New California ballot measure will let paint companies off the hook for lead cleanup, charge taxpayers instead

In an attempt to avoid spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove hazardous lead paint from California homes, two of the liable companies have successfully qualified a ballot initiative for this November that would transfer the responsibility to taxpayers.

Photo credit:  USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency (Lead Paint) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


Sherwin-Williams and ConAgra collected enough signatures to qualify the measure,which would upend their court ordered obligations for the clean up of homes built before 1951. The two companies, along with NL Industries, had been successfully sued by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and 8 other areas and found liable for creating a public nuisance.

The courts found that the companies knowingly sold and advertised lead paint, despite having knowledge that it had serious health effects, especially in children.

Lead paint was banned for home use in 1978.

If approved by California voters, the measure would authorize a $2 billion taxpayer funded loan to pay for the cleanup.

The proponents of the measure have argued that it will provide sufficient funding not only for lead paint removal but also for the removal of mold and other hazards from homes and schools throughout the state and not just in the cities that won the lawsuit.

However, the companies and legislators are reportedly negotiating legislation that would limit their liability to $500 million over the next decade, overturn the court ruling, and absolve them from additional liability. If successful, they will be able to remove the initiative from the ballot but it must be done by tomorrow, June 28.

Free Smog Repairs, this Saturday!

This Saturday!

For more info: http://valleycan.org/

Environmental film festival in Santa Monica on April 21, 2018

If you are interested in the environment and film, the second annual Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival may be worth your time.




Open to the public, the festival will take place at Laemmle's Monica Film Center in Santa Monica from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

The festival will feature a variety of free and nominal cost environmental shorts, four acclaimed films, and two back-to-back episodes of KCET and Link TV's "Earth Focus." The latter is the longest running environmental news program on U.S. television.

For a complete program listing and ticket information, please check this link:

Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival

CARB Chair responds to another Trump directive

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chairwoman, Mary Nichols, responded today to a new Presidential directive that she claims will weaken air pollution control efforts and threaten the public's health.

Mary Nichols

Photo: CARB

The Presidential Memorandum, which was issued yesterday by President Trump. directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to speed up the review of permit applications, air quality plans, and other areas to streamline and make more efficient a variety of air pollution programs, policies, and procedures.

In the Memorandum, President Trump asserts that existing EPA requirements and procedures have resulted in "unnecessary impediments to new manufacturing and business expansion essential for a growing economy."

In response, Nichols said, “This order caves to a minority of industries who claim Clean Air Act standards are too strict, too costly and too burdensome. The truth is a large body of research shows the Clean Air Act dramatically improves public health, especially among our most vulnerable populations. The consequences of inaction are irresponsible -- unhealthy people, shortened lives, and greater demands on our health care system.”