A big step to cut sprawl, clean air - More than any previous law, Steinberg's seeks to address one of California's nagging flaws – its Wild West patterns of development. Housing separated from jobs has led to traffic jams, smog, long-distance commutes, loss of valuable farmland and transit systems that can't easily build ridership. Sacramento Bee editorial

Burney wind project goes down to wire - Hatchet Ridge Wind, a $500 million electrical project in eastern Shasta County, has been in the works for a few years, and it has been exhaustively analyzed. We know how it will affect the habitat of the Butte County morning glory. We know what it will do to PG&E's power grid. But the county remains strangely vague on a critical question: What's in it for Burney? Redding Record Searchlight article

Google whips out $4.4 trillion clean-energy plan -Google.org, the philanthropic unit of search giant Google Inc., publicized a $4.4 trillion plan to wean the United States off fossil fuels by 2030. Sacramento Business Journal article

Bailout bill includes $100B in energy, other tax breaks - The bill passed by the Senate include $17 billion in energy incentives, renews business research credits and puts off an alternative minimum tax hike for 24 million households. Sacramento Business Journal article

Electric vehicles swerve into Sacramento - Electric vehicles are good news for the environment. They cut down on gasoline use, produce minimal greenhouse-gas emissions and their engines require fewer moving parts, which mean the vehicles’ production has a smaller impact on the environment compared to gasoline-powered cars. Sacramento News & Review article

Bootin’ the bottle - Desi Hatton, along with fellow student Deanna Dottai, is spearheading a campus project connected to a national campaign called Take Back the Tap. Both have been speaking to classes about the environmental impacts of single-use bottled water and promoting tap-water consumption. Chico News & Review article

State fines Airgas $43,000 - The California Air Resources Board has fined Airgas Inc. $43,000 for diesel truck emissions violations that occurred in 2006 and 2007 throughout California, including the Central Valley. Central Valley Business Times article

Southwest plan goes before Planning Commission - A neighborhood plan for southwest Chico will take it's first steps toward implementation tonight, going before the city's Planning Commission for approval. Chico Enterprise Record article

Bill clears hurdle for city's plan to redevelop waterfront - AB 2026, by Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis, will allow the state to swap or sell surplus property, including 2 acres of state-owned land in the middle of the city's planned Docks project. Sacramento Bee article

PG&E rate hike may head off another increase Jan. 1 - ACiting higher than expected power purchase costs this year, PG&E increased electric rates by 6 percent effective Wednesday. Sacramento Bee article

State is open to water woes next year - California enters the 2009 water year highly vulnerable to shortages and facing the possibility of widespread rationing after two dry years. Woodland Daily Democrat article