If you're visiting the Riviera Village Summer Festival this weekend, stop by the South Bay Environmental Services Center's booth to get the latest information on water and energy conservation and rebates.
Also featured during the event at the corner of Avenue I and Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach will be two electric cars that are part of an experimental Local Use Vehicle demonstration project in Redondo. The vehicles will offer residents alternatives to conventional short-haul car trips.
A new study from the Sierra Club examines the wide range of permit fees Southern California residents must pay to get a permit for a typical 3-kilowatt solar panel system. Charges range from zero in Manhattan Beach to $1,479 in Rolling Hills.
The Sierra Club contends that inflated permit costs and long wait times, which are the norm in many cities in Southern California, are hindering solar power development. Solar panels can help reduce greenhouse gases and our dependence on pollution-spewing sources of energy.
Here is the full report, where Los Angeles-area residents can look up solar permit costs in their own cities.
If you're interested in being ecologically correct and can survive with minimal computer power, the Gyy might be for you.
The Netbook, developed by a Spanish company, is a solar-powered portable computer weighing 1.5 pounds and costing around $200. The body of the computer is made of bioplastics and biodegradable materials such as starch and cellulose, so it's easily recyclable.
But it's not for gamers or video makers. The Gyy runs on Linux rather than Windows and features only 128 MB of Ram. It does, however, boast 64 GB of storage space, three USB ports, ethernet and WiFi.
It's supposed to be in stores by July.
Southern California Edison will hold a free solar information session for homeowners from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the utility's South Bay Service Center, 505 Maple Ave., in Torrance.
Those interested in learning about the benefits of installing solar panels on their homes can register for the session online or by calling 866-970-9221.
SCE is now offering rebates to homeowners as part of the California Solar Initiative.
Public transportation in the Los Angeles area and around the nation has faced difficult challenges over the past year as declines in gas prices made driving more affordable, unemployment rose and public transit agencies had to cut services and personnel.
But even so, the American Public Transportation Association reported this week that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transit during the first quarter of 2009. That represented only a small 1.2 percent decline over the same period a year earlier.
But the L.A. region fared much better than the nation as a whole in terms of attracting more transit riders. Among its transit systems classified as light rail, L.A. was one of four regions with double-digit increases in ridership during the first quarter compared to the same period in 2008. L.A.'s increase was 18 percent.
As for heavy-rail lines and subways, the L.A. region recorded one of the five highest ridership increases nationwide, at 6.4 percent.
Such statistics are causing transit advocates to call on Congress to put more funds into public transit as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand transportation options and help revitalize the nation's infrastructure.
More and more, Torrance's government, residents and businesses seem to be embracing the benefits of recycling, sustainable living and other green trends. That was my conclusion after attending the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce's Green Expo last week. The event provided local businesses with tips on using green products and services.
Here's a link to a related editorial on Tuesday's Daily Breeze's Editorial page.
Torrance residents can learn about energy conservation and how to create environmentally friendly communities Saturday at the Madrona Marsh Nature Center, 3201 Plaza Del Amo.
The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will include displays on green home improvements, energy-efficient appliances, hybrid cars, electric vehicles, scooters, bicycles, natural landscaping techniques and water conservation.
One of the South Bay's most contentious environmental problems has been a large swath of DDT- and PCB-contaminated underwater sediment off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the product of industrial runoff in decades past.
The federal government is now taking a more intensive look at the problem and how to reduce risks to human health and marine life. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a series of public meetings on the Palos Verdes Shelf, where polluted sediment extends about 9 miles, from Point Fermin in the southeast to Redondo Canyon in the northwest.
The EPA favors an interim remedy that features "institutional controls, monitored natural recovery and a containment cap," an agency press release states. Once approved, the plan will take three years to complete and cost an estimated $36 million.
The EPA is inviting the public to the following public meetings: 2 to 5 p.m. June 23 at the Cabrillo Beach House, 3800 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro; 6 to 9 p.m. June 24 at Banning's Landing, 100 E. Water St. in Wilmington; and 6 to 9 p.m. June 25 at the Palos Verdes Library, 701 Silver Spur Road in Rolling Hills Estates.
So-called green-collar jobs have multiplied more than twice as fast as the nation's overall job growth over the past decade, a new study concludes.
The Pew Charitable Trusts study, which was released Wednesday, says that U.S. renewable energy industries, including solar and wind-power companies, expanded their work force by 9.1 percent from 1998 to 2007. The nation's average job growth for all industries was 3.7 percent for the same time period.
California was tops in the number of green jobs within its borders, coming in at 125,390. Its percentage increase, however, lagged behind the national average, at 7.7 percent.
In a new report released this week, the Environmental Defense Fund says the city of Los Angeles has "tremendous potential to become the world's green-collar (job) capital."
In its Los Angeles Greenprint Report, the environmental advocacy group hailed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Green L.A. and Solar L.A. initiatives, saying such "smart policy will unleash a green job boom."
The study concluded that 2,200 businesses throughout California are likely to grow as the state transitions to a low-carbon economy.Los Angeles County has the greatest concentration of those green companies, with 400.
