Dana Point's festival of gray whales

The majestic giants of the sea, the California Gray Whale, are gracing the public with their presence during their 5,000-mile migration from Alaska to Mexico. The migration already began in December and continues through March, the last month. During the peak season, 40 to 50 whales pass by Dana Point each day, using the headland's cliffs near the harbor as a landmark to check their path.

The city of Dana Point and other agencies will be hosting the Festival of Whales, from March 1 through 9 in honor of this incredible event.

During the festival weekends the learning labs will focus on new discoveries in marine mammal research and allow visitors to explore a variety of fascinating phenomenon unique to the magnificent whale. Families will have the opportunity to listen to underwater whale sounds to discover how they communicate, enjoy hands-on activities, learn from special speakers each day of the festival and create fun children’s crafts.
Naturalist Doug Thompson will discuss his research in Baja and his newest book Whales: Touching the Mystery from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
Public hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission price is $6 for adults (13 yrs+) and $4 for children (3-12yrs); Children 2 and under are free. Members are free.

Best whale watching price:

Ocean Institute Whale Watching Cruises
(949) 496-2274
Journey to sea with Ocean Institute naturalists and they’ll introduce you to the local marine wildlife including microscopic plankton and the animals that live in sediment retrieved from the ocean floor. Encounter a pod of playful dolphin or witness the majesty of a traveling whale. Discover the amazing life that lives just beneath the waves in this 2 ½ hour cruise! Cruise times are 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 to 4:00 PM. Members: $22/adult and $19/child (4-12yrs) Non-Members: $35/adult and $22/child (4-12yrs)

Santa Monica passes plastic bag ban

The Santa Monica City Council has finally approved an ordinance this Tuesday, Feb. 26 that would ban all "single use" plastic bags from stores in the city, and impose a fee for customers who would prefer to use them.
The council's decision had been delayed until staff had further recommendation, but now it is final.
The ordinance was pushed by environmental group Heal The Bay, which is located in the city. The organization monitors beach water quality up and down California's coast.
However, many grocery companies have debated over whether plastic is being given a "bad wrap," so to speak, since paper bags burn more fuel in production and cause more of a CO2 concern in landfills, if not just as much. Some consultants have said the concern is over the customers' responsibility for handling the plastic bags. Many grocery stores have started recycling plastic bags that are brought back into the stores such as Von's, Pavilions and Ralph's.
According to the city's analysis:
• Plastic carryout bags are made in a number of different sizes and thicknesses and are typically manufactured from either high density polyethylene (HDPE - recycling symbol #2) or from low density polyethylene (LDPE - recycling symbol #4). The LDPE bags are thicker and are generally used by department stores and other commercial retail outlets. The HDPE bags are typically thinner, cheaper and are used much more widely by supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores and restaurants. These bags are termed “single-use” bags because they are intended for one time use for customers to carry their purchases from the store, followed by disposal or recycling. The thin, light duty plastic that the bags are made from is not durable enough for them to be repeatedly used for carryout. The California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates that Californians use approximately 19 billion of the light weight HDPE bags each year with approximately 6 billion of these being consumed within Los Angeles County. A survey conducted by City Solid Waste Management division staff in December 2005 solicited plastic bag information from 25 Santa Monica grocery stores and food markets. The survey concluded that these 25 businesses use approximately 23 million plastic bags each year.
According to the ordinance, in Santa Monica if you want to buy groceries it will cost you:

Type of carryout bag	Approximate cost per bag	Approximate annual usage per person
HDPE plastic	1 to 5 cents	500 - 600
Paper	5 to 25 cents	500 - 600
Biodegradable	10 to 21 cents	500 - 600
Reuseable (cloth or plastic)	99 cents to $10	2 - 4

Plastic bags are a significant source of marine debris and are hazardous to birds and marine animals. The California Coastal Commission estimates that 60% to 80% of all marine debris, and 90% of all floating debris is plastic. Plastic bags do not biodegrade in the environment, but they do break into smaller pieces that are often mistaken for food by birds and marine animals.
Studies have estimated that more than 1 million sea birds, 100,000 marine mammals and countless fish die annually through ingestion of and entanglement in marine debris, including plastic bags
Heal The Bay states that: http://www.healthebay.org/actionalerts/2008_02_05_SMbaghearing/default.asp:
• Just 25 Santa Monica grocery stores and food markets use approximately 23 million plastic bags each year. Californians use more than 19 billion plastic grocery bags and merchandise bags each year, roughly 552 bags per person — and if placed end-to-end, enough to stretch around the globe over 250 times. This usage generates 147,038 tons of unnecessary waste. • California taxpayers spend $25 million to collect and landfill plastic bag waste each year. That figure does not include external costs, e.g., resource extraction and depletion, quality of life issues, economic loss due to plastic bag litter and human health expenses.
• U.S. consumers use 100 billion plastic bags annually, which is the energy equivalent of 12 million barrels of oil. This equates to 60,000 plastic bags used every five seconds.

EPA squabbles with state over ship emissions

Just about a week after the Port of Long Beach and the city's harbor commission imposed a plan with truckers that would obligate the contractors to reduce emissions, a federal appeal court rejected a California's state regulation pollution from ships.
According to the Times, the ruling means the state has to get approval before imposing pollution restraints on the large diesel burning cargo ships and and other marine vessels that can be seen wading off the shores of Long Beach's harbor. Squabbles....
Long Beach and Los Angeles ports are responsible for an outpour of particulates, nitrogen oxide and sulfur, and soot from large heavy diesel burning engines on the tankers. The ships that come to the harbors are the source of heavy clouds of smog pollution that then is baked in the sun producing a low lying layer of ozone, a toxic poisonous gas that is invisible. The hard to see particulates can then enter the lungs causing asthma and other cardiovascular and respiratory problems in nearby cities and canyons where the smog ends up.
The smog and pollution has frequently caused the region to perform below federal health standards.
In an attempt clean the air quicker by stepping forward with harsher regulations and coming up with a plan to make the busy port areas one of the "greenest" regions in the country, state officials argued the state didn't need waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal agency has granted the state several waivers in since the 1970s allowing the state to regulate its own standards.
But this time the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Fransisco said the state can't do that.
The EPA has denied the state's request to apply stricter standards before such as when the federal agency denied California from imposing standards to reduce emissions from automobiles.
But the whole controversy is over whether the regulations should be implemented or administered by the state or the federal government. Since Global Warming is commonly stressed as an international problem, many companies are confused as to who should be responsible, because inadvertently picking up the tab for lowering emissions means throwing out the old and in with the new. But some shipping companies have already taken steps to use on-shore power or lower the speed or use low sulfur fuels.But my question is if the state can't regulate it's own ports, then who will, obviously the federal government doesn't care, because it wouldn't have been this way in the first place. California is constantly taking harder steps toward cleaning up the ships, trucks and cars that make our air polluted.
You can smell it!
And there's also something else I can smell too. We should stop worrying about who is in charge and bickering over who is going to stop it and just work together to do it.
If the state needs a waiver, then get a waiver, but I don't see why we should slow down our plans for a greener and healthier world, when that should have been the plan from get go!
In the name of Nike, Just Do it!

Dead dolphin found on Navy's sonar island

A dolphin washed up on the shores of San Nicolas Island late last month during the final stages of the Navy's sonar exercises, commonly linked to the death of whales and other ocean mammals, the LA Times has discovered.
San Nicolas Island, which is owned by the Navy, is the farthest out of the Channel Islands off the coast of California, passed Santa Catalina Island. The Navy also tests rockets on the Island, which commonly known to inhabit elephant seals.
The dolphin was found with blood in its ear canals and other fluid, common symptoms also shown on whales who were discovered with similar conditions before. The discovery on Jan. 29 was very small compared to the many whales found strewn on the Canary Islands in 2000.
However, veterinarians say that caution should be taken in jumping to conclusions, until radiologists can examine for magnetic images of the dead dolphin.
The news comes just week's before the Navy denied having any involvement in the whale and dolphin deaths due to their sonar tests.
Last week the Navy also filed an appeal against a federal court order that would strengthen the protection of whales in areas where they dwell and enforce extra precautions.
The federal court order would require that the Navy shutdown all sonar operations when whales are 2,200 yards within range and some spots near the Channel Islands.
In January, President George W. Bush sided with the Navy by exempting the agency from precautions in California because of concerns to ensure effective use of "national security," angering many environmental groups, according to the New York Times and Planetark.com.

Last "full" lunar eclipse until 2010

The moon briefly turned red during the night of Feb. 20, during a full lunar eclipse. According to space.com, it will be the last "full" eclipse until the year 2010. An eclipse is when the sun's reflection is bent on the Earth's atmosphere or the moon moves directly in front of the sun blocking out any white reflected light.

In California, the lunar event was to begin at 5:45 p.m. and the total eclipse was to commense at 7 p.m. The Griffith observatory was also expected to allow public to view telescopes.

For more info check out:

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5826653&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Truckers, labor groups, environmentalists fuming over LB Port's clean air deal

Caving in from political demands and pressures, stating "time is of the essence," it turns out the Long Beach Harbor Commission has unanimously approved a clean-air plan Tuesday Feb. 19 that has been highly criticized by both parties. It would force contracted drivers to be responsible for updating their trucks, instead of the shipping companies that hire them, according to the LA Times.
Many of the labor groups and employees opposed the deal saying that they can't afford to buy or maintain new trucks while environmentalists say the deal is letting shippers slide on a plan that would have been mad the Long Beach port one of the greenest in the country. Also, the Los Angeles Port, was possibly left out of the plans and could decide to forget about the whole thing.
Guitarist and now solo artist Tom Morello of "Rage Against the Machine" even showed up in protest against the plan that could over-ride the unprecedented agreement to reduce air pollution from trucks coming from the Port of Long Beach. The port agreed to pass a concession plan that would phase out gas guzzling diesel engines to be replaced with engines with lower emissions, making Long Beach and Los Angeles one of the greenest harbors in the country.
But Tuesday's decision could mean that the port could hire contractors and/or truck drivers that would keep things the way they are, only requiring them to pass a smog check.
Many environmental agencies and groups were upset about this plan and then threatened to file a lawsuit against the city's mayor and board members of the commission.
In contrast, many trucker protested the plan aswell, saying that it would exploit employees, because contract drivers are exempt.
To view a Fact Sheet, the board documents and the live webcast, go to the Port’s web site at www.polb.com.

Santa Monica delays plastic bag ban

The Santa Monica City Council has put off deciding on introducing a new ordinance that would put a complete ban on "single-use" plastic bags in the city at all stores, during the Tuesday Feb. 19 meeting. The Times reported that five council members plan on drafting and approving the plan. The ordinance was pushed by environmental group Health The Bay, which is located in the city. The organization monitors beach water quality up and down California's coast.
According to the organization, the ban that is being considered (which is recommended by the city's staff), is a far-reaching and comprehensive approach to the problem of single-use plastic and paper bag consumption:
The ban would:
• Ban the free distribution of single-use plastic (including biodegradable plastic) carryout bags.
• Require all retailers to charge a fee on single-use paper bags.
In the past months, China, Australia and cities throughout California have proposed or adopted plastic bag bans.
Heal The Bay also states that: http://www.healthebay.org/actionalerts/2008_02_05_SMbaghearing/default.asp
• Just 25 Santa Monica grocery stores and food markets use approximately 23 million plastic bags each year. Californians use more than 19 billion plastic grocery bags and merchandise bags each year, roughly 552 bags per person — and if placed end-to-end, enough to stretch around the globe over 250 times. This usage generates 147,038 tons of unnecessary waste. • California taxpayers spend $25 million to collect and landfill plastic bag waste each year. That figure does not include external costs, e.g., resource extraction and depletion, quality of life issues, economic loss due to plastic bag litter and human health expenses.
• U.S. consumers use 100 billion plastic bags annually, which is the energy equivalent of 12 million barrels of oil. This equates to 60,000 plastic bags used every five seconds. Read the update at LA times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-santamonica20feb20,1,20861.story

Tom Morello to rage against trucker deal

Guitarist and now solo artist Tom Morello of "Rage Against the Machine" was expected to attend the Long Beach Harbor Commission meeting Tuesday Feb. 19 in protest against a plan that could over-ride the unprecedented agreement to reduce air pollution from trucks coming from the Port of Long Beach. The port agreed to pass a consession plan that would phase out gas guzzling diesel engines to be replaced with engines with lower emissions, making Long Beach and Los Angeles one of the greenest harbors in the country.
But Tuesday's decision could mean that the port could hire contractors and/or truck drivers that would keep things the way they are, only requiring them to pass a smog check.
Environmentalists were expected to storm the meeting in protest against the plan, saying it's not a good deal, according to the Press-Telegram> http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_8299188
Many environmental agencies and groups were upset about this plan and then threatened to file a lawsuit against the city's mayor and board members of the commission.
In contrast, many trucker were also expected to protest the plan aswell, saying that it would exploit employees, because contract drivers are exempt.
The Harbor Commission will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Port Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach. To view a Fact Sheet, the board documents and the live webcast, go to the Port’s web site at www.polb.com.

No information has been provided as to what the decision was yet.

Developing....

USDA announces biggest beef recall ever

On Sunday, Feb. 17, the United States Department of Agriculture announced the biggest beef recall in the country's history, according to the LA Times. More than 143 million pounds of beef from a Chino slaughterhouse called Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company has been recalled. The company has been suspended and the product recalled has been produced in the last two years.
The health concerns are surrounded mostly by video, leaked from the Humane Society, showing workers using forklifts pushing and rolling over cows.
But is the video of just inhumane treatment or a depiction of cows too weak to even stand up?
After all why would they need to use forklifts? Could the cows have been injured in some way and the heavy animals couldn't walk?
These cows, commonly termed as downing cows, could have been affected by what is called mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
While the USDA would have us believe that the affects on humans eating this meat are minimal, it is only a public relations veil to the fact that the department didn't catch these problems earlier. According to fast food chains and restaurants, many have stopped serving the meat from the company earlier this month when violations were discovered.
But if there is no substantial health risk to the public, according to USDA officials, and the shutting down of Westland was mainly an issue of inhumane treatment, then why the recall?
What the LA Times article does not mention is what causes mad cow disease.
BSE has an incubation period of about four years, and is caused by a folding protein that eventually deteriorates the brain. Some believe the disease could be transmitted to humans who then eat the meat from dead carcasses. This was common last year in 2007 when a wide spread amount of people died in Britain from a disease related to BSE.
What's more, is that the folding protein is possibly caused by protein supplements and hormones fed to the cows. In the past in the UK, meat manufacturing companies have used chopped up bi-products as supplemental proteins in the vegetarian feeds. Basically, the companies were picking up dead diseased leftovers from the ground and then feeding it back to the cows.
How disgusting!!!
The United States put a ban on this practice a couple of years ago, and according to the USDA there has been a complete 100 percent containment. In recent yeats, Washington State found one cow with the disease.
"Got Milk?"
But many companies in the United States still use meal with soya bean, commonly because it’s cheap. Soy often can contribute to hormonal dysfunctions as well, even in humans who drink milk, and some dispute the frequency the USDA checks each manufacturing company.
The meat packing industry all over the United States is outpouring with public relations statements such as the Idaho Meat Council, claiming the event is only about inhumane treatment> http://www.idbeef.org/just_the_facts.htm
"So, where's the beef?"
Nevertheless, whether these cows were infected with BSE is unknown because the meat has already been served up to our school children and population. That's a good way to get rid of evidence.
How much meat is still out there because of processing methods is also unknown.
And unknown is how many company's all over the country and the world currently serve infected and diseased animal products on a daily basis.

Where are the real men today?

Could plastic-bottled water be affecting the hormonal balance of today's boys? Could modern teaching methods of current curriculum be contributing to a drop in young mens' motivation and drive? As our culture changes in the United States, what is happening to the young men of today, such as myself?
Well, according to Dr. Leonard Sax, a family physician who has been researching this phenomenon for more than seven years, says there are multiple causes, and some could be environmental.
On the Coast To Coast Am radio program, Sax talked about his new book "Boys Adrift" how the young men of today could be increasingly programmed chemically and psychologically to "not" become men, but to become more female. There are various factors contributing to the steady decline of performance, ambition and fertility in America's boys and young men.
Sperm counts and testosterone levels of young men in the United States have declined substantially over the past 50 years, Sax reported. Environmental estrogens from plastic-bottled drinks may be partially to blame. Here is the program> http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2008/02/16.html#recap
A recap of the program reads, "According to Sax, consuming only two bottles of water provides about the same amount of estrogen as found in a birth control pill. The elevated estrogen intake may be lowering testosterone levels in men, causing them to lose motivation to do anything, Sax added.
To make matters worse, boys are no longer allowed to be boys at school, he said. 'Violent' masculine activities such as dodge ball and snowball fights are prohibited at many schools, Sax pointed out, noting that boys are encouraged to "be more like girls." Typical male conduct at school is often altered with behavior medication, Sax said, which can also damage the motivational centers in boys' brains.
Sax also thinks that accelerated early education programs/curriculum ignore important gender differences and end up creating academic environments that do not appeal to boys. Unmotivated to pursue academic excellence and other real-world goals, these boys find contentment in video games and online pornography. For them, what happens in the "virtual world is more important than the real world," Sax said."
I encourage everyone to either buy or read his book. For more information log on to http://www.boysadrift.com/

LB Port truckers to "clear the air"

Just a week after environmental groups threatened to file a lawsuit against the Mayor of Long Beach, as well as Harbor Commission and Port officials over air quality concerns, city officials are starting to get a move on initiatives to clean up the atmosphere. Trucks that barrel down the highway spewing black clouds of filth into the air might be forced to cut off their diesel engines.
And Port officials don't want to let it linger any longer.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners will vote on Tuesday Feb. 19 on the final elements of a landmark Clean Trucks Program that will modernize the port trucking fleet and slash truck-related air pollution by 80 percent within four years, according to the Port of Long Beach press release>www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=342&TargetID=1,17,7.
The new staff proposal would make sure only concession trucks would be allowed on the road. The concession trucks would cut air pollution and ensure safety.
But according to a FOX 11 news report, the condition would allow some trucks with diesel to remain on the road as long as they pass smog checks.
In December of 2007, the commission approved a $1.6 billion tax on cargo to raise funds for the efforts known as the "special cargo fees."
Within the next few years, the port will hope to approve a ban on pre-1989 deisel trucks.
The fee will end when the fleet of drayage trucks meets Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) requirements in about 2012.
The Harbor Commission will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, February 19, at the Port Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach. To view a Fact Sheet, the board documents and the live webcast, go to the Port’s web site at www.polb.com.

LA to enforce green buildings

The green initiative might have finally made its way to one of the most polluted cities in the country. Los Angeles, a place of crowded smog-filled highways, diesel-clouded harbors and towering sky-scrapers, could enforce a new requirement for new inland developments, according to the Los Angeles Times> www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-greenbuild16feb16,1,2288151.story . The requirement was voted on by two city council committees this Friday and will be up for adoption soon by the city council. The new ordinance would require that all new buildings implement "low-flow toilets, paints with low-emissions, use of recyclable materials, efficient irrigation, solar panels, and natural light."
The average "green buildings" would cut energy by 30 percent, water by 40 percent, greenhouse emissions by 40 percent, and solid waste by 70 percent.
Oddly enough, local developers and architects have lauded the new ordinance, according to the times, after more than a year of negotiations.
Hopefully, if this new ordinance is passed, maybe some nearby cities will open up their eyes as well and follow suit.

Surfside's rocky bottom

Aside from dirtying up your car after a quick jog or being wedged inside your wetsuit, sand is a shifty substance.
The granulated quartz, with such elements as silica, can be found in anything from concrete to non-skid surfaces.
But most people know it to be found on the beach.
As the tide turns from low to high, the sand is pushed around depending on the direction of each wave break.
Due to many man-made structures, such as jetties and breakwaters, local beach cities are constantly maneuvering tons of sand to protect homes from flooding and beaches from depleting.
In Seal Beach, where sand is a nesting bed for one of the world’s largest stingray populations, this push and pull process is a major part of the ecosystem.
While the city’s public works department is in charge of replenishing the east beach sand and building annual sand burms through applying for grants, the Surfside community, on the other hand, is taken care of by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about every five to seven years.
The Sunset Beach and Surfside communities were recently lauded by the county as one of the most efficient beaches the coast has to offer, as reported recently in the Sun.
But the accolades didn’t come without having a rocky past.
About 20 years ago, a large storm system wreaked havoc on this fragile environment causing an emergency situation. In the early 80s, during a time when the Army Corps was late on re-nourishing the sand, the set of storms wiped out half of the pier and flooded homes.
Residents of the beachfront community were scrambling to protect their properties.
So the city came up with an idea to put in a “rock revampment” project, or create a barrier in front of the homes with large rocks or boulders to keep the sand from moving, according to Lee Whittenberg, Seal Beach director of development services.
And although it was an emergency, that didn’t exempt the city from having to file for a permit with the California Coastal Commission, to take into account of the environmental impact the construction of the barrier might have.
However, the commission wanted to open up the gates of Surfside to the public as a condition to the permit. The Surfside Homeowners Association ended up challenging the commission in federal court.
A judge later ruled that the condition couldn’t be imposed, and the permit was granted by the late 80s.
But the rocks still remain.
They lay buried under the sand about 20 to 30 feet from houses.
In years past, with the influx of such a heavy surge at what surfers call “the bowl” from Anderson Street to the jetty near Anaheim Bay, there continues to be significant wave refraction.
Occasionally, the rocks sometimes still might pop up from time to time.

Will roadway take a toll on Trestles? Not for now.

The dust has settled regarding the decision to extend Orange County's Foothill South toll road through San Onofre State Beach, and the California Coastal Commission has come out on top. Or did it?
According to officials from the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the organization that has proposed the 241 project for six years, citing biological research from several government environmental agencies, it is the nearby commuters who will be losing out.
Following the commission's vote of 8-2, disapproving the proposed extension of the 67-mile system that would reduce traffic congestion, the TCA has already filed an appeal with the United States Department of Commerce. The department has 235 days to respond.
But it turns out that in addition to the hordes of surfers who thought that the project would disrupt the surf a half-mile down at the well-known Trestles break spot, there were also those in favor of the plans including members of the Surfrider Foundation itself. Sound weird or complicated?
Well it is. You can read all about it in a story in Surfer Magazine at http://surfermag.com/photos/flash/trestles-toll-road-08/ which includes a slide show presentation of how the pre-existing roads and railways have posed more of a threat to the break than the proposed toll road. In addition the toll way would have had more of an effect on the San Mateo campground than anything.
Also, according the TCA spokesperson Jennifer Seaton, the project would:
• create a managing habitat for the endangered Pacific Pocket mouse
• avoid certain wetland areas.
• create wildlife under crossings.
• treat water that comes from the San Mateo Creek
She said the environment would actually benefit from the toll road creating a net water quality benefit in the area in addition to improving air quality by moving cars more efficiently on the road, according to research done by independent biologists.
However, environmental and land preservation groups beg to differ. And these studies and reports are "very complicated," even according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who even sent a letter to the commission to postpone the hearing 30 days.
Among the hundreds of attendants who came out to the commission meeting Feb. 7 many said the Environmental Impact Report was done sloppily and hides certain unavoidable concerns regarding the proposed project. They also said the decision puts forth a message to preserve state land and upholds the Coastal Act.
Either way, aside from the spin put out by the TCA, how does a fast trak toll road, with hundreds of vehicles a day zooming down lanes, improve a sensitive natural habitat? That is one public relations hurdle that the agency will have to jump again if the department of commerce ever decides to overturn the commission's decision.