Category: Environmental

The wrong way to plan for cannabis cultivation

On April 16, the Board of Supervisors will decide whether to direct Permit Sonoma to address the severe compatibility problems with cannabis cultivation in rural neighborhoods. Last year the supervisors publicly committed to amending the cannabis ordinance to fix these problems, but ultimately failed to do much. The supervisors need to acknowledge the fundamental problem.…
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Sonoma County can do more to protect rural residents from fires (Bohemian)

Last November, the world watched with horror as residents of Paradise tried to escape from an oncoming wildfire on clogged roads, some so desperate that they abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. Government can reduce the risk from wildfires. Sonoma County should enforce the state’s fire-safe road regulations to stop new development in fire-prone…
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Close to Home: Sonoma County can do more to protect rural residents from fires (Press Democrat)

In November, the world watched with horror as residents of Paradise tried to escape from an oncoming wildfire on clogged roads, some so desperate that they abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. Two weeks ago, columnist Pete Golis asked whether government can reduce the risk from wildfires. The answer to his timely question is…
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Marijuana stinks. Here’s what cities, businesses and neighbors can do about it.

By Brooke Edwards Staggs, The Cannifornian Posted on Sep 11, 2018 Even the most ardent marijuana lovers can’t deny it: The plant, at least to some noses, stinks. Marijuana odors have triggered lawsuits against cannabis companies. They’ve also led residents to try to block commercial operations from coming to California and the other eight states where recreational…
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Not so green: how the weed industry is a glutton for fossil fuels

Producing a few pounds of weed can have the same environmental toll as driving across America seven times – harming cities’ and states’ plans to curb emissions As he opens the steel door to the jumble of his office, located in a cloistered warehouse on the west side of Denver, Paul Isenbergh is barking down…
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Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation in California

Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation in California Mariah Ponce ENVS PDF Version: https://www.csus.edu/envs/for%20students/Ponce.finalthesis.spring18-.pdf Abstract Marijuana (Cannabis spp.) is a water intensive plant that requires 22.7 liters of water a day per plant to grow. On average, outdoor marijuana sites require nearly 430 million L/ km2 of water for production. Water use associated with marijuana production…
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Everything you need to know about pot’s environmental impact

Americans smoke a lot of weed. It’s a little tricky to get a handle on the actual numbers — there’s that whole “illegal” thing in a lot of places — but we can say there are at least 20 million users in the country. Colorado alone had nearly $1 billion in recreational and medicinal marijuana sales in 2015,…
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Toxic Waste From Illegal Marijuana Farms Is Polluting California Forests

The U.S. Forest Service has reported that national forests in California are being polluted by the residue of numerous illegal marijuana grows. The federal agency estimates that thousands of acres of forest have been contaminated by pollutants, with some sites becoming so toxic that people simply touching plants have been hospitalized.  According to ecologist Mourad Gabriel,…
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What’s That Smell? NY Times

Today, we’ve got a potent story from San Francisco bureau chief Thomas Fuller: A decade ago Marie and Surinder Uppal fulfilled what they considered their American dream: the construction of a two-story home next to vineyards in Sonoma County. But earlier this year, besieged by a mysterious, pungent odor, they wondered if they had made the…
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Dead Skunk’ Stench From Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians – NY Times

CARPINTERIA, Calif. — They call it fresh skunk, the odor cloud or sometimes just the stink. Mike Wondolowski often finds himself in the middle of it. He may be on the chaise longue on his patio, at his computer in the house, or tending to his orange and lemon trees in the garden when the…
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