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"content": "\u003cp>Federal land managers on Wednesday proposed sweeping rule changes to a landmark environmental law that would allow them to fast-track certain forest management projects, including logging and prescribed burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Forest Service, under Chief Vicki Christiansen, is proposing revisions to its National Environmental Policy Act regulations that could limit environmental review and public input on projects ranging from forest health and wildfire mitigation to infrastructure upgrades to commercial logging on federal land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do more analysis than we need, we take more time than we need and we slow down important work to protect communities,” Christiansen told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed rule changes include an expansion of “categorical exclusions.” These are often billed as tools that give land managers the discretion to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/11/28/671572816/fast-tracking-logging-on-federal-lands-may-not-lessen-wildfire-risk\">bypass full-blown environmental studies\u003c/a> in places where they can demonstrate there would be no severe impacts or degradation to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Gale, with the conservation group \u003ca href=\"https://www.backcountryhunters.org/\">Backcountry Hunters & Anglers\u003c/a>, says that if applied carefully and narrowly to certain projects, these exclusions could help lower the fire risk. But he’s skeptical because the administration recently rolled back \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/713616827/trump-administration-moves-forward-with-proposal-to-re-define-waterway-protectio\">protections for clean water and wildlife\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We also don’t want to see this become the Trojan horse for unchecked resource extraction,” Gale says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service insists this is not about ramping up commercial logging in public forests. On average, according to Christiansen, it can take big restoration projects that generally have broad support as long as two years to approve. She predicts that time could be cut by more than half if the rule changes move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let me be clear that the Forest Service will continue to deliver high-quality, science-based analysis,” she said. “We’re proposing more efficiency, not shortcutting. In fact, [we’re] enhancing, where we can, public involvement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal agencies have long complained of “analysis paralysis” when it comes to getting large landscape-scale projects approved. Policymakers frequently decry what they call frivolous lawsuits by litigious-minded environmental groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.sidneyherald.com/national/news/environmental-groups-challenge-bridger-mountains-logging-project/article_b1fdc1a4-347d-53e8-ae29-104aa2c6177e.html\">use the courts to try to stop logging\u003c/a> on public land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to the government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-337\">own analysis\u003c/a> — the last done in 2010 during the Obama administration — fewer than one-fifth of all timber and forest projects are appealed by citizens or environmental groups. A bigger holdup is budget cuts, particularly in the Forest Service, where money has been diverted away from wildlife, habitat and forestry programs to pay for the skyrocketing costs of wildfire suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed rule changes are subject to a 60-day public comment period. Barring litigation or other holdups, the Forest Service hopes to finalize them by summer of next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Trump+Administration+Seeking+To+Overhaul+Forest+Management+Rules+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We also don’t want to see this become the Trojan horse for unchecked resource extraction,” Gale says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service insists this is not about ramping up commercial logging in public forests. On average, according to Christiansen, it can take big restoration projects that generally have broad support as long as two years to approve. She predicts that time could be cut by more than half if the rule changes move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let me be clear that the Forest Service will continue to deliver high-quality, science-based analysis,” she said. “We’re proposing more efficiency, not shortcutting. In fact, [we’re] enhancing, where we can, public involvement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal agencies have long complained of “analysis paralysis” when it comes to getting large landscape-scale projects approved. Policymakers frequently decry what they call frivolous lawsuits by litigious-minded environmental groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.sidneyherald.com/national/news/environmental-groups-challenge-bridger-mountains-logging-project/article_b1fdc1a4-347d-53e8-ae29-104aa2c6177e.html\">use the courts to try to stop logging\u003c/a> on public land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to the government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-337\">own analysis\u003c/a> — the last done in 2010 during the Obama administration — fewer than one-fifth of all timber and forest projects are appealed by citizens or environmental groups. A bigger holdup is budget cuts, particularly in the Forest Service, where money has been diverted away from wildlife, habitat and forestry programs to pay for the skyrocketing costs of wildfire suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed rule changes are subject to a 60-day public comment period. Barring litigation or other holdups, the Forest Service hopes to finalize them by summer of next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Trump+Administration+Seeking+To+Overhaul+Forest+Management+Rules+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>David Bevacqua never had trouble insuring a home in California, but he was in for a rude surprise after recently buying a house in Bass Lake, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"California homeowner David Bevacqua\"]‘I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house.’[/pullquote] “None of the insurance companies would quote me,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bevacqua is not alone. As more and more destructive wildfires have whipped through the state in recent years, Californians living in areas considered a high wildfire risk are seeing their insurance rates creep up \u003cem>—\u003c/em> or in cases like Bevacqua’s, having insurers simply pull out of some communities altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2015 and 2016 alone, according to the state insurance commissioner’s office, there was a 15 percent increase in “insurer initiated non-renewals” in fire-prone areas. That means homeowners wanted to keep their insurance but the companies refused to renew their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Bevacqua couldn’t get a policy on the “admitted” market, where rates are regulated by the state, he ended up going with an alternative known as the FAIR Plan. Created in the 1960s, it’s a very limited, expensive option-of-last resort for consumers who cannot find insurance elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house,” he said, referring to yet another policy he bought covering earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ah, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stories like Bevacqua’s have caught the attention of policymakers in Sacramento, who have made a number of tweaks to laws governing personal property insurance in recent years, including legislation prohibiting insurers from canceling policies after a home burns down, and laws aimed at making sure people understand their policies and are not underinsured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"Mark Sektnan, American Property Casualty Insurance Association\"]‘Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.’[/pullquote]But more sweeping insurance reforms have died under pressure from the insurance industry, and as of yet, no one seems to be ready to completely overhaul the state’s insurance market. According to the industry, 98 percent of Californians with home insurance are still covered by the traditional, regulated market, with the other 2% using the FAIR Plan and other policies not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason I hesitate about rethinking the entire insurance industry is that in California — despite these fires, despite the challenges — we have a robust market,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We still feel comfortable that our insurance market is strong and healthy enough to be able to pay out claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overall we still see the market as very competitive, very viable,” he said. “But we do understand that homeowners in certain areas may be facing challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Increasingly Unavailable and Unaffordable’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has some of the most consumer-friendly insurance laws in the nation, thanks to a 30-year-old ballot measure that set the rules still in effect today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1943266,science_1943058'] [/aside]Those rules require insurance companies participating in the regulated market to base insurance rates on a customer’s individual level of risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the state insurance commissioner must approve the amount insurers can charge, he can’t force them to offer insurance if they think the risk is too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those restrictions make sense, Lara said, to ensure that the insurance market stays financially healthy. So while he is concerned about the cost and availability of insurance in wildfire-prone areas, he said that basing prices on the level of risk that a home poses makes sense, even if it is driving up costs for those who are the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery, set up by the state Legislature and governor to study wildfire costs, agreed with Lara, warning that if California “artificially masks” expensive insurance in high-risk regions by subsidizing rates, it will incentivize risky behavior and make insurance more expensive for people in other parts of the state where wildfires are not a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the commission’s recent report said that while “the home insurance market is not in crisis yet,” the state is “marching toward a future where home insurance will be increasingly unavailable and/or unaffordable” for Californians in high-risk fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission focused on areas known as the wildland urban interface, or WUI, which refers to regions where homes are built near forests or other wildlands threatened by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In evaluating whether to subsidize homeowners insurance in the WUI, policymakers need to consider whether the state wants to encourage more people to move into the WUI,” the report states. “We believe doing so will lead to more deaths and injuries of both residents and first responders, destruction of property, loss of homes, more damages to be paid by utilities … consequent costs to shareholders and utility ratepayers, and more costs for local, state and federal governments and taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Discounts for Clearing Brush?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocate Amy Bach, executive director of the insurance consumer group United Policyholders, agrees that the current risk-based system should not be changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because at its core, she says, insurance is “basically just a very kind of informed gambling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you buy insurance, you’re basically transferring your risk onto the insurance company,” she said. “The insurance company looks at you and says, ‘OK what is this person’s risk profile? How old are they? How responsible are they? What’s their history? … ‘ They’re just deciding, what is this risk worth that I’m taking on, and what am I going to charge this person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, the insurance commissioner, said he is trying to figure out how to “incentivize more of the admitted market insurers to stay in” high-risk areas to ensure lower prices and consumer protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that’s a lot to ask in some of these communities,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that California is the largest market in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a massive market for the insurance companies. I don’t think it behooves them to leave the market. But also we have to figure out how we learn to coexist and how do we ensure that the market is robust so that they can pay out the claims and we can continue with our daily lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that could be requiring insurance companies to offer lower prices to individuals and communities that invest in materials and initiatives that make them less vulnerable to fire. That could include \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clearing the area\u003c/a> around a home of dangerous brush that can ignite during a wildfire, or building homes with more fire-resistant materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara said his office is pushing insurance companies to consider those sorts of discounts, similar to the discounts they give good drivers, for example. He said the industry is open to the concept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry is indeed exploring the idea, says Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. But to make it work, companies would need entire communities to participate in reducing a wildfire threat, because fires come with a uniquely unfortunate risk compared to other natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you mitigate your house for a hurricane or earthquake — whatever you do for your house directly benefits you, whatever your neighbors don’t do, doesn’t negatively impact you,” Sektnan said. “Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sektnan said this kind of communitywide approach is already being taken in at least one market, where the county of Boulder in Colorado is partnering with insurers to bring down everyone’s rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara agreed that collective action is key, saying the state now needs to think about how to ensure communities work together to harden themselves against wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also wants to simplify insurance contracts so that consumers have a better idea of their coverage ahead of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we create smarter contracts so that people can clearly understand what they’re covered [for], what they’re paying?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Questions Loom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, personal property insurance isn’t the only insurance question looming over California, as climate change is not only making wildfires more destructive, but it’s raising broader questions about the state’s resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, state firefighting costs have exploded in recent years, so Lara is pushing legislation that would let the state take out insurance to cover those cost overruns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also debating the possibility of a multibillion dollar wildfire insurance fund that would help protect the state’s utilities against financial ruin when they’re found liable for fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Lara is also exploring more out-of-the-box ideas, such as taking out insurance policies on natural resource like wetlands or forests that are threatened by climate change but whose existence actually helps mitigate its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, a former state lawmaker, authored legislation in 2018 to create a working group to address the broader question of climate change and insurance; that group will start meeting soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are we most vulnerable as a state? Where are we most at risk? ” he said. “We know, for example in the Bay Area, the wetlands around the bay are critical, and we have to make sure that they’re strong and they’re thriving so that we could defend against potential flooding or sea level rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other parts of the world, this is already happening. For example, a coral reef off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was recently insured in a collaboration between the government and nongovernmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world’s already starting to figure out how do we bring in the insurance industry in our united front against climate change,” Lara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California must do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Despite an increase in insurance companies dropping coverage in fire-prone areas, nobody's ready to blow up the entire system yet. But some reforms may be on the way.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>David Bevacqua never had trouble insuring a home in California, but he was in for a rude surprise after recently buying a house in Bass Lake, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “None of the insurance companies would quote me,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bevacqua is not alone. As more and more destructive wildfires have whipped through the state in recent years, Californians living in areas considered a high wildfire risk are seeing their insurance rates creep up \u003cem>—\u003c/em> or in cases like Bevacqua’s, having insurers simply pull out of some communities altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2015 and 2016 alone, according to the state insurance commissioner’s office, there was a 15 percent increase in “insurer initiated non-renewals” in fire-prone areas. That means homeowners wanted to keep their insurance but the companies refused to renew their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Bevacqua couldn’t get a policy on the “admitted” market, where rates are regulated by the state, he ended up going with an alternative known as the FAIR Plan. Created in the 1960s, it’s a very limited, expensive option-of-last resort for consumers who cannot find insurance elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house,” he said, referring to yet another policy he bought covering earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ah, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stories like Bevacqua’s have caught the attention of policymakers in Sacramento, who have made a number of tweaks to laws governing personal property insurance in recent years, including legislation prohibiting insurers from canceling policies after a home burns down, and laws aimed at making sure people understand their policies and are not underinsured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But more sweeping insurance reforms have died under pressure from the insurance industry, and as of yet, no one seems to be ready to completely overhaul the state’s insurance market. According to the industry, 98 percent of Californians with home insurance are still covered by the traditional, regulated market, with the other 2% using the FAIR Plan and other policies not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason I hesitate about rethinking the entire insurance industry is that in California — despite these fires, despite the challenges — we have a robust market,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We still feel comfortable that our insurance market is strong and healthy enough to be able to pay out claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overall we still see the market as very competitive, very viable,” he said. “But we do understand that homeowners in certain areas may be facing challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Increasingly Unavailable and Unaffordable’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has some of the most consumer-friendly insurance laws in the nation, thanks to a 30-year-old ballot measure that set the rules still in effect today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those rules require insurance companies participating in the regulated market to base insurance rates on a customer’s individual level of risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the state insurance commissioner must approve the amount insurers can charge, he can’t force them to offer insurance if they think the risk is too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those restrictions make sense, Lara said, to ensure that the insurance market stays financially healthy. So while he is concerned about the cost and availability of insurance in wildfire-prone areas, he said that basing prices on the level of risk that a home poses makes sense, even if it is driving up costs for those who are the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery, set up by the state Legislature and governor to study wildfire costs, agreed with Lara, warning that if California “artificially masks” expensive insurance in high-risk regions by subsidizing rates, it will incentivize risky behavior and make insurance more expensive for people in other parts of the state where wildfires are not a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the commission’s recent report said that while “the home insurance market is not in crisis yet,” the state is “marching toward a future where home insurance will be increasingly unavailable and/or unaffordable” for Californians in high-risk fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission focused on areas known as the wildland urban interface, or WUI, which refers to regions where homes are built near forests or other wildlands threatened by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In evaluating whether to subsidize homeowners insurance in the WUI, policymakers need to consider whether the state wants to encourage more people to move into the WUI,” the report states. “We believe doing so will lead to more deaths and injuries of both residents and first responders, destruction of property, loss of homes, more damages to be paid by utilities … consequent costs to shareholders and utility ratepayers, and more costs for local, state and federal governments and taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Discounts for Clearing Brush?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocate Amy Bach, executive director of the insurance consumer group United Policyholders, agrees that the current risk-based system should not be changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because at its core, she says, insurance is “basically just a very kind of informed gambling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you buy insurance, you’re basically transferring your risk onto the insurance company,” she said. “The insurance company looks at you and says, ‘OK what is this person’s risk profile? How old are they? How responsible are they? What’s their history? … ‘ They’re just deciding, what is this risk worth that I’m taking on, and what am I going to charge this person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, the insurance commissioner, said he is trying to figure out how to “incentivize more of the admitted market insurers to stay in” high-risk areas to ensure lower prices and consumer protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that’s a lot to ask in some of these communities,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that California is the largest market in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a massive market for the insurance companies. I don’t think it behooves them to leave the market. But also we have to figure out how we learn to coexist and how do we ensure that the market is robust so that they can pay out the claims and we can continue with our daily lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that could be requiring insurance companies to offer lower prices to individuals and communities that invest in materials and initiatives that make them less vulnerable to fire. That could include \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clearing the area\u003c/a> around a home of dangerous brush that can ignite during a wildfire, or building homes with more fire-resistant materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara said his office is pushing insurance companies to consider those sorts of discounts, similar to the discounts they give good drivers, for example. He said the industry is open to the concept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry is indeed exploring the idea, says Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. But to make it work, companies would need entire communities to participate in reducing a wildfire threat, because fires come with a uniquely unfortunate risk compared to other natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you mitigate your house for a hurricane or earthquake — whatever you do for your house directly benefits you, whatever your neighbors don’t do, doesn’t negatively impact you,” Sektnan said. “Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sektnan said this kind of communitywide approach is already being taken in at least one market, where the county of Boulder in Colorado is partnering with insurers to bring down everyone’s rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara agreed that collective action is key, saying the state now needs to think about how to ensure communities work together to harden themselves against wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also wants to simplify insurance contracts so that consumers have a better idea of their coverage ahead of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we create smarter contracts so that people can clearly understand what they’re covered [for], what they’re paying?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Questions Loom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, personal property insurance isn’t the only insurance question looming over California, as climate change is not only making wildfires more destructive, but it’s raising broader questions about the state’s resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, state firefighting costs have exploded in recent years, so Lara is pushing legislation that would let the state take out insurance to cover those cost overruns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also debating the possibility of a multibillion dollar wildfire insurance fund that would help protect the state’s utilities against financial ruin when they’re found liable for fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Lara is also exploring more out-of-the-box ideas, such as taking out insurance policies on natural resource like wetlands or forests that are threatened by climate change but whose existence actually helps mitigate its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, a former state lawmaker, authored legislation in 2018 to create a working group to address the broader question of climate change and insurance; that group will start meeting soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are we most vulnerable as a state? Where are we most at risk? ” he said. “We know, for example in the Bay Area, the wetlands around the bay are critical, and we have to make sure that they’re strong and they’re thriving so that we could defend against potential flooding or sea level rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other parts of the world, this is already happening. For example, a coral reef off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was recently insured in a collaboration between the government and nongovernmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world’s already starting to figure out how do we bring in the insurance industry in our united front against climate change,” Lara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California must do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Path to Zero-Emission Transportation Means \u003ci>Everything\u003c/i> Must Go Electric",
"headTitle": "The Path to Zero-Emission Transportation Means Everything Must Go Electric | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"dropcap\">Work used to be much simpler for the California Department of Transportation: Widen highways, fill potholes, build new freeways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alas, those quaint days are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get an idea of what planners must prepare for, state officials recently hosted a demonstration of a drone air taxi that will require devising a “highway above the ground,” said Reza Navai, a Caltrans transportation planner. “If you think transportation on the ground is complex.…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such sci-fi-like transit is one of many high-tech changes coming as California implements its planned electrification of transportation to radically reduce greenhouse-gas \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/californias-climate-fight-gets-harder-soon-big-culprit-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emissions\u003c/a>. The path to zero, as in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/will-california-ban-gas-powered-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">zero-emission vehicles\u003c/a>, extends well beyond flying taxis and the 5 million electric cars the state hopes will be on its roads by 2030. Everything—\u003cem>everything\u003c/em>—will be replaced with an electric analog: from boats, planes and trains to delivery vans to farm tractors and even forklifts. The to-do list stretches as long as California’s seemingly endless blacktop, with freight as a major challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s transportation gurus envision technology that will ping driverless vehicles with an automated message when they stray from their lanes, “smart” roads that charge electric cars and trucks as they pass and an electrified Interstate 5, the West Coast’s main freight corridor. California has already widened its painted lane stripes to six inches from four so self-driving vehicles can better “see” the road. Ultimately, the highways themselves will be redesigned and constructed with different materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s transportation agency, which updates its master plan every five years, is currently preparing a look at 2050. While officials cannot predict each new technological wrinkle, Reza said, “We must be able to consider all the possibilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To achieve a\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/california-rising-vehicle-emissions-despite-growth-in-electric-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> carbon-free transportation\u003c/a> future, California will need to cover a lot more ground in a short time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If California’s trying to be a leader, we have to go as fast as possible,” said Lew Fulton, who studies sustainable transportation at UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies. “Policies are critical to try to speed this up and try to push the envelope, and get all the manufacturers scared enough that they start producing what we need. Carrots and sticks. Carrots being pricing and incentives, sticks being regulatory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has spent more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/press-releases/2018/10/25/carb-approves-483-million-funding-plan-for-clean-transportation-investments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1 billion\u003c/a> dollars in the last five years to encourage research, subsidize the exchange of internal combustion vehicles for zero-emission options, formulate cleaner fuels and expand vital charging infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is working with technology firms to clean up heavily polluting marine fuels belching from container ships at California ports. And state funds are helping Central Valley farmers, who are on a waiting list to crush their aging farm equipment and receive rebates to replace it with fuel-efficient models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such projects may get a boost from California’s Tesla-owner governor, Gavin Newsom, as budget negotiations wrap up this month. His proposed spending plan includes nearly $24 billion for all aspects of transportation, a 6% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, a group of legislators has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/CALSTARTletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expressed support\u003c/a> for a nonprofit organization’s proposal that 15% of annual revenue from cap-and-trade auctions go to programs to clean up emissions from trucks, buses and off-road vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"infogram-embed\">\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://infogram.com/transportationtrucking-facts-1hmr6g3dgvo34nl\">https://infogram.com/transportationtrucking-facts-1hmr6g3dgvo34nl\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Few transportation modes have clean-engine options as advanced as those for passenger cars. Buses are the exception. The Chinese company BYD, manufacturing electric buses in Lancaster, is the largest in North America and has produced more than 300 buses, including nearly half of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Los Angeles has \u003ca href=\"https://thesource.metro.net/2017/07/27/as-metro-pursues-electric-bus-fleet-by-2030-three-bus-contracts-go-to-board-on-thursday/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pledged\u003c/a> to convert its bus fleet—second-largest in the country—to electric by 2030, though mechanical and performance \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-electric-buses-20180520-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">problems\u003c/a> plagued the rollout of its BYD vehicles. Many other transit districts have similar goals and include school buses. The financial burden of those commitments is softened by state \u003ca href=\"https://www.californiahvip.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vouchers\u003c/a> for up to $200,000 toward the purchase of each zero-emission bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The availability of some electric all-terrain recreational vehicles, farm machinery and specialty equipment such as cherry-pickers and front-end loaders has produced niche markets. Generally, though, the readily available transportation technology stops where the road ends: Electrification of trains, planes and ships is less advanced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A state \u003ca href=\"https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/tech/techreport/ogv_tech_report.pdf?_ga=2.214068434.430973912.1559599041-177476988.1546391733\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis\u003c/a> found that ocean-going vessels still depend on heavily polluting marine fuels and, aside from nuclear powered-engines for military use, zero- and near-zero technologies are not currently available. Among smaller vessels, the famed Red and White \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/We-Can-Go-Greener-San-Francisco-Tour-Boat-Company-Launches-Hybrid-Electric-Ferry-510888701.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fleet\u003c/a> that tours San Francisco Bay added a new hybrid-electric ferry this week. And electric-battery passenger \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/passenger-ferries-are-going-electric-cb70b29f-fb19-4a10-bf53-24df0d9985bd.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ferries\u003c/a> may soon operate in Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ships docking in California’s ports frequently forgo using diesel generators to operate and instead plug into shore-side electric power. But even when stationary, big vessels have a massive appetite: A nine-cylinder ship engine—five-stories tall and weighing 1,500 tons—can produce enough power to run 30,000 homes for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s busy docks teem with those ships. About 40% of containerized goods that come into the United States enter through California, said the state’s Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. Their sulfur-based fuel “has to be heated up before you can use it—very energy-intensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soot belching from Pacific vessels has been detected as far inland as Oklahoma, he said. When Blumenfeld was regional director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, it pushed through rules that require ships to switch to low-sulfur fuel 200 miles from the coast by next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trucking is the major freight challenge for California. More than 97% of the state’s big rigs operate on diesel fuel, which is highly polluting and a significant contributor to detrimental health effects on those residing near transit corridors. Currently only a handful of electric or hybrid heavy-duty truck options exists, mostly prototypes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943158\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cars sit in miles-long traffic jam on southbound highway 101 as they approach a flooded section of the freeway on December 3, 2014 in Mill Valley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I see 100% electrification as being far off; there just aren’t any of those trucks on the road,” said Brandon Taylor, director of transportation for GSC Logistics, a freight company operating at the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GSC is testing a prototype electric semi. “We know electric is going to be the future, but the technology is not there yet. It’s going to be a huge challenge, but not an insurmountable one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freight represents a transportation problem somewhat of our own making: We desire—and order online—more and more stuff, for delivery \u003cem>right now.\u003c/em> With each mouse click, delivery vans and trucks flood the state’s highways and neighborhood streets, dispatched to cover what supply-chain planners call “the last mile” of residential delivery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20% of trips in the United States \u003ca href=\"https://nhts.ornl.gov/vehicle-trips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are\u003c/a>, in fact, less than a mile. But it’s too late to shut off the merchandise-delivery tap, and freight accounts for about a \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/offices/ogm/cs_freight_action_plan/Documents/CSFAP_Main%20Document_FINAL_07272016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third \u003c/a>of the California Gross Domestic Product\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The influx of these trucks and vans runs counter to one of California’s bottom-line goals: to reduce not just the number of vehicles on roads but also, and more critically, the miles they travel. The mid-sized delivery vans taking the package handoff from heavy-duty trucks are turning over odometers at a dizzying rate; in Southern California, an \u003ca href=\"http://media.metro.net/projects_studies/sr_710/images/sr_710_faqs_goods_movement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimated \u003c/a>85% of truck traffic is dedicated to local deliveries and short hops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future is likely to include on-demand trucking. Predictably, there’s an app for that, Uber Freight, which launched in California in 2017. It’s one of a handful of load-matching apps that connect shippers with smaller, more nimble trucks plying local routes. The system is intended to increase efficiency and decrease total miles driven. Additionally, electric trucks can return to a home base at night to be recharged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same applies to another innovation expected to ease this delivery-vehicle Sigalert: Widespread adoption of 3D printers that will construct products closer to where consumers live, shrinking delivery areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big rigs in California not subject to the smog inspections that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Smog_Check_Program_History.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">applied to cars\u003c/a> since 1982, partly due to early pushback from trucking companies and insurmountable complexities involved in regulating out-of-state vehicles. But that could change: A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bill \u003c/a>advancing in the Legislature would create smog checks for big diesel trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more efficient parking, with real-time information about empty spots, would allow drivers to use 25% less fuel to find them, according to a recent Caltrans plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state will need to retrofit highways to allow charging of electric freight trucks, which some experts say may still be a decade away. Planners are examining exactly what an electric-truck stop would require: Big trucks need big batteries and very large charging infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Utility companies in California, Oregon and Washington are underwriting a study that will examine how to provide electric charging and hydrogen fueling along the entirety of Interstate 5, with bays for next-generation semi-trucks running on batteries or hydrogen gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state air board contributed $41 million to a test program at the port of Los Angeles, which two years ago set aside a mile of highway with an overhead charging system to refuel prototype electric trucks, much like electric cable cars operate. Ten big rigs that run on hydrogen-electric hybrid engines are coming next year, added to 16,000 trucks that work the port every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently there is only a handful of electric or hybrid heavy-duty trucks, and those are prototypes. State regulators recognize that innovation doesn’t always align with government goals and deadlines and is planning for clean technology where feasible. Like everything else, it’s not going to be cheap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cost of an electric semi-tractor trailer, $300,000 and more, is more than twice that of a traditional diesel truck. That can be a burden on mom and pop companies, 90% of whose fleets contain six or fewer trucks and who operate on relatively tight margins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be tough,” even with state subsidies, said Chris Shimoda, lobbyist for the California Trucking Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shimoda said his members don’t care what type of fuel the state requires. “Everybody knows this is the direction California is going,” he said. “It’s easy to say we have a goal of eliminating fossil fuels, but as I think everyone would admit, the details of how to get there are important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Port of Oakland, with freight-train horns blaring in the background, Taylor said by phone that it’s eerie to see—but not hear—his company’s electric big-rig pull into one of the loading bays. “It kind of sneaks up on you,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has been testing the truck for more than a year, underwritten partly by a state grant, and expects delivery of two more in the fall. Taylor uses the truck to move containers around the port but has yet to put it on the road, echoing the “range anxiety” associated with electric cars. His truck’s battery runs out and needs recharging after 120 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The steep cost of replacing entire trucking fleets with electric vehicles, even with subsidies, may be a burden on small companies, he acknowledged. But improving air quality is a worthy goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve seen myself the difference as the diesel engines have gotten cleaner and cleaner,” Taylor said. “It used to be that with all the trucks working the port, I’d get a headache after an hour or two.” Now he doesn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I guess it can only get better with electrics,” he said. “I’m not sure how it’s all going to work, but it’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California's transportation planners are looking to replace cars, boats, trains planes, delivery vans, farm tractors and even forklifts with an electric analog. Trucks could present a special problem ...",
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"title": "The Path to Zero-Emission Transportation Means \u003ci>Everything\u003c/i> Must Go Electric | KQED",
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"headline": "The Path to Zero-Emission Transportation Means \u003ci>Everything\u003c/i> Must Go Electric",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"dropcap\">Work used to be much simpler for the California Department of Transportation: Widen highways, fill potholes, build new freeways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alas, those quaint days are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get an idea of what planners must prepare for, state officials recently hosted a demonstration of a drone air taxi that will require devising a “highway above the ground,” said Reza Navai, a Caltrans transportation planner. “If you think transportation on the ground is complex.…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such sci-fi-like transit is one of many high-tech changes coming as California implements its planned electrification of transportation to radically reduce greenhouse-gas \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/californias-climate-fight-gets-harder-soon-big-culprit-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emissions\u003c/a>. The path to zero, as in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/will-california-ban-gas-powered-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">zero-emission vehicles\u003c/a>, extends well beyond flying taxis and the 5 million electric cars the state hopes will be on its roads by 2030. Everything—\u003cem>everything\u003c/em>—will be replaced with an electric analog: from boats, planes and trains to delivery vans to farm tractors and even forklifts. The to-do list stretches as long as California’s seemingly endless blacktop, with freight as a major challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s transportation gurus envision technology that will ping driverless vehicles with an automated message when they stray from their lanes, “smart” roads that charge electric cars and trucks as they pass and an electrified Interstate 5, the West Coast’s main freight corridor. California has already widened its painted lane stripes to six inches from four so self-driving vehicles can better “see” the road. Ultimately, the highways themselves will be redesigned and constructed with different materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s transportation agency, which updates its master plan every five years, is currently preparing a look at 2050. While officials cannot predict each new technological wrinkle, Reza said, “We must be able to consider all the possibilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To achieve a\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/california-rising-vehicle-emissions-despite-growth-in-electric-cars/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> carbon-free transportation\u003c/a> future, California will need to cover a lot more ground in a short time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If California’s trying to be a leader, we have to go as fast as possible,” said Lew Fulton, who studies sustainable transportation at UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies. “Policies are critical to try to speed this up and try to push the envelope, and get all the manufacturers scared enough that they start producing what we need. Carrots and sticks. Carrots being pricing and incentives, sticks being regulatory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has spent more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/press-releases/2018/10/25/carb-approves-483-million-funding-plan-for-clean-transportation-investments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1 billion\u003c/a> dollars in the last five years to encourage research, subsidize the exchange of internal combustion vehicles for zero-emission options, formulate cleaner fuels and expand vital charging infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is working with technology firms to clean up heavily polluting marine fuels belching from container ships at California ports. And state funds are helping Central Valley farmers, who are on a waiting list to crush their aging farm equipment and receive rebates to replace it with fuel-efficient models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such projects may get a boost from California’s Tesla-owner governor, Gavin Newsom, as budget negotiations wrap up this month. His proposed spending plan includes nearly $24 billion for all aspects of transportation, a 6% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, a group of legislators has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/CALSTARTletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expressed support\u003c/a> for a nonprofit organization’s proposal that 15% of annual revenue from cap-and-trade auctions go to programs to clean up emissions from trucks, buses and off-road vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"infogram-embed\">\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://infogram.com/transportationtrucking-facts-1hmr6g3dgvo34nl\">https://infogram.com/transportationtrucking-facts-1hmr6g3dgvo34nl\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Few transportation modes have clean-engine options as advanced as those for passenger cars. Buses are the exception. The Chinese company BYD, manufacturing electric buses in Lancaster, is the largest in North America and has produced more than 300 buses, including nearly half of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Los Angeles has \u003ca href=\"https://thesource.metro.net/2017/07/27/as-metro-pursues-electric-bus-fleet-by-2030-three-bus-contracts-go-to-board-on-thursday/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pledged\u003c/a> to convert its bus fleet—second-largest in the country—to electric by 2030, though mechanical and performance \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-electric-buses-20180520-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">problems\u003c/a> plagued the rollout of its BYD vehicles. Many other transit districts have similar goals and include school buses. The financial burden of those commitments is softened by state \u003ca href=\"https://www.californiahvip.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vouchers\u003c/a> for up to $200,000 toward the purchase of each zero-emission bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The availability of some electric all-terrain recreational vehicles, farm machinery and specialty equipment such as cherry-pickers and front-end loaders has produced niche markets. Generally, though, the readily available transportation technology stops where the road ends: Electrification of trains, planes and ships is less advanced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A state \u003ca href=\"https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/tech/techreport/ogv_tech_report.pdf?_ga=2.214068434.430973912.1559599041-177476988.1546391733\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis\u003c/a> found that ocean-going vessels still depend on heavily polluting marine fuels and, aside from nuclear powered-engines for military use, zero- and near-zero technologies are not currently available. Among smaller vessels, the famed Red and White \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/We-Can-Go-Greener-San-Francisco-Tour-Boat-Company-Launches-Hybrid-Electric-Ferry-510888701.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fleet\u003c/a> that tours San Francisco Bay added a new hybrid-electric ferry this week. And electric-battery passenger \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/passenger-ferries-are-going-electric-cb70b29f-fb19-4a10-bf53-24df0d9985bd.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ferries\u003c/a> may soon operate in Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ships docking in California’s ports frequently forgo using diesel generators to operate and instead plug into shore-side electric power. But even when stationary, big vessels have a massive appetite: A nine-cylinder ship engine—five-stories tall and weighing 1,500 tons—can produce enough power to run 30,000 homes for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s busy docks teem with those ships. About 40% of containerized goods that come into the United States enter through California, said the state’s Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. Their sulfur-based fuel “has to be heated up before you can use it—very energy-intensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soot belching from Pacific vessels has been detected as far inland as Oklahoma, he said. When Blumenfeld was regional director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, it pushed through rules that require ships to switch to low-sulfur fuel 200 miles from the coast by next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trucking is the major freight challenge for California. More than 97% of the state’s big rigs operate on diesel fuel, which is highly polluting and a significant contributor to detrimental health effects on those residing near transit corridors. Currently only a handful of electric or hybrid heavy-duty truck options exists, mostly prototypes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943158\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS13356_459889074-qut.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cars sit in miles-long traffic jam on southbound highway 101 as they approach a flooded section of the freeway on December 3, 2014 in Mill Valley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I see 100% electrification as being far off; there just aren’t any of those trucks on the road,” said Brandon Taylor, director of transportation for GSC Logistics, a freight company operating at the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GSC is testing a prototype electric semi. “We know electric is going to be the future, but the technology is not there yet. It’s going to be a huge challenge, but not an insurmountable one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freight represents a transportation problem somewhat of our own making: We desire—and order online—more and more stuff, for delivery \u003cem>right now.\u003c/em> With each mouse click, delivery vans and trucks flood the state’s highways and neighborhood streets, dispatched to cover what supply-chain planners call “the last mile” of residential delivery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20% of trips in the United States \u003ca href=\"https://nhts.ornl.gov/vehicle-trips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are\u003c/a>, in fact, less than a mile. But it’s too late to shut off the merchandise-delivery tap, and freight accounts for about a \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/offices/ogm/cs_freight_action_plan/Documents/CSFAP_Main%20Document_FINAL_07272016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third \u003c/a>of the California Gross Domestic Product\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The influx of these trucks and vans runs counter to one of California’s bottom-line goals: to reduce not just the number of vehicles on roads but also, and more critically, the miles they travel. The mid-sized delivery vans taking the package handoff from heavy-duty trucks are turning over odometers at a dizzying rate; in Southern California, an \u003ca href=\"http://media.metro.net/projects_studies/sr_710/images/sr_710_faqs_goods_movement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimated \u003c/a>85% of truck traffic is dedicated to local deliveries and short hops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future is likely to include on-demand trucking. Predictably, there’s an app for that, Uber Freight, which launched in California in 2017. It’s one of a handful of load-matching apps that connect shippers with smaller, more nimble trucks plying local routes. The system is intended to increase efficiency and decrease total miles driven. Additionally, electric trucks can return to a home base at night to be recharged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same applies to another innovation expected to ease this delivery-vehicle Sigalert: Widespread adoption of 3D printers that will construct products closer to where consumers live, shrinking delivery areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big rigs in California not subject to the smog inspections that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Smog_Check_Program_History.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">applied to cars\u003c/a> since 1982, partly due to early pushback from trucking companies and insurmountable complexities involved in regulating out-of-state vehicles. But that could change: A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bill \u003c/a>advancing in the Legislature would create smog checks for big diesel trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more efficient parking, with real-time information about empty spots, would allow drivers to use 25% less fuel to find them, according to a recent Caltrans plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state will need to retrofit highways to allow charging of electric freight trucks, which some experts say may still be a decade away. Planners are examining exactly what an electric-truck stop would require: Big trucks need big batteries and very large charging infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Utility companies in California, Oregon and Washington are underwriting a study that will examine how to provide electric charging and hydrogen fueling along the entirety of Interstate 5, with bays for next-generation semi-trucks running on batteries or hydrogen gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state air board contributed $41 million to a test program at the port of Los Angeles, which two years ago set aside a mile of highway with an overhead charging system to refuel prototype electric trucks, much like electric cable cars operate. Ten big rigs that run on hydrogen-electric hybrid engines are coming next year, added to 16,000 trucks that work the port every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently there is only a handful of electric or hybrid heavy-duty trucks, and those are prototypes. State regulators recognize that innovation doesn’t always align with government goals and deadlines and is planning for clean technology where feasible. Like everything else, it’s not going to be cheap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cost of an electric semi-tractor trailer, $300,000 and more, is more than twice that of a traditional diesel truck. That can be a burden on mom and pop companies, 90% of whose fleets contain six or fewer trucks and who operate on relatively tight margins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be tough,” even with state subsidies, said Chris Shimoda, lobbyist for the California Trucking Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shimoda said his members don’t care what type of fuel the state requires. “Everybody knows this is the direction California is going,” he said. “It’s easy to say we have a goal of eliminating fossil fuels, but as I think everyone would admit, the details of how to get there are important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Port of Oakland, with freight-train horns blaring in the background, Taylor said by phone that it’s eerie to see—but not hear—his company’s electric big-rig pull into one of the loading bays. “It kind of sneaks up on you,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has been testing the truck for more than a year, underwritten partly by a state grant, and expects delivery of two more in the fall. Taylor uses the truck to move containers around the port but has yet to put it on the road, echoing the “range anxiety” associated with electric cars. His truck’s battery runs out and needs recharging after 120 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The steep cost of replacing entire trucking fleets with electric vehicles, even with subsidies, may be a burden on small companies, he acknowledged. But improving air quality is a worthy goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve seen myself the difference as the diesel engines have gotten cleaner and cleaner,” Taylor said. “It used to be that with all the trucks working the port, I’d get a headache after an hour or two.” Now he doesn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I guess it can only get better with electrics,” he said. “I’m not sure how it’s all going to work, but it’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One",
"headTitle": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s one of the most confounding sights of California’s recent firestorms: One home is completely destroyed, and another right next door is still standing, even untouched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\"]Cal Fire inspected just 17% of properties in 2018 in areas where the agency is responsible for checking defensible space, according to a KQED analysis of almost a half-million inspection records. That is just over half of the agency’s 33% goal.[/pullquote]Might be luck. Or it could be because that homeowner took care of the property’s “defensible space,” an area around the building where flammable brush and grass have been cut back, depriving the fire of fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say even a few homes surrounded by too much growth can put an entire neighborhood at risk. So in many parts of the state, inspectors go door to door, checking a home’s defensible space and issuing citations for violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a KQED investigation has found homes and buildings in Northern California, in some of the most at-risk fire areas in the state, are rarely inspected \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Cal Fire, the state firefighting agency responsible for checking defensible space in much of California\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Cal Fire region in the Sierra Nevada, just 6% of properties were inspected in 2018. In the Bay Area, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties in its jurisdiction that includes Napa and Sonoma counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Southern California coastal counties, county fire departments are checking homes at much higher rates, with some counties looking at 100% of properties and sending homeowners multiple reminders to make their houses safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be doing more, doing better,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, after reviewing the findings. “We need to have more people aware they live on a fire-prone landscape and taking action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\" citation=\"Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale\"]‘Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.’[/pullquote]Cal Fire, for its part, says it’s struggling to meet its inspection goals due to a lack of inspectors and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many Californians, a defensible space inspection will be the only exposure to wildfire planning they get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not too many other ways people will learn about the vulnerability of their own home other than having an inspector or firefighter at their property,” Moritz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lake County: Many Fires, Few Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One place struggling to enforce defensible space is also one of the hardest hit by wildfires in recent years: Lake County, just north of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal Fire unit that covers Lake County inspected just 12% of properties in its overall region in 2018. Local fire departments have also tried to do inspections, but have been busy with the catastrophic fires of recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1226\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Valley Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> burned almost 2,000 homes and structures in the county. Then came the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1390\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clayton Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2016, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1876\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2017 and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mendocino Complex\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2018. That four-county blaze was the largest in state history, scorching 717 square miles, a bigger area than is taken up by the cities of Houston or Phoenix.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1943083\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_190607C.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve burned up about 45 percent of our county land mass,” said Willie Sapeta, fire chief for the Lake County Fire Protection District. “Lake County as a whole is suffering from PTSD just because everyone is so traumatized by it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sapeta has seen first-hand the difference that maintaining defensible space can make. In 2015, the Clayton Fire was racing through tall grass and brush on the outskirts of the town of Lower Lake. But it slowed down when it approached the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum; there, the grasses had been mowed within 100 feet of the wooden building, creating a buffer. The shrubs around the museum also had large gaps between them, another important defensible space tactic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The museum, and the buildings behind it, were left untouched by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Definitely a big part of Lower Lake was saved by having that defensible space in place,” Sapeta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the hills remain covered with dead, blackened trees, but the undergrowth has sprung back, fed by this winter’s abundant rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the scars of wildfire still visible, Sapeta says, many homeowners still haven’t cleared their defensible space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Life happens,” he said. “They’ve got kids. They’ve got jobs. And then all of a sudden they don’t realize we’re in June and all that brush is right up against their home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighters in Sapeta’s fire district, one of several covering the county, try to make defensible space inspections when they can. But mostly they’re responding to emergency calls like fires, car crashes and heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943085\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943085\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-768x722.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake County, where Willie Sapeta leads the fire protection district, passed a defensible space ordinance for the first time this year. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really educate homeowners and enforce the rules, Sapeta says, he needs dedicated inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to have a fire prevention program where I’ve got a staff of six or eight people,” he said. “Nothing more in the world I’d love, to be able to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the funds, however, aren’t there. “It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake County’s Board of Supervisors passed its first defensible space ordinance earlier this year, despite the opposition of some members of the public concerned about the cost of clearing their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even without additional funding, inspectors are visiting homes for the first time. To do that, the planning department is temporarily pulling building inspectors off their jobs to focus on vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Other counties are in the same boat, particularly like Butte and Shasta counties,” said Mary Jane Montana, Lake County’s chief building official. “None of us have a lot money, and we’re faced with the same thing. So, we kind of just had to say, ‘We’re doing it this year.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Everybody Wants to Save Their Community’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety is very different in other parts of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\" citation=\"Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta, on the lack of defensible space inspections in Lake County\"]‘It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.’[/pullquote]“All these homes have chimneys,” said Charles Butler, code enforcement officer for San Diego Fire-Rescue, squinting at a row of suburban homes. “Another thing I look for is tree canopy up over the chimney. That is a violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler enters the information on an iPad, something he does at thousands of homes every year. He’s one of five inspectors responsible for about 45,000 homes in San Diego’s wildland-urban interface, where houses are nestled against open space or rugged canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he finds dead brush or tall weeds, he leaves the homeowner a notice about what to fix, with several weeks to comply. The city then does another inspection, and if the work still isn’t complete, follows up a third time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If problems persist, the city hires a contractor to clear the brush. The owner is then on the hook for the cost, and a lien is put on their property. The city has to resort to this process, called “forced abatement,” on a few dozen properties each year, often at \u003ca href=\"https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/science-environment/this-company-will-clear-fire-hazards-from-your-property-whether-you-asked-it-to-or-not/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">considerable cost \u003c/a>to the owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people who don’t follow the rules are elderly or financially burdened, says Marcy Garcia\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> San Diego Fire-Rescue’s code compliance supervisor. In those cases, the city tries to connect violators with local fire-safe councils, the community-led groups that have \u003ca href=\"http://firesafesdcounty.org/dsap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grants or have other resources\u003c/a> available to help get the work done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943081\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-160x143.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-768x685.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-1020x910.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego code enforcement officer Charles Butler enters defensible space inspection data. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Garcia says the overall compliance rate is high because the city provides crucial reminders to homeowners who may care about fire safety but haven’t gotten around to fixing their property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the areas where there have been fires before, they’re very receptive to it,” said Garcia. “Everybody wants to save their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cal Fire Struggling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to local governments, Cal Fire is also responsible for enforcing defensible space regulations, for more than 750,000 homes and buildings within 31 million acres that fall outside city and town limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But across that territory, Cal Fire is struggling to meet its inspection goals, especially in rural Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A defensible space law, passed in 2005, \u003ca href=\"http://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires a 100-foot buffer\u003c/a> around homes in fire zones. From zero to 30 feet, homeowners must create a “lean and green” zone by trimming trees so they don’t hang over roofs and clearing dead grass and brush. Between 30 and 100 feet, they must keep shrubs spaced apart and grasses mowed to 4 inches or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our goal is to inspect every property in our responsibility area every three years,” said Steven Hawks, deputy chief for Cal Fire’s wildland fire-prevention engineering program. “Defensible space is a critical component to a home surviving a wildland fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire reports it’s close to its goal. From July 2017 through June 2018, it completed 217,666 inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But doesn’t mean Cal Fire visited 217,666 properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of almost a half- million inspection records shows the agency’s inspection rate was just 17% of properties in 2018, far below the agency’s 33% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the discrepancy is that Cal Fire includes multiple trips to the same properties that failed a first inspection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also includes visits in areas where responsibility for inspections has been handed to county fire departments. And those rates are dramatically higher than Cal Fire’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County and Ventura County fire departments each inspect 100% of properties in risky fire zones every year. The Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County fire departments get to around 60%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Cal Fire sends money to those counties, as well as Marin and Kern, because they do their own firefighting, it generally doesn’t cover the costs of their entire defensible space programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943088\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 750px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1943088\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s defensible space law requires managing vegetation 100 feet around structures. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Achieving those high inspection rates takes substantial county investment. Some county fire departments have dedicated teams of year-round inspectors, while others rely on firefighting engine crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take resources and commitment, but we do it because it’s one of the most important programs in the department,” says Ventura County Fire Marshal Massoud Araghi. “This is what we believe will save structures and will help our firefighters be safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Araghi estimated a 99.9% compliance rate from the county’s homeowners, something he attributes to annual inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very important the time period is consistent,” he said. “Everyone knows they have to have it clean by a certain time. If you have long periods of time in between, you won’t be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resources Lacking\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some high-risk fire areas where Cal Fire does inspections, properties receive dramatically few inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the low end, just 6% of properties received inspections in 2018 by the Cal Fire unit that covers the Sierra Nevada counties of Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento and Alpine. At that rate, which has remained mostly consistent since 2010, each property would be visited about once every 16 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same pattern is found in the nearby rural counties of Nevada, Yuba, Placer, Sierra and Sutter, where 7% of properties were inspected in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties, where recent fires have been historically devastating, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire gives several reasons for the low numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, the agency hires between four and six defensible space inspectors in each of its 21 units throughout the state, but those inspectors are only funded to work three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2011, that money came from a $152 annual fee on homeowners within Cal Fire’s jurisdiction\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>But the levy was opposed by many in rural counties who saw it as an added tax, and in 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to suspend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Cal Fire’s defensible space funding has come from revenue generated by the state’s cap-and-trade program, designed to lower carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without more funding, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Hawks says, it will be tough to increase the inspection rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another issue is that inspectors are not distributed in proportion to the number of properties in each region. A Cal Fire unit that covers 35,000 properties has four seasonal inspectors, for example, but one with double that number has just six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943091\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943091\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-160x131.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-768x630.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-1020x837.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Tony Kochis discusses defensible space with a homeowner in Yountville, California in 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We should look at the numbers like you’re looking at them,” Hawks told KQED. “We may have some units that have a larger number of parcels than others, and they should get more of the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has the power to hire contractors to clean up properties when homeowners don’t comply, but it’s not something the agency currently does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really have the staff to accomplish that mission,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Hawks says, Cal Fire hasn’t been able to hire enough people to take care of its defensible space responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not been able to fill our defensible space inspectors in every unit every year,” he said. “So having enough qualified people on the list to fill our positions is important.” Hawks could not provide numbers for how many positions have gone unfilled or the reasons why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, some inspections are done by the agency’s firefighters during down times. But with fire seasons getting longer and more intense, there hasn’t been much of that in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult with the fire seasons being the way they’ve been,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Doubling Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in Sacramento are now considering a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1516\u003c/a>, that mandates Cal Fire do inspections at a rate double what it does now. The bill requires the agency to inspect properties once every three years, beginning in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to change the way that we think about clearing the foliage off of private property,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale. “Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would also create new defensible space rules specifically for the zone within five feet of a building, something many defensible space experts recommend. Cal Fire would be responsible for identifying which kinds of plants homeowners aren’t allowed to grow in that zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say absolutely the zero-to-5 feet is the most important place to focus on,” said Alexandra Syphard, chief scientist at Sage Underwriters, a company that evaluates the fire risk of homes for the insurance industry. “The things that tend to be the most important are those things that are right up against the house: trees overhanging your roof, vegetation that’s touching the structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many homes are ignited by embers that are blown ahead of a wildfire as opposed to actually being lit by flames. If a tree or bush next to a house catches fire that way, it can spread to the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defensible space can reduce that risk and also give firefighters the necessary space to maneuver and defend a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t have to be drastic,” said Syphard. “You can still have a lot of vegetation on your property, but reducing it by at least 20% is a critical threshold where you do significantly improve survival chances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she cautions that there’s no guarantee a home will be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of homes with more defensible space than is even required are still destroyed by fires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many Californians struggling to get fire insurance policies, there’s also a push for insurance companies to consider the maintenance of defensible space when setting rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to look at how do we allow Californians to get maybe a discount for mitigating wildfire risk, for hardening their home … similar to what we give in terms of discounts for good drivers,” said Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner. “We’re pushing insurance companies now, and surprisingly they’re coming to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has not said what doubling inspections would cost, but if AB 1516 passes, the agency would request the funding as part of its annual budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more resources for Cal Fire,” said Assemblymember Friedman. “I do believe that Governor Newsom is very serious about investing to make our communities more resilient to fire and he’ll see the wisdom in investing in these kinds of programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"780\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.carto.com/builder/eb7d93a3-2cc8-410e-826a-22d3e7e97721/embed\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A KQED investigation found homes and buildings in rural parts of Northern California, in some of the state's most fire-prone areas, are rarely inspected for brush and grass that can ignite and put whole neighborhoods in jeopardy.",
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"description": "A KQED investigation found homes and buildings in rural parts of Northern California, in some of the state's most fire-prone areas, are rarely inspected for brush and grass that can ignite and put whole neighborhoods in jeopardy.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s one of the most confounding sights of California’s recent firestorms: One home is completely destroyed, and another right next door is still standing, even untouched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "Cal Fire inspected just 17% of properties in 2018 in areas where the agency is responsible for checking defensible space, according to a KQED analysis of almost a half-million inspection records. That is just over half of the agency’s 33% goal.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Might be luck. Or it could be because that homeowner took care of the property’s “defensible space,” an area around the building where flammable brush and grass have been cut back, depriving the fire of fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say even a few homes surrounded by too much growth can put an entire neighborhood at risk. So in many parts of the state, inspectors go door to door, checking a home’s defensible space and issuing citations for violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a KQED investigation has found homes and buildings in Northern California, in some of the most at-risk fire areas in the state, are rarely inspected \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Cal Fire, the state firefighting agency responsible for checking defensible space in much of California\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Cal Fire region in the Sierra Nevada, just 6% of properties were inspected in 2018. In the Bay Area, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties in its jurisdiction that includes Napa and Sonoma counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Southern California coastal counties, county fire departments are checking homes at much higher rates, with some counties looking at 100% of properties and sending homeowners multiple reminders to make their houses safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be doing more, doing better,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, after reviewing the findings. “We need to have more people aware they live on a fire-prone landscape and taking action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cal Fire, for its part, says it’s struggling to meet its inspection goals due to a lack of inspectors and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many Californians, a defensible space inspection will be the only exposure to wildfire planning they get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not too many other ways people will learn about the vulnerability of their own home other than having an inspector or firefighter at their property,” Moritz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lake County: Many Fires, Few Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One place struggling to enforce defensible space is also one of the hardest hit by wildfires in recent years: Lake County, just north of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal Fire unit that covers Lake County inspected just 12% of properties in its overall region in 2018. Local fire departments have also tried to do inspections, but have been busy with the catastrophic fires of recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1226\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Valley Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> burned almost 2,000 homes and structures in the county. Then came the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1390\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clayton Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2016, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1876\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2017 and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mendocino Complex\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2018. That four-county blaze was the largest in state history, scorching 717 square miles, a bigger area than is taken up by the cities of Houston or Phoenix.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1943083\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_190607C.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve burned up about 45 percent of our county land mass,” said Willie Sapeta, fire chief for the Lake County Fire Protection District. “Lake County as a whole is suffering from PTSD just because everyone is so traumatized by it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sapeta has seen first-hand the difference that maintaining defensible space can make. In 2015, the Clayton Fire was racing through tall grass and brush on the outskirts of the town of Lower Lake. But it slowed down when it approached the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum; there, the grasses had been mowed within 100 feet of the wooden building, creating a buffer. The shrubs around the museum also had large gaps between them, another important defensible space tactic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The museum, and the buildings behind it, were left untouched by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Definitely a big part of Lower Lake was saved by having that defensible space in place,” Sapeta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the hills remain covered with dead, blackened trees, but the undergrowth has sprung back, fed by this winter’s abundant rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the scars of wildfire still visible, Sapeta says, many homeowners still haven’t cleared their defensible space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Life happens,” he said. “They’ve got kids. They’ve got jobs. And then all of a sudden they don’t realize we’re in June and all that brush is right up against their home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighters in Sapeta’s fire district, one of several covering the county, try to make defensible space inspections when they can. But mostly they’re responding to emergency calls like fires, car crashes and heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943085\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943085\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-768x722.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake County, where Willie Sapeta leads the fire protection district, passed a defensible space ordinance for the first time this year. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really educate homeowners and enforce the rules, Sapeta says, he needs dedicated inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to have a fire prevention program where I’ve got a staff of six or eight people,” he said. “Nothing more in the world I’d love, to be able to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the funds, however, aren’t there. “It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake County’s Board of Supervisors passed its first defensible space ordinance earlier this year, despite the opposition of some members of the public concerned about the cost of clearing their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even without additional funding, inspectors are visiting homes for the first time. To do that, the planning department is temporarily pulling building inspectors off their jobs to focus on vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Other counties are in the same boat, particularly like Butte and Shasta counties,” said Mary Jane Montana, Lake County’s chief building official. “None of us have a lot money, and we’re faced with the same thing. So, we kind of just had to say, ‘We’re doing it this year.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Everybody Wants to Save Their Community’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety is very different in other parts of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“All these homes have chimneys,” said Charles Butler, code enforcement officer for San Diego Fire-Rescue, squinting at a row of suburban homes. “Another thing I look for is tree canopy up over the chimney. That is a violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler enters the information on an iPad, something he does at thousands of homes every year. He’s one of five inspectors responsible for about 45,000 homes in San Diego’s wildland-urban interface, where houses are nestled against open space or rugged canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he finds dead brush or tall weeds, he leaves the homeowner a notice about what to fix, with several weeks to comply. The city then does another inspection, and if the work still isn’t complete, follows up a third time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If problems persist, the city hires a contractor to clear the brush. The owner is then on the hook for the cost, and a lien is put on their property. The city has to resort to this process, called “forced abatement,” on a few dozen properties each year, often at \u003ca href=\"https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/science-environment/this-company-will-clear-fire-hazards-from-your-property-whether-you-asked-it-to-or-not/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">considerable cost \u003c/a>to the owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people who don’t follow the rules are elderly or financially burdened, says Marcy Garcia\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> San Diego Fire-Rescue’s code compliance supervisor. In those cases, the city tries to connect violators with local fire-safe councils, the community-led groups that have \u003ca href=\"http://firesafesdcounty.org/dsap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grants or have other resources\u003c/a> available to help get the work done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943081\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-160x143.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-768x685.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-1020x910.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego code enforcement officer Charles Butler enters defensible space inspection data. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Garcia says the overall compliance rate is high because the city provides crucial reminders to homeowners who may care about fire safety but haven’t gotten around to fixing their property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the areas where there have been fires before, they’re very receptive to it,” said Garcia. “Everybody wants to save their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cal Fire Struggling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to local governments, Cal Fire is also responsible for enforcing defensible space regulations, for more than 750,000 homes and buildings within 31 million acres that fall outside city and town limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But across that territory, Cal Fire is struggling to meet its inspection goals, especially in rural Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A defensible space law, passed in 2005, \u003ca href=\"http://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires a 100-foot buffer\u003c/a> around homes in fire zones. From zero to 30 feet, homeowners must create a “lean and green” zone by trimming trees so they don’t hang over roofs and clearing dead grass and brush. Between 30 and 100 feet, they must keep shrubs spaced apart and grasses mowed to 4 inches or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our goal is to inspect every property in our responsibility area every three years,” said Steven Hawks, deputy chief for Cal Fire’s wildland fire-prevention engineering program. “Defensible space is a critical component to a home surviving a wildland fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire reports it’s close to its goal. From July 2017 through June 2018, it completed 217,666 inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But doesn’t mean Cal Fire visited 217,666 properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of almost a half- million inspection records shows the agency’s inspection rate was just 17% of properties in 2018, far below the agency’s 33% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the discrepancy is that Cal Fire includes multiple trips to the same properties that failed a first inspection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also includes visits in areas where responsibility for inspections has been handed to county fire departments. And those rates are dramatically higher than Cal Fire’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County and Ventura County fire departments each inspect 100% of properties in risky fire zones every year. The Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County fire departments get to around 60%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Cal Fire sends money to those counties, as well as Marin and Kern, because they do their own firefighting, it generally doesn’t cover the costs of their entire defensible space programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943088\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 750px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1943088\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s defensible space law requires managing vegetation 100 feet around structures. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Achieving those high inspection rates takes substantial county investment. Some county fire departments have dedicated teams of year-round inspectors, while others rely on firefighting engine crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take resources and commitment, but we do it because it’s one of the most important programs in the department,” says Ventura County Fire Marshal Massoud Araghi. “This is what we believe will save structures and will help our firefighters be safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Araghi estimated a 99.9% compliance rate from the county’s homeowners, something he attributes to annual inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very important the time period is consistent,” he said. “Everyone knows they have to have it clean by a certain time. If you have long periods of time in between, you won’t be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resources Lacking\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some high-risk fire areas where Cal Fire does inspections, properties receive dramatically few inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the low end, just 6% of properties received inspections in 2018 by the Cal Fire unit that covers the Sierra Nevada counties of Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento and Alpine. At that rate, which has remained mostly consistent since 2010, each property would be visited about once every 16 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same pattern is found in the nearby rural counties of Nevada, Yuba, Placer, Sierra and Sutter, where 7% of properties were inspected in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties, where recent fires have been historically devastating, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire gives several reasons for the low numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, the agency hires between four and six defensible space inspectors in each of its 21 units throughout the state, but those inspectors are only funded to work three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2011, that money came from a $152 annual fee on homeowners within Cal Fire’s jurisdiction\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>But the levy was opposed by many in rural counties who saw it as an added tax, and in 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to suspend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Cal Fire’s defensible space funding has come from revenue generated by the state’s cap-and-trade program, designed to lower carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without more funding, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Hawks says, it will be tough to increase the inspection rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another issue is that inspectors are not distributed in proportion to the number of properties in each region. A Cal Fire unit that covers 35,000 properties has four seasonal inspectors, for example, but one with double that number has just six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943091\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943091\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-160x131.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-768x630.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-1020x837.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Tony Kochis discusses defensible space with a homeowner in Yountville, California in 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We should look at the numbers like you’re looking at them,” Hawks told KQED. “We may have some units that have a larger number of parcels than others, and they should get more of the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has the power to hire contractors to clean up properties when homeowners don’t comply, but it’s not something the agency currently does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really have the staff to accomplish that mission,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Hawks says, Cal Fire hasn’t been able to hire enough people to take care of its defensible space responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not been able to fill our defensible space inspectors in every unit every year,” he said. “So having enough qualified people on the list to fill our positions is important.” Hawks could not provide numbers for how many positions have gone unfilled or the reasons why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, some inspections are done by the agency’s firefighters during down times. But with fire seasons getting longer and more intense, there hasn’t been much of that in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult with the fire seasons being the way they’ve been,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Doubling Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in Sacramento are now considering a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1516\u003c/a>, that mandates Cal Fire do inspections at a rate double what it does now. The bill requires the agency to inspect properties once every three years, beginning in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to change the way that we think about clearing the foliage off of private property,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale. “Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would also create new defensible space rules specifically for the zone within five feet of a building, something many defensible space experts recommend. Cal Fire would be responsible for identifying which kinds of plants homeowners aren’t allowed to grow in that zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say absolutely the zero-to-5 feet is the most important place to focus on,” said Alexandra Syphard, chief scientist at Sage Underwriters, a company that evaluates the fire risk of homes for the insurance industry. “The things that tend to be the most important are those things that are right up against the house: trees overhanging your roof, vegetation that’s touching the structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many homes are ignited by embers that are blown ahead of a wildfire as opposed to actually being lit by flames. If a tree or bush next to a house catches fire that way, it can spread to the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defensible space can reduce that risk and also give firefighters the necessary space to maneuver and defend a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t have to be drastic,” said Syphard. “You can still have a lot of vegetation on your property, but reducing it by at least 20% is a critical threshold where you do significantly improve survival chances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she cautions that there’s no guarantee a home will be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of homes with more defensible space than is even required are still destroyed by fires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many Californians struggling to get fire insurance policies, there’s also a push for insurance companies to consider the maintenance of defensible space when setting rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to look at how do we allow Californians to get maybe a discount for mitigating wildfire risk, for hardening their home … similar to what we give in terms of discounts for good drivers,” said Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner. “We’re pushing insurance companies now, and surprisingly they’re coming to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has not said what doubling inspections would cost, but if AB 1516 passes, the agency would request the funding as part of its annual budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more resources for Cal Fire,” said Assemblymember Friedman. “I do believe that Governor Newsom is very serious about investing to make our communities more resilient to fire and he’ll see the wisdom in investing in these kinds of programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"780\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.carto.com/builder/eb7d93a3-2cc8-410e-826a-22d3e7e97721/embed\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Automakers Urge Trump to Restart Talks With California on Mileage Standards",
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"content": "\u003cp>Major automobile manufacturers urged the Trump administration and California on Thursday to restart negotiations over vehicle mileage standards to prevent a lengthy legal battle, warning that moving ahead with two sets of standards would create instability in the auto market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What works best for consumers, communities, and the millions of U.S. employees that work in the auto industry is one national standard that is practical, achievable, and consistent across the 50 states,” the 17 companies including Honda, Ford and Mercedes-Benz wrote in a letter addressed to Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue is a Trump administration roll back of tougher Obama-era mileage standards that would require cars to get 36 miles (58 kilometers) of real-world driving per gallon (3.8 liters) of gas by 2025. The goal is for Americans to fill up their gas tanks less frequently, sending fewer climate-changing emissions and pollutants into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that California will continue to lead the coalition to block the rollback from taking effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A rollback of auto emissions standards is bad for the climate and bad for the economy, he said. “I applaud the automakers for saying as much in their letter today to the President.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration wants to halting the tougher standards at a 2020 requirement that cars achieve 30 miles (48 kilometers) per gallon of real-word driving. It also wants to take away California’s long-held ability to set its own, tougher standards, first granted in 1970 under the Clean Air Act as the state dealt with oppressive smog. Under the Obama rules, though, California and the federal government were on the same page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has already sued to block the changes, and both sides have accused the other of failing to negotiate a middle ground. The Trump administration formally cut off talks with the state in February.\u003cbr>\nCalifornia, the nation’s most populous state, has considerable influence over the auto market. Roughly a dozen states have used its emissions standards in the past, accounting for about a third of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The automakers suggested Thursday that the administration consider adopting a standard that’s halfway between its latest proposal and what California wants. They also called for a standard that “achieves year-over-year improvements” in fuel economy and facilitates the use of “alternative powertrains,” such as electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We strongly believe the best path to preserve good auto jobs and keep new vehicles affordable for more Americans is a final rule supported by all parties,” including California,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the letter to Newsom, meanwhile, the companies said such collaboration would lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions than having two standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that reaching an agreement has been challenging, but the stakes are too high and the benefits too important to accept the status quo,” they wrote to Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his statement, Newsom said the state would continue working toward one, national standard, but one that doesn’t backtrack on the progress California and other states have made in cutting tailpipe emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This rule change is politically motivated and part of a larger push to reward oil companies and hurt our nation’s efforts to fight climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is expected to release its final version of the mileage rollbacks soon.\u003cbr>\nDan Becker, director of the Center for Auto Security’s Safe Climate Campaign, said the letter shows automakers want weaker standards and more loopholes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Had they sent this months ago, maybe it wouldn’t be too late. But now they’re closing the garage door after the gas guzzler has fled,” Becker said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration and California are frequent sparring partners, with the state filing more than 50 lawsuits against the federal government during President Donald Trump’s tenure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has “failed to put forward a productive alternative, and we are moving forward to finalize a rule with the goal of promoting safer, cleaner, and more affordable vehicles,” said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Major automobile manufacturers urged the Trump administration and California on Thursday to restart negotiations over vehicle mileage standards to prevent a lengthy legal battle, warning that moving ahead with two sets of standards would create instability in the auto market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What works best for consumers, communities, and the millions of U.S. employees that work in the auto industry is one national standard that is practical, achievable, and consistent across the 50 states,” the 17 companies including Honda, Ford and Mercedes-Benz wrote in a letter addressed to Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue is a Trump administration roll back of tougher Obama-era mileage standards that would require cars to get 36 miles (58 kilometers) of real-world driving per gallon (3.8 liters) of gas by 2025. The goal is for Americans to fill up their gas tanks less frequently, sending fewer climate-changing emissions and pollutants into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that California will continue to lead the coalition to block the rollback from taking effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A rollback of auto emissions standards is bad for the climate and bad for the economy, he said. “I applaud the automakers for saying as much in their letter today to the President.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration wants to halting the tougher standards at a 2020 requirement that cars achieve 30 miles (48 kilometers) per gallon of real-word driving. It also wants to take away California’s long-held ability to set its own, tougher standards, first granted in 1970 under the Clean Air Act as the state dealt with oppressive smog. Under the Obama rules, though, California and the federal government were on the same page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has already sued to block the changes, and both sides have accused the other of failing to negotiate a middle ground. The Trump administration formally cut off talks with the state in February.\u003cbr>\nCalifornia, the nation’s most populous state, has considerable influence over the auto market. Roughly a dozen states have used its emissions standards in the past, accounting for about a third of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The automakers suggested Thursday that the administration consider adopting a standard that’s halfway between its latest proposal and what California wants. They also called for a standard that “achieves year-over-year improvements” in fuel economy and facilitates the use of “alternative powertrains,” such as electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We strongly believe the best path to preserve good auto jobs and keep new vehicles affordable for more Americans is a final rule supported by all parties,” including California,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the letter to Newsom, meanwhile, the companies said such collaboration would lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions than having two standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that reaching an agreement has been challenging, but the stakes are too high and the benefits too important to accept the status quo,” they wrote to Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his statement, Newsom said the state would continue working toward one, national standard, but one that doesn’t backtrack on the progress California and other states have made in cutting tailpipe emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This rule change is politically motivated and part of a larger push to reward oil companies and hurt our nation’s efforts to fight climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is expected to release its final version of the mileage rollbacks soon.\u003cbr>\nDan Becker, director of the Center for Auto Security’s Safe Climate Campaign, said the letter shows automakers want weaker standards and more loopholes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Had they sent this months ago, maybe it wouldn’t be too late. But now they’re closing the garage door after the gas guzzler has fled,” Becker said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration and California are frequent sparring partners, with the state filing more than 50 lawsuits against the federal government during President Donald Trump’s tenure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has “failed to put forward a productive alternative, and we are moving forward to finalize a rule with the goal of promoting safer, cleaner, and more affordable vehicles,” said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oregon Wants a Better Cap-and-Trade System Than California's",
"headTitle": "Oregon Wants a Better Cap-and-Trade System Than California’s | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Oregon is on track to become the second U.S. state to pass an economywide cap-and-trade system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. But while emulating the first such program (in California), Oregon also hopes to avoid repeating its mistakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon’s plan, like California’s, would set a cap on greenhouse gas emissions that would come down over time. It would also create a market for companies to buy and trade a limited number of pollution permits. Ultimately, it aims to reduce emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2020\">the bill\u003c/a> to create the program is so contentious, it is opposed by both industry and some environmental justice advocates, who have broken ranks with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reneworegon.org/letter_of_support?splash=1\">environmental supporters\u003c/a> to speak out against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While industry groups argue that cap-and-trade will \u003ca href=\"https://partnershipfororegon.com/facts/\">drive up energy costs\u003c/a> and put their businesses at risk, opponents with environmental justice groups say too many industry-backed \u003ca href=\"http://www.opalpdx.org/2019/04/faq-why-are-frontline-communities-opposing-carbon-trading/\">loopholes make cap-and-trade ineffective\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Balancing Risks and Benefits\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon lawmakers have spent years debating how to design a cap-and-trade system that balances the risks of hurting the economy with the benefits of reducing emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Science has told us we have a very short window to really start to transition the way we have generated energy writ large,” says Oregon state Rep. Karin Power, a co-author of the bill. “We literally can’t move fast enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Power says higher prices for fossil fuels under cap-and-trade will help steer the economy toward cleaner energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would require the state’s largest polluters to buy permits to cover their greenhouse gas emissions. It would invest the money earned from those permits into energy conservation and renewable energy, like solar and wind, to spur more emission reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program would cover about 80% of the state’s reported greenhouse gas emissions, including those coming from gasoline and diesel, natural gas and electric power plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To reduce economic harm, the bill offers free pollution permits, or allowances, to industries that run a higher risk of going out of business or leaving the state because of the added costs of a cap-and-trade system. Lawmakers have also created a rebate system to offset natural gas price hikes and added another bill that directs revenue to low-income households to help with higher fuel prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been looking for ways to smooth out the program for people on fixed incomes, or low-income people in Oregon, while still acknowledging that we need to do our part to reduce emissions,” Power says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Learning From California \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon has the benefit of learning from California’s cap-and-trade program. But that’s where things get complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Severin Borenstein, an energy market expert at the University of California, Berkeley, says before the 2008 recession, California set its emissions cap too high, thinking the economy would grow faster than it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That has created a problem where there are more than enough pollution permits to go around, so it’s cheap and easy for companies to stay under the cap without actually reducing their emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I definitely think Oregon should be doing something different than California has done,” Borenstein says. “Right now, if you ask what is the current cap-and-trade market doing to reduce carbon emissions, I think the answer is not very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmaker Power says there’s debate over whether California set its cap too high, though she acknowledges general agreement that carbon prices have been too low to spur emission reductions. She is hoping Oregon can avoid that problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Borenstein says other cap-and-trade programs — in Europe and in Eastern U.S. states involved in the program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — have also set emissions caps high enough that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/02/climate/pricing-carbon-emissions.html\">they haven’t had much impact on emissions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is wherever you set the cap, it’s very, very hard to predict what the business-as-usual emissions of your economy are going to be five or 10 years from now,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of his key recommendations is to set minimum and maximum prices for pollution permits to prevent the program from having too little — or too much — impact on energy prices and emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Power says Oregon’s plan does that, and also uses past years of greenhouse gas reporting to develop “a more realistic and stable perspective on what emissions are and where they should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Environmental Justice Groups Splinter\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan Pham with the Oregon environmental justice group OPAL is part of a coalition of groups around the world that are \u003ca href=\"http://www.opalpdx.org/2019/04/faq-why-are-frontline-communities-opposing-carbon-trading/\">speaking out against Oregon’s bill\u003c/a> and carbon pricing schemes more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pham says emissions from some oil refineries have increased under California’s program, because cap-and-trade allows that as long as a company pays for extra pollution permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really pay-to-pollute, and we need to stop polluters from polluting,” Pham says. “It’s had a disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1927220/california-cap-and-trade-is-working-for-other-states\">One study found\u003c/a> 52% of California’s regulated companies increased their annual greenhouse gas emissions and that many of them are located near \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/02/24/515379885/environmental-groups-say-californias-climate-program-has-not-helped-them\">disadvantaged\u003c/a> communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pham says other kinds of regulations, such as requirements for low-carbon transportation fuel and more renewable sources of electricity, are working better than cap-and-trade to reduce emissions in California. Oregon also has those additional requirements, and Pham says she would like to see more direct regulations like those.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also points to \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/05/07/new-paper-states-cap-and-trade-program-is-falling-short-of-goals/\">new research\u003c/a> that finds California may have counted up to 80 million tons of carbon dioxide reductions through its forest carbon offset program that didn’t actually happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the cap-and-trade programs in both Oregon and California, companies can buy carbon offsets to cover up to 8% of their emissions. The offsets can come from projects that manage forestland to store more carbon by not cutting down trees. But those carbon savings are difficult to validate and can be undermined by more logging elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think cap-and-trade encourages accounting schemes that can make it seem like there’s emissions reductions,” Pham says. “Our concern is that this prevents us from finding the real solutions, because it gives people the impression that we’re actually doing something to address climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Confident About Better Results\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilpa Joshi with Renew Oregon says OPAL is “an anomaly and an outlier” in Oregon and that \u003ca href=\"https://www.reneworegon.org/letter_of_support?splash=1\">dozens of other environmental groups\u003c/a> — including ones that represent farmworkers, Native American tribes, low-income Latino communities, and vulnerable populations — adamantly support Oregon’s cap-and-trade plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those groups have worked to ensure the bill will reduce pollution and invest in the communities most impacted by climate change, she says, and they agree that cap-and-trade — while not the only policy needed to address climate change — is the best way to get both emission reductions and the revenue to fund a cleaner economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to get off fossil fuels as fast as possible,” Joshi says. “It makes sense to go to the top of the food chain and regulate those polluters and use the funds to invest in clean energy across the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says state regulators plan to have tighter controls to prevent any miscalculation of carbon offsets and emission reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really working on creating a unique approach to Oregon that will prevent gaming of the system,” Brown says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon’s bill is 10 times longer and far more detailed than what California passed in 2006, and it sets some pollution permits aside as a cushion, so the state can shift course if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown says it could be the national model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oregon is a small state,” she says. “And if we can do it, that means states like Minnesota and Connecticut and Kansas can do this, and do this in a way that will ensure their economies thrive, and make sure we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is, if Oregon’s cap-and-trade plan works better than California’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org\">Oregon Public Broadcasting\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Contentious+Oregon+Climate+Plan+Takes+Lessons+From+California%27s+Mistakes&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oregon is on track to become the second U.S. state to pass an economywide cap-and-trade system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. But while emulating the first such program (in California), Oregon also hopes to avoid repeating its mistakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon’s plan, like California’s, would set a cap on greenhouse gas emissions that would come down over time. It would also create a market for companies to buy and trade a limited number of pollution permits. Ultimately, it aims to reduce emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2020\">the bill\u003c/a> to create the program is so contentious, it is opposed by both industry and some environmental justice advocates, who have broken ranks with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reneworegon.org/letter_of_support?splash=1\">environmental supporters\u003c/a> to speak out against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While industry groups argue that cap-and-trade will \u003ca href=\"https://partnershipfororegon.com/facts/\">drive up energy costs\u003c/a> and put their businesses at risk, opponents with environmental justice groups say too many industry-backed \u003ca href=\"http://www.opalpdx.org/2019/04/faq-why-are-frontline-communities-opposing-carbon-trading/\">loopholes make cap-and-trade ineffective\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Balancing Risks and Benefits\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon lawmakers have spent years debating how to design a cap-and-trade system that balances the risks of hurting the economy with the benefits of reducing emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Science has told us we have a very short window to really start to transition the way we have generated energy writ large,” says Oregon state Rep. Karin Power, a co-author of the bill. “We literally can’t move fast enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Power says higher prices for fossil fuels under cap-and-trade will help steer the economy toward cleaner energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would require the state’s largest polluters to buy permits to cover their greenhouse gas emissions. It would invest the money earned from those permits into energy conservation and renewable energy, like solar and wind, to spur more emission reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program would cover about 80% of the state’s reported greenhouse gas emissions, including those coming from gasoline and diesel, natural gas and electric power plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To reduce economic harm, the bill offers free pollution permits, or allowances, to industries that run a higher risk of going out of business or leaving the state because of the added costs of a cap-and-trade system. Lawmakers have also created a rebate system to offset natural gas price hikes and added another bill that directs revenue to low-income households to help with higher fuel prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been looking for ways to smooth out the program for people on fixed incomes, or low-income people in Oregon, while still acknowledging that we need to do our part to reduce emissions,” Power says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Learning From California \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon has the benefit of learning from California’s cap-and-trade program. But that’s where things get complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Severin Borenstein, an energy market expert at the University of California, Berkeley, says before the 2008 recession, California set its emissions cap too high, thinking the economy would grow faster than it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That has created a problem where there are more than enough pollution permits to go around, so it’s cheap and easy for companies to stay under the cap without actually reducing their emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I definitely think Oregon should be doing something different than California has done,” Borenstein says. “Right now, if you ask what is the current cap-and-trade market doing to reduce carbon emissions, I think the answer is not very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmaker Power says there’s debate over whether California set its cap too high, though she acknowledges general agreement that carbon prices have been too low to spur emission reductions. She is hoping Oregon can avoid that problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Borenstein says other cap-and-trade programs — in Europe and in Eastern U.S. states involved in the program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — have also set emissions caps high enough that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/02/climate/pricing-carbon-emissions.html\">they haven’t had much impact on emissions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is wherever you set the cap, it’s very, very hard to predict what the business-as-usual emissions of your economy are going to be five or 10 years from now,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of his key recommendations is to set minimum and maximum prices for pollution permits to prevent the program from having too little — or too much — impact on energy prices and emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Power says Oregon’s plan does that, and also uses past years of greenhouse gas reporting to develop “a more realistic and stable perspective on what emissions are and where they should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Environmental Justice Groups Splinter\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan Pham with the Oregon environmental justice group OPAL is part of a coalition of groups around the world that are \u003ca href=\"http://www.opalpdx.org/2019/04/faq-why-are-frontline-communities-opposing-carbon-trading/\">speaking out against Oregon’s bill\u003c/a> and carbon pricing schemes more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pham says emissions from some oil refineries have increased under California’s program, because cap-and-trade allows that as long as a company pays for extra pollution permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really pay-to-pollute, and we need to stop polluters from polluting,” Pham says. “It’s had a disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1927220/california-cap-and-trade-is-working-for-other-states\">One study found\u003c/a> 52% of California’s regulated companies increased their annual greenhouse gas emissions and that many of them are located near \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/02/24/515379885/environmental-groups-say-californias-climate-program-has-not-helped-them\">disadvantaged\u003c/a> communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pham says other kinds of regulations, such as requirements for low-carbon transportation fuel and more renewable sources of electricity, are working better than cap-and-trade to reduce emissions in California. Oregon also has those additional requirements, and Pham says she would like to see more direct regulations like those.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also points to \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/05/07/new-paper-states-cap-and-trade-program-is-falling-short-of-goals/\">new research\u003c/a> that finds California may have counted up to 80 million tons of carbon dioxide reductions through its forest carbon offset program that didn’t actually happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the cap-and-trade programs in both Oregon and California, companies can buy carbon offsets to cover up to 8% of their emissions. The offsets can come from projects that manage forestland to store more carbon by not cutting down trees. But those carbon savings are difficult to validate and can be undermined by more logging elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think cap-and-trade encourages accounting schemes that can make it seem like there’s emissions reductions,” Pham says. “Our concern is that this prevents us from finding the real solutions, because it gives people the impression that we’re actually doing something to address climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Confident About Better Results\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilpa Joshi with Renew Oregon says OPAL is “an anomaly and an outlier” in Oregon and that \u003ca href=\"https://www.reneworegon.org/letter_of_support?splash=1\">dozens of other environmental groups\u003c/a> — including ones that represent farmworkers, Native American tribes, low-income Latino communities, and vulnerable populations — adamantly support Oregon’s cap-and-trade plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those groups have worked to ensure the bill will reduce pollution and invest in the communities most impacted by climate change, she says, and they agree that cap-and-trade — while not the only policy needed to address climate change — is the best way to get both emission reductions and the revenue to fund a cleaner economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to get off fossil fuels as fast as possible,” Joshi says. “It makes sense to go to the top of the food chain and regulate those polluters and use the funds to invest in clean energy across the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says state regulators plan to have tighter controls to prevent any miscalculation of carbon offsets and emission reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really working on creating a unique approach to Oregon that will prevent gaming of the system,” Brown says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon’s bill is 10 times longer and far more detailed than what California passed in 2006, and it sets some pollution permits aside as a cushion, so the state can shift course if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown says it could be the national model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oregon is a small state,” she says. “And if we can do it, that means states like Minnesota and Connecticut and Kansas can do this, and do this in a way that will ensure their economies thrive, and make sure we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is, if Oregon’s cap-and-trade plan works better than California’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org\">Oregon Public Broadcasting\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Contentious+Oregon+Climate+Plan+Takes+Lessons+From+California%27s+Mistakes&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Court of Appeals Considers Whether U.S. Climate Policy Violates Rights of Young People (Video Replay)",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a courtroom packed with environmental activists, federal judges wrestled Tuesday over whether climate change violates the rights of young people who have sued the U.S. government over the use of fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A U.S. Justice Department lawyer said the young people wrongly want the courts to direct energy policy, instead of government officials. Jeffrey Clark, an assistant attorney general, told three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the lawsuit is “a direct attack on the separation of powers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An attorney for the young people countered that government action that increases global warming puts “children in harm’s way” and urged the judges to let the lawsuit move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government devalues the lives of these young children when making energy policy,” said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit asks the courts to declare federal energy policies unconstitutional. The Obama and Trump administrations have tried to get it dismissed since it was filed in Oregon in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really disappointing to see the lengths that they go to — to not only not let us get the remedy that we’re seeking, but not even let us have the chance to prove our facts or present our case at trial,” said Nathan Baring, a 19-year-old from Fairbanks, Alaska, who joined the lawsuit when he was 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the case drags on, sea ice that protects coastal Alaska communities from fierce storms is forming later in the year, leaving those villages vulnerable, he said. Earlier today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a bleak milestone. Carbon dioxide levels hit a record high in May, with average levels peaking at 414.7 parts per million, which surpassed the previous record of 411.2 ppm a year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch Wednesday’s proceedings before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland\u003c/em>:\u003cbr>\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PGCSWm86OI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young people argue that government officials have known for more than 50 years that carbon pollution from fossil fuels causes climate change and that policies promoting oil and gas deprive them of their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s administration say the young people didn’t find any “historical basis for a fundamental right to a stable climate system or any other constitutional right related to the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit says the young are more vulnerable to serious effects from climate change in the future. The American Academy of Pediatrics, 14 other health organizations and nearly 80 scientists and physicians agreed in a brief filed with the appeals court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pointed out that the World Health Organization estimates that 88% of the global health burden of climate change falls on children younger than 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit wants the U.S. District Court in Eugene, where the lawsuit was filed, to declare that the U.S. government is violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by substantially causing or contributing to a dangerous concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the 9th Circuit judges decide the lawsuit can move forward, it would go before the federal court in Eugene. The appeals court judges heard arguments Tuesday but were not expected to rule right away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case has become a focal point for many youth activists, and the courtroom in Portland was packed. Baring said he and his co-plaintiffs have matured as the case has wound through the legal system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never anticipated how much I was going to grow up, or how much the group was going to grow up,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a courtroom packed with environmental activists, federal judges wrestled Tuesday over whether climate change violates the rights of young people who have sued the U.S. government over the use of fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A U.S. Justice Department lawyer said the young people wrongly want the courts to direct energy policy, instead of government officials. Jeffrey Clark, an assistant attorney general, told three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the lawsuit is “a direct attack on the separation of powers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An attorney for the young people countered that government action that increases global warming puts “children in harm’s way” and urged the judges to let the lawsuit move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government devalues the lives of these young children when making energy policy,” said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit asks the courts to declare federal energy policies unconstitutional. The Obama and Trump administrations have tried to get it dismissed since it was filed in Oregon in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really disappointing to see the lengths that they go to — to not only not let us get the remedy that we’re seeking, but not even let us have the chance to prove our facts or present our case at trial,” said Nathan Baring, a 19-year-old from Fairbanks, Alaska, who joined the lawsuit when he was 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the case drags on, sea ice that protects coastal Alaska communities from fierce storms is forming later in the year, leaving those villages vulnerable, he said. Earlier today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a bleak milestone. Carbon dioxide levels hit a record high in May, with average levels peaking at 414.7 parts per million, which surpassed the previous record of 411.2 ppm a year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch Wednesday’s proceedings before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland\u003c/em>:\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/6PGCSWm86OI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6PGCSWm86OI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The young people argue that government officials have known for more than 50 years that carbon pollution from fossil fuels causes climate change and that policies promoting oil and gas deprive them of their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s administration say the young people didn’t find any “historical basis for a fundamental right to a stable climate system or any other constitutional right related to the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit says the young are more vulnerable to serious effects from climate change in the future. The American Academy of Pediatrics, 14 other health organizations and nearly 80 scientists and physicians agreed in a brief filed with the appeals court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pointed out that the World Health Organization estimates that 88% of the global health burden of climate change falls on children younger than 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit wants the U.S. District Court in Eugene, where the lawsuit was filed, to declare that the U.S. government is violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by substantially causing or contributing to a dangerous concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the 9th Circuit judges decide the lawsuit can move forward, it would go before the federal court in Eugene. The appeals court judges heard arguments Tuesday but were not expected to rule right away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case has become a focal point for many youth activists, and the courtroom in Portland was packed. Baring said he and his co-plaintiffs have matured as the case has wound through the legal system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never anticipated how much I was going to grow up, or how much the group was going to grow up,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "These California Environmental Bills Made It to the Next Round",
"headTitle": "These California Environmental Bills Made It to the Next Round | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1941477,science_1941182,news_11739302]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California bills and their sponsors, Friday was pass-or-die time in the Legislature. It’s an annual rite of spring: If on a certain date proposed bills don’t pass out of their house of origin, be it the Assembly or the Senate, they die for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the Legislature considered a slate of new environmental policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill that prohibits California from authorizing new oil and gas infrastructure on state public lands, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 342\u003c/a>, moved on to the Senate. A bill that would require smog checks for semitrucks, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 210\u003c/a>, moved on to the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A mandated buffer between new oil wells and homes and schools, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB345\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 345\u003c/a>, failed in the Appropriations Committee, but it will be considered in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, the group’s legislative and regulatory lobbying arm in Sacramento, said she couldn’t remember a year that so many new environmental bills passed their house of origin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many of them did, and they were good bills that protect wildlife, protect clean air, clean water, and help make sure Californians are getting the kind of environment they want,” Phillips said. “On balance, the first half of this year was very good\u003cem>.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Howard Penn, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, a California environmental advocacy organization, saw the glass as half-empty when it comes to big environmental issues. He pointed to the Legislature’s failure, at least for this year, of increasing transit-oriented development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a goal shared by many of the state’s leading environmentalists.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 50\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11747809/controversial-state-housing-density-bill-blocked-in-legislature\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">controversial housing density bill\u003c/a> proposed by San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, sought to achieve this goal, but it was blocked in the Legislature. Penn’s group did not endorse or oppose the bill because it sought legislative changes that did not materialize.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From our perspective, we keep trying to push climate change, greenhouse gases, and better land-use policies for affordable housing forward,” Penn said. “It’s not moving at the sustenance level that we would want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these environmental bills are good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re nibbling away at the edges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond bills concerning oil and gas, California is considering major changes in the recycling and manufacture of plastics, as well as legislation to counter President Trump’s agenda of general environmental deregulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 54\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1080\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1080 \u003c/a>moved forward last week. The companion bills seek to phase out the sale and distribution of plastics, passing despite industry opposition, though in slightly watered-down form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Originally, the legislation targeted a wide range of plastics, such as utensils, containers and other single-use items that can’t be recycled. The original language called for a 75% reduction by 2030. After that, all plastic manufacturing would have needed to be recyclable or compostable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After amendments, the legislation now applies to only what California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery identifies as the most commonly littered items based on surveys. Lawmakers also extended the timeline for implementation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments are “tolerable changes,” said Mark Murray, an executive director of Californians Against Waste, which supports the legislation.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>We’re excited about the passage of the bills in the very strong form that they got out of both houses of the Legislature,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the Legislature will embrace this and put it on the governor’s desk.”\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB792\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 792\u003c/a>, another plastics bill, proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, moved to the Senate on May 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ting’s bill establishes a minimum recycled content level in plastic bottles. It also compels the beverage industry to buy back used plastic as a way of driving a local plastics recycling market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Originally, the bill required \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11739302/a-future-with-100-recycled-beverage-bottles-a-new-state-bill-would-require-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">100% recycled beverage bottles\u003c/a> by the year 2035, but that requirement was stripped during a committee hearing last month. Now, the bill would require that plastic bottles be made with 75% recycled plastic by the year 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ting said that it’s important that plastic bottles are recycled in-state. “The bottles [should be] broken down in California and repurposed here, rather than shipping our waste oversees,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Long-term, we should absolutely have 100 percent recycled content in our beverage bottles,” Ting added. “In the interim, I think setting very aggressive goals will greatly change the marketplace here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Trump Administration continues to pursue a rollback of federal environmental regulation, such as the Obama administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/clean-power-plan-only-first-target-for-foes-of-climate-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clean Power Plan\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 1\u003c/a> would replace them with state rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, is the bill’s author. In an email, she called the proposed law “California’s insurance against reckless deregulation at the federal level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dozens of vital clean air, clean water, and endangered species standards have been weakened or eliminated,” Atkins wrote. “Further, worker protections have been eroded and workplace incidents and fatalities have increased. Whatever actions the new federal regime may take, California will continue to enforce the same environmental and public health protections that have been in effect for years, as a matter of state law.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California bills and their sponsors, Friday was pass-or-die time in the Legislature. It’s an annual rite of spring: If on a certain date proposed bills don’t pass out of their house of origin, be it the Assembly or the Senate, they die for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the Legislature considered a slate of new environmental policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill that prohibits California from authorizing new oil and gas infrastructure on state public lands, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 342\u003c/a>, moved on to the Senate. A bill that would require smog checks for semitrucks, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 210\u003c/a>, moved on to the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A mandated buffer between new oil wells and homes and schools, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB345\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 345\u003c/a>, failed in the Appropriations Committee, but it will be considered in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, the group’s legislative and regulatory lobbying arm in Sacramento, said she couldn’t remember a year that so many new environmental bills passed their house of origin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many of them did, and they were good bills that protect wildlife, protect clean air, clean water, and help make sure Californians are getting the kind of environment they want,” Phillips said. “On balance, the first half of this year was very good\u003cem>.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Howard Penn, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, a California environmental advocacy organization, saw the glass as half-empty when it comes to big environmental issues. He pointed to the Legislature’s failure, at least for this year, of increasing transit-oriented development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a goal shared by many of the state’s leading environmentalists.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 50\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11747809/controversial-state-housing-density-bill-blocked-in-legislature\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">controversial housing density bill\u003c/a> proposed by San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, sought to achieve this goal, but it was blocked in the Legislature. Penn’s group did not endorse or oppose the bill because it sought legislative changes that did not materialize.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From our perspective, we keep trying to push climate change, greenhouse gases, and better land-use policies for affordable housing forward,” Penn said. “It’s not moving at the sustenance level that we would want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these environmental bills are good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re nibbling away at the edges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond bills concerning oil and gas, California is considering major changes in the recycling and manufacture of plastics, as well as legislation to counter President Trump’s agenda of general environmental deregulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 54\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1080\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1080 \u003c/a>moved forward last week. The companion bills seek to phase out the sale and distribution of plastics, passing despite industry opposition, though in slightly watered-down form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Originally, the legislation targeted a wide range of plastics, such as utensils, containers and other single-use items that can’t be recycled. The original language called for a 75% reduction by 2030. After that, all plastic manufacturing would have needed to be recyclable or compostable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After amendments, the legislation now applies to only what California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery identifies as the most commonly littered items based on surveys. Lawmakers also extended the timeline for implementation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments are “tolerable changes,” said Mark Murray, an executive director of Californians Against Waste, which supports the legislation.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>We’re excited about the passage of the bills in the very strong form that they got out of both houses of the Legislature,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the Legislature will embrace this and put it on the governor’s desk.”\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB792\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 792\u003c/a>, another plastics bill, proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, moved to the Senate on May 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ting’s bill establishes a minimum recycled content level in plastic bottles. It also compels the beverage industry to buy back used plastic as a way of driving a local plastics recycling market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Originally, the bill required \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11739302/a-future-with-100-recycled-beverage-bottles-a-new-state-bill-would-require-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">100% recycled beverage bottles\u003c/a> by the year 2035, but that requirement was stripped during a committee hearing last month. Now, the bill would require that plastic bottles be made with 75% recycled plastic by the year 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ting said that it’s important that plastic bottles are recycled in-state. “The bottles [should be] broken down in California and repurposed here, rather than shipping our waste oversees,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Long-term, we should absolutely have 100 percent recycled content in our beverage bottles,” Ting added. “In the interim, I think setting very aggressive goals will greatly change the marketplace here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Trump Administration continues to pursue a rollback of federal environmental regulation, such as the Obama administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/clean-power-plan-only-first-target-for-foes-of-climate-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clean Power Plan\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 1\u003c/a> would replace them with state rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, is the bill’s author. In an email, she called the proposed law “California’s insurance against reckless deregulation at the federal level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dozens of vital clean air, clean water, and endangered species standards have been weakened or eliminated,” Atkins wrote. “Further, worker protections have been eroded and workplace incidents and fatalities have increased. Whatever actions the new federal regime may take, California will continue to enforce the same environmental and public health protections that have been in effect for years, as a matter of state law.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In recent drought years, some sunny January days felt like summer. But this year, the opposite was true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The region was soaked with the most May rain it has received in 21 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weather pattern literally looked like something straight out of January, but it’s May,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA. “This regression back towards winter like conditions is amazing. There was a significant amount of rain near the coast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was San Francisco’s 12th wettest May on record, according to the National Weather Service. The agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mtr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records\u003c/a> show 2 inches of rainfall collected at San Francisco International Airport in May, the most since 1998, when 2.37 inches fell there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cause of all the rain is an unusually strong jet stream located farther south than normal, Swain said. The rain is even stranger, Swain added, because the region’s long-term trend is towards drier springs. “This May really stands out as an outlier from that perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a rainier-than-normal winter, there was an abrupt end to the rainfall in March and virtually no rain in April. That’s a major reason why this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941908/this-years-bay-area-pollen-season-is-really-bad-heres-why\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">year’s pollen season\u003c/a> has been so tough for people with allergies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said the pollen season will likely last even longer this year after all the rain. June’s forecast shows warmer than average days on the horizon as the beginning of summer approaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allergy sufferers can find KQED’s pollen forecast \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940604/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In recent drought years, some sunny January days felt like summer. But this year, the opposite was true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The region was soaked with the most May rain it has received in 21 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weather pattern literally looked like something straight out of January, but it’s May,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA. “This regression back towards winter like conditions is amazing. There was a significant amount of rain near the coast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was San Francisco’s 12th wettest May on record, according to the National Weather Service. The agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mtr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records\u003c/a> show 2 inches of rainfall collected at San Francisco International Airport in May, the most since 1998, when 2.37 inches fell there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cause of all the rain is an unusually strong jet stream located farther south than normal, Swain said. The rain is even stranger, Swain added, because the region’s long-term trend is towards drier springs. “This May really stands out as an outlier from that perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a rainier-than-normal winter, there was an abrupt end to the rainfall in March and virtually no rain in April. That’s a major reason why this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941908/this-years-bay-area-pollen-season-is-really-bad-heres-why\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">year’s pollen season\u003c/a> has been so tough for people with allergies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said the pollen season will likely last even longer this year after all the rain. June’s forecast shows warmer than average days on the horizon as the beginning of summer approaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allergy sufferers can find KQED’s pollen forecast \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940604/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "PG&E Wants to Make a Massive Investment in Weather Stations. Here’s Why",
"headTitle": "PG&E Wants to Make a Massive Investment in Weather Stations. Here’s Why | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The fire that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11654027/my-world-was-burning-the-north-bay-fires-and-what-went-wrong\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ripped across the North Bay hills in 2017\u003c/a> was propelled by hurricane-force winds in some places, even as weather stations in the flat lands of Santa Rosa and Napa registered little more than a breeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same was true in the town of Paradise when it was consumed by the Camp Fire. The winds near Paradise were blowing hard and fast, propelling the fire forward, says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. However just a few miles away in the Sacramento Valley, the winds were nearly calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In many cases, there haven’t been weather stations in close enough proximity to these fires to get a really good handle of what the conditions are actually like on the ground — we are essentially poking around in the dark,” says Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following years of deadly wildfires sparked by faulty electrical equipment, the California Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11689873/california-legislature-passes-major-reforms-to-wildfire-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed a law\u003c/a> last August requiring power utilities to come up with detailed proposals to reduce the risk of blazes. On May 30, the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve PG&E’s proposal, which includes the construction of hundreds of new weather stations across its Northern California territory. The company’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11750455/what-you-need-to-know-about-pges-state-mandated-wildfire-mitigation-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wildfire plan\u003c/a> could cost billions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s rich landscape of rolling hills and steep canyons has potentially hundreds of thousands of microclimates, which makes fire prediction an incredible challenge. That’s why PG&E plans to build a dense network of weather stations, which they hope will illuminate the humidity, wind speed and temperature of Northern California’s varied landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Power Shutdown\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators also unanimously approved a related plan to shut off power to areas of the electrical grid when wildfire risk is extreme.\u003cb> \u003c/b>Turning off consumer’s electricity has provoked \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Supervisor-Warns-SDGE-Be-Careful-with-Power-Shut-Offs-462920363.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">outcry in the past\u003c/a>, but lawmakers and regulators agree that it is — for now — necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The risk associated with another fire like the North Bay fires or the Camp Fire makes power shut downs a viable alternative, sadly,” says State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa. “We cannot have our utilities creating these massive wildfires and have the associated risk of ratepayers having to pay these costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the proceedings, CPUC President Michael Picker said that because of the increasing threat of wildfire, utilities are expanding on their “current strategies for weather tracking, and more precise and local predictive modeling for wildfires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are seeing weather conditions in portions of the state that have never been observed before, are not in the meteorological record, and certainly aren’t as granular as we need to be able to provide very precise and local kinds of situational awareness, which then can help us focus and isolate areas of risk and only cut power in those very specific areas,” Picker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Picker also announced that he will step down from his position as CPUC president later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E’s plan is, in part, inspired by changes that another utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, made after its power lines ignited wildfires in 2007 and the company\u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-fire-lawsuit-witch-creek-settled-electric-2014dec05-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> shelled out billions in damages\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, SDG&E installed a weather station in every circuit of its territory that had a high risk of fire, and in 2011, they added more. Meteorologists say that information derived from the stations dramatically improved their understanding of local weather patterns and has aided in their predictions of wildfire behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 23\u003cstrong>, \u003c/strong>wildfire legislation proposed by Sen. Dodd \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11750339/fire-weather-stations-could-get-expanded-under-state-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cleared the state Senate\u003c/a>; the two bills compel the state to coordinate with PG&E and other utilities on where weather stations are deployed. They also create a state wildfire warning center and a fire threat potential index.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be more proactive in the state of California and have a wildfire warning center where we’ve got data points all throughout the state of California,” Dodd says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Plan\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E’s proposal includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Installing an estimated 1,300 new weather stations by 2022, one for about every 20 circuit-miles in its highest fire risk areas. Currently, the utility has just over 350 weather stations across its territory, according to its meteorologists. PG&E will power down the grid based on information from predictive weather models, and overtime, the stations will improve the models. Additionally, weather data will be publicly available.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fixing approximately 600 high-definition cameras across its territory. PG&E, Cal Fire, and other agencies will use them to confirm wildfires. You can think of a camera as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">fire\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">look\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">out\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">tower\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\"> 2.0\u003c/a>. The cameras can pan, zoom, and stream images right to fire agencies, and they have near infrared capabilities — so they work at night, too. Thirty cameras are working now, and a live stream is available\u003ca href=\"http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html\"> here\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fire detection capabilities provided by NOAA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1936435/new-satellite-can-provide-immediate-wildfire-warning-but-first-the-govt-shutdown-has-to-end\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOES-R series\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1936435/new-satellite-can-provide-immediate-wildfire-warning-but-first-the-govt-shutdown-has-to-end\">satellites\u003c/a>, which rotate in sync with the Earth and scan California once a minute, and from three polar orbiting satellites — NASA’s Aqua, Terra, and VIIRS — that pass over the state each day. The utility’s meteorologists will use the satellites to identify when a wildfire breaks out in near real-time. This is helpful, but not groundbreaking, as the cameras and lookout towers can do the same. But, in filings with the CPUC, PG&E says it will pilot a system that disseminates alerts through a web application and emails to its team. For now, those alerts will stay in-house, but PG&E’s meteorologists hope in the future to notify fire agencies and the public.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Following San Diego \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before SDG&E installed additional weather stations, meteorologists generally understood that the hot, dry Santa Ana winds sped up as they whipped through passes and canyons. They assumed the acceleration stemmed from the Venturi effect — when air or water speeds up as it’s forced through a constricted area, like a thumb on the end of a garden hose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But using information from the weather stations — which now number 177 across San Diego County and parts of Orange County — meteorologists discovered that strong winds reached speeds upward of 100 mph on the hill and mountain slopes, too. That led the utility to replace some wood poles with steel poles and install stronger wires, in places, to better withstand the extreme winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian D’Agostino, director of the fire science and climate adaptation program at SDG&E, says the utility learned a great deal about how the Santa Ana winds behave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We knew they were strong, but we didn’t realize we were having 100 miles-per-hour winds in our backcountry,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California doesn’t have Santa Ana winds, but the region has strong gusts, sometimes called Diablo or Mono winds, according to Scott Strenfel, supervisor of meteorology operations and analytics for PG&E. He says there’s a lot the utility can learn about these winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping that we’re going to start to tease out some similar learnings of where these events are the most impactful,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Power Downs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the traditional mark of success in the utility business is keeping the lights on, not shutting them off, but the state’s deadly wildfires have reached a crisis point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the power shutdowns while introducing his latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941438/millions-for-climate-environmental-priorities-in-newsoms-may-budget\">budget\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941438/millions-for-climate-environmental-priorities-in-newsoms-may-budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proposal\u003c/a>, which includes $75 million to study the shutoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried about it,” he says. “We are all worried about it for [the] elderly. People’s power could be shut off not for a day or two, but potentially a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders say the policy is temporary, but it’s still unknown how long it will be used. Extreme fire conditions happen multiple times a year in California, which means every year communities could be without power for days or even a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UCLA’s Swain says officials will need to carefully decide when to power the grid down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s going to be a balancing act between deciding when it will cause more harm than good to shut off the power to thousands of people, or in which cases it will prevent a potential wildfire catastrophe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California's rich landscape of rolling hills and steep canyons has potentially hundreds of thousands of microclimates, which makes fire prediction an incredible challenge. That’s why PG&E wants to build a dense network of weather stations, which they hope will illuminate where the winds blow the hardest in Northern California.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The fire that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11654027/my-world-was-burning-the-north-bay-fires-and-what-went-wrong\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ripped across the North Bay hills in 2017\u003c/a> was propelled by hurricane-force winds in some places, even as weather stations in the flat lands of Santa Rosa and Napa registered little more than a breeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same was true in the town of Paradise when it was consumed by the Camp Fire. The winds near Paradise were blowing hard and fast, propelling the fire forward, says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. However just a few miles away in the Sacramento Valley, the winds were nearly calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In many cases, there haven’t been weather stations in close enough proximity to these fires to get a really good handle of what the conditions are actually like on the ground — we are essentially poking around in the dark,” says Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following years of deadly wildfires sparked by faulty electrical equipment, the California Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11689873/california-legislature-passes-major-reforms-to-wildfire-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed a law\u003c/a> last August requiring power utilities to come up with detailed proposals to reduce the risk of blazes. On May 30, the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve PG&E’s proposal, which includes the construction of hundreds of new weather stations across its Northern California territory. The company’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11750455/what-you-need-to-know-about-pges-state-mandated-wildfire-mitigation-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wildfire plan\u003c/a> could cost billions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s rich landscape of rolling hills and steep canyons has potentially hundreds of thousands of microclimates, which makes fire prediction an incredible challenge. That’s why PG&E plans to build a dense network of weather stations, which they hope will illuminate the humidity, wind speed and temperature of Northern California’s varied landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Power Shutdown\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators also unanimously approved a related plan to shut off power to areas of the electrical grid when wildfire risk is extreme.\u003cb> \u003c/b>Turning off consumer’s electricity has provoked \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Supervisor-Warns-SDGE-Be-Careful-with-Power-Shut-Offs-462920363.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">outcry in the past\u003c/a>, but lawmakers and regulators agree that it is — for now — necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The risk associated with another fire like the North Bay fires or the Camp Fire makes power shut downs a viable alternative, sadly,” says State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa. “We cannot have our utilities creating these massive wildfires and have the associated risk of ratepayers having to pay these costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the proceedings, CPUC President Michael Picker said that because of the increasing threat of wildfire, utilities are expanding on their “current strategies for weather tracking, and more precise and local predictive modeling for wildfires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are seeing weather conditions in portions of the state that have never been observed before, are not in the meteorological record, and certainly aren’t as granular as we need to be able to provide very precise and local kinds of situational awareness, which then can help us focus and isolate areas of risk and only cut power in those very specific areas,” Picker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Picker also announced that he will step down from his position as CPUC president later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E’s plan is, in part, inspired by changes that another utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, made after its power lines ignited wildfires in 2007 and the company\u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-fire-lawsuit-witch-creek-settled-electric-2014dec05-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> shelled out billions in damages\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, SDG&E installed a weather station in every circuit of its territory that had a high risk of fire, and in 2011, they added more. Meteorologists say that information derived from the stations dramatically improved their understanding of local weather patterns and has aided in their predictions of wildfire behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 23\u003cstrong>, \u003c/strong>wildfire legislation proposed by Sen. Dodd \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11750339/fire-weather-stations-could-get-expanded-under-state-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cleared the state Senate\u003c/a>; the two bills compel the state to coordinate with PG&E and other utilities on where weather stations are deployed. They also create a state wildfire warning center and a fire threat potential index.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be more proactive in the state of California and have a wildfire warning center where we’ve got data points all throughout the state of California,” Dodd says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Plan\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E’s proposal includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Installing an estimated 1,300 new weather stations by 2022, one for about every 20 circuit-miles in its highest fire risk areas. Currently, the utility has just over 350 weather stations across its territory, according to its meteorologists. PG&E will power down the grid based on information from predictive weather models, and overtime, the stations will improve the models. Additionally, weather data will be publicly available.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fixing approximately 600 high-definition cameras across its territory. PG&E, Cal Fire, and other agencies will use them to confirm wildfires. You can think of a camera as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">fire\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">look\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">out\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\">tower\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/26/rekindling-fire-lookout-towers/\"> 2.0\u003c/a>. The cameras can pan, zoom, and stream images right to fire agencies, and they have near infrared capabilities — so they work at night, too. Thirty cameras are working now, and a live stream is available\u003ca href=\"http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html\"> here\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fire detection capabilities provided by NOAA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1936435/new-satellite-can-provide-immediate-wildfire-warning-but-first-the-govt-shutdown-has-to-end\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOES-R series\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1936435/new-satellite-can-provide-immediate-wildfire-warning-but-first-the-govt-shutdown-has-to-end\">satellites\u003c/a>, which rotate in sync with the Earth and scan California once a minute, and from three polar orbiting satellites — NASA’s Aqua, Terra, and VIIRS — that pass over the state each day. The utility’s meteorologists will use the satellites to identify when a wildfire breaks out in near real-time. This is helpful, but not groundbreaking, as the cameras and lookout towers can do the same. But, in filings with the CPUC, PG&E says it will pilot a system that disseminates alerts through a web application and emails to its team. For now, those alerts will stay in-house, but PG&E’s meteorologists hope in the future to notify fire agencies and the public.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Following San Diego \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before SDG&E installed additional weather stations, meteorologists generally understood that the hot, dry Santa Ana winds sped up as they whipped through passes and canyons. They assumed the acceleration stemmed from the Venturi effect — when air or water speeds up as it’s forced through a constricted area, like a thumb on the end of a garden hose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But using information from the weather stations — which now number 177 across San Diego County and parts of Orange County — meteorologists discovered that strong winds reached speeds upward of 100 mph on the hill and mountain slopes, too. That led the utility to replace some wood poles with steel poles and install stronger wires, in places, to better withstand the extreme winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian D’Agostino, director of the fire science and climate adaptation program at SDG&E, says the utility learned a great deal about how the Santa Ana winds behave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We knew they were strong, but we didn’t realize we were having 100 miles-per-hour winds in our backcountry,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California doesn’t have Santa Ana winds, but the region has strong gusts, sometimes called Diablo or Mono winds, according to Scott Strenfel, supervisor of meteorology operations and analytics for PG&E. He says there’s a lot the utility can learn about these winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping that we’re going to start to tease out some similar learnings of where these events are the most impactful,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Power Downs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the traditional mark of success in the utility business is keeping the lights on, not shutting them off, but the state’s deadly wildfires have reached a crisis point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the power shutdowns while introducing his latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941438/millions-for-climate-environmental-priorities-in-newsoms-may-budget\">budget\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941438/millions-for-climate-environmental-priorities-in-newsoms-may-budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proposal\u003c/a>, which includes $75 million to study the shutoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried about it,” he says. “We are all worried about it for [the] elderly. People’s power could be shut off not for a day or two, but potentially a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders say the policy is temporary, but it’s still unknown how long it will be used. Extreme fire conditions happen multiple times a year in California, which means every year communities could be without power for days or even a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UCLA’s Swain says officials will need to carefully decide when to power the grid down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s going to be a balancing act between deciding when it will cause more harm than good to shut off the power to thousands of people, or in which cases it will prevent a potential wildfire catastrophe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Attacking Global Warming by \u003ci>Adding\u003c/i> CO2 to the Atmosphere? Stanford Researchers Have a Plan",
"headTitle": "Attacking Global Warming by Adding CO2 to the Atmosphere? Stanford Researchers Have a Plan | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Here’s a novel approach to reversing global warming: Let’s put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right']Returning the atmosphere to a preindustrial level of methane by converting it to CO2 is the subject of a new research paper out of Stanford.[/pullquote]Researchers at Stanford University this week proposed a new process that they say could help slow the warming of the planet by converting methane gas floating around in the atmosphere into carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s true that CO2 is the main greenhouse gas driving climate change, methane gas is 84 times more potent in terms of global warming over the first 20 years it is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process of converting one greenhouse gas into another is “counterintuitive,” says Rob Jackson, the lead author of the study and an earth scientist at Stanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But molecule for molecule, CO2 traps less heat than methane. If the process is perfected, it could return the atmosphere to preindustrial concentrations of methane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0299-x\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">study\u003c/a> has major implications for the globe. Last year, methane emissions passed a grim milestone: Atmospheric concentrations reached two-and-a-half times their preindustrial levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first thing we need to do is to cut greenhouse gas emissions,” Jackson explains. “If pollution were a drop of ink, it’s a lot easier to block that drop before it hits the water than it is to remove it after it’s been mixed into the water. The atmosphere is the same way. We need to cut emissions, but they are rising for both carbon dioxide and methane. We need to explore other ways to remove greenhouse gases after they’re in the atmosphere. It’s not preferable, but it may be necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea could be part of a “solutions space, although it is not the solution by itself,” said Richard Alley, a geoscience professor at Penn State University who was not involved in the research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many places around the U.S. already make money by capturing “waste” methane from sewage and garbage and then using it as natural gas, which can be burned to generate energy, Alley says. If there are sources of methane that are not concentrated enough to be used commercially but are leaking, then converting those to CO2 would help reduce warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big issue long-term is still CO2,” Alley cautioned in an email. “Methane is converted to CO2 in a decade or so in the atmosphere, so whenever we get serious about reducing methane, the concentrations will be much lower a decade after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After we raise CO2, on the other hand, it will remain elevated for centuries and longer, with a long tail beyond 10,000 years. If we invest in heading off methane now without also dealing with CO2, we commit to more long-term warming than if we prioritize CO2 now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conversion Process\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how, exactly, does the process of converting methane to CO2 work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>We’d like to use a class of minerals called zeolite,” says Jackson. “These minerals can be thought of as a honeycomb. They have lots of open pores inside and you can embed metals, copper and iron, and other elements that can act as catalysts to drive the reaction that we’re after.\u003ci>”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson’s team proposes using fans to push air through cylinders or beds that contain the minerals, Jackson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have used zeolites to convert methane into methanol, which Jackson described as a kind-of “halfway point,” but they have yet to successfully convert methane into CO2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of work to be done on the chemistry,” Jackson admits. “And work to be done on the industrial infrastructure—the equipment, the scale at which this might be done to restore the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end goal is returning the atmosphere to good health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have the Endangered Species Act, and when a species is endangered, we don’t try to save it, we want to restore it to health,” notes Jackson. “I’d like to do the same thing for the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But molecule for molecule, CO2 traps less heat than methane. If the process is perfected, it could return the atmosphere to preindustrial concentrations of methane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0299-x\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">study\u003c/a> has major implications for the globe. Last year, methane emissions passed a grim milestone: Atmospheric concentrations reached two-and-a-half times their preindustrial levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first thing we need to do is to cut greenhouse gas emissions,” Jackson explains. “If pollution were a drop of ink, it’s a lot easier to block that drop before it hits the water than it is to remove it after it’s been mixed into the water. The atmosphere is the same way. We need to cut emissions, but they are rising for both carbon dioxide and methane. We need to explore other ways to remove greenhouse gases after they’re in the atmosphere. It’s not preferable, but it may be necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea could be part of a “solutions space, although it is not the solution by itself,” said Richard Alley, a geoscience professor at Penn State University who was not involved in the research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many places around the U.S. already make money by capturing “waste” methane from sewage and garbage and then using it as natural gas, which can be burned to generate energy, Alley says. If there are sources of methane that are not concentrated enough to be used commercially but are leaking, then converting those to CO2 would help reduce warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big issue long-term is still CO2,” Alley cautioned in an email. “Methane is converted to CO2 in a decade or so in the atmosphere, so whenever we get serious about reducing methane, the concentrations will be much lower a decade after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After we raise CO2, on the other hand, it will remain elevated for centuries and longer, with a long tail beyond 10,000 years. If we invest in heading off methane now without also dealing with CO2, we commit to more long-term warming than if we prioritize CO2 now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conversion Process\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how, exactly, does the process of converting methane to CO2 work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>We’d like to use a class of minerals called zeolite,” says Jackson. “These minerals can be thought of as a honeycomb. They have lots of open pores inside and you can embed metals, copper and iron, and other elements that can act as catalysts to drive the reaction that we’re after.\u003ci>”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson’s team proposes using fans to push air through cylinders or beds that contain the minerals, Jackson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have used zeolites to convert methane into methanol, which Jackson described as a kind-of “halfway point,” but they have yet to successfully convert methane into CO2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of work to be done on the chemistry,” Jackson admits. “And work to be done on the industrial infrastructure—the equipment, the scale at which this might be done to restore the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end goal is returning the atmosphere to good health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have the Endangered Species Act, and when a species is endangered, we don’t try to save it, we want to restore it to health,” notes Jackson. “I’d like to do the same thing for the atmosphere.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Millions for Climate, Environmental Priorities in Newsom’s May Budget",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Gov. Gavin Newsom threw some more money into the environmental pot Thursday as part of the state’s May budget revision. The new funding includes about $250 million for climate-related programs, thanks to the state’s cap-and-trade program, and $75 million to fund an assessment of wildfire protection plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The update of his January budget proposal, required by the state constitution, reflects tax revenue collected through April 15. The record $213.5 billion spending plan includes about $4 billion in additional revenue above his January budget. The Legislature now has until June 15 to pass a budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which begins July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A small portion of the extra funding is related to the state’s announcement yesterday that it would begin the process of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941369/california-moves-to-ban-chlorpyrifos-widely-used-pesticide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">banning\u003c/a> the widely used pesticide chlorpyrifos, which studies have shown harms brain development in young children. The budget now includes $5.7 million for research and development into safer alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his public address today, Newsom responded to environmental critics who said the pesticide should be immediately banned, rather than phased out over as many as three years. “The reason we can’t phase it out tomorrow: If we do, we’ll replace it with even more toxic substances,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also defended a controversial tax on water bills that would fund programs to rebuild broken or degraded drinking water infrastructure in some of the state’s poorest communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are going to get a water deal,” he said. “That’ll be a proud day, when the Legislature and the governor can align on providing a basic fundamental right. That’s clean and drinkable water at an affordable price for the most vulnerable Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state estimates that 1 million Californians lack access to safe drinking water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, Newsom floated a plan that could charge most water customers about 95 cents more each month, with heavy users paying up to $10 more. That idea was met with resistance from the Association of California Water Agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Newsom signaled he was wide open to negotiations on the tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not consumed by process, but by outcome,” he said. “We have three or four creative ideas that I’m not going to illuminate you on because I want to get to a solution. But we will get to a solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cap and Trade\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s cap-and-trade auctions performed strongly, and the budget includes an extra $251.5 million in cap-and-trade money to promote climate-friendly housing development and sustainability projects. The money includes investments in:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$92 million for transit-oriented development and “neighborhood projects” that reduce emissions in heavily polluted neighborhoods.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$130 million for clean-energy vehicle programs. This includes $65 million to replace and upgrade agricultural vehicles, $50 million for electrifying semi-trucks and buses incentives, and $15 million for programs that help people replace old cars with electric vehicles.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$20 million for “climate smart agriculture.” That includes $10 million for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940561/california-has-farmers-growing-weeds-why-to-capture-carbon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Healthy Soils program\u003c/a> to increase carbon sequestration, the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Additionally, the budget includes $10 million for methane reduction programs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$8 million as part of ongoing funding for job training programs—mostly apprenticeships and workforce development initiatives—to help the state transition to a completely carbon neutral economy. The revise also includes $1.5 million for a study to outline “key actions the state must take to transition toward a carbon-neutral economy.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Wildfire Protection\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond climate policy, Newsom’s proposal includes $75 million to study shutting down the power grid in certain areas when the risk of wildfire is high. Officials plan to cut power to some communities during windy and hot conditions—a preventative measure to keep utility infrastructure from sparking a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said the effects of those shutdowns were worrying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public power shutdowns: It’s coming,” he said. “It’s happening soon. I’m worried about it. We are all worried about it for [the] elderly. People’s power could be shut off not for a day or two but potentially a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California Gov. Gavin Newsom threw some more money into the environmental pot Thursday as part of the state’s May budget revision. The new funding includes about $250 million for climate-related programs, thanks to the state’s cap-and-trade program, and $75 million to fund an assessment of wildfire protection plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The update of his January budget proposal, required by the state constitution, reflects tax revenue collected through April 15. The record $213.5 billion spending plan includes about $4 billion in additional revenue above his January budget. The Legislature now has until June 15 to pass a budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which begins July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A small portion of the extra funding is related to the state’s announcement yesterday that it would begin the process of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941369/california-moves-to-ban-chlorpyrifos-widely-used-pesticide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">banning\u003c/a> the widely used pesticide chlorpyrifos, which studies have shown harms brain development in young children. The budget now includes $5.7 million for research and development into safer alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his public address today, Newsom responded to environmental critics who said the pesticide should be immediately banned, rather than phased out over as many as three years. “The reason we can’t phase it out tomorrow: If we do, we’ll replace it with even more toxic substances,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also defended a controversial tax on water bills that would fund programs to rebuild broken or degraded drinking water infrastructure in some of the state’s poorest communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are going to get a water deal,” he said. “That’ll be a proud day, when the Legislature and the governor can align on providing a basic fundamental right. That’s clean and drinkable water at an affordable price for the most vulnerable Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state estimates that 1 million Californians lack access to safe drinking water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, Newsom floated a plan that could charge most water customers about 95 cents more each month, with heavy users paying up to $10 more. That idea was met with resistance from the Association of California Water Agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Newsom signaled he was wide open to negotiations on the tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not consumed by process, but by outcome,” he said. “We have three or four creative ideas that I’m not going to illuminate you on because I want to get to a solution. But we will get to a solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cap and Trade\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s cap-and-trade auctions performed strongly, and the budget includes an extra $251.5 million in cap-and-trade money to promote climate-friendly housing development and sustainability projects. The money includes investments in:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$92 million for transit-oriented development and “neighborhood projects” that reduce emissions in heavily polluted neighborhoods.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$130 million for clean-energy vehicle programs. This includes $65 million to replace and upgrade agricultural vehicles, $50 million for electrifying semi-trucks and buses incentives, and $15 million for programs that help people replace old cars with electric vehicles.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$20 million for “climate smart agriculture.” That includes $10 million for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940561/california-has-farmers-growing-weeds-why-to-capture-carbon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Healthy Soils program\u003c/a> to increase carbon sequestration, the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Additionally, the budget includes $10 million for methane reduction programs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$8 million as part of ongoing funding for job training programs—mostly apprenticeships and workforce development initiatives—to help the state transition to a completely carbon neutral economy. The revise also includes $1.5 million for a study to outline “key actions the state must take to transition toward a carbon-neutral economy.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Wildfire Protection\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond climate policy, Newsom’s proposal includes $75 million to study shutting down the power grid in certain areas when the risk of wildfire is high. Officials plan to cut power to some communities during windy and hot conditions—a preventative measure to keep utility infrastructure from sparking a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said the effects of those shutdowns were worrying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public power shutdowns: It’s coming,” he said. “It’s happening soon. I’m worried about it. We are all worried about it for [the] elderly. People’s power could be shut off not for a day or two but potentially a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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 />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"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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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"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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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"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",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"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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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"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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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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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",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"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",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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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",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"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",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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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": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"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": {
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"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",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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