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"content": "\u003cp>Perhaps you’ve heard that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2024/12/18/heres-what-happened-when-scientists-tested-the-air-with-my-gas-stove-on/\">pollution from gas stoves can harm your health\u003c/a>. What can you do to minimize your risk of exposure? Heaving your gas stove to the curb and going for an induction or electric one is an option, but that is available to just a limited number of people who own their home and can afford it. Luckily, there are a host of more accessible and low-cost solutions, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The simplest and most affordable options\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Switch on your hood.\u003c/strong> Many hoods vent outdoors, which can help cut down on pollution. The effectiveness of hoods really varies, with some cutting pollution by less than 15% and others by more than 98%, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory \u003ca href=\"https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.122-A154\">study\u003c/a>, which found most of the hoods they tested fell on the less effective end of that spectrum. Cooking on rear burners allowed hoods to capture more pollution than on the front ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Throw open windows when cooking, and keep them that way for a while afterward.\u003c/strong> This will move the dirty indoor air out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Buy or loan a portable, plug-in induction cooktop.\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-cooktop-1-zone-white-10493520/\">Like this\u003c/a> one from IKEA, which retails for $60 at the time of publication. Keep in mind that you need to use pots and pans compatible with induction, like stainless steel or cast iron. Some \u003ca href=\"https://pge-induction.myturn.com/library/\">utilities\u003c/a> and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4625/Induction-Cooktop-Loaner-Program\">public libraries\u003c/a> have loaner programs, so you can try these cooktops out before you purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Turn on other electric appliances to cook when possible.\u003c/strong> Slow cookers, instapots, toaster ovens and electric tea kettles can help you minimize how frequently you cook on your gas stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The more complicated, full change out\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Take the plunge and purchase an induction or electric stove.\u003c/strong> The prices of induction stoves have come down in recent years, and highly rated ones now sell for under $1000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stoves are efficient, fast, and quiet. Induction groupies tout their safety around children or the elderly with memory issues – no one is accidentally turning or leaving a burner on. The surface of an induction cooktop won’t heat up unless there is a pot or pan on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some incentives are available for induction stoves in California. See what you qualify for at the \u003ca href=\"https://incentives.switchison.org/residents/incentives?state=CA&_ga=2.243644357.1934015849.1732736439-1384157352.1732736439&_gl=1*dqc5fb*_gcl_au*NjQ5Nzk2MjQuMTczMjczNjQzOA..*_ga*MTM4NDE1NzM1Mi4xNzMyNzM2NDM5*_ga_8NM1W0PLNN*MTczMjczODkzNC4yLjAuMTczMjczODkzNC42MC4wLjA.\">Switch Is On\u003c/a>, a website that helps identify rebates and contractors for going electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric stoves are no longer made up of those black coils that slowly heat up, they too have come a long way. Like induction, new electric stoves are efficient and don’t create the pollution associated with gas stoves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you go for a new stove, most homes will require rewiring to accommodate the appliance, which uses more energy than a gas stove. The costs can be significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Innovators have met this challenge by building stoves that can plug into a standard outlet, eliminating the need to mess with your electrical setup. Stoves like \u003ca href=\"https://copperhome.com/products/charlie\">this one\u003c/a> from company Copper include a battery inside, which could allow you to keep using it during a power outage. They come with a hefty price tag of roughly $6,000, but that is offset by a 30% \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf\">federal tax credit (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pollutants that come from cooking food, regardless of fuel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Gas pollution aside, there’s good reason to keep your hood on or open windows when cooking, regardless of how you do it. Cooking food on both gas and electric ranges will produce tiny particles called PM2.5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exposure to this kind of pollution from wildfire smoke has adverse health effects, but there isn’t as much data on the health effects of PM2.5 from cooking, said UCSF doctor and physician scientist John Balmes of the California Air Resources Board. Balmes is part of a current study that is looking into this.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pushback from industry\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Lobbying groups like the American Gas Association challenge the assertion that gas stoves harm health, writing in an email to KQED that “the U.S. government and the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting residential consumer health and safety do not recognize any documented risks to respiratory health from natural gas stoves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/nitrogen-dioxides-impact-indoor-air-quality\">this EPA page\u003c/a> does discuss harms associated with nitrogen dioxide and said a source of the gas is “unvented combustion appliances, e.g., gas stoves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health groups like the \u003ca href=\"https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/gas%20stove?uri=%2FAMADoc%2Fdirectives.xml-D-135.964.xml\">American Medical Association\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2023/01/18/gas-stove-emissions\">American Public Health Association\u003c/a> are now warning that gas stoves increase the risk of respiratory illnesses and suggest people take steps to minimize the risks they pose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cooking with gas warms the planet\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Beyond health concerns, another reason to swap your gas stove for an electric one is because natural gas contributes to global warming, and relying on California’s greening electric grid creates fewer greenhouse gases. Methane warms the climate at nearly 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide, although it stays in the atmosphere for a much shorter period of time, around a decade or two, as opposed to hundreds or thousands of years like carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707\">One study\u003c/a> estimated that the amount of methane emitted from all gas stoves in U.S. homes was similar to the annual emissions of 500,000 cars. This same study found that some gas stoves leaked methane even while off.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What you do depends on your risk tolerance\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>So, you may be asking, should I get rid of my gas stove? It depends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In terms of health, “Whether you choose to do so or not is up to a whole lot of factors like your personal risk tolerance, whether you have an old stove or a new stove, whether you can afford to switch one out,” said Yannai Kashtan, a scientist with PSE Healthy Energy. “But we do want to be clear that it’s settled science. If you have a gas stove, you’re going to be exposed to more air pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Perhaps you’ve heard that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2024/12/18/heres-what-happened-when-scientists-tested-the-air-with-my-gas-stove-on/\">pollution from gas stoves can harm your health\u003c/a>. What can you do to minimize your risk of exposure? Heaving your gas stove to the curb and going for an induction or electric one is an option, but that is available to just a limited number of people who own their home and can afford it. Luckily, there are a host of more accessible and low-cost solutions, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The simplest and most affordable options\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Switch on your hood.\u003c/strong> Many hoods vent outdoors, which can help cut down on pollution. The effectiveness of hoods really varies, with some cutting pollution by less than 15% and others by more than 98%, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory \u003ca href=\"https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.122-A154\">study\u003c/a>, which found most of the hoods they tested fell on the less effective end of that spectrum. Cooking on rear burners allowed hoods to capture more pollution than on the front ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Throw open windows when cooking, and keep them that way for a while afterward.\u003c/strong> This will move the dirty indoor air out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Buy or loan a portable, plug-in induction cooktop.\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-cooktop-1-zone-white-10493520/\">Like this\u003c/a> one from IKEA, which retails for $60 at the time of publication. Keep in mind that you need to use pots and pans compatible with induction, like stainless steel or cast iron. Some \u003ca href=\"https://pge-induction.myturn.com/library/\">utilities\u003c/a> and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4625/Induction-Cooktop-Loaner-Program\">public libraries\u003c/a> have loaner programs, so you can try these cooktops out before you purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Turn on other electric appliances to cook when possible.\u003c/strong> Slow cookers, instapots, toaster ovens and electric tea kettles can help you minimize how frequently you cook on your gas stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The more complicated, full change out\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Take the plunge and purchase an induction or electric stove.\u003c/strong> The prices of induction stoves have come down in recent years, and highly rated ones now sell for under $1000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stoves are efficient, fast, and quiet. Induction groupies tout their safety around children or the elderly with memory issues – no one is accidentally turning or leaving a burner on. The surface of an induction cooktop won’t heat up unless there is a pot or pan on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some incentives are available for induction stoves in California. See what you qualify for at the \u003ca href=\"https://incentives.switchison.org/residents/incentives?state=CA&_ga=2.243644357.1934015849.1732736439-1384157352.1732736439&_gl=1*dqc5fb*_gcl_au*NjQ5Nzk2MjQuMTczMjczNjQzOA..*_ga*MTM4NDE1NzM1Mi4xNzMyNzM2NDM5*_ga_8NM1W0PLNN*MTczMjczODkzNC4yLjAuMTczMjczODkzNC42MC4wLjA.\">Switch Is On\u003c/a>, a website that helps identify rebates and contractors for going electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric stoves are no longer made up of those black coils that slowly heat up, they too have come a long way. Like induction, new electric stoves are efficient and don’t create the pollution associated with gas stoves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you go for a new stove, most homes will require rewiring to accommodate the appliance, which uses more energy than a gas stove. The costs can be significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Innovators have met this challenge by building stoves that can plug into a standard outlet, eliminating the need to mess with your electrical setup. Stoves like \u003ca href=\"https://copperhome.com/products/charlie\">this one\u003c/a> from company Copper include a battery inside, which could allow you to keep using it during a power outage. They come with a hefty price tag of roughly $6,000, but that is offset by a 30% \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf\">federal tax credit (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pollutants that come from cooking food, regardless of fuel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Gas pollution aside, there’s good reason to keep your hood on or open windows when cooking, regardless of how you do it. Cooking food on both gas and electric ranges will produce tiny particles called PM2.5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exposure to this kind of pollution from wildfire smoke has adverse health effects, but there isn’t as much data on the health effects of PM2.5 from cooking, said UCSF doctor and physician scientist John Balmes of the California Air Resources Board. Balmes is part of a current study that is looking into this.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pushback from industry\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Lobbying groups like the American Gas Association challenge the assertion that gas stoves harm health, writing in an email to KQED that “the U.S. government and the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting residential consumer health and safety do not recognize any documented risks to respiratory health from natural gas stoves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/nitrogen-dioxides-impact-indoor-air-quality\">this EPA page\u003c/a> does discuss harms associated with nitrogen dioxide and said a source of the gas is “unvented combustion appliances, e.g., gas stoves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health groups like the \u003ca href=\"https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/gas%20stove?uri=%2FAMADoc%2Fdirectives.xml-D-135.964.xml\">American Medical Association\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2023/01/18/gas-stove-emissions\">American Public Health Association\u003c/a> are now warning that gas stoves increase the risk of respiratory illnesses and suggest people take steps to minimize the risks they pose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cooking with gas warms the planet\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Beyond health concerns, another reason to swap your gas stove for an electric one is because natural gas contributes to global warming, and relying on California’s greening electric grid creates fewer greenhouse gases. Methane warms the climate at nearly 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide, although it stays in the atmosphere for a much shorter period of time, around a decade or two, as opposed to hundreds or thousands of years like carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707\">One study\u003c/a> estimated that the amount of methane emitted from all gas stoves in U.S. homes was similar to the annual emissions of 500,000 cars. This same study found that some gas stoves leaked methane even while off.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What you do depends on your risk tolerance\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>So, you may be asking, should I get rid of my gas stove? It depends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In terms of health, “Whether you choose to do so or not is up to a whole lot of factors like your personal risk tolerance, whether you have an old stove or a new stove, whether you can afford to switch one out,” said Yannai Kashtan, a scientist with PSE Healthy Energy. “But we do want to be clear that it’s settled science. If you have a gas stove, you’re going to be exposed to more air pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bay Area Braces for Wicked Winds, PG&E Power Cuts. Here’s When to Expect Them",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994844/pge-cuts-power-to-15000-customers-as-dry-winds-whip-across-california\">PG&E Cuts Power to 15,000 Customers as Dry Winds Whip Across California\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Halloween just around the corner, this week won’t be a good time to decorate front yards with inflatable pumpkins or apartment stoops with giant skeletons. The entire Bay Area is in for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994759/high-california-fire-risk-pge-power-outages-30-counties-this-week\">a few days of extreme wind\u003c/a>, forecasters warn, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11836990/pge-shutoffs-are-here-again-what-to-know-about-power-outages-today\">PG&E has already begun to cut power\u003c/a> to customers in the region to prevent downed trees or branches from sparking a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are starting to decorate for some of the different festivities and will certainly want to make sure they’ve got those items secure,” said Lamont Bain, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect a significant wind event to bring strong gusts and high fire danger to most of the Bay Area, starting around 11 p.m. Thursday and ending Saturday at 5 p.m. The agency said the change in weather could bring offshore winds of 25–35 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph. At the highest peaks, gusts could reach nearly 65 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already starting to see the sort of the first vestiges of those strong winds,” Bain said Thursday morning. “The San Francisco [International] Airport is starting to gust upwards of 25 miles an hour as we speak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winds are caused by a storm system sliding down the Sierra Nevada with pressure that is higher than the pressure on the coastline. That pressure difference will force strong winds to flow from inland areas toward the Bay Area — offshore winds that are especially dangerous for fire because they tend to be drier, stronger and warmer than coastal breezes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea/status/1846978883234775539\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The conditions have led the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for the entire Bay Area, Central Coast and northern Central Valley. In response, PG&E is warning \u003ca href=\"https://www.pgecurrents.com/articles/4063-psps-update-week-october-14-2024\">as many as 20,000 customers across two dozen counties\u003c/a> that it may need to shut off their power this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Windy conditions create elevated wildfire risk and the risk of debris or vegetation flying into our lines and potentially causing ignitions,” said Jake Zigelman, PG&E vice president of the Bay Area region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E equipment has been found responsible for starting several wildfires in recent years, including the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The Camp Fire, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11747485/cal-fires-official-finding-pge-equipment-touched-off-camp-fire\">sparked by a malfunctioning PG&E transmission line\u003c/a> in Butte County, killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes — leading to a $13.5 billion settlement with victims and liabilities that temporarily \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">pushed the utility into bankruptcy protection\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11836990 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/RS43113_GettyImages-1188966941-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Power disruptions are a challenge for our customers, but we’re squarely focused on safety and ensuring the safety of our part of the public and the communities we serve,” Zigelman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E said potential shut-offs could happen at some point Thursday in these counties: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo. On Friday, the company could also turn off power to residents in these counties: Butte, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Pluma, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the potential wind impacts are spread across the Bay Area, Zigelman said, “the largest chunk of potential customers” who could lose power are in Napa and Solano counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents are encouraged to exercise extreme caution because the wind and low relative humidity will make it easier for a fire to start and rapidly spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People should refrain from activities that could start a fire, Bain said, adding that “burning may actually be illegal” in areas under the red flag warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t throw cigarette butts out the window; secure tire chains because when they drag, they can be efficient at creating a spark,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "PG&E has warned 20,000 customers of planned power outages to prevent its infrastructure from igniting wildfires as Northern California is forecast to see strong gusts.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994844/pge-cuts-power-to-15000-customers-as-dry-winds-whip-across-california\">PG&E Cuts Power to 15,000 Customers as Dry Winds Whip Across California\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Halloween just around the corner, this week won’t be a good time to decorate front yards with inflatable pumpkins or apartment stoops with giant skeletons. The entire Bay Area is in for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994759/high-california-fire-risk-pge-power-outages-30-counties-this-week\">a few days of extreme wind\u003c/a>, forecasters warn, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11836990/pge-shutoffs-are-here-again-what-to-know-about-power-outages-today\">PG&E has already begun to cut power\u003c/a> to customers in the region to prevent downed trees or branches from sparking a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are starting to decorate for some of the different festivities and will certainly want to make sure they’ve got those items secure,” said Lamont Bain, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect a significant wind event to bring strong gusts and high fire danger to most of the Bay Area, starting around 11 p.m. Thursday and ending Saturday at 5 p.m. The agency said the change in weather could bring offshore winds of 25–35 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph. At the highest peaks, gusts could reach nearly 65 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already starting to see the sort of the first vestiges of those strong winds,” Bain said Thursday morning. “The San Francisco [International] Airport is starting to gust upwards of 25 miles an hour as we speak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winds are caused by a storm system sliding down the Sierra Nevada with pressure that is higher than the pressure on the coastline. That pressure difference will force strong winds to flow from inland areas toward the Bay Area — offshore winds that are especially dangerous for fire because they tend to be drier, stronger and warmer than coastal breezes.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The conditions have led the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for the entire Bay Area, Central Coast and northern Central Valley. In response, PG&E is warning \u003ca href=\"https://www.pgecurrents.com/articles/4063-psps-update-week-october-14-2024\">as many as 20,000 customers across two dozen counties\u003c/a> that it may need to shut off their power this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Windy conditions create elevated wildfire risk and the risk of debris or vegetation flying into our lines and potentially causing ignitions,” said Jake Zigelman, PG&E vice president of the Bay Area region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E equipment has been found responsible for starting several wildfires in recent years, including the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The Camp Fire, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11747485/cal-fires-official-finding-pge-equipment-touched-off-camp-fire\">sparked by a malfunctioning PG&E transmission line\u003c/a> in Butte County, killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes — leading to a $13.5 billion settlement with victims and liabilities that temporarily \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">pushed the utility into bankruptcy protection\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Power disruptions are a challenge for our customers, but we’re squarely focused on safety and ensuring the safety of our part of the public and the communities we serve,” Zigelman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E said potential shut-offs could happen at some point Thursday in these counties: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo. On Friday, the company could also turn off power to residents in these counties: Butte, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Pluma, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the potential wind impacts are spread across the Bay Area, Zigelman said, “the largest chunk of potential customers” who could lose power are in Napa and Solano counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents are encouraged to exercise extreme caution because the wind and low relative humidity will make it easier for a fire to start and rapidly spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People should refrain from activities that could start a fire, Bain said, adding that “burning may actually be illegal” in areas under the red flag warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t throw cigarette butts out the window; secure tire chains because when they drag, they can be efficient at creating a spark,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "east-bay-churches-are-transforming-into-climate-resilience-hubs",
"title": "How Bay Area Churches Are Seeding a Community-Driven Climate Solution",
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"content": "\u003cp>Cheri Whitehead knows about environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She grew up as one of the many kids in West Oakland with asthma, in a neighborhood where diesel trucks spewed pollution as they paraded down her street to access the port. “You don’t realize how much dirt and grunge from the trucks just comes in,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when neighborhood adults rallied for the trucks to change their route, even slightly, she was awed by the cleaner air and how she could breathe better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Whitehead talks about composting at the Berkeley church, where she’s a member. She helps plant the garden. Her Christian faith charges her with taking care of the natural world around her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t call her an environmentalist. “I consider myself a steward, and I stay in that lane,” Whitehead said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whitehead represents a growing number of congregants in Black churches who are embracing environmental justice and taking climate action. Among other things, the churchgoers are transforming their houses of worship into “resilience hubs,” which are powered by solar panels and will be able to maintain power if there are blackouts thanks to backup batteries. They are places that can shelter the larger community on a day that’s excessively hot, cold or smoky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of solution that can be a win-win-win. It starts in the community and addresses immediate needs, builds neighborhood resilience in the face of extreme weather, and cuts down on planet-warming pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993748\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Greening the Black church\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Whitehead was recently drawn to an event at Beth Eden Baptist Church in West Oakland, where dozens gathered in the bright sanctuary to learn about environmental justice and faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A clean air advocate, Margaret Gordon, spoke about the importance of clergy preaching about these issues from the pulpit, telling their community that they have a right to healthy environments and diseases that unequally burden communities of color. “You have a right for your child to not have asthma. You have a right not to have lung cancer,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event was convened by \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenthechurch.org/\">Green The Church\u003c/a>, an organization merging the Black faith community and environmental justice. It was founded by Rev. Ambrose Carroll 14 years ago when he saw how hard it was to get Black religious leaders into the larger conversation about faith and the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people are talking about saving the polar bears, that’s good. But we want to know that you care about our Cousin Pookie, not just the polar bear,” he said. “So there’s always been that estrangement. We felt that the Black church had to have its own table with its own language to talk about these issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993744\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We don’t always consider ourselves environmentalists, but we consider ourselves revivalist. We believe anything old or decrepit can be made brand new again,” Carroll said, including neighborhoods like East and West Oakland, which have been home to polluting industries for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of talking about “environmentalism,” Carroll and colleagues use words with greater meaning in the Black community and in scripture: revival, renewal, restoration, reparations and stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green The Church is active in California, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The group has worked with roughly 3000 churches in some form or other through the years, from introducing recycling or composting to environmental justice organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Seeding solar\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An impressive array of solar panels blanket Allen Temple Baptist Church’s gym roof in East Oakland. Two years ago, the board of trustees green-lit a project to cover the flat roof with 240 panels. They installed large, humming backup batteries a few yards away. The project was fully funded through a grant from Tesla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a typical day, the panels power the church’s classrooms, industrial kitchen, offices, and gym. Excess energy is stored in batteries, which kick in to power the building when the sun goes down. Church trustees estimate they save $20,000 in utility bills annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when there is extreme weather or a power outage, Allen Temple opens their doors for anyone in the community to come in and relax, to charge their cell phones, and to plug in medical equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993745\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The batteries at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Allen Temple’s solar panels, while invisible from below, have had an effect beyond their building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project “made us a model for other churches who were hesitating to pull the trigger or even enter this field,” said Rev. \u003ca href=\"https://www.allen-temple.org/pastoral-team/263-rev-jacqueline-a-thompson\">Jacqueline Thompson\u003c/a>, senior pastor of Allen Temple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But when they saw us navigate into the work, we were able to partner with a lot of folks,” Thompson said. “There are a number of ministries who just needed someone to take the first step that they could trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solar atop prominent nonresidential buildings like churches and schools can “seed” the idea for nearby residents to follow suit, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-energy-policy/articles/10.3389/fsuep.2023.1203517/full\">research\u003c/a> from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For every church-based solar installation, the paper found, roughly four more installations would pop up on homes each year as a result.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have this idea about solar,” said Eric O’Shaughnessy, a research affiliate at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and lead author on the paper. “It’s like one day I wake up and just realize today is the day I’m going to adopt rooftop solar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The research suggests that it’s not. It’s primarily an external motivation that prompts people to adopt. And a point that I often make is if you don’t have that external motivation, you probably are not going to adopt solar,” he said. Enter the church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Houses of worship make up \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ZhPfCpYzGliOpKYWCPf7CGV7pK?domain=eia.gov\">about 3%\u003c/a> of commercial building energy use in the U.S. Beyond seeding solar, they can also demonstrate other energy upgrades like building weatherization and installing heat pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993742\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The solar panels installed on the roof of the Allen Temple Baptist Church’s Family Life Center building in Oakland on Aug. 24, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Allen Temple Baptist Church)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>2000 resilience hubs\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The federal government earmarked billions of dollars in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act for disadvantaged communities. Carroll said this creates an opportunity for Green The Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal is to transform 2000 churches into resilience hubs nationally within the next few years — with solar panels, backup batteries, and even EV charging. That’s a step beyond Allen Temple’s current setup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"science_1993091,science_1991404,science_1985611\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His organization received money from various sources, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/buildings-upgrade-prize-buildings\">Department of Energy\u003c/a>, private companies and local electricity providers, to upgrade Black churches. Expanded \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/directpay/\">tax credits\u003c/a> through the Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s major climate legislation passed in 2022, have also incentivized houses of worship to get solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond solar panels and batteries, Carroll helped churches swap out inefficient, natural gas HVAC systems for heat pumps, which run on electricity. He facilitated projects to install electric vehicle chargers in underutilized parking spaces, both for community members and as a tool for churches to generate income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Black folk just don’t own a lot of buildings,” he said. “We don’t own the soul food restaurant or the funeral home. So when it comes to what we can actually produce and where we have our faith buildings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about billions of dollars that have to come to East 14th [in Oakland], how are they going to spend that money in the community and with the community if it’s not in the places that the community owns?” Carroll said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carroll plans to attend a ribbon cutting for one of the first full resilience hubs in Hayward in November at the Glad Tidings International Church. He has 28 other churches he’s working with in the Bay Area alone that are hoping to follow suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That will be good for cutting emissions and utility bills. Ultimately, though, Carroll said Black churches can elevate restoring the planet as a social issue, much like they did for civil rights in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The planet is our responsibility, and we will come out with the same vigor and vitality that we did in the ’60s on this issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Reverend Ambrose Carroll has a vision: to bring sustainability and environmentalism to Black churches, both to revitalize our natural world, and create economic opportunities.",
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"title": "How Bay Area Churches Are Seeding a Community-Driven Climate Solution | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Cheri Whitehead knows about environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She grew up as one of the many kids in West Oakland with asthma, in a neighborhood where diesel trucks spewed pollution as they paraded down her street to access the port. “You don’t realize how much dirt and grunge from the trucks just comes in,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when neighborhood adults rallied for the trucks to change their route, even slightly, she was awed by the cleaner air and how she could breathe better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Whitehead talks about composting at the Berkeley church, where she’s a member. She helps plant the garden. Her Christian faith charges her with taking care of the natural world around her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t call her an environmentalist. “I consider myself a steward, and I stay in that lane,” Whitehead said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whitehead represents a growing number of congregants in Black churches who are embracing environmental justice and taking climate action. Among other things, the churchgoers are transforming their houses of worship into “resilience hubs,” which are powered by solar panels and will be able to maintain power if there are blackouts thanks to backup batteries. They are places that can shelter the larger community on a day that’s excessively hot, cold or smoky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of solution that can be a win-win-win. It starts in the community and addresses immediate needs, builds neighborhood resilience in the face of extreme weather, and cuts down on planet-warming pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993748\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Greening the Black church\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Whitehead was recently drawn to an event at Beth Eden Baptist Church in West Oakland, where dozens gathered in the bright sanctuary to learn about environmental justice and faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A clean air advocate, Margaret Gordon, spoke about the importance of clergy preaching about these issues from the pulpit, telling their community that they have a right to healthy environments and diseases that unequally burden communities of color. “You have a right for your child to not have asthma. You have a right not to have lung cancer,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event was convened by \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenthechurch.org/\">Green The Church\u003c/a>, an organization merging the Black faith community and environmental justice. It was founded by Rev. Ambrose Carroll 14 years ago when he saw how hard it was to get Black religious leaders into the larger conversation about faith and the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people are talking about saving the polar bears, that’s good. But we want to know that you care about our Cousin Pookie, not just the polar bear,” he said. “So there’s always been that estrangement. We felt that the Black church had to have its own table with its own language to talk about these issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993744\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We don’t always consider ourselves environmentalists, but we consider ourselves revivalist. We believe anything old or decrepit can be made brand new again,” Carroll said, including neighborhoods like East and West Oakland, which have been home to polluting industries for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of talking about “environmentalism,” Carroll and colleagues use words with greater meaning in the Black community and in scripture: revival, renewal, restoration, reparations and stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green The Church is active in California, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The group has worked with roughly 3000 churches in some form or other through the years, from introducing recycling or composting to environmental justice organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Seeding solar\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An impressive array of solar panels blanket Allen Temple Baptist Church’s gym roof in East Oakland. Two years ago, the board of trustees green-lit a project to cover the flat roof with 240 panels. They installed large, humming backup batteries a few yards away. The project was fully funded through a grant from Tesla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a typical day, the panels power the church’s classrooms, industrial kitchen, offices, and gym. Excess energy is stored in batteries, which kick in to power the building when the sun goes down. Church trustees estimate they save $20,000 in utility bills annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when there is extreme weather or a power outage, Allen Temple opens their doors for anyone in the community to come in and relax, to charge their cell phones, and to plug in medical equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993745\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The batteries at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Allen Temple’s solar panels, while invisible from below, have had an effect beyond their building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project “made us a model for other churches who were hesitating to pull the trigger or even enter this field,” said Rev. \u003ca href=\"https://www.allen-temple.org/pastoral-team/263-rev-jacqueline-a-thompson\">Jacqueline Thompson\u003c/a>, senior pastor of Allen Temple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But when they saw us navigate into the work, we were able to partner with a lot of folks,” Thompson said. “There are a number of ministries who just needed someone to take the first step that they could trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solar atop prominent nonresidential buildings like churches and schools can “seed” the idea for nearby residents to follow suit, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-energy-policy/articles/10.3389/fsuep.2023.1203517/full\">research\u003c/a> from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For every church-based solar installation, the paper found, roughly four more installations would pop up on homes each year as a result.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have this idea about solar,” said Eric O’Shaughnessy, a research affiliate at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and lead author on the paper. “It’s like one day I wake up and just realize today is the day I’m going to adopt rooftop solar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The research suggests that it’s not. It’s primarily an external motivation that prompts people to adopt. And a point that I often make is if you don’t have that external motivation, you probably are not going to adopt solar,” he said. Enter the church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Houses of worship make up \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ZhPfCpYzGliOpKYWCPf7CGV7pK?domain=eia.gov\">about 3%\u003c/a> of commercial building energy use in the U.S. Beyond seeding solar, they can also demonstrate other energy upgrades like building weatherization and installing heat pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993742\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/07/240729-GREEN-THE-CHURCH-1-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The solar panels installed on the roof of the Allen Temple Baptist Church’s Family Life Center building in Oakland on Aug. 24, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Allen Temple Baptist Church)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>2000 resilience hubs\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The federal government earmarked billions of dollars in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act for disadvantaged communities. Carroll said this creates an opportunity for Green The Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal is to transform 2000 churches into resilience hubs nationally within the next few years — with solar panels, backup batteries, and even EV charging. That’s a step beyond Allen Temple’s current setup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His organization received money from various sources, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/buildings-upgrade-prize-buildings\">Department of Energy\u003c/a>, private companies and local electricity providers, to upgrade Black churches. Expanded \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/directpay/\">tax credits\u003c/a> through the Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s major climate legislation passed in 2022, have also incentivized houses of worship to get solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond solar panels and batteries, Carroll helped churches swap out inefficient, natural gas HVAC systems for heat pumps, which run on electricity. He facilitated projects to install electric vehicle chargers in underutilized parking spaces, both for community members and as a tool for churches to generate income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Black folk just don’t own a lot of buildings,” he said. “We don’t own the soul food restaurant or the funeral home. So when it comes to what we can actually produce and where we have our faith buildings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about billions of dollars that have to come to East 14th [in Oakland], how are they going to spend that money in the community and with the community if it’s not in the places that the community owns?” Carroll said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carroll plans to attend a ribbon cutting for one of the first full resilience hubs in Hayward in November at the Glad Tidings International Church. He has 28 other churches he’s working with in the Bay Area alone that are hoping to follow suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That will be good for cutting emissions and utility bills. Ultimately, though, Carroll said Black churches can elevate restoring the planet as a social issue, much like they did for civil rights in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The planet is our responsibility, and we will come out with the same vigor and vitality that we did in the ’60s on this issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The sand is draining out in the final hours of California’s legislative session, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is locked in a stalemate with lawmakers over a series of energy bills and whether or not to call a special session on high gasoline prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants the Legislature to pass reforms proposed by a state oil industry watchdog tapped to root out price manipulation in the oil market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also on the table are a series of other bills giving one-time credits of about $30 to most California ratepayers, streamlining renewable energy development and increasing oversight of wildfire mitigation spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposals were finalized just before the deadline on Wednesday, and Assembly leaders and environmentalists bristled with what they saw as ramming through a sweeping set of high-stakes policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The context:\u003c/strong> Newsom tapped former antitrust prosecutor Tai Milder to lead the oil watchdog effort. When gas prices surged across California to nearly $6 a gallon last September, Milder’s team blamed the increase, in part, on refiners not maintaining supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the reforms proposed by Milder’s office is a requirement that refineries store a minimum amount of reserve gas. The state’s energy commission \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2024-06/state-officials-provide-update-gasoline-supplies-and-summer-outlook\">has warned that if refineries go offline without an adequate reserve\u003c/a>, then oil and gas inventories drop, leading to price spikes at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry groups and trade associations have said the Newsom administration’s plan could lead to higher gas prices in California. Andy Walz, Chevron’s president of American products, said in a letter to the energy commission that “this bill risks the safety of refinery operations, the orderly functioning of markets and would leave industry and labor experts without a voice in key policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s press team responded by saying “predictable lies” in a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1829591477695217954\">social media post\u003c/a> that included a yawning-face emoji.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"more science coverage\" tag=\"science\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s next:\u003c/strong> Legislators have said they’d like more time to massage out the details of complex legislation. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) backed a special session in a statement released by his office on Friday, indicating that his chamber would not pass the bills by the end of session this weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the Governor calls a special session, we’re going to do the work and deliver results,” he said. “What I’m not going to do is push through bills that haven’t been sufficiently vetted with public hearings. Doing so could lead to unintended consequences on Californians’ pocketbooks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) reportedly stated unequivocally this week that he “will not support convening a special session this fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Warning signs: \u003c/strong>High costs of electricity to power homes and gasoline to fuel cars are on the minds of many Bay Area residents and are a perennial political issue in the Golden State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of the year, for example,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968220/why-your-pge-bill-is-about-to-go-up\"> PG&E ratepayers saw their monthly bills increase\u003c/a> by an average of about $30 to help pay for infrastructure projects, including work on power lines that will reduce the risk of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in May, the California Public Utilities Commission voted in favor of a plan to lower the amount \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992639/california-regulators-approve-adding-24-fixed-fee-to-utility-bills\">Californians pay per kilowatt hour while adding a fixed charge of $24.15\u003c/a>, a move regulators argued would incentivize people to use more clean energy and help pay for modernizing the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoom in:\u003c/strong> The bill to reduce the cost of electricity would see the state send $500 million back to customers via credits but also cut energy programs that advocates said are crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money would come from a fund that, among other things, finances HVAC upgrades in schools and solar on multifamily housing. Customers would pocket between $30 and $50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a tiny drop in the bucket for most people, and we’re cutting programs that are really meaningful to the schools and the affordable housing developers,” said Merrian Borgeson, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s just not worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, agrees the one-time customer rebates are not a lot, but he said they are a meaningful first step. The package will “provide billions of dollars of long-term rate relief” by pressuring utilities like PG&E to make more cost-effective choices like insulating overhead wires rather than burying them to mitigate wildfire risk, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toney said the package will also protect low-income families who are behind on bills or have had their power shut off by offering them more time to pay back what they owe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"more legislature coverage\" tag=\"california-legislature\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoom out:\u003c/strong> Environmental advocates argue that there are a range of causes for high electricity prices, including the increased costs associated with fighting wildfire and modernizing the energy grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This policy proposal will move the needle on some of these challenges, but it also includes damaging cuts to important programs that benefit vulnerable communities,” Borgeson said. “We need comprehensive, long-term policy solutions for an affordable and equitable energy system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s new:\u003c/strong> California Republicans are trying to hang the high price of energy in this state around the neck of Vice President Kamala Harris in an attempt to weigh down her presidential campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong of Bakersfield, in a social media post, criticized Newsom for “intentionally disrupting needed energy production and raising gasoline costs even more in California” and said that he is “following Kamalanomics in pushing terrible policies not grounded in economic reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Politico\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/newsom-harris-gas-price-policy-00176817\">reported\u003c/a> that Republicans in Arizona are warning of “significant adverse impacts on fuel supplies and consumer costs in Arizona” from Newsom’s price gouging proposal.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nThe bottom line: \u003c/strong>The clock is ticking on Newsom and lawmakers to come to some kind of agreement; the legislative session is scheduled to adjourn at the end of the day on Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they can’t hash out some kind of deal, all eyes will be on the Newsom administration to see if it makes good on the promise to schedule a special session for later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The sand is draining out in the final hours of California’s legislative session, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is locked in a stalemate with lawmakers over a series of energy bills and whether or not to call a special session on high gasoline prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants the Legislature to pass reforms proposed by a state oil industry watchdog tapped to root out price manipulation in the oil market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also on the table are a series of other bills giving one-time credits of about $30 to most California ratepayers, streamlining renewable energy development and increasing oversight of wildfire mitigation spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposals were finalized just before the deadline on Wednesday, and Assembly leaders and environmentalists bristled with what they saw as ramming through a sweeping set of high-stakes policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The context:\u003c/strong> Newsom tapped former antitrust prosecutor Tai Milder to lead the oil watchdog effort. When gas prices surged across California to nearly $6 a gallon last September, Milder’s team blamed the increase, in part, on refiners not maintaining supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the reforms proposed by Milder’s office is a requirement that refineries store a minimum amount of reserve gas. The state’s energy commission \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2024-06/state-officials-provide-update-gasoline-supplies-and-summer-outlook\">has warned that if refineries go offline without an adequate reserve\u003c/a>, then oil and gas inventories drop, leading to price spikes at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry groups and trade associations have said the Newsom administration’s plan could lead to higher gas prices in California. Andy Walz, Chevron’s president of American products, said in a letter to the energy commission that “this bill risks the safety of refinery operations, the orderly functioning of markets and would leave industry and labor experts without a voice in key policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s press team responded by saying “predictable lies” in a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1829591477695217954\">social media post\u003c/a> that included a yawning-face emoji.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s next:\u003c/strong> Legislators have said they’d like more time to massage out the details of complex legislation. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) backed a special session in a statement released by his office on Friday, indicating that his chamber would not pass the bills by the end of session this weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the Governor calls a special session, we’re going to do the work and deliver results,” he said. “What I’m not going to do is push through bills that haven’t been sufficiently vetted with public hearings. Doing so could lead to unintended consequences on Californians’ pocketbooks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) reportedly stated unequivocally this week that he “will not support convening a special session this fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Warning signs: \u003c/strong>High costs of electricity to power homes and gasoline to fuel cars are on the minds of many Bay Area residents and are a perennial political issue in the Golden State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of the year, for example,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968220/why-your-pge-bill-is-about-to-go-up\"> PG&E ratepayers saw their monthly bills increase\u003c/a> by an average of about $30 to help pay for infrastructure projects, including work on power lines that will reduce the risk of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in May, the California Public Utilities Commission voted in favor of a plan to lower the amount \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992639/california-regulators-approve-adding-24-fixed-fee-to-utility-bills\">Californians pay per kilowatt hour while adding a fixed charge of $24.15\u003c/a>, a move regulators argued would incentivize people to use more clean energy and help pay for modernizing the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoom in:\u003c/strong> The bill to reduce the cost of electricity would see the state send $500 million back to customers via credits but also cut energy programs that advocates said are crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money would come from a fund that, among other things, finances HVAC upgrades in schools and solar on multifamily housing. Customers would pocket between $30 and $50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a tiny drop in the bucket for most people, and we’re cutting programs that are really meaningful to the schools and the affordable housing developers,” said Merrian Borgeson, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s just not worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, agrees the one-time customer rebates are not a lot, but he said they are a meaningful first step. The package will “provide billions of dollars of long-term rate relief” by pressuring utilities like PG&E to make more cost-effective choices like insulating overhead wires rather than burying them to mitigate wildfire risk, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toney said the package will also protect low-income families who are behind on bills or have had their power shut off by offering them more time to pay back what they owe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoom out:\u003c/strong> Environmental advocates argue that there are a range of causes for high electricity prices, including the increased costs associated with fighting wildfire and modernizing the energy grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This policy proposal will move the needle on some of these challenges, but it also includes damaging cuts to important programs that benefit vulnerable communities,” Borgeson said. “We need comprehensive, long-term policy solutions for an affordable and equitable energy system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s new:\u003c/strong> California Republicans are trying to hang the high price of energy in this state around the neck of Vice President Kamala Harris in an attempt to weigh down her presidential campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong of Bakersfield, in a social media post, criticized Newsom for “intentionally disrupting needed energy production and raising gasoline costs even more in California” and said that he is “following Kamalanomics in pushing terrible policies not grounded in economic reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Politico\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/newsom-harris-gas-price-policy-00176817\">reported\u003c/a> that Republicans in Arizona are warning of “significant adverse impacts on fuel supplies and consumer costs in Arizona” from Newsom’s price gouging proposal.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nThe bottom line: \u003c/strong>The clock is ticking on Newsom and lawmakers to come to some kind of agreement; the legislative session is scheduled to adjourn at the end of the day on Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they can’t hash out some kind of deal, all eyes will be on the Newsom administration to see if it makes good on the promise to schedule a special session for later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "fuel-from-cow-manure-is-a-growing-climate-solution-but-critics-say-communities-put-at-risk",
"title": "Fuel From Cow Manure Is a Growing Climate Solution, but Critics Say Communities Put at Risk",
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"content": "\u003cp>The stench of cow feces, urine and ammonia forces residents to keep windows and doors closed in parts of California’s farming country. Some people constantly run air purifiers at home to counter the smell and, they say, fight off air-related ailments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a lot of health problems going around in this community and most of them are respiratory problems,” said Beverly Whitfield amid dairies in Pixley, a small town in Tulare County. She believes her allergies, her adult son’s asthma and others’ breathing issues are linked to pollution from nearby dairies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial-scale dairy farms already are among the biggest polluters in the San Joaquin Valley, a premier U.S. agricultural region with poor air quality. Now residents like Whitfield worry methane digesters, which can turn manure into a biofuel that is cleaner than traditional fuels like gasoline, could exacerbate health issues. Biofuel experts say digesters can reduce air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993376\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker milks cows at Wickstrom Jersey Farms on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar, Merced County. The farm uses a diary digester to capture methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dairy and digester capital\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Home to about 1.7 million cows, California is the country’s leading dairy producer and a large contributor of methane. Cow burps and manure emit the potent planet-warming gas, which over a shorter period is much more powerful than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent decades, digesters that convert manure and other organic waste into biogas to create electricity or to power vehicles have spread across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number’s expected to grow since \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/NRCS-CSAF-Mitigation-Activities-List.pdf\">waste management practices\u003c/a> such as digesters became eligible for funding from the Inflation Reduction Act — President Joe Biden’s law to combat climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993377\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993377\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robbie Macias, Aemetis vice president of biogas, gestures while demonstrating the strength of a dairy digester with Wickstrom Jersey Farms manager Brent Wickstrom on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar, Merced County. The digester captures methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most digesters are in dairies that capture methane from lagoons of cow manure and turn it into biofuel. Liquified cow manure commonly is stored in a covered digester where microbes from the animals’ digestive systems produce gas. The gas then is cleaned and compressed into a liquid fuel that can be used as an energy source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last decade, about 120 digesters have cropped up across California and roughly 100 more are in the pipeline. But a technology hailed as a cost-effective way to help the state reach its methane reduction goals has become controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice organizations say mostly lower-income, Latino communities are dealing with pollution from nearby digesters, and they want California to stop providing financial incentives for more. Critics also say state policies favor industrial dairies, entrenching unsustainable animal agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rebecca Wolf with the environmental group Food and Water Watch said the state is incentivizing dairies to keep running large operations that already pollute. “You’re never going to stop polluting” with this system in place, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dairies argue the state’s financial \u003ca href=\"https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/6308\">program\u003c/a> plays an important role. “There’s got to be some financial incentive there to give up some portion of your land to operate these systems,” said dairyman Brent Wickstrom, whose digester recently went online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993378\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993378\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A separator removes solids from cow manure as Wickstrom Jersey Farms manager Brent Wickstrom discusses his farm’s dairy digester on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Supporters point to the technology’s effectiveness at mitigating climate change. AgSTAR, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, estimates manure-based digesters reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022. That’s roughly the annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle\">greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> from more than 2 million passenger vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters note that biofuel from methane reduces pollution by replacing fossil fuels like gasoline with cleaner vehicle fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This technology reduces odors and some local air pollutants,” said Sam Wade, director of public policy for the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas. “At the same time, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993380\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993380\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man passes a building on Main St. in Pixley on May 21, 2024. Some residents say dairies located throughout the region produce air pollution that is hurting their community. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dairies, digesters and pollution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Residents near dairies complain about flies and strong odors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the doors open because you’re afraid of all the smells,” said Whitfield, whose family left doors open when they moved to Pixley in the 1970s. “Everything’s changed now with the dairies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some dairies say digester tarps that cover manure reduce smells. “If anything, it should be keeping some of that odor in as opposed to making more,” said Wickstrom, the Merced County dairyman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies have found people living near large dairies can experience fatigue, respiratory problems, burning eyes and runny noses if odors are concentrated enough. A 2017 University of Wisconsin \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880917300701\">study\u003c/a> found digesters can increase ammonia emissions by up to 81%. Ammonia may form fine particulate matter that can enter lungs and the bloodstream. Long-term exposure to particulates has been linked to heart and respiratory issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993382\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993382\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Zipser checks operations at an Aemetis biogas facility in Ceres, Stanislaus County, on May 9, 2024. Local dairies use digesters to capture methane from cow manure which is then piped to the facility for processing. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Having a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is good, but you also want to think about the human health impact,” said lead author Michael A. Holly, an associate professor at the Green Bay campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California air regulators said the Midwest study doesn’t necessarily apply to this state’s different meteorological conditions and types of digesters. They added that studies are underway to understand effects of digesters on ammonia emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231024002632\">recent study\u003c/a> funded by the California Air Resources Board found San Joaquin Valley dairy waste emissions contributed little to ozone and fine particulate matter concentrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993384\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993384\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jersey cows stand in a stall at Wickstrom Jersey Farms on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar. The farm uses a diary digester to capture methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The air quality implications are basically zero, and really we can make a decision about whether or not digesters should be adopted based on greenhouse gas emissions,” said Michael Kleeman, lead study researcher and a University of California, Davis professor. “There’s already so much excess ammonia in the agriculture-rich regions that (digesters) are not going to significantly influence the air quality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maria Arevalo, a 74-year-old activist and former farmworker, believes her asthma and sleep apnea are linked to pollution from dairies near her home in Pixley. She sleeps with a machine to help her breathe. So do her son, 34, and grandson, 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her neighborhood often smells of ammonia, she said, but many families can’t afford air conditioning and open windows to let breeze in. “These dairies shouldn’t be in areas where communities are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993381\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993381\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Environmental activist Maria Arevalo, 74, demonstrates the air machine she uses to treat sleep apnea on May 20, 2024, in Pixley. Arevalo said she believes her asthma and sleep apnea are linked to pollution from numerous dairies near her home. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In her town of about 4,000 there are more cows than people. According to the nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Pixley’s 26 dairies house approximately 140,000 cows. Nine have digesters operating on farms with thousands of animals, according to AgSTAR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, 15 members of Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.booker.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter%20to%20Vilsack%20Re%20Factory%20Farm%20Practices%20Eligibility%20for%20IRA%20Conservation%20Funding.pdf\">wrote (PDF)\u003c/a> opposing USDA’s decision to make some large-scale farming practices, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/NRCS-CSAF-Mitigation-Activities-List.pdf\">roofs and covers (PDF)\u003c/a> for waste management facilities, eligible for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The storage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid manure … pollutes the air and water of surrounding communities,” they said. “This inherently unsustainable manure storage system is only further entrenched by … digesters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993385\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993385\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-2048x1150.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1920x1078.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanks stand at California Dairies Inc. on Monday, May 20, 2024, in Pixley. Industrial-scale dairy farms already are among the biggest polluters in the San Joaquin Valley, a premier US agricultural region with poor air quality. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tradeoffs of a climate solution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found nearly 40% of methane emissions from human activity come from livestock and agriculture. EPA estimates each cow can produce 154 to 264 pounds of methane annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11979516,news_11989505,science_1992348\"]In California, supporters view digesters as important in helping the state meet climate goals and as a source of renewable natural gas for vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biomethane improves air in cities “because trucks don’t emit very much emission at all when they run on natural gas,” said Eric McAfee, CEO of the renewable fuels and biochemicals company Aemetis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joey Airoso, who’s had a digester on his 2,900-cow farm since 2018, found that odors declined and nitrogen-rich remnants could be used as crop fertilizer. “That’s a big deal environmentally because it alleviates extra nitrogen being put on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colin Murphy, from the Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy at UC Davis, said that while digesters have benefits, they don’t solve air pollution “and don’t make it any more pleasant to live near one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993383\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993383\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cows cast shadows on the ground at a Pixley, dairy farm on May 20, 2024. Some residents blame the region’s dairy farms for creating unhealthy air quality. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some valley residents who have complained about odors and respiratory issues say they have been told to move. But many have lived in small, rural towns long before dairies arrived — and relocating is not always financially feasible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are you going to move at? You don’t have money to move,” said Whitfield, the Pixley resident with allergies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California dairy farms are curbing methane emissions by converting cow manure and other organic waste into biomethane for electricity — but environmental groups say it's harming vulnerable communities and entrenching unsustainable animal agriculture.",
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"title": "Fuel From Cow Manure Is a Growing Climate Solution, but Critics Say Communities Put at Risk | KQED",
"description": "California dairy farms are curbing methane emissions by converting cow manure and other organic waste into biomethane for electricity — but environmental groups say it's harming vulnerable communities and entrenching unsustainable animal agriculture.",
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"headline": "Fuel From Cow Manure Is a Growing Climate Solution, but Critics Say Communities Put at Risk",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The stench of cow feces, urine and ammonia forces residents to keep windows and doors closed in parts of California’s farming country. Some people constantly run air purifiers at home to counter the smell and, they say, fight off air-related ailments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a lot of health problems going around in this community and most of them are respiratory problems,” said Beverly Whitfield amid dairies in Pixley, a small town in Tulare County. She believes her allergies, her adult son’s asthma and others’ breathing issues are linked to pollution from nearby dairies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial-scale dairy farms already are among the biggest polluters in the San Joaquin Valley, a premier U.S. agricultural region with poor air quality. Now residents like Whitfield worry methane digesters, which can turn manure into a biofuel that is cleaner than traditional fuels like gasoline, could exacerbate health issues. Biofuel experts say digesters can reduce air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993376\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554454110-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker milks cows at Wickstrom Jersey Farms on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar, Merced County. The farm uses a diary digester to capture methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dairy and digester capital\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Home to about 1.7 million cows, California is the country’s leading dairy producer and a large contributor of methane. Cow burps and manure emit the potent planet-warming gas, which over a shorter period is much more powerful than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent decades, digesters that convert manure and other organic waste into biogas to create electricity or to power vehicles have spread across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number’s expected to grow since \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/NRCS-CSAF-Mitigation-Activities-List.pdf\">waste management practices\u003c/a> such as digesters became eligible for funding from the Inflation Reduction Act — President Joe Biden’s law to combat climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993377\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993377\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554296736-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robbie Macias, Aemetis vice president of biogas, gestures while demonstrating the strength of a dairy digester with Wickstrom Jersey Farms manager Brent Wickstrom on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar, Merced County. The digester captures methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most digesters are in dairies that capture methane from lagoons of cow manure and turn it into biofuel. Liquified cow manure commonly is stored in a covered digester where microbes from the animals’ digestive systems produce gas. The gas then is cleaned and compressed into a liquid fuel that can be used as an energy source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last decade, about 120 digesters have cropped up across California and roughly 100 more are in the pipeline. But a technology hailed as a cost-effective way to help the state reach its methane reduction goals has become controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice organizations say mostly lower-income, Latino communities are dealing with pollution from nearby digesters, and they want California to stop providing financial incentives for more. Critics also say state policies favor industrial dairies, entrenching unsustainable animal agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rebecca Wolf with the environmental group Food and Water Watch said the state is incentivizing dairies to keep running large operations that already pollute. “You’re never going to stop polluting” with this system in place, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dairies argue the state’s financial \u003ca href=\"https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/6308\">program\u003c/a> plays an important role. “There’s got to be some financial incentive there to give up some portion of your land to operate these systems,” said dairyman Brent Wickstrom, whose digester recently went online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993378\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993378\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554342122-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A separator removes solids from cow manure as Wickstrom Jersey Farms manager Brent Wickstrom discusses his farm’s dairy digester on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Supporters point to the technology’s effectiveness at mitigating climate change. AgSTAR, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, estimates manure-based digesters reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022. That’s roughly the annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle\">greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> from more than 2 million passenger vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters note that biofuel from methane reduces pollution by replacing fossil fuels like gasoline with cleaner vehicle fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This technology reduces odors and some local air pollutants,” said Sam Wade, director of public policy for the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas. “At the same time, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993380\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993380\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554390730-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man passes a building on Main St. in Pixley on May 21, 2024. Some residents say dairies located throughout the region produce air pollution that is hurting their community. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dairies, digesters and pollution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Residents near dairies complain about flies and strong odors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the doors open because you’re afraid of all the smells,” said Whitfield, whose family left doors open when they moved to Pixley in the 1970s. “Everything’s changed now with the dairies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some dairies say digester tarps that cover manure reduce smells. “If anything, it should be keeping some of that odor in as opposed to making more,” said Wickstrom, the Merced County dairyman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies have found people living near large dairies can experience fatigue, respiratory problems, burning eyes and runny noses if odors are concentrated enough. A 2017 University of Wisconsin \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880917300701\">study\u003c/a> found digesters can increase ammonia emissions by up to 81%. Ammonia may form fine particulate matter that can enter lungs and the bloodstream. Long-term exposure to particulates has been linked to heart and respiratory issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993382\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993382\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554294688-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Zipser checks operations at an Aemetis biogas facility in Ceres, Stanislaus County, on May 9, 2024. Local dairies use digesters to capture methane from cow manure which is then piped to the facility for processing. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Having a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is good, but you also want to think about the human health impact,” said lead author Michael A. Holly, an associate professor at the Green Bay campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California air regulators said the Midwest study doesn’t necessarily apply to this state’s different meteorological conditions and types of digesters. They added that studies are underway to understand effects of digesters on ammonia emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231024002632\">recent study\u003c/a> funded by the California Air Resources Board found San Joaquin Valley dairy waste emissions contributed little to ozone and fine particulate matter concentrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993384\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993384\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554391800-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jersey cows stand in a stall at Wickstrom Jersey Farms on May 9, 2024, in Hilmar. The farm uses a diary digester to capture methane from cow manure which generates energy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The air quality implications are basically zero, and really we can make a decision about whether or not digesters should be adopted based on greenhouse gas emissions,” said Michael Kleeman, lead study researcher and a University of California, Davis professor. “There’s already so much excess ammonia in the agriculture-rich regions that (digesters) are not going to significantly influence the air quality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maria Arevalo, a 74-year-old activist and former farmworker, believes her asthma and sleep apnea are linked to pollution from dairies near her home in Pixley. She sleeps with a machine to help her breathe. So do her son, 34, and grandson, 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her neighborhood often smells of ammonia, she said, but many families can’t afford air conditioning and open windows to let breeze in. “These dairies shouldn’t be in areas where communities are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993381\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993381\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554260407-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Environmental activist Maria Arevalo, 74, demonstrates the air machine she uses to treat sleep apnea on May 20, 2024, in Pixley. Arevalo said she believes her asthma and sleep apnea are linked to pollution from numerous dairies near her home. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In her town of about 4,000 there are more cows than people. According to the nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Pixley’s 26 dairies house approximately 140,000 cows. Nine have digesters operating on farms with thousands of animals, according to AgSTAR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, 15 members of Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.booker.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter%20to%20Vilsack%20Re%20Factory%20Farm%20Practices%20Eligibility%20for%20IRA%20Conservation%20Funding.pdf\">wrote (PDF)\u003c/a> opposing USDA’s decision to make some large-scale farming practices, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/NRCS-CSAF-Mitigation-Activities-List.pdf\">roofs and covers (PDF)\u003c/a> for waste management facilities, eligible for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The storage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid manure … pollutes the air and water of surrounding communities,” they said. “This inherently unsustainable manure storage system is only further entrenched by … digesters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993385\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993385\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-2048x1150.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554298311-1920x1078.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanks stand at California Dairies Inc. on Monday, May 20, 2024, in Pixley. Industrial-scale dairy farms already are among the biggest polluters in the San Joaquin Valley, a premier US agricultural region with poor air quality. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tradeoffs of a climate solution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found nearly 40% of methane emissions from human activity come from livestock and agriculture. EPA estimates each cow can produce 154 to 264 pounds of methane annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In California, supporters view digesters as important in helping the state meet climate goals and as a source of renewable natural gas for vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biomethane improves air in cities “because trucks don’t emit very much emission at all when they run on natural gas,” said Eric McAfee, CEO of the renewable fuels and biochemicals company Aemetis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joey Airoso, who’s had a digester on his 2,900-cow farm since 2018, found that odors declined and nitrogen-rich remnants could be used as crop fertilizer. “That’s a big deal environmentally because it alleviates extra nitrogen being put on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colin Murphy, from the Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy at UC Davis, said that while digesters have benefits, they don’t solve air pollution “and don’t make it any more pleasant to live near one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1993383\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1993383\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/AP24164554340382-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cows cast shadows on the ground at a Pixley, dairy farm on May 20, 2024. Some residents blame the region’s dairy farms for creating unhealthy air quality. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some valley residents who have complained about odors and respiratory issues say they have been told to move. But many have lived in small, rural towns long before dairies arrived — and relocating is not always financially feasible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are you going to move at? You don’t have money to move,” said Whitfield, the Pixley resident with allergies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Is It Time for an Essential California Energy Code to Get a Climate Edit?",
"headTitle": "Is It Time for an Essential California Energy Code to Get a Climate Edit? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Reducing gas use in buildings is tricky for lots of reasons. One of them is a California public utility code that you’ve probably never given much thought to. It’s referred to as the “\u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2022/code-puc/division-1/part-1/chapter-3/article-1/section-451/\">obligation to serve.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California requires that its public utilities provide service — whether that’s gas or electricity — to every customer who wants it at rates regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crux of the code is only a few words: “Every public utility shall furnish and maintain such adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine)\"]‘It allows utilities, when reasonable, to phase out natural gas provision and switch over to all-electric when that makes economic sense when most of the residents want that.’[/pullquote]But it’s important because even if you live far from other homes, in a high-wildfire-risk area, for example, utilities must serve you, despite how much it will cost them. In turn, the state grants utilities a monopoly in a specific region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as the state races to cut greenhouse gas emissions from homes and commercial buildings, this code — born of good intention — has become a roadblock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the simple reason of the holdout, if nearly an entire neighborhood wants to go electric and swap their gas appliances for equivalent electric ones, but one person does not, utilities will maintain the entire gas line for this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"science_1991664,science_1992085,forum_2010101894437\" label=\"Related Stories\"]That’s because utilities worry courts will interpret the obligation to serve to mean that they must offer both gas and electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/publications/removing-legal-barriers-to-building-electrification/\">Stanford legal scholars wrote, \u003c/a>“Precedent in California has not precisely outlined whether and how utilities can substitute electricity service for natural gas service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The obligation to serve] is a major impediment to electrification, or at least trying to do it in an orderly way that avoids unneeded new investments in gas pipelines,” Matt Vespa, senior attorney at Earthjustice, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How do we address this challenge?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The legislature probably needs to pass a law to clarify it,” said lawyer Michael Wara, Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford, “to create the kind of certainty that you’re going to need for companies to be okay abandoning [gas] infrastructure in the way that they’re going to have to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 683px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992352\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of gas and oil pipelines by a small body of water and grassy landscape.\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg 683w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oil and gas pipelines run through the Delta near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers as viewed from the air on May 22, 2023, near Rio Vista. \u003ccite>(George Rose/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the past two years, Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) has introduced \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1221\">legislation \u003c/a>to do just that. The bill he introduced last year started broadly but narrowed its scope as it went through the legislature and ultimately died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1221\">This year’s newly introduced bill\u003c/a>, in its current form, would add a specific line to the state’s public utility code saying that a gas corporation could “cease providing service if adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available” that would support the end use the customer wants, like heating or cooling their home or cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It phases out some of the regulatory obstacles of switching to all-electric,” Min said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This basically allows us to start shifting over,” Min said. “It allows utilities, when reasonable, to phase out natural gas provision and switch over to all-electric when that makes economic sense when most of the residents want that. But it addresses the holdout problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The background\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California homes and buildings are typically powered in two ways: by electricity and gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those systems are increasingly duplicative. Electric heat pumps can replace gas-powered space and water heaters. Electric clothes dryers can do the job of gas-powered ones. And electric and induction stoves, though wrapped up in the whirlwind of a culture war, are an alternative to their gas counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/building-decarbonization\">A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes\u003c/a>, businesses and the energy used to power them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the state moves towards its goal of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/16/california-releases-worlds-first-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-pollution/\">carbon neutrality by 2045\u003c/a>, researchers and advocates are advising policymakers, regulators and utilities to facilitate significant reductions in the use of gas to power buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A haphazard approach to electrification will lead to higher gas bills… mostly for low-income people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Building electrification is mostly happening disjointedly right now. It’s based on the desires and finances of building owners. There have been a few projects where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">communities have tried to ditch gas altogether\u003c/a>, but these efforts are nascent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As more people electrify, fewer people use the gas system, which operates at a high, fixed cost that consumers pay. A high cost spread across fewer people means more enormous bills, largely for low-income people who rent or cannot afford to electrify their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One approach to managing costs for ratepayers on the gas system is to strategically retire gas lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If every other home in California is electrified, you would still have to have the same size gas system,” said Mike Florio, former CPUC Commissioner and current energy consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But if you can electrify an entire neighborhood or community, then those pipes can be retired and you shrink the system and lower the cost of the system,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year, hundreds of miles of gas pipelines must be replaced for safety. And in some cases, it would be cheaper for the utility to pay the full cost of electrifying homes along that line rather than spend millions to replace it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sound like something that will never happen? PG&E has quietly executed more than a hundred of these projects since 2018. The idea is called “targeted electrification” and has been mostly limited to a small number of homes or businesses in rural locations at the end of long gas lines in need of repair. In most cases, it is cheaper for PG&E, and therefore their ratepayers, if the company pays to fully electrify customers on these lines and retire rather than replace them.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California’s 'obligation to serve' requires utilities to supply people with energy. However, in its current form, some think this code stands in the way of rapid, equitable and cost-effective decarbonization. New legislation may be the answer.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Reducing gas use in buildings is tricky for lots of reasons. One of them is a California public utility code that you’ve probably never given much thought to. It’s referred to as the “\u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2022/code-puc/division-1/part-1/chapter-3/article-1/section-451/\">obligation to serve.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California requires that its public utilities provide service — whether that’s gas or electricity — to every customer who wants it at rates regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crux of the code is only a few words: “Every public utility shall furnish and maintain such adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the simple reason of the holdout, if nearly an entire neighborhood wants to go electric and swap their gas appliances for equivalent electric ones, but one person does not, utilities will maintain the entire gas line for this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s because utilities worry courts will interpret the obligation to serve to mean that they must offer both gas and electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/publications/removing-legal-barriers-to-building-electrification/\">Stanford legal scholars wrote, \u003c/a>“Precedent in California has not precisely outlined whether and how utilities can substitute electricity service for natural gas service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The obligation to serve] is a major impediment to electrification, or at least trying to do it in an orderly way that avoids unneeded new investments in gas pipelines,” Matt Vespa, senior attorney at Earthjustice, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How do we address this challenge?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The legislature probably needs to pass a law to clarify it,” said lawyer Michael Wara, Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford, “to create the kind of certainty that you’re going to need for companies to be okay abandoning [gas] infrastructure in the way that they’re going to have to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 683px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992352\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of gas and oil pipelines by a small body of water and grassy landscape.\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498.jpg 683w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/04/GettyImages-1495707498-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oil and gas pipelines run through the Delta near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers as viewed from the air on May 22, 2023, near Rio Vista. \u003ccite>(George Rose/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the past two years, Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) has introduced \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1221\">legislation \u003c/a>to do just that. The bill he introduced last year started broadly but narrowed its scope as it went through the legislature and ultimately died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1221\">This year’s newly introduced bill\u003c/a>, in its current form, would add a specific line to the state’s public utility code saying that a gas corporation could “cease providing service if adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available” that would support the end use the customer wants, like heating or cooling their home or cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It phases out some of the regulatory obstacles of switching to all-electric,” Min said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This basically allows us to start shifting over,” Min said. “It allows utilities, when reasonable, to phase out natural gas provision and switch over to all-electric when that makes economic sense when most of the residents want that. But it addresses the holdout problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The background\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California homes and buildings are typically powered in two ways: by electricity and gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those systems are increasingly duplicative. Electric heat pumps can replace gas-powered space and water heaters. Electric clothes dryers can do the job of gas-powered ones. And electric and induction stoves, though wrapped up in the whirlwind of a culture war, are an alternative to their gas counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/building-decarbonization\">A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes\u003c/a>, businesses and the energy used to power them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the state moves towards its goal of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/16/california-releases-worlds-first-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-pollution/\">carbon neutrality by 2045\u003c/a>, researchers and advocates are advising policymakers, regulators and utilities to facilitate significant reductions in the use of gas to power buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A haphazard approach to electrification will lead to higher gas bills… mostly for low-income people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Building electrification is mostly happening disjointedly right now. It’s based on the desires and finances of building owners. There have been a few projects where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">communities have tried to ditch gas altogether\u003c/a>, but these efforts are nascent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As more people electrify, fewer people use the gas system, which operates at a high, fixed cost that consumers pay. A high cost spread across fewer people means more enormous bills, largely for low-income people who rent or cannot afford to electrify their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One approach to managing costs for ratepayers on the gas system is to strategically retire gas lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If every other home in California is electrified, you would still have to have the same size gas system,” said Mike Florio, former CPUC Commissioner and current energy consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But if you can electrify an entire neighborhood or community, then those pipes can be retired and you shrink the system and lower the cost of the system,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year, hundreds of miles of gas pipelines must be replaced for safety. And in some cases, it would be cheaper for the utility to pay the full cost of electrifying homes along that line rather than spend millions to replace it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sound like something that will never happen? PG&E has quietly executed more than a hundred of these projects since 2018. The idea is called “targeted electrification” and has been mostly limited to a small number of homes or businesses in rural locations at the end of long gas lines in need of repair. In most cases, it is cheaper for PG&E, and therefore their ratepayers, if the company pays to fully electrify customers on these lines and retire rather than replace them.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Is Alameda County Considering Repealing Its Fracking Ban?",
"headTitle": "Why Is Alameda County Considering Repealing Its Fracking Ban? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is considering a repeal of the region’s first fracking ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County was the first in the Bay Area to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11026152/alameda-county-becomes-first-bay-area-ban-fracking\">halt high-intensity oil and gas operations back in 2016\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, county officials believe those regulations may have been invalidated when the California Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/monterey-county-oil-drilling-18277282.php\">struck down a similar policy in Monterey County last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2016, residents of Monterey County approved Measure Z with 56% of the vote, which prohibited both wastewater injection from oil and gas operations and the drilling of new wells. Community groups pushed for the measure and hoped that it would prevent the use of hydraulic fracturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron and other fossil fuel industry companies opposed it and later sued the county, which halted enforcement as the issue worked its way through the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August of last year, the state Supreme Court in \u003cem>Chevron USA Inc. v. County of Monterey\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://tmsnrt.rs/47tzc2e\">unanimously sided with the industry groups\u003c/a>, ruling that state regulators, and not local governments, have the authority to regulate the methods for oil and gas extraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, supervisors in Alameda County have \u003ca href=\"http://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaReg_4_1_24/GENERAL%20ADMINISTRATION/Regular%20Calendar/Item_3_Ordinance_repeal_17_06_100_140.pdf\">drafted a repeal of their fracking ban\u003c/a>, which outlines a view that, based on the court ruling, the county’s law “is preempted by state law and should be repealed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors were scheduled to debate it on Monday during a planning committee hearing but tabled it without discussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollin Kretzmann, senior attorney with the Centers for Biological Diversity, said the Monterey County court case has had a “chilling effect for local governments because it’s very unclear after the court case what is allowed and what is not allowed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that Alameda County’s ordinance is crafted differently from Measure Z and could still be within local control “because fracking has its own provisions in state law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cities and counties have had decades of oil and gas ordinances on the books, not just Alameda County, but Ventura and Los Angeles,” he said. “All of these [jurisdictions] have had decades worth of regulations. Some banned oil and gas altogether. They are all beginning to take a second look at that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='fracking']Kretzmann said each of the local ordinances should be evaluated independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For that reason, his group sponsored \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB3233/id/2966080#:~:text=This%20bill%20would%20authorize%20a,issued%20by%20the%20supervisor%20or\">Assembly Bill 3233\u003c/a>, a new bill allowing local governments to prohibit oil and gas operations, methods, and locations within their jurisdiction. The bill was introduced last month by Democratic Assemblymember Dawn Addis, whose district includes portions of Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Addis said that pollution from oil and gas production hurts the health of Californians and harms the environment and climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As California transitions away from its dependency on fossil fuels, more cities and counties have introduced ordinances to ban oil and gas operations,” she said. “Assembly Bill 3233 uplifts the voices of our local communities by codifying their right to enact these policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County’s fracking ban was always largely symbolic. When it passed back about eight years ago, the county only had one oil generator, E&B Natural Resources, which didn’t use fracking. That operation has since wound down, and there is no active oil and gas drilling in the county. The company did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kretzmann said Alameda County residents would benefit from the assurances of a fracking ban and similar restrictions on high-intensity oil and gas development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking that off the books after people work so hard to get that in place, understandably makes people nervous about what’s going to happen with the future of Alameda County,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, regulators at the Geologic Energy Management Division have issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article285393757.html#storylink=cpy\">draft rule that said they will cease to approve hydraulic fracturing permits\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is considering a repeal of the region’s first fracking ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County was the first in the Bay Area to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11026152/alameda-county-becomes-first-bay-area-ban-fracking\">halt high-intensity oil and gas operations back in 2016\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, county officials believe those regulations may have been invalidated when the California Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/monterey-county-oil-drilling-18277282.php\">struck down a similar policy in Monterey County last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2016, residents of Monterey County approved Measure Z with 56% of the vote, which prohibited both wastewater injection from oil and gas operations and the drilling of new wells. Community groups pushed for the measure and hoped that it would prevent the use of hydraulic fracturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron and other fossil fuel industry companies opposed it and later sued the county, which halted enforcement as the issue worked its way through the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August of last year, the state Supreme Court in \u003cem>Chevron USA Inc. v. County of Monterey\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://tmsnrt.rs/47tzc2e\">unanimously sided with the industry groups\u003c/a>, ruling that state regulators, and not local governments, have the authority to regulate the methods for oil and gas extraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, supervisors in Alameda County have \u003ca href=\"http://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaReg_4_1_24/GENERAL%20ADMINISTRATION/Regular%20Calendar/Item_3_Ordinance_repeal_17_06_100_140.pdf\">drafted a repeal of their fracking ban\u003c/a>, which outlines a view that, based on the court ruling, the county’s law “is preempted by state law and should be repealed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors were scheduled to debate it on Monday during a planning committee hearing but tabled it without discussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollin Kretzmann, senior attorney with the Centers for Biological Diversity, said the Monterey County court case has had a “chilling effect for local governments because it’s very unclear after the court case what is allowed and what is not allowed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that Alameda County’s ordinance is crafted differently from Measure Z and could still be within local control “because fracking has its own provisions in state law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cities and counties have had decades of oil and gas ordinances on the books, not just Alameda County, but Ventura and Los Angeles,” he said. “All of these [jurisdictions] have had decades worth of regulations. Some banned oil and gas altogether. They are all beginning to take a second look at that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kretzmann said each of the local ordinances should be evaluated independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For that reason, his group sponsored \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB3233/id/2966080#:~:text=This%20bill%20would%20authorize%20a,issued%20by%20the%20supervisor%20or\">Assembly Bill 3233\u003c/a>, a new bill allowing local governments to prohibit oil and gas operations, methods, and locations within their jurisdiction. The bill was introduced last month by Democratic Assemblymember Dawn Addis, whose district includes portions of Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Addis said that pollution from oil and gas production hurts the health of Californians and harms the environment and climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As California transitions away from its dependency on fossil fuels, more cities and counties have introduced ordinances to ban oil and gas operations,” she said. “Assembly Bill 3233 uplifts the voices of our local communities by codifying their right to enact these policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County’s fracking ban was always largely symbolic. When it passed back about eight years ago, the county only had one oil generator, E&B Natural Resources, which didn’t use fracking. That operation has since wound down, and there is no active oil and gas drilling in the county. The company did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kretzmann said Alameda County residents would benefit from the assurances of a fracking ban and similar restrictions on high-intensity oil and gas development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking that off the books after people work so hard to get that in place, understandably makes people nervous about what’s going to happen with the future of Alameda County,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, regulators at the Geologic Energy Management Division have issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article285393757.html#storylink=cpy\">draft rule that said they will cease to approve hydraulic fracturing permits\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Francisco Will Continue Enforcing New-Building Gas Ban Despite Berkeley's Repeal of Similar Rules",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley was the first city in the nation to ban natural gas piping from being installed into new buildings, a progressive policy that quickly spread to other municipalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as that city abandons its bellwether policy, San Francisco’s version of the all-electric building code may endure — at least for now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco officials told KQED that the city would continue prohibiting gas hookups in new housing and commercial construction, even after Berkeley agreed last week to repeal its hard-fought ban as part of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calrest.org/news/california-restaurant-association-and-berkeley-settle-gas-ban-lawsuit-berkeley-will-not-enforce\">settlement with the California Restaurant Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one has come to us asking us to change or repeal our law,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who proposed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/all-electric-new-construction-ordinance#:~:text=All%20new%20construction%20must%20use,systems%20must%20be%20all%2Delectric.\">San Francisco’s 2020 policy\u003c/a>. “We will continue to enforce it, continue to implement it, consistent with this court decision in the Berkeley case. We think we can do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The powerful state restaurant group challenged the legality of Berkeley’s regulations, arguing the city overstepped its authority \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11946999/court-strikes-down-berkeleys-landmark-ban-on-natural-gas-in-new-construction\">in violation of a nearly 50-year-old U.S. law\u003c/a> authorizing federal officials to set national efficiency standards. Last April, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed and struck down the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11947150/socalgas-helped-bankroll-law-firms-fight-against-berkeley-natural-gas-ban\">subsequently reported\u003c/a> that SoCalGas, the nation’s largest natural gas utility, billed a ratepayer account more than $1 million to help bankroll the law firm that successfully challenged Berkeley’s gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the full appeals court \u003ca href=\"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=0000018c-cb3f-db9e-abbf-ffbf166e0000\">declined Berkeley’s request\u003c/a> to reconsider the ruling, prompting the city to agree to stop enforcing the policy and begin the legal process of repealing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court’s denial for a rehearing “left us with very few options to seek review,” Stefan Elgstrand, the mayor’s legislative aide, said in an email on Tuesday. “However, the ruling leaves open many policymaking avenues for Berkeley to address environmental and public health hazards within its borders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the setback, he added, “Berkeley will continue to lead in climate action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the city’s legal saga began nearly five years ago, dozens of other cities in California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, have passed similar measures to prohibit gas lines in new construction projects. And both \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/bay-area-regulators-vote-end-sales-key-gas-home-17836615.php\">Bay Area\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/california-will-ban-the-sale-of-natural-gas-17460877.php\">statewide\u003c/a> air regulators last year issued rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered furnaces and water heaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the court struck down Berkeley’s law last year, however, a number of other jurisdictions that initially followed the city’s lead in limiting natural gas in new construction have since suspended enforcement of their bans — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991664/san-mateo-contra-costa-pause-natural-gas-bans-for-new-buildings\">San Mateo and Contra Costa counties\u003c/a> and the cities of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article287006140.html\">Sacramento\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2023/06/14/santa-cruz-city-council-suspends-natural-gas-ordinance/\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>. Other cities that have recently enacted gas bans, like San José, say they are evaluating the implications of the court’s ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jot Condie, CEO of the restaurant association, said in a statement that his group is encouraged that Berkeley finally agreed to repeal its ordinance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every city and county in California that has passed a similar ordinance should follow their lead,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But San Francisco officials believe the city may be inoculated from a lawsuit because of the policy’s focus on building safety and because it allows some restaurants and other businesses in new buildings to opt out of the regulation — even though none have yet to do so, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were, frankly, a more robust set of off ramps [in San Francisco’s legislation] and ways for people to seek exemptions, including exemptions for restaurants,” Mandelman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups insist that the court ruling against Berkeley’s policy won’t stop the growing electrification movement and are urging municipalities to continue transitioning away from fossil fuels in new construction in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thankfully, since 2019, cities and local air quality agencies have developed a wide variety of policy paths to move forward, from energy codes to air quality protections, to protect their residents and help us all step into a zero-emissions future,” Matt Vespa, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, said in a statement. “The future is clean energy, and nothing can hold that back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley was the first city in the nation to ban natural gas piping from being installed into new buildings, a progressive policy that quickly spread to other municipalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as that city abandons its bellwether policy, San Francisco’s version of the all-electric building code may endure — at least for now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco officials told KQED that the city would continue prohibiting gas hookups in new housing and commercial construction, even after Berkeley agreed last week to repeal its hard-fought ban as part of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calrest.org/news/california-restaurant-association-and-berkeley-settle-gas-ban-lawsuit-berkeley-will-not-enforce\">settlement with the California Restaurant Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one has come to us asking us to change or repeal our law,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who proposed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/all-electric-new-construction-ordinance#:~:text=All%20new%20construction%20must%20use,systems%20must%20be%20all%2Delectric.\">San Francisco’s 2020 policy\u003c/a>. “We will continue to enforce it, continue to implement it, consistent with this court decision in the Berkeley case. We think we can do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The powerful state restaurant group challenged the legality of Berkeley’s regulations, arguing the city overstepped its authority \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11946999/court-strikes-down-berkeleys-landmark-ban-on-natural-gas-in-new-construction\">in violation of a nearly 50-year-old U.S. law\u003c/a> authorizing federal officials to set national efficiency standards. Last April, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed and struck down the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11947150/socalgas-helped-bankroll-law-firms-fight-against-berkeley-natural-gas-ban\">subsequently reported\u003c/a> that SoCalGas, the nation’s largest natural gas utility, billed a ratepayer account more than $1 million to help bankroll the law firm that successfully challenged Berkeley’s gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the full appeals court \u003ca href=\"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=0000018c-cb3f-db9e-abbf-ffbf166e0000\">declined Berkeley’s request\u003c/a> to reconsider the ruling, prompting the city to agree to stop enforcing the policy and begin the legal process of repealing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court’s denial for a rehearing “left us with very few options to seek review,” Stefan Elgstrand, the mayor’s legislative aide, said in an email on Tuesday. “However, the ruling leaves open many policymaking avenues for Berkeley to address environmental and public health hazards within its borders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the setback, he added, “Berkeley will continue to lead in climate action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the city’s legal saga began nearly five years ago, dozens of other cities in California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, have passed similar measures to prohibit gas lines in new construction projects. And both \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/bay-area-regulators-vote-end-sales-key-gas-home-17836615.php\">Bay Area\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/california-will-ban-the-sale-of-natural-gas-17460877.php\">statewide\u003c/a> air regulators last year issued rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered furnaces and water heaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the court struck down Berkeley’s law last year, however, a number of other jurisdictions that initially followed the city’s lead in limiting natural gas in new construction have since suspended enforcement of their bans — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991664/san-mateo-contra-costa-pause-natural-gas-bans-for-new-buildings\">San Mateo and Contra Costa counties\u003c/a> and the cities of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article287006140.html\">Sacramento\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2023/06/14/santa-cruz-city-council-suspends-natural-gas-ordinance/\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>. Other cities that have recently enacted gas bans, like San José, say they are evaluating the implications of the court’s ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jot Condie, CEO of the restaurant association, said in a statement that his group is encouraged that Berkeley finally agreed to repeal its ordinance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every city and county in California that has passed a similar ordinance should follow their lead,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But San Francisco officials believe the city may be inoculated from a lawsuit because of the policy’s focus on building safety and because it allows some restaurants and other businesses in new buildings to opt out of the regulation — even though none have yet to do so, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were, frankly, a more robust set of off ramps [in San Francisco’s legislation] and ways for people to seek exemptions, including exemptions for restaurants,” Mandelman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups insist that the court ruling against Berkeley’s policy won’t stop the growing electrification movement and are urging municipalities to continue transitioning away from fossil fuels in new construction in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thankfully, since 2019, cities and local air quality agencies have developed a wide variety of policy paths to move forward, from energy codes to air quality protections, to protect their residents and help us all step into a zero-emissions future,” Matt Vespa, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, said in a statement. “The future is clean energy, and nothing can hold that back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Releases Formal Proposal to End Fracking in the State",
"headTitle": "California Releases Formal Proposal to End Fracking in the State | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California oil and gas regulators have formally released \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Pages/Oil,-Gas,-and-Geothermal-Rulemaking-and-Laws.aspx\">their plan\u003c/a> to phase out fracking three years after essentially halting new permits for the practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/1.%20WST%20Text%20of%20the%20Regulation.pdf\">wrote that they would not approve (PDF)\u003c/a> applications for permits for well stimulation treatments like fracking to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/3.%20WST%20Initial%20Statement%20of%20Reasons.pdf\">prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources (PDF)\u003c/a>” in addition to protecting public health and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/04/23/governor-newsom-takes-action-to-phase-out-oil-extraction-in-california/\">in a statement in 2021\u003c/a> when he initiated regulatory action to phase out new fracking permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hydraulic fracturing injects liquids, mostly water, underground at high pressure to extract oil or gas. Oil companies say fracking has been done safely for years under state regulation and that a ban should come from the Legislature, not a state agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Chirag Bhakta, California director, Food & Water Watch\"]‘Fracking is a very dangerous, climate-change-accelerating, water-polluting, earthquake-causing process. … We’re really happy that California is finally taking the formal steps to officially ban some fracking in the state.’[/pullquote]“These things truly exceed the limits of CalGEM’s legal authority,” said Kevin Slagle, vice president of strategy and communications at the Western States Petroleum Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slagle said the policy would include trade-offs for the state’s energy supplies. “They have been rapidly shrinking under this administration. And when you shrink supplies, that typically means higher costs for consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, environmental groups say fracking pollutes groundwater and the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fracking is a very dangerous, climate-change-accelerating, water-polluting, earthquake-causing process,” said Chirag Bhakta, California director at the environmental group Food & Water Watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really happy that California is finally taking the formal steps to officially ban some fracking in the state,” Bhakta said. But he said the proposed regulations do not address other widely-used well-stimulation methods such as steam injection fracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This move will likely rekindle a longstanding debate over whether to continue producing oil in Kern County, where most of the state’s fracking occurs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/4.%20WST%20Standardized%20Regulatory%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf\">State analysis (PDF)\u003c/a> said the new plan would hurt the county’s economy and significantly lower their property tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Maricruz Ramirez, a community organizer with the nonprofit Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, who is based in Kern County, applauded the move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fracking has long posed a threat to public health, clean air, and water. Banning it in California prioritizes communities over the oil industry, especially in Kern County,” Ramirez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has not approved fracking permits in the last three years, and oil and gas representatives say the state agency has overstepped its authority and that a ban on fracking should be in the hands of the Legislature instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The public can comment on the proposal until 11:50 p.m. on March 27. Comments can be submitted by email to calgemregulations@conservation.ca.gov or by mail to the Department of Conservation, 715 P Street, MS 19-07 Sacramento, CA 95814, ATTN: Well Stimulation Permitting Phase-Out.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on March 26. You can register \u003ca href=\"https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zermeFDRJGhlZLJpLZrAA\">here\u003c/a> or join by telephone:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cem>404-443-6397 (English), \u003c/em>\u003cem>877-336-1831 (English), Conf Code: 148676 \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>888-455-1820 (Español), Código: 3167375\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom follows up on his 2021 vision to permanently end fracking in California in pursuit of California’s target of 100% clean energy by 2045.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California oil and gas regulators have formally released \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Pages/Oil,-Gas,-and-Geothermal-Rulemaking-and-Laws.aspx\">their plan\u003c/a> to phase out fracking three years after essentially halting new permits for the practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/1.%20WST%20Text%20of%20the%20Regulation.pdf\">wrote that they would not approve (PDF)\u003c/a> applications for permits for well stimulation treatments like fracking to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/3.%20WST%20Initial%20Statement%20of%20Reasons.pdf\">prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources (PDF)\u003c/a>” in addition to protecting public health and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/04/23/governor-newsom-takes-action-to-phase-out-oil-extraction-in-california/\">in a statement in 2021\u003c/a> when he initiated regulatory action to phase out new fracking permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hydraulic fracturing injects liquids, mostly water, underground at high pressure to extract oil or gas. Oil companies say fracking has been done safely for years under state regulation and that a ban should come from the Legislature, not a state agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Fracking is a very dangerous, climate-change-accelerating, water-polluting, earthquake-causing process. … We’re really happy that California is finally taking the formal steps to officially ban some fracking in the state.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These things truly exceed the limits of CalGEM’s legal authority,” said Kevin Slagle, vice president of strategy and communications at the Western States Petroleum Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slagle said the policy would include trade-offs for the state’s energy supplies. “They have been rapidly shrinking under this administration. And when you shrink supplies, that typically means higher costs for consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, environmental groups say fracking pollutes groundwater and the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fracking is a very dangerous, climate-change-accelerating, water-polluting, earthquake-causing process,” said Chirag Bhakta, California director at the environmental group Food & Water Watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really happy that California is finally taking the formal steps to officially ban some fracking in the state,” Bhakta said. But he said the proposed regulations do not address other widely-used well-stimulation methods such as steam injection fracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This move will likely rekindle a longstanding debate over whether to continue producing oil in Kern County, where most of the state’s fracking occurs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Documents/4.%20WST%20Standardized%20Regulatory%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf\">State analysis (PDF)\u003c/a> said the new plan would hurt the county’s economy and significantly lower their property tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Maricruz Ramirez, a community organizer with the nonprofit Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, who is based in Kern County, applauded the move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fracking has long posed a threat to public health, clean air, and water. Banning it in California prioritizes communities over the oil industry, especially in Kern County,” Ramirez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has not approved fracking permits in the last three years, and oil and gas representatives say the state agency has overstepped its authority and that a ban on fracking should be in the hands of the Legislature instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The public can comment on the proposal until 11:50 p.m. on March 27. Comments can be submitted by email to calgemregulations@conservation.ca.gov or by mail to the Department of Conservation, 715 P Street, MS 19-07 Sacramento, CA 95814, ATTN: Well Stimulation Permitting Phase-Out.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on March 26. You can register \u003ca href=\"https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zermeFDRJGhlZLJpLZrAA\">here\u003c/a> or join by telephone:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cem>404-443-6397 (English), \u003c/em>\u003cem>877-336-1831 (English), Conf Code: 148676 \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>888-455-1820 (Español), Código: 3167375\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Solar Customers, Industry Brace for Impact of Reduced State Incentives",
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"content": "\u003cp>Caitlin Quinn remembers seeing the first solar panels go up in Petaluma City Schools as a high school student. The panels helped “normalize” green energy and were a learning opportunity, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Quinn is the school district’s board president, where she is exploring opportunities to install more solar. Already, solar energy accounts for between about 40% and 70% of energy use per campus. But she’s worried that a state decision to reduce rooftop solar incentives could drive up costs and hurt the district’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it better to keep investing in solar when it saves less money or pay our teachers enough so they can afford to live in Sonoma County?” she said. “These are not decisions we want to be making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Caitlin Quinn, board president, Petaluma City Schools\"]‘Is it better to keep investing in solar when it saves less money or pay our teachers enough so they can afford to live in Sonoma County? These are not decisions we want to be making.’[/pullquote]Starting Valentine’s Day, a controversial new rate will take effect across California, reducing the cost savings of installing solar for customers with more than one electric meter, a category that includes many schools, apartment buildings and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New customers will be credited about 80% less for the energy they produce and sell back to the grid, according to solar advocates. Additionally, most non-residential customers with more than one meter will be charged for the electricity they consume at full retail price, even during the sunny hours when their equipment is generating power. Meanwhile, the solar energy they generate is sold back to their provider at a reduced rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the California Public Utilities Commission assumes that electricity generated by solar homes is used on-site and doesn’t require customers to be charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solar advocates said that these changes will further drive down demand for solar, putting additional strain on an industry that has suffered since a similar policy went into effect for homeowners last April. These changes could also threaten the state’s efforts to meet its goal of 100% clean power by 2045, solar advocates said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is sabotaging its clean energy goals with this decision,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC, on the other hand, described the changes as an effort to “modernize” solar regulations. (The regulatory agency did not respond to questions sent by KQED and instead directed the publication to two \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M520/K893/520893708.PDF\">press\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/energy-division/documents/net-energy-metering-nem/nemrevisit/vnem-pd-fact-sheet-update-111323.pdf\">releases [PDFs]\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11963769,news_11969614,science_1985611\"]The commission has in the past argued that the reduced rates better reflect the true value that solar customers provide to the grid and could temper the state’s soaring electricity bills, which are some of the highest in the country. The changes are also designed to incentivize customers to install battery storage, which could bolster grid reliability, the commission said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy experts said these goals have merit: “In order to achieve our renewable goals, we need to build a lot of solar, period,” said Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy policy program at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “But we need to make sure we do it in a way that’s fair and equitable for all Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara said the previous rates did not reflect the cost solar customers impose on the grid by using it as a “giant battery” — feeding power into it in the daytime and taking it out at night. He said the old incentives shifted costs onto customers without solar, contributing to rate increases, which disproportionately affect Californians with lower incomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commission officials’ rationale has not appeased the broad coalition of groups that assembled to oppose the new regulations, which regulators unanimously approved in November and are taking effect after a 90-day grace period. Climate advocacy groups, farmers, school districts and elected officials all \u003ca href=\"https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-makes-it-harder-for-schools-farms-and-rental-housing-to-go-solar\">wrote\u003c/a> to regulators in advance of the decision, detailing the ways the changes would hurt their ability to install solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Unified School District Board President Sam Davis said the district’s goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2030 and completing new school construction and renovation with high environmental standards is a “no-brainer.” But the new rates, he said, will make it harder to afford additional solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels very hypocritical,” he said of the state’s latest policy change. “We say we’re about building a green economy and addressing climate change, but then we’re not supporting school districts’ ability to put in green infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reduced incentives could also exacerbate the challenges facing California’s strained solar industry. The California Solar and Storage Association estimates that about 17,000 solar workers lost their jobs by the end of 2023 after a similar rate structure went into effect for single-meter customers in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These layoffs are continuing into the New Year. San Francisco-based solar company Sunrun, one of the largest solar installers in the country, laid off 88 workers in California in January, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act filings. This follows the company laying off roughly 1,000 direct employees in California in the second half of 2023, according to Sunrun’s vice president of public policy, Walker Wright.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Sam Davis, board president, Oakland Unified School District\"]‘It feels very hypocritical. We say we’re about building a green economy and addressing climate change, but then we’re not supporting school districts’ ability to put in green infrastructure.’[/pullquote]Del Chiaro said the latest decision would especially affect solar businesses that specialize in commercial installations, which she estimates constitute about a third of California’s solar industry. She anticipates that the industry will see layoffs rise again in the summer after these companies work through the backlog of projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve decimated that market going forward,” she said, adding that she is concerned about the impact the decision will have on the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These climate concerns were shared by the school district officials and others who have spoken out against the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC \u003ca href=\"https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/california-ups-renewables-target-again-with-new-plan-to-add-85gw-by-2035\">aims\u003c/a> to add about 86,000 megawatts of electric resources to the grid by 2035, which would more than double the state’s existing capacity. Of that total, the plan calls for about 39,000 megawatts of solar power and 28,000 megawatts of battery storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara, the Stanford researcher, was more reserved in his judgment. He said the state needed to set a rate structure that incentivized more storage, but it is not yet clear whether they struck the right balance between promoting increased storage and energy generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s too soon to know,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was reported in partnership with \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://biglocalnews.org/content/about/\">\u003cem>Big Local News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> at Stanford University.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Caitlin Quinn remembers seeing the first solar panels go up in Petaluma City Schools as a high school student. The panels helped “normalize” green energy and were a learning opportunity, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Quinn is the school district’s board president, where she is exploring opportunities to install more solar. Already, solar energy accounts for between about 40% and 70% of energy use per campus. But she’s worried that a state decision to reduce rooftop solar incentives could drive up costs and hurt the district’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it better to keep investing in solar when it saves less money or pay our teachers enough so they can afford to live in Sonoma County?” she said. “These are not decisions we want to be making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Starting Valentine’s Day, a controversial new rate will take effect across California, reducing the cost savings of installing solar for customers with more than one electric meter, a category that includes many schools, apartment buildings and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New customers will be credited about 80% less for the energy they produce and sell back to the grid, according to solar advocates. Additionally, most non-residential customers with more than one meter will be charged for the electricity they consume at full retail price, even during the sunny hours when their equipment is generating power. Meanwhile, the solar energy they generate is sold back to their provider at a reduced rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the California Public Utilities Commission assumes that electricity generated by solar homes is used on-site and doesn’t require customers to be charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solar advocates said that these changes will further drive down demand for solar, putting additional strain on an industry that has suffered since a similar policy went into effect for homeowners last April. These changes could also threaten the state’s efforts to meet its goal of 100% clean power by 2045, solar advocates said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is sabotaging its clean energy goals with this decision,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC, on the other hand, described the changes as an effort to “modernize” solar regulations. (The regulatory agency did not respond to questions sent by KQED and instead directed the publication to two \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M520/K893/520893708.PDF\">press\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/energy-division/documents/net-energy-metering-nem/nemrevisit/vnem-pd-fact-sheet-update-111323.pdf\">releases [PDFs]\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The commission has in the past argued that the reduced rates better reflect the true value that solar customers provide to the grid and could temper the state’s soaring electricity bills, which are some of the highest in the country. The changes are also designed to incentivize customers to install battery storage, which could bolster grid reliability, the commission said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy experts said these goals have merit: “In order to achieve our renewable goals, we need to build a lot of solar, period,” said Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy policy program at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “But we need to make sure we do it in a way that’s fair and equitable for all Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara said the previous rates did not reflect the cost solar customers impose on the grid by using it as a “giant battery” — feeding power into it in the daytime and taking it out at night. He said the old incentives shifted costs onto customers without solar, contributing to rate increases, which disproportionately affect Californians with lower incomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commission officials’ rationale has not appeased the broad coalition of groups that assembled to oppose the new regulations, which regulators unanimously approved in November and are taking effect after a 90-day grace period. Climate advocacy groups, farmers, school districts and elected officials all \u003ca href=\"https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/california-makes-it-harder-for-schools-farms-and-rental-housing-to-go-solar\">wrote\u003c/a> to regulators in advance of the decision, detailing the ways the changes would hurt their ability to install solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Del Chiaro said the latest decision would especially affect solar businesses that specialize in commercial installations, which she estimates constitute about a third of California’s solar industry. She anticipates that the industry will see layoffs rise again in the summer after these companies work through the backlog of projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve decimated that market going forward,” she said, adding that she is concerned about the impact the decision will have on the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These climate concerns were shared by the school district officials and others who have spoken out against the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC \u003ca href=\"https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/california-ups-renewables-target-again-with-new-plan-to-add-85gw-by-2035\">aims\u003c/a> to add about 86,000 megawatts of electric resources to the grid by 2035, which would more than double the state’s existing capacity. Of that total, the plan calls for about 39,000 megawatts of solar power and 28,000 megawatts of battery storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara, the Stanford researcher, was more reserved in his judgment. He said the state needed to set a rate structure that incentivized more storage, but it is not yet clear whether they struck the right balance between promoting increased storage and energy generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s too soon to know,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was reported in partnership with \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://biglocalnews.org/content/about/\">\u003cem>Big Local News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> at Stanford University.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Should I Buy an Electric Vehicle in California? All Your Questions Answered",
"headTitle": "Should I Buy an Electric Vehicle in California? All Your Questions Answered | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Over the past few years, the KQED garage has become increasingly populated by electric vehicles. And the conversation at our shared office kitchens is turning to them too: how do they compare to cars that run on gas, when is the right time to buy, and what are the ever-changing incentives?\u003cbr>\n[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Albert Gore, executive director of the national advocacy group Zero Emission Transportation Association\"]‘We’re really just beginning to fully realize the impact of the last several years of policymaking and economic activity.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics/new-zev-sales\">More than a quarter\u003c/a> of the state’s new vehicle sales were electric at the end of last year, according to the state’s energy commission. Getting into the EV game is becoming more and more mainstream. But lots of questions remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here we’re bringing you answers to the practical queries about incentives and timing and to the bigger picture ones about how much of an impact swapping a gas car for an electric one can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#rebates\">\u003cstrong>What rebates apply to me and the car I want?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#now\">\u003cstrong>Is now a good time to buy an EV, or should I wait a year or two?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#newused\">\u003cstrong>Should I buy new or used?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#leasebuy\">\u003cstrong>Should I lease or buy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#charging\">\u003cstrong>How do I charge the car if I park on the street?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#greenest\">\u003cstrong>What is the greenest kind of car?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#traditional\">\u003cstrong>So, is an EV truly greener than a traditional vehicle?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#emissions\">\u003cstrong>From an emissions standpoint, is it better to drive my current gas car into the ground before going electric?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#difference\">\u003cstrong>Does my switching to an EV really make a difference in tackling climate change?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"rebates\">\u003c/a>What rebates apply to me and the car I want?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a first stop, check out the California Air Resources Board’s \u003ca href=\"https://driveclean.ca.gov/search-incentives\">website\u003c/a>, searchable by zip code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the \u003cstrong>federal incentives\u003c/strong>:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml\">If you buy new:\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You get up to $7,500 off \u003cem>at checkout\u003c/em> (this instant rebate is new – before you had to claim the tax credit the following year) if:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>Your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) (line 11 of your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040\">Form 1040\u003c/a>) from the year you buy or the year prior is less than:\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$300,000 for married couples filing jointly\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$225,000 for heads of households\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$150,000 for all other filers\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>2. The manufacturer’s retail price (MSRP) is less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$55,000 for other vehicles\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>3. Final assembly of the vehicle is in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4. A certain percentage of the battery is sourced from the U.S. or a trade partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxused.shtml\">If you buy used\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You get 30% off (up to $4000) at checkout if:\u003cbr>\n1. You buy from a dealer\u003cbr>\n2. You have a modified adjusted gross income (AGI) (line 11 of your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040\">Form 1040\u003c/a>) less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$150,000 for married couples filing jointly\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$112,500 for heads of households\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$75,000 for all other filers\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>3. The car costs $25,000 or less.\u003cbr>\n4. The car is two years older than the year when you buy it (e.g., the car has to be 2022 or earlier if you buy in 2024)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states have their own incentive programs. California doesn’t right now, as it \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/californias-clean-vehicle-rebate-program-will-transition-helping-low-income-residents\">transitions its program\u003c/a> to focus on low-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To find local incentives, check out what your air pollution district and energy utility provider may offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/clean-cars-4-all#:~:text=Clean%20Cars%204%20All%20provides,with%20newer%20and%20cleaner%20transportation.\">runs a program\u003c/a> for people with lower incomes to replace highly polluting vehicles with newer ones or rebates for e-bikes or public transit. There is some funding for home car chargers as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"now\">\u003c/a>Is now a good time to buy an EV, or should I wait a year or two?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>From a cost perspective, yes, it is a good time to buy. Federal and state incentives are bringing certain EVs on par with the cost of gas vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are other factors to consider, like:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Do you drive a lot?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If yes, then buying an EV could save money. You won’t need to pay for gas, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/articles/true-cost-of-ev\">EVs require less maintenance\u003c/a> than traditional gas engines.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changes to federal tax credits\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Federal tax credits have changed for the better. You can use them right at checkout instead of waiting for tax season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal tax credits have also changed for the worse. The list of vehicles that qualify for these tax credits has shrunk due to increasing requirements that components come from America or a trade partner. But that list of cars will grow as manufacturers overhaul their production and supply chains.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Do you want a car charger that can work with Tesla’s more built-out and reliable charging network?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many automakers are standardizing their charging system to the one developed by Tesla. If you’d like that charging system to be native to your vehicle (you could alternatively use an adapter), wait a year or so for 2025 models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcmag.com/news/electric-vehicles-that-can-charge-at-tesla-superchargers\">Some companies\u003c/a> have inked a deal where their drivers can also charge at Tesla superchargers beginning this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"newused\">\u003c/a>Should I buy new or used?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both are good options.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cem>Pros for buying used\u003c/em>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Buying used will be cheaper, and even more so if you qualify for federal incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From an emissions standpoint, a used EV is always better, said Scott Moura, UC Berkeley engineering associate professor. “You’re extending its life,” and stretching the greenhouse gas emissions that went into building the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cem>Pros for buying new\u003c/em>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Over time, batteries degrade, and mileage doesn’t tell the whole story of battery health. It matters how the battery has been charged (repeated charging at fast chargers degrades batteries faster than charging in a garage) and what kind of physical climate it’s been in. Batteries last longer in temperate versus extreme climates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare the original range of the vehicle to its range when fully charged by the dealer. Give it a test drive and note how quickly the range declines to get a sense of what shape the battery is in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"leasebuy\">\u003c/a>Should I lease or buy?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Here again are two good options, depending on what’s right for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, keep this in mind:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you buy, you \u003cem>may\u003c/em> qualify for federal incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you lease, you are more likely to. Leasing can unlock federal incentives if you, or the car you want, don’t qualify for credits if you were to buy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because \u003cem>companies\u003c/em> that buy EVs don’t have the same stringent production and materials requirements in order to access incentives as \u003cem>individuals\u003c/em>. That includes companies that lease cars. And many of those leasing companies will pass the federal incentive savings on to you (although they are not required to).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re worried buying will leave you with a rapidly outdated vehicle, one thing to consider is that most EVs have “over-the-air” updates. That means the software systems will periodically upgrade, and voila, you’ll have new features in your car a few hours later.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"charging\">\u003c/a>How do I charge the car if I park on the street?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First of all, let’s recognize that’s difficult. Let’s not ignore it,” UC Berkeley’s Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Options include where you work (only available to some), public and fast charging stations, though the latter could get expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to find ways where we can install a lot of charging points in apartment buildings and multi-unit dwellings without having to upgrade the electrical infrastructure,” Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inês Azevedo, associate professor in energy science and engineering at Stanford University, said policy intervention is needed to build out charging and bolster rebates in low-income communities. EVs are within reach for people in middle and income brackets, but they are far harder to access for people who are low-income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some communities are getting creative with their charging ideas, piloting building public chargers \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/research/pole-mounted-electric-vehicle-charging-preliminary-guidance\">from utility poles and streetlights\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"greenest\">\u003c/a>What is the greenest kind of car?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>No car!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most effective individual actions you can take to bring down your personal greenhouse gas emissions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kimnicholas.com/responding-to-climate-change.html\">is to ditch your car\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The best way to get around in terms of emissions and also probably for your pocketbook is to bike, walk or use public transit,” said David Reichmuth, a senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Reichmuth also \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/electric-bikes-a-less-polluting-option-for-commutes-and-errands-in-the-new-normal/\">recommends considering an e-bike\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Figure out a carpool, Moura said, or even better, take the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/stoked-for-car-lite-bike-safe-living/\">a story of one couple who totaled their car and chose not to replace it\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"traditional\">\u003c/a>Is an EV truly greener than a gas vehicle?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California and most of the U.S., yes (except \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-51697-1\">some rural counties in the Midwest and South\u003c/a>, where hybrids had fewer emissions than EVs).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time you fire up a car that uses gas, you are burning fossil fuels. EVs have zero tailpipe emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s true that manufacturing an EV can create more pollution than making a car with an internal combustion engine (due to the energy required to manufacture the battery). But “over the lifetime of the vehicle, total GHG emissions associated with manufacturing, charging, and driving an EV are \u003ca href=\"https://theicct.org/publication/a-global-comparison-of-the-life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-combustion-engine-and-electric-passenger-cars/\">typically lower than the total GHGs associated with a gasoline car,\u003c/a>” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths\">federal Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On average, it takes \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/driving-cleaner-report.pdf\">1-2 years of driving an EV\u003c/a> for an electric vehicle to “repay its carbon debt,” that is, for the emissions that went into making it to match those saved from driving it. And it takes less time if a very green grid powers that EV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s grid currently consists of 60% carbon-free electricity. The state’s goal is to have 100% clean electricity by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991200\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06%E2%80%AFPM-800x447.png\" alt=\"A graphic showing estimates for battery length. \" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-800x447.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1020x570.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-768x429.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1536x858.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1920x1072.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM.png 2016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Estimates represent model year 2020. Emissions will vary based on assumptions about the specific vehicles being compared, EV battery size and chemistry, vehicle lifetimes, and the electricity grid used to recharge the EV, among other factors. \u003ccite>(U.S. EPA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An EV is also way better for community health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combusting the gas that powers an internal combustion engine releases air pollution like fine particulate matter called PM 2.5, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, among others. [aside tag=\"ev, electric-vehicles\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]Those pollutants can worsen asthma and increase the risk of heart attack, among other health complications. Adopting an EV sooner will bring these health benefits to your community sooner. Note: these air quality benefits are rolling out unequally, as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/03/california-electric-cars-demographics/\">there are more EVs in higher-income communities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"emissions\">\u003c/a>From an emissions standpoint, is it better to drive my current gas car into the ground before going electric?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>C\u003ca href=\"https://wecanfixit.substack.com/p/the-only-time-buying-new-is-better\">limate scientist Kimberly Nicholas said no\u003c/a>. She writes, “When something burns fossil fuels every time you use it, scrap the old one and get a low-carbon new one as soon as you can afford it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Especially if you’re logging a lot of miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo said that older vehicles also tend to be “much more highly emitting” than new ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exception is if you don’t drive very much. Then go ahead and keep that older car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Generally, I think it makes sense to hold on to the product that you have as long as you can,” Moura said. For one, it could reduce the number of new vehicles you purchase in your lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also noted that the U.S. is building out its own EV supply and manufacturing chains and bolstering sustainability practices as it does so. Waiting may mean you’ll have a car made more sustainably and locally, requiring less shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"difference\">\u003c/a>Does my switching to an EV really make a difference in tackling climate change?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you were the only one who did? No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But since you won’t be, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">Roughly 27%\u003c/a> of California’s emissions come from passenger vehicles, according to the California Air Resources Board. Your one car won’t significantly move the needle, but en masse, an army of electric vehicles will reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that army is coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A graphic showing how EV sales in California have grown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Q3 of 2023, from July through September, 26.7% of new cars sold in California were zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California mandates that all new cars sold by 2035 be hybrid or electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, emissions from the state’s transportation sector have been decreasing. “It definitely is having an effect in aggregate, no doubt about it,” Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the single most important sector that we need to tackle right now,” Stanford’s Azevedo said. For one thing, the technologies are ready to go: the cars are “nearly perfect substitutes” for those powered by gas, Azevedo said. Costs are declining; sales are increasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Albert Gore, son of the former Vice President and executive director of the national advocacy group Zero Emission Transportation Association, said this is just the start. “We’re really just beginning to fully realize the impact of the last several years of policymaking and economic activity. There are investments that have been made in huge waves across the country that are going to transform the manufacturing economy in the United States for decades to come,” Gore said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991187\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21%E2%80%AFAM-800x616.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"616\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-800x616.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-1020x786.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-160x123.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-768x592.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM.png 1384w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This figure shows the transformation of California’s light-duty fleet, with significant strides being made in fuel efficiency improvements and zero-emission vehicle adoption. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Air Resources Board, December 14, 2023.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To learn more about the costs and emissions of a specific EV, combined with the specific energy mix of the grid in your state, you can check out \u003ca href=\"https://evtool.ucsusa.org/\">this tool by the Union of Concerned Scientists\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.carboncounter.com/#!/explore\">this tool created by folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u003c/a> (fun tip: if you’re a Californian, click on “customize,” then “CA” and then the other states to see how different energy mixes influence vehicle emissions). \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8t6qd-ss-pTvi0bqVzYGog\">This podcast\u003c/a> can answer some of your more specific questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also decrease emissions based on \u003cem>when\u003c/em> you charge. In California, \u003ca href=\"https://energy.stanford.edu/news/charging-cars-needs-move-nighttime-home-daytime-work-stanford-study-finds\">charging an EV in the middle of the day\u003c/a> when solar production is peaking results in a lower carbon footprint than charging in the evening. Presently, California’s electricity rates don’t align with this, and EV owners are incentivized to charge their vehicles at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "More than a quarter of the cars sold in California last quarter were EVs. Here’s everything you need to know about buying an EV in the Bay Area in 2024.",
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"description": "More than a quarter of the cars sold in California last quarter were EVs. Here’s everything you need to know about buying an EV in the Bay Area in 2024.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Over the past few years, the KQED garage has become increasingly populated by electric vehicles. And the conversation at our shared office kitchens is turning to them too: how do they compare to cars that run on gas, when is the right time to buy, and what are the ever-changing incentives?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics/new-zev-sales\">More than a quarter\u003c/a> of the state’s new vehicle sales were electric at the end of last year, according to the state’s energy commission. Getting into the EV game is becoming more and more mainstream. But lots of questions remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here we’re bringing you answers to the practical queries about incentives and timing and to the bigger picture ones about how much of an impact swapping a gas car for an electric one can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#rebates\">\u003cstrong>What rebates apply to me and the car I want?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#now\">\u003cstrong>Is now a good time to buy an EV, or should I wait a year or two?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#newused\">\u003cstrong>Should I buy new or used?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#leasebuy\">\u003cstrong>Should I lease or buy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#charging\">\u003cstrong>How do I charge the car if I park on the street?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#greenest\">\u003cstrong>What is the greenest kind of car?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#traditional\">\u003cstrong>So, is an EV truly greener than a traditional vehicle?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#emissions\">\u003cstrong>From an emissions standpoint, is it better to drive my current gas car into the ground before going electric?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#difference\">\u003cstrong>Does my switching to an EV really make a difference in tackling climate change?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"rebates\">\u003c/a>What rebates apply to me and the car I want?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a first stop, check out the California Air Resources Board’s \u003ca href=\"https://driveclean.ca.gov/search-incentives\">website\u003c/a>, searchable by zip code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the \u003cstrong>federal incentives\u003c/strong>:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml\">If you buy new:\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You get up to $7,500 off \u003cem>at checkout\u003c/em> (this instant rebate is new – before you had to claim the tax credit the following year) if:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>Your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) (line 11 of your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040\">Form 1040\u003c/a>) from the year you buy or the year prior is less than:\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$300,000 for married couples filing jointly\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$225,000 for heads of households\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$150,000 for all other filers\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>2. The manufacturer’s retail price (MSRP) is less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$55,000 for other vehicles\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>3. Final assembly of the vehicle is in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4. A certain percentage of the battery is sourced from the U.S. or a trade partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxused.shtml\">If you buy used\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You get 30% off (up to $4000) at checkout if:\u003cbr>\n1. You buy from a dealer\u003cbr>\n2. You have a modified adjusted gross income (AGI) (line 11 of your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040\">Form 1040\u003c/a>) less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$150,000 for married couples filing jointly\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$112,500 for heads of households\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$75,000 for all other filers\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>3. The car costs $25,000 or less.\u003cbr>\n4. The car is two years older than the year when you buy it (e.g., the car has to be 2022 or earlier if you buy in 2024)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states have their own incentive programs. California doesn’t right now, as it \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/californias-clean-vehicle-rebate-program-will-transition-helping-low-income-residents\">transitions its program\u003c/a> to focus on low-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To find local incentives, check out what your air pollution district and energy utility provider may offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/clean-cars-4-all#:~:text=Clean%20Cars%204%20All%20provides,with%20newer%20and%20cleaner%20transportation.\">runs a program\u003c/a> for people with lower incomes to replace highly polluting vehicles with newer ones or rebates for e-bikes or public transit. There is some funding for home car chargers as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"now\">\u003c/a>Is now a good time to buy an EV, or should I wait a year or two?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>From a cost perspective, yes, it is a good time to buy. Federal and state incentives are bringing certain EVs on par with the cost of gas vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are other factors to consider, like:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Do you drive a lot?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If yes, then buying an EV could save money. You won’t need to pay for gas, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/articles/true-cost-of-ev\">EVs require less maintenance\u003c/a> than traditional gas engines.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changes to federal tax credits\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Federal tax credits have changed for the better. You can use them right at checkout instead of waiting for tax season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal tax credits have also changed for the worse. The list of vehicles that qualify for these tax credits has shrunk due to increasing requirements that components come from America or a trade partner. But that list of cars will grow as manufacturers overhaul their production and supply chains.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Do you want a car charger that can work with Tesla’s more built-out and reliable charging network?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many automakers are standardizing their charging system to the one developed by Tesla. If you’d like that charging system to be native to your vehicle (you could alternatively use an adapter), wait a year or so for 2025 models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcmag.com/news/electric-vehicles-that-can-charge-at-tesla-superchargers\">Some companies\u003c/a> have inked a deal where their drivers can also charge at Tesla superchargers beginning this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"newused\">\u003c/a>Should I buy new or used?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both are good options.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cem>Pros for buying used\u003c/em>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Buying used will be cheaper, and even more so if you qualify for federal incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From an emissions standpoint, a used EV is always better, said Scott Moura, UC Berkeley engineering associate professor. “You’re extending its life,” and stretching the greenhouse gas emissions that went into building the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cem>Pros for buying new\u003c/em>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Over time, batteries degrade, and mileage doesn’t tell the whole story of battery health. It matters how the battery has been charged (repeated charging at fast chargers degrades batteries faster than charging in a garage) and what kind of physical climate it’s been in. Batteries last longer in temperate versus extreme climates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare the original range of the vehicle to its range when fully charged by the dealer. Give it a test drive and note how quickly the range declines to get a sense of what shape the battery is in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"leasebuy\">\u003c/a>Should I lease or buy?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Here again are two good options, depending on what’s right for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, keep this in mind:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you buy, you \u003cem>may\u003c/em> qualify for federal incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you lease, you are more likely to. Leasing can unlock federal incentives if you, or the car you want, don’t qualify for credits if you were to buy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because \u003cem>companies\u003c/em> that buy EVs don’t have the same stringent production and materials requirements in order to access incentives as \u003cem>individuals\u003c/em>. That includes companies that lease cars. And many of those leasing companies will pass the federal incentive savings on to you (although they are not required to).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re worried buying will leave you with a rapidly outdated vehicle, one thing to consider is that most EVs have “over-the-air” updates. That means the software systems will periodically upgrade, and voila, you’ll have new features in your car a few hours later.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"charging\">\u003c/a>How do I charge the car if I park on the street?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First of all, let’s recognize that’s difficult. Let’s not ignore it,” UC Berkeley’s Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Options include where you work (only available to some), public and fast charging stations, though the latter could get expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to find ways where we can install a lot of charging points in apartment buildings and multi-unit dwellings without having to upgrade the electrical infrastructure,” Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inês Azevedo, associate professor in energy science and engineering at Stanford University, said policy intervention is needed to build out charging and bolster rebates in low-income communities. EVs are within reach for people in middle and income brackets, but they are far harder to access for people who are low-income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some communities are getting creative with their charging ideas, piloting building public chargers \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/research/pole-mounted-electric-vehicle-charging-preliminary-guidance\">from utility poles and streetlights\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"greenest\">\u003c/a>What is the greenest kind of car?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>No car!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most effective individual actions you can take to bring down your personal greenhouse gas emissions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kimnicholas.com/responding-to-climate-change.html\">is to ditch your car\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The best way to get around in terms of emissions and also probably for your pocketbook is to bike, walk or use public transit,” said David Reichmuth, a senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Reichmuth also \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/electric-bikes-a-less-polluting-option-for-commutes-and-errands-in-the-new-normal/\">recommends considering an e-bike\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Figure out a carpool, Moura said, or even better, take the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/stoked-for-car-lite-bike-safe-living/\">a story of one couple who totaled their car and chose not to replace it\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"traditional\">\u003c/a>Is an EV truly greener than a gas vehicle?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California and most of the U.S., yes (except \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-51697-1\">some rural counties in the Midwest and South\u003c/a>, where hybrids had fewer emissions than EVs).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time you fire up a car that uses gas, you are burning fossil fuels. EVs have zero tailpipe emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s true that manufacturing an EV can create more pollution than making a car with an internal combustion engine (due to the energy required to manufacture the battery). But “over the lifetime of the vehicle, total GHG emissions associated with manufacturing, charging, and driving an EV are \u003ca href=\"https://theicct.org/publication/a-global-comparison-of-the-life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-combustion-engine-and-electric-passenger-cars/\">typically lower than the total GHGs associated with a gasoline car,\u003c/a>” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths\">federal Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On average, it takes \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/driving-cleaner-report.pdf\">1-2 years of driving an EV\u003c/a> for an electric vehicle to “repay its carbon debt,” that is, for the emissions that went into making it to match those saved from driving it. And it takes less time if a very green grid powers that EV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s grid currently consists of 60% carbon-free electricity. The state’s goal is to have 100% clean electricity by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991200\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06%E2%80%AFPM-800x447.png\" alt=\"A graphic showing estimates for battery length. \" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-800x447.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1020x570.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-768x429.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1536x858.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM-1920x1072.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-1.39.06 PM.png 2016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Estimates represent model year 2020. Emissions will vary based on assumptions about the specific vehicles being compared, EV battery size and chemistry, vehicle lifetimes, and the electricity grid used to recharge the EV, among other factors. \u003ccite>(U.S. EPA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An EV is also way better for community health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combusting the gas that powers an internal combustion engine releases air pollution like fine particulate matter called PM 2.5, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, among others. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those pollutants can worsen asthma and increase the risk of heart attack, among other health complications. Adopting an EV sooner will bring these health benefits to your community sooner. Note: these air quality benefits are rolling out unequally, as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/03/california-electric-cars-demographics/\">there are more EVs in higher-income communities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"emissions\">\u003c/a>From an emissions standpoint, is it better to drive my current gas car into the ground before going electric?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>C\u003ca href=\"https://wecanfixit.substack.com/p/the-only-time-buying-new-is-better\">limate scientist Kimberly Nicholas said no\u003c/a>. She writes, “When something burns fossil fuels every time you use it, scrap the old one and get a low-carbon new one as soon as you can afford it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Especially if you’re logging a lot of miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo said that older vehicles also tend to be “much more highly emitting” than new ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exception is if you don’t drive very much. Then go ahead and keep that older car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Generally, I think it makes sense to hold on to the product that you have as long as you can,” Moura said. For one, it could reduce the number of new vehicles you purchase in your lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also noted that the U.S. is building out its own EV supply and manufacturing chains and bolstering sustainability practices as it does so. Waiting may mean you’ll have a car made more sustainably and locally, requiring less shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"difference\">\u003c/a>Does my switching to an EV really make a difference in tackling climate change?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you were the only one who did? No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But since you won’t be, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">Roughly 27%\u003c/a> of California’s emissions come from passenger vehicles, according to the California Air Resources Board. Your one car won’t significantly move the needle, but en masse, an army of electric vehicles will reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that army is coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A graphic showing how EV sales in California have grown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/EV-Sales-Graphic-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Q3 of 2023, from July through September, 26.7% of new cars sold in California were zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California mandates that all new cars sold by 2035 be hybrid or electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, emissions from the state’s transportation sector have been decreasing. “It definitely is having an effect in aggregate, no doubt about it,” Moura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the single most important sector that we need to tackle right now,” Stanford’s Azevedo said. For one thing, the technologies are ready to go: the cars are “nearly perfect substitutes” for those powered by gas, Azevedo said. Costs are declining; sales are increasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Albert Gore, son of the former Vice President and executive director of the national advocacy group Zero Emission Transportation Association, said this is just the start. “We’re really just beginning to fully realize the impact of the last several years of policymaking and economic activity. There are investments that have been made in huge waves across the country that are going to transform the manufacturing economy in the United States for decades to come,” Gore said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991187\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1991187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21%E2%80%AFAM-800x616.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"616\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-800x616.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-1020x786.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-160x123.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM-768x592.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-22-at-11.40.21 AM.png 1384w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This figure shows the transformation of California’s light-duty fleet, with significant strides being made in fuel efficiency improvements and zero-emission vehicle adoption. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Air Resources Board, December 14, 2023.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To learn more about the costs and emissions of a specific EV, combined with the specific energy mix of the grid in your state, you can check out \u003ca href=\"https://evtool.ucsusa.org/\">this tool by the Union of Concerned Scientists\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.carboncounter.com/#!/explore\">this tool created by folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u003c/a> (fun tip: if you’re a Californian, click on “customize,” then “CA” and then the other states to see how different energy mixes influence vehicle emissions). \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8t6qd-ss-pTvi0bqVzYGog\">This podcast\u003c/a> can answer some of your more specific questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also decrease emissions based on \u003cem>when\u003c/em> you charge. In California, \u003ca href=\"https://energy.stanford.edu/news/charging-cars-needs-move-nighttime-home-daytime-work-stanford-study-finds\">charging an EV in the middle of the day\u003c/a> when solar production is peaking results in a lower carbon footprint than charging in the evening. Presently, California’s electricity rates don’t align with this, and EV owners are incentivized to charge their vehicles at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Bay Area Scientists Celebrate Fusion Breakthrough, Aim to Replicate Historic Moment",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last December, in the early hours of a Monday morning, scientists blasted a diamond-shaped fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn with 192 lasers, producing a controlled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980970/u-s-reaches-a-fusion-power-milestone-at-lawrence-livermore-lab-will-it-be-enough-to-save-the-planet\">fusion ignition\u003c/a> that generated more energy than the lasers put into the initial reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team of more than 100 scientists working with the Lawrence Livermore National Lab had achieved a net energy gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nuclear fusion energy breakthrough six decades in the making could pave the way for incredible advancements in the future of clean power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982656\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982656\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-scaled.jpg\" alt='A woman with short, blonde hair and a pink blazer speaks from a podium with the words \"Ignition\" in big bold letters behind her printed on a banner outside of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.' width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks at an event held at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which celebrated ‘achieved ignition.’ Guests included elected officials, scientists and lab affiliates. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Fusion offers the promise of affordable, abundant, reliable, clean energy. It is the holy grail. We now know that commercializing fusion is less a matter of whether than of when,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who toured the lab on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the practical application of this — generating power for your home — is likely still decades off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kimberly Budil, director of the lab, said that ignition is “truly a game-changing technology,” but its discovery is not the “end of the journey. It marks the beginning of what will be an incredible era of discovery and innovation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are a few new things we learned about the nuclear fusion breakthrough from the lab’s big press celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Scientists have yet to replicate the reaction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The lab has fired up its lasers five times since its successful experiment, but have not yet had a repeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The little diamond capsules that are the heart of this experiment are extremely difficult to fabricate,” Budil said. “And so we have been using the best capsules available, but we haven’t had the kind of perfect capsule that we had in December.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982665\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027.jpg\" alt=\"Inside a science laboratory: Gigantic metal structures with ladders leading up to various platforms. A glow of yellow and blue lights illuminate the area.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The National Ignition Facility Target Chamber is the center of the Target Bay, which also served as the set for the engine room of the Starship Enterprise in the 2013 film ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness.’ \u003ccite>(Jason Laurea/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Researchers had long struggled to achieve fusion because it requires very high temperature and pressure. It’s comparable to the nuclear reaction that makes stars shine and the sun generate heat and could provide nearly pollution-free, limitless energy if humans can harness it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fusion process mashes together two types of hydrogen in water molecules and unleashes a torrent of very clean energy free of any radioactive waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lab has also had to limit the number of very high-energy laser shots they can do in their facility to just eight per year because it can damage the equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016.jpg\" alt=\"Two scientists covered in white, protective gear from head to toe, examine lab equipment inside a gigantic, metal chamber inside a laboratory.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">National Ignition Facility Target Area operators inspect a final optics assembly (FOA) during a routine maintenance period. Each FOA contains four integrated optics modules that incorporate beam conditioning, frequency conversion, focusing, diagnostic sampling and debris-shielding capabilities into a single compact assembly. \u003ccite>(Jason Laurea/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They’re experimenting with slightly lower laser energy, but those tests so far haven’t been successful. The lab is working to make the process more predictable and to perfect the targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have another experiment coming up in about a week that will more closely replicate all of the conditions we had in December,” Budil said. “And we have a number planned for the rest of the year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The feds will shell out big money to seed fusion energy start-ups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Granholm said that public-private partnerships will be key to propelling fusion to the next level, and announced a new $45 million grant series from the Energy Department’s Office of Science over the next four years, $9 million of which will be available this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Gray clouds hover over a large cream-colored building with many glass-windowed sides. Skinny, bare trees line the entryway as the sun peeks through their branches.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lawrence Livermore’s nuclear fusion achievement is a fantastic proof of concept — they demonstrated it was possible — and can help guide those working to bring this science to practical application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granholm said that “this funding opportunity is going to support the creation of inertial fusion innovation hubs, which will draw on the expertise and the abilities, obviously from our national labs, and academia and industry to advance fusion research.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The US military could be the immediate beneficiary of the fusion breakthrough\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1980970 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/12/2012-037864-lg-041b10ab25936420ced3632b1ff6e8229fd5e851-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. stopped detonating its nuclear bombs underground three decades ago as a means of testing the weapons. With the fusion breakthrough, the U.S. now has a much safer and less destructive way to evaluate its nuclear weapons stockpile: in a lab. The data from the tests will allow scientists to model what would happen during an explosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avoiding underground testing also supports the U.S.’s nonproliferation efforts, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility made the ignition breakthrough; the feds developed that lab to run experiments on U.S. nuclear weapons without having to detonate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIF’s ignition discovery simulates the uncontrolled fusion of a nuclear bomb explosion, and researchers hope doing this in a controlled lab setting can corroborate their computer models, which they use instead of the live test explosions. It’s a much safer way for them to determine whether their nuclear weapons still work and could prevent them from needlessly replacing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly, as tensions rise abroad, we cannot afford to let our great deterrent lose an edge,” Granholm said. “An ignition gives us a new tool for instilling confidence in our nuclear capabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last December, in the early hours of a Monday morning, scientists blasted a diamond-shaped fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn with 192 lasers, producing a controlled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980970/u-s-reaches-a-fusion-power-milestone-at-lawrence-livermore-lab-will-it-be-enough-to-save-the-planet\">fusion ignition\u003c/a> that generated more energy than the lasers put into the initial reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team of more than 100 scientists working with the Lawrence Livermore National Lab had achieved a net energy gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nuclear fusion energy breakthrough six decades in the making could pave the way for incredible advancements in the future of clean power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982656\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982656\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-scaled.jpg\" alt='A woman with short, blonde hair and a pink blazer speaks from a podium with the words \"Ignition\" in big bold letters behind her printed on a banner outside of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.' width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/IMG_5725-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks at an event held at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which celebrated ‘achieved ignition.’ Guests included elected officials, scientists and lab affiliates. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Fusion offers the promise of affordable, abundant, reliable, clean energy. It is the holy grail. We now know that commercializing fusion is less a matter of whether than of when,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who toured the lab on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the practical application of this — generating power for your home — is likely still decades off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kimberly Budil, director of the lab, said that ignition is “truly a game-changing technology,” but its discovery is not the “end of the journey. It marks the beginning of what will be an incredible era of discovery and innovation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are a few new things we learned about the nuclear fusion breakthrough from the lab’s big press celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Scientists have yet to replicate the reaction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The lab has fired up its lasers five times since its successful experiment, but have not yet had a repeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The little diamond capsules that are the heart of this experiment are extremely difficult to fabricate,” Budil said. “And so we have been using the best capsules available, but we haven’t had the kind of perfect capsule that we had in December.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982665\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027.jpg\" alt=\"Inside a science laboratory: Gigantic metal structures with ladders leading up to various platforms. A glow of yellow and blue lights illuminate the area.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412027-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The National Ignition Facility Target Chamber is the center of the Target Bay, which also served as the set for the engine room of the Starship Enterprise in the 2013 film ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness.’ \u003ccite>(Jason Laurea/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Researchers had long struggled to achieve fusion because it requires very high temperature and pressure. It’s comparable to the nuclear reaction that makes stars shine and the sun generate heat and could provide nearly pollution-free, limitless energy if humans can harness it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fusion process mashes together two types of hydrogen in water molecules and unleashes a torrent of very clean energy free of any radioactive waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lab has also had to limit the number of very high-energy laser shots they can do in their facility to just eight per year because it can damage the equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016.jpg\" alt=\"Two scientists covered in white, protective gear from head to toe, examine lab equipment inside a gigantic, metal chamber inside a laboratory.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P3412016-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">National Ignition Facility Target Area operators inspect a final optics assembly (FOA) during a routine maintenance period. Each FOA contains four integrated optics modules that incorporate beam conditioning, frequency conversion, focusing, diagnostic sampling and debris-shielding capabilities into a single compact assembly. \u003ccite>(Jason Laurea/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They’re experimenting with slightly lower laser energy, but those tests so far haven’t been successful. The lab is working to make the process more predictable and to perfect the targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have another experiment coming up in about a week that will more closely replicate all of the conditions we had in December,” Budil said. “And we have a number planned for the rest of the year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The feds will shell out big money to seed fusion energy start-ups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Granholm said that public-private partnerships will be key to propelling fusion to the next level, and announced a new $45 million grant series from the Energy Department’s Office of Science over the next four years, $9 million of which will be available this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Gray clouds hover over a large cream-colored building with many glass-windowed sides. Skinny, bare trees line the entryway as the sun peeks through their branches.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/P11462641-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lawrence Livermore’s nuclear fusion achievement is a fantastic proof of concept — they demonstrated it was possible — and can help guide those working to bring this science to practical application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granholm said that “this funding opportunity is going to support the creation of inertial fusion innovation hubs, which will draw on the expertise and the abilities, obviously from our national labs, and academia and industry to advance fusion research.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The US military could be the immediate beneficiary of the fusion breakthrough\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. stopped detonating its nuclear bombs underground three decades ago as a means of testing the weapons. With the fusion breakthrough, the U.S. now has a much safer and less destructive way to evaluate its nuclear weapons stockpile: in a lab. The data from the tests will allow scientists to model what would happen during an explosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avoiding underground testing also supports the U.S.’s nonproliferation efforts, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility made the ignition breakthrough; the feds developed that lab to run experiments on U.S. nuclear weapons without having to detonate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIF’s ignition discovery simulates the uncontrolled fusion of a nuclear bomb explosion, and researchers hope doing this in a controlled lab setting can corroborate their computer models, which they use instead of the live test explosions. It’s a much safer way for them to determine whether their nuclear weapons still work and could prevent them from needlessly replacing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly, as tensions rise abroad, we cannot afford to let our great deterrent lose an edge,” Granholm said. “An ignition gives us a new tool for instilling confidence in our nuclear capabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
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