Courtesy MojaveDesertBlog

Pacific Swell's song this week was inspired by the news about the Calico Solar facility proposed in San Bernardino county. Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times reports that the California Assembly is putting a 663-acre project near Ludlow on rails, fast tracking its approval so that it can meet deadlines in the Energy Commission. 

When what's generally called Calico got fast-tracked a couple of years ago, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called it "one of several projects in the pipeline that will help California and the nation build a renewable energy economy." Tessera Solar was supposed to sell the power to Southern California Edison; the future looked bright. It didn't turn out that way. Tessera sold to K Road. At best, the project has been embattled: it's been dragged into court. But if the Assembly's legislation takes effect, its fortunes could change. Writes Sahagun:

Today, Calico Solar has no power purchase agreement with a utility, no financing and no construction start date, and it faces a lawsuit by environmentalists. But with the Energy Commission's approval, the project could become an attractive acquisition for a big solar developer. 

The song this week has no lyrics. "Desert Sun," by Keith Jarrett. Gary Peacock on double bass. Jack DeJohnette on drums. It's from his album, Live at the Blue Note. Be warned, it's 28 minutes long. But like this story, you don't know where it's going. 

Listen to all of the Songs of the Week. 

elliotleuthold/Flickr

Oscar the Grouch did not write this song of the week.

Song of the Week returns triumphantly and slightly prematurely (Earth Day isn't until Sunday) with the song "Trash," in fond appreciation for something that KPCC videographer Mae Ryan has worked up, which our website will debut on Sunday. For now, "Trash" by Robin Gibb is for Oscar the Grouch, and was brought to you by the letter L for Lisa Brenner, our blogger. 

Sometimes it's lying on a beach
Or down an alley out of reach.
Trash, I love it.

What other people throw away
I try to save for a rainy day.
Trash, I love it. 

Sanitation officials in Los Angeles have been working on plans to divert all of the city's waste away from landfills within two decades. That proposed zero-waste policy would rely, in part, on sending more materials to recycling centers. Assistant Director for Sanitation Alex Helou told me that LA is already diverting more than 65 percent of its waste away from landfills. "We've been doing a great job as a big city," he says. "We went beyond other cities. We [began to] recycle plastic bags when it was not popular, in 2006-2007. We recycle styrofoam when it's still not popular. We've done all these things." 

The LA City Council will be making decisions in the coming months about some recycling programs. One of them explores how to manage waste diversion for commercial and industrial buildings in Los Angeles. We'll have a story about that soon. 

You see I wasn't born with much
'Cept the sun and moon and such,
So I handle it all carefully.
Trash is everything to me. 

The busted strings and ragged ends,
The broken things that no one mends.
Trash, I love it.

The schemes that only last a day,
The games I'm just too old to play.
Trash, I love it.

But when I feel I'm wearing thin,
Regretting things that should've been,
I settle down quite peacefully.
Trash is everything to me.

I'm on record as not loving Earth Day, but don't forget that Sunday's also the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Baykeeper's got a free event going Saturday called "Stand Up for Clean Water." There's going to be a stand-up paddle board race (no word on whether paddle board enthusiast and KPCC reporter Brian Watt will participate), demos, lessons, and yoga on the beach. The event's actually part of a national series Waterkeeper is calling SPLASH, aimed at getting more people out paddling and surfing--and generally getting mixed up in public waters. 

Listen to all of the Songs of the Week. 

David McNew/Getty Images

Evening sets on the San Onofre atomic power plant December 6, 2004 in northern San Diego County, south of San Clemente, California.

A little over a week ago, steam generator tubes failed during a test at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Since then Edison has been testing about 1% of its 19,000-plus tubes on site. And it would seem that could take a while, based on tweets from Edison's community outreach like this: 

Won’t return to service until we’re satisfied it’s safe to do so. #safety

— SCE_SONGS (@SCE_SONGS) March 15, 2012

This week, Southern California and the California Independent System Operator began to grapple with what a shutdown at San Onofre could mean to summer energy needs. The ISO, at a meeting this week, discussed contingencies for that circumstance. System operators could consider speeding up Sunrise Powerlink and the Barre Ellis transmission projects. They could keep a power plant on its way to extinction in Huntington Beach open a little longer. They could step up calls for public conservation, and public agencies and the military could impose mandatory restrictions. 

And if this doesn't happen, brownouts and rolling blackouts could make a repeat appearance in the region. As KPBS' Alison St. John reports: 

John Geesman, an attorney from the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, chided the board for not looking longer term at the consequences of losing the power generated at the nuclear power station. He said this summer may be a problem, but his concern is next summer and the summer after that if the power plant is not part of the energy mix.

So, in honor of San Onofre, the Song of the Week is by Barry Manilow. "Can't Smile Without You." 

I'm no big fanilow of the Manilow, but this song's magic is undeniable. He's singing about someone without whom he could not imagine living. You know, like how Southern California feels about its air conditioners and the energy sources that supply the power to them. Like San Onofre. Or electricity at the switch. 

You know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you
You came along just like a song
And brighten my day

Who would have believed that you where part of a dream
Now it all seems light years away 

Listen to all of the songs of the week. 

sandocap/Flickr

Anti-nuclear power protests in Kouenji, Tokyo, Japan, April 2011.

If there's one rule about the Song of the Week, it's that it can't be a protest song. Protest music, generally, is where melody, good lyrics, and humor go to die. But rules are made to be broken.

It's a year after the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and resulting tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Power plant in Japan. I don't know that anyone is yet reporting on what that accident reveals about our sense of risk from that sort of harm. It does seem like we're still piecing together what happened; we're not yet thinking about what we might pay in the future if we're still trying to count the cost--and it seems we are. I recommend you find, read, and listen to everything at FUEL an energy journal, and the formidable Alex Chadwick's reporting on energy issues, including nuclear power, and including Fukushima.

Last summer I started getting interested in music coming out of Japan after the incident. Some of my friends had started putting it on Facebook; when I was in law school, I had worked overseas with Japanese people who had wicked senses of humor. (Apparently it was featured in The Atlantic too.)

A lot of this music is just insane; some is reworked lyrically in Japanese from American original rock songs, as with this cover of "Summertime Blues." Often it helps to have the YouTube to look at, since translation and context helps. But even with your eyes closed, it's not hard to imagine what Coma-Chi is singing. (She's a rapper.) The song, as you might guess, is "Say NO!" and, while there are several remixes available, I'll take the original: 

My enduring favorite, though, is by Rankin' Taxi, and this is our song of the week. It's called "You can't see it, and you can't smell it."  If you don't speak Japanese, you can sort of catch the word Fukushima flying by your ear at the beginning. The translation tells the rest of us the story. 

Just one accident will cause total panic, like the Titanic just before it sank 
Chernobyl is now a ghost town, innocent kids with thyroid cancer 
Hello, so you're the famous Plutonium!
The myth of 'safety' died at Fukushima 
No more farm produce... how far will the contamination go, and for how long? 

Radiation is strong, Radiation is powerful, it doesn't discriminate, and you can't beat it 
Radiation is strong, Radiation is powerful, it doesn't discriminate, and you can't beat it 

Nuclear power - safe even with a leak of the primary cooling water! 
Nuclear power - preserving world peace 24 hours a day! 
A populace that will forgive anything short of a catastrophe 
Idiotic slip-ups that occur even with vigilance 
Well orchestrated PR campaigns, a subliminally transmitted innocuous image 
Big money buying full-page newspaper ads 
Everyone's taken in till the wind starts blowing 

Without endorsing Rankin' Taxi's point of view, the song also seems appropriate since this week we're reminded of nuclear risk in Southern California. As various reporters and KPCC folk have told you, SONGS (the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) has been having problems with its generator tubes. Seven of them, now, and most recently they've been having problems with tubes that are relatively new. As the AP reports, "A tube rupture is really the concern," says Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Lara Uselding. The facility's under pressure to get reactors back up and running in advance of peak energy demand; a spokeswoman for the state's wholesale energy authority said if that doesn't happen, Los Angeles and San Diego could see summer blackouts. 

Die from a dose of radiation? No way! 
Did you say an unstoppable leak? No way! 
Do I want to be an object of hate for unborn children? No way! 
Do I want to lead a life of unhealthy luxury? No way! 
Can radiation deepen love? Can radiation make us wiser? 
Can radiation stop wars? Can radiation bring a smile? 

Listen to the Songs of the Week for 2012. 

jpmckenna/Flickr

Even California grey whales need to stop and check for directions. This weekend and next, Dana Point is the place they'll do it, and so the city's holding its 41st annual Festival of Whales. Ground zero for Dana Point's party is the Headlands Conservation area: 

The Park includes a public trail system, over three miles in length, and links all the parks and open space areas of the Headlands. The system includes pedestrian trails, coastal and beach access, scenic overlooks and the Nature Interpretive Center. The parks and trails can be reached either off of Green Lantern or at Dana Strand Rd., limited parking is available along these streets or at the Nature Interpretive Center parking lot. The trails are open from 7 a.m. to sunset daily.

This weekend they've got a parade, a block party, educational lectures, and a sandcastle building contest. 

California grey whales have been having a big year so far, considering they got what was probably a heartwarming family feature film about them. You'd hardly notice there's an effort underway to list them as endangered. But as we heard in a story from Fronteras this week, Baja California's environmental groups are working to protect areas where they can thrive.

So in general recognition of California grey whales this week, our song is "The Whale Song," by Pearl Jam.

The sun was in clouds.
The sun looked out.
Exposed a trail of mist and spouts.
Ships followed the ancient lead.
Deceiving friends under the sea.

Wow, imagine that?
They won't fight back.
I got a theory on that.
A whale's heart is as big as a car.
A whaler's thought must be smudged by the dark.

They won't fight back.
I'm sure they know how.
Means they love or are too proud.

If I was lost at sea.
That harpoon boat in front of me.
It's the whale I'd like to be.

Listen to all of the Songs of the Week.