Popularity of ChatGPT, AI tools comes with big climate cost

By Troy Wolverton : sfexaminer – excerpt

Amid all the excitement about and increasing use of artificial intelligence, there’s growing concern about its darker side — its environmental impact.

Training AI models and then using them to create images, code or text requires immense amounts of energy. Depending on where the data processing takes place, it can result in the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

AI’s carbon emissions are likely to only worsen as the technology matures and develops, researchers say. In general, AI developers have an incentive to create ever bigger models because the technology’s capabilities increase with its size, they say.

The problem is that “bigger also leads to more resources,” said Alex de Vries, founder of Digiconomist, which focuses on the environmental consequences of new technologies. “That just doesn’t work out very well for the climate.”

Researchers have known for several years now that training large-scale AI models that power applications like ChatGPT requires lots of energy. GPT-3, the model OpenAI later refined for ChatGPT, required an estimated 1,287 megawatt-hours to train, according to a 2021 research paper on which UC Berkeley computer science professor David Patterson was the lead author. That’s equivalent to the amount of electricity 123 average American homes use in a full year…(more)

RELATED:
Into thin air: How AI’s water use could alter watersheds

Aleshire & Wynder, LLP Secures A Legal Win for Restoring Local Control on Housing After Court Rules In Favor of Five California Charter Cities Declaring Senate Bill 9 Unconstitutional

By Aleshire & Wynder : lawfirmnewswire – excerpt (includes audio track)

Irvine, California – Aleshire & Wynder, LLP is proud to announce on April 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM, the Honorable Curtis A. Kin in Department 86 of the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a ruling granting a Petition for Writ of Mandate challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 9, as applied to charter cities. Senate Bill 9 requires all California cities to ministerially approve an application for a lot split, and up to four total housing units, on a single family residential lot that meets certain specified criteria.

Five charter cities – Carson, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Del Mar, and Whitter – initiated a lawsuit in early 2022 against the State of California, claiming that Senate Bill 9 is unconstitutional and invalid against charter cities. The League of California Cities and the City of Cerritos filed respective amicus briefs in the Trial Court in support of the Charter cities’ position. After extensive briefing and two hearings in Department 86, the Court ruled in favor of the five charter cities…(more)

New fixed fees from PG&E will create energy bill winners and losers. Which one are you?

By Ben Christopher : calmatters – excerpt

On May 9, the California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote on whether to let the state’s largest power providers slap most customers with a new fixed charge…

Also, according to the proposed rule, the utilities will be required to lower the rate we all pay for each unit of power we consume…

On average, electric bills won’t go up or down, but most households aren’t exactly average. Under the proposed change, people who use less electricity will pay a bit more as a result of the fee, while those who rack up large power bills will save thanks to the lower usage rates… (more)

RELATED:
From SF Chronicle: PG&E CEO has hopes bills will fall soon: Patricia Poppe, the utility’s top boss, said the utility is looking for ways to curb the surge in monthly bills. She said one way to do that is to do less vegetation management. 

You should read the article to see if you can figure this out. Most solar users and the entire industry oppose the anti-solar rooftop aspects of the CPUC plans that are making new installations unreasonable and forcing people to rely on a less reliable energy grid system that is putting solar instillation companies out of business in the state. The state is killing jobs that people were trained for and removing all the incentives programs. There are a list of bills here that some state legislators are trying to pass to stop some elements of this programs.

UPDATE: It appears that SB 938 (Dave Min) that would have stopped utility companies from using our money to fund their lobbying practices to force higher rates on us has failed to pass so you will see more of those PG&E ads telling you how important it is for you to accept the high bills for your own good in the foreseeable future. Remember that our local representatives, including Scott Wiener opposes lowering our energy rates when you consider sending him back to Sacramento in November. He will also be sure to support higher gas prices and taxes as well.

‘Anchor-out’ boat dwellers near Sausalito face eviction from Richardson Bay

By Astrid Kane : sfstandard – excerpt

Chad Wycliffe was born on land but has lived on water for more than 25 years. He took up residence in a boat during the winter of 1997-98 to keep an eye on a friend amid a brutal El Niño season.

By 2014 or so, Wycliffe was a full-time “anchor-out,” part of a community of mariners permanently anchored on Richardson Bay, a particularly placid arm of San Francisco Bay ringed by the affluent communities of Sausalito, Mill Valley and Tiburon.

Today, Wycliffe lives on his 33-foot fishing boat, the Iron Maiden, with two 3-year-old Rottweiler-pit bull mixes, Wednesday and Cyrus. A security guard for a ship builder in Sausalito, Wycliffe is a man of few words. Of life on the water, he simply said, “I feel connected.”

That connection may not last much longer. Wycliffe’s boat is one of less than three dozen still moored on Richardson Bay—rent-free and unencumbered by permits or regulations—down from an estimated 200 only a few years ago. Working with the Army Corps of Engineers, local authorities have slowly worked to thin out their ranks in hopes of preserving an ecologically sensitive “Eelgrass Protection Zone.”

Clinging to a crusty and increasingly anachronistic way of life, this small community that goes back to at least the 1970s now faces an existential question: Stay and fight, or move on…(more)

How one city hacked California housing law to build ADU ‘apartment buildings’

By Ben Christopher, Calmatters : mercurynews– excerpt (includes audio)

The city’s “crafty little maneuver” allows developers to “effectively build an apartment building out of ADUs.”

In the minds of most Californians, accessory dwelling units — ADUs, short — bring to mind words like “small,” “subtle” and “cute.”

None of which describe the side-by-side ADU duplexes on E Street.

Perched at the edge of San Diego’s desirable Golden Hill neighborhood, there’s nothing dainty or diminutive about these three-story structures. “Backyard cottage” is another term used to describe accessory dwelling units, but these are out front, practically hiding the five-unit multiplex to which they are technically “accessory.”

Like dozens of small and not-so-small apartment buildings across San Diego, the structures on E Street are ADUs in only one way: They were permitted under the city’s ADU Bonus Program.

The city’s one-of-a-kind ordinance offers landlords a one-for-one deal. If they agree to construct an ADU and keep the rent low enough for San Diegans making under a certain income, they’re automatically permitted to build a second “bonus” unit, which they can rent at whatever price they like.

In parts of the city far from public transit, the 2021 city program offers a one-off: Alongside the main house and the two ADUs already permitted under state law, the city allows for a maximum of five units on one property…(more)

First District Holds CEQA Challenge To Shooting Range Project On City-Owned Land In Unincorporated County Was Not Moot ed By Project’s Construction During Trial Court Proceedings Despite Petitioner’s Failure To Seek Preliminary Injunction

CEQA Developments : lexology – excerpt (USA April 4, 2024)

In a partially published opinion filed March 29, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) rejected contentions that the pre-judgment completion of construction of a shooting range mooted a CEQA challenge to the project; it held an effective remedy in the form of various mitigation measures alleged in the CEQA petition remained available and reversed the trial court’s judgment entered in favor of respondents and real party after sustaining their demurrers and granting their motions to strike and for judgment on the pleadings. In addition to applying established mootness principles, the Court resolved a number of other issues in holding petitioner Vichy Springs Resort, Inc. (“Vichy”) had sufficiently alleged a CEQA claim at the pleadings stage against both the City of Ukiah (“City”) and the County of Mendocino (“County”) in a unique factual and legal context presenting novel issues of land use regulatory authority and intergovernmental immunity. Vichy Springs Resort, Inc. v. City of Ukiah, et al. (Ukiah Rifle and Pistol Club, Inc., Real Party in Interest) (2024) ___ Cal.App.5th ___.

The Shooting Range Project And the Litigation

Real party Ukiah Rifle and Pistol Club, Inc. (“Club”) operates a shooting range on land owned by the City that is located in unincorporated Mendocino County and leased by the City to the Club. The Club planned to demolish its existing main shooting range and replace it with a larger, more modern facility. Nearby resort and spa Vichy was concerned the project would have significant environmental impacts including lead contamination from “increased bullets,” and increased noise and traffic. Due to uncertainty over which entity regulated the Club’s land use activities, Vichy sued both the City and the County under CEQA and for alleged general plan and local ordinance violations in connection with City’s issuance of a building permit to its lessee for the project, and the failure of County (or any governmental entity) to issue a use permit…(more)

California proposal would change how power bills are calculated, aiming to relieve summer spikes

By Adam Beam : yahoo – excerpt

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — It’s become a rite of summer in sunny California: When the temperature spikes, so do electricity bills, leaving some customers with monthly payments over $500.

A big reason for that is the way California’s largest power companies calculate rates. The more power you use, the more money you pay — not just for electricity, but also for things like maintaining the grid and reducing wildfire risk.

A proposal unveiled Wednesday by state regulators aims to change that. Instead of calculating bills based mostly on how much power people use, a portion would be a fixed charge. For most people, that charge would be $24.15 per month. People who are enrolled in low-income assistance programs or who live in deed-restricted affordable housing would pay less — either $6 or $12, depending on their situation…(more)

Landslides are changing Calif.’s coastline. 100 years ago, one swallowed a city.

By Erin Rode : sfgate – excerpt

The ruins of a neighborhood destroyed by a landslide have drawn oglers for decades

Coastal landslides and shifting ground have made headlines recently around Los Angeles, particularly on the otherwise quiet Palos Verdes Peninsula at the southern tip of the county. The looming landmass juts out into the Pacific Ocean near Long Beach and is topped with rolling hillsides, dramatic ocean views and multimillion-dollar homes.

The recent news is alarming — but not new. Nearly a century ago, a landslide in San Pedro swallowed up a huge chunk of an entire neighborhood. The shift destroyed homes built on the edge of a coastal bluff, issuing a warning to future homeowners in the region…(more)

What is the point in removing restrictions on developing along the coastlines when the risk is so great?

After 111 years, SF is finally moving to oust PG&E and create a public power system

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Cheap, reliable, green energy is only a few steps away—but the private utility is trying its best to delay the process and protect its illegal monopoly

San Francisco is taking the biggest steps in history toward creating a full public-power system.

In filings with the California Public Utilities Commission, the city has established that PG&E’s local property is worth about $2.3 billion—and if the commission agrees, the city can move to seize those assets under the power of eminent domain.

That would fulfill the century-old promise of the Raker Act, which allowed San Francisco to build a dam for water in Yosemite National Park under the condition that the city also created a public-power system…

A little background:

Since 1913, San Francisco has been under a federal mandate to provide public power to its residents and businesses. That was the deal that allowed the city to build a dam for water in Yosemite National Park. You can read the entire history here (I spent weeks in the National Archives in Washington DC collecting this data.)

But PG&E has managed, through its political clout at City Hall and its unlimited campaign funds, to block every effort to make that mandate a reality, and after the 1950s, the Interior Department stopped caring…(more)

Please read the entire article and send comments to the author and any one else you fee should see this.

Exclusive: Historic California dam removal, meant to help salmon, sees massive die-off

By Kurtis Alexander : sfchronicle – excerpt

Hundreds of thousands of young salmon are believed to have died this week at the site of a historic dam removal project on the Klamath River, after an effort to restore salmon runs on the newly unconstrained river went awry, the Chronicle has learned.

The dead chinook salmon were among the first hatchery fish released on the Klamath since four hydroelectric dams were breached near the California-Oregon border, to allow the river to flow freely again and ultimately help fish flourish. One of the dams has been fully removed, and the three others are scheduled to come out later this year.

The salmon die-off, discovered downstream of the 173-foot Iron Gate Dam, is thought to be the result of trauma the small fish experienced when they went through a tunnel at the dam’s base, which had been opened to allow the river to pass and dam demolition to proceed. Water pressure in the outlet tunnel was presumably too great, causing the fish to die of what appears to be gas bubble disease, California officials told the Chronicle.

“No one, especially those in my program who work night and day to keep fish alive, wants to see something like this happen,” said Jason Roberts, an environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re going to learn from it. We need to do better.”…

Planning documents projected that 5 million to 7 million cubic yards of sediment would be unleashed from the reservoirs, turbidity would increase and dissolved oxygen levels would drop in the river for several months and nonnative fish unaccustomed to cold river flows would die.

Two of the recently drained reservoirs, Iron Gate and Copco Lake, are in California. J.C. Boyle Reservoir is in Oregon.

“People are suggesting that this is an environmental disaster without acknowledging that we’ve had an environmental disaster for the past 100 years” with the dams, said Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corp., which is shepherding dam removal. “These are anticipated conditions. The observations can be difficult. But we’re not going to undo the legacy of this environmental disaster in a couple of weeks.

“I encourage people to take a longer view,” he said.

Reach Kurtis Alexander: kalexander X: @kurtisalexander… (more)

I think the people in California would appreciate a few less excuses from the “geniuses” who are running our state and a lot more success. A baby salmon die-off resulting from a dam removal experiment is one thing. The possible carnage caused by automatic vehicles on the freeway, and weapons on our streets is another.

It is high time for someone to look at Citizens United and all the other bills that give preference to commerce over basic human rights to live in a healthy safe environment. The current legal system has severely diminished the value of human life and it is time for citizens to demand a change in priorities. Letters to the editor and author are encouraged. Also share with your concerned friends.