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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">Last May, when California’s stay-at-home order had forced a huge number of drivers off the road, environmentalists and state officials saw the disappearance of so many automobiles as a window into a world where climate goals would be tantalizingly achievable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">From March to mid-April 2020, total vehicle miles \u003cspan class=\"s1\">declined\u003c/span> by 75%, with a corresponding reduction in planet-warming gases and smog, according to a UC Davis \u003ca href=\"https://roadecology.ucdavis.edu/files/content/projects/COVID_CHIPs_Impacts_updated_430.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analysis\u003c/a> conducted by \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Fraser Shilling, co-director of the university’s Road Ecology Center. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Reading those stats, Shilling hoped\u003c/span> one of the more positive lessons of the pandemic would be that society could still function as it vastly reduced driving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We’re going to learn a lot during this intervening period,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1963716/coronavirus-forces-huge-number-of-californians-off-road-as-tele-everything-becomes-new-climate-option\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">told KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in May. “How do we telecommute? How do we arrange our work at home? Our shopping trips? All of our travel in a different way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">A year ago, Shilling’s “optimistic projection” was that the change in driving behavior would stick, although many of his colleagues disagreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">So far, looks like they were right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By last fall, car traffic in California had rebounded to roughly 90% of where it had been pre-pandemic, and national studies show that truck traffic went up along with the delivery of food, groceries and goods, Shilling says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“In the depths of the pandemic and the traffic reduction, people were obviously hoarding,” he said. “They stocked up and then they didn’t need to make as many trips, and we had a huge reduction in overall traffic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people adjusted, and while there is less traffic than before the pandemic, “we’ve got more of that goods and services delivery going on, and we may even have an increase in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” Shilling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Last year, emissions declined by nearly 13% in the U.S. and about 7% globally, the largest annual drop in global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions since World War II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reduction was driven largely by a sharp drop in vehicle traffic during the first half of the year in the early stage of lockdowns, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00090-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">estimate\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by the international \u003ca href=\"https://carbonmonitor.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Carbon Monitor\u003c/span>\u003c/a> program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Shilling maintains that if the amount of driving eliminated during the pandemic could be duplicated, it would put California, at least, on track to reach some of its climate goals, not to mention lead to an improvement in air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">But that steep curb in global warming emissions started to reverse during the second half of the year, when economic activity began to recover. Global emissions were 2% higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/news/after-steep-drop-in-early-2020-global-carbon-dioxide-emissions-have-rebounded-strongly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the International Energy Agency\u003c/a>, an intergovernmental energy analysis and policy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> “A lot of people were hurt and died” during the pandemic, said Shilling, whose son had COVID-19. “It affects everybody. What can we get out of it? Learning. A society that doesn’t learn is just going to repeat all of those mistakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Transportation-related emissions, at nearly 50% of California’s total overall, are the top source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. That’s despite decades of policies meant to reduce pollution from tailpipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, in the wake of wildfires driven by extreme heat, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969807/california-to-halt-sales-of-new-gas-cars-by-2035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">halt\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, in an effort to accelerate the state’s reduction of greenhouse gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mass adoption of electric vehicles will surely be needed if California is going to transition from fossil fuels. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00921-7?utm_source=nclimate_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=toc_41558_10_12&utm_content=20201201&sap-outbound-id=53AEBD821997012F268251B4E511EE152EB74E4D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">studies\u003c/span>\u003c/a> have shown that in order to meet ambitious climate goals, people will also need to drive less during the many years it will take for gas vehicles to disappear from the state’s roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kate Gordon, the governor’s top climate adviser, argued Californians should embrace tele-everything in the fight against climate change, using the internet to reduce driving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Some technology companies are allowing employees to work from home \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/21/21266570/facebook-remote-work-from-home-mark-zuckerberg-twitter-covid-19-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">permanently\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. But many businesses are just now beginning to grapple with what work life could look like after restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are lifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Remote work offered some white-collar workers a chance to live in less crowded cities and towns, with cheaper rents and lower taxes. But people living in the country or in the suburbs drive a lot more —to work, but also to the grocery store and to visit friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Council recently released a \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/remote-work-in-the-bay-area/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> showing that 1.79 million jobs, or 45% of the region’s workforce, could be performed from home, a higher proportion than in Los Angeles and other areas of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">“If each of the region’s 1.79 million people employed in a remote eligible job worked outside of the office for just one day per week, over 1 million single-occupancy vehicle trips could be avoided each week — a reduction of 8% based on pre-COVID-19 travel,” the report’s authors wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should California make a push to increase remote work, issues of equity could emerge. The state suffers from a vast digital divide, with high-speed internet access available in many of the busiest city centers, but not in remote areas in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and northern part of the state. Also, remote work capability rises as along with pay. Prior to the pandemic, 51% of the Bay Area’s white workforce, which has a higher average income, were employed in potential work-from-home occupations, compared to only 33% of the Black and 30% of the Latinx workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Which experiments in telecommuting will be maintained on a widespread basis is still unknown. Partly because a year after the state first issued a shelter-in-place order, life has changed for a substantial number of people. Where exactly they will live, commute, and work when the pandemic subsides has not come into focus yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Last fall, planners at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission debated a measure requiring workers at Bay Area companies with more than 25 employees to work three days a week from home. But Silicon Valley businesses and Bay Area mayors pushed back on the plan, arguing the requirement for employers was too strict, and could decimate public transit ridership, the Mercury News \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/20/bay-area-planners-less-remote-work-more-green-commutes/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group developed a compromise plan that would require larger companies to ensure that 60% of their employees commute using mass transit, bikes or carpools by the year 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If adopted, the policy would ask employers to take responsibility for the congestion, air quality, and climate change impacts of their employees as they go to and from work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“Without mandating how large employers do that, [the policy] would set the goal, which I think is a very reasonable thing to do,” said Nick Josefowitz, commissioner with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Last May, when California’s stay-at-home order had forced a huge number of drivers off the road, environmentalists and state officials saw the disappearance of so many automobiles as a window into a world where climate goals would be tantalizingly achievable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">From March to mid-April 2020, total vehicle miles \u003cspan class=\"s1\">declined\u003c/span> by 75%, with a corresponding reduction in planet-warming gases and smog, according to a UC Davis \u003ca href=\"https://roadecology.ucdavis.edu/files/content/projects/COVID_CHIPs_Impacts_updated_430.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analysis\u003c/a> conducted by \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Fraser Shilling, co-director of the university’s Road Ecology Center. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Reading those stats, Shilling hoped\u003c/span> one of the more positive lessons of the pandemic would be that society could still function as it vastly reduced driving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We’re going to learn a lot during this intervening period,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1963716/coronavirus-forces-huge-number-of-californians-off-road-as-tele-everything-becomes-new-climate-option\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">told KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in May. “How do we telecommute? How do we arrange our work at home? Our shopping trips? All of our travel in a different way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">A year ago, Shilling’s “optimistic projection” was that the change in driving behavior would stick, although many of his colleagues disagreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">So far, looks like they were right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By last fall, car traffic in California had rebounded to roughly 90% of where it had been pre-pandemic, and national studies show that truck traffic went up along with the delivery of food, groceries and goods, Shilling says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“In the depths of the pandemic and the traffic reduction, people were obviously hoarding,” he said. “They stocked up and then they didn’t need to make as many trips, and we had a huge reduction in overall traffic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people adjusted, and while there is less traffic than before the pandemic, “we’ve got more of that goods and services delivery going on, and we may even have an increase in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” Shilling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Last year, emissions declined by nearly 13% in the U.S. and about 7% globally, the largest annual drop in global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions since World War II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reduction was driven largely by a sharp drop in vehicle traffic during the first half of the year in the early stage of lockdowns, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00090-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">estimate\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by the international \u003ca href=\"https://carbonmonitor.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Carbon Monitor\u003c/span>\u003c/a> program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Shilling maintains that if the amount of driving eliminated during the pandemic could be duplicated, it would put California, at least, on track to reach some of its climate goals, not to mention lead to an improvement in air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">But that steep curb in global warming emissions started to reverse during the second half of the year, when economic activity began to recover. Global emissions were 2% higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/news/after-steep-drop-in-early-2020-global-carbon-dioxide-emissions-have-rebounded-strongly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the International Energy Agency\u003c/a>, an intergovernmental energy analysis and policy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> “A lot of people were hurt and died” during the pandemic, said Shilling, whose son had COVID-19. “It affects everybody. What can we get out of it? Learning. A society that doesn’t learn is just going to repeat all of those mistakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Transportation-related emissions, at nearly 50% of California’s total overall, are the top source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. That’s despite decades of policies meant to reduce pollution from tailpipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, in the wake of wildfires driven by extreme heat, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969807/california-to-halt-sales-of-new-gas-cars-by-2035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">halt\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, in an effort to accelerate the state’s reduction of greenhouse gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mass adoption of electric vehicles will surely be needed if California is going to transition from fossil fuels. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00921-7?utm_source=nclimate_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=toc_41558_10_12&utm_content=20201201&sap-outbound-id=53AEBD821997012F268251B4E511EE152EB74E4D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">studies\u003c/span>\u003c/a> have shown that in order to meet ambitious climate goals, people will also need to drive less during the many years it will take for gas vehicles to disappear from the state’s roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kate Gordon, the governor’s top climate adviser, argued Californians should embrace tele-everything in the fight against climate change, using the internet to reduce driving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Some technology companies are allowing employees to work from home \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/21/21266570/facebook-remote-work-from-home-mark-zuckerberg-twitter-covid-19-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">permanently\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. But many businesses are just now beginning to grapple with what work life could look like after restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are lifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Remote work offered some white-collar workers a chance to live in less crowded cities and towns, with cheaper rents and lower taxes. But people living in the country or in the suburbs drive a lot more —to work, but also to the grocery store and to visit friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Council recently released a \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/remote-work-in-the-bay-area/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> showing that 1.79 million jobs, or 45% of the region’s workforce, could be performed from home, a higher proportion than in Los Angeles and other areas of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">“If each of the region’s 1.79 million people employed in a remote eligible job worked outside of the office for just one day per week, over 1 million single-occupancy vehicle trips could be avoided each week — a reduction of 8% based on pre-COVID-19 travel,” the report’s authors wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should California make a push to increase remote work, issues of equity could emerge. The state suffers from a vast digital divide, with high-speed internet access available in many of the busiest city centers, but not in remote areas in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and northern part of the state. Also, remote work capability rises as along with pay. Prior to the pandemic, 51% of the Bay Area’s white workforce, which has a higher average income, were employed in potential work-from-home occupations, compared to only 33% of the Black and 30% of the Latinx workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Which experiments in telecommuting will be maintained on a widespread basis is still unknown. Partly because a year after the state first issued a shelter-in-place order, life has changed for a substantial number of people. Where exactly they will live, commute, and work when the pandemic subsides has not come into focus yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Last fall, planners at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission debated a measure requiring workers at Bay Area companies with more than 25 employees to work three days a week from home. But Silicon Valley businesses and Bay Area mayors pushed back on the plan, arguing the requirement for employers was too strict, and could decimate public transit ridership, the Mercury News \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/20/bay-area-planners-less-remote-work-more-green-commutes/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group developed a compromise plan that would require larger companies to ensure that 60% of their employees commute using mass transit, bikes or carpools by the year 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If adopted, the policy would ask employers to take responsibility for the congestion, air quality, and climate change impacts of their employees as they go to and from work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“Without mandating how large employers do that, [the policy] would set the goal, which I think is a very reasonable thing to do,” said Nick Josefowitz, commissioner with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Cities Are Rushing to Ban Gas in New Homes. But the State Is Moving Slower",
"headTitle": "California Cities Are Rushing to Ban Gas in New Homes. But the State Is Moving Slower | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">The push to ban natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings has mushroomed in California since Berkeley passed the first prohibition in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Altogether, 21 municipalities in the state have passed measures to require all-electric construction, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/2019-building-energy-efficiency-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">tally\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, while an additional 19 discourage gas hookups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose have closed the spigot on natural gas by passing electric-only building mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists have sought to harness the momentum of decarbonization efforts, the declining cost of electric appliances, and the clamoring of Californians for the state to move more rapidly to reduce carbon emissions, which fuel climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All last year, the groups blitzed officials at the California Energy Commission in hopes of securing an electrification requirement in this year’s building code update, which goes into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Stakeholders began debating the update this month in a series of commission meetings, but a statewide natural gas ban sought by environmental groups appears increasingly unlikely after the commission circulated a proposal indicating a preference for incentivizing electric heat pumps rather than a gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The commission sent out a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=236877&DocumentContentId=70032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">summary\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of its planned tweaks and is collecting feedback from environmentalists and industry groups as it prepares to release a draft of its 2022 building code later this month in advance of a month-and-a-half-long rulemaking process. The commission is expected to vote on the plan this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While the summary indicates a willingness by the commission to require electrification for new construction, any new mandate will likely not be included in the building code until 2026 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Under the commission’s proposed plan, new homes must be “electric ready,” which means stoves, furnaces, dryers and other appliances that run on gas must have an electric plug installed within 3 feet, with the home’s electrical panel required to include capacity for the future installation of electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Title 24 updates, as the code revisions are known, occur every three years. The 2019 version, which included a requirement that all newly constructed buildings have solar panels, went into effect in 2020, and developers and builders say they are still scrambling to catch up to that particular rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a statewide building labor group is opposing a bill from a Silicon Valley lawmaker that would ban natural gas in new state buildings. In an opposition letter, the group called it a “part of a concerted extremist political agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional critics of these anti-gas policies include other gas industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-06/switching-to-all-electric-homes-in-california-would-be-a-mistake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">groups\u003c/a> as well as Southern California Gas Co. and the California Restaurant Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Labor Takes Aim at Decarbonization Package\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To hear first-term state Sen. David Cortese tell it, when he started on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors more than a decade ago, the county wasn’t far into its transition to clean energy.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, every school district in the area had made more progress than at the county level, he says. Santa Clara had no environmental stewardship goals, no big solar farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We didn’t even have one of those [solar pilot projects] in the parking lot,” said Cortese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed, Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-lawmakers-declare-a-climate-emergency/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">declared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a climate emergency in 2019 and has built four major solar farms, pushing aggressively toward 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese says he was able to work quickly passing ambitious climate policies with a five-member Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was the president, but any member could just bring an initiative, any Tuesday,” he said. “We didn’t even have a bill deadline. If I had three votes, which I generally did, we could move something that’s the first of its kind in the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quickly learned the situation was different in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By California tradition, freshman legislators introduce their first bill on their first day, and Cortese figured he’d make a splash with a package of climate bills centered on decarbonization, channeling the progress of cities pushing similar plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB30\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">SB 30\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, would ban natural gas in newly constructed state buildings beginning next year and require the state to have a plan for decarbonizing all of its existing buildings by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 31\u003c/a>, would create new building decarbonization programs with a focus on providing opportunities for low-income customers. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 32\u003c/a> would require cities to update their general plans with defined targets for decarbonization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passage of the bills would send a market signal that decarbonization in new buildings is a priority, and would allow the state to prove that the economics of making them greener can work before imposing the policy on the private market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a small-bore change is too little to meet the climate emergency, environmentalists say: California controls about 16 million square feet of state-owned and leased office space in Sacramento, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Resources/Page-Content/Real-Estate-Services-Division-Resources-List-Folder/State-Facility-Long-Range-Planning-Study\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a 2015 assessment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, including 24 office buildings.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet despite its relatively small scope, Cortese’s plan was met with immediate derision from organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeremy Smith, deputy legislative director of the State Building & Construction Trades Council, penned a fiery letter to the Legislature, describing the bills “as part of a concerted extremist political agenda aimed at irresponsibly phasing out natural gas from the state’s already unstable and strained energy portfolio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Robbie Hunter, the group’s president, says the opposition stems from a “big problem of imbalance in the state,” pointing to August’s rolling blackouts, when about 800,000 Californians went without power for a few hours during a searing heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter’s analysis is that state officials are squeezing Californians from two sides. On the one hand, California is pushing electric cars and “driving up the need for more electricity,” while at the same time “moving against the requirement of gas turbine plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consumers drive up the need, while you’re reducing the ability to create an electricity baseload,” he said. “The system is far out of whack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Another powerful player, the California Building Industry Association, expressed concern to Cortese about potential impacts on “ratepayers, construction costs and grid reliability,” according to Christopher Ochoa, a senior attorney with the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only have a climate crisis, we have a housing crisis as well,” he said. “Whether it’s housing inventory, affordability or homelessness. How do you balance the costs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>‘This is Either a Climate Emergency or It’s Not’ \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While industry groups blame the state’s reliance on renewable energy for last summer’s power outage during a blistering heat wave, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">postmortem\u003c/span>\u003c/a> conducted by three state agencies attributed\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>the problem to the failure of energy planners to fully anticipate the impact climate change could have on the grid. The analysis found that the state had not lined up enough resources to meet demand during an event that crippled the entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California faces increasing energy challenges and strains on its power grid from many directions — transportation electrification, wildfires, increasing temperatures, fossil fuel plant decommissioning, and the state’s goal for reaching carbon neutrality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Federico, executive director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, says the state needs to address these challenges holistically rather than cling to fossil fuels, which contribute to the kind of extreme heat that creates disruptions like the one to the grid last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points out that electrification can’t happen overnight given how long it takes for building stock to turn over. “That is why we need aggressive programs starting now,” she wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building electrification is relatively low-tech compared to other technologies for achieving carbon neutrality — we know how to do it, it’s been done in many places, and it’s a critical element of achieving our carbon neutral goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cortese was more blunt: “Look, this is either a climate emergency or it’s not. If this isn’t the equivalent of a pandemic happening on the greenhouse gas front, then stop now. But it is a problem. It’s a problem I’m committed to solving. If that’s the case, you can’t kick these things to the next two-year session. Buying time is not a good strategy right now. The good strategy is all hands on deck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Opposition Letter\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The building trade’s opposition letter arrived within a week of Cortese taking office, and it contained a key mischaracterization of his bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith’s letter said, “This bill would prohibit construction of new state, residential, or commercial buildings that have natural gas connections.” The legislation, however, would only apply to state buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Percolating behind Cortese’s bills and Hunter’s opposition letter is the effort to ban gas in the statewide building code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But energy commission officials and draft documents seem to indicate, a few years after requiring solar panels on new homes, staff aren’t ready to make that move,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The solar mandate went into effect in 2020 for builders that filed for permits last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For years before, the state required incremental upgrades to walls, attics, windows and other measures to improve energy efficiency and bring down energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s latest plan appears to lay similar groundwork for a gas ban later this decade, and key environmental groups who have pushed for a state ban on gas in new buildings seem to accept this gradual timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“This approach is not the all-electric code that the clean buildings coalition, including NRDC, and the hundreds of concerned California residents who have been speaking at public hearings over the last six months have been calling for,” Pierre Delforge, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pierre-delforge/will-california-lead-pollution-free-construction\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in a blog post. “But with the right balance of carrots and sticks, it could effectively shift most of new construction toward highly efficient electric heat pumps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group sent a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=237028&DocumentContentId=70198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter\u003c/a> asking the commission to commit to requiring all-electric construction by the year 2025.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\n\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">The push to ban natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings has mushroomed in California since Berkeley passed the first prohibition in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Altogether, 21 municipalities in the state have passed measures to require all-electric construction, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/2019-building-energy-efficiency-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">tally\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, while an additional 19 discourage gas hookups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose have closed the spigot on natural gas by passing electric-only building mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists have sought to harness the momentum of decarbonization efforts, the declining cost of electric appliances, and the clamoring of Californians for the state to move more rapidly to reduce carbon emissions, which fuel climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All last year, the groups blitzed officials at the California Energy Commission in hopes of securing an electrification requirement in this year’s building code update, which goes into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Stakeholders began debating the update this month in a series of commission meetings, but a statewide natural gas ban sought by environmental groups appears increasingly unlikely after the commission circulated a proposal indicating a preference for incentivizing electric heat pumps rather than a gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The commission sent out a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=236877&DocumentContentId=70032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">summary\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of its planned tweaks and is collecting feedback from environmentalists and industry groups as it prepares to release a draft of its 2022 building code later this month in advance of a month-and-a-half-long rulemaking process. The commission is expected to vote on the plan this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While the summary indicates a willingness by the commission to require electrification for new construction, any new mandate will likely not be included in the building code until 2026 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Under the commission’s proposed plan, new homes must be “electric ready,” which means stoves, furnaces, dryers and other appliances that run on gas must have an electric plug installed within 3 feet, with the home’s electrical panel required to include capacity for the future installation of electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Title 24 updates, as the code revisions are known, occur every three years. The 2019 version, which included a requirement that all newly constructed buildings have solar panels, went into effect in 2020, and developers and builders say they are still scrambling to catch up to that particular rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a statewide building labor group is opposing a bill from a Silicon Valley lawmaker that would ban natural gas in new state buildings. In an opposition letter, the group called it a “part of a concerted extremist political agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional critics of these anti-gas policies include other gas industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-06/switching-to-all-electric-homes-in-california-would-be-a-mistake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">groups\u003c/a> as well as Southern California Gas Co. and the California Restaurant Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Labor Takes Aim at Decarbonization Package\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To hear first-term state Sen. David Cortese tell it, when he started on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors more than a decade ago, the county wasn’t far into its transition to clean energy.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, every school district in the area had made more progress than at the county level, he says. Santa Clara had no environmental stewardship goals, no big solar farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We didn’t even have one of those [solar pilot projects] in the parking lot,” said Cortese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed, Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-lawmakers-declare-a-climate-emergency/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">declared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a climate emergency in 2019 and has built four major solar farms, pushing aggressively toward 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese says he was able to work quickly passing ambitious climate policies with a five-member Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was the president, but any member could just bring an initiative, any Tuesday,” he said. “We didn’t even have a bill deadline. If I had three votes, which I generally did, we could move something that’s the first of its kind in the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quickly learned the situation was different in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By California tradition, freshman legislators introduce their first bill on their first day, and Cortese figured he’d make a splash with a package of climate bills centered on decarbonization, channeling the progress of cities pushing similar plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB30\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">SB 30\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, would ban natural gas in newly constructed state buildings beginning next year and require the state to have a plan for decarbonizing all of its existing buildings by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 31\u003c/a>, would create new building decarbonization programs with a focus on providing opportunities for low-income customers. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 32\u003c/a> would require cities to update their general plans with defined targets for decarbonization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passage of the bills would send a market signal that decarbonization in new buildings is a priority, and would allow the state to prove that the economics of making them greener can work before imposing the policy on the private market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a small-bore change is too little to meet the climate emergency, environmentalists say: California controls about 16 million square feet of state-owned and leased office space in Sacramento, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Resources/Page-Content/Real-Estate-Services-Division-Resources-List-Folder/State-Facility-Long-Range-Planning-Study\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a 2015 assessment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, including 24 office buildings.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet despite its relatively small scope, Cortese’s plan was met with immediate derision from organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeremy Smith, deputy legislative director of the State Building & Construction Trades Council, penned a fiery letter to the Legislature, describing the bills “as part of a concerted extremist political agenda aimed at irresponsibly phasing out natural gas from the state’s already unstable and strained energy portfolio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Robbie Hunter, the group’s president, says the opposition stems from a “big problem of imbalance in the state,” pointing to August’s rolling blackouts, when about 800,000 Californians went without power for a few hours during a searing heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter’s analysis is that state officials are squeezing Californians from two sides. On the one hand, California is pushing electric cars and “driving up the need for more electricity,” while at the same time “moving against the requirement of gas turbine plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consumers drive up the need, while you’re reducing the ability to create an electricity baseload,” he said. “The system is far out of whack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Another powerful player, the California Building Industry Association, expressed concern to Cortese about potential impacts on “ratepayers, construction costs and grid reliability,” according to Christopher Ochoa, a senior attorney with the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only have a climate crisis, we have a housing crisis as well,” he said. “Whether it’s housing inventory, affordability or homelessness. How do you balance the costs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>‘This is Either a Climate Emergency or It’s Not’ \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While industry groups blame the state’s reliance on renewable energy for last summer’s power outage during a blistering heat wave, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">postmortem\u003c/span>\u003c/a> conducted by three state agencies attributed\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>the problem to the failure of energy planners to fully anticipate the impact climate change could have on the grid. The analysis found that the state had not lined up enough resources to meet demand during an event that crippled the entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California faces increasing energy challenges and strains on its power grid from many directions — transportation electrification, wildfires, increasing temperatures, fossil fuel plant decommissioning, and the state’s goal for reaching carbon neutrality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Federico, executive director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, says the state needs to address these challenges holistically rather than cling to fossil fuels, which contribute to the kind of extreme heat that creates disruptions like the one to the grid last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points out that electrification can’t happen overnight given how long it takes for building stock to turn over. “That is why we need aggressive programs starting now,” she wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building electrification is relatively low-tech compared to other technologies for achieving carbon neutrality — we know how to do it, it’s been done in many places, and it’s a critical element of achieving our carbon neutral goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cortese was more blunt: “Look, this is either a climate emergency or it’s not. If this isn’t the equivalent of a pandemic happening on the greenhouse gas front, then stop now. But it is a problem. It’s a problem I’m committed to solving. If that’s the case, you can’t kick these things to the next two-year session. Buying time is not a good strategy right now. The good strategy is all hands on deck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Opposition Letter\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The building trade’s opposition letter arrived within a week of Cortese taking office, and it contained a key mischaracterization of his bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith’s letter said, “This bill would prohibit construction of new state, residential, or commercial buildings that have natural gas connections.” The legislation, however, would only apply to state buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Percolating behind Cortese’s bills and Hunter’s opposition letter is the effort to ban gas in the statewide building code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But energy commission officials and draft documents seem to indicate, a few years after requiring solar panels on new homes, staff aren’t ready to make that move,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The solar mandate went into effect in 2020 for builders that filed for permits last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For years before, the state required incremental upgrades to walls, attics, windows and other measures to improve energy efficiency and bring down energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s latest plan appears to lay similar groundwork for a gas ban later this decade, and key environmental groups who have pushed for a state ban on gas in new buildings seem to accept this gradual timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“This approach is not the all-electric code that the clean buildings coalition, including NRDC, and the hundreds of concerned California residents who have been speaking at public hearings over the last six months have been calling for,” Pierre Delforge, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pierre-delforge/will-california-lead-pollution-free-construction\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in a blog post. “But with the right balance of carrots and sticks, it could effectively shift most of new construction toward highly efficient electric heat pumps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group sent a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=237028&DocumentContentId=70198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter\u003c/a> asking the commission to commit to requiring all-electric construction by the year 2025.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp",
"title": "Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay",
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"headTitle": "Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who’s Eating Who in Monterey Bay | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California's underwater kelp forests are suffering massive declines. But a new study shows that sea otters are helping to preserve kelp off the Central Coast.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Refrigerants Are the Worst Greenhouse Gases You’ve Never Heard Of. Here's What You Can Do",
"headTitle": "Refrigerants Are the Worst Greenhouse Gases You’ve Never Heard Of. Here’s What You Can Do | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Open your refrigerator. Take a look around the inside walls. See that label?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is a record of the gas inside, and it’s responsible for keeping your food cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gas is called a refrigerant, and refrigerants are found in everything from air conditioning systems to grocery store freezers, from industrial warehouses to Slurpee machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the gases used in refrigerants are hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. While they work well at keeping things cool, they have a significant drawback: they’re hundreds to thousands of times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hydrofluorocarbons are the worst greenhouse gas that nobody’s heard of,” says Danielle Wright, executive director of the environmental nonprofit, the \u003ca href=\"https://nasrc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on how to cut greenhouse gases, say management and disposal of HFC refrigerants is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">number one way\u003c/a> to address climate change globally. Quickly phasing down HFC use has the potential to avert \u003ca href=\"https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6083/2013/acp-13-6083-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">0.5° C in warming by 2100\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One large glass of HFC 134 has the same warming as a thousand pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from our cars,” says Stanford professor of Earth system science Rob Jackson, referring to one of the most commonly used HFCs. “It’s really an amazingly potent greenhouse gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If those gases were well-contained and disposed of properly at the end of their usable life, the high global warming potential of these gases may not have become a major concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are not contained. HFC refrigerants leak. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates supermarkets in the U.S. leak an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/gc_averagestoreprofile_final_june_2011_revised_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25% of their refrigerants annually\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wright’s organization estimates that for the entire U.S., that’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from 12.5 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason we got to these leaky systems isn’t because we can’t build a leak-proof system, it’s because it’s not cost-effective to do so,” Wright said. Refilling refrigerants is simply less expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, HFCs account for 4% to 5 % of greenhouse gas emissions today, said Pamela Gupta, a manager overseeing HFC regulations at the California Air Resources Board. But the demand for refrigeration and cooling is growing as Earth warms, Gupta says: “They are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, nationally and also globally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the majority of the HFCs used in California are in air conditioning units, state regulators and academics see promise in addressing HFC use in supermarkets, given the large amount of refrigerant supermarkets use, and their high leak rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While experts agree it’s important to phase down all greenhouse gases quickly, some are harder to address than others; curbing HFCs is pretty straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Replacing HFCs is much simpler than eliminating carbon dioxide pollution,” Jackson says. “We don’t have to replace our entire energy and transportation sectors to get rid of HFCs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Refrigeration Isn’t What You Think It Is\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand what refrigerants do, it helps to know a little about how they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ed Estberg, a refrigeration consultant for Raley’s Supermarkets, knows quite a bit about the subject. His first job as a refrigeration mechanic apprentice was in 1962. He’s spent the decades since gaining expertise in the field. Nonprofit leaders to managers at competitor chains call him a master innovator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estberg says, to understand refrigeration, you’ve got to wrap your mind around something counterintuitive:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as cold,” he says. “Absolute zero’s -459.6° F, anything above that has heat in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ice cream, for example, is much warmer than absolute zero. Refrigeration doesn’t actually cool something; it removes the heat from something you want to be cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re just moving the heat away from the place where you don’t want it to a place you don’t care,” Estberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A place like the backside of your refrigerator, where it typically feels warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The exposed ceiling of this Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exposed ceiling of this Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a large supermarket, refrigerants speed through a pipe superhighway, cruising from ceilings down to refrigeration units, where they absorb the ambient heat circling your frozen peas, and travel skyward again, to a machine room above the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through a master stroke of engineering, the excess heat is discharged as steam or warm air — usually from supermarket roofs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refrigerants, ready to absorb more heat, then cycle back through the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why We Use HFCs In the First Place\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, the most widely used refrigerants were chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. CFCs are synthetic chemicals that were effective at keeping things cool, but had a treacherous side effect: ripping a hole in Earth’s ozone layer, threatening humans and all life with harmful ultraviolet radiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, world leaders gathered at a United Nations conference to hammer out an agreement to phase out CFCs: \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Montreal Protocol was the first United Nations treaty to be ratified by all countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of the few things humanity’s done collaboratively that actually worked,” says Project Drawdown senior research fellow Kevin Bayuk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As CFCs phased out, HFCs became the common gases used for refrigeration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, nations in the Montreal Protocol, realizing the dangers of HFCs, gathered again in Kigali, Rwanda, to craft a new agreement. In what became known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol/amendments/kigali-amendment-2016-amendment-montreal-protocol-agreed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, \u003c/a>nations pledged to slash HFCs by more than 80% over 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, President Biden asked the Senate to ratify it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, new federal and \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/HFC%20Workshop%20Presentation%20%28October%2024%202018%29%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California laws\u003c/a> already mirror the Kigali phasedown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Next Step Is a Look to the Past\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace HFCs, grocery stores are turning back to what they used before synthetic refrigerants hit the market. These are called natural refrigerants because they’re found in nature and don’t have to be synthesized in a lab. They include ammonia, propane — and carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Natural refrigerants have zero or near-zero global warming potential,” says Wright of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason companies moved away from natural refrigerants is that they have drawbacks: ammonia is toxic, propane is flammable, and carbon dioxide requires high amounts of pressure. That’s one reason stores that switch can’t simply put natural refrigerants into their existing systems. They have to rebuild the whole system of pipes and heat transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, not many stores have done this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of the total number of grocery stores in the U.S., only 1% are using natural refrigerants,” Wright says. “If we were to move to, let’s say, 10% adoption, that’s equivalent to about six and a half million cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Supermarket of the Future\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A high-ceilinged, natural-light-infused Raley’s supermarket on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento boasts several climate-friendly features: efficient LED lights, a roof covered in solar panels, and a refrigeration system cooled by two natural refrigerants: carbon dioxide and ammonia. The CO2 circulates through the store, absorbing ambient heat, and the ammonia is used in the machine room above the supermarket floor, to keep it far from customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973209 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"(Left to right) Ed Estberg, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Estberg, left, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After more than 50 years building and adapting supermarket refrigeration systems based on changing refrigerant regulation, Estberg is hoping to build a system that lasts far into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t want to go through this again,” he says, “It’s expensive and it’s time consuming. And it takes a long time to perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s and other supermarkets are spurred on by a recent California regulation setting a limit on how much global warming potential is allowed in any new store construction. Currently, the only refrigerants that meet the requirement are natural ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s director of sustainability, Mark Koppang, says anything that can help supermarkets defray the cost of building a new system helps. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Business-Solutions-and-Rebates/Refrigerant-Pilot-Program-Summary.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">incentive program\u003c/a> from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District helped fund the refrigeration system at the new Raley’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would the company make the switch without regulation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a business decision to be made,” Koppang said. “I think there’s a case to be made that we might not if we didn’t have to. But that’s a moot point now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Individuals Can Do\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Bayuk from Project Drawdown says there’s good reason to “to feel optimistic about refrigerants” in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “But it does require at least a certain amount of people to put their attention on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how you can do that:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Collective action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>While there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenamerica.org/coolit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some efforts\u003c/a> to push supermarkets to move away from HFCs, Danielle Wright of NASRC thinks that’s “misplaced effort.” Instead, she says, “consumers will have more impact pressuring their local legislators to support policies that incentivize low global warming potential solutions, fast-track innovative technologies, and support workforce training programs.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Students at universities have created groups to address refrigerant management on campus, including recycling student mini-fridges. One example is at \u003ca href=\"https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>, another is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.yalerefrigerantsinitiative.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Individual action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Environmental Investigation Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://eia-global.org/reports/20200625-hfc-free-refrigerator-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide to purchasing a climate-friendly fridge\u003c/a> for your own home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For people in the technology or financial sectors, Kevin Bayuk of Project Drawdown says there are ample opportunities for innovation to build appliances that accommodate non-HFC refrigerants, and for financing the transition away from HFCs.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Open your refrigerator. Take a look around the inside walls. See that label?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is a record of the gas inside, and it’s responsible for keeping your food cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gas is called a refrigerant, and refrigerants are found in everything from air conditioning systems to grocery store freezers, from industrial warehouses to Slurpee machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the gases used in refrigerants are hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. While they work well at keeping things cool, they have a significant drawback: they’re hundreds to thousands of times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hydrofluorocarbons are the worst greenhouse gas that nobody’s heard of,” says Danielle Wright, executive director of the environmental nonprofit, the \u003ca href=\"https://nasrc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on how to cut greenhouse gases, say management and disposal of HFC refrigerants is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">number one way\u003c/a> to address climate change globally. Quickly phasing down HFC use has the potential to avert \u003ca href=\"https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6083/2013/acp-13-6083-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">0.5° C in warming by 2100\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One large glass of HFC 134 has the same warming as a thousand pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from our cars,” says Stanford professor of Earth system science Rob Jackson, referring to one of the most commonly used HFCs. “It’s really an amazingly potent greenhouse gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If those gases were well-contained and disposed of properly at the end of their usable life, the high global warming potential of these gases may not have become a major concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are not contained. HFC refrigerants leak. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates supermarkets in the U.S. leak an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/gc_averagestoreprofile_final_june_2011_revised_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25% of their refrigerants annually\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wright’s organization estimates that for the entire U.S., that’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from 12.5 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason we got to these leaky systems isn’t because we can’t build a leak-proof system, it’s because it’s not cost-effective to do so,” Wright said. Refilling refrigerants is simply less expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, HFCs account for 4% to 5 % of greenhouse gas emissions today, said Pamela Gupta, a manager overseeing HFC regulations at the California Air Resources Board. But the demand for refrigeration and cooling is growing as Earth warms, Gupta says: “They are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, nationally and also globally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the majority of the HFCs used in California are in air conditioning units, state regulators and academics see promise in addressing HFC use in supermarkets, given the large amount of refrigerant supermarkets use, and their high leak rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While experts agree it’s important to phase down all greenhouse gases quickly, some are harder to address than others; curbing HFCs is pretty straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Replacing HFCs is much simpler than eliminating carbon dioxide pollution,” Jackson says. “We don’t have to replace our entire energy and transportation sectors to get rid of HFCs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Refrigeration Isn’t What You Think It Is\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand what refrigerants do, it helps to know a little about how they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ed Estberg, a refrigeration consultant for Raley’s Supermarkets, knows quite a bit about the subject. His first job as a refrigeration mechanic apprentice was in 1962. He’s spent the decades since gaining expertise in the field. Nonprofit leaders to managers at competitor chains call him a master innovator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estberg says, to understand refrigeration, you’ve got to wrap your mind around something counterintuitive:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as cold,” he says. “Absolute zero’s -459.6° F, anything above that has heat in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ice cream, for example, is much warmer than absolute zero. Refrigeration doesn’t actually cool something; it removes the heat from something you want to be cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re just moving the heat away from the place where you don’t want it to a place you don’t care,” Estberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A place like the backside of your refrigerator, where it typically feels warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The exposed ceiling of this Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exposed ceiling of this Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a large supermarket, refrigerants speed through a pipe superhighway, cruising from ceilings down to refrigeration units, where they absorb the ambient heat circling your frozen peas, and travel skyward again, to a machine room above the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through a master stroke of engineering, the excess heat is discharged as steam or warm air — usually from supermarket roofs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refrigerants, ready to absorb more heat, then cycle back through the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why We Use HFCs In the First Place\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, the most widely used refrigerants were chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. CFCs are synthetic chemicals that were effective at keeping things cool, but had a treacherous side effect: ripping a hole in Earth’s ozone layer, threatening humans and all life with harmful ultraviolet radiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, world leaders gathered at a United Nations conference to hammer out an agreement to phase out CFCs: \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Montreal Protocol was the first United Nations treaty to be ratified by all countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of the few things humanity’s done collaboratively that actually worked,” says Project Drawdown senior research fellow Kevin Bayuk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As CFCs phased out, HFCs became the common gases used for refrigeration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, nations in the Montreal Protocol, realizing the dangers of HFCs, gathered again in Kigali, Rwanda, to craft a new agreement. In what became known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol/amendments/kigali-amendment-2016-amendment-montreal-protocol-agreed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, \u003c/a>nations pledged to slash HFCs by more than 80% over 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, President Biden asked the Senate to ratify it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, new federal and \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/HFC%20Workshop%20Presentation%20%28October%2024%202018%29%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California laws\u003c/a> already mirror the Kigali phasedown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Next Step Is a Look to the Past\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace HFCs, grocery stores are turning back to what they used before synthetic refrigerants hit the market. These are called natural refrigerants because they’re found in nature and don’t have to be synthesized in a lab. They include ammonia, propane — and carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Natural refrigerants have zero or near-zero global warming potential,” says Wright of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason companies moved away from natural refrigerants is that they have drawbacks: ammonia is toxic, propane is flammable, and carbon dioxide requires high amounts of pressure. That’s one reason stores that switch can’t simply put natural refrigerants into their existing systems. They have to rebuild the whole system of pipes and heat transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, not many stores have done this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of the total number of grocery stores in the U.S., only 1% are using natural refrigerants,” Wright says. “If we were to move to, let’s say, 10% adoption, that’s equivalent to about six and a half million cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Supermarket of the Future\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A high-ceilinged, natural-light-infused Raley’s supermarket on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento boasts several climate-friendly features: efficient LED lights, a roof covered in solar panels, and a refrigeration system cooled by two natural refrigerants: carbon dioxide and ammonia. The CO2 circulates through the store, absorbing ambient heat, and the ammonia is used in the machine room above the supermarket floor, to keep it far from customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973209 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"(Left to right) Ed Estberg, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Estberg, left, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After more than 50 years building and adapting supermarket refrigeration systems based on changing refrigerant regulation, Estberg is hoping to build a system that lasts far into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t want to go through this again,” he says, “It’s expensive and it’s time consuming. And it takes a long time to perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s and other supermarkets are spurred on by a recent California regulation setting a limit on how much global warming potential is allowed in any new store construction. Currently, the only refrigerants that meet the requirement are natural ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s director of sustainability, Mark Koppang, says anything that can help supermarkets defray the cost of building a new system helps. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Business-Solutions-and-Rebates/Refrigerant-Pilot-Program-Summary.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">incentive program\u003c/a> from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District helped fund the refrigeration system at the new Raley’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would the company make the switch without regulation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a business decision to be made,” Koppang said. “I think there’s a case to be made that we might not if we didn’t have to. But that’s a moot point now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Individuals Can Do\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Bayuk from Project Drawdown says there’s good reason to “to feel optimistic about refrigerants” in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “But it does require at least a certain amount of people to put their attention on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how you can do that:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Collective action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>While there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenamerica.org/coolit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some efforts\u003c/a> to push supermarkets to move away from HFCs, Danielle Wright of NASRC thinks that’s “misplaced effort.” Instead, she says, “consumers will have more impact pressuring their local legislators to support policies that incentivize low global warming potential solutions, fast-track innovative technologies, and support workforce training programs.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Students at universities have created groups to address refrigerant management on campus, including recycling student mini-fridges. One example is at \u003ca href=\"https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>, another is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.yalerefrigerantsinitiative.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Individual action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Environmental Investigation Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://eia-global.org/reports/20200625-hfc-free-refrigerator-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide to purchasing a climate-friendly fridge\u003c/a> for your own home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For people in the technology or financial sectors, Kevin Bayuk of Project Drawdown says there are ample opportunities for innovation to build appliances that accommodate non-HFC refrigerants, and for financing the transition away from HFCs.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "To Lead Climate Initiatives at Treasury, Biden Turns to Another UC Berkeley Academic",
"headTitle": "To Lead Climate Initiatives at Treasury, Biden Turns to Another UC Berkeley Academic | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973063\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973063 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg 310w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley’s Catherine Wolfram was tapped by Biden as deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics at the U.S. Treasury Department. (Jim Block for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business) \u003ccite>(UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolfram is a leading expert on climate change and energy markets. She’ll serve as a deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics\u003cspan class=\"s3\">, a newly created position at the Treasury Department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic that the Biden Administration is paying so much attention to climate change, and I’m excited to be part of the efforts,” she said in a statement posted to the university’s \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/prof-catherine-wolfram-joins-the-us-treasury-department-to-lead-energy-and-climate-change-policy/\">\u003cspan class=\"s5\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s one thing to sit in your office and write about what policy makers should and shouldn’t do, but I’m really curious to see how these decisions get made in practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Her early academic career examined U.S. regulation of electricity markets. More recently, she’s studied climate change and energy issues in the developing world, particularly in \u003cspan class=\"s6\">sub-Saharan Africa\u003c/span> and India, and leading randomized controlled trials to evaluate energy programs in the U.S., Ghana and Kenya, the university said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>Catherine represents the sort of balanced, careful thinking about the environment and the need to address climate change that Biden has been talking about for his whole campaign and his early presidency,” \u003cspan class=\"s7\">Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas, said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He described her thinking as needing to take major steps on climate change, but in a cost effective way and with “careful analysis of the impact that these programs have [to] figure out what works, and what doesn’t work as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of her focuses might be how to encourage more sustainable economic development, Bornstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Biden has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department: Wolfram, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a professor emerita, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Capital Access Adair Morse, an associate professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university says Wolfram is already working in her new role.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire. The president has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department.\r\n",
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"description": "Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire. The president has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973063\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973063 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg 310w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley’s Catherine Wolfram was tapped by Biden as deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics at the U.S. Treasury Department. (Jim Block for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business) \u003ccite>(UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolfram is a leading expert on climate change and energy markets. She’ll serve as a deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics\u003cspan class=\"s3\">, a newly created position at the Treasury Department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic that the Biden Administration is paying so much attention to climate change, and I’m excited to be part of the efforts,” she said in a statement posted to the university’s \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/prof-catherine-wolfram-joins-the-us-treasury-department-to-lead-energy-and-climate-change-policy/\">\u003cspan class=\"s5\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s one thing to sit in your office and write about what policy makers should and shouldn’t do, but I’m really curious to see how these decisions get made in practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Her early academic career examined U.S. regulation of electricity markets. More recently, she’s studied climate change and energy issues in the developing world, particularly in \u003cspan class=\"s6\">sub-Saharan Africa\u003c/span> and India, and leading randomized controlled trials to evaluate energy programs in the U.S., Ghana and Kenya, the university said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>Catherine represents the sort of balanced, careful thinking about the environment and the need to address climate change that Biden has been talking about for his whole campaign and his early presidency,” \u003cspan class=\"s7\">Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas, 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>He described her thinking as needing to take major steps on climate change, but in a cost effective way and with “careful analysis of the impact that these programs have [to] figure out what works, and what doesn’t work as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of her focuses might be how to encourage more sustainable economic development, Bornstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Biden has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department: Wolfram, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a professor emerita, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Capital Access Adair Morse, an associate professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university says Wolfram is already working in her new role.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "State Auditor Says California Air Regulator Overstated Emission Reductions | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">A state \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">audit\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of climate programs overseen by the California Air Resources Board has found the air regulator overstated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from its electric vehicle incentive program and other initiatives. The board is in charge of implementing the state’s most aggressive efforts to reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Given the ambitious nature of the State’s climate change goals and the short time frame to meet them, California is in need of more reliable tools with which to make funding decisions,” California State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a note accompanying the report, released on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howle warned that the state is in danger of failing to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40% below the level in 1990. She highlighted carbon pollution from cars and trucks as a key problem — since 2013, emissions from the transportation sector have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1948712/your-suv-is-really-messing-with-the-states-climate-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">soared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to record highs in California while falling in other areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit found CARB can’t say how much its incentives for electric vehicles contribute to emission reductions of planet-warming gases. Howle said the air board is not gathering and evaluating enough data, accounting for overlapping reductions between regulatory programs, or determining the impact of these incentives on consumer behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her report doesn’t say that the incentive programs aren’t working, but rather that CARB needs to better collect and evaluate data. While the audit did find that CARB overstated its emissions reductions, it said it’s not clear by how much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a spokesperson for the air board, said in an email that the agency stands “behind our staff,” as well as the “methodology and robust public process that seeks stakeholder input on emissions reductions attributed to regulations and incentives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“To ensure community health relief, the scope and magnitude of the necessary transition to zero is unprecedented,” she wrote. “Ninety percent of Californians still breathe unhealthy air. We agree that this is unacceptable. The board will be hearing new regulatory items in the near future related to doubling down on zero-emission vehicles, trucks, and equipment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turner added that the agency “will strive further [to] strengthen our world-leading programs as we respond to the auditor’s recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, criticized the agency in a statement, saying the findings “are unfortunately not surprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cooper blamed the leadership of Mary Nichols, who retired as the board’s chair in December, for the deficiencies flagged by the audit. Cooper wrote that the agency “continuously ignored the calls of Legislators and California taxpayers to look closely at how their incentive programs disproportionately left California’s struggling middle-class footing the bill for wealthy communities so that they could purchase electric vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">President Joe Biden reportedly considered Nichols to lead the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971853/mary-nichols-californias-great-environmental-warrior-did-not-fight-the-right-battles-to-some\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">faded \u003c/span>\u003c/a>from contention after a complaint from environmental justice groups about her support for California’s cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s report examined cap and trade, a market-based climate initiative that aims to limit greenhouse gases by putting a ceiling on industry emissions and allowing businesses to buy and sell credits to produce them at an auction. While the landmark program generates a lot of money, the revenue is “finite and can be unpredictable,” the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for fossil fuels plummeted across the state last spring when California issued a shelter-in-place order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the May cap-and-trade auction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1965124/californias-cap-and-trade-program-generates-severely-reduced-revenue\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">generated\u003c/span>\u003c/a> very little money, and the state was forced to reduce key environmental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">CARB is required to use cap-and-trade money to invest in communities and create jobs, but the audit found the agency “has done relatively little to measure specific socioeconomic benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency “has been slow to measure the jobs its programs create or support and the benefits of job training its programs require,” Howle wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to meet its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels relies on cap and trade, but the program has come under increasing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1946804/researchers-press-california-to-strengthen-landmark-climate-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">criticism\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for depending too much on complicated market-based mechanisms and not enough on regulations, as well as for allowing companies to “pay to pollute” in low-income communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Jared Blumenfeld, the head of Cal EPA, which oversees the air board, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972525/california-environmental-officials-switch-to-offense-as-biden-takes-charge\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">acknowledged\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the criticisms in an interview with KQED this month, saying, \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s3\">CARB will examine its regulations and the impact of cap-and-trade program on communities that have experienced environmental degradation.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003cbr>\nOf the state’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2045, Blumenfeld said “cap and trade will play a role, but we all anticipate it will play a slightly smaller role than originally thought.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">evaluation\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of the role of California’s cap-and-trade program began last year and must be completed by the end of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">A state \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">audit\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of climate programs overseen by the California Air Resources Board has found the air regulator overstated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from its electric vehicle incentive program and other initiatives. The board is in charge of implementing the state’s most aggressive efforts to reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Given the ambitious nature of the State’s climate change goals and the short time frame to meet them, California is in need of more reliable tools with which to make funding decisions,” California State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a note accompanying the report, released on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howle warned that the state is in danger of failing to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40% below the level in 1990. She highlighted carbon pollution from cars and trucks as a key problem — since 2013, emissions from the transportation sector have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1948712/your-suv-is-really-messing-with-the-states-climate-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">soared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to record highs in California while falling in other areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit found CARB can’t say how much its incentives for electric vehicles contribute to emission reductions of planet-warming gases. Howle said the air board is not gathering and evaluating enough data, accounting for overlapping reductions between regulatory programs, or determining the impact of these incentives on consumer behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her report doesn’t say that the incentive programs aren’t working, but rather that CARB needs to better collect and evaluate data. While the audit did find that CARB overstated its emissions reductions, it said it’s not clear by how much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a spokesperson for the air board, said in an email that the agency stands “behind our staff,” as well as the “methodology and robust public process that seeks stakeholder input on emissions reductions attributed to regulations and incentives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“To ensure community health relief, the scope and magnitude of the necessary transition to zero is unprecedented,” she wrote. “Ninety percent of Californians still breathe unhealthy air. We agree that this is unacceptable. The board will be hearing new regulatory items in the near future related to doubling down on zero-emission vehicles, trucks, and equipment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turner added that the agency “will strive further [to] strengthen our world-leading programs as we respond to the auditor’s recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, criticized the agency in a statement, saying the findings “are unfortunately not surprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cooper blamed the leadership of Mary Nichols, who retired as the board’s chair in December, for the deficiencies flagged by the audit. Cooper wrote that the agency “continuously ignored the calls of Legislators and California taxpayers to look closely at how their incentive programs disproportionately left California’s struggling middle-class footing the bill for wealthy communities so that they could purchase electric vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">President Joe Biden reportedly considered Nichols to lead the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971853/mary-nichols-californias-great-environmental-warrior-did-not-fight-the-right-battles-to-some\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">faded \u003c/span>\u003c/a>from contention after a complaint from environmental justice groups about her support for California’s cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s report examined cap and trade, a market-based climate initiative that aims to limit greenhouse gases by putting a ceiling on industry emissions and allowing businesses to buy and sell credits to produce them at an auction. While the landmark program generates a lot of money, the revenue is “finite and can be unpredictable,” the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for fossil fuels plummeted across the state last spring when California issued a shelter-in-place order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the May cap-and-trade auction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1965124/californias-cap-and-trade-program-generates-severely-reduced-revenue\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">generated\u003c/span>\u003c/a> very little money, and the state was forced to reduce key environmental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">CARB is required to use cap-and-trade money to invest in communities and create jobs, but the audit found the agency “has done relatively little to measure specific socioeconomic benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency “has been slow to measure the jobs its programs create or support and the benefits of job training its programs require,” Howle wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to meet its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels relies on cap and trade, but the program has come under increasing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1946804/researchers-press-california-to-strengthen-landmark-climate-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">criticism\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for depending too much on complicated market-based mechanisms and not enough on regulations, as well as for allowing companies to “pay to pollute” in low-income communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Jared Blumenfeld, the head of Cal EPA, which oversees the air board, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972525/california-environmental-officials-switch-to-offense-as-biden-takes-charge\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">acknowledged\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the criticisms in an interview with KQED this month, saying, \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s3\">CARB will examine its regulations and the impact of cap-and-trade program on communities that have experienced environmental degradation.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003cbr>\nOf the state’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2045, Blumenfeld said “cap and trade will play a role, but we all anticipate it will play a slightly smaller role than originally thought.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">evaluation\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of the role of California’s cap-and-trade program began last year and must be completed by the end of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Texas Froze. California Baked. The Power Failed Because Both States Failed to Plan",
"headTitle": "Texas Froze. California Baked. The Power Failed Because Both States Failed to Plan | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">A few weeks after California’s rolling power outages last summer, Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas pulled out his iPhone and tapped out a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1303364789603889154?s=20\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">political dig\u003c/span>\u003c/a> at the Golden State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Alexa, show me what happens when you let Democrats control energy policy,” he tweeted, responding to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s plea for residents to conserve energy by turning off major appliances, as another heat wave had Californians cranking up their air conditioners, driving up electricity demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Crenshaw blamed California’s ongoing energy supply problems on its aggressive adoption of solar, wind and other renewable resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">It’s worth noting California and Texas have very different energy systems. Texans generate about two-thirds of its power from natural gas. The remaining third comes from nuclear, wind, solar and coal. Most of the state’s electricity is managed by a grid operator independent of the rest of the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, like most states, is different from Texas in that it’s connected to a larger regional grid system by transmission lines that operate as a backup system. When California’s demand outpaces its supply, it’s able to acquire power from its neighbors. And as cold temperatures from the winter storm have frozen most of the country, the grid operator \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/California_ISO/status/1361821580246929409?s=20\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">asked\u003c/span>\u003c/a> Californians to conserve energy to reduce demand on the regional system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">This week, Crenshaw’s witticism, as it were, made the rounds again, a few hours after a frigid winter storm froze many of Texas’ gas wells, forced some of its coal and nuclear plants offline, and iced a portion of its wind turbines, right when demand for heat skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The toll of a widespread power outage in Texas has far surpassed the impact of California’s rolling outages last August, when a heat wave baked the West and pushed California’s grid operators to issue the state’s first rolling blackouts in 19 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas is in its fifth days of outages, though most of the power is now back on. On Tuesday, more than 4 million homes and businesses went without power. The grid operator has restored electricity for some, but millions of people \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#9497341d-68c4-44f3-8353-0497084ac733\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">remained\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the dark on Wednesday and Thursday, the Texas Tribune \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#e6d981ec-9c22-4dcf-a3b7-d36edc3f8150\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>Freezing winter conditions continue to affect water infrastructure, and half the state has \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#58cb6af3-8a8d-46cb-b00c-6c11aafe1fb9\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">lost access\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to drinking water or is on notice to \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#91f96083-2e70-423c-ad21-5e7f88c7ff45\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">boil it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">With Texas officials not able to definitively state when the crisis will end, the political discussion quickly devolved into finger-pointing and a vacuous back-and-forth about whether California’s Democrats or Texas’ Republicans have the better energy strategy. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson actually blamed the Green New Deal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1361871769511026691?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the problem is much bigger than the components of each state’s energy mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy planners in California and Texas both failed to anticipate power demand, so they were left short on supply. The outages exposed just how vulnerable the two states’ creaky power systems are to extreme weather driven by climate change; both networks are designed to handle spikes in demand but not \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/climate/texas-power-grid-failures.html\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wild and unpredictable weather\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the strain caused by severe weather events, the systems in both California and Texas gave way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is plenty of blame to go around,” Jesse Jenkins, energy professor at Princeton University, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/opinion/future-proof-texas-grid.html\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the New York Times. “The failure to prepare for this extreme cold is systemic, and the millions of Texans enduring deadly cold and extreme discomfort deserve a closer look at what went wrong, and what to do about it. The lessons can help Americans prepare for the range of extreme weather that a changing climate will bring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/JesseJenkins/status/1362526214070665217?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last August, about 800,000 Californians were without power for only a few hours. But it would be many months before investigators could untangle the knot of complicated reasons for the state’s blackout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A preliminary \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">root cause analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a> published in October by three agencies found energy planners didn’t line up the right resources and failed to fully anticipate the impact that climate change could have on the grid, as well as on the demand for energy in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has called for emergency reform of the state’s grid operator and a thorough investigation, similar to the postmortem California conducted after its blackout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s early days still, but it appears that more than half of the Texas grid operator’s winter generating capacity went down because of the storm. Every energy source used in Texas, from nuclear reactors to wind turbines to gas plants, failed in some way. The state relies on gas for most of its electricity and failures in that system are “the biggest cause of the current outages,” according to Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, told KQED’s Lily Jamali on Tuesday that she blames deregulation and privatization of the energy market for the power outages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the power plant generators in Texas have the choice between paying a shareholder dividend and paying to prepare for storms like they’re having now, the power plant owners paid their shareholders, customers be damned,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynch says a key problem in Texas is the state’s failure to require maintenance standards for its power plants. In California, where stronger regulations govern the industry, government agencies weren’t enforcing the rules, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s happened in Texas is what’s happened in California,” Lynch said. “If you don’t maintain your power plants, they’re not going to operate in conditions when you really need them.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Texas Froze. California Baked. The Power Failed Because Both States Failed to Plan | KQED",
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"headline": "Texas Froze. California Baked. The Power Failed Because Both States Failed to Plan",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">A few weeks after California’s rolling power outages last summer, Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas pulled out his iPhone and tapped out a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1303364789603889154?s=20\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">political dig\u003c/span>\u003c/a> at the Golden State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Alexa, show me what happens when you let Democrats control energy policy,” he tweeted, responding to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s plea for residents to conserve energy by turning off major appliances, as another heat wave had Californians cranking up their air conditioners, driving up electricity demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Crenshaw blamed California’s ongoing energy supply problems on its aggressive adoption of solar, wind and other renewable resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">It’s worth noting California and Texas have very different energy systems. Texans generate about two-thirds of its power from natural gas. The remaining third comes from nuclear, wind, solar and coal. Most of the state’s electricity is managed by a grid operator independent of the rest of the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, like most states, is different from Texas in that it’s connected to a larger regional grid system by transmission lines that operate as a backup system. When California’s demand outpaces its supply, it’s able to acquire power from its neighbors. And as cold temperatures from the winter storm have frozen most of the country, the grid operator \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/California_ISO/status/1361821580246929409?s=20\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">asked\u003c/span>\u003c/a> Californians to conserve energy to reduce demand on the regional system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">This week, Crenshaw’s witticism, as it were, made the rounds again, a few hours after a frigid winter storm froze many of Texas’ gas wells, forced some of its coal and nuclear plants offline, and iced a portion of its wind turbines, right when demand for heat skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The toll of a widespread power outage in Texas has far surpassed the impact of California’s rolling outages last August, when a heat wave baked the West and pushed California’s grid operators to issue the state’s first rolling blackouts in 19 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas is in its fifth days of outages, though most of the power is now back on. On Tuesday, more than 4 million homes and businesses went without power. The grid operator has restored electricity for some, but millions of people \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#9497341d-68c4-44f3-8353-0497084ac733\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">remained\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the dark on Wednesday and Thursday, the Texas Tribune \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#e6d981ec-9c22-4dcf-a3b7-d36edc3f8150\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>Freezing winter conditions continue to affect water infrastructure, and half the state has \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#58cb6af3-8a8d-46cb-b00c-6c11aafe1fb9\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">lost access\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to drinking water or is on notice to \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-ercot/#91f96083-2e70-423c-ad21-5e7f88c7ff45\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">boil it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">With Texas officials not able to definitively state when the crisis will end, the political discussion quickly devolved into finger-pointing and a vacuous back-and-forth about whether California’s Democrats or Texas’ Republicans have the better energy strategy. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson actually blamed the Green New Deal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>But the problem is much bigger than the components of each state’s energy mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy planners in California and Texas both failed to anticipate power demand, so they were left short on supply. The outages exposed just how vulnerable the two states’ creaky power systems are to extreme weather driven by climate change; both networks are designed to handle spikes in demand but not \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/climate/texas-power-grid-failures.html\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wild and unpredictable weather\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the strain caused by severe weather events, the systems in both California and Texas gave way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is plenty of blame to go around,” Jesse Jenkins, energy professor at Princeton University, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/opinion/future-proof-texas-grid.html\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in the New York Times. “The failure to prepare for this extreme cold is systemic, and the millions of Texans enduring deadly cold and extreme discomfort deserve a closer look at what went wrong, and what to do about it. The lessons can help Americans prepare for the range of extreme weather that a changing climate will bring.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Last August, about 800,000 Californians were without power for only a few hours. But it would be many months before investigators could untangle the knot of complicated reasons for the state’s blackout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A preliminary \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">root cause analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a> published in October by three agencies found energy planners didn’t line up the right resources and failed to fully anticipate the impact that climate change could have on the grid, as well as on the demand for energy in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has called for emergency reform of the state’s grid operator and a thorough investigation, similar to the postmortem California conducted after its blackout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s early days still, but it appears that more than half of the Texas grid operator’s winter generating capacity went down because of the storm. Every energy source used in Texas, from nuclear reactors to wind turbines to gas plants, failed in some way. The state relies on gas for most of its electricity and failures in that system are “the biggest cause of the current outages,” according to Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, told KQED’s Lily Jamali on Tuesday that she blames deregulation and privatization of the energy market for the power outages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the power plant generators in Texas have the choice between paying a shareholder dividend and paying to prepare for storms like they’re having now, the power plant owners paid their shareholders, customers be damned,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynch says a key problem in Texas is the state’s failure to require maintenance standards for its power plants. In California, where stronger regulations govern the industry, government agencies weren’t enforcing the rules, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s happened in Texas is what’s happened in California,” Lynch said. “If you don’t maintain your power plants, they’re not going to operate in conditions when you really need them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Says It Will Review Cap-and-Trade Amid Growing Criticism",
"headTitle": "California Says It Will Review Cap-and-Trade Amid Growing Criticism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Newsom administration officials said this week that they will evaluate the role of California’s landmark cap-and-trade program as the state examines its strategies for tackling climate change over the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an oversight hearing Tuesday, \u003ca href=\"https://calepa.ca.gov/about/bios/blumenfeld/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jared Blumenfeld,\u003c/a> secretary for environmental protection, and Air Resources Board Chair \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/leadership/liane-m-randolph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Liane Randolph\u003c/a> said the carbon trading program will be a key part of the conversation as California updates its climate road map, called a scoping plan, over the next two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Blumenfeld nor Randolph, however, would say specifically what will be examined or how the program might change. “Any changes would need to be carefully thought through and accompanied by economic and environmental processes,” Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2013, California’s cap-and-trade program is the nation’s first economy-wide \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-reveals-terms-cap-and-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon market\u003c/a>. The program sets a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions that polluters — including oil refineries, power plants and manufacturers — can meet by buying and trading carbon credits or updating their facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Independent experts\u003c/a> have raised concerns that the program might be too weak to achieve California’s ambitious climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, environmental justice groups have long criticized \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California’s carbon market\u003c/a>, saying that former air board chair Mary Nichols had done too little to protect vulnerable Californians living in the shadow of fossil fuel polluters such as oil refineries and power plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph addressed those concerns at the hearing, but as market administrator of the cap-and-trade program, she was cautious about saying anything that might affect the market for carbon credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This remains an important space for us to work directly with environmental justice and community organizations to ensure that their views are incorporated into our work,” Randolph said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in 2016\u003c/a> pledged to cut its climate-warming pollution 40% over the next 10 years, and it is relying on the carbon trading program for nearly half of those reductions in 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re calling on all our existing climate policies to do more in the next decade. We have no choice but to accelerate the rate of emission reductions dramatically,” Blumenfeld said Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No changes to the program would happen soon. The process will begin this spring, and the final plan is expected to be presented to the board in late 2022, Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Opportunities to further strengthen the cap-and-trade program will begin as part of the public process to update the scoping plan. To do so now would be premature,” Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today’s hearing was held by a \u003ca href=\"https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/subcommittee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate budget subcommittee\u003c/a> chaired by Sen. Bob Wieckowski, a Democrat from Fremont. Wieckowski asked \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/leadership/liane-m-randolph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Randolph\u003c/a>, who was appointed chair of the air board \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/12/09/governor-newsom-announces-liane-randolph-as-the-chair-of-the-air-resources-board/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in December\u003c/a>, whether she planned to revisit the weight of cap and trade in the new scoping plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, basically, the answer is yes,” Randolph said. “The scoping plan process will rely on analyzing the existing programs and authorities to determine how to achieve reductions and then to determine what additional reductions need to be addressed by cap and trade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statements at the hearing reaffirm Blumenfeld’s commitment \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/06/california-climate-strategy-cap-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a letter to Wieckowski over the summer\u003c/a> to weigh “the extent to which the state’s climate strategy should rely on the cap-and-trade program reductions relative to other approaches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The discussion met resistance from oil and gas producers, but was welcomed by environmental justice groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Changing this market-based system now would only create economic uncertainty for businesses and raise costs for consumers, all at a time when the state’s overall economy is in a precarious position,” said Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, which represents independent crude oil and natural gas producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Slagle, a spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, said “cap and trade is doing exactly what it was intended to do — driving innovation — which has helped the state meet its climate goals almost four years earlier than anticipated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s environmental justice advocates have long \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opposed\u003c/a> the program because they say it comes at the expense of climate policies that would benefit low-income communities of color that are disproportionately burdened by air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The upcoming CARB scoping plan update is an opportunity to address the bifurcation of climate and air pollution, and move towards a mechanism that will allow for direct emissions reductions,” said Neena Mohan, climate justice associate at the California Environmental Justice Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the program entered a new phase that adds new requirements through 2030. These include doubling the rate at which the emissions cap drops and adding a price ceiling for credits to prevent costs for industries from increasing past a certain point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ross Brown with the Legislative Analyst’s Office, said at the hearing that California’s 2020 greenhouse gas target, which the state reached four years early, required cutting emissions by about 1% each year. To meet the 2030 goals, California would need to increase those cuts to roughly 4% each year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just having the program in place is not sufficient to ensure that the program is achieving the goals,” Brown said. “Implementation of the program and design of the program matters a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One concern that Brown \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">and others have raised\u003c/a> is that companies may be banking unused pollution credits, called allowances, to use later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that when you get out into the later years up to 2030, that large bank of allowances could be used to comply with the program,” Brown said. “And as a result, the state might not be close to its ambitious emission targets out to 2030.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wieckowski said that problem haunts him. “I lose sleep at night, knowing that we were told that we couldn’t amend that bill, when staff and you in particular were saying that this allowance problem was a very big problem,” he said. “And now we have to deal with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee, which is made up of researchers and academics appointed by the governor and leaders in the Legislature, has proposed metrics for tracking the bank of extra credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we are going to see that the number of banked allowances is far in excess of what the board said in its previous rulemaking statement,” said \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/directory/danny-cullenward/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Danny Cullenward\u003c/a>, a lecturer at Stanford Law School and a member of the emissions advisory committee. He said an air board analysis of banked allowances is expected by the end of this year\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing comes one day before a cap-and-trade auction where companies and others can bid to purchase pollution credits. The timing raised red flags for oil companies covered by cap and trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is that the hearing may unnecessarily create uncertainty about the cap-and-trade program that could affect the auction,” Slagle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullenward questioned, however, whether those concerns were justified. “Why is it not appropriate to ask questions about the performance of the program? If not now, when is it okay?” he said. “Neither the legislature nor the administration did anything in a way that would prejudice people’s behavior at the auction tomorrow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters.org\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Experts say the state’s cap-and-trade program may be insufficient in meeting ambitious climate goals. And environmentalists have called the program unfair to polluted communities.",
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"title": "California Says It Will Review Cap-and-Trade Amid Growing Criticism | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Newsom administration officials said this week that they will evaluate the role of California’s landmark cap-and-trade program as the state examines its strategies for tackling climate change over the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an oversight hearing Tuesday, \u003ca href=\"https://calepa.ca.gov/about/bios/blumenfeld/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jared Blumenfeld,\u003c/a> secretary for environmental protection, and Air Resources Board Chair \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/leadership/liane-m-randolph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Liane Randolph\u003c/a> said the carbon trading program will be a key part of the conversation as California updates its climate road map, called a scoping plan, over the next two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Blumenfeld nor Randolph, however, would say specifically what will be examined or how the program might change. “Any changes would need to be carefully thought through and accompanied by economic and environmental processes,” Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2013, California’s cap-and-trade program is the nation’s first economy-wide \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-reveals-terms-cap-and-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon market\u003c/a>. The program sets a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions that polluters — including oil refineries, power plants and manufacturers — can meet by buying and trading carbon credits or updating their facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Independent experts\u003c/a> have raised concerns that the program might be too weak to achieve California’s ambitious climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, environmental justice groups have long criticized \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California’s carbon market\u003c/a>, saying that former air board chair Mary Nichols had done too little to protect vulnerable Californians living in the shadow of fossil fuel polluters such as oil refineries and power plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph addressed those concerns at the hearing, but as market administrator of the cap-and-trade program, she was cautious about saying anything that might affect the market for carbon credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This remains an important space for us to work directly with environmental justice and community organizations to ensure that their views are incorporated into our work,” Randolph said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in 2016\u003c/a> pledged to cut its climate-warming pollution 40% over the next 10 years, and it is relying on the carbon trading program for nearly half of those reductions in 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re calling on all our existing climate policies to do more in the next decade. We have no choice but to accelerate the rate of emission reductions dramatically,” Blumenfeld said Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No changes to the program would happen soon. The process will begin this spring, and the final plan is expected to be presented to the board in late 2022, Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Opportunities to further strengthen the cap-and-trade program will begin as part of the public process to update the scoping plan. To do so now would be premature,” Blumenfeld said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today’s hearing was held by a \u003ca href=\"https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/subcommittee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate budget subcommittee\u003c/a> chaired by Sen. Bob Wieckowski, a Democrat from Fremont. Wieckowski asked \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/leadership/liane-m-randolph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Randolph\u003c/a>, who was appointed chair of the air board \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/12/09/governor-newsom-announces-liane-randolph-as-the-chair-of-the-air-resources-board/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in December\u003c/a>, whether she planned to revisit the weight of cap and trade in the new scoping plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, basically, the answer is yes,” Randolph said. “The scoping plan process will rely on analyzing the existing programs and authorities to determine how to achieve reductions and then to determine what additional reductions need to be addressed by cap and trade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statements at the hearing reaffirm Blumenfeld’s commitment \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/06/california-climate-strategy-cap-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a letter to Wieckowski over the summer\u003c/a> to weigh “the extent to which the state’s climate strategy should rely on the cap-and-trade program reductions relative to other approaches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The discussion met resistance from oil and gas producers, but was welcomed by environmental justice groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Changing this market-based system now would only create economic uncertainty for businesses and raise costs for consumers, all at a time when the state’s overall economy is in a precarious position,” said Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, which represents independent crude oil and natural gas producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Slagle, a spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, said “cap and trade is doing exactly what it was intended to do — driving innovation — which has helped the state meet its climate goals almost four years earlier than anticipated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s environmental justice advocates have long \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opposed\u003c/a> the program because they say it comes at the expense of climate policies that would benefit low-income communities of color that are disproportionately burdened by air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The upcoming CARB scoping plan update is an opportunity to address the bifurcation of climate and air pollution, and move towards a mechanism that will allow for direct emissions reductions,” said Neena Mohan, climate justice associate at the California Environmental Justice Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the program entered a new phase that adds new requirements through 2030. These include doubling the rate at which the emissions cap drops and adding a price ceiling for credits to prevent costs for industries from increasing past a certain point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ross Brown with the Legislative Analyst’s Office, said at the hearing that California’s 2020 greenhouse gas target, which the state reached four years early, required cutting emissions by about 1% each year. To meet the 2030 goals, California would need to increase those cuts to roughly 4% each year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just having the program in place is not sufficient to ensure that the program is achieving the goals,” Brown said. “Implementation of the program and design of the program matters a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One concern that Brown \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">and others have raised\u003c/a> is that companies may be banking unused pollution credits, called allowances, to use later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that when you get out into the later years up to 2030, that large bank of allowances could be used to comply with the program,” Brown said. “And as a result, the state might not be close to its ambitious emission targets out to 2030.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wieckowski said that problem haunts him. “I lose sleep at night, knowing that we were told that we couldn’t amend that bill, when staff and you in particular were saying that this allowance problem was a very big problem,” he said. “And now we have to deal with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee, which is made up of researchers and academics appointed by the governor and leaders in the Legislature, has proposed metrics for tracking the bank of extra credits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we are going to see that the number of banked allowances is far in excess of what the board said in its previous rulemaking statement,” said \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/directory/danny-cullenward/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Danny Cullenward\u003c/a>, a lecturer at Stanford Law School and a member of the emissions advisory committee. He said an air board analysis of banked allowances is expected by the end of this year\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing comes one day before a cap-and-trade auction where companies and others can bid to purchase pollution credits. The timing raised red flags for oil companies covered by cap and trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is that the hearing may unnecessarily create uncertainty about the cap-and-trade program that could affect the auction,” Slagle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullenward questioned, however, whether those concerns were justified. “Why is it not appropriate to ask questions about the performance of the program? If not now, when is it okay?” he said. “Neither the legislature nor the administration did anything in a way that would prejudice people’s behavior at the auction tomorrow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The rising threat from wildfire smoke was on full display last fall, when dense plumes from several fires burning across Northern California blocked out the sun, shrouding the Bay Area in orange-tinged darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That smokestorm in August and September polluted Bay Area air for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969739/smoke-from-californias-record-wildfires-is-its-own-disaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">record\u003c/span>\u003c/a> 30 straight days, at the apex of a fire season that saw more than 5 million acres burned up across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire smoke now accounts for half of the fine-particle pollution that wafts across the West, according to a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/2/e2011048118.abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> led by \u003cstrong>Marshall Burke, an Earth scientist with Stanford University\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2020, we saw roughly 60 days with wildfire smoke that was in the air that we breathed, up from 10 to 15 days just a decade ago,” Burke told KQED. “That’s a really dramatic increase in our exposure to wildfire smoke and is leading to measurable changes in the air quality in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke spoke last week with KQED’s Brian Watt about the increasing danger of wildfire smoke in California. The following excerpts are edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>We know that wildfires are worse partly because of warming temperatures. How much worse could our air get? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke: \u003c/i>Projections suggest that climate change has increased wildfire risk by about 50% so far. It’s already had a large effect on the number and particularly the severity of the wildfires we’ve seen. And projections going forward suggest that we could see even a doubling on top of that — very, very large projected increases in future wildfire risk and in the associated smoke that comes with those wildfires if we don’t do anything about climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>How do you think this problem of air pollution compares to other kinds of climate impacts like rising sea levels or the worsening wildfires themselves?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke: \u003c/i>This is something we look at in our research, and we find for much of the U.S. and particularly people in the West, exposure to wildfire smoke might be one of the main impacts of climate change they experience in their lives. Most of us don’t live right next to the coast. In the Bay Area, if we do, we might actually not be directly exposed to changes in sea level. The wildfires and really the smoke from wildfires can reach us in ways that many of the other climate impacts don’t. We see that as one of the main climate impacts we will experience as Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>How will this impact people’s health?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> We have decades of research showing that breathing dirty air is very bad for a range of health problems: cardiovascular, respiratory, even things like cognitive function. Dirty air really hurts humans. What our research suggests is wildfires are contributing more and more key pollutants to our air, and that will likely get worse in the future as the climate changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>One of the solutions to these devastating wildfires is more controlled burning. Could that make a difference in air pollution as well?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> An area that’s seen a controlled burn is less likely to actually burn in an extreme wildfire. And if a wildfire does come through, it’s likely to be lower intensity, unlikely to get up into the canopy of trees and lead to these very intense fires that generate a lot of smoke. So more controlled, or prescribed burns, as they’re called, are a very important tool for dealing with this problem. We think of controlled burns as “good” fire compared to “bad,” out-of-control and extreme wildfire. Having more good fire reduces the amount of bad fire we get. And evidence suggests it will also reduce the amount of overall air pollution. What it will mean is a little more low-level air pollution in seasons in which we do these prescribed burns. But the benefit will be a reduction in these really bad air quality events like the ones we saw in the Bay Area in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>What is the top solution you’d recommend to government leaders and forest managers? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> We can think of solutions at multiple levels. Number one, we know that climate change is really the leading cause of the increase in wildfire risk that we’ve seen in the last few years. Getting a handle on climate change as a whole is very important for dealing with this problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Number two, managing our forests more actively and, in particular, doing much more prescribed burning than we’ve done in the past is really important. I’m optimistic that at the state level, the new administration is on this, proposing to rapidly expand the amount of prescribed burning done in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Finally, as individuals, we need to think about how to protect ourselves from wildfire smoke that does get into the air. We need to know when the air quality is bad. We need to stay indoors. If possible, we need to have ways to filter our indoor air. We have evidence that helps keep us safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The rising threat from wildfire smoke was on full display last fall, when dense plumes from several fires burning across Northern California blocked out the sun, shrouding the Bay Area in orange-tinged darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That smokestorm in August and September polluted Bay Area air for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969739/smoke-from-californias-record-wildfires-is-its-own-disaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">record\u003c/span>\u003c/a> 30 straight days, at the apex of a fire season that saw more than 5 million acres burned up across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire smoke now accounts for half of the fine-particle pollution that wafts across the West, according to a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/2/e2011048118.abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> led by \u003cstrong>Marshall Burke, an Earth scientist with Stanford University\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2020, we saw roughly 60 days with wildfire smoke that was in the air that we breathed, up from 10 to 15 days just a decade ago,” Burke told KQED. “That’s a really dramatic increase in our exposure to wildfire smoke and is leading to measurable changes in the air quality in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke spoke last week with KQED’s Brian Watt about the increasing danger of wildfire smoke in California. The following excerpts are edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>We know that wildfires are worse partly because of warming temperatures. How much worse could our air get? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke: \u003c/i>Projections suggest that climate change has increased wildfire risk by about 50% so far. It’s already had a large effect on the number and particularly the severity of the wildfires we’ve seen. And projections going forward suggest that we could see even a doubling on top of that — very, very large projected increases in future wildfire risk and in the associated smoke that comes with those wildfires if we don’t do anything about climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>How do you think this problem of air pollution compares to other kinds of climate impacts like rising sea levels or the worsening wildfires themselves?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke: \u003c/i>This is something we look at in our research, and we find for much of the U.S. and particularly people in the West, exposure to wildfire smoke might be one of the main impacts of climate change they experience in their lives. Most of us don’t live right next to the coast. In the Bay Area, if we do, we might actually not be directly exposed to changes in sea level. The wildfires and really the smoke from wildfires can reach us in ways that many of the other climate impacts don’t. We see that as one of the main climate impacts we will experience as Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>How will this impact people’s health?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> We have decades of research showing that breathing dirty air is very bad for a range of health problems: cardiovascular, respiratory, even things like cognitive function. Dirty air really hurts humans. What our research suggests is wildfires are contributing more and more key pollutants to our air, and that will likely get worse in the future as the climate changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>One of the solutions to these devastating wildfires is more controlled burning. Could that make a difference in air pollution as well?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> An area that’s seen a controlled burn is less likely to actually burn in an extreme wildfire. And if a wildfire does come through, it’s likely to be lower intensity, unlikely to get up into the canopy of trees and lead to these very intense fires that generate a lot of smoke. So more controlled, or prescribed burns, as they’re called, are a very important tool for dealing with this problem. We think of controlled burns as “good” fire compared to “bad,” out-of-control and extreme wildfire. Having more good fire reduces the amount of bad fire we get. And evidence suggests it will also reduce the amount of overall air pollution. What it will mean is a little more low-level air pollution in seasons in which we do these prescribed burns. But the benefit will be a reduction in these really bad air quality events like the ones we saw in the Bay Area in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>What is the top solution you’d recommend to government leaders and forest managers? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ci>Burke:\u003c/i> We can think of solutions at multiple levels. Number one, we know that climate change is really the leading cause of the increase in wildfire risk that we’ve seen in the last few years. Getting a handle on climate change as a whole is very important for dealing with this problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Number two, managing our forests more actively and, in particular, doing much more prescribed burning than we’ve done in the past is really important. I’m optimistic that at the state level, the new administration is on this, proposing to rapidly expand the amount of prescribed burning done in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Finally, as individuals, we need to think about how to protect ourselves from wildfire smoke that does get into the air. We need to know when the air quality is bad. We need to stay indoors. If possible, we need to have ways to filter our indoor air. We have evidence that helps keep us safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A coalition of California community power providers in the Bay Area and beyond are joining forces on bulk purchases of renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>East Bay Community Energy and other community choice aggregators, as the groups are called, buy cleaner power for their customers. Now, eight of these aggregators are combining to procure more clean energy and invest in battery farms, which store excess power harvested from the grid, at what they say will be a better price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group is already evaluating proposals to procure 500-megawatts of energy storage it hopes to bring online by 2026. That’s enough storage to keep the lights on in a neighborhood like West Oakland, with more than 9,000 homes, for an entire month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The groups are mostly in the Bay Area; other communities like Santa Barbara and Humboldt County are also represented. All together, they cover more than 2.5 million customers and the equivalent of 40% of PG&E’s annual electricity load.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jan Pepper, CEO of Peninsula Clean Energy, said the group’s members are “among the most ambitious [community choice aggregators] in pursuing clean power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says the drive toward constant, 100% renewable energy, “won’t be possible without reliable long-term energy storage, so it’s important we are concentrating our early effort toward making that a reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group can bring costs down by leveraging “economies of scale” and by creating “better negotiating power” and shared risk, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>East Bay Community Energy and Peninsula Clean Energy are joined in the initiative by Central Coast Community Energy, MCE in the North and East Bay, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, San José Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CleanPowerSF, San Francisco’s aggregator, is also pursuing membership.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says the drive toward constant, 100% renewable energy, “won’t be possible without reliable long-term energy storage, so it’s important we are concentrating our early effort toward making that a reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group can bring costs down by leveraging “economies of scale” and by creating “better negotiating power” and shared risk, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>East Bay Community Energy and Peninsula Clean Energy are joined in the initiative by Central Coast Community Energy, MCE in the North and East Bay, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, San José Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CleanPowerSF, San Francisco’s aggregator, is also pursuing membership.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s water supply is looking a lot more robust after an atmospheric river blanketed the Northern Sierra Nevada with snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s storm deluged Mammoth Mountain with nearly 9 feet of powder and enveloped Kirkwood, Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley with about 7 feet of fresh snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/NWSReno/status/1355616577106833410?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But all that white stuff wasn’t quite enough to push the state’s snowpack above average for this time of year. That’s due to more than a year of dry weather. During rainy season in 2020, the state saw just 39% average rainfall the last three months of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measurements from officials with the California Department of Water Resources show the snowpack near Lake Tahoe at about 93% of February’s historical average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean de Guzman, chief of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Section, recorded a snow depth of 63 inches and a snow-water content of 17 inches at Phillips Station snow course, south of Lake Tahoe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statewide automated snow sensor network as of Wednesday morning reported the snowpack at 70% of average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>The state has experienced a series of storms over the last couple of weeks that brought a significant amount of rain and snow,” de Guzman said. “However, these storms were not nearly enough to make up the deficit that we have accumulated over the last few months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sustained La Niña, which is cold water on the surface of the Equatorial Pacific that affects weather across the globe, has stalled a ridge of high pressure over California and diverted storms that might normally have pelted the state over the Pacific Northwest instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Paul Rogers of the Mercury News \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/02/sierra-snow-grows-but-bay-area-has-3rd-biggest-rainfall-deficit-since-1849/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">notes\u003c/a> California’s current water story needs to be told in two parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the recent atmospheric river brought blizzard conditions across the Sierra, the Bay Area is “stuck in one of the worst two-year rainfall deficits seen since the 1849 Gold Rush,” Rogers writes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of February, San Francisco had received only about 17 inches of rain since July 1, 2019. From the Mercury News:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>… San Francisco is 20.13 inches behind normal for last winter, and this winter so far, combined. That makes the past 19 months the third-driest such period in San Francisco in 172 years, when records first began in 1849. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only two similar 19-month periods that were drier than the current one were from July 1975 to January 1977 — the middle of a historic drought — and July 1897 to January 1899. The rainfall deficit is drawing increasing attention from water managers, who say that unless February and March bring numerous major storms to boost reservoir levels, water restrictions may return to Northern California communities this summer.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>“Last year we began digging a big hole. And this year we continued digging,” meteorologist Jan Null told Rogers. “We would need something monumental and probably catastrophic to get out of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologists say California’s February rain outlook does not look good, with high pressure and a likely return to below average precipitation for two weeks, at least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/weather_west/status/1355978523756830721?s=21\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean de Guzman, chief of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Section, recorded a snow depth of 63 inches and a snow-water content of 17 inches at Phillips Station snow course, south of Lake Tahoe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statewide automated snow sensor network as of Wednesday morning reported the snowpack at 70% of average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>The state has experienced a series of storms over the last couple of weeks that brought a significant amount of rain and snow,” de Guzman said. “However, these storms were not nearly enough to make up the deficit that we have accumulated over the last few months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sustained La Niña, which is cold water on the surface of the Equatorial Pacific that affects weather across the globe, has stalled a ridge of high pressure over California and diverted storms that might normally have pelted the state over the Pacific Northwest instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Paul Rogers of the Mercury News \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/02/sierra-snow-grows-but-bay-area-has-3rd-biggest-rainfall-deficit-since-1849/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">notes\u003c/a> California’s current water story needs to be told in two parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the recent atmospheric river brought blizzard conditions across the Sierra, the Bay Area is “stuck in one of the worst two-year rainfall deficits seen since the 1849 Gold Rush,” Rogers writes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of February, San Francisco had received only about 17 inches of rain since July 1, 2019. From the Mercury News:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>… San Francisco is 20.13 inches behind normal for last winter, and this winter so far, combined. That makes the past 19 months the third-driest such period in San Francisco in 172 years, when records first began in 1849. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only two similar 19-month periods that were drier than the current one were from July 1975 to January 1977 — the middle of a historic drought — and July 1897 to January 1899. The rainfall deficit is drawing increasing attention from water managers, who say that unless February and March bring numerous major storms to boost reservoir levels, water restrictions may return to Northern California communities this summer.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>“Last year we began digging a big hole. And this year we continued digging,” meteorologist Jan Null told Rogers. “We would need something monumental and probably catastrophic to get out of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologists say California’s February rain outlook does not look good, with high pressure and a likely return to below average precipitation for two weeks, at least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last week, General Motors, the largest automaker in the U.S., \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972486/following-californias-mandate-gm-plans-to-stop-making-gasoline-cars-by-2035\">said\u003c/a> it would phase out the manufacturing of gas-powered cars by 2035, the same year California will no longer allow their sale, as stipulated in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969807/california-to-halt-sales-of-new-gas-cars-by-2035\">order\u003c/a> issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists cheered GM’s announcement, and The New York Times trumpeted it as a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/business/gm-zero-emission-vehicles.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seismic shift\u003c/a>” in the auto industry, claiming “the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a series of tweets, Newsom called GM’s announcement a “game changer” and took a little credit for budging the company on the issue, through use of a popular internet meme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1355207568805691392?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interestingly, though, the response of the person whom Newsom recently appointed as the chair of the California Air Resources Board was markedly less enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liane Randolph took a glass half-empty view of GM’s announcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/mslianeran/status/1354937568761057296?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a backstory to the agency’s chilly response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When former President Donald Trump weakened federal auto emission standards set by the Obama administration, California kept enforcing its more stringent standards, suing the administration over the rollback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the state negotiated an agreement with Honda, Ford and three other major automakers for the companies to manufacture all cars sold in the U.S. using a stricter standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration responded by issuing a rule that blocked California, as well as any other state, from setting their own car rules, revoking the federal waiver that allowed California to set stricter standards for tailpipe emissions. So, the state sued again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, GM, along with Toyota and other car companies, refused to sign on to California’s agreement and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/general-motors-california-emissions-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sided\u003c/a> with the federal government in both legal fights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s public line was that California and the Trump administration should find common ground. But it also argued that only the federal government has the ultimate authority over fuel-emission standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few weeks after Trump lost to Joe Biden, the automaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/general-motors-california-emissions-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">abandoned\u003c/a> the legal fight over whether or not California can set its own rules. (On Tuesday several car companies, including Toyota and Fiat Chrysler, did likewise, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/business/more-automakers-drop-their-support-of-trump-era-fuel-economy-standards.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropping their support\u003c/a> for that lawsuit.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica James, a GM spokesperson, said in an email that the company is “open to working with California and the Biden Administration to achieve agreement on a national standard and complementary policies to accelerate the electrification of the light-duty transportation sector.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Randolph notes GM is still defending Trump’s diluted fuel-economy standard, even as the company says it will invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous cars in the next five years and offer 30 all-electric models worldwide by 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>There’s a backstory to the agency’s chilly response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When former President Donald Trump weakened federal auto emission standards set by the Obama administration, California kept enforcing its more stringent standards, suing the administration over the rollback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the state negotiated an agreement with Honda, Ford and three other major automakers for the companies to manufacture all cars sold in the U.S. using a stricter standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration responded by issuing a rule that blocked California, as well as any other state, from setting their own car rules, revoking the federal waiver that allowed California to set stricter standards for tailpipe emissions. So, the state sued again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, GM, along with Toyota and other car companies, refused to sign on to California’s agreement and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/general-motors-california-emissions-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sided\u003c/a> with the federal government in both legal fights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s public line was that California and the Trump administration should find common ground. But it also argued that only the federal government has the ultimate authority over fuel-emission standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few weeks after Trump lost to Joe Biden, the automaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/general-motors-california-emissions-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">abandoned\u003c/a> the legal fight over whether or not California can set its own rules. (On Tuesday several car companies, including Toyota and Fiat Chrysler, did likewise, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/business/more-automakers-drop-their-support-of-trump-era-fuel-economy-standards.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropping their support\u003c/a> for that lawsuit.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica James, a GM spokesperson, said in an email that the company is “open to working with California and the Biden Administration to achieve agreement on a national standard and complementary policies to accelerate the electrification of the light-duty transportation sector.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Randolph notes GM is still defending Trump’s diluted fuel-economy standard, even as the company says it will invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous cars in the next five years and offer 30 all-electric models worldwide by 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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"order": 19
},
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
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}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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"order": 3
},
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}
},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
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}
},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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},
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},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
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"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"order": 18
},
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"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>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
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