UPDATE: California single-use bag bill steps forward

A proposed California measure, known as the most stringent restriction ever imposed on grocery chains and pharmacies by any state in the country, is one step closer to being signed into law.
On May 28, AB 2058 (Levine–Brownley-Davis) passed off the California Assembly floor with 44 votes. If passed, this bill would require large grocery chains and pharmacies statewide to charge a 25-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags if a 70 percent reduction in bag usage is not achieved by the end of 2010, according to Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay.
Similar policies in other countries such as Ireland have been extremely successful and have resulted in reductions upwards of 90 persent, the group says.
"Single-use bags, especially plastic bags, wreak havoc in the marine environment and cause extreme environmental blight. Each year local governments spend millions of dollars to clean-up litter such as plastic bags and to landfill this waste," Heal the Bay says.
The bill now moves to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Having consulted closely with the bill’s authors for the past few months, Heal the Bay is hopeful that the Senate will pass the measure, as it tackles one of the worst sources of marine debris.

Researchers to sail to Hawaii on 'Junk'

In an effort to bring attention to the "growing problem" of plastic contamination and debris in the world's oceans, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation will set sail from Long Beach to Hawaii aboard "Junk," a raft made out of 15,000 plastic bottles.
The trashed up ship will launch on June 1 at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific at 100 Aquarium Way during an event from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
On board will be Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal of the Algalita foundation, and there will be an updated blog as the sea voyage continues.
The Alguita vessel, a large catamaran used to troll the ocean during research excursions of trash in the middle of the Pacific known as a spiraling gyre, returned on May 19 from an overnight trip acting as tow and the escort for the first and only sea trial of the vessel Junk, according to crew member Jeff Ernst.
On the way back from Hawaii here's what Ernst said:
Myctophids, a large fish family consisting of 246 species in 33 genera which retreat down to open darkness at 300-1200 meters during the day. But at night they are quite abundant and a significant constituent of the largest daily migration on the planet, of organisms from the depth of the ocean up to the surface to feed.
On the trip back from Hawaii an interesting question was raised when we saw over and over again so many of these fish mixed in with so much plastic debris. The fish that were captured in our manta trawls from the trip home have all been separated out and are currently being analyzed by our resident ichthyologist Christiana, who to date has done a gut content analysis on over 200 of these fish finding plastic fragments in the stomachs of 38 percent of the fish, with a record maximum size piece of 5mm.
We caught a few fish in the trawls from 2 nights ago but no myctophidae that I could identify in the field. It remains to be seen what we will find once we get the samples back into the lab, but my suspicion is that its simply too shallow a habitat for this species to be in any high abundance.

For updated constant feeds on the trip log on to Junk's blog.
According to Heal the Bay, marine debris has injured or killed at least 267 species world-wide, primarily through ingestion and entanglement.
More than 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals, and countless fish have died annually in the north pacific from ingesting or becoming entangled in marine debris.

Look for continued coverage as Eye On Ecology will be covering the launch from Long Beach...

Coral Reef owner comes out with 'Ribber' wetsuit

Tony Jones, long-time owner of Islands Hawaiian Furniture and Coral Reef wetsuits, has come out with his most recent creation: the custom-made “ribber” wetsuit that has extra padding to protect ribs, for those who don’t surf that much.
Corky Carroll first broke the story on his blog titled, "Jonesin' with Tony."
His store that sticks out like an island at 14161 Beach Blvd. in Westminster has been selling wetsuits since 1980
Jones started his Coral Reef wetsuit company out of his years of experience in dealing with rubber and a competitive industry that forced him to develop his own brand name.
His wetsuits have since been known by surfers and divers as one of the toughest around, fit with his own patented Thermilflex neoprene that he says keeps you warmer, is more flexible and lasts four to five times longer than any other suit.
The wetsuits, which range from long johns to spring suits, contain a special rubber formula he developed from his days as the owner of a waterbed manufacturing and repair business.
Jones and his family were known for King Neptune’s waterbed company, where he would use the phrase, “We build the best and repair the rest.”
As the waterbed industry began to slow down, Jones decided to shift gears but still use his decades of knowledge in rubber.
After sewing wetsuits out of his garage for personal use, Jones got the idea of opening up Coral Reef Dive and Surf, where he first sold wetsuits and surfboards.
But he then had another hurdle to jump, he said.
With the surfing industry beginning to take hold in the 80s, bigger stores wouldn’t sell wetsuits to him because they didn’t want the competition.
That’s when Coral Reef was born.
“I thought, ‘lets name it after the ocean,’” he said.
Today, Jones uses his own custom-made machines to sew the wetsuits out of his store, sometimes for special orders and repairs.
He dropped the “dive” from the title of his store in 1999, when scuba diving shops began closing down all over the coast because the sport began to lose popularity.
Jones also stopped selling surfboards around the same time and quickly replaced them with tiki furniture that seems to take over the store today.
But over the years, Jones has still been able to keep his wetsuit business afloat.
“We’re sold out all the time,” he said. “I can’t make them fast enough.”
While he takes a break on Mondays to surf and catch up on orders, Jones now sells anything from board shorts and surf vests to rash guards and leashes.
For more information one may log onto www.coralreefwetsuits.com or for Jones' travel packages to Fiji log on to www.fijitravel.com.

Report: Avalon Beach is most polluted in the state

Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island tops the list as the most polluted beach in the state, according to environmental group Heal the Bay's annual "Beach Bummer" report card.
For a first in a long time, Long Beach's coast, long-known to have a heavy polluted bay from storm drains, nearby ports, oil drilling and a breakwater that traps it all in, actually decreased in pollution this year.
Multiple locations in the city of Long Beach dropped down to seventh place in the group's annual report.
The 18th Annual Beach Report Card summarizes the results of beach water quality monitoring programs along California’s coast, from Humboldt County to San Diego County, over the last 12 months (April 2007 through March 2008). The summary includes an analysis of water quality during three time periods: summer dry season conditions (the months covered under AB411 - April through October), year-round dry weather conditions, and wet weather conditions. In addition to summarizing local water quality, the report includes a brief review of the number of sewage spills that impacted recreational waters over the past year. The information derived from this analysis is used to develop recommendations for cleaning up problem beaches to make them safe for swimming and surfing.
Avalon Beach topped the list after being a perennial statewide Bummer for five years running. A $4.5 million swimmer health effects study added Avalon Beach as a research location due to its perpetually poor water quality.
The beach sees constant boat tourism, where boaters often dump oil, waste and trash into the ocean. In addition, large cruise-size ships dock in its ports on a daily basis.
The Santa Monica Pier’s continued water quality problems was a disappointment again this year. Santa Monica, a typically environmentally conscious city, has a comprehensive plan to improve the storm drain infrastructure, diversions, and runoff treatment facility.

'Acidified' ocean waters found off California coast

For the first time, international scientists released findings May 22 of corrosive waters off the west coast of Northern America due to the ocean sucking in Carbon Dioxide (C02) from the heavy polluted atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
During a field study from Canada to Mexico last summer, including California, this was the first time “acidified” ocean water has been found on the continental shelf of western North America, less than 20 miles off the west coast.
The term “ocean acidification” describes the process of ocean water becoming corrosive as a result of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere.
While the absorption significantly reduces the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and decreasing the effects of global warming, the change in the ocean chemistry affects marine life, particularly organisms with calcium carbonate shells, such as corals, mussels, mollusks, and small creatures in the early stages of the food chain, according to Richard Feely, who wrote “Evidence for Upwelling of Corrosive ‘Acidified’ Water onto the Continental Shelf” along with Christopher Sabine, both oceanographers at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Wash.
The findings were published on the online journal Science Express. Their co-authors are J. Martin Hernandez-Ayon of the Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas from the University of Baja California, Mexico; Debby Ianson of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Sidney, British Columbia, and Burke Hales, of Oregon State University College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, Ore.
“Our findings represent the first evidence that a large section of the North American continental shelf is seasonally impacted by ocean acidification,” said Feely. “This means that ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on our continental shelf right now.”

Catalina to celebrate flying fish

The flying fish, or Exocoetidae, will be gliding off the Pacific Ocean shores of Catalina Island for the warm months of summer and the Catalina Island Conservancy group will be welcoming them.
The 1st annual Flying Fish Festival will be held from May 29 – June 1 in celebration of the annual return of Catalina Island’s famous flying fish for a four day festival of family fun.
There will be flying fish tours aboard the histroic Blanche W, a 1922 vessel built for the original flying fish tours. Join with the Conservancy and take a rare, wonderful excursion to the Catalina Island Marine Institute at Toyon Bay on Saturday and Sunday.
As part of the Conservancy’s Living History Street Theater program, meet Charles Frederick Holder, founder of the Tuna Club and one of the Island’s first conservationists. Met Blanche Trask, the Island’s first botanist as she shows you the treasures of the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Garden. And, at the Garden, meet Tachi, our beautiful Island fox ambassador.
Here is a cool video from National Geographic Magazine, which claims to have a record flying fish flight.

NOAA: Atlantic hurricanes fewer but stronger

As the aftermath of Myanmar's hurricane continues with the United Nations stuggling to send relief, a new model simulation of Atlantic hurricane activity for the last two decades of this century projects fewer but stronger hurricanes overall, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
The study shows a "slight increase in intensity for hurricanes that do occur."
Hurricanes are also projected to have more intense rainfall, on average, in the future. The findings are reported in a study by scientists at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., published online on May 18 in Nature Geoscience.
In a preliminary study published last October in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the new model was shown to successfully reproduce Atlantic hurricane counts year-by-year from 1980 to 2006, including the observed increasing trend.
In the new study, the model was used to test the influence of greenhouse gas warming on Atlantic hurricane activity through the end of the 21st century. Simulations reveal higher levels of wind shear and other changes, which act to reduce the overall number of hurricanes in the model.
Tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures have increased over the past century and several studies have reported strong correlations between increasing tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures and measures of hurricane activity since at least 1950. Although it is widely accepted in the climate change research community that increases in greenhouse gases have caused most of the global warming of the last half century, the link between increasing greenhouse gases and hurricane activity has been a topic of wide debate and of little consensus.
This new study suggests that in the Atlantic basin, global warming from increasing greenhouse gases will have little impact, or perhaps cause some decrease, in tropical storm and hurricane numbers.
Large-scale environmental changes in circulation, such as wind shear, as well as possibly moisture, are likely the dominant factors producing the reduced storm frequency. These results support recent research showing that the primary driver of the recent increase in Atlantic hurricane numbers was the warming of the tropical Atlantic relative to the other tropical basins.
An increase in hurricane intensities globally is assessed as "likely" in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report issued in 2007.
Provided by a NOAA press release

Hybrid averages 191 miles per gallon?

With the nation experiencing soaring gas prices, here is some sign of hope on the horizon.
Jim Philippi, of Houston, Texas claims to be the world's first "ultramiler," having recently averaged 191 miles per gallon in his plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
He said the car offsets gasoline by using a wind-generated energy source.
It sure beats his last gas-guzzler that averaged 12 miles per gallon.

Malibu: forget the fees, no more plastic bags at all

City to ban all single-use plastic shopping bags, considering imposing a fee on paper bags to encourage using "reusable" bags
In the most agressive action against the use of plastic bags, the Malibu City Council voted unanimously Monday night to ban retailers from distributing single-use plastic shopping bags within city limits, joining dozens of other progressive cities that have recently moved to curb the proliferation of wasteful packaging, according to a press release.
The ban applies to all retailers, from grocery stores to small boutiques. It forbids the distribution of both plastic and compostable carryout bags.
Grocery stores, food vendors, restaurants, pharmacies and city facilities have six months to comply with the ordinance. Smaller sized retailers have one year until the measure is operative.
The City Council also directed staff to research imposing fees on paper bags, in a bid to drive consumer adoption of more sustainable reusable bags.
The council's decision comes after a statewide ban on plastic bags wsa proposed, that would impose a 15 cent fee for plastic bags, sidelining a harsher 25-cent recommendation. The decision also comes after Santa Monica officials propsed a new ordinance that would impose a fee of 5 cents per bag.
Santa Monica is now drafting an ordinance that would forbid the distribution of all single-use plastic shopping bags within city limits and require that store owners charge shoppers a fee if they request a paper bag.
Regional environmental group Heal the Bay provided input to city staff that drafted the approved measure as part of its yearlong fight to promote the use of reusable shopping bags statewide. One-use plastic bags clog landfills, foul our public spaces, waste energy and threaten marine life.
California taxpayers spend more than $25 million a year to collect and dispose of the 19 billion one-use plastic shopping bags distributed annually. “The city of Malibu should be commended for taking decisive action to protect the environment and improve residents’ quality of life,” said Sarah Abramson, Heal the Bay’s director of coastal resources. “Hopefully other cities are taking notice and now realize that the writing is on the wall for plastic bags.”
More than two dozen nations and metropolitan areas have recently enacted limited bans on plastic bags, including China, San Francisco and Paris.

It's official!: Polar Bears endangered of extinction

2007 sees 39 percent below previous long-term average for loss of sea ice. By the end of century percentage could hit 97 percent.
An increasing epidemic of melting Arctic sea ice has potentially threatened wiping out the polar bear habitat, the Interior Department said Wednesday, May 14.
The department accepted the recommendation made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for listing the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, placing the animal as the first species ever endangered due to causes directly linked to global warming.
In making the announcement, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said, "I am also announcing that this listing decision will be accompanied by administrative guidance and a rule that defines the scope of impact my decision will have, in order to protect the polar bear while limiting the unintended harm to the society and economy of the United States."
"While the legal standards under the ESA compel me to list the polar bear as threatened, I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting. Any real solution requires action by all major economies for it to be effective. That is why I am taking administrative and regulatory action to make certain the ESA isn't abused to make global warming policies," he said.
In January 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the polar bear as threatened throughout its range based on receding sea ice.
The proposed ESA special 4(d) rule is available at http://www.doi.gov/issues/polar_bears.html for a 60 day public comment period.
Kempthorne illustrated the listing decision with charts depicting satellite images of the differences in sea ice from the fall of 1979 to the fall of 2007.
Last year, Arctic sea ice fell to the lowest level ever recorded by satellite, 39 percent below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000. The amount of sea ice loss in years 2002-2007 exceeded all previous record lows.
Four of the 10 models project declines in September sea ice in excess of 80 percent by the mid -21st century. Seven of the 10 models show a 97 percent loss in September sea ice by the end of the 21st century.
Based on actual observations of trends in sea ice over the past three decades, these models may actually understate the extent and change rate of projected sea ice loss.
Kempthorne acknowledged Canada has not listed polar bears as threatened even though they have two-thirds of the world's population of the species. "Last week, I went to Canada and explored this issue. The Canadian law is different from U.S. law with respect to endangered species, both in its criteria for listing and administrative process for making listing determinations."
While in Canada, Kempthorne signed a Memorandum of Understanding with his Canadian counterpart, John Baird, the minister of environment, for the conservation and management of polar bear populations shared by the U.S. and Canada.
However, the U.S. department will additionally, monitor polar bear populations and trends, study polar bear feeding ecology, work cooperatively with the Alaska Nanuuq Commission and the North Slope Borough for co-management of the polar bears in Alaska, and provide technical assistance to the participants of the 1988 North Slope Borough Inuvialuit Game Council Agreement for the conservation of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea region and monitor the effects of oil and gas operations in the Beaufort Sea region.

UPDATE: Harsher statewide plastic bag ban fails

But weaker bill passes that would impose a 15-cent charge if grocers don't meet recycling requirements:
Here's some enviro news that might have been missed last month, or at least I failed to update it.
The most restrictive ban ever on plastic bags used in grocery stores and drug stores California, spearheaded by Los Angeles County and environmental group Heal the Bay, was actually voted down in the legislature last month, after an ordinance was passed by the Santa Monica City Council.
AB 2829, the CA bill to impose a statewide 25-cent fee on plastic shopping bags, stalled in the Legislature on Monday, April 14, according to healthebay.org.
The Web site states that a weaker competing bill, AB 2058, was approved which would implement a 15-cent bag fee only if recycling goals are not met. However, proposed changes to AB 2058 look promising.
The Assembly Natural Resources Committee considered two competing bills targeting plastic bags. The committee voted against AB 2829, a bill that would have imposed a mandatory fee on plastic carryout bags, authored by Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) the bill proposed a statewide fee of 25 cents per bag by 2009, that would have been marked as the "most aggressive action by any state legislature in the nation to curb the proliferation of plastic bags and limit their negative impacts on the environment."
However, the committee passed its competing bill, AB 2058, authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), which is weaker because, Heal the Bay states, the bill would "give grocery chains and large drug stores three years to meet recycling goals to reduce plastic carryout bag pollution, with an eventual fee of 15 cents if the future targets are not met."
"Although Heal the Bay is disappointed that the committee denied the stronger of the two bills, the future looks promising for statewide plastic bag legislation in California. In negotiations surrounding the hearing, Assemblymember Levine agreed to:
• Bring on Assemblymembers Davis and Brownley (D-Santa Monica) as joint authors of AB 2058.
• Amend the bill to increase the fee from 15 to 25 cents.
• Streamline the the bill's recycling targets.
• Include language in the bill repealing previous legislation that preempts local governments from placing a fee on plastic carryout bags.
The new bill comes just a few months after the Santa Monica City Council approved an ordinance on Feb. 26 that would ban all "single use" plastic bags from stores in the city, and impose a 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.
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.
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.

CSUF's associate dean worked on ConCEPTs

After 31 years of instruction and service for Cal State Fullerton, Dr. David Fromson, associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics has retired.
Fromson was commemorated at a "Retirement Farewell Reception today at CSUF's Alumni House.
The professor has spent many years as an advocate of science education.
He was a project leader in developing "Contextual Coursework for Elementary Pre-Service Teachers, known as ConCEPT, increase the quality and quantity of science instruction in the state's elementary classrooms to reverse the historically poor preparation of many of California's elementary school teachers in science," according to Web site for the Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education at CSUF.
"In collaboration with five local community colleges, CSUF has developed the new instruction.
Since most elementary teachers fulfill their science requirements at community colleges, ConCEPT will target prospective elementary teachers at CSUF and the community colleges (a pool of 3,500-4,500 students). ConCEPT will draw on existing exemplary curriculum materials to develop three 3-unit courses, including laboratory experience, designed to help future K-6 teachers understand science concepts, acquire science process skills and implement the K-6 National Science Education Standards. The courses will be cross-disciplinary, with a contextual approach to science and a hands-on, inquiry-based pedagogy. ConCEPT courses will be developed collaboratively during the first year and refined and piloted during the second year.
ConCEPT's immediate impact will be to change the way future elementary teachers at the six participating institutions experience science.

Wildlife service says proposed OC toll road safe

A heavily criticized plan to extend a toll road through San Onofre State Beach would not put at-risk wildlife in danger, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday, according to the LA Times.
Nine species were reviewed, including endangered species, according to Jane Hendron, a wildlife service spokeswoman, the Times stated. For the most part the project's scope would be outside of the endangered species area, the spokesperson said.
But in other cases, the Pacific pocket mouse would benefit from the toll road agency's plans to manage the habitat.
In February, the California Coastal Commission voted 8-2 against the Transportation Corridor Agencies proposal to extend Orange County's Foothill South toll road, that would have cost $875 million.
The meeting drew hundreds of environmentalists and surfers who fought to block the agency's plans because of anticipated effects on wildlife and the effect the toll road would have on nearby surf spot Trestles beach.
But toll road officials have said disapproving the proposed extension of the current 67-mile system would stop the plan to help reduce traffic congestion.
The TCA has already filed an appeal with the United States Department of Commerce.
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:
• 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 commission's decision puts forth a message to preserve state land and upholds the Coastal Act.

CSUF grad student to talk coyotes

One of Cal State Fullerton's own respected lab workers has finished a Master's degree thesis on the habitat of coyotes that dwell beneath the freeways, Orange County is so known for, according to Gary Robbins, OC Register's Science Dude blogger and reporter.
The dude reports that David Elliot will show off the findings of his study on freeway underpasses made for wildlife, often as a mitigation agreement to continue to the long stretch of freeways that exist throughout valleys and noted protected wild lands.
According to Robbins, Elliot will present his research with a speech "how did the coyote cross the road," in Room 413 in the 400 building at CSUF at noon this Thursday, May 8.
There will be a short gathering beforehand for the CSUF's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
By the way, the campus sits directly below hills named after coyotes, the West Coyote Hills.