July 2nd, 2009, 2:46 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor
Orange County’s native plants are dried out and ready to burn, and a U.S. Forest Service forecast says the region can expect four large fires between August and October — the current average, and the highest number in Southern California. 
The dry conditions are stoking concern about Fourth of July revelry and the potential for errant fireworks. The Orange County Fire Authority is placing reserve firefighters on duty in places like the county’s eastern canyons for the holiday.
And the agency has again rolled one fire season into another, continuing the closure of some county open-space areas to the public for the third year in a row.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Wildlife and the natural world • drought • fire season • Wildfire | 7 Comments »
June 30th, 2009, 12:25 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor
HUNTINGTON BEACH A “shovel ready” coastal wetland will be restored to a more natural state with $3.3 million in federal stimulus funding, one of 50 similar projects on the nation’s coastlines costing a total of $167 million. 
“There were three criteria: economic benefit, ecological benefit and shovel readiness, ” said Jane Lubchenco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which chose Huntington’s Magnolia Marsh to make the nationwide announcement. “This project met all those criteria, and rose to the top of the list.”
The 41-acre site is part of a chain of coastal wetlands being gradually restored along the Huntington Beach coast; the southernmost meets the Santa Ana River mouth, and the entire complex is intended to become part of the future Orange Coast River Park.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Water • Wildlife and the natural world • stimulus money • Wetland restoration | 25 Comments »
June 29th, 2009, 3:43 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor
Wildfire, development, invasions by non-native plants: keeping Orange County’s remaining native habitat healthy can require a great deal of management and intervention. 
The Irvine Ranch Conservancy, in fact, hopes to restore about 2,000 acres of land to a more natural state over the next 10 years on the wild lands it manages.
Buying enough native plant seeds on the open market for such a project can be an iffy proposition at best.
“When you’re operating on the scale we’re talking about, there isn’t enough native seed in Southern California to supply an operation like that,” said Mike O’Connell, executive director of the conservancy.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Wildlife and the natural world • Irvine Ranch • Native plants | 1 Comment »
June 26th, 2009, 3:30 pm by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor
New cars sold in California must include windshields that block or absorb the sun’s rays beginning in 2012, the state Air Resources Board ruled this week. 
The new regulation is meant to keep cars cooler, cutting the need for air conditioning, saving energy and reducing emissions that contribute to global warming, the agency says.
To meet the new rules, car windows will have to block 33 percent more of the sun’s heat-producing rays than cars windows do today. Because the rays being blocked are in the infrared part of the spectrum, the windows would not require tinting, and will look no different from present-day car windows, said air board spokesman Stanley Young.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Climate change • Driving green • global warming • windshields | 44 Comments »
