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Five SoCal Must-Reads: Cloud Seeding in Santa Barbara County & More

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  • "I don't think we need hundreds of departures every day from the Bay Area to Los Angeles," Jet Blue CEO Dave Barger said in 2010 about high-speed rail complementing, not competing, with the airline industry. Robert Cruickshank at the California High-Speed Rail Blog brings back that quote in a post explaining why the "cheap flight" argument against rail doesn't work.
  • Today is World AIDS Day and a new state report finds that "while the number of white patients living with HIV or AIDS has nearly doubled since 1988, the numbers more than tripled among black patients and went up nearly fivefold among Hispanics," according to California Watch.
  • Givaudan - "the biggest multinational you've never heard of" - is a Swiss company that creates natural and artificial flavoring in many of the products consumed at grocery stores. 60 Minutes takes a look and starts their story with scientists in a Riverside citrus grove.
  • Medical marijuana laws just might lead to fewer traffic fatalities, finds a new study, which suggest people are replacing beer - consumed at bars, which are often driven to - with marijuana - used in the privacy of homes. With that in mind, Santa Barbara Independent columnist Nick Welsh dives into a court fight over a long-time local dispensary.
  • Speaking of Santa Barbara County, December 1st marks cloud seeding season, when officials try to artificially boost rainfall totals around reservoirs, says the Independent. Photo by lierne, via KCET's Southern California Flickr Pool.

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    Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

    California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

    According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
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    A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

    California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
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    Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

    In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.