Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 15, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People -
Opinion:
Hey, governor! State needs anti-warming pitchman -
Sacramento
Opinion:
Solar power makes sense
Special interests shouldn't be allowed to eclipse legislation making solar water heaters a better deal. -
Los Angeles
Stringer, Letterman take 'Angler of the Year' honors at
Oroville Mercury Register
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Opinion:
Hey, governor! State needs anti-warming pitchman
By Stuart Leavenworth
On any given day in
Some are focused on the "early-action measures" the Air Resources Board will consider next week to seek quick reductions in greenhouse gases.
Some are grappling with a proposed cap-and-trade system for emissions that could become a template for other governments around the world.
It's important and heady stuff, but for many Californians it probably seems like an exercise in esoterica. And that's the problem.
Polls show that voters are increasingly concerned about global warming and want to do something about it. Yet to date,
Arguably, this preoccupation with procedure is the single largest shortcoming of
It has helped dissipate much of the excitement that surrounded the passage of last year's Assembly Bill 32, which requires a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. It also leaves the impression that only technocrats can save us from a feverish planet.
It is doubly mystifying that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- dubbed "The People's Machine" in a recent book -- hasn't seized this opportunity for salesmanship. Imagine if Schwarzenegger, whose popularity has rebounded over the last year, recorded a few public service television ads to help people shrink their carbon footprint.
In these ads, the governor is seen standing in front of Lyell Glacier in
The finely coifed governor stares into the camera, and tells Californians that global warming is real, and that it is already affecting their lives.
"Let me give you one alarming example," the governor says, repeating one of his familiar comments. "
The camera cuts to Schwarzenegger's home. The governor and first lady Maria Shriver are seen swapping out regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They go down to the basement to show how contractors have expertly sealed their air conditioning ducts, saving themselves 25 percent in summer cooling costs.
Next Arnold and Maria are seen taking transit, riding bicycles and eating food grown in their backyard.
"If all of us did this," the governor says in conclusion, "we could save billions upon billions of pounds of greenhouse gases."
Okay, perhaps I'm overreaching. But evidence suggests that Californians will respond to a strong and smart public education campaign.
Starting in the late 1980s, a state-sponsored advertising blitz helped reduce smoking rates. During the 2001 energy crisis, Californians were asked to reduce their power consumption. In just a few days, a third of all households cut their energy use by more than 20 percent.
"What we need now is a Flex Your Power program for Climate Change," said Karen Douglas, a lawyer with Environmental Defense, a group that has experience with mass-medium education efforts. "People are ready to step up now. If we had a program like that, we'd get a lot of emissions reductions."
Education alone, of course, won't get individuals to change their habits. Carrots and sticks are also needed.
The "sticks" could come when
The problem with this system is the inequity. Some Californians couldn't quickly upgrade their air conditioning, or purchase a car that was more fuel-efficient. Without some form of assistance, they would howl, and future politicians would quickly suspend
To smooth over these inequities, some economists are suggesting a system of enhanced rebates.
Money raised by putting a price on greenhouse emissions could be plowed back to consumers and businesses eager to reduce their carbon footprint. Utilities could expand the rebates they currently offer to upgrade heating and cooling systems, retrofit windows or install solar panels. Motorists could get help purchasing the most fuel-efficient vehicles.
All this is two to three years away. Yet right now, there is plenty of untapped opportunity. Utilities and nonprofit foundations already offer rebates of $300 or more to upgrade heating and cooling systems. Many consumers don't know about these. Nor do many know that the Sacramento Tree Foundation can help an entire neighborhood develop a towering tree canopy to cool houses in summer.
"The program is undersubscribed," said Rob Kerth, director for the tree foundation's Greenprint project.
Basic awareness could go a a long way toward reducing emissions, and making
Hmmm. I wonder who that would be?#
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/223613.html
Opinion:
Solar power makes sense
Special interests shouldn't be allowed to eclipse legislation making solar water heaters a better deal.
IF THERE'S ONE natural resource that
AB 1470, from Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), is a companion to a similar bill that was approved last year after being heavily touted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That one, SB 1, imposed a surcharge on electric bills to subsidize the installation on homes and businesses of solar panels that generate electricity. This one would create a surcharge on gas bills to subsidize solar water-heating systems.
The cost to power consumers is very small; AB 1470 would add only about 13 cents a month to gas bills, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. But the benefits are potentially great. Solar water-heating systems reduce the need for natural gas by up to 75% per building, and that doesn't just benefit the owner of the solar water heater. The lowered demand for natural gas would produce lower gas prices even for those who don't go solar, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Solar water heaters cost between $4,000 and $6,000 for a residential system. That price could be cut in half using an existing federal tax credit combined with the state subsidy created by Huffman's bill, which would generate $250 million over 10 years. At the lower price, consumers could recoup their costs via lower gas bills within a decade. And once the technology becomes more common, its price will drop, eventually rendering the subsidy unnecessary.
Gas companies, including Southern California Gas Co. parent Sempra Energy, are heavily opposed to AB 1470, as is the California Chamber of Commerce. The utilities claim to be worried about the effect on gas consumers, but their real concern is pretty transparent. They stand to lose money if their customers start taking advantage of free solar energy rather than buying their natural gas.
The bill was approved last week in the Assembly but is expected to face a tougher fight in the state Senate. A bright solar initiative like this one must not be derailed by the narrow interests of a few gas giants. #
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-solar15jun15,0,4408182.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
Stringer, Letterman take 'Angler of the Year' honors at
Oroville Mercury Register - 6/15/07
By Bridget Bowers/Sports Writer
Oroville's Mark Stringer and his partner Rick Letterman from Gridley sponsored by Feather Falls Casino won the American Bass Association's 2007 'Angler of the Year' award in the Oroville division earlier this month beating out over 45 other teams.
The American Bass Association's six-tournament circuit started Nov. 18,2006 and finished June 3, 2007.
Mark and Rick were one point behind Glen Lockhart and Junior Morris in the points total and needed the second place finish that put them over the top.
Mark and Rick pulled in 10.82 pounds of fish on June 3, which was good enough for second and put them at 540 points for the season and into first place.
Lockhart and Morris finished in second just two points behind with 538 points.
Along with the award, they will compete in the Tournament of Champions in October. That contest will be held at
During the tournaments the fishing duo placed as high as first in the Nov. 18 tournament and as low as seventh.
"The name of the game is consistency," Mark said. "I noticed a trend over the years that the same guys were finishing in the top 10 percent."
He said he learned that by being consistent you are able to remain in that top tier of fishing and often finish in the money.
"Of course you try and win every tournament," Rick said. "We only took first once, but we stayed consistent."
"There is also that luck factor," Mark said.
Like during a recent tournament on
"That's the luck," Mark said. "When someone does something like that it deflates your bubble in a hurry and you're fishing for second place."
Especially on
For these six tournaments, the two were allowed to weigh-in five fish. Mark said that for Lake Oroville the five fish total will come in between 10-12 pounds and that's why it comes down to ounces.
Mark and Rick hit their target mark each tournament and pulled in over 10 pounds at each weigh-in. On Feb. 3 for a sixth place finish they had their biggest catch with 12.49 pounds.
During tournaments, all fish must be kept alive and participants are allowed only five fish in the boat.
"So when you catch that next fish, we weigh it on our scales and cull out the smaller fish," Mark said. "You always want to be pulling in bigger and bigger fish."
Mark said that their method for consistent fishing this season was target shooting, which is a finesse fishing method taking advantage of the electronics available.
"We call it target shooting. Due to my age (Mark recently turned 60), I can't throw reaction bait all day like these young guys," he said. "So I've developed this method taking advantage of the technology."
Mark said they use their fish finders to locate the fish. One fish finder is located on the console to help them find the bait. Another is located on the electric motor on the front.
"It (the bait) will be a big foggy mass on the LCR," Mark said. "Once we find that, I move up front with the electric motor and fine tune it with the fish finder up front."
Once they have located the fish, Mark said they drop the bait down to the fish.
"It's all vertical fishing, and we don't lose many fish that way," he said. "We don't even stop to fish unless we see the fish on the fish finder."
Mark said that with this method, they can watch the bait on the fish finder drop right down to the fish.
"We caught about 75 percent of our fish this way," he said.
Mark said it's not uncommon to catch hundreds of fish a day on the lake, but in order to be successful in tournaments you can't get caught up catching small fish.
"It's exciting hooking into fish after fish, but when they're only pound and a half fish that won't help you win," he said.
The pitfall is that you might get one big fish and think you've found a good spot, Mark said.
"You can get hooked in there and waste a lot of hours catching small fish," he said. "You have to leave fish to catch fish."
Tournament fishing is a passion for both Mark and Rick. They said they will spend days prefishing for a tournament so that they will be prepared.
"It takes a lot of dedication from us and understanding from our wives," Rick said. "They are as important as our sponsor."
Mark's wife Annette and Rick's wife Kim have been understanding and supportive of their husbands, but Mark said it's always family first.
"We've seen guys lose their families over fishing. They become obsessed," Mark said.
Both also stressed the importance of their sponsor Feather Falls Casino.
"It takes an astronomical amount of money for insurance, fuel, oil, upkeep on these (Bass) boats," Mark said. "They only get about three to four miles a gallon, and we always seem to end up fishing the other end of the lake."
Mark said having a backer like Feather Falls Casino really helped defray the costs and allow them to continue to compete.
Rick said both local casinos do a lot for the community and for fishing. They fund the boats at weigh-ins that hold all the fish and return them to the lake.
Tournament fishing is all about the conservation of the species, Mark said. There is a less than one percent kill ratio in fish caught at tournaments. Between live wells and the Catch and Release compounds used to keep the fish calm, tournament fishing doesn't lose any fish.
Fishing is different than hunting, Mark said because you shoot a deer. It's dead, but you can catch a fish and turn it lose to be caught another day.
All the fishermen and all the tournament rules are about protecting the fish.
"Your boat goes through a thorough inspection before the tournament," Mark said. "They make sure your live wells are clean and you don't have any live bait."
You will be disqualified immediately for live bait, Rick said. Plus, you also get docked points if you had a dead fish.
"Each tournament is different. Some dock you the weight of the dead fish and some dock you for two ounces," Mark said. "For our tournaments it's two ounces and that can be a big difference."
Fishing requires a lot of dedication and practice. Rick said they've spent time on the water in all different kinds of weather.
"We've been out drenched in our rain gear and in 100 degree weather," he said.
Mark added that he's fished with four inches of hail in the bottom of his boat.
There is a lot more to tournament fishing than just throwing a line in the water. From the electronics to having just the right rod and reel set up, being successful also depends on your partner.
"You have to be able to get along. I've seen guys get into fist fights on boats," Mark said.
Putting two fishermen in one boat for 8-10 hours a day would be enough to test any friendship.
"You have to be able to work well together," Rick said. "Sometimes the only thing you'll hear all day is, 'Damn, I lost it' or 'Get the net!'"
Once a tournament starts, you aren't allowed to leave the boat. They also don't play music and barely take time to eat while competing.
"Time eating is time not fishing," Mark said. "You'd think with nine hours of fishing you'd have plenty of time, but there isn't a tournament we've fished that we didn't run out of time."
In the final tournament, Mark said at about 2 p.m. he lost a fish he figured would have weighed in at about two-and-a-half to three pounds.
"I felt so bad cause I figured that cost us anglers of the year right there," Mark said.#
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_6145310
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