As California’s 2023 legislative session comes to a close, there are a number of bills relating to climate legislation which have passed and are awaiting the governor’s signature to become law. One of the bills which has been talked about the most is the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. This bill would require corporations with
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Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz toured the Salton Sea area along with Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva. Grijalva is currently the ranking member of the House Committee of Natural Resources. The committee has jurisdiction over bodies of water and natural resources such as lithium. The Salton Sea alone has the estimated potential to provide 40 percent of
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For years, environmental and medical leaders have talked about the dangers of the Salton Sea drying up. The receding shoreline exposes toxic playa, creating harmful air quality that can spread to the surrounding Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley areas. But now, a new study from UC San Diego Scripps and San Diego State University is
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The Ford Motor Company and EnergySource Minerals (ESM) reached an agreement for lithium produced at facilities located at the Salton Sea. ESM will supply Ford with lithium hydroxide produced at ESM’s Project ATLiS™, located in Imperial Valley. Project ATLiS is expected to be operational in 2025, the company announced. As highlighted in News Channel 3
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The three Colorado River lower basin states, California, Arizona, and Nevada, have reached a landmark deal on water cuts to conserve water from the river amid continuing drought concerns. The U.S. Department of the Interior made the announcement in a press release today. The Colorado River system provides water to more than 40 million people
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Governor Gavin Newsom joined local leaders Monday morning for a visit to Imperial Valley. Newsom visited a Geothermal Plant near the beleaguered Salton Sea to get an update on progress being made toward lithium production. “We’re witnessing another moment in history with the creation of California Silicon Valley right here,” Newsom said. Watch his full
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A bill to establish a new state conservancy at the beleaguered Salton Sea was introduced in the California Senate on Wednesday by State Sen. Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). Senate Bill 583 would manage projects to restore habitat, create recreational opportunities and minimize windblown dust in the lake, which is the largest in California. Check Out
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General Motors has awarded Audubon California a $500,000 grant to help support its work restoring the beleaguered Salton Sea. This Week: Bureau of Reclamation announces $250M federal investment at the Salton Sea The National Audubon Society is a non-profit that protects birds and their habitats. The organization has a California chapter that focuses on the
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Update 11/29/22: The Imperial Irrigation District board of directors voted 3-2 to unlock the first $22 million of the agreement. Original Report 11/28/22: The Department of Interior announced a historic agreement that will see a quarter of a billion dollars in funds go towards mitigating the impacts of the worsening drought crisis impacting the Salton
Continue Reading Congressman Raul Ruiz is calling on the U.S. Department of the Interior to uphold its commitments to the Salton Sea, including millions in federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. According to Ruiz’s office, the Inflation Reduction Act includes $4 billion in funding specifically for water management and conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin
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By JONATHAN J. COOPER AND KATHLEEN RONAYNE PHOENIX (AP) — California communities exposed to hazardous dust by a drying lake bed have found themselves at the center of tensions between Arizona and California over how to conserve water along the overtaxed Colorado River. U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat facing reelection, wants the federal
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A prayer vigil will be held on Monday, October 10 at 10:00 a.m. in Thermal to build support for the recovery of California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea. The event also marks Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It’s being hosted by the Desert Interfaith Council with EcoMedia Compass, Alianza and the city of Coachella. Numerous other community
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A massive dust storm slammed into the valley Thursday night, sending particles into the air that are dangerous to people’s health. The valley showed an Air Quality Index of 500 Friday, the maximum level, indicating hazardous conditions. Experts say the drying up Salton Sea only made the air worse to breathe. The wall of dust
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A new mandate on water conservation could have some major impacts on the already struggling Salton Sea. State officials have been busy in 2022, fulfilling a promise made long ago to create wetland habitat at the southern end of the lake. “It’s extremely encouraging to see that it’s already working, and we’re not even done
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A natural resources investment company announced today it intends to allocate up to 5,000 acre-feet of water annually to the Salton Sea and Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe as part of a public-private partnership intended to help reinvigorate the dying Salton Sea and ensure reliable potable water for communities on tribal land. Check Out
Continue Reading A bill that could see $250 million go towards projects at the Salton Sea is heading to the Senate. On Friday, the House passed “The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act.” It’s a bill that local Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz has been pushing for. The act includes a bill written by Ruiz that would earmark a quarter
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He is just about a month out of high school, but Palm Desert teenager Clay Jones has already developed an innovation that could help create clean energy from the Salton Sea. Working out of his parents’ garage, the recent Palm Desert High School graduate has created a lithium extraction device inspired by the lithium potential
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Wednesday night, California lawmakers approved the $3.8 billion state budget plan. Part of the budget includes a new tax on lithium being developed at the Salton Sea. Lithium developer Controlled Thermal Resources said the tax is too high and will instead push people to buy lithium from China. “CTR is confident that an independent study of the
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Stellantis reached an agreement with Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hell’s Kitchen project to buy lithium produced at the Salton Sea to supply its North American electric vehicle production. The 10-year-old agreement will see the CTR supply up to 25,000 metric tons per year of lithium hydroxide, the companies announced. The supply will support Stellantis’ U.S. product offensive
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By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN Business The Salton Sea Basin feels almost alien. It lies where two enormous chunks of the Earth’s crust, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, are very slowly pushing past one another creating an enormous low spot in the land. It’s a big, flat gray desert ringed with high mountains
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