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"content": "\u003cp>Climate drag fans have taken to social media demanding that Patagonia drop its trademark infringement lawsuit against \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997477/fishnets-and-fossil-fuels-meet-3-bay-area-climate-conscious-drag-artists\">drag artist\u003c/a> and environmental activist Pattie Gonia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2025, Pattie Gonia filed a trademark application for exclusive rights to use her brand to sell merchandise and to promote activism and online marketing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a suit filed in January, outdoor company \u003ca href=\"https://www.patagoniaworks.com/press/2026/1/21/protecting-our-brand-update-on-trademark-activity\">Patagonia said\u003c/a> that Pattie Gonia violated a previous agreement regarding the use of its name and logo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the artist, who goes by Wyn Wiley out of drag, said in a social media \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pattiegonia/reel/DY2L725tVow/\">video\u003c/a> that the suit is about “a corporation trying to erase an activist.” Trademark experts, who acknowledged both sides, said Pattie Gonia is facing an uphill battle. But they said that the case is likely the first of many to come involving influencers and celebrities defending themselves as brands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.pattiegonia.net/patagonia-open-letter\">open letter\u003c/a> on Wednesday, Pattie Gonia implored Patagonia to drop the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a betrayal of Patagonia’s core mission,” Pattie Gonia said. “Because if they’re in business to save the home planet, why are they suing a climate activist?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001129\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001129\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks past the American outdoor clothing brand company Patagonia store. \u003ccite>(Sebastian Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pattie Gonia advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusivity and the protection of public land and the environment. In 2023, she started her nationwide climate drag show, Save Her, in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has employed Bay Area drag artists, raised $3.7 million for environmental causes, and has been recognized on the 2025 National Geographic 33 list, which honors people creating solutions to environmental issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Patagonia wants to celebrate Pride Month this year by taking a queer climate activist to federal court, then I’m here to fight for myself, and I am here to fight for us,” Pattie Gonia said.[aside postID=science_1997477 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_ClimateDrag_GC-5_qed.jpg']Patagonia told KQED in a statement that it spent years trying to reach an agreement “that would allow Pattie Gonia to continue their work while also protecting the Patagonia trademark.” Officials said the efforts included multiple proposals, dialogue and “genuine efforts to avoid ending up in court.” But the two parties have not yet reached an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on issues that matter – but in a way that respects Patagonia’s intellectual property,” Patagonia officials wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patagonia is seeking $1 in damages and legal fees. Officials wrote that it’s “not about seeking financial gain” or “challenging anyone’s identity or right to advocacy, protest, or creative expression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values, but we must protect our business and employees, the officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Pattie Gonia said that the lawsuit makes one thing clear: the company is “willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to grind me down so far that I can’t continue to operate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s not necessarily a good look for them to be suing her’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Patagonia’s lawsuit states that Pattie Gonia’s products “compete directly” with Patagonia’s products and brand “in a way that has already confused consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company wrote that “it supports advocacy and activism that promote the environment and inclusion in the outdoors.” But Patagonia officials said that they “repeatedly communicated with Pattie Gonia” and in the past “reached agreement about how that advocacy work might continue in a way that would not interfere with Patagonia’s brand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patagonia alleges that Pattie Gonia violated their agreement by seeking “exclusive ownership of a PATTIE GONIA trademark to commercialize products, endorsements, marketing campaigns, and advocacy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pattie Gonia, right, and Cynthia Erivo, left, are seen during the Out100 Event 2024 at NeueHouse Hollywood on Dec. 11, 2024, in Hollywood, California. \u003ccite>(Presley Ann/Getty Images for Out.com/equalpride)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Victoria Schwartz, a professor of law at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, said the case is “incredibly interesting” because the company isn’t trying to get Pattie Gonia to change her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The strongest evidence of that, which is very unusual, is that [Patagonia] only asked for $1 in damages,” Schwartz said. “It’s almost a way of signaling we’re not trying to come after you for money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Schwartz said, the company is sending a PR signal that it wants a court order to prevent Pattie Gonia from using branding that resembles its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not necessarily a good look for them to be suing her,” Schwartz said. But the company is arguing “she’s crossed the line by selling merchandise and by trying to register the trademark herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the case doesn’t settle, Schwartz expects an expensive, lengthy case because it will take time to determine which party is in the clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>While I do think Pattie Gonia has an uphill battle, there are so many factors in the test that these are not the kind of cases that get resolved cheaply and easily,” Schwartz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz said the suit is part of a larger story in which people — including celebrities and influencers — are filing trademarks for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be the first of many lawsuits where traditional brands are coming up against influencers who are going to be using trademarks,” Schwartz said. “Not in the way that Patagonia the company does trademarks for goods and services, but essentially they themselves are the brand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001131\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patagonia logos are seen on a hanger and on a sweater in the store in Krakow, Poland, on Sept. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tyler Ochoa, a professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, said the dispute could go to a jury trial to decide whether consumers are confused, but said the company will push for a judge to decide the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interestingly, both parties claim to be interested in the environment and in safeguarding it,” Ochoa said. “Ironically, that makes it harder for Pattie Gonia, the drag artist, to prevail in the lawsuit because it makes her merchandise overlap in the marketplace with Patagonia’s merchandise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ochoa said the lawsuit might push both sides to bend a little for a mutual outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sounds like they are willing to let her use [Pattie Gonia] as her drag queen name without opposition if there is no merchandise involved,” Ochoa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ochoa also said that there is a world where the injunction “might be broad enough to keep her from using the name.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Climate drag fans have taken to social media demanding that Patagonia drop its trademark infringement lawsuit against \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997477/fishnets-and-fossil-fuels-meet-3-bay-area-climate-conscious-drag-artists\">drag artist\u003c/a> and environmental activist Pattie Gonia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2025, Pattie Gonia filed a trademark application for exclusive rights to use her brand to sell merchandise and to promote activism and online marketing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a suit filed in January, outdoor company \u003ca href=\"https://www.patagoniaworks.com/press/2026/1/21/protecting-our-brand-update-on-trademark-activity\">Patagonia said\u003c/a> that Pattie Gonia violated a previous agreement regarding the use of its name and logo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the artist, who goes by Wyn Wiley out of drag, said in a social media \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pattiegonia/reel/DY2L725tVow/\">video\u003c/a> that the suit is about “a corporation trying to erase an activist.” Trademark experts, who acknowledged both sides, said Pattie Gonia is facing an uphill battle. But they said that the case is likely the first of many to come involving influencers and celebrities defending themselves as brands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.pattiegonia.net/patagonia-open-letter\">open letter\u003c/a> on Wednesday, Pattie Gonia implored Patagonia to drop the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a betrayal of Patagonia’s core mission,” Pattie Gonia said. “Because if they’re in business to save the home planet, why are they suing a climate activist?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001129\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001129\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2210426372-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks past the American outdoor clothing brand company Patagonia store. \u003ccite>(Sebastian Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pattie Gonia advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusivity and the protection of public land and the environment. In 2023, she started her nationwide climate drag show, Save Her, in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has employed Bay Area drag artists, raised $3.7 million for environmental causes, and has been recognized on the 2025 National Geographic 33 list, which honors people creating solutions to environmental issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Patagonia wants to celebrate Pride Month this year by taking a queer climate activist to federal court, then I’m here to fight for myself, and I am here to fight for us,” Pattie Gonia said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Patagonia told KQED in a statement that it spent years trying to reach an agreement “that would allow Pattie Gonia to continue their work while also protecting the Patagonia trademark.” Officials said the efforts included multiple proposals, dialogue and “genuine efforts to avoid ending up in court.” But the two parties have not yet reached an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on issues that matter – but in a way that respects Patagonia’s intellectual property,” Patagonia officials wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patagonia is seeking $1 in damages and legal fees. Officials wrote that it’s “not about seeking financial gain” or “challenging anyone’s identity or right to advocacy, protest, or creative expression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values, but we must protect our business and employees, the officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Pattie Gonia said that the lawsuit makes one thing clear: the company is “willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to grind me down so far that I can’t continue to operate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s not necessarily a good look for them to be suing her’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Patagonia’s lawsuit states that Pattie Gonia’s products “compete directly” with Patagonia’s products and brand “in a way that has already confused consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company wrote that “it supports advocacy and activism that promote the environment and inclusion in the outdoors.” But Patagonia officials said that they “repeatedly communicated with Pattie Gonia” and in the past “reached agreement about how that advocacy work might continue in a way that would not interfere with Patagonia’s brand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patagonia alleges that Pattie Gonia violated their agreement by seeking “exclusive ownership of a PATTIE GONIA trademark to commercialize products, endorsements, marketing campaigns, and advocacy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-2189516253-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pattie Gonia, right, and Cynthia Erivo, left, are seen during the Out100 Event 2024 at NeueHouse Hollywood on Dec. 11, 2024, in Hollywood, California. \u003ccite>(Presley Ann/Getty Images for Out.com/equalpride)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Victoria Schwartz, a professor of law at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, said the case is “incredibly interesting” because the company isn’t trying to get Pattie Gonia to change her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The strongest evidence of that, which is very unusual, is that [Patagonia] only asked for $1 in damages,” Schwartz said. “It’s almost a way of signaling we’re not trying to come after you for money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Schwartz said, the company is sending a PR signal that it wants a court order to prevent Pattie Gonia from using branding that resembles its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not necessarily a good look for them to be suing her,” Schwartz said. But the company is arguing “she’s crossed the line by selling merchandise and by trying to register the trademark herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the case doesn’t settle, Schwartz expects an expensive, lengthy case because it will take time to determine which party is in the clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>While I do think Pattie Gonia has an uphill battle, there are so many factors in the test that these are not the kind of cases that get resolved cheaply and easily,” Schwartz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz said the suit is part of a larger story in which people — including celebrities and influencers — are filing trademarks for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be the first of many lawsuits where traditional brands are coming up against influencers who are going to be using trademarks,” Schwartz said. “Not in the way that Patagonia the company does trademarks for goods and services, but essentially they themselves are the brand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001131\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/GettyImages-1243274789-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patagonia logos are seen on a hanger and on a sweater in the store in Krakow, Poland, on Sept. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tyler Ochoa, a professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, said the dispute could go to a jury trial to decide whether consumers are confused, but said the company will push for a judge to decide the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interestingly, both parties claim to be interested in the environment and in safeguarding it,” Ochoa said. “Ironically, that makes it harder for Pattie Gonia, the drag artist, to prevail in the lawsuit because it makes her merchandise overlap in the marketplace with Patagonia’s merchandise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ochoa said the lawsuit might push both sides to bend a little for a mutual outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sounds like they are willing to let her use [Pattie Gonia] as her drag queen name without opposition if there is no merchandise involved,” Ochoa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ochoa also said that there is a world where the injunction “might be broad enough to keep her from using the name.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent plunge into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028741/rare-video-captures-super-pod-of-2000-dolphins-breaching-playing-off-monterey-coast\">Monterey Bay\u003c/a>, Dr. Anita Giraldo Ospina noticed the water was oddly warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It definitely feels comfortable, let’s put it that way,” said Giraldo Ospina, principal investigator of coastal ecosystems at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059734/monterey-bay-aquarium-revives-30-year-old-otter-tee-worn-by-taylor-swift\">Monterey Bay Aquarium\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s part of ongoing research projects into how kelp species are repopulating the area. She collects \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">kelp \u003c/span>spores and tiny baby urchin from glass slides and rectangular broom heads anchored to the seafloor and stores them in plastic bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks pretty green down there,” Giraldo Ospina said. “We try to keep all the water in the bag because that’s where larvae settle into the brushes and that might be what’s floating in the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Baby kelp need cold, nutrient rich water to mature into tall, strong adult stipes. \u003c/span> Giraldo Ospina worries that a massive, ongoing \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/a-heat-wave-in-the-pacific-ocean-is-killing-birds-on-cas-coast\">marine heat wave\u003c/a>, which has already raised coastal waters \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/west-coast-waters-experiencing-another-large-marine-heatwave\">by 3 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit\u003c/a>, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">could disrupt efforts to regrow kelp forests vital to the Monterey Bay ecosystem, depending on how warm it becomes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001054\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Conservation science director April Ridlon (left) and research scientist Dr. Anita Giraldo Ospina look at the Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. The exhibit is modeled after the kelp forests found along the Monterey Bay coast. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have seen kelp recovering, and we don’t know if that trend is going to continue, if we continue to have these warm waters,” Giraldo Ospina said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the seventh marine heat wave in seven years and could be amplified by a developing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083376/an-incoming-super-el-nino-may-bring-california-a-wet-hot-winter\">super El Niño\u003c/a>, which has the potential to raise sea surface temperatures even higher. This combined influence could disrupt ecosystems, harm or kill local marine life and attract other species north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With El Niño, the fear is that the kelp that persisted [past the marine heat wave] may now decline, and recovering kelp may not get a chance to get back to what they were before,” Giraldo Ospina said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘More dead birds than living ones being found’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even a few degrees of warming can set an ecosystem out of whack and lead to the die-off of almost entire populations. As of May 20, the International Bird Rescue in Fairfield has treated \u003ca href=\"https://www.birdrescue.org/2026-california-starvation-event/\">288 starving birds\u003c/a>, including brown pelicans, cormorants and common murres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are the same birds people are reporting finding dead on beaches, especially in Southern California, but now in Northern California as well,” said JD Bergeron, the group’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelp floats in a kelp forest in Monterey Bay outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bergeron said one theory is that small schooling fish — favorite food for shore birds — are seeking colder water deeper in the ocean, beyond the birds’ reach. So they do not have enough food to eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have had very regular concerns with brown pelican starvation events, but this one does feel a little bit different,” Bergeron said. “We’re seeing a lot more dead birds than living ones being found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A marine heat wave off the coast of California forms when southerly winds from a semi-permanent area of high pressure weaken between Hawaii and the state.[aside postID=news_12068644 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/MarinCountyFloodingAP.jpg']The winds normally help cool the top layer of the ocean through evaporation and by mixing it with deep, cold water. Without the wind, this thin top layer warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current ocean warming \u003ca href=\"https://www.integratedecosystemassessment.noaa.gov/regions/california-current/california-current-marine-heatwave-tracker-blobtracker\">began last May\u003c/a> near Eastern Asia and spread across the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some waters have had little break since mid-2025, with more than 200 days of elevated temperatures, according to researchers with Climate Central, who said \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-shift-index-alert/severe-marine-heatwave-climate-change-California-Mexico\">human-caused climate change has significantly intensified the marine heat wave\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up to 45% of the ocean impacted “is experiencing conditions that are at least six times more likely due to human-caused warming,” Climate Central said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without climate change, they wrote, the heat wave’s footprint would be 36% smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How could El Niño make the marine heat wave worse?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An El Niño event can weaken winds and slow the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water, which could further intensify the marine heat wave. Without that strong mixing, warm water lingers at the surface, causing temperatures to spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the ingredients are there for a strong El Niño,” said Tom Di Liberto, media director and climate scientist with Climate Central. “If you’re making cookies, you’ve already mixed the dough, but haven’t baked them yet. We still have to wait to see if, in the summer months, these cookies get put in the oven to see if we have that strong El Niño form.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, on May 19, 2026, modeled after the kelp forests found along the Monterey Bay coast. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, said in a recent live-streamed office hours series that while El Niño is not directly related to the marine heat wave, “later this year, it’s actually quite likely that El Niño will reinforce this tropical warming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because El Niño refers to the “sloshing of water from the tropics to the Eastern Pacific it can and does impact sea surface temperatures along the California coast,” said Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It can even result in very different species of fish appearing off the coast here as the upwelling shuts down,” Gershunov said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘They’re in a really, really fragile state’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If waters get even warmer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/unprecedented-number-of-warm-water-species-moved-northward-during-marine-heatwave\">jellyfish, crabs, dolphins, sea turtles\u003c/a> and other species could move into colder habitats, said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. \u003c/span>April Ridlon, director of science for the U.S. Ocean Conservation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more we change the ecosystems, the more possible it is for those warm water species not just to arrive every once in a while and be a novelty and a news article, but for the fundamental composition of the ecosystems to change over time because the warm waters just don’t stop,” Ridlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridlon said the current marine heat wave reminds her of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1123047/the-blob-is-back-what-warm-ocean-mass-means-for-weather-wildlife\">The Blob\u003c/a>,” a warming event that ended about a decade ago. It decimated about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">60% of kelp\u003c/a> along the Central Coast and nearly all of the kelp off the coast of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001057\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins and giant kelp sit in a touch pool in the Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Warming water accelerates the metabolism of \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/14/even-moderate-heat-waves-depress-sea-urchin-reproduction-along-the-pacific-coast/\">purple urchins\u003c/a>, causing the marine animal to voraciously devour kelp forests. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even after the kelp disappears, they can survive as “zombie urchins” in a low-energy state, said Daniel Okamoto, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can sit there for decades and just hang out,” Okamoto said. “Anytime the kelp tries to come back, they have the potential to graze it down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also worried about red abalone, whose populations have declined by up to 95% off California’s North Coast. Unlike urchins, they can’t survive in starvation mode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelp floats in a kelp forest in Monterey Bay outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re in a really, really fragile state,” Okamoto said. “The impending marine heat wave may cause some additional harm on top of what’s already been done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunflower sea stars nearly vanished off the California coast when an \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/falling-stars\">ocean warming\u003c/a> event accelerated the effects of a marine plant disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t even think anybody really appreciated their importance until they were gone,” Okamoto said. It was the “equivalent of their global pandemic that wiped out most of those organisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A widespread marine heat wave and brewing El Niño could further threaten California kelp, sea birds and marine ecosystems.",
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"title": "Scientists Worry El Niño Could Supercharge Marine Heat Wave Roiling Coastal California | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent plunge into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028741/rare-video-captures-super-pod-of-2000-dolphins-breaching-playing-off-monterey-coast\">Monterey Bay\u003c/a>, Dr. Anita Giraldo Ospina noticed the water was oddly warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It definitely feels comfortable, let’s put it that way,” said Giraldo Ospina, principal investigator of coastal ecosystems at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059734/monterey-bay-aquarium-revives-30-year-old-otter-tee-worn-by-taylor-swift\">Monterey Bay Aquarium\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s part of ongoing research projects into how kelp species are repopulating the area. She collects \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">kelp \u003c/span>spores and tiny baby urchin from glass slides and rectangular broom heads anchored to the seafloor and stores them in plastic bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks pretty green down there,” Giraldo Ospina said. “We try to keep all the water in the bag because that’s where larvae settle into the brushes and that might be what’s floating in the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Baby kelp need cold, nutrient rich water to mature into tall, strong adult stipes. \u003c/span> Giraldo Ospina worries that a massive, ongoing \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/a-heat-wave-in-the-pacific-ocean-is-killing-birds-on-cas-coast\">marine heat wave\u003c/a>, which has already raised coastal waters \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/west-coast-waters-experiencing-another-large-marine-heatwave\">by 3 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit\u003c/a>, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">could disrupt efforts to regrow kelp forests vital to the Monterey Bay ecosystem, depending on how warm it becomes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001054\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Conservation science director April Ridlon (left) and research scientist Dr. Anita Giraldo Ospina look at the Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. The exhibit is modeled after the kelp forests found along the Monterey Bay coast. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have seen kelp recovering, and we don’t know if that trend is going to continue, if we continue to have these warm waters,” Giraldo Ospina said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the seventh marine heat wave in seven years and could be amplified by a developing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083376/an-incoming-super-el-nino-may-bring-california-a-wet-hot-winter\">super El Niño\u003c/a>, which has the potential to raise sea surface temperatures even higher. This combined influence could disrupt ecosystems, harm or kill local marine life and attract other species north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With El Niño, the fear is that the kelp that persisted [past the marine heat wave] may now decline, and recovering kelp may not get a chance to get back to what they were before,” Giraldo Ospina said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘More dead birds than living ones being found’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even a few degrees of warming can set an ecosystem out of whack and lead to the die-off of almost entire populations. As of May 20, the International Bird Rescue in Fairfield has treated \u003ca href=\"https://www.birdrescue.org/2026-california-starvation-event/\">288 starving birds\u003c/a>, including brown pelicans, cormorants and common murres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are the same birds people are reporting finding dead on beaches, especially in Southern California, but now in Northern California as well,” said JD Bergeron, the group’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelp floats in a kelp forest in Monterey Bay outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bergeron said one theory is that small schooling fish — favorite food for shore birds — are seeking colder water deeper in the ocean, beyond the birds’ reach. So they do not have enough food to eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have had very regular concerns with brown pelican starvation events, but this one does feel a little bit different,” Bergeron said. “We’re seeing a lot more dead birds than living ones being found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A marine heat wave off the coast of California forms when southerly winds from a semi-permanent area of high pressure weaken between Hawaii and the state.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The winds normally help cool the top layer of the ocean through evaporation and by mixing it with deep, cold water. Without the wind, this thin top layer warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current ocean warming \u003ca href=\"https://www.integratedecosystemassessment.noaa.gov/regions/california-current/california-current-marine-heatwave-tracker-blobtracker\">began last May\u003c/a> near Eastern Asia and spread across the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some waters have had little break since mid-2025, with more than 200 days of elevated temperatures, according to researchers with Climate Central, who said \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-shift-index-alert/severe-marine-heatwave-climate-change-California-Mexico\">human-caused climate change has significantly intensified the marine heat wave\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up to 45% of the ocean impacted “is experiencing conditions that are at least six times more likely due to human-caused warming,” Climate Central said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without climate change, they wrote, the heat wave’s footprint would be 36% smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How could El Niño make the marine heat wave worse?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An El Niño event can weaken winds and slow the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water, which could further intensify the marine heat wave. Without that strong mixing, warm water lingers at the surface, causing temperatures to spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the ingredients are there for a strong El Niño,” said Tom Di Liberto, media director and climate scientist with Climate Central. “If you’re making cookies, you’ve already mixed the dough, but haven’t baked them yet. We still have to wait to see if, in the summer months, these cookies get put in the oven to see if we have that strong El Niño form.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, on May 19, 2026, modeled after the kelp forests found along the Monterey Bay coast. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, said in a recent live-streamed office hours series that while El Niño is not directly related to the marine heat wave, “later this year, it’s actually quite likely that El Niño will reinforce this tropical warming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because El Niño refers to the “sloshing of water from the tropics to the Eastern Pacific it can and does impact sea surface temperatures along the California coast,” said Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It can even result in very different species of fish appearing off the coast here as the upwelling shuts down,” Gershunov said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘They’re in a really, really fragile state’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If waters get even warmer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/unprecedented-number-of-warm-water-species-moved-northward-during-marine-heatwave\">jellyfish, crabs, dolphins, sea turtles\u003c/a> and other species could move into colder habitats, said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. \u003c/span>April Ridlon, director of science for the U.S. Ocean Conservation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more we change the ecosystems, the more possible it is for those warm water species not just to arrive every once in a while and be a novelty and a news article, but for the fundamental composition of the ecosystems to change over time because the warm waters just don’t stop,” Ridlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridlon said the current marine heat wave reminds her of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1123047/the-blob-is-back-what-warm-ocean-mass-means-for-weather-wildlife\">The Blob\u003c/a>,” a warming event that ended about a decade ago. It decimated about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">60% of kelp\u003c/a> along the Central Coast and nearly all of the kelp off the coast of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001057\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MarineHeatwave-25-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins and giant kelp sit in a touch pool in the Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Warming water accelerates the metabolism of \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/14/even-moderate-heat-waves-depress-sea-urchin-reproduction-along-the-pacific-coast/\">purple urchins\u003c/a>, causing the marine animal to voraciously devour kelp forests. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even after the kelp disappears, they can survive as “zombie urchins” in a low-energy state, said Daniel Okamoto, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can sit there for decades and just hang out,” Okamoto said. “Anytime the kelp tries to come back, they have the potential to graze it down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also worried about red abalone, whose populations have declined by up to 95% off California’s North Coast. Unlike urchins, they can’t survive in starvation mode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2001052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2001052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260519-MARINEHEATWAVE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelp floats in a kelp forest in Monterey Bay outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium on May 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re in a really, really fragile state,” Okamoto said. “The impending marine heat wave may cause some additional harm on top of what’s already been done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunflower sea stars nearly vanished off the California coast when an \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/falling-stars\">ocean warming\u003c/a> event accelerated the effects of a marine plant disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t even think anybody really appreciated their importance until they were gone,” Okamoto said. It was the “equivalent of their global pandemic that wiped out most of those organisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Fire risk experts cautioned California lawmakers this week that the state needs to change course to both survive and bounce back from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">wildfires\u003c/a> and other natural catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol on Tuesday, Nancy Watkins, an actuary at financial adviser Milliman who specializes in fire risk and insurance, counseled lawmakers that the state needs to stop “nibbling around the edges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody is going to save California from our decisions,” she said. “The state has to really step in and be more strategic about how to make things happen faster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-leader-taps-senators-becker-and-padilla-advance-effort-wildfire-recovery-and-energy\">statement on \u003c/a>Wednesday, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said they would study the report’s findings and develop a plan to help strengthen recovery efforts and protect residents from rising energy and insurance costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This work is essential,” Becker said. “We must advance reforms that protect access to insurance, lower costs, support wildfire resilience, and provide fair outcomes for those impacted — while ensuring our utilities are both accountable for safety and financially stable enough to attract low-cost capital on behalf of ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires over the past decade have driven up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">home insurance \u003c/a>rates and made coverage harder to obtain in many parts of California. In response, the state has invested heavily in firefighting capacity, early fire-detection technology and vegetation management. But Watkins told legislators those efforts alone are not enough.[aside postID=science_2000680 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/480270735_qed-1020x680.jpg']“The buildup of wildfire risk is a state and a local issue. It’s arising from climate change, it also arises from decades of decisions that we’ve made on land use, building, fire suppression, and decades of regulatory decisions,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins said the state should focus more heavily on making communities less vulnerable to wildfire by making them less ready to burn, rather than relying primarily on detecting and extinguishing fires quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot address this problem through ignition reduction, fuel reduction, or fire suppression, and we definitely can’t get it just through early detection. This all has to include home hardening and defensible space within communities at a much, much greater scale than has been done,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins recently co-authored an\u003ca href=\"https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/state-wildfire-mitigation-framework-measure-twice-cut-once\"> article\u003c/a> with Michael Wara of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University and Dave Winnacker, wildfire policy adviser of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, which outlined a roadmap for reducing wildfire risk in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Watkins said the paper was intended to give policymakers “explicit, tangible steps” to better protect communities and reduce the state’s growing wildfire exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fire risk experts cautioned California lawmakers this week that the state needs to change course to both survive and bounce back from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">wildfires\u003c/a> and other natural catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol on Tuesday, Nancy Watkins, an actuary at financial adviser Milliman who specializes in fire risk and insurance, counseled lawmakers that the state needs to stop “nibbling around the edges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody is going to save California from our decisions,” she said. “The state has to really step in and be more strategic about how to make things happen faster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-leader-taps-senators-becker-and-padilla-advance-effort-wildfire-recovery-and-energy\">statement on \u003c/a>Wednesday, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said they would study the report’s findings and develop a plan to help strengthen recovery efforts and protect residents from rising energy and insurance costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This work is essential,” Becker said. “We must advance reforms that protect access to insurance, lower costs, support wildfire resilience, and provide fair outcomes for those impacted — while ensuring our utilities are both accountable for safety and financially stable enough to attract low-cost capital on behalf of ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires over the past decade have driven up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">home insurance \u003c/a>rates and made coverage harder to obtain in many parts of California. In response, the state has invested heavily in firefighting capacity, early fire-detection technology and vegetation management. But Watkins told legislators those efforts alone are not enough.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The buildup of wildfire risk is a state and a local issue. It’s arising from climate change, it also arises from decades of decisions that we’ve made on land use, building, fire suppression, and decades of regulatory decisions,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins said the state should focus more heavily on making communities less vulnerable to wildfire by making them less ready to burn, rather than relying primarily on detecting and extinguishing fires quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot address this problem through ignition reduction, fuel reduction, or fire suppression, and we definitely can’t get it just through early detection. This all has to include home hardening and defensible space within communities at a much, much greater scale than has been done,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins recently co-authored an\u003ca href=\"https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/state-wildfire-mitigation-framework-measure-twice-cut-once\"> article\u003c/a> with Michael Wara of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University and Dave Winnacker, wildfire policy adviser of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, which outlined a roadmap for reducing wildfire risk in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Watkins said the paper was intended to give policymakers “explicit, tangible steps” to better protect communities and reduce the state’s growing wildfire exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-bay-area-libraries-are-helping-residents-switch-from-gas-to-induction-cooking",
"title": "How Bay Area Libraries Are Helping Residents Switch From Gas to Induction Cooking",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>California is transitioning to clean energy. KQED is reporting on what that means for you. What works? What doesn’t? How much does it cost? Help us find these answers and more by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://donate.kqed.org/sojo?ms=W2510EANXXXX22\">\u003cem>donating today\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirella Bucci cooked on a gas stove her whole life. She connected it to her family’s Italian cooking traditions and the way she grew up. Bucci thought its heat control was unmatched. Until she tried an induction cooktop for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My mom and these influential people in my cooking world have always used gas,” Bucci said. She remembers her mom’s big pot of tomato sauce simmering above a low flame; Bucci and her two siblings would eat it with pasta every week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci long believed the industry standard, that only gas provided the precision “top chefs” require. But, as an adult, Bucci grew curious about induction as she considered replacing her gas stove as part of a home electrification project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She had heard professional chefs still relied on gas in restaurants, but that some used induction at home because it was faster and easier to control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she was skeptical. Bucci, who works at the Stanford School of Medicine helping biomedical research labs apply for federal funding, has lived in San Mateo County for nearly 25 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t know anyone personally who used induction cooking. So she checked one out from San Mateo City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An induction stove available for check out at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within days, her doubts faded. Water boiled faster than she expected. The stove’s surface didn’t remain too hot for too long. And the temperature control felt more precise. “The induction made things easier,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That mattered to Bucci, whose cooking is deeply tied to her family’s heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She cooks seafood risotto, squid-ink pasta, lobster macaroni, scallops with wedges of grapefruit, and other seafood dishes for the Italian-American “Feast of Seven Fishes” Christmas Eve traditional meal. For years, she believed those meals required cooking over a flame.[aside postID=science_2000835 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260213-DiabloCanyonNuclearPowerPlant-62-BL_qed.jpg']“You can cook something really hot and get those grill lines on your meat or your vegetables,” Bucci said. “That’s kind of an advantage too, with the induction, is that it gets really hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the Bay Area, libraries and other civic institutions now offer induction cooktop kits like the one Bucci borrowed, giving residents a free, low-risk way to try an alternative to gas cooking. The loaner programs are part of a broader push by Bay Area municipalities and climate advocates to reduce household emissions from gas appliances and improve indoor air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas and propane stoves are a major source of pollution in U.S. households. A \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/12/pgaf341/8361964?login=false\">2025 study\u003c/a> found that for homes using these fuels, cooking accounts for a quarter of their total exposure to nitrogen dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a serious health concern because nitrogen dioxide is a well-known trigger for asthma, meaning that simply preparing meals can contribute to a person’s long-term health risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for many households, switching isn’t simple. Full stove replacements can cost thousands of dollars, and even portable units, typically between $50 and $200, can feel like a financial risk if people aren’t sure they’ll like the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The library as a climate outreach space\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The induction cooktop loaner program in San Mateo that Bucci participated in began at City Hall but moved into the public library’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4621/Technology-Lending\">technology lending program\u003c/a> in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Jung, a supervising library assistant in San Mateo, said the induction cooktops are a natural extension of the library’s mission. “Libraries are a well-respected pillar of knowledge in the community,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000971\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jonathan Jung, supervising library assistant, poses for a portrait at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The lending program includes everything from keyboards and synthesizers for musicians to microcontrollers for hobbyists. Jung said the program’s two induction cooktops are in high demand. “Patrons have given me positive feedback. They’re really happy that they can test it out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Civic groups offer the cooktops as part of their local climate goals, said Andrea Chow, a sustainability analyst with the city. In San Mateo, buildings account for a portion \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcsustainability.org/greenhouse-gas-reduction/ccap/building-energy/\">of community-wide greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a>, which come primarily from the use of gas in residential and commercial buildings. Especially in unincorporated areas, where they are the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at 32%. “Decarbonizing existing buildings is a huge priority for our city,” Chow said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sunnyvale Public Library started a similar program in 2019. The library has 14 cooktops available and averages 100 checkouts per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000972\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People use the communal spaces at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Madeline Khair, environmental programs manager within Sunnyvale’s environmental services department, said the library is expanding its sustainability section to include solar panels, rechargeable batteries and emergency kits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our partners at the library have always been really supportive of the climate action plan and sustainability goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Sunnyvale aims to reduce overall community greenhouse gas emissions by \u003ca href=\"https://sunnyvaleclimateaction.org/scoreboard\">56% from 1990 levels by 2030\u003c/a>, according to its \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunnyvale.ca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/1066/638606111674670000\">climate action playbook\u003c/a>. This target is more aggressive than \u003ca href=\"https://calepa.ca.gov/climate-dashboard/\">California’s 40% reduction goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the loaner program offers a pathway for people interested in trying induction cooktops for free, some libraries carry only a handful of kits and have waitlists to check them out. And replacing a stove can still be expensive. Costs can range from $2,000 to $8,000, or even more. Some households may need electrical upgrades to switch completely away from gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What the research says about gas stoves and indoor air\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About a year and a half after trying a loaner, San Mateo resident Mike Driscoll and his wife made the switch. They discovered one benefit they did not expect: a cleaner home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With gas, there was always a little layer of grease on nearby surfaces,” he said. “After switching, that just disappeared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooking itself produces grease particles and ultrafine aerosols. With gas, the open flame can intensify how those particles spread, carrying them onto nearby counters, cabinets and furniture, something households like Driscoll’s may notice as residue over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000975\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mirella Bucci’s induction stove at her home in San Mateo on April 29, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gas stoves also emit pollutants, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935117300750\">nitrogen dioxide\u003c/a>, and fine particulate matter, which can linger in indoor air or settle on surfaces. Exposure has been linked to increased asthma symptoms in children and can worsen other respiratory conditions, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9819315/\">2023 study published in the \u003c/a>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those health considerations are becoming a key driver behind programs like these, alongside climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas stoves contribute to climate change by emitting carbon dioxide during combustion and methane, which is present in unburned natural gas that leaks from gas stoves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These greenhouse gases trap atmospheric heat. According to a \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35081712/\">2022 study\u003c/a> in Environmental Science and Technology, annual methane leaks from U.S. stoves alone create a climate impact comparable to that of half a million cars, highlighting a significant environmental footprint beyond active cooking.[aside postID=science_2000695 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250523-SOLAR-BALCONY-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Buildings account for a significant share of California’s emissions, much of it from gas appliances, making reductions in heating, hot water and cooking a key part of the state’s climate strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long-term studies indicate that switching from gas stoves to induction cooking significantly improves indoor air quality, reducing nitrogen dioxide exposure by over 50%, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/12/gas-propane-stoves-nitrogen-dioxide-exposure-health-risks-switching-electric\">2025 study by Stanford researchers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Induction cooktops use electromagnetic energy to heat cookware directly, with no combustion and no combustion-related indoor air pollution. That can improve indoor air quality, especially in smaller or poorly ventilated spaces, while also reducing excess heat in the kitchen. “Gas heats the air to thousands of degrees; electric doesn’t,” said Rob Jackson, the study’s senior author and professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said these programs also help people who cannot swap all of their gas appliances — furnaces, water heaters — at once. They can start by using their gas stove less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We sample many homes in Bakersfield and elsewhere where people rent and can’t change their appliances, or convince their landlord to, and can’t afford to pay for the transition themselves,” he said. “In this case, the best thing you can do to improve indoor air quality is to burn less gas indoors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where to borrow an induction cooktop in the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Programs have expanded across the region, including Santa Cruz, Milpitas, Burlingame, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Oakland, Marin County and Hayward. In some cities, kits are available through libraries; in others, through sustainability departments or community programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional energy providers, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/\">Peninsula Clean Energy\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://svcleanenergy.org/home-rebates/\">Silicon Valley Clean Energy\u003c/a>, have supported these efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley Clean Energy also offers \u003ca href=\"https://svcleanenergy.org/home-rebates/\">rebates\u003c/a> of up to $750 for upgrading to induction cooktops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000973\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000973\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Mateo Public Library stands on 55 W 3rd Ave., in San Mateo, on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayren.org/ease-home\">Bay Area Regional Energy Network\u003c/a> assists moderate-income households with home improvements, including electrical upgrades for cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loaner programs are also available through \u003ca href=\"https://pge-induction.myturn.com/library/\">PG&E\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://acterra.org/electrification/greenhome/induction-cooktop-loan/\">Acterra\u003c/a> in the East Bay, and \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosecleanenergy.org/electric-cooking/\">San Jose Clean Energy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Milpitas, sustainability coordinator Grace Chan said the goal is to make the gas-to-induction transition as easy as possible. “It’s a very low-commitment way for residents to test out a new type of equipment that they may never have used before,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the appeal isn’t even about replacing a stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Egbert, a renter in San Bruno, borrowed a cooktop for a backyard-style Korean barbecue with friends. “It was my first time using induction,” she said. “It heated up really fast, and I liked that I could use it outside without worrying about an open flame.”[aside postID=news_12077055 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GavinNewsomRobBontaGetty.jpg']Still, awareness remains a challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a very strong, sometimes cultural or personal connection to gas cooking. There’s a lot of hesitancy,” Chow said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But once people try induction, perceptions can shift. Borrowers frequently mention that water boils faster, that the controls feel precise, and that the surface is safe, cooling quickly and reducing the risk of burns or fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are still trade-offs. Induction requires compatible cookware like stainless steel and cast iron, and some cooks miss the visual cue of a flame or worry about techniques like stir-frying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Bucci, the loaner program made all the difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a little over two years ago when she borrowed a single-burner induction cooktop from city hall to try out for two weeks at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What started out as a more climate-conscious decision, Bucci said, turned out to be better for her cooking overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, she wonders if there will ever be a situation where she would prefer gas. “I mean, if you were making a flambé and you were trying to light your alcohol on fire in the pan, that would be one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from that rare occurrence, Bucci doesn’t miss the flame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You realize the point is to heat your food quickly and with control,” she said. “And induction does that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "How Bay Area Libraries Are Helping Residents Switch From Gas to Induction Cooking | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>California is transitioning to clean energy. KQED is reporting on what that means for you. What works? What doesn’t? How much does it cost? Help us find these answers and more by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://donate.kqed.org/sojo?ms=W2510EANXXXX22\">\u003cem>donating today\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirella Bucci cooked on a gas stove her whole life. She connected it to her family’s Italian cooking traditions and the way she grew up. Bucci thought its heat control was unmatched. Until she tried an induction cooktop for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My mom and these influential people in my cooking world have always used gas,” Bucci said. She remembers her mom’s big pot of tomato sauce simmering above a low flame; Bucci and her two siblings would eat it with pasta every week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci long believed the industry standard, that only gas provided the precision “top chefs” require. But, as an adult, Bucci grew curious about induction as she considered replacing her gas stove as part of a home electrification project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She had heard professional chefs still relied on gas in restaurants, but that some used induction at home because it was faster and easier to control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she was skeptical. Bucci, who works at the Stanford School of Medicine helping biomedical research labs apply for federal funding, has lived in San Mateo County for nearly 25 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t know anyone personally who used induction cooking. So she checked one out from San Mateo City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02262_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An induction stove available for check out at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within days, her doubts faded. Water boiled faster than she expected. The stove’s surface didn’t remain too hot for too long. And the temperature control felt more precise. “The induction made things easier,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That mattered to Bucci, whose cooking is deeply tied to her family’s heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She cooks seafood risotto, squid-ink pasta, lobster macaroni, scallops with wedges of grapefruit, and other seafood dishes for the Italian-American “Feast of Seven Fishes” Christmas Eve traditional meal. For years, she believed those meals required cooking over a flame.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You can cook something really hot and get those grill lines on your meat or your vegetables,” Bucci said. “That’s kind of an advantage too, with the induction, is that it gets really hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the Bay Area, libraries and other civic institutions now offer induction cooktop kits like the one Bucci borrowed, giving residents a free, low-risk way to try an alternative to gas cooking. The loaner programs are part of a broader push by Bay Area municipalities and climate advocates to reduce household emissions from gas appliances and improve indoor air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas and propane stoves are a major source of pollution in U.S. households. A \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/12/pgaf341/8361964?login=false\">2025 study\u003c/a> found that for homes using these fuels, cooking accounts for a quarter of their total exposure to nitrogen dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a serious health concern because nitrogen dioxide is a well-known trigger for asthma, meaning that simply preparing meals can contribute to a person’s long-term health risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for many households, switching isn’t simple. Full stove replacements can cost thousands of dollars, and even portable units, typically between $50 and $200, can feel like a financial risk if people aren’t sure they’ll like the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The library as a climate outreach space\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The induction cooktop loaner program in San Mateo that Bucci participated in began at City Hall but moved into the public library’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4621/Technology-Lending\">technology lending program\u003c/a> in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Jung, a supervising library assistant in San Mateo, said the induction cooktops are a natural extension of the library’s mission. “Libraries are a well-respected pillar of knowledge in the community,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000971\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02413_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jonathan Jung, supervising library assistant, poses for a portrait at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The lending program includes everything from keyboards and synthesizers for musicians to microcontrollers for hobbyists. Jung said the program’s two induction cooktops are in high demand. “Patrons have given me positive feedback. They’re really happy that they can test it out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Civic groups offer the cooktops as part of their local climate goals, said Andrea Chow, a sustainability analyst with the city. In San Mateo, buildings account for a portion \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcsustainability.org/greenhouse-gas-reduction/ccap/building-energy/\">of community-wide greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a>, which come primarily from the use of gas in residential and commercial buildings. Especially in unincorporated areas, where they are the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at 32%. “Decarbonizing existing buildings is a huge priority for our city,” Chow said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sunnyvale Public Library started a similar program in 2019. The library has 14 cooktops available and averages 100 checkouts per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000972\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02564_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People use the communal spaces at the San Mateo Public Library in San Mateo on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Madeline Khair, environmental programs manager within Sunnyvale’s environmental services department, said the library is expanding its sustainability section to include solar panels, rechargeable batteries and emergency kits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our partners at the library have always been really supportive of the climate action plan and sustainability goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Sunnyvale aims to reduce overall community greenhouse gas emissions by \u003ca href=\"https://sunnyvaleclimateaction.org/scoreboard\">56% from 1990 levels by 2030\u003c/a>, according to its \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunnyvale.ca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/1066/638606111674670000\">climate action playbook\u003c/a>. This target is more aggressive than \u003ca href=\"https://calepa.ca.gov/climate-dashboard/\">California’s 40% reduction goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the loaner program offers a pathway for people interested in trying induction cooktops for free, some libraries carry only a handful of kits and have waitlists to check them out. And replacing a stove can still be expensive. Costs can range from $2,000 to $8,000, or even more. Some households may need electrical upgrades to switch completely away from gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What the research says about gas stoves and indoor air\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About a year and a half after trying a loaner, San Mateo resident Mike Driscoll and his wife made the switch. They discovered one benefit they did not expect: a cleaner home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With gas, there was always a little layer of grease on nearby surfaces,” he said. “After switching, that just disappeared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooking itself produces grease particles and ultrafine aerosols. With gas, the open flame can intensify how those particles spread, carrying them onto nearby counters, cabinets and furniture, something households like Driscoll’s may notice as residue over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000975\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260429-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION00150_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mirella Bucci’s induction stove at her home in San Mateo on April 29, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gas stoves also emit pollutants, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935117300750\">nitrogen dioxide\u003c/a>, and fine particulate matter, which can linger in indoor air or settle on surfaces. Exposure has been linked to increased asthma symptoms in children and can worsen other respiratory conditions, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9819315/\">2023 study published in the \u003c/a>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those health considerations are becoming a key driver behind programs like these, alongside climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas stoves contribute to climate change by emitting carbon dioxide during combustion and methane, which is present in unburned natural gas that leaks from gas stoves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These greenhouse gases trap atmospheric heat. According to a \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35081712/\">2022 study\u003c/a> in Environmental Science and Technology, annual methane leaks from U.S. stoves alone create a climate impact comparable to that of half a million cars, highlighting a significant environmental footprint beyond active cooking.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Buildings account for a significant share of California’s emissions, much of it from gas appliances, making reductions in heating, hot water and cooking a key part of the state’s climate strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long-term studies indicate that switching from gas stoves to induction cooking significantly improves indoor air quality, reducing nitrogen dioxide exposure by over 50%, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/12/gas-propane-stoves-nitrogen-dioxide-exposure-health-risks-switching-electric\">2025 study by Stanford researchers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Induction cooktops use electromagnetic energy to heat cookware directly, with no combustion and no combustion-related indoor air pollution. That can improve indoor air quality, especially in smaller or poorly ventilated spaces, while also reducing excess heat in the kitchen. “Gas heats the air to thousands of degrees; electric doesn’t,” said Rob Jackson, the study’s senior author and professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said these programs also help people who cannot swap all of their gas appliances — furnaces, water heaters — at once. They can start by using their gas stove less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We sample many homes in Bakersfield and elsewhere where people rent and can’t change their appliances, or convince their landlord to, and can’t afford to pay for the transition themselves,” he said. “In this case, the best thing you can do to improve indoor air quality is to burn less gas indoors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where to borrow an induction cooktop in the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Programs have expanded across the region, including Santa Cruz, Milpitas, Burlingame, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Oakland, Marin County and Hayward. In some cities, kits are available through libraries; in others, through sustainability departments or community programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional energy providers, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/\">Peninsula Clean Energy\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://svcleanenergy.org/home-rebates/\">Silicon Valley Clean Energy\u003c/a>, have supported these efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley Clean Energy also offers \u003ca href=\"https://svcleanenergy.org/home-rebates/\">rebates\u003c/a> of up to $750 for upgrading to induction cooktops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000973\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000973\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260417-CLIMATESOLUTIONSINDUCTION02861_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Mateo Public Library stands on 55 W 3rd Ave., in San Mateo, on April 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayren.org/ease-home\">Bay Area Regional Energy Network\u003c/a> assists moderate-income households with home improvements, including electrical upgrades for cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loaner programs are also available through \u003ca href=\"https://pge-induction.myturn.com/library/\">PG&E\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://acterra.org/electrification/greenhome/induction-cooktop-loan/\">Acterra\u003c/a> in the East Bay, and \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosecleanenergy.org/electric-cooking/\">San Jose Clean Energy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Milpitas, sustainability coordinator Grace Chan said the goal is to make the gas-to-induction transition as easy as possible. “It’s a very low-commitment way for residents to test out a new type of equipment that they may never have used before,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the appeal isn’t even about replacing a stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Egbert, a renter in San Bruno, borrowed a cooktop for a backyard-style Korean barbecue with friends. “It was my first time using induction,” she said. “It heated up really fast, and I liked that I could use it outside without worrying about an open flame.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Still, awareness remains a challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a very strong, sometimes cultural or personal connection to gas cooking. There’s a lot of hesitancy,” Chow said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But once people try induction, perceptions can shift. Borrowers frequently mention that water boils faster, that the controls feel precise, and that the surface is safe, cooling quickly and reducing the risk of burns or fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are still trade-offs. Induction requires compatible cookware like stainless steel and cast iron, and some cooks miss the visual cue of a flame or worry about techniques like stir-frying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Bucci, the loaner program made all the difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a little over two years ago when she borrowed a single-burner induction cooktop from city hall to try out for two weeks at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What started out as a more climate-conscious decision, Bucci said, turned out to be better for her cooking overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, she wonders if there will ever be a situation where she would prefer gas. “I mean, if you were making a flambé and you were trying to light your alcohol on fire in the pan, that would be one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from that rare occurrence, Bucci doesn’t miss the flame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You realize the point is to heat your food quickly and with control,” she said. “And induction does that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "californias-fuel-fears-threaten-benicias-just-transition-to-green-economy",
"title": "California’s Fuel Fears Threaten Benicia’s ‘Just Transition’ to Green Economy",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the city of Benicia on the bank of the Carquinez Strait, the view has fundamentally changed: smoke, steam, and black soot no longer spiral from the stacks of the Valero refinery, which stopped refining crude oil in April. So why are residents holding their breath?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the shuttering of the refinery, Benicia became the latest test case for California’s promise of a “just transition” from fossil fuels to renewable energy that protects workers’wages and livelihoods, invests in economically disadvantaged communities and reduces pollution impacts on the most vulnerable communities. Many Benicians are optimistic they have the assets and the know-how to succeed. But in a politically charged environment where gasoline prices are spiraling higher, California’s shifting interests threaten to delay any rebirth of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders negotiated an agreement with Valero this year to use its idled Benicia facility to store and transport imported fuel, which brings little economic activity while freezing redevelopment plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, Benicia’s economy and identity have depended on oil production. Valero’s 400-plus employees, a quarter of whom lived in town, spent some of their paychecks at First Street’s bars and restaurants, which also served hundreds more workers contracted for maintenance each year. Local businesses provided equipment, parts and services to Valero and must find a new market — or pivot to make a new product. Benicia businesses expect the ripple effects of the refinery closure to devastate livelihoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure was expected. California established its goal to completely phase out fossil fuels to combat global warming more than a decade ago. But Benicia is losing its largest taxpayer much sooner than the city can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero’s refinery shutdown will cost Benicia an estimated $10.8 million annually in tax revenues, about 13% of the city’s general fund budget. The city manager reassured residents at a packed February town hall that they could still count on city services funded by $3 million in cash reserves. The city planned to sell water that Valero used, half the city’s supply, to other businesses, and applied for millions of dollars worth of community grants from the Bay Area Air District to sustain staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Martinez Refining Company is seen across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia, on April 13, 2026, as regional refining operations face uncertainty amid California’s transition away from fossil fuels. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the long term, Benecia’s leaders are banking on redevelopment of Valero’s 900 acres to bring new tax revenue and vitalize the local economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 500 of those acres were a buffer to mitigate risks of explosions, fires, emissions and other pollution. The land could be developed sooner than the land under the refinery itself, which state regulators expect could take ten years to clean up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanna see dismantling and movement into our future,” said Kari Birdseye, a Benicia city council member, “I’m not sure that’s the vision that the state has right now because of the precarious nature of our petroleum situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California state leaders have primarily focused on stabilizing fuel supply and keeping gas prices from spiraling out of control.[aside postID=news_12036695 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-01_qed-1020x680.jpg']On April 16, 2025, Valero announced it planned to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations in Benicia. This came six months after Phillips 66 declared its plans to stop refining in Wilmington, Los Angeles, by the year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, these facilities comprised nearly 20% of California’s refining capacity. The closures threatened to push oil prices higher — a political and economic disaster in a state where gasoline historically costs $0.90 more per gallon than the national average, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65184#:~:text=Data%20source:%20AAA,all%20states%20is%20%240.28/gal.\">U.S. Energy and Information Administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Valero’s announcement with a letter dated April 21 to the California Energy Commission, directing the state agency responsible for sustaining fuel supply to “redouble its efforts” with “high-level immediate engagement, to help ensure that Californians continue to have access to a safe, affordable, and reliable supply of transportation fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month later, Siva Gunda, vice chair of the energy commission, recommended easing regulations to increase fuel imports and local production. Many of the suggestions were enacted with the passage of SB 237 in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists criticized the legislative changes as an oil industry wish list. They waived California’s requirement to switch to a lower emission fuel in summer months, exempted some oil and gas well permits from final environmental review, and paused penalties on excessive oil profits that lawmakers created to prevent price gouging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the changes persuaded Valero to keep refining in Benicia. However, in January, the company agreed to import gasoline to meet its obligations to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia on Sept. 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benicia officials said they have not been in negotiations between the state and Valero. But Lauren Bird, the facilities general manager, told the Citizens’ Advisory Panel on April 17 that the refinery will import, store and transport gas and diesel for about two years, though it will no longer import jet fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using Valero’s facility for imports provides little economic benefit to Benicia and delays redevelopment of 900 acres of prime real estate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It basically eliminates our ability to have any new development on the property,” said Christina Gilpin-Hayes, a resident who serves on with the city’s planning commission. “Nobody’s gonna want it. Even the land that’s the buffer acres, nobody’s gonna want to develop there if [Valero] is still using it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An energy commission spokesperson could not discuss the talks due to industry confidentiality rules, but said in an email that the agency is working with Benicia and stakeholders on alternatives for the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting historic downtown Benicia is seen along First Street on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some residents have called it a back-door deal and said they worry imported gasoline is a fire safety risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is the state gonna do for us given that they’re imposing this?” said Marilyn Bardet, a member of the community advisory panel, at the February town hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda declined KQED’s request for an interview. But said at a state Senate committee hearing on Feb. 18 that much of the energy commission’s work in the last year was aimed at keeping gasoline costs from rising above $5 a gallon, which worked until the U.S. war with Iran pushed up prices globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda urged lawmakers to turn to mitigating the economic impacts of refinery closures.[aside postID=news_12059271 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250509-BeniciaRefinery-32-BL_qed-1.jpg']“These unplanned, disruptive closures could have incredible impacts on the workers and the communities,” Gunda said. “It’s really important … to make sure we have the policies in place to support the transition in a way that we protect Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I’d like to think that some of these strategies are forthcoming,” said \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/people/josh-sonnenfeld/\">Josh Sonnenfeld\u003c/a>, a senior researcher at UC Berkeley Labor Center. “Given this is the sixth refinery closure or conversion [in six years], I think we need to pick up our pace here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonnenfeld previously worked for the Blue Green Alliance, which helped Contra Costa County mitigate the 2020 conversion of the Marathon Refinery to renewable diesel. That change cost 700 refinery workers well-paid union jobs. In response, state lawmakers established the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund to help pay for training and job searches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Workforce Development Board of Solano County received $3 million from the fund last year to help laid-off Valero workers, and is offering up to $25,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://solanoemployment.org/funding/\">grants\u003c/a> to small businesses affected by the closure. Advocates have lobbied to extend and expand the fund, as its authorization sunsets in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonnefeld thinks California leaders should look to other states as examples. For instance, New York created a tax stabilization fund for refinery towns and cities to make up for the sudden loss of refinery dollars, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/economic-transition\">Michigan \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/energy-transition/\">Minnesota\u003c/a> each established a community transition office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t set up that infrastructure yet in California around whose job is it to make sure that workers and communities are successfully transitioning,” Sonnenfeld said. “In California, we don’t want to acknowledge that they’re actually folks that are being hurt by the energy transition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2000872 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A visitor walks along First Street near the waterfront on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sonnenfeld said regional governments have shouldered more of the responsibility for mitigating the impact of refinery closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air District launched a first-of-a-kind program this year where regulatory fines against polluters will be passed on to affected communities in the form of grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air regulator issued $82 million in fines against Valero in 2024 for over a decade of excess emissions at the Benicia refinery, which will provide some $60 million in funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia plans to seek up to $43 million of the grants, which are also open to local businesses. \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/community-health/community-investments-office\">Applications are due in May\u003c/a>, and the awards are expected to be announced in September. That’s the same month that Signature Development, the company Valero hired to manage the sale of refinery land, is expected to present plans to repurpose the property to the city council for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The waterfront in Benicia on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until then, Benicia is on a white-knuckle transition trying to jumpstart a new, green economy without knowing when Valero will leave, or how long it will take to decontaminate and repurpose the refinery site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state legislature is considering a bill to help California’s eight remaining refinery towns plan better. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1259\">SB 1259\u003c/a> would require refineries to plan for decommissioning and estimate the costs and timeline for cleaning up after a closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birdseye said the legislation wouldn’t benefit Benicia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a very precarious moment,” Birdseye said. “ But I’m filled with hope because of what we have here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kari Birdseye, a Benicia City Council member, stands overlooking Benicia’s marine oil terminal near the site of the Benicia Clocktower, on April 13, 2026, in Benicia, as the city prepares for the closure of the Valero refinery and the loss of roughly 10 percent of its annual tax revenue. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Birdseye said businesses have inquired about moving to Benicia for its central location between two interstate highways, with a rail line and port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the city’s old clock tower, Birdseye gestured to a berth below, where Valero had exported petroleum coke, a black dust that’s a refining byproduct and a health hazard. She said a federal agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, has identified the port as a possible supply chain and manufacturing site for the nascent offshore wind industry in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can put these large pieces of equipment on ships that go out the Golden Gate and either go down to the Port of Long Beach, Morro Bay or up to Humboldt, where they can be assembled into wind turbines,” Birdseye said. “That’s the perfect scenario for a just transition away from fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent afternoon at Benicia’s waterfront, resident Stephen Golub said one thing lost in the economic discussions about Valero’s departure is the gains in environmental and public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000868\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000868\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Golub, a Benicia resident, poses for a portrait along the waterfront on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They were polluting our air again and again, sometimes secretly, sometimes more openly,” Golub said. “They were poisoning our politics by pouring massive funds into political campaigns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golub said without a refinery, it’s easier to enjoy all that Benicia has to offer, including 28 public parks, stable political leadership, a vibrant art scene, good schools and safe streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Down the line, maybe 10 or 20 years, people will talk about this thriving community with all it has to offer, and they’ll say, ‘Hey, did you know that there was once a refinery here?’” Golub said.“I really think that’s what’s in the city’s future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State leaders negotiated an agreement with Valero this year to use its idled Benicia facility to store and transport imported fuel, which brings little economic activity while freezing redevelopment plans.",
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"title": "California’s Fuel Fears Threaten Benicia’s ‘Just Transition’ to Green Economy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the city of Benicia on the bank of the Carquinez Strait, the view has fundamentally changed: smoke, steam, and black soot no longer spiral from the stacks of the Valero refinery, which stopped refining crude oil in April. So why are residents holding their breath?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the shuttering of the refinery, Benicia became the latest test case for California’s promise of a “just transition” from fossil fuels to renewable energy that protects workers’wages and livelihoods, invests in economically disadvantaged communities and reduces pollution impacts on the most vulnerable communities. Many Benicians are optimistic they have the assets and the know-how to succeed. But in a politically charged environment where gasoline prices are spiraling higher, California’s shifting interests threaten to delay any rebirth of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders negotiated an agreement with Valero this year to use its idled Benicia facility to store and transport imported fuel, which brings little economic activity while freezing redevelopment plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, Benicia’s economy and identity have depended on oil production. Valero’s 400-plus employees, a quarter of whom lived in town, spent some of their paychecks at First Street’s bars and restaurants, which also served hundreds more workers contracted for maintenance each year. Local businesses provided equipment, parts and services to Valero and must find a new market — or pivot to make a new product. Benicia businesses expect the ripple effects of the refinery closure to devastate livelihoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure was expected. California established its goal to completely phase out fossil fuels to combat global warming more than a decade ago. But Benicia is losing its largest taxpayer much sooner than the city can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero’s refinery shutdown will cost Benicia an estimated $10.8 million annually in tax revenues, about 13% of the city’s general fund budget. The city manager reassured residents at a packed February town hall that they could still count on city services funded by $3 million in cash reserves. The city planned to sell water that Valero used, half the city’s supply, to other businesses, and applied for millions of dollars worth of community grants from the Bay Area Air District to sustain staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Martinez Refining Company is seen across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia, on April 13, 2026, as regional refining operations face uncertainty amid California’s transition away from fossil fuels. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the long term, Benecia’s leaders are banking on redevelopment of Valero’s 900 acres to bring new tax revenue and vitalize the local economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 500 of those acres were a buffer to mitigate risks of explosions, fires, emissions and other pollution. The land could be developed sooner than the land under the refinery itself, which state regulators expect could take ten years to clean up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanna see dismantling and movement into our future,” said Kari Birdseye, a Benicia city council member, “I’m not sure that’s the vision that the state has right now because of the precarious nature of our petroleum situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California state leaders have primarily focused on stabilizing fuel supply and keeping gas prices from spiraling out of control.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On April 16, 2025, Valero announced it planned to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations in Benicia. This came six months after Phillips 66 declared its plans to stop refining in Wilmington, Los Angeles, by the year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, these facilities comprised nearly 20% of California’s refining capacity. The closures threatened to push oil prices higher — a political and economic disaster in a state where gasoline historically costs $0.90 more per gallon than the national average, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65184#:~:text=Data%20source:%20AAA,all%20states%20is%20%240.28/gal.\">U.S. Energy and Information Administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Valero’s announcement with a letter dated April 21 to the California Energy Commission, directing the state agency responsible for sustaining fuel supply to “redouble its efforts” with “high-level immediate engagement, to help ensure that Californians continue to have access to a safe, affordable, and reliable supply of transportation fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month later, Siva Gunda, vice chair of the energy commission, recommended easing regulations to increase fuel imports and local production. Many of the suggestions were enacted with the passage of SB 237 in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists criticized the legislative changes as an oil industry wish list. They waived California’s requirement to switch to a lower emission fuel in summer months, exempted some oil and gas well permits from final environmental review, and paused penalties on excessive oil profits that lawmakers created to prevent price gouging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the changes persuaded Valero to keep refining in Benicia. However, in January, the company agreed to import gasoline to meet its obligations to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia on Sept. 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benicia officials said they have not been in negotiations between the state and Valero. But Lauren Bird, the facilities general manager, told the Citizens’ Advisory Panel on April 17 that the refinery will import, store and transport gas and diesel for about two years, though it will no longer import jet fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using Valero’s facility for imports provides little economic benefit to Benicia and delays redevelopment of 900 acres of prime real estate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It basically eliminates our ability to have any new development on the property,” said Christina Gilpin-Hayes, a resident who serves on with the city’s planning commission. “Nobody’s gonna want it. Even the land that’s the buffer acres, nobody’s gonna want to develop there if [Valero] is still using it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An energy commission spokesperson could not discuss the talks due to industry confidentiality rules, but said in an email that the agency is working with Benicia and stakeholders on alternatives for the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting historic downtown Benicia is seen along First Street on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some residents have called it a back-door deal and said they worry imported gasoline is a fire safety risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is the state gonna do for us given that they’re imposing this?” said Marilyn Bardet, a member of the community advisory panel, at the February town hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda declined KQED’s request for an interview. But said at a state Senate committee hearing on Feb. 18 that much of the energy commission’s work in the last year was aimed at keeping gasoline costs from rising above $5 a gallon, which worked until the U.S. war with Iran pushed up prices globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda urged lawmakers to turn to mitigating the economic impacts of refinery closures.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These unplanned, disruptive closures could have incredible impacts on the workers and the communities,” Gunda said. “It’s really important … to make sure we have the policies in place to support the transition in a way that we protect Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I’d like to think that some of these strategies are forthcoming,” said \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/people/josh-sonnenfeld/\">Josh Sonnenfeld\u003c/a>, a senior researcher at UC Berkeley Labor Center. “Given this is the sixth refinery closure or conversion [in six years], I think we need to pick up our pace here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonnenfeld previously worked for the Blue Green Alliance, which helped Contra Costa County mitigate the 2020 conversion of the Marathon Refinery to renewable diesel. That change cost 700 refinery workers well-paid union jobs. In response, state lawmakers established the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund to help pay for training and job searches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Workforce Development Board of Solano County received $3 million from the fund last year to help laid-off Valero workers, and is offering up to $25,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://solanoemployment.org/funding/\">grants\u003c/a> to small businesses affected by the closure. Advocates have lobbied to extend and expand the fund, as its authorization sunsets in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonnefeld thinks California leaders should look to other states as examples. For instance, New York created a tax stabilization fund for refinery towns and cities to make up for the sudden loss of refinery dollars, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/economic-transition\">Michigan \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/energy-transition/\">Minnesota\u003c/a> each established a community transition office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t set up that infrastructure yet in California around whose job is it to make sure that workers and communities are successfully transitioning,” Sonnenfeld said. “In California, we don’t want to acknowledge that they’re actually folks that are being hurt by the energy transition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2000872 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_018-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A visitor walks along First Street near the waterfront on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sonnenfeld said regional governments have shouldered more of the responsibility for mitigating the impact of refinery closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air District launched a first-of-a-kind program this year where regulatory fines against polluters will be passed on to affected communities in the form of grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air regulator issued $82 million in fines against Valero in 2024 for over a decade of excess emissions at the Benicia refinery, which will provide some $60 million in funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia plans to seek up to $43 million of the grants, which are also open to local businesses. \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/community-health/community-investments-office\">Applications are due in May\u003c/a>, and the awards are expected to be announced in September. That’s the same month that Signature Development, the company Valero hired to manage the sale of refinery land, is expected to present plans to repurpose the property to the city council for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260424-BENICIA-DRONE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The waterfront in Benicia on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until then, Benicia is on a white-knuckle transition trying to jumpstart a new, green economy without knowing when Valero will leave, or how long it will take to decontaminate and repurpose the refinery site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state legislature is considering a bill to help California’s eight remaining refinery towns plan better. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1259\">SB 1259\u003c/a> would require refineries to plan for decommissioning and estimate the costs and timeline for cleaning up after a closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birdseye said the legislation wouldn’t benefit Benicia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a very precarious moment,” Birdseye said. “ But I’m filled with hope because of what we have here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/041326BENICIAVALERO_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kari Birdseye, a Benicia City Council member, stands overlooking Benicia’s marine oil terminal near the site of the Benicia Clocktower, on April 13, 2026, in Benicia, as the city prepares for the closure of the Valero refinery and the loss of roughly 10 percent of its annual tax revenue. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Birdseye said businesses have inquired about moving to Benicia for its central location between two interstate highways, with a rail line and port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the city’s old clock tower, Birdseye gestured to a berth below, where Valero had exported petroleum coke, a black dust that’s a refining byproduct and a health hazard. She said a federal agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, has identified the port as a possible supply chain and manufacturing site for the nascent offshore wind industry in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can put these large pieces of equipment on ships that go out the Golden Gate and either go down to the Port of Long Beach, Morro Bay or up to Humboldt, where they can be assembled into wind turbines,” Birdseye said. “That’s the perfect scenario for a just transition away from fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent afternoon at Benicia’s waterfront, resident Stephen Golub said one thing lost in the economic discussions about Valero’s departure is the gains in environmental and public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000868\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000868\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/042806BENICIA-AFTER-VALERO-PT.-2_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Golub, a Benicia resident, poses for a portrait along the waterfront on April 28, 2026, in Benicia. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They were polluting our air again and again, sometimes secretly, sometimes more openly,” Golub said. “They were poisoning our politics by pouring massive funds into political campaigns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golub said without a refinery, it’s easier to enjoy all that Benicia has to offer, including 28 public parks, stable political leadership, a vibrant art scene, good schools and safe streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Down the line, maybe 10 or 20 years, people will talk about this thriving community with all it has to offer, and they’ll say, ‘Hey, did you know that there was once a refinery here?’” Golub said.“I really think that’s what’s in the city’s future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "In June, San Francisco Will Vote on a $535M Earthquake Bond. Here’s What’s in It",
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"content": "\u003cp>Experts have long agreed that San Francisco is due for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080455/san-franciscos-skyline-shines-but-earthquake-risk-remains-120-years-after-1906\">big earthquake\u003c/a> at any moment on any day. But the city isn’t quite ready for a massive shaking, like the 1989 Loma Prieta or the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983182/stunning-archival-photos-of-the-1906-earthquake-and-fire\">1906 earthquake\u003c/a> that leveled much of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City leaders have asked residents to approve a \u003ca href=\"https://sfpublicworks.org/eser-2026\">$535 million \u003c/a>earthquake bond in June, which would fund major seismic upgrades to public infrastructure. The goal is to improve the city’s capacity to respond quickly after a major earthquake and to aid in the aftermath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal seismologists said back in 2014 that there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-probability-earthquake-will-occur-los-angeles-area-san-francisco-bay-area#:~:text=San%20Francisco%20Bay%20area%3A,an%20earthquake%20measuring%20magnitude%207.5\">nearly a three-in-four chance\u003c/a> of a 6.7-magnitude quake by 2044, and we’re already more than a decade into that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By passing this bond, we are taking steps to keep San Francisco safe by giving our neighborhoods the tools they need to withstand emergency events and ensuring our city is ready to respond quickly when disaster strikes,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-and-president-mandelman-announce-2026-earthquake-safety-and-emergency-response-bond-to-modernize-infrastructure-and-support-public-safety\">press release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The entire Bay Area rests on multiple faultlines — including the San Andreas and the Hayward faults. Earthquake impacts could “cascade across shared infrastructure, housing, and lifelines” throughout San Francisco, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/policy-brief/2026-04-09/120-years-after-1906\">recent report\u003c/a> from the nonprofit think tank SPUR. The report concludes that large portions of the city are potentially ill-prepared for a major earthquake. Namely, some 3,700 concrete buildings that could potentially pancake in a tremor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000800\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000800\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks to the press after giving a State of the City address at Rossi Park Ball Field in the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco on Jan. 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brian Strong, the city’s chief resilience officer, said San Francisco spent more than $20 billion on seismic upgrades over the past several decades, but more needs to be done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve touched every neighborhood in the city, and we still have a lot of work to do, which is why another bond is coming up,” Strong said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters approved similar bonds in 2010, 2014, and 2020 as part of a so-called phased approach in shoring up the city’s seismic risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, said the bond would pay for “big ticket items” that need updating. That includes making the city’s 911 call center “secure from a seismic perspective, so we’re functioning after an emergency,” Carroll said.[aside postID=news_12080455 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260415-SPUREARTHQUAKE-06-BL-KQED.jpg']The bond will focus on five areas: renovating the city’s aging emergency firefighting water system, potentially repairing five unsafe fire stations, updating police stations and support facilities and updating public safety buildings\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At $200 million, the largest pot of funds would go to retrofitting and replacing Muni’s more-than-a-century-old Potrero Bus Yard with a seismically safe facility. Some \u003ca href=\"https://westsideobserver.com/26/4-prop-a-eser-bond-slush-fund-no-vote-george-wooding.php\">criticized\u003c/a> the move as a transportation spending item. But city officials said Potrero Yard is important for “enabling evacuation services following an earthquake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Potrero Yard is at serious risk in a major earthquake,” said Julie Kirschbaum, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency director of transportation, in a release. “We have to protect our buses and, more importantly, the lives of the staff who maintain and operate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second-highest dollar amount is $130 million to expand the city’s emergency firefighting water system “into underserved areas on the west side,” which, city officials said, “lack adequate firefighting water infrastructure.” The updates could include extending high-pressure water pipelines, adding fire hydrants, and other infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/forum/expand-the-city-s-emergency-water-system-before-its-too-late/article_19b70ccb-99e6-4dac-928d-297996a80939.html\">suggested\u003c/a> that relying on the Pacific Ocean’s copious water would be a better use of the funds. The plan would also update infrastructure at Fort Mason to pump water from the bay during an event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many west side facilities, including fire stations, the Taraval Police Station, and our emergency water system, are older and more vulnerable in a major quake,” District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong said in a release. “This bond is an important step toward making sure the Sunset is not an afterthought and that our communities have the infrastructure they need to stay safe and recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Over the years, San Francisco has made progress toward earthquake-safe buildings. But the city still isn’t fully prepared for the next big one, experts said. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Experts have long agreed that San Francisco is due for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080455/san-franciscos-skyline-shines-but-earthquake-risk-remains-120-years-after-1906\">big earthquake\u003c/a> at any moment on any day. But the city isn’t quite ready for a massive shaking, like the 1989 Loma Prieta or the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983182/stunning-archival-photos-of-the-1906-earthquake-and-fire\">1906 earthquake\u003c/a> that leveled much of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City leaders have asked residents to approve a \u003ca href=\"https://sfpublicworks.org/eser-2026\">$535 million \u003c/a>earthquake bond in June, which would fund major seismic upgrades to public infrastructure. The goal is to improve the city’s capacity to respond quickly after a major earthquake and to aid in the aftermath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal seismologists said back in 2014 that there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-probability-earthquake-will-occur-los-angeles-area-san-francisco-bay-area#:~:text=San%20Francisco%20Bay%20area%3A,an%20earthquake%20measuring%20magnitude%207.5\">nearly a three-in-four chance\u003c/a> of a 6.7-magnitude quake by 2044, and we’re already more than a decade into that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By passing this bond, we are taking steps to keep San Francisco safe by giving our neighborhoods the tools they need to withstand emergency events and ensuring our city is ready to respond quickly when disaster strikes,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-and-president-mandelman-announce-2026-earthquake-safety-and-emergency-response-bond-to-modernize-infrastructure-and-support-public-safety\">press release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The entire Bay Area rests on multiple faultlines — including the San Andreas and the Hayward faults. Earthquake impacts could “cascade across shared infrastructure, housing, and lifelines” throughout San Francisco, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/policy-brief/2026-04-09/120-years-after-1906\">recent report\u003c/a> from the nonprofit think tank SPUR. The report concludes that large portions of the city are potentially ill-prepared for a major earthquake. Namely, some 3,700 concrete buildings that could potentially pancake in a tremor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000800\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000800\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260115-SOTC-30-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks to the press after giving a State of the City address at Rossi Park Ball Field in the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco on Jan. 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brian Strong, the city’s chief resilience officer, said San Francisco spent more than $20 billion on seismic upgrades over the past several decades, but more needs to be done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve touched every neighborhood in the city, and we still have a lot of work to do, which is why another bond is coming up,” Strong said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters approved similar bonds in 2010, 2014, and 2020 as part of a so-called phased approach in shoring up the city’s seismic risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, said the bond would pay for “big ticket items” that need updating. That includes making the city’s 911 call center “secure from a seismic perspective, so we’re functioning after an emergency,” Carroll said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The bond will focus on five areas: renovating the city’s aging emergency firefighting water system, potentially repairing five unsafe fire stations, updating police stations and support facilities and updating public safety buildings\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At $200 million, the largest pot of funds would go to retrofitting and replacing Muni’s more-than-a-century-old Potrero Bus Yard with a seismically safe facility. Some \u003ca href=\"https://westsideobserver.com/26/4-prop-a-eser-bond-slush-fund-no-vote-george-wooding.php\">criticized\u003c/a> the move as a transportation spending item. But city officials said Potrero Yard is important for “enabling evacuation services following an earthquake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Potrero Yard is at serious risk in a major earthquake,” said Julie Kirschbaum, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency director of transportation, in a release. “We have to protect our buses and, more importantly, the lives of the staff who maintain and operate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second-highest dollar amount is $130 million to expand the city’s emergency firefighting water system “into underserved areas on the west side,” which, city officials said, “lack adequate firefighting water infrastructure.” The updates could include extending high-pressure water pipelines, adding fire hydrants, and other infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/forum/expand-the-city-s-emergency-water-system-before-its-too-late/article_19b70ccb-99e6-4dac-928d-297996a80939.html\">suggested\u003c/a> that relying on the Pacific Ocean’s copious water would be a better use of the funds. The plan would also update infrastructure at Fort Mason to pump water from the bay during an event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many west side facilities, including fire stations, the Taraval Police Station, and our emergency water system, are older and more vulnerable in a major quake,” District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong said in a release. “This bond is an important step toward making sure the Sunset is not an afterthought and that our communities have the infrastructure they need to stay safe and recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "after-4-6-earthquake-jolts-santa-cruz-seismologists-double-down-on-myshake-alerts",
"title": "After 4.6 Earthquake Jolts Santa Cruz, Seismologists Double Down on MyShake Alerts",
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"headTitle": "After 4.6 Earthquake Jolts Santa Cruz, Seismologists Double Down on MyShake Alerts | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A blaring alarm woke Cian Dawson early Thursday morning. It was the MyShake phone app, alerting him to a 5.1 magnitude \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078438/4-6-magnitude-earthquake-in-santa-cruz-mountains-shakes-bay-area-awake\">earthquake\u003c/a> about to rock the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dawson stayed in bed, thinking he wouldn’t have enough time to get under a table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few seconds later, the Berkeley resident’s room began to shake. “It made more sense to me to stay where I was,” Dawson told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tremor \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75337442/dyfi/responses\">near Boulder Creek\u003c/a> prompted the \u003ca href=\"https://myshake.berkeley.edu/\">MyShake phone app\u003c/a> and local agencies to alert hundreds of thousands of residents across the greater Bay Area and Central Coast. The USGS later downgraded the quake to a 4.6. More than 10,000 people reported the quake in the app, saying they felt light to moderate shaking, and there were two reports of destroyed buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of the relatively moderate-sized quake and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066087/the-m5-9-earthquake-alert-that-startled-the-bay-area-this-morning-was-a-false-alarm\">false alarm issued by the app\u003c/a> last year, some Bay Area residents have questioned whether agencies issue too many warnings and whether these alerts really make us safer. But seismologists argue they are important for protecting the public in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dawson said there needs to be more outreach about how seriously to take the messaging, because people are beginning to train themselves to ignore the alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ‘boy who cries wolf’ is a great way to describe people’s response when they don’t understand what the alert actually means,” Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000581\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2000581 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Basin Redwoods State Park on Nov. 5, 2020. \u003ccite>(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Angie Lux, a scientist specializing in earthquake early warnings at the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, said she thought the alert worked well, as it reached its ultimate goal of protecting lives and reducing injuries. Lux said the alert is sent to everyone at once, and the further you are away from the epicenter, the longer you will have to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the people that are right next to the epicenter, they’re not going to receive much warning,” Lux said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evan Hirakawa lives in Scott’s Valley, just a few miles away from the source of Thursday’s quake. The USGS research geophysicist said he felt the quake first, then his phone pinged.[aside postID=news_11999982 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/MyShakeUCBerkeley-1020x679.jpg']“It was pretty intense at my house,” Hirakawa said. “The shake alert kind of worked, but it was too close for it to really benefit me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hirakawa said there’s evidence that indicates the earthquake likely took place on a fault that hasn’t ruptured in a long time — the Zayante Fault in Santa Cruz County, which sits roughly between two major fault systems: the San Andreas and the San Gregorio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have [Zayante] labeled in our databases as maybe it’s inactive now,” Hirakawa said. “It was active thousands of years ago, but we haven’t seen a lot of historical earthquakes on it.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this shaking may seem like an outlier, Hirakawa said he doesn’t think Thursday’s quake “is a foreshock to something bigger.” But, he said, it’s still worth paying attention to early warning messages, because doing so might just be “life-saving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that so many people who felt the earthquake got the alert this morning is a good sign that the early warning stuff is at least working,” Hirakwa said. “It will be unfortunate when it happens, but the system will only be tested when there’s a large, destructive earthquake. That’s when it’s going to matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco resident Anthony Costello slept through the alert but woke to the jostling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Oh, girl, shut up, and just rolled over,’” Costello said, who has lived in the region for eight years. “I think my sensitivity to quakes is starting to increase a little bit and also my general anxiety with quakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_524199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1373px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-524199 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured.png\" alt=\"U.C. Berkeley's MyShake app could be the first step toward earthquake warnings on your phone.\" width=\"1373\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured.png 1373w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-400x232.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-800x463.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-768x445.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-1180x683.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-960x556.png 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1373px) 100vw, 1373px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MyShake alerts users to earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or higher, though residents in places like San Ramon have reported feeling smaller quakes during a swarm that has persisted for months. \u003ccite>(Berkeley Seismological Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even still, Costello said early warnings are so important because the larger the quake, the more time you’re going to need to make sure you’re safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Menlo Park resident Stephanie Lucianovic also went back to sleep after a local warning prompted her phone to go off. In the morning, she discussed the quakes with her kids. She’s considering downloading the MyShake app, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m interested in knowing all the information, but I don’t think I’d want to have it be a loud warning every time there was some minor earthquake,” Lucianovic said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, MyShake alerts users when there’s a 4.5-magnitude earthquake or higher, which doesn’t discount the experience of people who feel smaller quakes, like in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000505/new-web-of-sensors-aims-to-pinpoint-san-ramon-earthquake-source\">San Ramon\u003c/a>, where a swarm of smaller quakes has been occurring for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t make everybody happy,” Lux said. “Some people are going to feel it, some people may not, but we’re there to help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A blaring alarm woke Cian Dawson early Thursday morning. It was the MyShake phone app, alerting him to a 5.1 magnitude \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078438/4-6-magnitude-earthquake-in-santa-cruz-mountains-shakes-bay-area-awake\">earthquake\u003c/a> about to rock the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dawson stayed in bed, thinking he wouldn’t have enough time to get under a table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few seconds later, the Berkeley resident’s room began to shake. “It made more sense to me to stay where I was,” Dawson told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tremor \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75337442/dyfi/responses\">near Boulder Creek\u003c/a> prompted the \u003ca href=\"https://myshake.berkeley.edu/\">MyShake phone app\u003c/a> and local agencies to alert hundreds of thousands of residents across the greater Bay Area and Central Coast. The USGS later downgraded the quake to a 4.6. More than 10,000 people reported the quake in the app, saying they felt light to moderate shaking, and there were two reports of destroyed buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of the relatively moderate-sized quake and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066087/the-m5-9-earthquake-alert-that-startled-the-bay-area-this-morning-was-a-false-alarm\">false alarm issued by the app\u003c/a> last year, some Bay Area residents have questioned whether agencies issue too many warnings and whether these alerts really make us safer. But seismologists argue they are important for protecting the public in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dawson said there needs to be more outreach about how seriously to take the messaging, because people are beginning to train themselves to ignore the alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ‘boy who cries wolf’ is a great way to describe people’s response when they don’t understand what the alert actually means,” Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000581\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2000581 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/BoulderCreekSantaCruzGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Basin Redwoods State Park on Nov. 5, 2020. \u003ccite>(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Angie Lux, a scientist specializing in earthquake early warnings at the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, said she thought the alert worked well, as it reached its ultimate goal of protecting lives and reducing injuries. Lux said the alert is sent to everyone at once, and the further you are away from the epicenter, the longer you will have to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the people that are right next to the epicenter, they’re not going to receive much warning,” Lux said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evan Hirakawa lives in Scott’s Valley, just a few miles away from the source of Thursday’s quake. The USGS research geophysicist said he felt the quake first, then his phone pinged.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It was pretty intense at my house,” Hirakawa said. “The shake alert kind of worked, but it was too close for it to really benefit me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hirakawa said there’s evidence that indicates the earthquake likely took place on a fault that hasn’t ruptured in a long time — the Zayante Fault in Santa Cruz County, which sits roughly between two major fault systems: the San Andreas and the San Gregorio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have [Zayante] labeled in our databases as maybe it’s inactive now,” Hirakawa said. “It was active thousands of years ago, but we haven’t seen a lot of historical earthquakes on it.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this shaking may seem like an outlier, Hirakawa said he doesn’t think Thursday’s quake “is a foreshock to something bigger.” But, he said, it’s still worth paying attention to early warning messages, because doing so might just be “life-saving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that so many people who felt the earthquake got the alert this morning is a good sign that the early warning stuff is at least working,” Hirakwa said. “It will be unfortunate when it happens, but the system will only be tested when there’s a large, destructive earthquake. That’s when it’s going to matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco resident Anthony Costello slept through the alert but woke to the jostling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Oh, girl, shut up, and just rolled over,’” Costello said, who has lived in the region for eight years. “I think my sensitivity to quakes is starting to increase a little bit and also my general anxiety with quakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_524199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1373px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-524199 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured.png\" alt=\"U.C. Berkeley's MyShake app could be the first step toward earthquake warnings on your phone.\" width=\"1373\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured.png 1373w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-400x232.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-800x463.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-768x445.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-1180x683.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/MyShake_scrgrab_featured-960x556.png 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1373px) 100vw, 1373px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MyShake alerts users to earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or higher, though residents in places like San Ramon have reported feeling smaller quakes during a swarm that has persisted for months. \u003ccite>(Berkeley Seismological Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even still, Costello said early warnings are so important because the larger the quake, the more time you’re going to need to make sure you’re safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Menlo Park resident Stephanie Lucianovic also went back to sleep after a local warning prompted her phone to go off. In the morning, she discussed the quakes with her kids. She’s considering downloading the MyShake app, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m interested in knowing all the information, but I don’t think I’d want to have it be a loud warning every time there was some minor earthquake,” Lucianovic said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, MyShake alerts users when there’s a 4.5-magnitude earthquake or higher, which doesn’t discount the experience of people who feel smaller quakes, like in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000505/new-web-of-sensors-aims-to-pinpoint-san-ramon-earthquake-source\">San Ramon\u003c/a>, where a swarm of smaller quakes has been occurring for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t make everybody happy,” Lux said. “Some people are going to feel it, some people may not, but we’re there to help.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000354/read-with-kqed-the-book-that-changed-how-we-see-nature\">\u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is one of those books where many people think they know what it says, have opinions about it, even if they haven’t read it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a science book that, when you sit down and crack it open, surprises you with its technical, but compelling, depth. Carson is an extremely skilled writer. And the book changed the world, opening eyes to patterns and consequences that had been hidden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re now in a time when its lessons are more important than ever: the Make America Healthy Again movement has swept to power in this country with calls for less chemical use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superficially, MAHA and its figurehead Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whose uncle John F. Kennedy, as president, used his administration to defend Carson against the chemical industry’s attacks — appear to share intellectual tenets with \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em>: a skepticism of corporate power, concern over environmental toxins, and industrial influence over public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But RFK., Jr. has attacked vaccines. And the Trump administration has taken a soft line on regulating pesticides. It’s hard to imagine that Carson would agree, and a close reading of her book can remind us: chemical impacts travel far beyond their intended use, and what the data actually says matters enormously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000547\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley Environmental Law professor Claudia Polsky will join KQED to talk about Silent Spring at the Night of Ideas on April 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of UC Berkeley Law)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Join KQED for a discussion of \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em> and its legacy and lessons for us on April 11 at the San Francisco Public Library as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/6104\">Night of Ideas\u003c/a>, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Periodical Room. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the book yet. Come just as you are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The discussion will shine a spotlight on the work of Claudia Polsky, the founding director of the Environmental Law Clinic at UC Berkeley, who is a guest for the discussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rachel Carson’s book pointed at ways to engage people,” Polsky said, “how you engage people who care about pets, people who are bird watchers, people who care about what’s in breast milk they’re feeding to their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson explored how manufactured chemicals found in the environment were appearing in wildlife, in household pets and in our bodies, like no other writer had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polsky, in her own work, partly inspired by Carson, has spent years protecting vulnerable people and communities from harmful chemicals. She has represented communities contaminated by PFAs, stubborn “forever chemicals” used to make food packaging, nonstick pans, waterproof materials that don’t break down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a deputy attorney general for California, she helped get formaldehyde-laden Brazilian blowout chemicals – which leave hair with a glossy sheen – off the market here by demonstrating the carcinogen was sickening and disabling salon workers. She worked on policies to reduce the risks associated with pesticides and industrial chemicals at the Department of Toxic Substances Control in Sacramento. Most recently, she successfully \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-25/trump-lawsuit-university-of-california-researchers\">led a legal fight against the Trump administration\u003c/a> to restore hundreds of millions in canceled research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite her differences with the Trump administration, Polsky has compassion for some of the MAHA movement’s concerns. She said it has a “good intuition” for the ways in which the public lacks health protections, as well as the government’s “insufficient focus” on broad-level public health and prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although she points out that the level of skepticism about vaccine safety backed by RFK Jr. lacks empirical support and is unjustified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Polsky’s work, however, she seeks to find ways to connect people across political divides. She has a book project in her sights that would focus on how environmental concerns can be detected within human bodies, such as in breast milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to write for Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris voters,” she said. “I actually want to write something that speaks to the incredible political horseshoe I’ve seen around issues of human exposure to chemicals … I feel there’s a huge opportunity here once we can get past this hyperpartisan moment.”[aside postID=science_2000234 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/Condors1.jpg'] Some people have criticized \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em> and Rachel Carson for fostering intense fear of chemicals in a way that has partially led to our anti-science moment. People attribute to her a call for a ban on all pesticides. Polsky said \u003ca href=\"https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/crazy-lies-haters-threw-at-rachel-carson-25183450/\">laying these critiques at Carson’s door\u003c/a> is unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think we can attribute to her the fact that people have over-read what she said and what she testified in Congress. She actually did not call for a ban on pesticides. She said they have their place. It’s much narrower than how they’re deployed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson encouraged saving DDT – the pesticide she’s most associated with – to control malarial outbreaks. That doesn’t stop her detractors from attributing malarial deaths to her, and by extension, seeking to undermine the case for environmental regulations altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Women, especially, who raise concerns about environmental chemicals are criticized and called hysterical or emotional or over-invested in the issue. This was true of Carson, too, who died of breast cancer in 1964, two years after the book was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She testified about pesticides in front of Congress after a double mastectomy, which I find incredibly poignant,” Polsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She wore a wig to hide the fact that she had cancer so that [her testimony] wouldn’t be seen as a personal vendetta, which is just so heartbreaking. The idea that if you’re personally affected, you’re seen as unable to make sense of the data rather than as having the highest possible stake in ensuring that people understand the data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A more serious issue than people being over-worried about what manufactured chemicals are doing to themselves and their surroundings, Polsky said, is that they don’t seem to be worried enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superficially, MAHA and its figurehead Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whose uncle John F. Kennedy, as president, used his administration to defend Carson against the chemical industry’s attacks — appear to share intellectual tenets with \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em>: a skepticism of corporate power, concern over environmental toxins, and industrial influence over public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But RFK., Jr. has attacked vaccines. And the Trump administration has taken a soft line on regulating pesticides. It’s hard to imagine that Carson would agree, and a close reading of her book can remind us: chemical impacts travel far beyond their intended use, and what the data actually says matters enormously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000547\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/polsky_claudia_2019-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley Environmental Law professor Claudia Polsky will join KQED to talk about Silent Spring at the Night of Ideas on April 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of UC Berkeley Law)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Join KQED for a discussion of \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em> and its legacy and lessons for us on April 11 at the San Francisco Public Library as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/6104\">Night of Ideas\u003c/a>, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Periodical Room. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the book yet. Come just as you are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The discussion will shine a spotlight on the work of Claudia Polsky, the founding director of the Environmental Law Clinic at UC Berkeley, who is a guest for the discussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rachel Carson’s book pointed at ways to engage people,” Polsky said, “how you engage people who care about pets, people who are bird watchers, people who care about what’s in breast milk they’re feeding to their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson explored how manufactured chemicals found in the environment were appearing in wildlife, in household pets and in our bodies, like no other writer had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polsky, in her own work, partly inspired by Carson, has spent years protecting vulnerable people and communities from harmful chemicals. She has represented communities contaminated by PFAs, stubborn “forever chemicals” used to make food packaging, nonstick pans, waterproof materials that don’t break down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a deputy attorney general for California, she helped get formaldehyde-laden Brazilian blowout chemicals – which leave hair with a glossy sheen – off the market here by demonstrating the carcinogen was sickening and disabling salon workers. She worked on policies to reduce the risks associated with pesticides and industrial chemicals at the Department of Toxic Substances Control in Sacramento. Most recently, she successfully \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-25/trump-lawsuit-university-of-california-researchers\">led a legal fight against the Trump administration\u003c/a> to restore hundreds of millions in canceled research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite her differences with the Trump administration, Polsky has compassion for some of the MAHA movement’s concerns. She said it has a “good intuition” for the ways in which the public lacks health protections, as well as the government’s “insufficient focus” on broad-level public health and prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although she points out that the level of skepticism about vaccine safety backed by RFK Jr. lacks empirical support and is unjustified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Polsky’s work, however, she seeks to find ways to connect people across political divides. She has a book project in her sights that would focus on how environmental concerns can be detected within human bodies, such as in breast milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to write for Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris voters,” she said. “I actually want to write something that speaks to the incredible political horseshoe I’ve seen around issues of human exposure to chemicals … I feel there’s a huge opportunity here once we can get past this hyperpartisan moment.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Some people have criticized \u003cem>Silent Spring\u003c/em> and Rachel Carson for fostering intense fear of chemicals in a way that has partially led to our anti-science moment. People attribute to her a call for a ban on all pesticides. Polsky said \u003ca href=\"https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/crazy-lies-haters-threw-at-rachel-carson-25183450/\">laying these critiques at Carson’s door\u003c/a> is unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think we can attribute to her the fact that people have over-read what she said and what she testified in Congress. She actually did not call for a ban on pesticides. She said they have their place. It’s much narrower than how they’re deployed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson encouraged saving DDT – the pesticide she’s most associated with – to control malarial outbreaks. That doesn’t stop her detractors from attributing malarial deaths to her, and by extension, seeking to undermine the case for environmental regulations altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Women, especially, who raise concerns about environmental chemicals are criticized and called hysterical or emotional or over-invested in the issue. This was true of Carson, too, who died of breast cancer in 1964, two years after the book was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She testified about pesticides in front of Congress after a double mastectomy, which I find incredibly poignant,” Polsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She wore a wig to hide the fact that she had cancer so that [her testimony] wouldn’t be seen as a personal vendetta, which is just so heartbreaking. The idea that if you’re personally affected, you’re seen as unable to make sense of the data rather than as having the highest possible stake in ensuring that people understand the data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A more serious issue than people being over-worried about what manufactured chemicals are doing to themselves and their surroundings, Polsky said, is that they don’t seem to be worried enough.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mona Epstein thought the violent shaking that woke her was just a nightmare. But when she checked her phone, she saw that an \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75331762/executive\">earthquake \u003c/a>had struck the San Ramon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Earthquakes have infiltrated my dreams,” Epstein said. “It’s really nerve-wracking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein lives in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999633/scientists-say-san-ramons-latest-earthquake-swarm-is-normal-but-residents-are-on-edge\">San Ramon\u003c/a>, a typically quiet Bay Area suburb that has been jolted by 162 earthquakes of a magnitude 2.0 or higher since November. Three dozen small tremors shook her home \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071884/earthquake-swarm-in-san-ramon-is-felt-around-bay-area-with-over-20-small-quakes\">in early February\u003c/a>, popping open cabinet doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just won’t stop,” Epstein said. “It’s like the new normal, I’ve become accustomed to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seismologists call the sequence of small earthquakes a “swarm” and say it is normal for this part of the Bay Area, which lies atop a spiderweb of active faults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t know exactly how or why they’re happening, or whether they are occurring on a major fault — which may hint at the risk of a larger earthquake coming — or on one of the many smaller cracks nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000504\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Ramon sits atop a complex network of faults, making it prone to earthquake swarms. \u003ccite>(Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s why in mid-March, a group of United States Geological Survey seismologists and volunteers buried a network of 78 blue and grey toaster-sized seismometers across San Ramon and Danville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any preconceived notions, I just want to find out what’s going on,” said Rufus Catchings, a research geophysicist with USGS, who is leading the work. “The data will hopefully tell us a lot more detail, like which faults are involved and whether earthquakes are happening on major faults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catchings said a swarm on a smaller fault is “unlikely to generate a very large earthquake. But if it is connected, say, to the Calaveras or to one of the thrust faults, it could be very significant, and we need to know that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Catchings, a seismologist from USGS, installs a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Ramon sits in a part of Contra Costa County that is prone to swarms and has experienced them a handful of times since the 1970s due to a complex system of faults in the region, including the Calaveras, Concord-Green Valley, Pleasanton, Mt. Diablo Thrust, Greenville and Sherburne Hills Thrust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein has lived in San Ramon for 12 years and experienced multiple swarms. The latest quakes have left her with a mountain of unanswered questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I read as much as I could to understand whether or not this means that [a big one] is coming,” Epstein said. “I don’t think there is any solid answer. That’s why they’re putting all those little sensors everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A web of sensors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The grid of sensors will track movement underground for the next six months, and afterward, seismologists will dig them up and analyze their readings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know for sure that we’re going to catch some really small earthquakes because they’re just going on all the time, and if the swarm does pick up again, then we’ll definitely catch that,” said Annemarie Baltay, a research geophysicist with USGS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annemarie Baltay (left), a geophysicist researcher from USGS, and Rufus Catchings (right), a seismologist from USGS, install a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The battery-operated seismometers gather data around 200 times per second, Catchings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that eventually there’s gonna be a big earthquake here,” Catchings said. “You can look at these mountains and see how they popped up through the tectonic forces.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers theorize that the swarm occurred along smaller sub-faults or due to liquid moving around these marginal cracks. But it’s hard to know exactly what’s happening five to 10 miles underground, Baltay said.[aside postID=news_12071884 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-14-BL_qed.jpg']“It’s very likely that the fault goes down, turns, dips and moves around,” Baltay said. “This will help us sort of understand that fault structure at depth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baltay said the findings could also show how different soils affect how waves travel through the earth. What researchers learn might require adjustments to the USGS’s National Seismic Hazard Model, which informs local building codes and insurance risk models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Armstrong, mayor of San Ramon, lives in a two-story home smack dab in the epicenter of the recent swarm of quakes. He said the shaking he feels is a reminder that he lives in earthquake country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A couple of earthquakes were literally in my backyard or across the street,” Armstrong said, recalling rumblings that shook pictures off his bookshelves. The USGS scientists installed a seismometer in his backyard. “There’s a little bit of excitement when you get one of the big ones.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong said residents have one burning question: “When is it going to stop?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong said the city is planning an emergency exercise with the American Red Cross, in collaboration with the City of Danville and Contra Costa County. The run-through will likely include activating an emergency operations center and shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Catchings, a seismologist from USGS, installs a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>USGS seismologists also buried a sensor in Gina Veazey’s front yard. The Danville resident can tell an earthquake is going to shake her home when her dog, Stinky, goes “absolutely crazy” and “jumps off the bed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Then all of a sudden we feel the tremor, so she’s a good indicator that something’s coming,” Veazey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time Veazey hears the groan of an earthquake, and then the rock and sway that follow, it’s a reminder that “Mother Nature is telling us we just got to roll with the punches that she throws. That’s all we can do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Small earthquakes have rattled San Ramon regularly for months. Federal seismologists buried dozens of sensors this month to learn why.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mona Epstein thought the violent shaking that woke her was just a nightmare. But when she checked her phone, she saw that an \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75331762/executive\">earthquake \u003c/a>had struck the San Ramon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Earthquakes have infiltrated my dreams,” Epstein said. “It’s really nerve-wracking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein lives in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999633/scientists-say-san-ramons-latest-earthquake-swarm-is-normal-but-residents-are-on-edge\">San Ramon\u003c/a>, a typically quiet Bay Area suburb that has been jolted by 162 earthquakes of a magnitude 2.0 or higher since November. Three dozen small tremors shook her home \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071884/earthquake-swarm-in-san-ramon-is-felt-around-bay-area-with-over-20-small-quakes\">in early February\u003c/a>, popping open cabinet doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just won’t stop,” Epstein said. “It’s like the new normal, I’ve become accustomed to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seismologists call the sequence of small earthquakes a “swarm” and say it is normal for this part of the Bay Area, which lies atop a spiderweb of active faults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t know exactly how or why they’re happening, or whether they are occurring on a major fault — which may hint at the risk of a larger earthquake coming — or on one of the many smaller cracks nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000504\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/faults-5-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Ramon sits atop a complex network of faults, making it prone to earthquake swarms. \u003ccite>(Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s why in mid-March, a group of United States Geological Survey seismologists and volunteers buried a network of 78 blue and grey toaster-sized seismometers across San Ramon and Danville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any preconceived notions, I just want to find out what’s going on,” said Rufus Catchings, a research geophysicist with USGS, who is leading the work. “The data will hopefully tell us a lot more detail, like which faults are involved and whether earthquakes are happening on major faults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catchings said a swarm on a smaller fault is “unlikely to generate a very large earthquake. But if it is connected, say, to the Calaveras or to one of the thrust faults, it could be very significant, and we need to know that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00566_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Catchings, a seismologist from USGS, installs a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Ramon sits in a part of Contra Costa County that is prone to swarms and has experienced them a handful of times since the 1970s due to a complex system of faults in the region, including the Calaveras, Concord-Green Valley, Pleasanton, Mt. Diablo Thrust, Greenville and Sherburne Hills Thrust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein has lived in San Ramon for 12 years and experienced multiple swarms. The latest quakes have left her with a mountain of unanswered questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I read as much as I could to understand whether or not this means that [a big one] is coming,” Epstein said. “I don’t think there is any solid answer. That’s why they’re putting all those little sensors everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A web of sensors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The grid of sensors will track movement underground for the next six months, and afterward, seismologists will dig them up and analyze their readings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know for sure that we’re going to catch some really small earthquakes because they’re just going on all the time, and if the swarm does pick up again, then we’ll definitely catch that,” said Annemarie Baltay, a research geophysicist with USGS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00574_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annemarie Baltay (left), a geophysicist researcher from USGS, and Rufus Catchings (right), a seismologist from USGS, install a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The battery-operated seismometers gather data around 200 times per second, Catchings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that eventually there’s gonna be a big earthquake here,” Catchings said. “You can look at these mountains and see how they popped up through the tectonic forces.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers theorize that the swarm occurred along smaller sub-faults or due to liquid moving around these marginal cracks. But it’s hard to know exactly what’s happening five to 10 miles underground, Baltay said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s very likely that the fault goes down, turns, dips and moves around,” Baltay said. “This will help us sort of understand that fault structure at depth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baltay said the findings could also show how different soils affect how waves travel through the earth. What researchers learn might require adjustments to the USGS’s National Seismic Hazard Model, which informs local building codes and insurance risk models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Armstrong, mayor of San Ramon, lives in a two-story home smack dab in the epicenter of the recent swarm of quakes. He said the shaking he feels is a reminder that he lives in earthquake country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A couple of earthquakes were literally in my backyard or across the street,” Armstrong said, recalling rumblings that shook pictures off his bookshelves. The USGS scientists installed a seismometer in his backyard. “There’s a little bit of excitement when you get one of the big ones.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong said residents have one burning question: “When is it going to stop?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong said the city is planning an emergency exercise with the American Red Cross, in collaboration with the City of Danville and Contra Costa County. The run-through will likely include activating an emergency operations center and shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/260317-SANRAMONEARTHQUAKES00523_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rufus Catchings, a seismologist from USGS, installs a seismometer at a home in San Ramon on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>USGS seismologists also buried a sensor in Gina Veazey’s front yard. The Danville resident can tell an earthquake is going to shake her home when her dog, Stinky, goes “absolutely crazy” and “jumps off the bed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Then all of a sudden we feel the tremor, so she’s a good indicator that something’s coming,” Veazey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time Veazey hears the groan of an earthquake, and then the rock and sway that follow, it’s a reminder that “Mother Nature is telling us we just got to roll with the punches that she throws. That’s all we can do.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
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"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
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