Weekly Roundup July 20, 2012

In today’s weekly roundup,  Sonoma County officials support  future implementation of a county-wide   plastic bag ban. Further south, the city by the Bay looks to ban more than just bags. Earlier this week San Francisco city officials announced their ambitious plan to eliminate single-use plastic bottles throughout the city. Meanwhile, Tina Swanson from the Natural Resources Defense Council, reminds us that we are in control of our environment– not mother nature. Bay Area scientists are beginning to pay more attention to the water deficit in plants. Plus, the Coastal Conservancy leads the effort to build homes for oysters in the Bay.

Sonoma Patch 7/17/2012
City Supports County-Wide Ordinance on Single Use Bag Ban
Once again, the issue of single use shopping bags has come up, this time as the Sonoma County Waste Management Association asked the City Council for their endorsement of a county-wide ordinance to reduce waste, in particular plastic bag waste.
Read more >> 

SFBay 7/17/2012
The City Takes Aim at Bottled Water
Plastic water bottles are the latest ecologically-insensitive modern convenience to come under scrutiny in San Francisco, as officials eye another step towards greener living.
Read more >>

Switch Board NRDC 7/18/2012
Anatomy of a Man-made Drought in the San Francisco Bay
I grew up next to San Francisco Bay and these days I commute to my NRDC office by boat, riding the ferry past the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.
Read more >>

KQED News: Climate Watch 7/18/2012
Bay Area Landscape Likely to Come Up Short on Water 
Facing the difference between how much water plants need, and how much they’ll get. We hear a lot about how climate change will affect rainfall in California, but climate scientists are increasingly looking at a new indicator: water deficit.
Read more >> 

San Francisco Chronicle 7/20/2012
Building homes for oysters in S.F. Bay
Workers on a barge 200 yards off the San Rafael shoreline dropped the first of half a million shells into the water Thursday in a $1.3 million effort that could help to restore native oyster populations in the bay to levels not seen since the Gold Rush.
Read more >>