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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from S.D. Landfills Underestimated Apr 03, 2008

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from S.D. Landfills Underestimated Apr 03, 2008. KPBS News has learned the California Air Board has been under-estimating greenhouse gases from San Diego County landfills. Landfills create methane gas – 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from S.D. Landfills Underestimated Apr 03, 2008

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  1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from S.D. Landfills Underestimated Apr 03, 2008 KPBS News has learned the California Air Board has been under-estimating greenhouse gases from San Diego County landfills. Landfills create methane gas – 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Based on gas capture rates KPBS obtained from county landfill operators, the real emissions were much higher than the estimates.

  2. City of San Diego Community

  3. Water we doing? Bank Robbery! Where does your water originate? How much does it cost? What happens to it when you finish with it?

  4. Connection Between Water and Power • It takes energy to move and purify water. The California Energy Commission notes that “moving water around the state takes up to 40 % of the total electricity supply” for the state of California.

  5. Metropolitan Water District (MWD) MWD's net power use for 2006 MWD diverted 632 kaf of CRA water [200B gallons], and it used 1,230 GWh to divert this amount of water at a total cost of $6.8M. MWD took 1.51 maf of SWP water [500B gallons], used 4,500 GWh to transport this amount at a total cost of $198M. MWD used 80 GWh to distribute and treat the water at a total cost of $8.7M. Amy Chen, P.E.MWD Program ChiefSan Diego County Water Authority

  6. San Diego’s Water-Energy Connection • Water is pumped through 2,890 miles of water lines within the City • 175 million gallons per day of wastewater is pumped to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. • This requires nearly 60% of the City public work’s electricity budget.

  7. FREE VIDEO! MWD “The Pursuit of Balance” SF Bay Delta levees Suboptimized

  8. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California • Wholesale water provider – 1928 • 2 MAF – 650 billion gallons : how about a 1 cent/gallon levee?????? ½ annual regional demand • 26 Member Agencies • 18 million residents • 5,200 square miles

  9. The Point Loma outfall currently discharges effluent (treated sewage) five miles offshore of San Diego; however, it has been treated only to advanced primary levels. The CWA requires all cities in the United States to treat their sewage to secondary levels before discharging it into rivers, lakes, etc. But for the last few years, San Diego has argued that these standards are unreasonable for coastal cities with deep ocean outfalls far offshore. SAN DIEGO – The city of San Diego is the state's last holdout from a federal law (CWA) requiring secondary treatment for sewage discharged into the ocean. San Diego gained that status after two Central Coast agencies recently committed to complying with the mandate. About 40 sewage treatment plants statewide pump their effluent into the Pacific Ocean. SAN DIEGO, California, 2007 - The city of San Diego will spend over $1 billion to improve its aging sewer system and prevent future spills of raw, untreated sewage into local streams, the ocean, and city streets," said the EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance. "When this suit was initiated, the city was averaging a sewage spill a day and gaining national notoriety for massive spills like the 34 million gallon spill into Adobe Creek and the San Diego River," said Coastkeeper Executive Director Bruce Reznik.

  10. SeriousIssues toPonder http://www.sacbee.com/static/live/news/projects/denial/ • How do decisions we make in California affect the environment in other parts of the world? • The impact of our public policy, business and individual decisions is profound. • The decision, for example, not to drill for oil off California's coastline has wide public support, for good reason. It allows California to preserve its wondrously scenic coastal beauty. • But the demand for gasoline continues to increase in the state - California drivers use 42.6 million gallons a day. It has to come from somewhere! • Your own ecological footprint can be calculated in acres on the Web site www.myfootprint.org. The result of my wife and me living in a 2,000-square-foot home, driving only one car, one of us usually using public transportation (or bike) except to travel occasionally by air, and seldom eating meat is that we would still need 3.4 planets if everyone in the world lived this way.

  11. Face the Facts • Understand San Diego’s Climate and Geological Limitations. • Set Priority Uses for Water. • Correct the Myth That the Region Has an Unlimited Supply of Water.

  12. For more information • http:// www. sandiego.gov/ environmental- services • http://www. sandiego.gov/water/ • Linda Giannelli Pratt, Chief Office of Environmental Protection • LPratt@sandiego.gov

  13. Do unto future generations as we would want them to do unto us

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