Heal the Bay Blog

Heal the Bay’s fifth consecutive “4-Star” rating assures that your contribution will be used in the most fiscally responsible way possible to improve the quality of Southern California coastal waters.

For the fifth consecutive year, Heal the Bay has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent evaluator of charities. Only 5% of the 5,400 charities rated by Charity Navigator have earned the 4-star rating for 5 consecutive evaluations.

Receiving four out of four stars indicates that Heal the Bay excels, as compared to other charities in America, in successfully managing the organization’s finances in an efficient and effective manner (please view Heal the Bay’s rating page at Charity Navigator).

Thus, when you give to Heal the Bay by joining or donating, you’ll know that your contribution directly supports activities to restore precious Southern California coastal waters and watersheds and protect public health at the beach.

Some of the activities your contribution supports include:

• Scientific and legal experts
  Our experts work daily on science and policy issues to achieve the goal of clean and safe Southern California coastal waters. This work has been instrumental in improving local water quality by pressuring for improvement of local sewage treatment plants, enforcement of water pollution laws, and identifying other sources of coastal pollution.
• Volunteer programs
  Programs such as as the Malibu Creek Stream Team utilize volunteers in water chemistry testing and watershed mapping while Coastal Cleanup Day and Adopt-A-Beach programs employ volunteers in a hands-on approach to keeping beaches, rivers, and creeks debris-free.
• Educational programs
  Our Key to the Sea and Speakers Bureau programs spread the word about pollution prevention and coastal stewardship to more than 35,000 people of all ages every year. Heal the Bay’s renowned Beach Report Card grades water quality on an A-F system at over 450 locations along the California coast, showing where it is safe to swim and surf.

Heal the Bay was founded on a simple premise – that our oceans and beaches should be safe for everyone who loves to swim, surf, fish, or simply enjoy the beauty of the Southern California Coast. Help us reach that goal –join or donate today – be part of the solution and help make a difference in the quality of our Southern California coast!

By now you’ve heard the horrible news that AB 1998, which would’ve
banned single-use plastic bags at supermarkets and other selected
retailers statewide, went down to defeat by a 21-14 vote in the
California state Senate last night.  The bill garnered global attention
as the world waited to see if the so-called Golden State could once
again lead the way on environmental protection and sustainability. The
Heal the Bay-sponsored measure also received unprecedented coalition
support  from grocers, retailers, unions, cities, counties, and
environmental groups. But the vote wasn’t close. 

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)

Last week the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gutted and
amended a pending state bill (AB 1552) and inserted new language that
would have significantly eased newly established rules for how power
plants suck in ocean water to cool themselves.  DWP leaders went on the
offensive against these regulations, even though an existing city policy
on Once Through Cooling legislation doesn’t exist. They moved forward
without a city council vote on the proposed legislation. (And in an
interesting bit of timing, lawmakers introduced the measure just as the
L.A. City Council commenced its two-week summer break.) 

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)

Sorry about the blog blackout, but I just got back from a family vacation to Alaska. My first trip to the land of Denali, fjords and tundra didn’t disappoint. I’ve dreamed of going to Alaska since my fifth-grade report on Seward’s Folly.

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)

We’re rounding third and headed for home. After pulling out all the
stops (and clichés) by “trashing our friends” and sharing the joys of
the natural history of “The Majestic Plastic Bag”
(200,000 views and counting of the Jeremy Irons voiceover homage to
Attenborough), AB 1998 needs 21 votes in the Senate to pass. A simple
majority.

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)

The Aspen Institute and the National Geographic Society kicked off the 2010 Aspen Environment Forum Sunday night with a lively discussion of the Gulf disaster. The timing of the forum, which always focuses on climate and renewable energy issues, has definitely cast an air of pessimism here.

Read more & comment» (Spouting Off Blog)

We at Heal the Bay hate Paul the octopus. That may seem strange to hear from a group dedicated to the protection of marine life.

The English import, Octopus vulgaris, made his spot-on World Cup picks in a German aquarium. His prognostication prowess demonstrated that either: a) maybe the subtlety and majesty of the so-called beautiful game isn’t that tough to master; or b) Paul knows a helluva lot more about soccer than any announcer on ESPN.

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board held a two-day marathon meeting at the end of last week. I’ve been attending board hearings for nearly a quarter century, well over 150 overall.  The Thursday hearing had to be the most screwed-up session I’ve ever attended, and I’m now convinced that this is the most anti-environmental board since the Gov. Deukmejian days. Heal the Bay had seven different items in front of the Regional Board over the session, which took place at the Ventura County government building and then Glendale City Hall.

Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)