Dear EarthTalk I remember that medical waste, washing up in New Jersey, I believe, was a big issue in the late 1980s. Is it still today? Walter Maliszewski Camden, NJ Medical waste washing up on New Jersey beaches was a big problem in the late 1980s, closing beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the Ne
CITY HALL — “I want to see this happen, and happen soon.” These are not words that often pass the lips of City Council members, who seem to relish excruciatingly slow public process and discussion, but the council was excited to move forward with the Bicycle Action Plan, a 300-page document that spe
CITY HALL — The Hines Development Co. skirted another disappointing bid in front of the City Council Tuesday night despite community members’ concerns that the approval to move forward with a development agreement would eviscerate local control over the process.
CITY YARDS — Everything is mobile these days, including toxic waste. The Office of Sustainability and the Environment will launch a new program today that allows Santa Monica residents to call and request pick up of hazardous waste, including paint, motor oil and solvents.
Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas.
Dear EarthTalk: The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority over state water quality.
CITY HALL — A resident of a local trailer park has filed a $5.15 million claim against City Hall, alleging that the preliminary approval of a development agreement for the 2800 block of Colorado Avenue will deprive him and other tenants of their homes.
CITYWIDE — Sometimes, acting with the best of intentions can be extremely inconvenient. I fully grasped this in a stairwell of a nine-story office building on the 200 block of Wilshire Boulevard, praying to the high heavens that there were no video cameras, or particularly industrious members of the
Dear EarthTalk: What is a “dead zone” in an ocean or other body of water? Victor Paine Tallahassee, FL So-called dead zones are areas of large bodies of water-typically in the ocean but also occasionally in lakes and even rivers-that do not have enough oxygen to support marine life.
Dear EarthTalk I don’t hear much about the environmental impacts of our consumer culture any more, but it seems to me that our “buy, buy, buy” mentality is a major contributor to our overuse of energy and resources.
Dear EarthTalk I’ve been hearing more and more references to the need to clean up our agricultural practices for reasons pertaining to health, food quality, even global warming.
Dear EarthTalk Why can’t plastics of all types, instead of being initially sorted, simply be melted together to be separated later? It must be a monumental and error-prone task to separate truckloads of plastics.
