Latest California Environmental News

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Home to everything earthy, California has long led the way in environmental, conservation and recycling efforts for the United States. A high level of environmental consciousness has helped California pioneer ecological strategies now valued and tried around the world. With so many cars, California’s auto recycling and salvage industry may also in fact lead the country as well. Here’s the latest environmental and recycling news from the Golden State.

Southern California Recycles Waste water

San Diego is in one of America’s hottest and driest climes, a place subject to extensive drought. Explosive population growth over recent decades has meant the city is facing serious water shortages. In an effort to avoid the worst, San Diego is pioneering the latest generation of waste water treatment technologies. Water that goes down the drains (and indeed, down your toilet) leads to a state of the art facility where it is purified to the highest level and then integrated with the city’s water supply.

The image can be a bit shocking, and its one time epithet “toilet to tap” can turn one’s stomach, but environmentalists and recycling advocates everywhere are taking a look at San Diego’s program. As freshwater becomes increasingly scarce, recycling and treatment programs such as this are likely coming to a neighborhood near you.

Pay As You Go Insurance Could Keep Cars Off the Road

For once automakers and environmentalists are on the same page. A proposed insurance regulation change would allow so-called pay as you drive auto insurance to California drivers. Similar pilot programs have gone forward in more than 30 states and in three foreign countries, saving policyholders money (more than 50% in some cases) while reducing drive time. The lower cost of getting into a vehicle appeals to automakers desperate for business, the reduced driving and air pollution is approved by environmental activists.

Public comments are still open for the program, but with at least tenuous support from all stakeholders, the plan looks likely to go forward. Auto recyclers and salvagers in California know how many miles get driven, and how many accidents result. A little change such as this could make big differences in air quality, though time will tell if the hype materializes.

California Poised to Be Nation’s First Carbon Taxing State

The California Air Resources Board will decide next month whether to charge a fee to the state’s largest industrial polluters of carbon, the first state in the United States to consider such a move. The plan is part of AB 32, a groundbreaking piece of environmental legislation that will make the state’s worst producers of greenhouse gases-responsible for as much as 80-90% of the state’s carbon output-pay for their pollution.

The bill has evoked controversy, and many environmental groups were disappointed that the board put off until July any final decisions about implementation. The fee will be used to pay for implementation of 2006′ historic California Global Warming Solutions Act, and to repay the federal EPA for their loans in getting the program off the ground.

Ronnie Tanner is a contributing writer at California Junk Yards. He writes about Salvage Yards in California and other industry specific topics.

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