Five SoCal Must-Reads: An Occupy Wall Street Ordinance & More

By Zach Behrens

November 17, 2011

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A view of the ocean on a drive between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times: A county public health report finds that "some nonsmoking apartments are as smoky as some bars."
California Watch: Hate-crimes motivated by sexual orientation in California significantly rose in 2010, according to recent statistics. Gay-friendly Palm Springs was no exception, seeing an increase from 3 incidents in 2009 to 14 in 2010.
San Bernardino Sun: Inland Empire city of Colton has passed an ordinance just in case an Occupy Wall Street protest develops within the city of 52,000 residents. The paper calls it the "anti-Occupy ordinance."
Santa Barbara Independent: Officials have nixed a $30,000 plan to study poverty throughout the county where close to 75,000 people, 18 percent of residents, are living below the federal poverty line.
Ventura County Star: The National Park Service will take control of Santa Rosa Island on January 1st. Zeke Barlow tells the story of the family that's preparing to move to the mainland and what's next for the 83-square-mile island.

The photo used on this post is by Renee Rendler-Kaplan, a contributor to KCET's Southern California Flickr pool.

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An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.

By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters

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.

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.

By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters

A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

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.

By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News