How a network of sensors could soon help firefighters stop blazes faster
As wildfires become more common and more deadly in California, firefighters are exploring new technological means to get an advantage over them, so that they can be controlled quicker. This summer, fire department officials from the Bay Area’s Contra Costa County intentionally set four test Read More...
Airbnb is offering free housing to California wildfire evacuees
The Kincade, Tick, and Getty wildfires burning in the state of California right now have forced thousands of people to evacuate and have caused several power shutoffs. In fact, the Kincade Fire alone has displaced almost 200,000 people over an estimated 50,000 acres. To provide some relief for Read More...
These California trees hold the key to climate resilience
When California's historic five-year drought finally relented a few years ago, the tally of dead trees in the Sierra Nevada was higher than almost anyone expected: 129 million. Most are still standing, the dry patches dotting the mountainsides. But some trees did survive the test of heat and Read More...
New law makes it near impossible to drill for oil on public lands in California
California’s ban on the sale of fur (see Monday’s story) wasn’t the only bill to be signed into law on Saturday. As it turns out, California Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed a law designed to counter White House plans to increase oil and gas production on protected land. The measure bars any Read More...
The sale of fur products will be illegal in California in 2023
California just became the first state in American to institute a statewide ban on animal fur products. Effective January 2023, the new law, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday, prohibits the sale and manufacture of new fur products. The ban will not apply to used fur products, fur Read More...
To save the Monarch butterfly, grow this plant in your garden
Monarch butterflies need all the help they can get. Eastern Monarch populations have plummeted 90 percent in just the last two decades, and their Western comrades aren’t fairing all too much better. This is partially to blame on the loss of milkweed in America, a perennial flower that serves Read More...
How activists in this Californian city stopped a gas plant from being built
When NRG Energy, one of the largest electric power producers in the country, won a contract to build a new gas plant on the beach in Oxnard, California, in 2014, nearly everyone assumed it was a done deal. The region’s electric utility, Southern California Edison, needed a new source of power to Read More...
Oregon may soon join California’s carbon trading market under new bill
Drawing inspiration from its southernly neighbor, Oregon may soon pass a landmark bill that will mandate not just greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector, but also economy-wide emission reductions. The only state to have done that is…you guessed it, California. Across every sector Read More...
Yacht-sized sharks are being spotted off California coast after 30-year hiatus
Sharks as long as small yachts are starting to frequent the coastal waters of Southern California. Surely some of you beach lovers find this bit of news unsettling, but there is no need to fear. The humongous sharks we’re talking about are called basking sharks, and they are known to be peaceful Read More...
California restaurants are incentivizing eco-friendly farming with surcharge
Restaurants in California are banding together to fight climate change in an intriguing way. Concerned eateries can sign on to the Restore California Renewable Restaurant program, which pledges to add a 1% surcharge to diners' bills and then use the money to incentivize farmers to implement more Read More...