California Building Wind Power Faster Than Any Other State – 8/15 KQED Science News Roundup

California Building Wind Power Faster Than Any Other State | KQEDThe U.S. Department of Energy says California is adding new wind turbines faster than any other state. But the agency warns that the growth of wind power could be on the verge of a slowdown. In its annual review on the wind power industry, the energy department says California added more than 900 megawatts of wind-generation capacity last year alone.

Chevron fire ignited by idling rig?The Richmond refinery fire that sent more than 9,000 people to emergency rooms could have been touched off when a cloud of flammable vapor reached an idling and abandoned Chevron fire truck, investigators said Tuesday.

Biotech food measure Prop. 37 on ballotRecent polls show the proposal, Proposition 37, winning by a 3-to-1 ratio, although opponents have raised more than $22 million - $4.2 million from agricultural giant Monsanto alone - to the yes campaign's $2.7 million in anticipation of a media battle leading up to the fall vote.

Suit presses state on chromium-6Twelve years after the film bearing her name chronicled her lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for contaminating groundwater in Southern California, the chemical carcinogen she brought to the public's attention still permeates tap water from Los Angeles to San Jose, studies show.

Steam shown to kill Calif. plant diseaseScientists from a variety of organizations including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and Oregon State University demonstrated what appears to be an effective steam-sterilization technique Tuesday on a research plot of ornamental plants at Dominican.

India plans to send craft to orbit Mars next yearNEW DELHI (AP) â India plans to send a spacecraft to Mars next year on a scientific mission critics say shows the governing party's skewed priorities when people lack electricity and safe drinking water. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the 4.5 billion rupee ($82 million) mission during a speech Wednesday marking the 65th anniversary of India's independence from British rule.

Biggest Asian wildlife traffickers are untouchableLuggage packed with hundreds of squirming tortoises, elephant tusks, even water dragons and American paddlefish. "If I say, 'You have to go out and arrest that target,' some in the room may well warn them,'" says Chanvut, who now advises ASEAN-WEN, the regional wildlife enforcement network.

Delta tunnel project to receive endangered species grant - The Sacramento BeeCalifornia will receive $11 million in federal grants to acquire habitat and plan more protections for wildlife. The grants were announced Tuesday morning by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from funds held by the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, one of the functions of the federal Endangered Species Act.