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"content": "\u003cp>It has become a yearly tradition. At some point in the spring, before the chaos of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">fire season\u003c/a>, the chief of the U.S. Forest Service sends staff a letter. In it, they share their goals and intentions for the next few months. For the public, it’s a window into the agency’s plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the brink of fire season, the stakes are high for the state. Forecasters predict \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf\">worse-than-normal\u003c/a> conditions, especially in Northern California and the mountains. The Trump administration has a track record of politicizing fires, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/07/trump-california-funding/\">threatening to withhold aid\u003c/a>, and taking aim at the state’s governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A well-functioning Forest Service — one able to balance firefighting and restoration — is crucial for Californians. Many residents live within or close to the Forest Service or other federal public land. Much of the state’s best-loved areas are also on or near these lands: Tahoe, Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada and the Coastal Ranges. Most of the state’s drinking water filters down from the forests. And all of the state’s air can be polluted from out-of-control fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some fire experts worry this year’s letter from the chief signals a repeat of past mistakes, as it emphasizes putting fires out, instead of learning to better use and live with fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is critical that we suppress fires as swiftly as possible to minimize the amount of fireline exposure and be ready for the next ignition,” Chief Tom Schultz’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/wildfire-letter-intent-2025\">letter\u003c/a>, released May 21, states. “This means employing direct attack tactics when and where feasible to minimize fire size and time to containment when safe and practicable to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997343 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A technician holds a drip torch used to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel megafires, while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many people may find this comforting. Indeed, the agency has embraced full suppression throughout its history, especially when resources are drained. However, that embrace makes scientists and those who work for fire-resiliant forests concerned. They believe that what feels safe in the short term makes conditions more dangerous in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The all-fires-are-bad-all-the-time mindset largely got us into our current fire catastrophes, they say, because we decided to wage an unwinnable battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[It] didn’t work,” said Brent Skaggs, a retired fire management officer who worked for USFS for 36 years. “We didn’t realize fire is a natural part of the ecosystem. So we decided to go to war against a natural cycle. And we’re getting beat up pretty bad about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Going back to 10 a.m.? Probably not\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Between the 1930s and 1970s, the Forest Service had a blanket policy stating that all fires — whether many miles away from the nearest road, burning just before the winter rains, or 10 feet away from the ranger station — should be extinguished before 10 a.m. the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a one-size-fits-all policy — one that ignored the fact that some fires aren’t a threat to people and are helpful to the land they burn. Instead, all fires were demonized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that partisans on both sides will think that we’re going back to the 10 a.m. policy — universal suppression,” said Stephen Pyne, a renowned fire historian, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, and former firefighter. “The 10 a.m. policy had one thing. You had it out by 10 o’clock. There are no qualifications. There are no nuances, there are no exceptions. And that’s not what this letter is. This letter is full of wiggle room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997345\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 933px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997345 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"1022\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim.jpg 933w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim-160x175.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim-768x841.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Pyne, a renowned fire historian, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, and former firefighter, is pictured second from right during a prescribed burn in 1978, when he was a part of the North Rim Longshots at Grand Canyon National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Stephen Pyne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pyne sees important differences between full suppression and what Shultz wrote. While the letter does emphasize suppression, it is also full of nuance. It opens up by talking about the need to prioritize safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putting firefighter safety first often means not directly engaging with the fire, but instead creating a zone of unburnable dirt in the path of the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schultz’s letter also allows for managed fire where possible. Managed fire is when a fire that starts naturally is allowed to burn, provided it doesn’t pose a threat to people or structures. Crews are assigned to keep an eye on it, so it can be put out if it does become dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter allows the forest service to continue using boundaries like rivers, ridgelines, roads or fire breaks to contain and manage fires. Many fire experts believe this is a crucial strategy for allowing more beneficial fires in the Western U.S. It can allow a naturally ignited wildfire to act as a prescribed fire, without having to do the paperwork necessary to light it. However, this strategy has increasingly been in the crosshairs of some politicians, including the governors of \u003ca href=\"https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Gov_Gianforte_Lights_Up_Forest_Service_for_Not_Fighting_Fires\">Montana\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p/montana-senator-and-idaho-governor\">Idaho\u003c/a> and Rep. Tom McClintock from California District 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shultz’s letter also asks more Forest Service personnel to become qualified to fight fires. The voluntary buyouts and layoffs executed by DOGE earlier this year depleted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029182/federal-policy-turmoil-threatens-californias-wildfire-prevention-efforts\">ranks of staff\u003c/a> who can step in and help in a pinch. On June 6, the Forest Service said that people who resigned but have Red Cards — are qualified to be assigned to a fire — \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/sustain/deferred-resignation-program-participants-guidance-supporting\">can assist this season\u003c/a> even though they’re technically on administrative leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the current administration, the Forest Service workforce was weakened by years of underpay and difficult working conditions. In California, many federal firefighters have gone to work for the state’s firefighting agency, CalFire, because the \u003ca href=\"https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/pay-disparity-cal-fire\">pay is far better\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12042383 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CanadaWildfireGetty-1020x680.jpg']Having fewer staff generally pushes agencies towards full suppression, and away from strategies like managed fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Craig Thomas, of the Fire Restoration Group, a nonprofit seeking to return fire to its pre-settlement ecological role, found plenty to like about the letter but was disappointed by its primary focus on suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s only half the story,” Thomas said. “We need to fight it, sure, but we need to put the same intensity into lighting it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shultz is allowing for prescribed fires, but only through a very conservative approach. Many fire experts, including Thomas, Skaggs and Pyne, would like to see it be more lenient and science-based.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They see some current attitudes towards fire as being so overly cautious that it’s ultimately dangerous. It’s focusing on fire as an emergency instead of a force to live with. It’s like spending lots of money on emergency healthcare but not giving people vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly Martin, a retired chief of fire and aviation at Yosemite National Park, said with shifting political winds, she expected the agency to take a very aggressive suppression stance this summer. “We know that the use of good fire on the landscape and the use of [managed] wildfire … is now taking a backseat to the suppression intent this summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she added, this shows a failure to learn from past mistakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it sets us up for what basically becomes an untenable, unworkable situation this year because this is the same strategy that we’ve had for many, many decades,” Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wildfires just keep getting bigger and bigger and more dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Good times at the U.S. Forest Service are gone. What happened?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service was once seen as a gold-standard \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Forest+Ranger%3A+A+Study+in+Administrative+Behavior\">model government agency\u003c/a>. Of course, it was relatively easy to be successful when it had fewer mandates than today and they were easier to achieve. There were more big trees to log for timber sales. Fires were easier to put out when the legacy of suppression, logging and human-caused climate change from burning gas and oil hadn’t yet caught up with America’s forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that changed after 1960, when Congress told the agency to try to balance interests that inherently compete: recreation, logging, grazing, mining, wildlife, watersheds and wilderness protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so, it was basically torn apart. Criticized on all counts. There was no way it could succeed,” Pyne said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978931\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1978931\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a hard hat, wearing heavy brown pants, a gold shirt and work gloves, is on the side of a two-lane highway with smoky air obscuring trees in the distance. He has just tossed a large branch toward a pile of branches as part of clearing vegetation during a controlled burn.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-1536x1043.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A U.S. Forest Service forestry technician removes vegetation during a controlled burn along Highway 89 in the Christmas Valley area near South Lake Tahoe in September 2021. \u003ccite>(Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After being hailed as a model agency, the Forest Service is increasingly \u003ca href=\"https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/america-decay\">pointed to as dysfunctional\u003c/a>, balancing contradictory mandates and lacking a clear way to make decisions. There are those who think what’s needed for the USFS to right the ship is simply a return to the days of the 10 a.m. rule and a robust timber harvest. But neither are considered desirable or realistic by most experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a mild fire removes duff, brush and small burnable fuels, it leaves large tree trunks. Logging removes the large stuff and leaves the small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Logging is not a solution to fire,” Pyne said. “Logging and fire do opposite things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, President Trump has conflated declining timber sales with increased fire risk. In March, he issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-expansion-of-american-timber-production/\">an executive order\u003c/a> requesting the expansion of timber harvests, and the agency responded in May with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/introducing-national-active-management-strategy\">outline\u003c/a> of how it will try to meet the order’s demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fires that burn forests and fires that burn cities are different\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If wildfires during the past decade have been bad, fires that have destroyed towns and neighborhoods have been even worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pyne said this has led to a fresh demonization of fire, particularly in the wake of the L.A. Fires. He sees the public confusing urban conflagrations that burn blocks of houses with wildland fires that burn in undeveloped lands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buildings are destroyed along Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a confusion that advances certain partisan interests,” Pyne said. “You get people alarmed. ‘We’re in the midst of an emergency! Our cities, Los Angeles, for heaven’s sake, are burning up. We’ve got to get rid of all the checks and balances. We’re going to clear out all the fuel that’s a threat.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This can lead to a bait-and-switch misdirection, especially by people who yearn for increased timber sales. However, Pyne said, “the primary way to protect these communities is to harden them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pyne said if he were writing the chief’s letter, he would make it clear that we have an urban fire problem that needs to be addressed by urban fire services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not addressing this difference opens up the agency to even more criticism, especially if other towns burn this season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the fire seasons have gotten more intense and everything connected with federal agencies has gotten more political and polarized, they’ve had to try to anticipate and clarify what they can do, hope to do, and to assuage a lot of different conflicting groups,” Pyne said. Many of these groups — whether politicians, business interests or conservationists — don’t want to compromise over their goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the agency is expected to somehow achieve that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "California Faces Rough Fire Season as US Forest Service Work Becomes More Politicized | KQED",
"description": "As California braces for fire season, experts see signals — and shortcomings — in the Forest Service Chief’s annual letter. ",
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"headline": "California Faces Rough Fire Season as US Forest Service Work Becomes More Politicized",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It has become a yearly tradition. At some point in the spring, before the chaos of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">fire season\u003c/a>, the chief of the U.S. Forest Service sends staff a letter. In it, they share their goals and intentions for the next few months. For the public, it’s a window into the agency’s plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the brink of fire season, the stakes are high for the state. Forecasters predict \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf\">worse-than-normal\u003c/a> conditions, especially in Northern California and the mountains. The Trump administration has a track record of politicizing fires, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/07/trump-california-funding/\">threatening to withhold aid\u003c/a>, and taking aim at the state’s governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A well-functioning Forest Service — one able to balance firefighting and restoration — is crucial for Californians. Many residents live within or close to the Forest Service or other federal public land. Much of the state’s best-loved areas are also on or near these lands: Tahoe, Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada and the Coastal Ranges. Most of the state’s drinking water filters down from the forests. And all of the state’s air can be polluted from out-of-control fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some fire experts worry this year’s letter from the chief signals a repeat of past mistakes, as it emphasizes putting fires out, instead of learning to better use and live with fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is critical that we suppress fires as swiftly as possible to minimize the amount of fireline exposure and be ready for the next ignition,” Chief Tom Schultz’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/wildfire-letter-intent-2025\">letter\u003c/a>, released May 21, states. “This means employing direct attack tactics when and where feasible to minimize fire size and time to containment when safe and practicable to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997343 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County05_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A technician holds a drip torch used to ignite grasses during a prescribed burn on private property in Penn Valley, a small, rural community in Nevada County, California, on June 22, 2023. The burn aims to reduce the brush and grasses that fuel megafires, while also helping to restore native plants to the region. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many people may find this comforting. Indeed, the agency has embraced full suppression throughout its history, especially when resources are drained. However, that embrace makes scientists and those who work for fire-resiliant forests concerned. They believe that what feels safe in the short term makes conditions more dangerous in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The all-fires-are-bad-all-the-time mindset largely got us into our current fire catastrophes, they say, because we decided to wage an unwinnable battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[It] didn’t work,” said Brent Skaggs, a retired fire management officer who worked for USFS for 36 years. “We didn’t realize fire is a natural part of the ecosystem. So we decided to go to war against a natural cycle. And we’re getting beat up pretty bad about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Going back to 10 a.m.? Probably not\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Between the 1930s and 1970s, the Forest Service had a blanket policy stating that all fires — whether many miles away from the nearest road, burning just before the winter rains, or 10 feet away from the ranger station — should be extinguished before 10 a.m. the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a one-size-fits-all policy — one that ignored the fact that some fires aren’t a threat to people and are helpful to the land they burn. Instead, all fires were demonized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that partisans on both sides will think that we’re going back to the 10 a.m. policy — universal suppression,” said Stephen Pyne, a renowned fire historian, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, and former firefighter. “The 10 a.m. policy had one thing. You had it out by 10 o’clock. There are no qualifications. There are no nuances, there are no exceptions. And that’s not what this letter is. This letter is full of wiggle room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997345\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 933px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997345 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"1022\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim.jpg 933w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim-160x175.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-fire-North-Rim-768x841.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Pyne, a renowned fire historian, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, and former firefighter, is pictured second from right during a prescribed burn in 1978, when he was a part of the North Rim Longshots at Grand Canyon National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Stephen Pyne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pyne sees important differences between full suppression and what Shultz wrote. While the letter does emphasize suppression, it is also full of nuance. It opens up by talking about the need to prioritize safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putting firefighter safety first often means not directly engaging with the fire, but instead creating a zone of unburnable dirt in the path of the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schultz’s letter also allows for managed fire where possible. Managed fire is when a fire that starts naturally is allowed to burn, provided it doesn’t pose a threat to people or structures. Crews are assigned to keep an eye on it, so it can be put out if it does become dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter allows the forest service to continue using boundaries like rivers, ridgelines, roads or fire breaks to contain and manage fires. Many fire experts believe this is a crucial strategy for allowing more beneficial fires in the Western U.S. It can allow a naturally ignited wildfire to act as a prescribed fire, without having to do the paperwork necessary to light it. However, this strategy has increasingly been in the crosshairs of some politicians, including the governors of \u003ca href=\"https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Gov_Gianforte_Lights_Up_Forest_Service_for_Not_Fighting_Fires\">Montana\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p/montana-senator-and-idaho-governor\">Idaho\u003c/a> and Rep. Tom McClintock from California District 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shultz’s letter also asks more Forest Service personnel to become qualified to fight fires. The voluntary buyouts and layoffs executed by DOGE earlier this year depleted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029182/federal-policy-turmoil-threatens-californias-wildfire-prevention-efforts\">ranks of staff\u003c/a> who can step in and help in a pinch. On June 6, the Forest Service said that people who resigned but have Red Cards — are qualified to be assigned to a fire — \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/sustain/deferred-resignation-program-participants-guidance-supporting\">can assist this season\u003c/a> even though they’re technically on administrative leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the current administration, the Forest Service workforce was weakened by years of underpay and difficult working conditions. In California, many federal firefighters have gone to work for the state’s firefighting agency, CalFire, because the \u003ca href=\"https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/pay-disparity-cal-fire\">pay is far better\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Having fewer staff generally pushes agencies towards full suppression, and away from strategies like managed fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Craig Thomas, of the Fire Restoration Group, a nonprofit seeking to return fire to its pre-settlement ecological role, found plenty to like about the letter but was disappointed by its primary focus on suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s only half the story,” Thomas said. “We need to fight it, sure, but we need to put the same intensity into lighting it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shultz is allowing for prescribed fires, but only through a very conservative approach. Many fire experts, including Thomas, Skaggs and Pyne, would like to see it be more lenient and science-based.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They see some current attitudes towards fire as being so overly cautious that it’s ultimately dangerous. It’s focusing on fire as an emergency instead of a force to live with. It’s like spending lots of money on emergency healthcare but not giving people vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly Martin, a retired chief of fire and aviation at Yosemite National Park, said with shifting political winds, she expected the agency to take a very aggressive suppression stance this summer. “We know that the use of good fire on the landscape and the use of [managed] wildfire … is now taking a backseat to the suppression intent this summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she added, this shows a failure to learn from past mistakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it sets us up for what basically becomes an untenable, unworkable situation this year because this is the same strategy that we’ve had for many, many decades,” Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wildfires just keep getting bigger and bigger and more dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Good times at the U.S. Forest Service are gone. What happened?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service was once seen as a gold-standard \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Forest+Ranger%3A+A+Study+in+Administrative+Behavior\">model government agency\u003c/a>. Of course, it was relatively easy to be successful when it had fewer mandates than today and they were easier to achieve. There were more big trees to log for timber sales. Fires were easier to put out when the legacy of suppression, logging and human-caused climate change from burning gas and oil hadn’t yet caught up with America’s forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that changed after 1960, when Congress told the agency to try to balance interests that inherently compete: recreation, logging, grazing, mining, wildlife, watersheds and wilderness protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so, it was basically torn apart. Criticized on all counts. There was no way it could succeed,” Pyne said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978931\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1978931\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a hard hat, wearing heavy brown pants, a gold shirt and work gloves, is on the side of a two-lane highway with smoky air obscuring trees in the distance. He has just tossed a large branch toward a pile of branches as part of clearing vegetation during a controlled burn.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/03/RS54892_GettyImages-1338215530-qut-1536x1043.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A U.S. Forest Service forestry technician removes vegetation during a controlled burn along Highway 89 in the Christmas Valley area near South Lake Tahoe in September 2021. \u003ccite>(Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After being hailed as a model agency, the Forest Service is increasingly \u003ca href=\"https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/america-decay\">pointed to as dysfunctional\u003c/a>, balancing contradictory mandates and lacking a clear way to make decisions. There are those who think what’s needed for the USFS to right the ship is simply a return to the days of the 10 a.m. rule and a robust timber harvest. But neither are considered desirable or realistic by most experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a mild fire removes duff, brush and small burnable fuels, it leaves large tree trunks. Logging removes the large stuff and leaves the small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Logging is not a solution to fire,” Pyne said. “Logging and fire do opposite things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, President Trump has conflated declining timber sales with increased fire risk. In March, he issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-expansion-of-american-timber-production/\">an executive order\u003c/a> requesting the expansion of timber harvests, and the agency responded in May with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/introducing-national-active-management-strategy\">outline\u003c/a> of how it will try to meet the order’s demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fires that burn forests and fires that burn cities are different\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If wildfires during the past decade have been bad, fires that have destroyed towns and neighborhoods have been even worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pyne said this has led to a fresh demonization of fire, particularly in the wake of the L.A. Fires. He sees the public confusing urban conflagrations that burn blocks of houses with wildland fires that burn in undeveloped lands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buildings are destroyed along Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a confusion that advances certain partisan interests,” Pyne said. “You get people alarmed. ‘We’re in the midst of an emergency! Our cities, Los Angeles, for heaven’s sake, are burning up. We’ve got to get rid of all the checks and balances. We’re going to clear out all the fuel that’s a threat.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This can lead to a bait-and-switch misdirection, especially by people who yearn for increased timber sales. However, Pyne said, “the primary way to protect these communities is to harden them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pyne said if he were writing the chief’s letter, he would make it clear that we have an urban fire problem that needs to be addressed by urban fire services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not addressing this difference opens up the agency to even more criticism, especially if other towns burn this season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the fire seasons have gotten more intense and everything connected with federal agencies has gotten more political and polarized, they’ve had to try to anticipate and clarify what they can do, hope to do, and to assuage a lot of different conflicting groups,” Pyne said. Many of these groups — whether politicians, business interests or conservationists — don’t want to compromise over their goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the agency is expected to somehow achieve that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "trump-blocks-californias-ev-rules-state-sues-in-response",
"title": "Trump Blocks California’s EV Rules, State Sues in Response",
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"content": "\u003cp>President Donald Trump signed three joint resolutions of Congress on Thursday, blocking \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">California’s electric vehicle sales mandates\u003c/a> and diesel engine rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Air Resources Board and 10 attorneys general representing other states immediately filed a lawsuit over the president’s actions, calling them an “unlawful” attack on the clean vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers and environmental groups claim the administration’s actions undermine the state’s ability to protect the health of millions of residents and to keep human-caused climate change in check. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996968/senate-votes-block-californias-electric-vehicle-mandate#:~:text=Gavin%20Newsom%20and%20Attorney%20General%20Rob%20Bonta,two%20other%20clean%20air%20act%20rules%20Thursday.&text=California's%20rules%20would%20ban%20the%20sale%20of,makers%20to%20start%20selling%20more%20electric%20vehicles.\">They argue Congress does not have the authority\u003c/a> to legislate on the state’s waivers, echoing statements by two nonpartisan government entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We made a promise that if the President attempted to illegally interfere with our clean air standards, we’d hold him accountable in court,” said Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general. “What we’re seeing is a thinly veiled attempt by the President to retaliate against California for choosing progress over regression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CRA-Response-EO-N-27-25_-bl-formatted-GGN-Signed-6-11-954pmFinal.pdf\">executive order\u003c/a> on Thursday, “doubling down on the state’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels” by reaffirming the state’s commitment to “aggressively address the serious issue of air pollution in the state.” The order calls on the California Air Resources Board to develop new clean car regulations to replace those blocked by the Trump administration. It also requires state departments to purchase vehicles from manufacturers that still comply with California’s clean car regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996925\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996925\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom stands in front of a state flag during a press conference about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on April 16, 2025, at an almond farm in Ceres, California. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We won’t let this illegal action by Trump and Republicans in the pockets of polluters stand in the way of commonsense policy to clean our air, protect the health of our kids and compete on the global stage,” Newsom said in a statement. Several House \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/climate/democrats-california-ban-electric-vehicles.html\">Democrats\u003c/a> joined Republicans in voting to block California’s waivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s rules would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">ban the sale of new gas cars in the state\u003c/a> starting in 2035, reduce pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses, and require truck manufacturers to start selling more electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolutions are a significant win for auto dealers and automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, who lobbied against California’s regulations.[aside postID=science_1997275 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']During a live-streamed press conference on Thursday, Trump called California’s clean air rules “a disaster for this country” and touted his actions as a “rescue of the U.S. auto industry from destruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives of the petroleum industry applauded the administration’s move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s historic signing is critical for protecting U.S. families, manufacturing workers, and our national security,” American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president Chet Thompson wrote in a joint statement. “We thank President Trump for keeping his promise to American voters to end these extreme and restrictive policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Sauer, CEO of the California Trucking Association, told KQED he thanks the Trump Administration for signing the resolutions, saying, “trucking companies across the country faced crushing economic consequences from unattainable and unachievable regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now look forward to a productive dialogue on setting and achieving realistic goals,” Sauer added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">California’s\u003c/a> planet-warming emissions come from transportation, and the same is true \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">nationwide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994309\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1536x1055.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1920x1319.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vehicles travel along Interstate 80 on Jan. 16, 2024, in Berkeley.\u003cbr>Californians are breathing significantly less harmful vehicle pollution than 25 years ago, thanks to a 65% drop in PM2.5 exposure from cars, trucks and other vehicles, according to a new study by UC Berkeley, CalEPA and the University of Washington. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval, and other states can adopt identical versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clean air groups and environmental organizations ridiculed the rulings, saying the administration is weaponizing the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism used by Congress that requires a simple majority vote to overturn the EPA’s waivers. These organizations say that now 11 other states will lose their ability to match California’s efforts, and the U.S. will lose out on building its electric vehicle market to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We suffer from the worst air pollution in this country and the federal government is making it harder to protect people,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with environmental group Earthjustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Young, executive director of California Environmental Voters, wrote in a statement on Thursday that the actions show that the “President is siding with polluters over people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is planned chaos, orchestrated by big oil and corporate polluters to keep us locked into a dangerous, polluting vehicle market when we need bold action the most,” wrote Young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Mike Levin, Calif.-49, who represents most of San Diego’s North County and part of southern Orange County, wrote in a statement that the administration’s ruling could turn around decades of work to clean up “nonstop smog alerts” in Southern California and said “clean air shouldn’t be negotiable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not going back,” he said. “Not to the smog. Not to the asthma. And not to a future where polluters get to call the shots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "President Donald Trump signed three joint resolutions of Congress blocking California from setting its own vehicle standards that are stricter than those of the federal government. ",
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"title": "Trump Blocks California’s EV Rules, State Sues in Response | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>President Donald Trump signed three joint resolutions of Congress on Thursday, blocking \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">California’s electric vehicle sales mandates\u003c/a> and diesel engine rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Air Resources Board and 10 attorneys general representing other states immediately filed a lawsuit over the president’s actions, calling them an “unlawful” attack on the clean vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers and environmental groups claim the administration’s actions undermine the state’s ability to protect the health of millions of residents and to keep human-caused climate change in check. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996968/senate-votes-block-californias-electric-vehicle-mandate#:~:text=Gavin%20Newsom%20and%20Attorney%20General%20Rob%20Bonta,two%20other%20clean%20air%20act%20rules%20Thursday.&text=California's%20rules%20would%20ban%20the%20sale%20of,makers%20to%20start%20selling%20more%20electric%20vehicles.\">They argue Congress does not have the authority\u003c/a> to legislate on the state’s waivers, echoing statements by two nonpartisan government entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We made a promise that if the President attempted to illegally interfere with our clean air standards, we’d hold him accountable in court,” said Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general. “What we’re seeing is a thinly veiled attempt by the President to retaliate against California for choosing progress over regression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CRA-Response-EO-N-27-25_-bl-formatted-GGN-Signed-6-11-954pmFinal.pdf\">executive order\u003c/a> on Thursday, “doubling down on the state’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels” by reaffirming the state’s commitment to “aggressively address the serious issue of air pollution in the state.” The order calls on the California Air Resources Board to develop new clean car regulations to replace those blocked by the Trump administration. It also requires state departments to purchase vehicles from manufacturers that still comply with California’s clean car regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996925\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996925\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/GavinNewsom2025AP2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom stands in front of a state flag during a press conference about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on April 16, 2025, at an almond farm in Ceres, California. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We won’t let this illegal action by Trump and Republicans in the pockets of polluters stand in the way of commonsense policy to clean our air, protect the health of our kids and compete on the global stage,” Newsom said in a statement. Several House \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/climate/democrats-california-ban-electric-vehicles.html\">Democrats\u003c/a> joined Republicans in voting to block California’s waivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s rules would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">ban the sale of new gas cars in the state\u003c/a> starting in 2035, reduce pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses, and require truck manufacturers to start selling more electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolutions are a significant win for auto dealers and automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, who lobbied against California’s regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During a live-streamed press conference on Thursday, Trump called California’s clean air rules “a disaster for this country” and touted his actions as a “rescue of the U.S. auto industry from destruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives of the petroleum industry applauded the administration’s move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s historic signing is critical for protecting U.S. families, manufacturing workers, and our national security,” American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president Chet Thompson wrote in a joint statement. “We thank President Trump for keeping his promise to American voters to end these extreme and restrictive policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Sauer, CEO of the California Trucking Association, told KQED he thanks the Trump Administration for signing the resolutions, saying, “trucking companies across the country faced crushing economic consequences from unattainable and unachievable regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now look forward to a productive dialogue on setting and achieving realistic goals,” Sauer added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">California’s\u003c/a> planet-warming emissions come from transportation, and the same is true \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">nationwide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994309\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1536x1055.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/BerkeleyPollutionGetty1-1920x1319.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vehicles travel along Interstate 80 on Jan. 16, 2024, in Berkeley.\u003cbr>Californians are breathing significantly less harmful vehicle pollution than 25 years ago, thanks to a 65% drop in PM2.5 exposure from cars, trucks and other vehicles, according to a new study by UC Berkeley, CalEPA and the University of Washington. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval, and other states can adopt identical versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clean air groups and environmental organizations ridiculed the rulings, saying the administration is weaponizing the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism used by Congress that requires a simple majority vote to overturn the EPA’s waivers. These organizations say that now 11 other states will lose their ability to match California’s efforts, and the U.S. will lose out on building its electric vehicle market to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We suffer from the worst air pollution in this country and the federal government is making it harder to protect people,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with environmental group Earthjustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Young, executive director of California Environmental Voters, wrote in a statement on Thursday that the actions show that the “President is siding with polluters over people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is planned chaos, orchestrated by big oil and corporate polluters to keep us locked into a dangerous, polluting vehicle market when we need bold action the most,” wrote Young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Mike Levin, Calif.-49, who represents most of San Diego’s North County and part of southern Orange County, wrote in a statement that the administration’s ruling could turn around decades of work to clean up “nonstop smog alerts” in Southern California and said “clean air shouldn’t be negotiable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not going back,” he said. “Not to the smog. Not to the asthma. And not to a future where polluters get to call the shots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "this-oakland-block-tried-to-quit-fossil-fuels-heres-what-they-learned",
"title": "This Oakland Block Tried to Quit Fossil Fuels. Here’s What They Learned",
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"headTitle": "This Oakland Block Tried to Quit Fossil Fuels. Here’s What They Learned | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Just before the 2019 holiday season, musician Isaac Zones got an \u003ca href=\"https://citris-uc.org/oakland-ecoblock-looking-for-interested-neighborhoods/\">email\u003c/a>, forwarded from a friend. It asked, “Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His answer was, well, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block,” Zones said. Zones lives on an East Oakland street lined with century-old single-family Victorians, mid-century, boxy apartment buildings and everything in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">The initiative, headed by researchers at UC Berkeley, invited entire neighborhoods to apply for major upgrades\u003c/a>: energy- and water-efficient appliances, insulation and solar panels, along with a shared back-up battery and microgrid to protect the street from power blackouts. All for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In return, the researchers would get to test out a theory: would retrofitting buildings together, all at once, save money by buying in bulk? Would it save time for a contractor to walk from one job across the street to another? Would people even want to sign up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project would tackle a significant but overlooked issue: the planet-warming pollution that comes from buildings and the energy they use. In the U.S., that’s roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/commercial-and-residential-sector-emissions\">one-third\u003c/a> of all emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A way to cut that pollution is to wean buildings off fossil fuels like natural gas and swap out gas appliances for electric ones. But doing this home by home and business by business is expensive and slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Therese Peffer, a researcher from UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment CITRIS Climate initiative, helps neighbors plant trees on a block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So researchers at UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment set out to study if there was another way to slash pollution from buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They felt there was already enough attention on how to construct new buildings for a warmer world. “New construction is easy, right? It’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is,” said Therese Peffer, who heads the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country,” Peffer said — the millions of offices, warehouses, restaurants and homes we already have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Peffer and her colleagues at UC Berkeley got a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/CEC-500-2020-009-AP.pdf\">$5 million grant\u003c/a> from the state of California to test out a new, block-scale approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Isaac Zones was ready to sign his block up as the guinea pig.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting neighbors on board\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Isaac Zones and his wife, Vivian Santana Pacheco, had always cared about the environment, but their passion grew after they had their child, now in elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want this world to be a habitable one for him,” Santana Pacheco said. “Already, I feel like we’re behind, and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issac Zones (left) and Vivian Santana-Pacheco (right) stand for a portrait in front of their electric vehicle in Oakland, California, on Aug. 11, 2023. The couple is a part of a group of neighbors in Oakland that are beginning to electrify their home appliances. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pair went door to door, selling neighbors on the project, called “EcoBlock.” The task wasn’t unfamiliar: they’d gone door-knocking after moving to the block almost a decade ago. But that time it was to invite people out for a block party, which has since become an annual tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking neighbors to come out for a beer is different than asking them to overhaul their largest asset, but Santana Pacheco and Zones had a lot of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some residents were immediately game: they wanted air conditioning to deal with California’s increasing heat waves, and they valued how the project prioritized a low and middle-income neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Santana Pacheco and Zones convinced 15 out of the 25 properties on the block to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The holdouts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So, who didn’t want to be part of EcoBlock?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Johnson lives in a white Victorian that’s been in his family for almost 100 years. He’s a retired contractor and spent decades remodeling his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995170\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Johnson stands in his kitchen in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024. Johnson decided against participating in the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His energy bills are incredibly low already, and he thinks there are other ways to tackle planet-warming pollution; things like aviation fuel and shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, he isn’t ready to give up all fossil fuels just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole EcoBlock wanted to take away the gas,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was a major goal of the project — weaning homes off natural gas, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20the%20second%20most,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere.\">powerful climate pollutant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other people who opted out of the project had done unpermitted work on their homes, and feared they’d get in trouble with the city. And some people felt distrustful of an outside institution leading the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EcoBlock faced other hurdles: a pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As prices rose, the project shrank. Instead of an all-electric utopia, EcoBlock would mostly address the biggest sources of a home’s pollution: heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Workers, workers everywhere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finally, in 2024, construction began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, there were workers everywhere, blowing insulation into walls, replacing HVAC systems and installing solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had this joke on the block: who’s getting the porta party in front of their house? That’s how we know who’s getting construction done,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995169\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995169\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salalai Vongsy, a contractor with Eco Performance Builders, works in Jesse Hassinger’s home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, five-and-a-half years after the block signed on, the work is almost done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors are reveling in their new comforts: new heating and cooling, insulation, bathroom fans to improve air circulation, solar panels, new roofs to support them and more. The block has also had a facelift, with chunks of sidewalk concrete ripped up and trees and native plants put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several more ambitious aspects of the project were scrapped along the way due to funding and feasibility limitations: a shared back-up battery, a community microgrid and a shared electric vehicle and charger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But residents ultimately seem grateful for their upgrades and for having an outside entity coordinate all the details for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Did it work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now that the first EcoBlock is near completion: Did Therese Peffer and her colleagues’ theory work? Is upgrading a whole block faster and cheaper than going house by house?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peffer’s takeaway: yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here is why, and what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1995320 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Corlett stands next to a newly installed heat pump at his home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>This pilot project was far more expensive than future ones. \u003c/strong>The EcoBlock pilot cost $8 million, funded by a state grant and a private donor. But that included the cost of all kinds of experts, and parts of the project that were designed but never used.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Peffer thinks the next attempt would cost just a third of that, and go much faster. “It takes that first time of kicking the tires and trying to break things to kind of lay that pathway for the next one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Buying in bulk saves money.\u003c/strong> Peffer estimates EcoBlock saved 10-20% on bulk purchases of equipment like appliances, wires and electric panels. They were also able to get more competitive bids from contractors, because multiple homes needed work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Return on investment for energy efficiency for low-income residents faces an unexpected hurdle.\u003c/strong> Many low-income residents have discounted energy rates and/or relatively low energy use, which means the timeline for the return on investment for energy efficiency improvements can be prohibitively long, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003col start=\"2\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Proximity of buildings helps, but being on the same street might not be so important.\u003c/strong> The project contractor, Keith O’Hara, who heads Eco Performance Builders, said his crews saved time by being able to use the last few hours of a day to cross a street and start on a new project, or simply to help another crew carry a heavy appliance. But if a full block isn’t attempting to remove all gas appliances from their homes with the goal of removing a gas main beneath their road, they don’t necessarily need to be on the same block. “I just think it’s really hard to get all those people on the block to agree,” O’Hara said.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1996563 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/04/250321-VIRTUALPOWERPLANT-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Instead, O’Hara said, homes could be in the same general area as one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003col start=\"3\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>You don’t need to overhaul everything. \u003c/strong>While this project had lofty goals, Peffer thinks future EcoBlocks could focus on smaller, more manageable upgrades. “Maybe it’s bulk purchasing. Like, ‘I want an induction stove, do you want an induction stove? Let’s go in together and see if we can get a 10% discount,’” she said.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It all hinges on the neighbors. \u003c/strong>Neighbors are crucial to the success of a project like this in several ways:\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The neighbors need to be committed.\u003c/strong> EcoBlock attempted to do these upgrades on a different Oakland block at first, one that did not raise its hand for the project, and that attempt ended in failure. But having a block volunteer made for much greater buy-in and patience when obstacles came up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It helps to have a neighborhood where there is already some sense of camaraderie.\u003c/strong> Because Santana Pacheco and Zones had built ties through an annual block party, they’d already established a baseline of trust among neighbors, which “made it easier for folks to take a leap of faith and not get completely discouraged through all the ups and downs,” Zones reflected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">If you don’t have a sense of trust among your neighbors, the first step is to build that: share fruit from your backyard tree, host a gathering or start a group chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The best publicist for a project like this is your neighbor.\u003c/strong> Because your neighbor can better understand your specific interests, they may speak your language or have some other cultural similarity.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">“Also because we are sticking it out and probably have as much to lose as they do,” Santana Pacheco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and neighbors plant trees on their block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Group projects help increase buy-in.\u003c/strong> One of the major project funders, the California Energy Commission, reported that aspects of the project, which brought the block together, such as planned tree plantings, increased engagement.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The final EcoBlock solar panels are slated to turn on in the fall. After gathering data about costs and electricity use for some time, Peffer and her team will have more detailed lessons to share, including guides for other blocks to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, though, it is the desire people have to build community that has stuck with residents and researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s “something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with good people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever,” Peffer said. “The door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Zones, the project has meant a lot as he considers how to tackle climate change, which often feels overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So much of it seems like a string of losses. And this felt like a victory of some kind,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Just before the 2019 holiday season, musician Isaac Zones got an \u003ca href=\"https://citris-uc.org/oakland-ecoblock-looking-for-interested-neighborhoods/\">email\u003c/a>, forwarded from a friend. It asked, “Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His answer was, well, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block,” Zones said. Zones lives on an East Oakland street lined with century-old single-family Victorians, mid-century, boxy apartment buildings and everything in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">The initiative, headed by researchers at UC Berkeley, invited entire neighborhoods to apply for major upgrades\u003c/a>: energy- and water-efficient appliances, insulation and solar panels, along with a shared back-up battery and microgrid to protect the street from power blackouts. All for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In return, the researchers would get to test out a theory: would retrofitting buildings together, all at once, save money by buying in bulk? Would it save time for a contractor to walk from one job across the street to another? Would people even want to sign up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project would tackle a significant but overlooked issue: the planet-warming pollution that comes from buildings and the energy they use. In the U.S., that’s roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/commercial-and-residential-sector-emissions\">one-third\u003c/a> of all emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A way to cut that pollution is to wean buildings off fossil fuels like natural gas and swap out gas appliances for electric ones. But doing this home by home and business by business is expensive and slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Therese Peffer, a researcher from UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment CITRIS Climate initiative, helps neighbors plant trees on a block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So researchers at UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment set out to study if there was another way to slash pollution from buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They felt there was already enough attention on how to construct new buildings for a warmer world. “New construction is easy, right? It’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is,” said Therese Peffer, who heads the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country,” Peffer said — the millions of offices, warehouses, restaurants and homes we already have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Peffer and her colleagues at UC Berkeley got a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/CEC-500-2020-009-AP.pdf\">$5 million grant\u003c/a> from the state of California to test out a new, block-scale approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Isaac Zones was ready to sign his block up as the guinea pig.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting neighbors on board\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Isaac Zones and his wife, Vivian Santana Pacheco, had always cared about the environment, but their passion grew after they had their child, now in elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want this world to be a habitable one for him,” Santana Pacheco said. “Already, I feel like we’re behind, and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issac Zones (left) and Vivian Santana-Pacheco (right) stand for a portrait in front of their electric vehicle in Oakland, California, on Aug. 11, 2023. The couple is a part of a group of neighbors in Oakland that are beginning to electrify their home appliances. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pair went door to door, selling neighbors on the project, called “EcoBlock.” The task wasn’t unfamiliar: they’d gone door-knocking after moving to the block almost a decade ago. But that time it was to invite people out for a block party, which has since become an annual tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking neighbors to come out for a beer is different than asking them to overhaul their largest asset, but Santana Pacheco and Zones had a lot of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some residents were immediately game: they wanted air conditioning to deal with California’s increasing heat waves, and they valued how the project prioritized a low and middle-income neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Santana Pacheco and Zones convinced 15 out of the 25 properties on the block to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The holdouts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So, who didn’t want to be part of EcoBlock?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Johnson lives in a white Victorian that’s been in his family for almost 100 years. He’s a retired contractor and spent decades remodeling his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995170\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Johnson stands in his kitchen in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024. Johnson decided against participating in the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His energy bills are incredibly low already, and he thinks there are other ways to tackle planet-warming pollution; things like aviation fuel and shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, he isn’t ready to give up all fossil fuels just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole EcoBlock wanted to take away the gas,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was a major goal of the project — weaning homes off natural gas, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20the%20second%20most,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere.\">powerful climate pollutant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other people who opted out of the project had done unpermitted work on their homes, and feared they’d get in trouble with the city. And some people felt distrustful of an outside institution leading the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EcoBlock faced other hurdles: a pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As prices rose, the project shrank. Instead of an all-electric utopia, EcoBlock would mostly address the biggest sources of a home’s pollution: heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Workers, workers everywhere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finally, in 2024, construction began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, there were workers everywhere, blowing insulation into walls, replacing HVAC systems and installing solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had this joke on the block: who’s getting the porta party in front of their house? That’s how we know who’s getting construction done,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995169\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995169\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salalai Vongsy, a contractor with Eco Performance Builders, works in Jesse Hassinger’s home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, five-and-a-half years after the block signed on, the work is almost done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors are reveling in their new comforts: new heating and cooling, insulation, bathroom fans to improve air circulation, solar panels, new roofs to support them and more. The block has also had a facelift, with chunks of sidewalk concrete ripped up and trees and native plants put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several more ambitious aspects of the project were scrapped along the way due to funding and feasibility limitations: a shared back-up battery, a community microgrid and a shared electric vehicle and charger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But residents ultimately seem grateful for their upgrades and for having an outside entity coordinate all the details for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Did it work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now that the first EcoBlock is near completion: Did Therese Peffer and her colleagues’ theory work? Is upgrading a whole block faster and cheaper than going house by house?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peffer’s takeaway: yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here is why, and what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1995320 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Corlett stands next to a newly installed heat pump at his home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>This pilot project was far more expensive than future ones. \u003c/strong>The EcoBlock pilot cost $8 million, funded by a state grant and a private donor. But that included the cost of all kinds of experts, and parts of the project that were designed but never used.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Peffer thinks the next attempt would cost just a third of that, and go much faster. “It takes that first time of kicking the tires and trying to break things to kind of lay that pathway for the next one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Buying in bulk saves money.\u003c/strong> Peffer estimates EcoBlock saved 10-20% on bulk purchases of equipment like appliances, wires and electric panels. They were also able to get more competitive bids from contractors, because multiple homes needed work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Return on investment for energy efficiency for low-income residents faces an unexpected hurdle.\u003c/strong> Many low-income residents have discounted energy rates and/or relatively low energy use, which means the timeline for the return on investment for energy efficiency improvements can be prohibitively long, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003col start=\"2\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Proximity of buildings helps, but being on the same street might not be so important.\u003c/strong> The project contractor, Keith O’Hara, who heads Eco Performance Builders, said his crews saved time by being able to use the last few hours of a day to cross a street and start on a new project, or simply to help another crew carry a heavy appliance. But if a full block isn’t attempting to remove all gas appliances from their homes with the goal of removing a gas main beneath their road, they don’t necessarily need to be on the same block. “I just think it’s really hard to get all those people on the block to agree,” O’Hara said.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Instead, O’Hara said, homes could be in the same general area as one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003col start=\"3\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>You don’t need to overhaul everything. \u003c/strong>While this project had lofty goals, Peffer thinks future EcoBlocks could focus on smaller, more manageable upgrades. “Maybe it’s bulk purchasing. Like, ‘I want an induction stove, do you want an induction stove? Let’s go in together and see if we can get a 10% discount,’” she said.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It all hinges on the neighbors. \u003c/strong>Neighbors are crucial to the success of a project like this in several ways:\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The neighbors need to be committed.\u003c/strong> EcoBlock attempted to do these upgrades on a different Oakland block at first, one that did not raise its hand for the project, and that attempt ended in failure. But having a block volunteer made for much greater buy-in and patience when obstacles came up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It helps to have a neighborhood where there is already some sense of camaraderie.\u003c/strong> Because Santana Pacheco and Zones had built ties through an annual block party, they’d already established a baseline of trust among neighbors, which “made it easier for folks to take a leap of faith and not get completely discouraged through all the ups and downs,” Zones reflected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">If you don’t have a sense of trust among your neighbors, the first step is to build that: share fruit from your backyard tree, host a gathering or start a group chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The best publicist for a project like this is your neighbor.\u003c/strong> Because your neighbor can better understand your specific interests, they may speak your language or have some other cultural similarity.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">“Also because we are sticking it out and probably have as much to lose as they do,” Santana Pacheco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and neighbors plant trees on their block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Group projects help increase buy-in.\u003c/strong> One of the major project funders, the California Energy Commission, reported that aspects of the project, which brought the block together, such as planned tree plantings, increased engagement.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The final EcoBlock solar panels are slated to turn on in the fall. After gathering data about costs and electricity use for some time, Peffer and her team will have more detailed lessons to share, including guides for other blocks to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, though, it is the desire people have to build community that has stuck with residents and researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s “something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with good people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever,” Peffer said. “The door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Zones, the project has meant a lot as he considers how to tackle climate change, which often feels overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So much of it seems like a string of losses. And this felt like a victory of some kind,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Shiva Mishek loves to win. And the co-chair of the Richmond Progressive Alliance is not afraid of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992910/richmond-oil-refining-tax-on-chevron-a-major-polluter-moves-closer-to-ballot\">stiff competition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, as chief of staff for Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, she helped lead \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000170/richmond-drops-bid-for-chevron-refinery-tax-in-550-million-deal-with-company\">a campaign\u003c/a> to convince voters to approve a ballot tax measure that would impose an oil-refining tax on Chevron, which processes hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil each day in Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company threatened to sue, and the city only ditched the ballot measure after Chevron agreed to pay $550 million over a decade to compensate the community for the effects of pollution. Martinez called the settlement a historic victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peering through an opening of a tree-lined fence on Castro Street earlier this month, Mishek, wearing a grey T-shirt and high-waisted jeans, said: “It’s very hard to turn down a deal like this,” even if the Richmond resident had wanted more from the company. “Half a billion dollars is pennies,” for big corporations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron’s touch is all around \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chevron-refinery\">Richmond\u003c/a>. Oil tanks on hills loom over the community. Trains split the city. The company played a pivotal role in helping the city become an industrial powerhouse, stimulating the West Contra Costa County economy to the tune of approximately $1 billion each year, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/chevrons-impact-in-west-contra-costa-county/\">report\u003c/a> commissioned by the company. But advocates claim that having a refinery in town comes with significant health implications, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992910/richmond-oil-refining-tax-on-chevron-a-major-polluter-moves-closer-to-ballot\">higher rates of asthma\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s so insidious about environmental harm is it’s often invisible,” Mishek said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997209\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A group of California Senate and Assembly lawmakers have now proposed a similar plan — the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb684\">Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025\u003c/a> — that would require companies to pay the state money retroactively for their oil production between 1990 and 2024, to address the damages they argue Californians are facing now and in the future as a result. Climate policy experts said that if the bill passes, it will become entangled in legal battles. The legislation already faces fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers and a slew of influential groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, the State Building Construction Trades Council and the oil industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Western States Petroleum Association, in an email, called it “a misguided proposal to retroactively punish companies for providing a legal product that was, and remains, critical to our state’s economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Choi, communications director at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which helped spearhead the ballot measure in Richmond, said state lawmakers should look to the campaign in that city — where organizers leveraged local support — as a guide as they pursue the controversial policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a reason that Chevron came to the table, settled and didn’t even want to see this go on the ballot because there was overwhelming support in the community,” she said. “For lawmakers in Sacramento who are inundated with oil lobbyists, it can be hard to remember that it is very much the reality of how people feel on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997206\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997206\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marie Choi, communications director for Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), sits at Kaleidoscope Coffee in Richmond on June 3, 2025. APEN is a grassroots organization that advocates for environmental justice and the rights of lower-income Asian immigrant and refugee communities in California. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Protecting all of California’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For bill author Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D-Panorama City, the policy is a personal matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">devastating Los Angeles fires\u003c/a> destroyed thousands of homes and caused other damages that will \u003ca href=\"https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/about/centers/ucla-anderson-forecast/economic-impact-los-angeles-wildfires\">cost north of $100 billion\u003c/a>, according to early estimates. It was like climate change smacking her district across the face, she said.[aside postID=news_12006203 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/017_Richmond_ChevronRefinery_01132022_qed-1020x680.jpg']“You pay for that, and I pay for that,” Menjivar said. “If we don’t do something to increase the revenues for these kinds of catastrophes, we’re going to be falling even more behind on being able to combat or be responsive or be preventative for the next kind of catastrophe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maya Golden-Krasner has lived in a hotel since the Eaton Fire contaminated her family’s home with lead and ash. As deputy climate director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which sponsored the bill, she believes the act is essential for California because the Trump administration is actively defunding policies that protect people during climate disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know if we are going to have money from the federal government to deal with disasters in the future,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, the bill requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to determine which California companies could be responsible for more than a billion metric tons of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere over the last three decades. Regulators would then conduct a climate cost study to determine the amount each business would need to contribute to a new fund within the state treasury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997203\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997203\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiva Mishek, a Richmond resident and community organizer, at the Richmond Progressive Alliance offices in Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They throw in tens of millions of dollars just for lobbying,” Menjivar said. “If they’re putting so much money into that, I know they can afford this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similar laws have been passed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/g-s1-2359/vermont-first-state-oil-companies-pay-climate-change-damages\">Vermont\u003c/a> and New York that require fossil fuel companies to pay for the damages caused by human-caused climate change through funds to support adaptation projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-San Luis Obispo, would like the fees collected to help harden homes in areas of the state prone to wildfires, prepare cities in her district for flooding and create living-wage green jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The majority of California’s population lives at the coast and needs to know that they’re gonna be able to keep their homes safe and that their children are gonna grow up in a world that is not experiencing such extreme weather events,” Addis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A misguided attempt’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California proposal has emerged at a time when oil companies are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039505/a-bay-area-refinery-town-contemplates-future-without-big-oil\">set to close two refineries\u003c/a> in the state and the Trump administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035274/the-future-of-oil-drilling-off-californias-coast-could-be-at-stake-in-a-hearing-today\">attempting to revive oil drilling off the West Coast\u003c/a>. At the same time, gas prices are high compared to their historical average at \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CA\">$4.76\u003c/a> a gallon, according to AAA, but still below the roughly five bucks Californians paid at the pump on average last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron officials told KQED in an email that if the bill were to pass, it “would exacerbate a hostile business environment,” undermine the state’s energy production, increase energy costs and “threaten the reliability of fuel supplies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lauritzen Canal, a shipping waterway that is part of the larger Port of Richmond, in Richmond, on June 3, 2025. The canal is part of the United Heckathorn Superfund site, designated for cleanup due to hazardous contamination from past industrial use. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, urged lawmakers at the bill’s introduction to reject the legislation, claiming it will hurt commuters in her district who travel hundreds of miles every week for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To say that this bill will not raise gas prices is not only absurd, it’s downright irresponsible and the definition of gas lighting,” Valladares said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A coalition of more than two dozen industry groups and associations opposes the bill and said it “would likely worsen California’s affordability crisis for the state’s consumers and businesses,” in a joint press release. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/people/165813\">Jon Kendrick\u003c/a>, a lobbyist with the California Chamber of Commerce, called the bill a “job killer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By retroactively punishing decades-old lawful emissions that largely occurred outside of the state, we disincentivize businesses from actually coming to California,” he said at the bill’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258686?t=84&f=a5b79bd1f2ae14737818d6d529d90fe1\">introduction\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill “does nothing for working people,” said Martin Rodriguez, who represents thousands of people with Ironworkers Local 433. “It’s a misguided attempt to punish an industry that our whole economy is based [on].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997205\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interstate 80 runs through the city of Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Long legal battles’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Opponents also argue that companies have already paid a tax on these emissions through the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040286/how-california-cap-and-trade-works-and-how-newsom-wants-to-change-it\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a>, money the state spends on climate projects. They want the state to focus on extending the program, which Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed doing in his updated budget proposal. The program has generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/07/state-invests-nearly-33-billion-in-cap-and-trade-dollars-to-make-communities-cleaner-and-healthier/\">$33 billion\u003c/a> through seasonal auctions that enable businesses to purchase allowances for emitting greenhouse gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By holding polluters accountable, we’re sending billions of dollars back to communities and back to people’s wallets through credits on utility bills,” Newsom said in a press\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/07/state-invests-nearly-33-billion-in-cap-and-trade-dollars-to-make-communities-cleaner-and-healthier/#:~:text=SACRAMENTO%20%E2%80%93%20Governor%20Gavin%20Newsom%20today,Air%20Resources%20Board%20(CARB).\"> release\u003c/a> dated May 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there is the question of the bill’s legality. Severin Borenstein, a UC Berkeley economics professor, questions whether California could compel companies to pay retroactively, especially since the state’s cap-and-trade program already taxes them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Legally, that would be problematic,” he said. “If we go down this route of going back 30 years and penalizing companies, that’s likely to lead to long legal battles and more bad publicity for the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Borenstein believes a price on carbon emissions nationally “would be much more impactful” than California’s proposal, but it would face extreme pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997204\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997204\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiva Mishek, a Richmond resident and community organizer, looks through protest signs at the Richmond Progressive Alliance offices in Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to have a feel for what is going to move the ball forward politically and what might cause so much blowback that it could undermine the pursuit of a lower carbon future,” Borenstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Richmond, Shiva Mishek sipped Earl Grey tea in her beige orderly kitchen, pondering how the state can learn from Richmond’s half-billion-dollar settlement. She said she is still torn over it and worries about the city’s future. And those oil tanks on the hills are a constant reminder that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a win because she sees the city as overburdened by the refinery’s operations and has “a lot of climate adaptation needs that are urgent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Richmond, the lesson is that it’s important to stay clear-eyed on what the needs are and to keep our eye on the prize,” Mishek said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As California lawmakers consider a controversial 'polluters pay' bill, advocates argue they should model the effort after the city of Richmond, where leaders tapped into community support for a similar policy. Chevron agreed to pay $550 million to Richmond to compensate the residents for the effects of pollution.",
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"title": "California Lawmakers Divided Over Polluters' Pay Plan to Combat Climate Crisis | KQED",
"description": "As California lawmakers consider a controversial 'polluters pay' bill, advocates argue they should model the effort after the city of Richmond, where leaders tapped into community support for a similar policy. Chevron agreed to pay $550 million to Richmond to compensate the residents for the effects of pollution.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Shiva Mishek loves to win. And the co-chair of the Richmond Progressive Alliance is not afraid of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992910/richmond-oil-refining-tax-on-chevron-a-major-polluter-moves-closer-to-ballot\">stiff competition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, as chief of staff for Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, she helped lead \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000170/richmond-drops-bid-for-chevron-refinery-tax-in-550-million-deal-with-company\">a campaign\u003c/a> to convince voters to approve a ballot tax measure that would impose an oil-refining tax on Chevron, which processes hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil each day in Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company threatened to sue, and the city only ditched the ballot measure after Chevron agreed to pay $550 million over a decade to compensate the community for the effects of pollution. Martinez called the settlement a historic victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peering through an opening of a tree-lined fence on Castro Street earlier this month, Mishek, wearing a grey T-shirt and high-waisted jeans, said: “It’s very hard to turn down a deal like this,” even if the Richmond resident had wanted more from the company. “Half a billion dollars is pennies,” for big corporations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron’s touch is all around \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chevron-refinery\">Richmond\u003c/a>. Oil tanks on hills loom over the community. Trains split the city. The company played a pivotal role in helping the city become an industrial powerhouse, stimulating the West Contra Costa County economy to the tune of approximately $1 billion each year, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/chevrons-impact-in-west-contra-costa-county/\">report\u003c/a> commissioned by the company. But advocates claim that having a refinery in town comes with significant health implications, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992910/richmond-oil-refining-tax-on-chevron-a-major-polluter-moves-closer-to-ballot\">higher rates of asthma\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s so insidious about environmental harm is it’s often invisible,” Mishek said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997209\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-28-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A group of California Senate and Assembly lawmakers have now proposed a similar plan — the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb684\">Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025\u003c/a> — that would require companies to pay the state money retroactively for their oil production between 1990 and 2024, to address the damages they argue Californians are facing now and in the future as a result. Climate policy experts said that if the bill passes, it will become entangled in legal battles. The legislation already faces fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers and a slew of influential groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, the State Building Construction Trades Council and the oil industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Western States Petroleum Association, in an email, called it “a misguided proposal to retroactively punish companies for providing a legal product that was, and remains, critical to our state’s economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Choi, communications director at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which helped spearhead the ballot measure in Richmond, said state lawmakers should look to the campaign in that city — where organizers leveraged local support — as a guide as they pursue the controversial policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a reason that Chevron came to the table, settled and didn’t even want to see this go on the ballot because there was overwhelming support in the community,” she said. “For lawmakers in Sacramento who are inundated with oil lobbyists, it can be hard to remember that it is very much the reality of how people feel on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997206\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997206\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-01-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marie Choi, communications director for Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), sits at Kaleidoscope Coffee in Richmond on June 3, 2025. APEN is a grassroots organization that advocates for environmental justice and the rights of lower-income Asian immigrant and refugee communities in California. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Protecting all of California’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For bill author Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D-Panorama City, the policy is a personal matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">devastating Los Angeles fires\u003c/a> destroyed thousands of homes and caused other damages that will \u003ca href=\"https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/about/centers/ucla-anderson-forecast/economic-impact-los-angeles-wildfires\">cost north of $100 billion\u003c/a>, according to early estimates. It was like climate change smacking her district across the face, she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You pay for that, and I pay for that,” Menjivar said. “If we don’t do something to increase the revenues for these kinds of catastrophes, we’re going to be falling even more behind on being able to combat or be responsive or be preventative for the next kind of catastrophe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maya Golden-Krasner has lived in a hotel since the Eaton Fire contaminated her family’s home with lead and ash. As deputy climate director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which sponsored the bill, she believes the act is essential for California because the Trump administration is actively defunding policies that protect people during climate disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know if we are going to have money from the federal government to deal with disasters in the future,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, the bill requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to determine which California companies could be responsible for more than a billion metric tons of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere over the last three decades. Regulators would then conduct a climate cost study to determine the amount each business would need to contribute to a new fund within the state treasury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997203\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997203\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiva Mishek, a Richmond resident and community organizer, at the Richmond Progressive Alliance offices in Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They throw in tens of millions of dollars just for lobbying,” Menjivar said. “If they’re putting so much money into that, I know they can afford this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similar laws have been passed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/g-s1-2359/vermont-first-state-oil-companies-pay-climate-change-damages\">Vermont\u003c/a> and New York that require fossil fuel companies to pay for the damages caused by human-caused climate change through funds to support adaptation projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-San Luis Obispo, would like the fees collected to help harden homes in areas of the state prone to wildfires, prepare cities in her district for flooding and create living-wage green jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The majority of California’s population lives at the coast and needs to know that they’re gonna be able to keep their homes safe and that their children are gonna grow up in a world that is not experiencing such extreme weather events,” Addis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A misguided attempt’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California proposal has emerged at a time when oil companies are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039505/a-bay-area-refinery-town-contemplates-future-without-big-oil\">set to close two refineries\u003c/a> in the state and the Trump administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035274/the-future-of-oil-drilling-off-californias-coast-could-be-at-stake-in-a-hearing-today\">attempting to revive oil drilling off the West Coast\u003c/a>. At the same time, gas prices are high compared to their historical average at \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CA\">$4.76\u003c/a> a gallon, according to AAA, but still below the roughly five bucks Californians paid at the pump on average last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron officials told KQED in an email that if the bill were to pass, it “would exacerbate a hostile business environment,” undermine the state’s energy production, increase energy costs and “threaten the reliability of fuel supplies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-POLLUTERSPAY-35-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lauritzen Canal, a shipping waterway that is part of the larger Port of Richmond, in Richmond, on June 3, 2025. The canal is part of the United Heckathorn Superfund site, designated for cleanup due to hazardous contamination from past industrial use. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, urged lawmakers at the bill’s introduction to reject the legislation, claiming it will hurt commuters in her district who travel hundreds of miles every week for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To say that this bill will not raise gas prices is not only absurd, it’s downright irresponsible and the definition of gas lighting,” Valladares said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A coalition of more than two dozen industry groups and associations opposes the bill and said it “would likely worsen California’s affordability crisis for the state’s consumers and businesses,” in a joint press release. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/people/165813\">Jon Kendrick\u003c/a>, a lobbyist with the California Chamber of Commerce, called the bill a “job killer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By retroactively punishing decades-old lawful emissions that largely occurred outside of the state, we disincentivize businesses from actually coming to California,” he said at the bill’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258686?t=84&f=a5b79bd1f2ae14737818d6d529d90fe1\">introduction\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill “does nothing for working people,” said Martin Rodriguez, who represents thousands of people with Ironworkers Local 433. “It’s a misguided attempt to punish an industry that our whole economy is based [on].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997205\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-12-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interstate 80 runs through the city of Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Long legal battles’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Opponents also argue that companies have already paid a tax on these emissions through the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040286/how-california-cap-and-trade-works-and-how-newsom-wants-to-change-it\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a>, money the state spends on climate projects. They want the state to focus on extending the program, which Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed doing in his updated budget proposal. The program has generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/07/state-invests-nearly-33-billion-in-cap-and-trade-dollars-to-make-communities-cleaner-and-healthier/\">$33 billion\u003c/a> through seasonal auctions that enable businesses to purchase allowances for emitting greenhouse gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By holding polluters accountable, we’re sending billions of dollars back to communities and back to people’s wallets through credits on utility bills,” Newsom said in a press\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/07/state-invests-nearly-33-billion-in-cap-and-trade-dollars-to-make-communities-cleaner-and-healthier/#:~:text=SACRAMENTO%20%E2%80%93%20Governor%20Gavin%20Newsom%20today,Air%20Resources%20Board%20(CARB).\"> release\u003c/a> dated May 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there is the question of the bill’s legality. Severin Borenstein, a UC Berkeley economics professor, questions whether California could compel companies to pay retroactively, especially since the state’s cap-and-trade program already taxes them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Legally, that would be problematic,” he said. “If we go down this route of going back 30 years and penalizing companies, that’s likely to lead to long legal battles and more bad publicity for the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Borenstein believes a price on carbon emissions nationally “would be much more impactful” than California’s proposal, but it would face extreme pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997204\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997204\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250529-POLLUTERSPAY-05-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiva Mishek, a Richmond resident and community organizer, looks through protest signs at the Richmond Progressive Alliance offices in Richmond on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to have a feel for what is going to move the ball forward politically and what might cause so much blowback that it could undermine the pursuit of a lower carbon future,” Borenstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Richmond, Shiva Mishek sipped Earl Grey tea in her beige orderly kitchen, pondering how the state can learn from Richmond’s half-billion-dollar settlement. She said she is still torn over it and worries about the city’s future. And those oil tanks on the hills are a constant reminder that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a win because she sees the city as overburdened by the refinery’s operations and has “a lot of climate adaptation needs that are urgent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Richmond, the lesson is that it’s important to stay clear-eyed on what the needs are and to keep our eye on the prize,” Mishek said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>At Las Piletas Ranch Preserve in San Luis Obispo County, a surprising botanical discovery may alter the conservation future of a rare purple California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wildflowers\">wildflower\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers there uncovered a population explosion of the \u003ca href=\"https://forestwatch.org/learn-explore/wildlife-plants/camatta-canyon-amole/\">Camatta Canyon amole\u003c/a> previously thought to exist in only two known locations, with an estimated 10,000 plants globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists identified more than 16,000 amoles just at Las Piletas, according to Scott Butterfield, a lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s land program in California, who helped with the discovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Camatta Canyon amole is endemic to the La Panza Range, located along California’s Central Coast east of the small town of Santa Margarita. The plant typically grows on \u003ca href=\"https://calgeographic.com/geomorphography-the-geomorphology-word-of-the-day/mima-mounds/\">Mima mounds\u003c/a> — slight, dome-shaped rises in the soil common in California grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unique soil formations are sometimes referred to as “soil pimples.” These mounds, along with their vernal pools — puddles of water that appear after rainfall, usually during the spring — create rare microhabitats that support unique plant life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997270\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1997270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Once thought to number just 10,000 worldwide, the rare Camatta Canyon amole stunned researchers when over 16,000 were found at Las Piletas alone. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“At first, we thought they were inside the pools,” Butterfield explained. “But now, we’re seeing they actually thrive on the slopes of the mounds, not in the pool, not at the top, but that in-between space. That’s a really interesting and unexpected result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 95% of the vernal pool habitat that used to be widespread across the dry, inland regions of California has been lost, primarily to development, said Kristen Nelson, rare plant program manager at California Native Plant Society, a collaborator on the research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Protecting a species also means protecting its habitat. And in this case, protecting Camatta Canyon amole means protecting the comparably rare and unique vernal pool habitat in which it occurs,” Nelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This discovery of this bulbous, striking plant comes as Las Piletas launches California’s first virtual fencing pilot project, using GPS-enabled collars on cattle to manage grazing patterns with conservation in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very interested in grazing to support specific native vegetation,” Butterfield said. “Before we started this pilot, we wanted to know where these rare plants lived.”[aside postID=science_1997157 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250530_SOUTHBAYOBSERVATORY_GC-31-KQED-1020x680.jpg']This finding, made possible by LIDAR — a high-resolution remote sensing tool that uses lasers to create 3D maps of terrain — enables scientists to detect very subtle changes in topography. This kind of detail helps researchers understand where these plants grow and why, Butterfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of this finding might have been coincidental. After several years of drought, the region experienced a wet year, which was ideal for native wildflowers but unfavorable for the invasive grasses that usually outcompete them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We got kind of lucky,” Butterfield said. With such a large and concentrated population of these native flowers, Las Piletas could become a center for species recovery efforts. “If we can collect this seed and grow it in other suitable habitats, we could potentially get this species off the threatened list,” Butterfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As researchers analyze the findings and plan future grazing practices, the hope is not only to protect the Camatta Canyon amole but also to set a new standard for integrating technology, ecology and stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to protect this species and make sure that this species — an important part of overall biodiversity across the ranch and across the state — is going to exist in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Endemic to San Luis Obispo County, researchers are finding that these rare, purple native flowers, Cammata Canyon amole, have recently started blooming more frequently than ever.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Camatta Canyon amole is endemic to the La Panza Range, located along California’s Central Coast east of the small town of Santa Margarita. The plant typically grows on \u003ca href=\"https://calgeographic.com/geomorphography-the-geomorphology-word-of-the-day/mima-mounds/\">Mima mounds\u003c/a> — slight, dome-shaped rises in the soil common in California grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unique soil formations are sometimes referred to as “soil pimples.” These mounds, along with their vernal pools — puddles of water that appear after rainfall, usually during the spring — create rare microhabitats that support unique plant life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997270\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1997270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Cammata-Canyon-Amole-03-KQED.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Once thought to number just 10,000 worldwide, the rare Camatta Canyon amole stunned researchers when over 16,000 were found at Las Piletas alone. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“At first, we thought they were inside the pools,” Butterfield explained. “But now, we’re seeing they actually thrive on the slopes of the mounds, not in the pool, not at the top, but that in-between space. That’s a really interesting and unexpected result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 95% of the vernal pool habitat that used to be widespread across the dry, inland regions of California has been lost, primarily to development, said Kristen Nelson, rare plant program manager at California Native Plant Society, a collaborator on the research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Protecting a species also means protecting its habitat. And in this case, protecting Camatta Canyon amole means protecting the comparably rare and unique vernal pool habitat in which it occurs,” Nelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This discovery of this bulbous, striking plant comes as Las Piletas launches California’s first virtual fencing pilot project, using GPS-enabled collars on cattle to manage grazing patterns with conservation in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very interested in grazing to support specific native vegetation,” Butterfield said. “Before we started this pilot, we wanted to know where these rare plants lived.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This finding, made possible by LIDAR — a high-resolution remote sensing tool that uses lasers to create 3D maps of terrain — enables scientists to detect very subtle changes in topography. This kind of detail helps researchers understand where these plants grow and why, Butterfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of this finding might have been coincidental. After several years of drought, the region experienced a wet year, which was ideal for native wildflowers but unfavorable for the invasive grasses that usually outcompete them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We got kind of lucky,” Butterfield said. With such a large and concentrated population of these native flowers, Las Piletas could become a center for species recovery efforts. “If we can collect this seed and grow it in other suitable habitats, we could potentially get this species off the threatened list,” Butterfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As researchers analyze the findings and plan future grazing practices, the hope is not only to protect the Camatta Canyon amole but also to set a new standard for integrating technology, ecology and stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to protect this species and make sure that this species — an important part of overall biodiversity across the ranch and across the state — is going to exist in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>People like you are helping to solve environmental and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/climate\">climate\u003c/a> problems across our state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1997190 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-160x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996634/help-choose-next-read-kqeds-climate-book-club\">KQED’s Climate Book Club\u003c/a> is reading about how that’s happening, from keeping forests green with good fire to protecting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The book\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/climate-stewardship/paper\"> \u003cem>Climate Stewardship: Taking Collective Action to Protect California\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Adina Merenlender with Brendan Buhler is a collaboration with the UC California Naturalist Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re starting to read this week, aiming to be finished by July 17 for an in-person event with the author at KQED headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re interested in contributing to a conversation about the book between now and then, join us on\u003ca href=\"https://discord.com/invite/kqed\"> KQED’s Discord community\u003c/a> in the #book-club channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>People like you are helping to solve environmental and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/climate\">climate\u003c/a> problems across our state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1997190 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-160x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/ClimateStewardshipJacketArt.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996634/help-choose-next-read-kqeds-climate-book-club\">KQED’s Climate Book Club\u003c/a> is reading about how that’s happening, from keeping forests green with good fire to protecting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The book\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/climate-stewardship/paper\"> \u003cem>Climate Stewardship: Taking Collective Action to Protect California\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Adina Merenlender with Brendan Buhler is a collaboration with the UC California Naturalist Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re starting to read this week, aiming to be finished by July 17 for an in-person event with the author at KQED headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re interested in contributing to a conversation about the book between now and then, join us on\u003ca href=\"https://discord.com/invite/kqed\"> KQED’s Discord community\u003c/a> in the #book-club channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A coalition of advocates and loyal supporters has staved off the closure of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036970/unique-san-francisco-bay-marine-lab-faces-closure-has-days-raise-millions\">unique marine research center\u003c/a> on the San Francisco Bay — at least for another six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco State University first announced earlier this year that it could no longer afford the Estuary and Ocean Science Center on its 53-acre Romberg Tiburon Campus. Although scientists, conservationists and community members jumped into action and raised millions of dollars, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038610/san-francisco-bays-only-marine-lab-on-verge-of-closing-threatening-decades-of-coastal-research\">fundraising effort appeared to fail\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early May, the university signaled that it would likely shutter the campus. But the university told KQED this week that it is exploring a new financial option to keep the bayside research center afloat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in conversation with [a] foundation,” said Amy Sueyoshi, SF State’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. “It looks hopeful that it could both cover ongoing expenses and maybe take on Romberg Tiburon in the future. And so we want to explore that relationship in the coming months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Due to dropping \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016316/sf-state-lecturers-rattled-by-looming-job-cuts-enrollment-slides\">enrollment \u003c/a>and new \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12020389/newsom-projects-slight-budget-surplus-with-focus-on-saving-accountability\">reductions\u003c/a> to state university funding, SF State faces a budget shortfall of approximately $25 million. Without this new financial assistance, SF State would phase out operations at the marine research center — a regional science hub where researchers restore eelgrass, monitor water quality, rehabilitate endangered fish, implement sea-level rise adaptation projects and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037365\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037365\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_MARINELAB_GC-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oyster shells collected and bagged are used for a living shorelines project at San Francisco State’s Estuary and Ocean Science Center, in Tiburon on April 23, 2025.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The deal is far from locked down. The parties have not agreed yet on how much funding the foundation might contribute in the interim while SF State looks for a new owner for the campus, Sueyoshi explained. The university would not share the name of the foundation yet. SF State will decide the center’s ultimate future by January 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s going to be a group of folks from the foundation as well as from the university meeting through the fall semester,” Sueyoshi said. “We’ve set a January deadline for us to come to a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center has been an invaluable resource for SF State scientists and graduate students for years. The university began research at the bayside property, once a U.S. Navy base, in 1978.[aside postID=news_12038610 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_MarineLab_GC-16_qed-1020x680.jpg']The site also hosts the \u003ca href=\"https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/reserves/san-francisco-bay.html\">San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://serc.si.edu/\">Smithsonian Environmental Research Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person in particular refused to let the center fold. This spring, Katharyn Boyer, the center’s interim executive director, scrambled to convince donors to pledge money. By April 30 — an internal deadline from SF State — Boyer said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038610/san-francisco-bays-only-marine-lab-on-verge-of-closing-threatening-decades-of-coastal-research\">she had raised\u003c/a> about $3.2 million. But it was not enough to convince the university’s leadership to keep the doors open. They had hoped for $10 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyer, who would have had to move her research to SF State’s main campus if the Tiburon campus closed, declined to comment on negotiations with the foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many others have advocated for the center to stay open. Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg, the president of consulting firm Coastal Policy Solutions, organized a coalition of statewide stakeholders called \u003ca href=\"https://www.friendsofeosc.org/\">Friends of the Estuary and Ocean Science Center\u003c/a>. They reached out to their representatives and the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SF State appears to be working hard to explore this new alternative. The university plans to share more details about the potential donor at a fall budget meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Estuary and ocean science is valuable, and we need to be thinking seriously about the climate,” Sueyoshi said. “We’re just not set up in the kind of business model where we can continue to subsidize Romberg Tiburon as a second location.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A coalition of advocates and loyal supporters has staved off the closure of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036970/unique-san-francisco-bay-marine-lab-faces-closure-has-days-raise-millions\">unique marine research center\u003c/a> on the San Francisco Bay — at least for another six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco State University first announced earlier this year that it could no longer afford the Estuary and Ocean Science Center on its 53-acre Romberg Tiburon Campus. Although scientists, conservationists and community members jumped into action and raised millions of dollars, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038610/san-francisco-bays-only-marine-lab-on-verge-of-closing-threatening-decades-of-coastal-research\">fundraising effort appeared to fail\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early May, the university signaled that it would likely shutter the campus. But the university told KQED this week that it is exploring a new financial option to keep the bayside research center afloat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in conversation with [a] foundation,” said Amy Sueyoshi, SF State’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. “It looks hopeful that it could both cover ongoing expenses and maybe take on Romberg Tiburon in the future. And so we want to explore that relationship in the coming months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Due to dropping \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016316/sf-state-lecturers-rattled-by-looming-job-cuts-enrollment-slides\">enrollment \u003c/a>and new \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12020389/newsom-projects-slight-budget-surplus-with-focus-on-saving-accountability\">reductions\u003c/a> to state university funding, SF State faces a budget shortfall of approximately $25 million. Without this new financial assistance, SF State would phase out operations at the marine research center — a regional science hub where researchers restore eelgrass, monitor water quality, rehabilitate endangered fish, implement sea-level rise adaptation projects and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037365\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037365\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_MARINELAB_GC-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oyster shells collected and bagged are used for a living shorelines project at San Francisco State’s Estuary and Ocean Science Center, in Tiburon on April 23, 2025.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The deal is far from locked down. The parties have not agreed yet on how much funding the foundation might contribute in the interim while SF State looks for a new owner for the campus, Sueyoshi explained. The university would not share the name of the foundation yet. SF State will decide the center’s ultimate future by January 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s going to be a group of folks from the foundation as well as from the university meeting through the fall semester,” Sueyoshi said. “We’ve set a January deadline for us to come to a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center has been an invaluable resource for SF State scientists and graduate students for years. The university began research at the bayside property, once a U.S. Navy base, in 1978.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The site also hosts the \u003ca href=\"https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/reserves/san-francisco-bay.html\">San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://serc.si.edu/\">Smithsonian Environmental Research Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person in particular refused to let the center fold. This spring, Katharyn Boyer, the center’s interim executive director, scrambled to convince donors to pledge money. By April 30 — an internal deadline from SF State — Boyer said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038610/san-francisco-bays-only-marine-lab-on-verge-of-closing-threatening-decades-of-coastal-research\">she had raised\u003c/a> about $3.2 million. But it was not enough to convince the university’s leadership to keep the doors open. They had hoped for $10 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyer, who would have had to move her research to SF State’s main campus if the Tiburon campus closed, declined to comment on negotiations with the foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many others have advocated for the center to stay open. Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg, the president of consulting firm Coastal Policy Solutions, organized a coalition of statewide stakeholders called \u003ca href=\"https://www.friendsofeosc.org/\">Friends of the Estuary and Ocean Science Center\u003c/a>. They reached out to their representatives and the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SF State appears to be working hard to explore this new alternative. The university plans to share more details about the potential donor at a fall budget meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Estuary and ocean science is valuable, and we need to be thinking seriously about the climate,” Sueyoshi said. “We’re just not set up in the kind of business model where we can continue to subsidize Romberg Tiburon as a second location.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Several members of the Bay Area’s congressional delegation are pressing the Trump administration to reverse \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029178/trumps-mass-layoffs-noaa-cut-into-bay-area-weather-service\">firings\u003c/a> at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-weather-service\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> offices in Sacramento and Hanford that curtailed their 24-hour operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eight Bay Area representatives were among 23 California Democrats who signed a \u003ca href=\"https://lofgren.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/lofgren.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/california-delegation-letter-on-nws-cuts-5.30.25.pdf\">letter\u003c/a> criticizing the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909033/trump-purge-hits-bay-area-federal-workers\">terminations, hiring freezes, and vacancies\u003c/a>” that led the weather service to reduce services at these forecast offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These service reductions represent the beginning of a public safety crisis with potentially catastrophic consequences if the NWS is unable to retain the staff necessary to maintain around-the-clock weather monitoring in California,” the letter said. “Across the state’s airports, highways, farms, and reservoirs, accurate, reliable, and timely weather forecasting is critical for every Californian.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers addressed the letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Laura Grimm, acting administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is housed in the Commerce Department. The letter urged them to halt any service reductions, reinstate terminated workers and lift the federal hiring freeze for NWS.[aside postID=news_12042383 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CanadaWildfireGetty-1020x680.jpg']During his confirmation hearing, Lutnick said he did not want to dismantle the weather service, but he thinks it can be more efficient and less expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both offices are hollowed out and operating at “half strength as we approach the peak of wildfire season,” the letter said, with seven of 16 meteorologist positions sitting vacant in Sacramento and eight out of 13 empty in Hanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Slashing staffing in half at the offices responsible for predicting wildfires, atmospheric rivers, and natural disasters is unacceptable, puts thousands of lives at risk, and does nothing to increase government efficiency,” the letter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NWS’s Hanford office services the San Joaquin Valley, and the Sacramento office forecasts for a large region that includes 22 counties and 4 million residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter pointed to reports that as many as 500 employees have been terminated or retired early since President Donald Trump took office, which would represent a 12% reduction in staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A plan to deepen transit ties between \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11790693/magic-city-and-the-making-of-treasure-island\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Treasure Island\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> residents and mainland San Francisco is on hold after the Trump administration \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039891/bay-area-environmental-justice-projects-in-limbo-after-federal-funding-is-canceled\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">terminated a nearly $20 million grant\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> meant to expand public transportation serving the neighborhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Funds from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act would have transformed connectivity throughout the island and with the wider Bay Area. The transit improvement grant — the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcta.org/press-releases/treasure-island-mobility-management-agency-awarded-20-million-us-epa-community\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Treasure Island Connects\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> program — would have created a microtransit service pilot to transport island residents across the city, established a free on-demand island shuttle, enhanced the existing Muni 25 Treasure Island bus service, helped build an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993824/san-francisco-readies-launch-of-worlds-first-fully-hydrogen-powered-ferry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">electric ferry charging terminal\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, set up the BayWheels bike share system in the neighborhood and shaped a transportation resource center providing jobs for residents. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city planned to use program funds to reduce the “community’s exposure to harmful pollutants, while promoting” healthy and equitable transportation options, officials wrote in a release.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, with the Trump administration reclaiming the entire \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031373/a-radically-reshaped-epa-takes-its-toll-on-bay-area-environmental-justice-efforts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">environmental and climate justice grant\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, San Francisco transportation officials, community groups and District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey are now unsure about the long-term viability of the projects. As the city scrambles to seek new funding, Dorsey said he believes the loss of the grant is an example of the federal government’s growing hostility toward American cities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have never seen anything quite like this, where there’s just a level of capriciousness about commitments that the federal government is making, and we’re just not sure if we’re gonna see those dollars,” Dorsey said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Nella Goncalves, executive director of the nonprofit One Treasure Island, which helps lower-income residents and unhoused people, investing in transportation alternatives would have demonstrated to current and future residents that a car isn’t needed to live on the island.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s unfortunate because it would have been a game changer for residents being able to get around the island and off the island with ease,” Goncalves said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1996664 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/04/20250422_EARTHDAYRALLY_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the loss of the federal grant and the city’s desire to add \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/treasure-island-yerba-buena-island\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">8,000 new homes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island neighborhoods, Goncalves said San Francisco needs to aggressively pursue funding to demonstrate to primarily low-income island residents that they still matter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We are working diligently to be more acknowledged in the city as a San Francisco neighborhood that needs all of the amenities that all of the other neighborhoods enjoy,” Goncalves said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her nonprofit is in the process of applying for grants and has received some funding from a private foundation, which Goncalves called “a drop in the bucket” in the scope of need on the underdeveloped island. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Suany Chough, assistant deputy director for planning with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, said the administration paused the project in January and sent a termination letter in early May. Chough said the loss of the grant, which was meant to “prioritize the projects that the community wanted,” was devastating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chough said her agency is on the lookout for other ways to pay for the transportation upgrades, and is working with the city attorney’s office to figure out if there are any legal options left on the table. But with plans for new development on the island, funding is needed if the city and developers are serious about thousands of new residents in the coming years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The community is undergoing a great transition,” she said. “There were something like 2,000 folks living there for a while, and now the development program is starting to take shape. Up to 1,000 new residences have been built in the last few years, and there’s a lot more activity taking place.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dorsey said the loss of funding doesn’t change his optimism for Treasure Island, which he said could have a future population of as many as 20,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The city is going to continue to build housing here, and we will have to find a way to pay for the infrastructure that we need and make sure that people can get around on the island,” he said. “We want this to be an attractive place for people to come to work and go to great restaurants there and a place for people to live.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dorsey said he’s tasked the city’s transportation authority with finding new funding, which could include federal dollars. But with the current administration, he is unsure if any future grants will include the term environmental justice. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Whether we call it environmental justice or not, this is ultimately about making sure that a major American city, with an expanding population and infrastructure needs, can be a thriving economic powerhouse,” he said. “We should be getting help from our federal partners to succeed. What happens in San Francisco is ultimately good for the economy of the United States of America.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goncalves said weeding out the term environmental justice isn’t an option. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m not going to change what we do,” she said. “We are focused on building a mixed-income, diverse, inclusive neighborhood on Treasure Island where everybody has a sense of belonging. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years. This is just a blip in our plan.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Trump administration scrapped a $20 million transit plan for Treasure Island. City leaders are now urgently seeking new funding to keep the island’s development equitable and accessible.",
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"title": "SF Planned to Improve Treasure Island’s Transit. Trump Took Back the Funds | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A plan to deepen transit ties between \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11790693/magic-city-and-the-making-of-treasure-island\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Treasure Island\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> residents and mainland San Francisco is on hold after the Trump administration \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039891/bay-area-environmental-justice-projects-in-limbo-after-federal-funding-is-canceled\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">terminated a nearly $20 million grant\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> meant to expand public transportation serving the neighborhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Funds from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act would have transformed connectivity throughout the island and with the wider Bay Area. The transit improvement grant — the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcta.org/press-releases/treasure-island-mobility-management-agency-awarded-20-million-us-epa-community\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Treasure Island Connects\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> program — would have created a microtransit service pilot to transport island residents across the city, established a free on-demand island shuttle, enhanced the existing Muni 25 Treasure Island bus service, helped build an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993824/san-francisco-readies-launch-of-worlds-first-fully-hydrogen-powered-ferry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">electric ferry charging terminal\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, set up the BayWheels bike share system in the neighborhood and shaped a transportation resource center providing jobs for residents. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city planned to use program funds to reduce the “community’s exposure to harmful pollutants, while promoting” healthy and equitable transportation options, officials wrote in a release.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, with the Trump administration reclaiming the entire \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031373/a-radically-reshaped-epa-takes-its-toll-on-bay-area-environmental-justice-efforts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">environmental and climate justice grant\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, San Francisco transportation officials, community groups and District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey are now unsure about the long-term viability of the projects. As the city scrambles to seek new funding, Dorsey said he believes the loss of the grant is an example of the federal government’s growing hostility toward American cities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have never seen anything quite like this, where there’s just a level of capriciousness about commitments that the federal government is making, and we’re just not sure if we’re gonna see those dollars,” Dorsey said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Nella Goncalves, executive director of the nonprofit One Treasure Island, which helps lower-income residents and unhoused people, investing in transportation alternatives would have demonstrated to current and future residents that a car isn’t needed to live on the island.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s unfortunate because it would have been a game changer for residents being able to get around the island and off the island with ease,” Goncalves said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the loss of the federal grant and the city’s desire to add \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/treasure-island-yerba-buena-island\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">8,000 new homes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island neighborhoods, Goncalves said San Francisco needs to aggressively pursue funding to demonstrate to primarily low-income island residents that they still matter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We are working diligently to be more acknowledged in the city as a San Francisco neighborhood that needs all of the amenities that all of the other neighborhoods enjoy,” Goncalves said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her nonprofit is in the process of applying for grants and has received some funding from a private foundation, which Goncalves called “a drop in the bucket” in the scope of need on the underdeveloped island. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Suany Chough, assistant deputy director for planning with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, said the administration paused the project in January and sent a termination letter in early May. Chough said the loss of the grant, which was meant to “prioritize the projects that the community wanted,” was devastating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chough said her agency is on the lookout for other ways to pay for the transportation upgrades, and is working with the city attorney’s office to figure out if there are any legal options left on the table. But with plans for new development on the island, funding is needed if the city and developers are serious about thousands of new residents in the coming years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The community is undergoing a great transition,” she said. “There were something like 2,000 folks living there for a while, and now the development program is starting to take shape. Up to 1,000 new residences have been built in the last few years, and there’s a lot more activity taking place.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dorsey said the loss of funding doesn’t change his optimism for Treasure Island, which he said could have a future population of as many as 20,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The city is going to continue to build housing here, and we will have to find a way to pay for the infrastructure that we need and make sure that people can get around on the island,” he said. “We want this to be an attractive place for people to come to work and go to great restaurants there and a place for people to live.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dorsey said he’s tasked the city’s transportation authority with finding new funding, which could include federal dollars. But with the current administration, he is unsure if any future grants will include the term environmental justice. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Whether we call it environmental justice or not, this is ultimately about making sure that a major American city, with an expanding population and infrastructure needs, can be a thriving economic powerhouse,” he said. “We should be getting help from our federal partners to succeed. What happens in San Francisco is ultimately good for the economy of the United States of America.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goncalves said weeding out the term environmental justice isn’t an option. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m not going to change what we do,” she said. “We are focused on building a mixed-income, diverse, inclusive neighborhood on Treasure Island where everybody has a sense of belonging. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years. This is just a blip in our plan.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "hottest-event-of-the-year-bay-area-braces-for-elevated-heat-and-high-tides-too",
"title": "‘Hottest Event of the Year’: Bay Area Braces for Elevated Heat — and High Tides, Too",
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"headTitle": "‘Hottest Event of the Year’: Bay Area Braces for Elevated Heat — and High Tides, Too | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After milder weather over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041463/memorial-day-weekend-weather-wont-feel-summer-much-bay-area\">Memorial Day weekend\u003c/a>, the Bay Area is forecast to see its hottest temperatures of the year later this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With highs pushing triple digits in the warmest parts of the region on Friday, National Weather Service meteorologists are encouraging residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996980/californias-snowpack-shrinks-igniting-concerns-of-early-wildfires\">prepare for wildfire risk\u003c/a> and moderate to major heat risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters also warned of minor flooding risks along the bay shoreline on Tuesday night, due to high tides expected to peak at 6.88 feet around midnight. The flooding isn’t supposed to be as impactful as a king tide. Still, the perigean spring tides — due to the moon being in the new phase and closest to Earth — will bring “nuisance flooding with impacts mainly for the lowest lying locations,” according to the weather service’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=CI&glossary=1&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&site=MTR&version=1\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s “Embarcadero may experience a little bit of flooding and places in the North Bay along the San Pablo Bay,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As temperatures begin to rise, the interior parts of the Bay Area will see moderate heat risk and localized areas across portions of the North Bay, the interior mountains, the East Bay hills and the interior Central Coast could see major heat risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994662\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-800x516.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-768x495.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1536x991.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1920x1238.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two women play in the water at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in Pleasanton, California, on Aug. 17, 2015. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect temperatures to peak on Friday, with interior valleys reaching the mid-90s to 106 degrees. It’s expected to reach 99 degrees in Concord and Livermore, and places like Cloverdale and Healdsburg could experience triple-digit heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re forecasting it to be the hottest event of the year currently, but if anything, we’ll likely be issuing advisories for the interior areas either later today or during the overnight shift,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will remain hot on Saturday with highs in the middle to upper 90s. Gass said the warm temperatures will also bring elevated fire weather concerns on Friday into Saturday, as daytime relative humidity will be in the low teens and only slightly rise overnight above 2,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Across the warmest areas, we urge people to take breaks during the hottest time of the day, make sure you have access to shady locations, and never leave pets or children in a car unattended,” Gass said.[aside postID=science_1996948 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-38-KQED-1020x680.jpg']If the marine layer compresses enough, Gass said San Francisco could also warm up. The service’s forecast discussion suggests that “a lack of stronger offshore flow will keep coastal areas in check. However, they`ll still be warm, but not in an impactful way with max temps in the upper 60s to mid-80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the marine layer doesn’t keep us cool, we could see moderate risk extend into the city, but we’re still evaluating that,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UCLA, said the warm-up might be a preview of what could be a very hot summer statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last couple of days in May and the first couple of days in June look particularly hot, including in Northern California and the Bay Area, than they have so far this season,” Swain said during his semi-regular \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZeJxLF36U\">YouTube office hours\u003c/a> on Friday. “The rest of California and the West and Southwest will be quite toasty as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said a hot summer, if it materializes, would exacerbate drought conditions across much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The West is mostly in drought,” he said.”Most of these droughts are going to get worse before they get better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters are also paying attention to late next week when a low-pressure system, if it sets up, could bring isolated showers to the Sierra Nevada and Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of scenario could produce some lightning or even the potential for an isolated dry or thunderstorm or two if it were to come to fruition,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Bay Area weather forecasters expect increased heat risk and wildfire risk by the end of this week. They also warned of minor flooding risks from high tides on Tuesday night. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After milder weather over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041463/memorial-day-weekend-weather-wont-feel-summer-much-bay-area\">Memorial Day weekend\u003c/a>, the Bay Area is forecast to see its hottest temperatures of the year later this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With highs pushing triple digits in the warmest parts of the region on Friday, National Weather Service meteorologists are encouraging residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996980/californias-snowpack-shrinks-igniting-concerns-of-early-wildfires\">prepare for wildfire risk\u003c/a> and moderate to major heat risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters also warned of minor flooding risks along the bay shoreline on Tuesday night, due to high tides expected to peak at 6.88 feet around midnight. The flooding isn’t supposed to be as impactful as a king tide. Still, the perigean spring tides — due to the moon being in the new phase and closest to Earth — will bring “nuisance flooding with impacts mainly for the lowest lying locations,” according to the weather service’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=CI&glossary=1&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&site=MTR&version=1\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s “Embarcadero may experience a little bit of flooding and places in the North Bay along the San Pablo Bay,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As temperatures begin to rise, the interior parts of the Bay Area will see moderate heat risk and localized areas across portions of the North Bay, the interior mountains, the East Bay hills and the interior Central Coast could see major heat risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994662\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-800x516.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-768x495.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1536x991.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1920x1238.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two women play in the water at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in Pleasanton, California, on Aug. 17, 2015. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect temperatures to peak on Friday, with interior valleys reaching the mid-90s to 106 degrees. It’s expected to reach 99 degrees in Concord and Livermore, and places like Cloverdale and Healdsburg could experience triple-digit heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re forecasting it to be the hottest event of the year currently, but if anything, we’ll likely be issuing advisories for the interior areas either later today or during the overnight shift,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will remain hot on Saturday with highs in the middle to upper 90s. Gass said the warm temperatures will also bring elevated fire weather concerns on Friday into Saturday, as daytime relative humidity will be in the low teens and only slightly rise overnight above 2,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Across the warmest areas, we urge people to take breaks during the hottest time of the day, make sure you have access to shady locations, and never leave pets or children in a car unattended,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If the marine layer compresses enough, Gass said San Francisco could also warm up. The service’s forecast discussion suggests that “a lack of stronger offshore flow will keep coastal areas in check. However, they`ll still be warm, but not in an impactful way with max temps in the upper 60s to mid-80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the marine layer doesn’t keep us cool, we could see moderate risk extend into the city, but we’re still evaluating that,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UCLA, said the warm-up might be a preview of what could be a very hot summer statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last couple of days in May and the first couple of days in June look particularly hot, including in Northern California and the Bay Area, than they have so far this season,” Swain said during his semi-regular \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZeJxLF36U\">YouTube office hours\u003c/a> on Friday. “The rest of California and the West and Southwest will be quite toasty as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said a hot summer, if it materializes, would exacerbate drought conditions across much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The West is mostly in drought,” he said.”Most of these droughts are going to get worse before they get better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters are also paying attention to late next week when a low-pressure system, if it sets up, could bring isolated showers to the Sierra Nevada and Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of scenario could produce some lightning or even the potential for an isolated dry or thunderstorm or two if it were to come to fruition,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California’s Pelicans Are Once Again Starving. This Year, It’s the Babies",
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"content": "\u003cp>A baby \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">pelican\u003c/a> traveled at least 500 miles up California’s coast before landing near Mendocino alone on May 10 — exhausted and starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the fledgling is in the care of International Bird Rescue, which took in an above-average number of emaciated young brown pelicans so far this spring. It’s the third \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">starvation event\u003c/a> in four years for the iconic California seabirds. Experts can’t fully explain why, though they said climate change is at play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything’s getting weirder,” said Corinne Gibble, a marine bird specialist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re having \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1993633/algal-blooms-love-heat-waves-when-is-bay-area-swimming-dangerous-for-humans-and-pets\">harmful algal blooms\u003c/a> and more unexpected weather events. What we can do is get more birds into rehab and better the science around helping them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">starving pelicans\u003c/a>, scientists hypothesized that the birds could not see their prey in choppy, murky water after late-season storms. Another possibility is that anchovies and other fish swam farther below the warm sea surface, too deep for the pelicans to reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For last year’s event, the state recorded roughly 1,000 pelicans captured for rehabilitation — and in 2022, for similar reasons, 800.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, there are only 250 ailing pelicans tallied so far, but fresh challenges. The seabirds arrived in two waves, sick and then starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"841\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-800x269.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1020x343.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-768x258.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1536x517.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-2048x689.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1920x646.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Finn Watson (left), Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician, and Kelly Buffa, Registered Veterinary Technician, examine a California Brown Pelican at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At first, rescue centers received adults poisoned by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/early-bloom-toxic-algae-southern-california-sickens-hundreds-sea-lions-and-dolphins\">toxic algae bloom\u003c/a> in Southern California. The blooms, predicted to become \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/habs/climate-change-and-freshwater-harmful-algal-blooms#:~:text=Scientists%20continue%20to%20document%20many,more%20often%20in%20more%20waterbodies.\">more severe with climate change\u003c/a>, have lasted \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02052025/california-toxic-algae-marine-life-poisoning/#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20fourth%20year,for%20longer%2C%E2%80%9D%20Lefebvre%20said.\">longer\u003c/a> this year — and produced not one but two types of neurotoxins: domoic acid and saxitoxin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then came the starving babies. The majority of the roughly 250 pelicans International Bird Rescue received since March were less than 6 months old. The center gets about two-thirds of the birds statewide and considers 90 birds a month highly unusual. The state’s seabird scientists are still looking for answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibble said the breeding season was early and especially successful this year. It’s natural to see the fledglings struggle more to forage than adults, so that might just be amplified right now. In 2012, there was a similar large starvation event for young birds after a booming breeding season.[aside postID=news_11988320 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240530-BrownPelicans-10-BL-1020x680.jpg']Rebecca Duerr, director of research and veterinary science for International Bird Rescue, said that’s a possibility. An additional theory about these starving young, she said, is that their parents, sickened by the harmful algal blooms, might have abandoned them before they were ready to forage alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These young birds didn’t know how to eat yet,” Duerr said. “It’s circumstantial evidence, but it looked like, you know, if mom doesn’t come back, they have to leave the nest or they’ll die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This California subspecies of brown pelicans breeds from the Channel Islands south into Mexico. Both the male and female pelicans should feed their chicks until they learn to fly, what’s called fledging, at around 3 months old. V-formations of pelicans then typically migrate north together during the warmer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibble, who handles the state’s dead seabirds, will wait to hazard more guesses about what went wrong this year until she has additional test results later this month. She wants to see if the algal blooms also affected the starving young pelicans that died, even though they hadn’t shown symptoms while alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996959 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sierra Koop, wildlife rehabilitation technician, fills a tray of herring with water to feed rescued California Brown Pelicans at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the numbers indicate the starvation event is slowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Ciera Duits-Cavanaugh, the manager of the SPCA Monterey County’s Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, the influx of young pelicans this year is a mystery. “This may be just an annual thing that happens now,” she said. “Three of the past four years have broken our averages, so something is different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times have been tough for brown pelicans before. The birds \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/places/000/california-brown-pelican.htm#:~:text=In%20the%201960s%20and%201970s,the%20sea%20as%20the%20cause.\">almost went extinct\u003c/a> in the 1960s, thanks to the now-banned pesticide DDT, and were listed as endangered until 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warming seas present a newer kind of threat. Back in 2014, some seabird populations \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencenews.org/article/blob-marine-heat-wave-killed-seabirds\">plummeted\u003c/a> due to fish die-offs during the marine heat wave scientists called “the blob.” Some\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\"> researchers\u003c/a> think pelicans in particular might find fewer fish with warmer sea surface temperatures, such as during El Niño cycles, which are expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/has-climate-change-already-affected-enso\">intensify\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996956 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rescued California Brown Pelicans at an outdoor pen at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re really on the frontline of climate change here,” said JD Bergeron, the CEO of International Bird Rescue. “You can read a research paper and get it intellectually. But the feeling of seeing all these birds struggling when they were previously doing just fine is a scary thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Bergeron’s staff and volunteers at International Bird Rescue’s two facilities in Fairfield and Los Angeles are working around the clock to bring the rescued pelicans back to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pelicans that the International Bird Rescue releases live on average for six years in the wild. The younger birds have a slightly lower chance of survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996951 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rescued California Brown Pelican lands on a pole of an outdoor pen at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The one bird that stranded in Mendocino County on Albion Flat Beach had flown the greatest distance of any other pelican at the Fairfield rescue center. The small bird is likely a female, though still too young — at around 3 months — for the vets to tell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since arriving earlier this month, the pelican has graduated from an inside enclosure, where the birds that need routine medicine and other care reside, to an outside space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, the other pelicans stretched their wings, swooping between high perches. The fledgling rested by the swimming pool, sometimes watching and other times tucking its face under its wing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Rescuers have taken in an above-average number of emaciated young brown pelicans this spring — the third starvation event in four years for the iconic California seabird.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A baby \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">pelican\u003c/a> traveled at least 500 miles up California’s coast before landing near Mendocino alone on May 10 — exhausted and starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the fledgling is in the care of International Bird Rescue, which took in an above-average number of emaciated young brown pelicans so far this spring. It’s the third \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">starvation event\u003c/a> in four years for the iconic California seabirds. Experts can’t fully explain why, though they said climate change is at play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything’s getting weirder,” said Corinne Gibble, a marine bird specialist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re having \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1993633/algal-blooms-love-heat-waves-when-is-bay-area-swimming-dangerous-for-humans-and-pets\">harmful algal blooms\u003c/a> and more unexpected weather events. What we can do is get more birds into rehab and better the science around helping them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\">starving pelicans\u003c/a>, scientists hypothesized that the birds could not see their prey in choppy, murky water after late-season storms. Another possibility is that anchovies and other fish swam farther below the warm sea surface, too deep for the pelicans to reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For last year’s event, the state recorded roughly 1,000 pelicans captured for rehabilitation — and in 2022, for similar reasons, 800.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, there are only 250 ailing pelicans tallied so far, but fresh challenges. The seabirds arrived in two waves, sick and then starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"841\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-800x269.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1020x343.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-768x258.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1536x517.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-2048x689.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1920x646.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Finn Watson (left), Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician, and Kelly Buffa, Registered Veterinary Technician, examine a California Brown Pelican at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At first, rescue centers received adults poisoned by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/early-bloom-toxic-algae-southern-california-sickens-hundreds-sea-lions-and-dolphins\">toxic algae bloom\u003c/a> in Southern California. The blooms, predicted to become \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/habs/climate-change-and-freshwater-harmful-algal-blooms#:~:text=Scientists%20continue%20to%20document%20many,more%20often%20in%20more%20waterbodies.\">more severe with climate change\u003c/a>, have lasted \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02052025/california-toxic-algae-marine-life-poisoning/#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20fourth%20year,for%20longer%2C%E2%80%9D%20Lefebvre%20said.\">longer\u003c/a> this year — and produced not one but two types of neurotoxins: domoic acid and saxitoxin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then came the starving babies. The majority of the roughly 250 pelicans International Bird Rescue received since March were less than 6 months old. The center gets about two-thirds of the birds statewide and considers 90 birds a month highly unusual. The state’s seabird scientists are still looking for answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibble said the breeding season was early and especially successful this year. It’s natural to see the fledglings struggle more to forage than adults, so that might just be amplified right now. In 2012, there was a similar large starvation event for young birds after a booming breeding season.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Rebecca Duerr, director of research and veterinary science for International Bird Rescue, said that’s a possibility. An additional theory about these starving young, she said, is that their parents, sickened by the harmful algal blooms, might have abandoned them before they were ready to forage alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These young birds didn’t know how to eat yet,” Duerr said. “It’s circumstantial evidence, but it looked like, you know, if mom doesn’t come back, they have to leave the nest or they’ll die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This California subspecies of brown pelicans breeds from the Channel Islands south into Mexico. Both the male and female pelicans should feed their chicks until they learn to fly, what’s called fledging, at around 3 months old. V-formations of pelicans then typically migrate north together during the warmer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibble, who handles the state’s dead seabirds, will wait to hazard more guesses about what went wrong this year until she has additional test results later this month. She wants to see if the algal blooms also affected the starving young pelicans that died, even though they hadn’t shown symptoms while alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996959 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-28-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sierra Koop, wildlife rehabilitation technician, fills a tray of herring with water to feed rescued California Brown Pelicans at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the numbers indicate the starvation event is slowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Ciera Duits-Cavanaugh, the manager of the SPCA Monterey County’s Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, the influx of young pelicans this year is a mystery. “This may be just an annual thing that happens now,” she said. “Three of the past four years have broken our averages, so something is different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times have been tough for brown pelicans before. The birds \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/places/000/california-brown-pelican.htm#:~:text=In%20the%201960s%20and%201970s,the%20sea%20as%20the%20cause.\">almost went extinct\u003c/a> in the 1960s, thanks to the now-banned pesticide DDT, and were listed as endangered until 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warming seas present a newer kind of threat. Back in 2014, some seabird populations \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencenews.org/article/blob-marine-heat-wave-killed-seabirds\">plummeted\u003c/a> due to fish die-offs during the marine heat wave scientists called “the blob.” Some\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992933/california-has-a-theory-on-why-brown-pelicans-are-starving-and-dying\"> researchers\u003c/a> think pelicans in particular might find fewer fish with warmer sea surface temperatures, such as during El Niño cycles, which are expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/has-climate-change-already-affected-enso\">intensify\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996956 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-7-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rescued California Brown Pelicans at an outdoor pen at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re really on the frontline of climate change here,” said JD Bergeron, the CEO of International Bird Rescue. “You can read a research paper and get it intellectually. But the feeling of seeing all these birds struggling when they were previously doing just fine is a scary thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Bergeron’s staff and volunteers at International Bird Rescue’s two facilities in Fairfield and Los Angeles are working around the clock to bring the rescued pelicans back to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pelicans that the International Bird Rescue releases live on average for six years in the wild. The younger birds have a slightly lower chance of survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996951 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SickPelicans_GC-33_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rescued California Brown Pelican lands on a pole of an outdoor pen at International Bird Rescue in Fairfield on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The one bird that stranded in Mendocino County on Albion Flat Beach had flown the greatest distance of any other pelican at the Fairfield rescue center. The small bird is likely a female, though still too young — at around 3 months — for the vets to tell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since arriving earlier this month, the pelican has graduated from an inside enclosure, where the birds that need routine medicine and other care reside, to an outside space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, the other pelicans stretched their wings, swooping between high perches. The fledgling rested by the swimming pool, sometimes watching and other times tucking its face under its wing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California to Sue Feds After Senate Blocks Its Clean Vehicle Rules",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Updated 3:15 p.m. Thursday\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they will sue the federal government after Congress moved to revoke its electric vehicle mandate and two other clean air act rules Thursday. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The move, led by Senate Republicans, attempted to block California from regulating the pollution that comes from cars, trucks and buses, and roll back the state’s long-standing authority to set higher air quality standards than the nation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our lawsuit will be about ensuring California can enforce its state laws,” said Bonta at a press event, adding that through the years, the allowances granted by the Environmental Protection Agency, called waivers, have lowered harmful emissions and improved public health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s better for our people, it’s better for our planet. This attack on these waivers will put more Californians’ lives at risk, undermine the clean vehicle industry, and stifle innovation and job creation, including in the electric vehicle sector,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California’s rules would \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ban the sale of new gas cars in the state\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> starting in 2035, reduce pollution from heavy duty trucks and buses and require truck makers to start selling more electric vehicles. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Newsom said the decision to overturn the state’s waivers will benefit other countries who are pursuing a clean energy economy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“China is celebrating. This was a day that marks a moment of acceleration and their capacity to dominate in the next big global industry,” he said, referring to the electric vehicle market. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have real-world evidence that these rules are improving public health,” said Dr. John Balmes, a longtime member of the California Air Resources Board. Balmes pointed to studies showing reductions in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://today.usc.edu/electric-vehicles-already-improving-health-and-air-quality-study-shows/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">asthma-related emergency room visits\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in zip codes with higher infiltration of electric vehicles, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/electric-vehicles-improve-air-quality-less-impact-polluted-areas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">reductions in pollutants\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as use of zero-emission vehicles rose. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“These studies and others show that our clean car and truck rules bring necessary co-benefits, reduced asthma attacks in children and younger adults, and reduced deaths in older adults, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Balmes said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The majority of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> planet-warming emissions come from transportation, and the same is true \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nationwide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12040286 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250203_MartinezRefineryFolo_GC-26_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Republicans sidestepped the filibuster by using a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers. Both the Senate parliamentarian, essentially the chamber’s referee, and the Government Accountability Office, an independent agency overseeing the government, said using this procedure to rule on California’s rules was not allowed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Democrats like California’s Sen. Adam Schiff objected, calling the move a “nuclear option,” and saying that going down this road was a slippery slope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Because what we have at stake is also a state’s ability, it’s right to make its own laws,” Schiff said. “And to protect its own citizens without having this body overturn that right.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Environmentalists and scientists were defiant upon hearing the news, which some said did not come as a surprise. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“While this is a big setback, we’re not out for the count,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with EarthJustice. “We still have many options to clean up this pollution and we need to pursue them immediately at the state and local level.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martinez said the state could use its authority under the California Air Resources Board to write new rules for cars and trucks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brian Maas of the California New Car Dealers Association, which represents franchise dealerships of new cars and trucks across the state, welcomed the opportunity to “recalibrate the state’s approach.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“California needs a durable, market-aligned electric vehicle policy that reflects consumer demand, infrastructure availability, and affordability,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they would sue after Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted to revoke California’s authority to regulate pollution from cars, trucks and buses.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Updated 3:15 p.m. Thursday\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they will sue the federal government after Congress moved to revoke its electric vehicle mandate and two other clean air act rules Thursday. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The move, led by Senate Republicans, attempted to block California from regulating the pollution that comes from cars, trucks and buses, and roll back the state’s long-standing authority to set higher air quality standards than the nation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our lawsuit will be about ensuring California can enforce its state laws,” said Bonta at a press event, adding that through the years, the allowances granted by the Environmental Protection Agency, called waivers, have lowered harmful emissions and improved public health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s better for our people, it’s better for our planet. This attack on these waivers will put more Californians’ lives at risk, undermine the clean vehicle industry, and stifle innovation and job creation, including in the electric vehicle sector,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California’s rules would \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039494/senate-weighs-repeal-of-california-clean-air-rules-raising-stakes-for-ev-market-and-public-health\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ban the sale of new gas cars in the state\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> starting in 2035, reduce pollution from heavy duty trucks and buses and require truck makers to start selling more electric vehicles. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Newsom said the decision to overturn the state’s waivers will benefit other countries who are pursuing a clean energy economy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“China is celebrating. This was a day that marks a moment of acceleration and their capacity to dominate in the next big global industry,” he said, referring to the electric vehicle market. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have real-world evidence that these rules are improving public health,” said Dr. John Balmes, a longtime member of the California Air Resources Board. Balmes pointed to studies showing reductions in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://today.usc.edu/electric-vehicles-already-improving-health-and-air-quality-study-shows/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">asthma-related emergency room visits\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in zip codes with higher infiltration of electric vehicles, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/electric-vehicles-improve-air-quality-less-impact-polluted-areas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">reductions in pollutants\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as use of zero-emission vehicles rose. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“These studies and others show that our clean car and truck rules bring necessary co-benefits, reduced asthma attacks in children and younger adults, and reduced deaths in older adults, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Balmes said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The majority of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> planet-warming emissions come from transportation, and the same is true \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nationwide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Republicans sidestepped the filibuster by using a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers. Both the Senate parliamentarian, essentially the chamber’s referee, and the Government Accountability Office, an independent agency overseeing the government, said using this procedure to rule on California’s rules was not allowed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Democrats like California’s Sen. Adam Schiff objected, calling the move a “nuclear option,” and saying that going down this road was a slippery slope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Because what we have at stake is also a state’s ability, it’s right to make its own laws,” Schiff said. “And to protect its own citizens without having this body overturn that right.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Environmentalists and scientists were defiant upon hearing the news, which some said did not come as a surprise. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“While this is a big setback, we’re not out for the count,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with EarthJustice. “We still have many options to clean up this pollution and we need to pursue them immediately at the state and local level.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martinez said the state could use its authority under the California Air Resources Board to write new rules for cars and trucks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brian Maas of the California New Car Dealers Association, which represents franchise dealerships of new cars and trucks across the state, welcomed the opportunity to “recalibrate the state’s approach.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“California needs a durable, market-aligned electric vehicle policy that reflects consumer demand, infrastructure availability, and affordability,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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},
"radiolab": {
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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