Report: Tangle of regulations hampers ‘green’ businesses in California - Overlapping environmental regulations and agencies are hampering California's business climate, particularly thwarting development of “green” businesses, says a new report. Sacramento Business Journal article

Sacramento a test market for solar program - Engineering firm CH2M Hill Cos. Ltd. has won a three-year, $5.5 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to help Sacramento and 24 other cities use more solar energy. Sacramento Business Journal article

Ethanol pump sites will break ground Thursday - The local stations are being built with financial support from the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District and the U.S. Department of Energy. Sacramento Bee article

2008 Ballot Watch: Proposition 10: Alternative fuel vehicles, renewable energy - Proposition 10 asks voters to borrow $5 billion to help companies and consumers buy environmentally friendly vehicles. Sacramento Bee article

Cool to be kind - You don’t have to be a bleeding heart to object to the kind of cages that would be banned under Proposition 2. Battery cages confine egg-laying hens so tightly they can’t spread their wings, walk, perch, dust bathe or engage in other basic, natural behaviors. Sacramento News & Review article

Editorial: Bonds make problems worse - Our view: High-speed rail, children's hospitals, alternative-fuel vehicles and police funding are all great causes the state budget can't afford right now. Chico Enterprise Record editorial

Ridge council backs more escape routes, seeks National Guard help -The Paradise Town Council is asking the California National Guard to help build evacuation routes. On Tuesday, the council unanimously called for developing alternative evacuation routes in case of an emergency. The resolution also included requesting the Guard's engineers to help develop the routes. Chico Enterprise Record article

GP scoping session set - Yolo County is now soliciting comments on the scope and content of the environmental information to be included in the Program Environmental Impact Report for the Yolo County Draft General Plan. Woodland Daily Democrat article

Raising Shasta Dam to be discussed - The Sacramento River Discovery Center, 1000 Sale Lane, will continue its Thursday Evening program exploration of water in the northern Sacramento River valley at 7 p.m. Thursday with a presentation by Buford Holt of the Bureau of Reclamation's Shasta Dam office on "Water Storage & Water Delivery - What's Next." Red Bluff Daily News article

Low lake threatens city water supply - All of the city’s water is provided by Folsom Lake, piped through the dam to a water treatment facility, according to Ken Payne, Utilities Director for the city. Folsom Telegraph article