2013

"But they're so convenient." Really?

[Updated May 30, 2013: Today the California state senate failed to pass SB 405, the statewide plastic bag ban. The bill's author, Senator Alex Padilla, vowed to bring it back and convince fellow lawmakers to support it next year].

The main, lame argument I hear in favor of the ubiquitous single-use plastic bag is that it's convenient. And that it's difficult to remember to bring your own reusable bags when you're out shopping. Even the most responsible environmentalists among us have occasionally arrived at the grocery store and realized we've forgotten our trusty reusable bag (you know, the ones with the logo of our favorite public radio station proudly displayed) and had to juggle a few items on the way home on our bikes or in our electric or biodiesel cars.

But compare that minor inconvenience to the mess caused by millions of plastic bags littered throughout our communities and scoring free attendance to a popular trash conference known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Read More >

Governor Brown's Proposed Loan Has Environmentalists Seeing Red

May 24, 2013

California Governor Jerry Brown earned CLCV's endorsement when he ran for governor (again) in 2010, and he's earned decent scores on our annual California Environmental Scorecard since then. He's been a champion for California's pioneering climate change solutions; in fact, he spoke to a group of scientists this week, warning "it's over" in five years, unless we do more to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that are cooking the planet. But lately, environmentalists are "seeing red" over Brown's proposal to borrow $500 million from the state's cap-and-trade revenues. Read More >

SoCal Election Results: Garcetti and Gonzalez Win

May 22, 2013

Yesterday was Election Day in areas across California; once again demonstrating their commitment to building a better environmental future, voters elected candidates dedicated to renewable energy, clean air, and clean water.   Read More >