Tell Sen. Feinstein that gutting the Endangered Species Act is bad for California's economy and environment.

California's salmon fishing season is about to be cancelled for the third straight year due to the collapse of fishing populations. The economic cost to California is significant; nearly $1.4 billion annually. The job losses in coastal communities have been enormous; nearly 23,000 jobs have been lost.

Senator Dianne Feinstein wants to make matters worse. She has proposed an amendment to the federal jobs stimulus bill that would override Endangered Species Act protections in order to deliver more water to some agricultural users south of the Delta.

President Obama was right to emphasize the job creation potential and economic stakes for America's leadership on global warming solutions in his State of the Union address this week.

Strategic use of federal stimulus monies is one of the best ways to jump-start the nation's transition to a clean energy economy. Planned investments in high speed rail, new energy efficiency technologies, clean energy start-ups and entrepreneurs can deliver the right combination of near term and longer range benefits.

By re-asserting the imperative for U.S. action and leadership on global warming, the President signaled the urgency and importance of Senate action to complete work on comprehensive energy and global warming legislation begun by the House.

To the Editor:

Calling the statement by the Food and Drug Administration about the plastic additive bisphenol-A "a shift in position" from the Bush era is an overstatement.

In 2008, the F.D.A. ignored recommendations of its advisory board and several other government scientific bodies when it determined that BPA is safe. That decision, large portions of which were drafted by chemical industry lobbyists, relied on a couple of industry-financed studies. It contradicted hundreds of studies showing that at extremely low doses BPA causes numerous reproductive abnormalities and other health effects related to the endocrine system, like obesity and diabetes.

Published in The San Francisco Gate, Tuesday, January 12, 2010

How can Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger justify making California's coast the sacrificial lamb for state parks ("Trade-off: Use oil drilling cash to save parks, governor says," Jan. 9)?

In the new budget, he proposes funding state parks by using oil lease revenues from opening up California's coast to offshore oil drilling for the first time in 40 years.

He removed $140 million from parks in the general fund to be replaced with oil lease revenues from the Tranquillon Ridge project off the coast near Santa Barbara, estimated to generate $1.8 billion over the next 14 years. Other oil lease projects are lining up for approval - it's a Pandora's box for the coast.

This was a "hot" year for water in California. In the midst of a fiscal and water drought, we fought to protect environmental programs in the state budget and advocated for sound water policy in the package of Delta water bills. We pushed for "upstream" action, like strong chemicals regulations and bans on bad chemicals, and worked on "downstream" solutions, like cleaning up the SF Bay and Delta. With the help of our fabulous California members, we pushed the envelope in so many ways. Our members responded repeatedly to our calls for action with letters and emails that helped us "rock the boat" when we needed to put pressure on a legislator or regulatory body.

We have never had a better chance of fixing the Clean Water Act and delivering results on the Clean Water issues that matter the most. Help us seize the moment and change the course of our nation's clean water future.

By continuing your support with a generous year-end gift, you are helping to advance Clean Water Action's vision for water protection in the 21st Century that will be realized by:

Clean Water Action's California Internship Program offers talented undergraduates, graduates, and beginning professionals hands-on work experience and specialized training in the fields of toxic substances control, waste reduction, climate change, water conservation, marketing and communications, and non-profit development and fundraising. Interns will work under the guidance of our professional staff and will have the chance to contribute directly to meaningful and exciting projects, learn new skills, and gain valuable experience working for a well-respected and growing non-profit.

Erin Brockovich and Clean Water Action staff speak out in support of new Public Health Goal for chrome VI; public comment now accepted until November 2, 2009

Better late than never: Fifteen years after the Academy Award-nominated movie Erin Brockovich brought the dangers of hexavelent chromium exposure to the attention of the public, and five years after a legislature-mandated deadline for the state to set a drinking water standard, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) finally began to take action. It's probably not a coincidence that the state finally began the process of setting a standard after Clean Water Action and other allies notified them of our intent to initiate legal action for the state's failure to meet its statutory obligation to set a drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium (chromium VI).

On October 19, 2009, OEHHA held a workshop giving an overview of their draft Public Health Goal (PHG) for chromium VI. The proposed PHG specifies a maximum level of 0.06 parts per billion level (ppb) of chromium VI in drinking water (read the draft here). Clean Water Action believes this is a health protective level and supports the proposed goal. At the workshop and at a press conference that preceded it, speakers Erin Brockovich (Brockovich Research & Consulting), Virginia Madueno (Clean Water Action California, Central Valley Organizer), and Renee Sharp (Environmental Working Group California, Executive Director) urged OEHHA to expedite the finalization of this standard. Scott Davis, a resident of the impacted community of Merced, California, also spoke at the press conference. At the workshop, former State Senator Deborah Ortiz (author of SB 351, which mandates the drinking water standard) underscored the real-world impacts of chromium VI and called for the process to move forward quickly

OEHHA has set a deadline of November 2, 2009, for accepting public comment. You can help urge speedy finalization of this PHG by sending a letter to OEHHA; click here for a sample letter: Sample Letter Cal OEHA Chromium VI PHG.

In this issue of California Currents|online:

Keeping PCBs Out of the Bay

At its October hearing the State Water Board will consider approving a San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board plan to address polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Bay. These chemicals, which were banned in the 1970s, are linked to cancer, developmental impairment, and other serious health impacts. They accumulate in the fat of living organisms, including fish and the people who eat them.

Prop 65 Listing of Two Plastic Additives Under Attack

The chemical industry, represented by the American Chemistry Council, spends millions of dollars each year in California protecting the industry's profits and blocking efforts to protect the environment and the public from harmful chemicals. The most recent battle has been over adding the plastic additives bisphenol A (BPA) and styrene to California's Proposition 65 list.