California city takes lead in ruling out disposable coffee cups
As it becomes increasingly important to change our consumer practices to fight the plastic crisis, Berkeley, California, has started the year off with the right environmental footprint by declaring war on disposable coffee cups. On January 1, the city rolled out the nation’s most comprehensive Read More...
The tech from self-driving cars could help prevent wildfires in the future
Last year, California had its most destructive and deadliest wildfire year on record. Increasingly dry, warm, and windy weather conditions wrought by climate change are a big reason why. But the immediate cause is often power lines: Downed lines that come into contact with nearby trees can create Read More...
California reaches 1 million solar panel landmark
Back in 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger set out a plan to ‘terminate’ the use of dirty energy sources powering the state of California. His government proceeded to sign an act to subsidize and expand the installation of solar roof units throughout California. The program allocated around Read More...
Apple pledges $2.5 billion to fight California’s affordable housing crisis
Amid California’s housing availability and affordability crisis, many community members, like teachers, firefighters, first responders and service workers, are struggling to find a roof over their heads, leaving them with no other choice but to live behind the community they have long called Read More...
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...