The centerpiece of Barnsdall Art Park, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House, may soon be a United Nations World Heritage site. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar nominated the Hollyhock House, along with eleven other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed landmarks, to receive the UNESCO World Heritage designation. more ›

Two major solar power projects in Southern California were announced today, proving that the state's commitment to reducing greenhouse gases may be on target. Locally, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pushed forward plans for what will become the city's largest solar array. Meanwhile, the federal government approved... more ›

Senator John McCain made a jingoistic off-cuff joke during President Obama's health summit yesterday. "There's two examples right now of medical malpractice reform that is working. One's called California, the other called -- called Texas," he said. "I won't talk about California, because the Arizonans hate California, because they've stolen our water," he said before going on about Texas. more ›

Today marks the end of a nearly 20-year battle over creating a landfill, purportedly the largest in the world, next door to Joshua Tree National Park. The Department of the Interior today announced they will not appeal a 9th Circuit Court decision to ban a public lands be exchange with a company that wanted to create the Eagle Mountain landfill, which would be filled by 20,000 tons of trash from L.A. County via train six days a week for 117 years. “Secretary [Ken] Salazar made the right decision to protect our national treasure--Joshua Tree National Park-- from a literal mountain of trash,” said Mike Cipra of the National Park Conservation Association. “Los Angeles’ future garbage disposal needs can be offset with existing landfills and increased recycling.” more ›

A good portion of the our water here in Southern California comes from Bay-Delta, where water distribution has been stifled by a court ruling to protect ecosystem. Add to that the drought and water has been a bit of an issue these days. Today, a group of federal agencies released an interim action plan to do their "part to address the urgent need to provide reliable water supplies for 25 million Californians, while also protecting the Bay-Delta ecosystem," as Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar put it. In part, the plan should leave us with better coordination and smarter and more efficient use of water management. The full plan can be downloaded here (.pdf). more ›

Senator Dianne Feinstein has long been a champion of environmental causes, but now she may find herself pitted against one major faction of the movement as she launches a fight to designate a large portion of Southern California's desert as a national monument. more ›

If today's record breaking unemployment rate was not bad enough, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office announced that he will be declaring a state of emergency over the water drought later this afternoon. Last June, he declared a statewide drought but did not call it an emergency until today. more ›