Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images for AEG

American businessman Steve Bing, President and CEO of AEG Timothy J. Leiweke, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Casey Wasserman pose for a photograph during the seventh Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

As of 4 o’clock, all the comments have been submitted concerning the draft environmental impact report for Farmers Field. It’ll be interesting to see how the city planning office responds to some of the criticisms leveled publicly, at meetings in recent weeks, and via letter.

Among them are complaints that AEG hasn’t explained how it will achieve the goals created by SB 292 for fewer car trips and carbon neutrality at the proposed downtown football stadium.

For what they’re worth, AEG made another set of promises too. While it was drumming up public and political support for Farmers Field plans, AEG announced it entered into a set of commitments with the Clinton Global Initiative. What does that mean? According to the Initiative itself:

Commitments help CGI members translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. CGI works with each member to develop an achievable plan, and members report back on the progress they make over time.

Since CGI was founded in 2005, our members have made more than 2,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $69.2 billion.

Basically, the core of the mission for the Clinton Global Initiative is to make sure its members follow through on its commitments.

Here’s one example of AEG's goals: According to the draft environmental impact report, while AEG builds Farmers Field, the company “would target 50 percent and 75 percent of the non-hazardous construction and demolition debris by weight to be recycled and/or salvaged for reuse.” Once the stadium is built, AEG would recycle 50 percent of its waste, the report’s authors wrote. So, basically, half of its waste would go to the landfill.

That seems problematic on its own. Fifty percent diversion at a huge stadium is actually a rate worse than the city’s present claimed diversion rate. Remember, too, that the city of LA is aiming for zero waste by the year 2030. (In fact, three years ago, I went to a planning conference that the city’s sanitation department held about this issue…in the West Hall of the Convention Center, which would be torn down to make room for the stadium.)

But AEG promised something different to the Clinton Global Initiative about waste management at Farmers Field--something more. On the CGI website, AEG says it plans to divert 90% of its waste from landfill during construction, and 75% of its waste from landfill during operations: “Farmers Field will divert waste from landfill through a robust recycling, the donation of durable goods, and implementing a front of house composting program that includes sourcing biodegradable concessions packaging.”

AEG’s plans on water conservation differ among the places they record them too. In the environmental impact report, it says that building Farmers Field “with incorporation of the City’s water efficiency requirements” will create “annual potable water demand of approximately 84.3 million gallons or 258 acre-feet (AF) per year.” Adding in AEG’s own “specified commitments with respect to water conservation” would create water savings of “3.1 million gallons or 10 AF per year.” Then AEG takes credit for “water consumption associated with the existing Project Site uses to be removed” to come up an annual demand of 63.5 million gallons or 194 AF per year.

I know that’s a lot of numbers. Let’s boil them down. Cutting 10 AF of water a year on a total demand of 258 is less than 4% in water savings. If Farmers Field wants to claim credit for removing existing uses too, that’s a total water demand of 194 AF down from 258. A 25% savings.

According to AEG’s commitment on the CGI site, AEG says Farmers Field “will conserve water by installing the best available technology for water fixtures and equipment and educating our employees on water efficiency through our Environmental Management System. Special projects under analysis include: technology to reclaim water from sinks and showers for use in toilets and cooling towers and xeriscaping.” Doing that, it says, will cut water use 35%.

When AEG announced its environmental commitments last fall, former President Bill Clinton came down heavy and publicly, squarely in favor of the stadium. “AEG has proven to be the world’s most environmentally conscious venue operators (sic),” he said in a statement, “and Farmers Field will be another true example of their mission to marry design, innovation, social responsibility and community engagement, resulting in a measurable impact for future generations. I commend AEG as a model socially responsible company that is the hallmark of CGI.” The move earned AEG kudos on environmental blogs as “the most sustainable stadium in the United States" around the same time as Sacramento lawmakers were considering fast-track state Environmental Quality Act bills. 

I emailed both CGI and AEG to ask if it means anything that AEG is making one set of commitments in an environmental impact report now after making slightly harder-to-pull-off commitments to the CGI last fall. Will AEG go back to CGI and amend its goals? As for the consequences of "fast-tracking" big projects like this, they'll likely take years to unravel. 

Marc P Jones/Flickr

The Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council and Sierra Club have announced the combined intention to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to protect endangered California condors from toxic lead poisoning in Arizona’s Kaibab National Forest.

As reported by Care2.com, Arizona’s California condors are the world’s most endangered species, and that lead poisoning — due to lead-based ammunition used by hunters entering the condor's food chain — is avoidable thanks to the availability of nontoxic alternatives. As recently as 2006, 95 percent of Arizona’s condor population suffered from lead poisoning, with an estimated 12 to 14 dying from it. Up to 70 percent of the birds have been treated for lead exposure.

“At a time when other agencies are stepping up efforts to get toxic lead out of the food chain, the U.S. Forest Service continues to bury its head in the sand, refusing to exercise its authority to protect wildlife on its lands and prevent the needless lead poisoning of Arizona’s condors,” said Jay Lininger, a conservation advocate with the Center For Biological Diversity. “If we want condors to survive, we must stop using ammunition that contaminates their food supply with toxic lead, especially on our national forests.”

The notice, provided under the Endangered Species Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, makes a point to emphasize the full effect of the exposure.

“Lead poisoning is a huge problem, not just for the condor but for other wildlife and even humans,” said Sandy Bahr, chapter director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter to ENews Park Forest. “Nonlead ammunition is now available for virtually all hunting uses, including the 22 rimfire ammunition, previously thought to be technically infeasible. Our national forests should lead the way in protecting the magnificent condors of the Grand Canyon region from further lead poisonings.”

California has already switched over to mandatory lead-free ammunition in the condor range. There are no ammunition restrictions in Arizona, and hunting is allowed in a majority of Kaibab National Forest.

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Kids go through a lot of markers. From school projects to decorating notebook covers with band logos, those finger-staining mainstays of classic American school supplies are as ubiquitous as No. 2 pencils.

For some 40 grade-schoolers in San Rafael, California, the sheer volume of student marker usage was the inspiration behind a new petition urging Crayola to develop a recycling program for used plastic markers.

"The idea evolved from conversations with kids about plastic waste and they immediately identified with how many Crayola plastic markers they had thrown away," said Land Wilson, a parent of one of the Sun Valley School students behind the petition to msnbc.com. "We simply want Crayola to establish an easy take back program that kids can partake in  -- i.e. prepaid return envelopes with their products or dropoff locations at retail outlets and schools."

As reported by Associated Press, the petition has collected more than 60,000 signatures on change.org, and the students plan on taking it directly to Crayola, which is a subsidiary of Hallmark.

The success of the petition has already caught the attention of Crayola, with spokesperson Stacy Gabrielle telling AP the company currently has no plans of establishing such a program.

“Because only the marker plastic is recyclable, not the ink reservoir or the tip, we do not recommend that consumers recycle the markers themselves,” Gabrielle said. “It would require the removal of the nib and reservoir which could create small parts, a choking hazard to small children.”

Gabrielle did add that the plastic marker tips are recyclable, and emphasized Craolya’s commitment to the environment, such as one billion of the three billion markers they produce annually being made from recycled plastic.

While there are no plans for a student boycott of Crayola, Wilson sees it as a tremendous opportunity for the company and students alike.

"We don't want to boycott because we love Crayola," he said. "The environmental problems children hear about daily is long and they need a champion. What better champion than a company that they already know and love."

Leslie Berestein-Rojas/KPCC

California’s Strategic Growth Council has awarded Hermosa Beach over $400,000 to be committed towards making the city more sustainable, with the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality.

“Winning this grant will enable the city to create a needed legal framework to guide and sustain us in making the transformative changes necessary to fulfill the city’s commitment to be carbon neutral,” said Hermosa Beach Mayor Jeff Duclos in the Hermosa Beach Patch. “The plan elements the city will develop with this funding will ensure a comprehensive and unified approach to implementing our vision of the future.”

Among the initiatives the grant will fund include assembling a team of experts that will update the city’s General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan, finding ways to reduce the school district’s reliance on external energy and protecting against a sea level rise. Developing new public transportation strategies is a paramount issue, since a majority of the area’s carbon output is due to traffic.

Hermosa Beach is one of 93 cities, counties and other public agencies awarded grants by the Strategic Growth Council, funded by the Proposition 84 bond allocations.

FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images

2012 is turning out to be a banner year for area sky-watchers. It was just a couple of weeks ago when we were discussing how to best experience the “super moon” that loomed large over the city on Saturday night, May 5.

An equally rare astronomical occurrence happens this weekend: The first annular solar eclipse since 1994 that will be visible in Southland skies is due early this Sunday evening.

As reported by the L.A. Times, this “ring of fire” eclipse (when the moon and sun align perfectly, the moon appearing to block out most of the sun other than the outermost edges) will begin locally at 5:42 p.m. on Sunday night, peak at 6:38 p.m. and finish by 7:42 p.m., just 10 minutes before sunset at 7:52 p.m. Convenient, considering it is a school night. 

The Times warns that attempting to take in the eclipse along the coast is a dicey proposition that could leave viewers disappointed, depending on the weather (fog and low clouds are a real view-killer). Still, expect large crowds on SoCal beaches, so plan accordingly.

Huffington Post relates that the Griffith Observatory is hosting a public viewing of the eclipse on the observatory lawn, complete with staff on hand to explain what exactly will be going on in the sky. Again, expect a sizable crowd of fellow eclipse-viewers.

Hardcore sky-watchers will have to travel outside of the Southland to get the full “ring of fire” effect (here in Los Angeles, only 86 percent of the sun will be blocked out), with prime viewing spots in Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon and Northern California areas like the northern suburbs of Sacramento or Lake Tahoe.