SEPTEMBER 2005 HEADLINES New Analysis: California Can Cut Water Use And Meet Growing Needs California can cut its wasteful use of water by 20 percent in the next 25 years while satisfying a growing population, maintaining a healthy agricultural sector, and supporting a vibrant economy. That's the central message of "California Water 2030: An Efficient Future" by Dr. Peter H. Gleick, Heather Cooley, and David Groves. Presented as the missing piece of the forthcoming 2005 California Water Plan, the report details how smart technology, strong management, and appropriate rates and incentives can allow the state to meet its needs well into the future. The report is available in print for $20 and can be downloaded without charge from our website. New Clean Air Campaign: "Don't Sit Idle" Building on the Pacific Institute's ongoing work on reducing diesel pollution, the Institute and the Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative will kick off a new campaign to reduce idling with a "Don't Sit Idle" day of action. Nearly every day in the U.S., vehicles idle away the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Residents, environmental justice advocates, and community organizations will educate truckers, bus drivers, and residents about new laws that limit the idling of trucks, buses and other diesel vehicles. Want to help? Then join us for outreach activities and a celebration in West Oakland afterwards. To get involved, contact Meena Palaniappan at 510-251-1600 or via our Contact page. California Air Resources Board Undercuts Diesel Reduction Efforts With Secret Memo Public participation is critical to effective public policy. But instead of hewing to an open and transparent planning process, the California Air Resources Board, Union Pacific, and BNSF Railroad have created a secret agreement that purports to reduce diesel pollution from rail yards, but is really just a poison pill to prevent real action. The agreement implements idling reduction technologies and other actions to reduce emissions from rail operations in the state, but fails entirely to clean up old, dirty switching trains, which are one of the primary concerns of communities impacted by rail yards. Most importantly, the agreement was negotiated without any public participation and contains a “poison pill” provision that renders it null if any legislation attempts to regulate rail pollution. This is especially significant for communities in Southern California who were working with the Air District on southcoast rail legislation, that is now effectively dead on the vine due to this agreement. The Pacific Institute, West Oakland EIP, and other Bay Area environmental justice groups have co-authored a comment letter to the ARB's Chairperson and Board discussing our concerns. The Air Board will meet on September 22 in Southern California to make a final decision regarding the agreement. Environmental justice organizations throughout the state will be organizing a rally at the Board meeting to demand this agreement be rescinded. For more information, contact Emily at 510-251-1600. For more information, contact Emily at 510-251-1600. New Communications Director Takes the Reins The Pacific Institute is proud to announce the addition of Ian Hart as Communications Director. Mr. Hart was previously External Affairs Coordinator for the Conservation Law Foundation and is a recent graduate of Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. He will be taking the reins from long-time director Nicholas Cain who is leaving to travel and work on various writing projects. Ian can be reached at 510-251-1600, extension 106 or via email at ian (at) pacinst.org.		UPCOMING 9/20/05, Diesel Pollution, [West Oakland, Calif], Truck Route will be heard before City Council for its second reading and final passage before it becomes a city ordinance. Info: Contact Emily Lee at 510-251-1600. 9/20/05, Business Risks of Water, [Sierre, Switzerland], Peter Gleick will speak at the water meeting of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development on the economic risks of water problems. 9/30/05, Desalination, [Austin, Texas], Peter Gleick will speak at the meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists on a panel devoted to desalination. 9/30/05, Diesel Pollution, [Contra Costa, Calif.], Pacific Institute and community partners will present "Deluged by Diesel: Healthy Solutions for West County" to the Board of the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee. 10/14/05, Diesel Pollution, [Oakland, Calif.], The Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative and Pacific Institute will host a "Workshop on Alternatives to Diesel" to share ideas to reduce diesel pollution. 1:00 to 5:00 pm at the State Building, 1515 Clay St. Info: Meena Palaniappan at 510-251-1600 or via email. 10/25/05, Diesel Pollution, [Bay Area, Calif], The Pacific Institute and the Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative will kick off our anti-idling campaign with the "Don't Sit Idle" day of action (see Headlines for more information).

9/7/05, Heather Cooley presented an early look at the Institute's new High Efficiency scenario report at the Plenary session of the California Urban Water Conservation Council meeting.

9/7/05, Peter Gleick spoke at the Hollywood opening of the new film "Running Dry." This documentary takes a hard look at the global challenges around water supply and sanitation, and features Gleick and other water experts including Mikhail Gorbachev, Shimon Peres, Aaron Wolf, and Kader Asmal.

9/7/05, Author Chris Mooney presented his new book, "The Republican War on Science" at the African American Museum and Library. More details on our website.

8/31/05, Jason Morrison attended an NGO strategy meeting in London focusing on ISO's Social Responsibility standard. The goal of the one-day event, which drew 25 representatives from a wide range of organizations, was to ensure that all NGOs have the information they need to make informed assessments on the opportunities and threats presented by ISO's recent SR initiative.

8/30/05, Emily Lee and Meena Palaniappan met with the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network to discuss health insurance needs among West Oakland residents and the model of Health Impact Assessment.

8/29-8/30/05, Jason Morrison attended the semi-annual meeting of the US national mirror body to ISO Technical Committee 207 - Environmental Management. At the meeting, held in Washington DC, the group approved the U.S. response to a TC 207 survey on national-level stakeholder consultation in standards development. The Pacific Institute drafted the U.S. submission that was finally endorsed by the mirror body, and also played a leading role in developing the questionnaire itself, which was circulated to the 60 plus member countries participating in ISO's environmental committee.

8/29/05, As part of the West Oakland Toxics Reduction Collaborative Steering Committee, Meena Palaniappan helped develop an action plan to reduce air pollution in West Oakland. The Toxics Reduction Collaborative, jointly chaired by the U.S. EPA and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, brings together agencies and residents to improve public health.

8/26/05, Emily Lee and Margaret Gordon hosted a bus tour of the proposed West Oakland Truck Route for CalTrans staff, city staff, truckers, and residents. The truck route ordinance goes before City Council on Sept 20th for its 2nd reading and final passage.

8/24/05, Heather Cooley presented an early look at the Institute's new High Efficiency scenario report at the 12th Annual California Urban Water Conference, "California and the Southwest -- Looking to the Future."

8/24/05, Emily Lee and Margaret Gordon participated in the Truck Workgroup meeting of the West Oakland Air Toxics Reduction Collaborative. The workgroup discussed potential project proposals ranging from developing legislation to issuing a statement on land use in West Oakland.

8/22/05, Meena Palaniappan convened a meeting of the environmental health and justice organizations involved in the Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative's Steering Committee.

8/18/05, Meena Palaniappan hosted a delegation of officials from Sri Lankan environmental agencies and NGOs to share ideas as part of the Institute for International Education's Environmental Exchange.

8/17/05, Peter Gleick presented an early look at the Institute's "California Water 2030" report at the Public Advisory Committee meeting of the California Department of Water Resources (see Headlines for more information on this report).

8/17/05, Emily Lee presented results from the recent report "Deluged by Diesel: Healthy Solutions for West County" to the Laidlaw Bus Drivers in the Richmond District. Laidlaw has agreed to apply for funds from the Bay Area Air District to reduce their Richmond fleets' diesel emissions.

8/16-8/17/05, Jason Morrison attended a meeting of the U.S. national mirror body to the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to identify areas of consensus and disagreement among U.S. interests and to provide strategic guidance for the U.S. multi-stakeholder delegation attending the next meeting of the Working Group in Bangkok in September. (Morrison will serve as the NGO representative on the six-person delegation.)

8/11/05, Peter Gleick provided testimony on climate change and California water challenges at a special hearing of the California Assembly Select Committee on Air and Water Quality, Fran Pavley, Chair.

8/11/05, The Pacific Institute co-hosted an industry-NGO dialogue on corporate transparency and accountability. Sponsored by the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), the event was held in Oakland and attended by several dozen environmental organizations and U.S.-based multi-national corporations who came together to discuss GEMI's recently released guidance on transparency.

8/11/05, Meena Palaniappan and Margaret Gordon participated in the first meeting of the Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative, which is working to develop and implement a campaign to improve environmental health in the region.

8/10/05, Meena Palaniappan and representatives from West Contra Costa County presented the results of the Pacific Institute's recent report on air pollution, "Deluged by Diesel," to the executive staff of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The Air District agreed to partner with the community to implement recommendations, and provide grant funds to West County businesses to transfer to cleaner diesel fleets.

8/9/05, Meena Palaniappan hosted a meeting to plan the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative's anti-idling campaign.

8/8/05, Peter Gleick presented a briefing on climate change and water to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Citizens' Advisory Committee.

8/4/05, Meena Palaniappan hosted a subgroup of the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative to discuss moving forward with a campaign to reduce pollution from the growing Goods Movement sector.

8/2/05, Meena Palaniappan met with U.S. EPA, the Port of Oakland, NRDC and PG&E to discuss options to reduce pollution from the Port of Oakland through the use of "No Net Increase" legislation.

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