Worry mounts over state budget's effect on the environment

According to our blogger colleague Margot Roosevelt, over at Greenspace, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a goal of becoming known as the country's greenest governor.

He may get away with it as long as no one takes a fecal count in the ocean off a couple of familiar LA beaches where raw sewage is still being poured into the ocean this morning or takes a deep breath in Los Angeles on many days (see downtown photo, above -- or try to, anyway).

But, hey, Sacramento's a long way from the beach. And Margot reports there's a lot of concern that environmental programs may take a large hit in the state's still-stalled budget that has a deficit as large as the entire budget of many places. She has the details over here.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press