The California state of mind means something real to me - sun, sand, oak studded tawny hills, crashing waves and lots of people from lots of places with lots of big ideas. It's a great place to work on environmental and public health protection because the people here really have your back. Time and again, Californians show they care about these issues -- where they live, how they live, the quality of the air they breathe and the water they drink. And don't even think about getting elected out here if you don't have a solid environmental record. All this enthusiasm means there are many moving parts and many players eager to make a difference. I spend a lot of my timing working with all these folks, trying to steer a course to effective environmental and public health reform.
Posted August 5, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
California’s water future is a little brighter now that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed NRDC’s Western Regional Director Felicia Marcus to serve on the Delta Stewardship Council. This is a new Council that was created last November, in the historic...continued→
Posted June 23, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution
The fight to protect California’s environment entered a new round yesterday when Secretary of State Deborah Bowen announced that the backers of the initiative to repeal our landmark law to combat global warming, AB 32, had qualified their dirty energy...continued→
Posted June 14, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution
As the Gulf of Mexico disaster continues to unfold, the oily images that we keep seeing are both horrifying and a harbinger of any future that remains yoked to fossil fuels. The photos and videos now coming out of the...continued→
Posted May 12, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Moving Beyond Oil
The catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico puts a grim point on the acknowledgement that we need to wean ourselves from oil and develop cleaner forms of energy. This is particularly evident today in Washington, where Rep. John Garamendi...continued→
Posted May 4, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Solving Global Warming
Flash back 41 years ago to a January morning in 1969 on an offshore oil platform in the Santa Barbara Channel. And back to now - the oil spill that is devastating the Gulf of Mexico is a wake-up call...continued→
Posted April 22, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
This morning on my way to work in San Francisco, I joined 50 other people on a street corner in Oakland, just around the corner from where both my mother and father grew up and down the street from where...continued→
Posted April 21, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Watch out: Big Oil, coal, their polluting friends and their legions of well-paid public relations minions are fueling up the hype machine once again. This time they’re saying AB 32, California’s forward-looking legislation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and...continued→
Posted April 15, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Solving Global Warming
A bunch of the dirtiest oil refiners from Texas are trying to derail landmark California legislation that will cut greenhouse gas pollution and jumpstart the state’s emerging green economy. The cabal, led by Texas-based Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp., Tower...continued→
Posted January 13, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Green Enterprise, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
Whoever claims that jobs and the environment don’t go hand in hand has never been to California. As our state, the eighth largest economy in the world, continues to face a tailspin of budget woes, reports continue to show...continued→
Posted December 8, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
The role of science in curbing harmful pollution has received significant play recently. A series of stolen emails has been the subject of climate change debates just as the international community is gearing up for negotiations in Copenhagen despite the...continued→
Posted October 22, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Living Sustainably
Governor Schwarzenegger has called a special session for the State Legislature to find a solution to California's water woes. We must get a water bill package passed -- The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is on the verge of collapse, California...continued→
Posted October 13, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Ending one of the most contentious legislative sessions in California's history, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed dozens of environmental bills and signed several others over the weekend that will add tons of air pollution to our environment, delay our freedom from fossil...continued→
Posted September 24, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Living Sustainably
Before California's legislature adjourned its regular session earlier this month, it had once again attracted national attention for high profile efforts on water and renewable energy as well as a sex scandal that forced Orange County Assemblyman Mike Duvall to...continued→
Posted September 16, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Reviving the World's Oceans
California's coast and ocean define who we are. They are tremendous natural and economic assets for our State. I've been lucky to have worked to protect California's coast and ocean for over 30 years now - since I first started...continued→
Posted February 20, 2009 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution
The California Air Resources Board ("CARB") recently enacted rules to fight air pollution from off-road diesel vehicles such as construction equipment and tractors. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (precursors of ozone) and diesel particulates (known carcinogens) were specifically targeted. CARB staff...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
