In his Q&A today with the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, there were some words of praise from California’s Republican governor for the former Democratic presidential nominee, and his popular movie on global warming.

Governor Schwarzenegger was asked had he seen Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, a movie on the threats from global warming… and one that some GOP stalwarts have talked about in less than flattering terms.

But not Schwarzenegger.

“I loved Al Gore’s movie,” the governor said. “I think it was a fantastic movie. I think he did a great job. “

And Schwarzenegger reiterated that he stands squarely with Gore on the issue of global warming. “He’s right, he’s absolutely right. We’ve got to do everything we can to protect this Earth and protect this environment.”

That’s the assessment of Jim Gilchrist on why his controversial Minuteman Project continues to make headlines across the country.

Gilchrist was in town today to speak to the Sacramento Press Club, and partly to hawk his new book on the volunteer citizens border patrol group launched almost two years ago. He announced a new effort to draw attention to the issue of illegal immigration, and he didn’t pull any punches about his feelings on just about every elected official.

On September 11, the 5th anniversary of the NYC and DC terrorist attacks, Gilchrist plans to travel to Laredo, TX to launch what he’s calling ‘Operation U.S. Sovereignty’– a new deployment of citizens along the US-Mexico border. He says he expects some 2,000 volunteers to show up and that the mission will run through election day, calling it “the world’s largest neighborhood watch.”

In a somewhat rambling but nonetheless feisty Q&A with reporters afterward, the southern Californian former Marine/newspaper reporter/certified public accountant took aim at just about everyone involved in the illegal immigration issue, including the pending deployment of National Guard troops to the border.

He said the real need is not for some 6,000 temporary soldiers as requested by President George W. Bush, but rather an additional 35,000 permanent agents of the U.S. Border Patrol. Governor Schwarzenegger has approved for some 1000 members of the California National Guard to participate.

On the Guard’s deployment: “I think it’s a token illusion of security. President Bush nor the governor has any intention of securing our borders.”

On solving the illegal immigration issue: “I think the President and the [U.S.] Senate will never have an intention of sealing those borders unless they are replaced in office. And that’s my suggestion what the taxpayers do on November 7.”

Gilchrist was challenged by several audience questions on why his group doesn’t spend more time focusing on businesses that hire undocumented immigrants. He admitted that his group’s efforts on the issue have been low-key, and he explained that (somewhat confusingly) by talking about threats of violence for any disruption of the economy. But Gilchrist also admitted that the business community shares some responsibility in the issue, and he went so far as to call illegal workers the “21st century slave trade.”

And will he run again for office, after losing an Orange County congressional special election? “I’m not ready,” said Gilchrist.

Expect new debate in the coming weeks and months about the future of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the submerged valley below its waters, after today’s release of a state report that concludes draining the reservoir could cost as much as $10 billion.

A new study from the state’s Department of Water Resources pegs the cost of restoring the valley once admired by John Muir at somewhere between almost $3 billion and $9.8 billion. You can read the report here.

That’s a pretty wide range of costs. The report concludes that most of the cost would be to create replacement system for all of that water; and much of that cost is attributed in the report to creating new surface storage of water– as much as 450,000 acre feet of water. By the way, an acre foot is about 326,000 gallons of water.

The actual removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam, according to the report, would probably cost no more than about $900 million.

Reaction to the report was swift from both supporters and opponents of Hetch Hetchy restoration, a valley flooded some 73 years ago as a place to store drinking water for San Francisco.

Some say the study shows that the idea isn’t really so far fetched. “There is no longer a question of whether restoring Hetch Hetchy is possible,” said Assemblymember Lois Wolk (D-Davis), chair of the Assembly Water, Parks, & Wildlife Committee. Wolk says everyone should keep an open mind, and that more study needs to be done.

But even some prominent San Franciscans are against the restoration, most notably U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-SF). In a written statement this morning, Feinstein also alluded to the power generated through the Hetch Hetchy hydroelectric system, saying that the restoration “would be far too expensive and leave the state vulnerable to both drought and blackout.” And some in the business community are suggesting that the high cost of the project confirms it’s time to move on. “This idea has now officially been studied to death,” said Jim Wunderman of The Bay Area Council.

Another spate of news reports about the compensation practices in the state’s higher education system appears headed for a formal state audit.

Last time, it was all about the University of California system. This time, it’s the California State University system.

Following two days of reports by the San Francisco Chronicle into special perks given to departing CSU executives– perks that have apparently included full tenure positions– Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA) has requested a full audit of the new CSU controversy.

The state’s auditor concluded an investigation of UC’s compensation practices back in May.

This morning, Nunez formally requested that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approve a formal investigation of CSU’s “post-employment… and ’special assignments’” policies. The next JLAC hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, August 9.

In a prepared statement, Speaker Nunez said: “I’m deeply troubled by allegations that former high-level CSU officials have been given dubious positions after their tenures, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars to do no discernible work while students have seen their tuition rise almost 30 percent in the past three years.”

The Chronicle’s latest installment of the CSU series is here.

A few hours after California set a record for energy usage in the face of triple digit temperatures, Governor Schwarzenegger traveled to the state’s power grid system headquarters this afternoon to quell any fears of power outages, while also preaching power conservation.

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) reports that the system load exceeded 46,000 megawatts around 1:30 pm this afternoon, breaking the record set the same week of July just last year.

As a result, Schwarzenegger has directed all state agencies and offices to reduce their usage of electricity by 25% for the rest of the week. His order refers to measures ranging from setting thermostats at 78 degrees to reduced electricity usage for water pumping at the State Water Project during peak hours.

This afternoon, the governor traveled out to Cal ISO headquarters in Folsom to report that the system was handling the demands. “We are, at this point, in good shape,” he told reporters.

He also joked about energy conservation strategies he uses with his own family. “If any of my kids leave a light on, the light bulbs will be unscrewed,” he said.

That’s the word from Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, who today certified the results of the June 6 primary election.

The turnout of registered voters was one of the lowest ever, compared most recently to 50.1% turnout in the November 2005, and a record high of 76.04% of registered voters turning out for the November 2004 election. Of course, those were not primary elections– usually the nadir in the world of elections.

Also of interest in today’s announcement by McPherson: the growing use of the absentee ballot. Almost 47% of the ballots on June 6 were cast ahead of time.

The November ballot initiative that adds new penalties and restrictions on sex offenders became the story of the day today in the gubernatorial race between the two leading candidates, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides.

Angelides, who so far had not taken a formal position on Proposition 83 (known as “Jessica’s Law”), today endorsed the initiative long supported by Schwarzenegger and other Republicans.

At an event in Los Angeles, Angelides said that Prop 83 won’t go far enough. As a result, the Democratic candidate endorsed a series of other measures, many of which can be found in a bill pending in the Legislature, SB 1128 by Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose). The Angelides campaign says he would go beyond those two proposals, with measures like lifetime “intensive” probation or parole, and more education resources for preventing sex crimes (though it’s not yet clear how much money he’s calling for to be spent on this).

Interestingly, Phil Angelides’ call for approval of both the initiative and the legislative bill is somewhat at odds with several Democrats in the Legislature, who see SB 1128 as an alternative to the ballot measure– and an improvement, to boot.

For example, some supporters of the bill point to the fact that SB 1128 would punish sex offenders who loiter around places where kids are found, while Jessica’s Law focuses only on where sex offenders actually live.

Most notably in that group of ‘Yes on SB 1128/No on Prop 83′ is Senate President Don Perata (D-Oakland), who was quoted in Capitol Weekly newspaper last week as saying that he will oppose Prop 83 because it was “thrown together without sufficient care.”

As you might expect, Team Arnold jumped on the Angelides announcement as a case of much ado about nothing– in particular, criticizing the Democrat for what they characterize as a “me too” strategy. “Where the governor leads on behalf of Californians, Angelides follows in the negative spirit of partisanship,” said Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Matt David in a written statement.

To which Angelides spokesman Brian Brokaw replied: “In nearly three years in office, Governor Schwarzenegger has failed to take real action to adequately protect the public from sex offenders.”

In effect, both sides seem to know that ‘get tough on crime’ measures are just the kind of emotional issues on which a statewide political campaign can turn.

One day after Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law changes to the drug treatment initiative Proposition 36, a judge has suspended the new law until issues regarding its legality are resolved.

Late this afternoon, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith issued a temporary restraining order blocking SB 1137 from taking effect. (A full discussion on this was posted here yesterday). In the ruling, Judge Smith noted that the proponents of the original Prop 36 “have demonstrated that serious irreparable harm will occur unless a status quo injunction is granted.”

The governor’s legal affairs secretary, Andrea Lynn Hoch, said in a prepared statement that Schwarzenegger signed the “bipartisan legislation to increase accountability” when it comes to drug offenders.

Interestingly enough, legislators crafted SB 1137 with a provision that says if any portion is struck down, then the changes to the voter-approved initiative will then go back to the voters… the same procedure the plaintiffs in the lawsuit say should have been followed in the first place.

A few snippets of political and policy stories making the rounds today, all of which seem to involve Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mea Culpa: The highest-ranking Latino GOP lawmaker in the state has apologized to Governor Schwarzenegger for saying that his fellow Republican has let down Latinos. The comments by Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) appeared in a story published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times. In it, Maldonado was quoted as saying, “When he needs Latinos, Latinos are always there for him… when Latinos need him, the answer’s been no.”

The comments seemingly came out of nowhere for a legislator who has always touted his relationship with Schwarzenegger, and carried bills for the governor like the proposal to increase the minimum wage. The politically moderate Maldonado, however, lost the GOP primary for controller last month, and many have wondered whether there were any hurt feelings that he wasn’t endorsed by Schwarzenegger (the governor did not make any endorsements in GOP primary races).

This afternoon, Maldonado apparently had a change of heart, releasing this statement: “I apologize to Governor Schwarzenegger for my public comments to the Los Angeles Times. The Governor and I have worked together for the past three years on important issues beneficial to California’s Latinos. I will continue to support the Governor in his efforts to strengthen California.”

Clean Burning Fuels: Continuing his ‘message of the week’ strategy, Schwarzenegger traveled to the Central Valley today to promote alternative fuels. Calling California a “biomass gold mine,” he released his Bioenergy Action Plan. The plan calls for a number of measures to promote everything from ethanol to landfill gases as alternatives to fossil fuels.

The governor visited a company that is working on some of these issues, one that just happens to have been started by a long-time GOP pal, former Secretary of State Bill Jones. The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides was quick to dismiss Schwarzenegger’s event, and suggested if the governor is really concerned about the issue, he should support November’s Proposition 87, which would impose a tax on oil production to help fund alternative fuel research.

Close Race?: And speaking of the Angelides vs. Schwarzenegger contest, a new poll suggests the Democrat is slightly in the lead, though the results are probably more fairly described as neck and neck. A Rasmussen Reports poll out today shows Angelides with a small 46% to 44% lead over Schwarzenegger. That’s a sizeable difference from the company’s April poll, which showed the incumbent governor with a 13 point advantage. But polls are, at best, a snapshot of one group of voters… and there are no doubt many more to come.

A new analysis of how much water in California goes to keeping a home’s grass green might have you putting a glass underneath that front yard sprinkler.

The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California has just released a study that suggests California’s infatuation with lush, green lawns will be a “major factor” in the demand for water in the state over the next 25 years.

The PPIC researchers dug through a lot of data on new home construction and population and came up with a pretty simple conclusion: California is building more single-family homes with pretty lawns in the hot and arid Central Valley, while more multi-family homes (condos, townhomes, etc.) in the cool and more water-rich coastal areas.

And predictions are that at least half of the 11 million new residents expected in California by 2025 will be moving to… you guessed it… the Valley. The PPIC’s research suggests an inland single-family home needs two to three times more water than a coastal residence.

You can read the full report online tomorrow. Now, about that automatic timer on your sprinklers…