Free Republic

7-Eleven’s plan to demolish one of its east Santa Rosa stores and several surrounding buildings to build a sleek new convenience store and add gas pumps has sparked opposition from activists who oppose new fossil fuel outlets in Sonoma County. Texas-based 7-Eleven aims to replace the existing shop at Highway 12 and Middle Rincon Road with a new 24-hour convenience store and at least six gas pumps, according to an application filed with Santa Rosa planning officials. Designs call for demolishing the store, a martial arts studio and at least one adjacent home, forcing longtime tenants to find another place...

A controversial group opposing Japanese whaling in the Antarctic region on Monday released video showing one of its ships, the Bob Barker, being sandwiched tightly between two larger vessels: a Japanese whaling ship and a Korean refueling tanker. It also shows what's said to be a flash-bang grenade explosion near the stern of the refueling ship, Sun Laurel. The dramatic incident surely ranks as among the most tense in the years-long history of clashes between the whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

James Lee, the crazed environmentalist that took hostages at Discovery Channel's Maryland headquarters only to be shot and killed by police Wednesday, was "awakened" by Nobel Laureate Al Gore's schlockumentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

Few adults may know it, but kids across the country are about to celebrate a holiday: Earth Day, which is April 22. Schools will take a break from normal instruction to discuss the importance of preserving the environment. That may sound like a harmless activity, but too often Earth Day becomes a platform for pushing an ideological brand of environmentalism. Parents need to pay attention and ask their children's teachers what's their plans are for Earth Day. Unlike most holidays, Earth Day expressly focuses on youth. No gifts will be exchanged and no Easter Bunny will deliver jelly beans in...

SACRAMENTO - The order by a federal judge to reduce pumping by 30% in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta leaves water suppliers who rely on the California Aqueduct, including those in the Antelope Valley, in a bind. Just last week U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger issued his final word regarding the slowdown in pumping operations at the Harvey O. Banks, the starting point of the 444-mile California Aqueduct, core to the State Water Project that furnishes drinking and agricultural water to much of Southern California. Wanger mandated the pumping reduction in order to protect an endangered fish species, the...

Eco-Warriors To Take 'Direct Action' Updated: 20:22, Saturday August 18, 2007 Climate campaigners are warning of a "day of direct action" against Heathrow airport on Sunday. Protesters 'too busy' for peace talks Protesters 'too busy' for peace talks Protesters, buoyed by an influx of new arrivals, promised 24 hours of disruption, starting from midday. It comes as travellers heading for the Caribbean are already facing delays due to the gathering pace of Hurricane Dean. And it follows an unsuccessful call on Saturday from a group of airline pilots for "peace talks" aimed at averting disorder. The pilots said debating the...

Water woes in California awakened some elected officials to the need for a peripheral canal, an alternative to the state's existing water delivery system, where the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta pumps can be shut down at any time for any number of reasons. Congressman Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, has become a proponent and has called for construction of an alternate water conveyance system - a peripheral canal - that would transport water supplies from Northern California to the southern regions of the state. Their unified stance intensified after the Department of Water Resources voluntarily shut down the pumps for 10 days...

Despite controversy over whether they are killing a rare species of fish, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps that help send Northern California water to Southern California are running at approximately normal capacity for this time of year - welcome news for the Antelope Valley water districts that supply the water to their customers. Equipment at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant, the central artery of the State Water Project outside Tracy, has been sending roughly 12,000 acre-feet of water per day into the 444-mile California Aqueduct, said Don Strickland, a state Department of Water Resources public information officer. An acre-foot equals...

Q ...California has a civil code to protect us from the unintentional harm of others: California Health and Safety Code Section 41700 41700. Except as otherwise provided in Section 41705, no person shall discharge from any source whatsoever such quantities of air contaminants or other material which cause injury, detriment, nuisance, or annoyance to any considerable number of persons or to the public, or which endanger the comfort, repose, health, or safety of any such persons or the public, or which cause, or have a natural tendency to cause, injury or damage to business or property. My situation is when...

Researchers fear a continuation of climate changes could doom California oaks and the area's beloved banana slugs.Researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz -- which has a banana slug as school mascot -- said global warming could threaten California's iconic oak woodlands and the slugs that live in them by shifting the growing climate northward.If sea surface temperatures rise along the coast, researchers said, there could be a reduction in fog and thus too little moisture to support the trees.