[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Loni Hancock
Member of the California State Assembly

I want to thank all of you for helping me run a positive grassroots campaign, talking with voters about my legislative record and the many issues facing our state. Today is Election Day and I need your help one more time. Please vote today, June 3rd.

In my five years in the California Assembly, I've written and co-authored 592 bills to improve the lives of Californians. I have proven myself to be an effective regional leader who addresses real concerns in the communities I represent. One example of this is my response to the recent Cosco Busan Oil Spill. As Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, I held a hearing within a week of the disastrous spill to carefully evaluate the government's response. In the aftermath of the hearing, together with other Assembly members who represent districts surrounding the San Francisco Bay, we introduced a package of bills to prevent future spills and to ensure more effective responses to any environmental threat to the Bay. More than 1,000 volunteers offered to help clean up the Bay in the aftermath of the spill, but emergency responders had to turn them away because they were not properly trained.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

President Bush called for a modest agenda in last night's State of the Union address. Expressing concern about the fate of the economy, Bush said, "In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth. But in the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing."

An independent report of the November 7 Bay Area oil spill found that a combination of bad luck and human error hindered the response. (That's a relief! I was concerned that aliens might have been responsible.) The report recommended more than 100 recommendations for preventing future incidents.

California will file a petition today to pressure the EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from non-road machines such as construction and farm equipment, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. In December, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request to regulate carbon dioxide.

There's more...

Image courtesy of Sacbee.com 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mark Leno
Member, California State Assembly

In the weeks since 58,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel from the Cosco Busan spilled into San Francisco Bay, each of us has been reminded of the Bay's central importance to our region's wildlife, economy, fishing fleet, tourism industry, and human health, and its place in the hearts of the people of Northern California.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Consider When Negotiating Senate Bill 974 (Lowenthal)

By Peter Schrag

Had the container ship Cosco Busan run into a bridge pier and spilled 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel in Savannah, Tacoma or even Long Beach it would have been just as deplorable. That it happened in San Francisco, the mother church of environmentalism, made it blasphemy.

So it wasn't surprising that California's politicians, from the governor down, outdid themselves demanding or launching investigations to determine who deserved the rap for the fouled beaches and the dead birds. Some quickly castigated the Coast Guard and other emergency agencies, many long underfunded, for their slow response. What if a terrorist ... ?

Next to the day-in, day-out air pollution generated by the ships, trucks and diesel railroad engines engaged in containerized transport at California's major ports, the damage from the accident at the Bay Bridge, however toxic, was small potatoes.

Still, the incident – admiralty lawyers call it an allision, meaning the ship hit a fixed object, not another ship – ought to be a loud reminder of the larger price in illness, environmental degradation and congestion that we pay for the ports.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I'm at a Congressional hearing about the oil spill in SF Bay, with most of our local congressional members, including the Speaker. It's not clear what needs to happen,but it is very good to see this happening here in SF rather than just DC. Rep. Tauscher asked a # of questions about bunker fuel an howmuch info we need on the cargo ships. Rep. Lantos seems to want to take this back to terrorism. While using language like "calvacade of calamities" he wanted to know whether this could have been prevented and whether language barriers are to blame.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hannah Beth Jackson

Clearly human nature is wont to ignore the obvious until it strikes them in the face, or in the ocean in the present case. Why we aren't willing to be sufficiently pro-active and take preventative measures in the face of imminent or likely disaster is a mystery on the one hand and yet an inevitability on the other. Or so it seems.

Take the oil spill in the San Francisco Bay on November 7, 2007---just over a week ago. We know that oil spills can and do have devastating impacts on wildlife, ocean eco-systems and local economies. We know, too, that much can be done to prevent or at least significantly reduce the possibility of catastrophic consequences of oil spills. An obvious preventative measure is to require tankers to be double-hulled. Another is to require our emergency response agencies be well-trained and well-equipped with the most up-to-date equipment to respond in case protective measures fail. Of course, this also requires a willingness to make an investment of resources.