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"title": "Controversial Solar Farm One Step Closer to Construction",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4905\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 639px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4905\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/RS2768_IMG_0111-scr-e1372462888483.jpg\" alt=\"The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"639\" height=\"359\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The controversial Panoche Valley Solar Farm is one step closer to construction. Environmental groups sued to stop the solar project, located near Hollister, but the suit was rejected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.progress-energy.com/index.page?\">Duke Energy\u003c/a> and San Francisco-based firm \u003ca href=\"http://www.pv2energy.com/index-1.html\">PV2\u003c/a> are planning to build the 399 megawatt solar farm in the mostly agricultural valley. But Shani Kleinhaus from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.scvas.org/index.php?\">Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society\u003c/a> said the project threatens migrating birds and three endangered animals: the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Environmental groups are supportive of clean energy projects and solar projects,” she said. “But we’re not in support of siting such projects without regard to endangered species and environmental damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A state court of appeals rejected the suit, which claimed PV2 hadn’t pursued alternatives like putting the project somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tammie McGhee of Duke Energy, said their plan includes habitat preservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project is a 28,000 acre footprint. Only 3,000 of those acres will actually have solar panels on them,” she said. “The other 23,000 acres will be for conservation and habitat preservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies still have to finish environmental studies and find a company to buy the energy. Kleinhaus says her group will stay involved and continue to opppose the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it does clear the hurdles, construction would begin in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">San Jose Mercury News\u003c/a> has more on the history of the battle in the Panoche Valley. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2013/0627/20130627_044914_0628solarmap.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">Solar project south of Silicon Valley wins a major victory in appeals court\u003c/a>The environmental groups lost the first round in 2011. Then a San Benito County court rejected their arguments that county supervisors who approved the project had violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the Williamson Act, a state law that preserves ranchland by blocking development in exchange for lowering ranchers’ taxes. The court noted that the developers agreed to buy 23,000 adjacent acres — an area of cattle grazing land seven times the size of the area the solar panels would take up — and place them in permanent conservation easements as a way to offset the effects from the project.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED did a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/20/clock-ticking-for-solar-developers/\">two-part\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/28/passionate-about-panoche/\">series\u003c/a> about the Panoche Valley a few years ago, when a different company was trying to build the solar farm. (Solargen sold the project to PV2.)\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project is a 28,000 acre footprint. Only 3,000 of those acres will actually have solar panels on them,” she said. “The other 23,000 acres will be for conservation and habitat preservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies still have to finish environmental studies and find a company to buy the energy. Kleinhaus says her group will stay involved and continue to opppose the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it does clear the hurdles, construction would begin in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">San Jose Mercury News\u003c/a> has more on the history of the battle in the Panoche Valley. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2013/0627/20130627_044914_0628solarmap.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">Solar project south of Silicon Valley wins a major victory in appeals court\u003c/a>The environmental groups lost the first round in 2011. Then a San Benito County court rejected their arguments that county supervisors who approved the project had violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the Williamson Act, a state law that preserves ranchland by blocking development in exchange for lowering ranchers’ taxes. The court noted that the developers agreed to buy 23,000 adjacent acres — an area of cattle grazing land seven times the size of the area the solar panels would take up — and place them in permanent conservation easements as a way to offset the effects from the project.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED did a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/20/clock-ticking-for-solar-developers/\">two-part\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/28/passionate-about-panoche/\">series\u003c/a> about the Panoche Valley a few years ago, when a different company was trying to build the solar farm. (Solargen sold the project to PV2.)\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Who Profits from Proposition 65? (Part One)",
"headTitle": "Who Profits from Proposition 65? (Part One) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/07/2013-07-01-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4862\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 355px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/Prop-65-warning-e1372446825599.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4862\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4862 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/Prop-65-warning-e1372446825599.jpg\" alt=\"Prop. 65 warning posted outside of a San Francisco auto parts store. (Mike Osborne/KQED)\" width=\"355\" height=\"200\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prop. 65 warning posted outside of a San Francisco auto parts store. (Mike Osborne/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You’ve seen the signs all over California, on parking garages, gas stations, office buildings and convenience stores. “Warning,” they say, “this area contains a chemical known to cause cancer or birth defects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The signs are there because of a law called \u003ca href=\"http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/background/p65plain.html\">Proposition 65\u003c/a>, passed by California voters in 1986 in order to reduce Californian’s exposure to toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now there’s an effort in Sacramento to revise the law, amid charges that Prop. 65 has prompted a flood of frivolous lawsuits that make millions of dollars for a select few and cause undue headaches for thousands of California businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To really understand Proposition 65, consider an iceberg, says David Roe, who helped write the law when he was an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically,” Roe says, “you don’t see 95 percent of the effect of Prop 65.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those warning signs, Roe says, are just the tip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4929\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 641px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/chemicals_rev2_12001-e1372464530473.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/chemicals_rev2_12001-e1372464530473.png\" alt=\"Click to see larger image. (Produced by Mike Osborne, graphic by Yael Braha)\" width=\"641\" height=\"265\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4929\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click to see larger image. (Produced by Mike Osborne, graphic by Yael Braha)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The real base of the iceberg is made up of places where we see no signs at all, places businesses said, as Roe puts it, “I don’t want to tell people there’s a cancer-causing chemical in my hair dye, so I’m going to take it out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roe says this has happened to hundreds of products, everything from raincoats to CD cases and the caps on wine bottles. Companies didn’t want to put a Prop. 65 warning label on their product, so they reformulated it to take the toxic chemical out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is a big market. So rather than create a separate product stream, companies now sell\u003cbr>\nthese reformulated products nationwide. “In effect,” says Roe, “the whole country is benefiting from one state’s law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Some attorneys have used Proposition 65 to extract quick, go-away settlements.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But there have been other consequences, too, consequences that critics of Prop. 65 consider to be the base of the iceberg. Those have been getting a lot of attention these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, Governor Jerry Brown called for a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18026\">broad reform\u003c/a> of Prop. 65, making warning signs more specific, revisiting the science of acceptable levels for some chemicals and taking steps to end what he called “frivolous shake-down lawsuits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a more limited Prop. 65 reform bill – \u003ca href=\"http://www.asmdc.org/members/a43/press-releases/mike-gatto-s-bill-to-protect-small-businesses-clears-assembly-judiciary-committee\">AB 227\u003c/a> – is being considered by the state legislature. (In May, the State Assembly approved the bill by a 72-0 vote, and it is now making its way through the State Senate.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 227 “seeks to correct some unintended consequences of an otherwise good law,” said its sponsor Mike Gatto, a Democratic assemblyman from LA, during a hearing in Sacramento last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some attorneys have used Proposition 65 to extract quick, go-away settlements from business owners who haven’t put up a sign, or simply haven’t put up the right sign, to warn people about everyday common household substances,” Gatto told fellow state legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, Gatto’s bill would give restaurants, parking garages and other businesses a 14-day grace period to put up a sign and pay a $500 fee before being hit with legal costs or hefty settlement bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would give cover to people like Bette Kroening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kroening owns Bette’s Oceanview Diner, a cozy neighborhood place on Fourth Street in Berkeley, known for its pancakes. In July 2006, Kroening got a letter from a private law firm, saying that the diner was in violation of Prop. 65.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kroening was taken off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew about Prop. 65 in terms of all the signs in the parking garages and all that kind of stuff,” she says. “I never imagined that applied to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It did apply to them, specifically to a brand of old-timey soda the diner sold called Original Nehi Grape, which came in a glass bottle with an elaborate painted label.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unbeknownst to Kroening, the paint contained a small amount of lead. Under Prop. 65, Kroenig should have had a warning sign on the cooler. She worried the violation could cost her thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know how far it was going to go. I felt really threatened,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, businesses have two choices when they get a letter like this: either settle with the law firm in an out-of-court settlement, or defend themselves against the charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the time, businesses settle out of court, often paying tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, in addition to an often smaller civil penalty that’s divided between the state and the “private enforcer,” who filed the 60-day notice through his or her law firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, for example, the grocery store Berkeley Bowl paid $22,000 in an out-of-court settlement over charges that it failed to post a Prop. 65 sign warning customers that grilled hamburgers can contain a variety of carcinogenic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of that payment, $21,000 went to the Berkeley-based law firm the Chanler Group, to cover what attorney Cliff Chanler described as costs related to testing the hamburger patties and consulting experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Bowl also paid a $1,000 civil penalty, of which $750 went to the state and $250 to Chanler’s client, Whitney Leeman. (We’ll have more on the role of plaintiffs like Leeman in part two of this story, next week.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kroenig decided to fight. She put a warning sign up on her cooler, then called her lawyer. Eventually the case was dropped. She was never sure why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a year later the state attorney general’s office sent a complaint \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/prop65/Chanler_51107_letter.pdf?\">letter\u003c/a> to the private law firm, headed by Cliff Chanler, that had targeted Bette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter said yes, the lead on the bottles was a problem. But it said the way the firm was pursuing this issue was not in the public interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the letter, the firm had turned this lead bottle issue into a cash cow. It had sent out more that 600 letters, like the one Bette Kroenig got, collecting $9 million in attorney’s fees over the course of just a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This case and others like it “smack of shakedown lawsuits,” says John Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, “or at least leveraging people to comply with what may be very picayune violations of Prop. 65.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Cliff Chanler, terms like “frivolous” or “shakedown” are “only rhetoric or hyperbole from the other side.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanler heads the Chanler Group. For over two decades, few, if any, law firms have \u003ca href=\"https://www.chanler.com/prop-65\">pursued\u003c/a> as many Prop. 65 cases as his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanler says if he’s had a lot of cases, well, that’s because there are a lot of toxic chemicals in our midst, like all the Chinese imports that have flooded the market in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re living in a — it might [sound like] hyperbole to say [it] — we’re living in a toxic cesspool. You would not believe the amount of toxics we find in everyday items,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As to the idea that these suits have become too profitable for his firm, and others like it? He says it’s the fair price for the work they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law is written so that if someone like my firm ends up promoting the public interest in a substantial manner, we’re able to go seek our hourly effort from the settling defendant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That cost of that hourly effort is part of what’s being discussed in Sacramento right now. And if Prop. 65 gets an overhaul, it’ll also affect another group of people: the “citizen enforcers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week we’ll meet some of these citizen enforcers, and find out what role they play in the Prop 65 debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Proposition 65 was passed by voters in order to reduce Californian's exposure to toxic chemicals. Now there's an effort in Sacramento to revise the law, amid charges that it's prompted a flood of frivolous lawsuits that make millions of dollars for a select few and cause undue headaches for thousands of California businesses.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/07/2013-07-01-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4862\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 355px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/Prop-65-warning-e1372446825599.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4862\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4862 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/Prop-65-warning-e1372446825599.jpg\" alt=\"Prop. 65 warning posted outside of a San Francisco auto parts store. (Mike Osborne/KQED)\" width=\"355\" height=\"200\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prop. 65 warning posted outside of a San Francisco auto parts store. (Mike Osborne/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You’ve seen the signs all over California, on parking garages, gas stations, office buildings and convenience stores. “Warning,” they say, “this area contains a chemical known to cause cancer or birth defects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The signs are there because of a law called \u003ca href=\"http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/background/p65plain.html\">Proposition 65\u003c/a>, passed by California voters in 1986 in order to reduce Californian’s exposure to toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now there’s an effort in Sacramento to revise the law, amid charges that Prop. 65 has prompted a flood of frivolous lawsuits that make millions of dollars for a select few and cause undue headaches for thousands of California businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To really understand Proposition 65, consider an iceberg, says David Roe, who helped write the law when he was an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically,” Roe says, “you don’t see 95 percent of the effect of Prop 65.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those warning signs, Roe says, are just the tip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4929\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 641px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/chemicals_rev2_12001-e1372464530473.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/chemicals_rev2_12001-e1372464530473.png\" alt=\"Click to see larger image. (Produced by Mike Osborne, graphic by Yael Braha)\" width=\"641\" height=\"265\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4929\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click to see larger image. (Produced by Mike Osborne, graphic by Yael Braha)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The real base of the iceberg is made up of places where we see no signs at all, places businesses said, as Roe puts it, “I don’t want to tell people there’s a cancer-causing chemical in my hair dye, so I’m going to take it out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roe says this has happened to hundreds of products, everything from raincoats to CD cases and the caps on wine bottles. Companies didn’t want to put a Prop. 65 warning label on their product, so they reformulated it to take the toxic chemical out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is a big market. So rather than create a separate product stream, companies now sell\u003cbr>\nthese reformulated products nationwide. “In effect,” says Roe, “the whole country is benefiting from one state’s law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Some attorneys have used Proposition 65 to extract quick, go-away settlements.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But there have been other consequences, too, consequences that critics of Prop. 65 consider to be the base of the iceberg. Those have been getting a lot of attention these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, Governor Jerry Brown called for a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18026\">broad reform\u003c/a> of Prop. 65, making warning signs more specific, revisiting the science of acceptable levels for some chemicals and taking steps to end what he called “frivolous shake-down lawsuits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a more limited Prop. 65 reform bill – \u003ca href=\"http://www.asmdc.org/members/a43/press-releases/mike-gatto-s-bill-to-protect-small-businesses-clears-assembly-judiciary-committee\">AB 227\u003c/a> – is being considered by the state legislature. (In May, the State Assembly approved the bill by a 72-0 vote, and it is now making its way through the State Senate.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 227 “seeks to correct some unintended consequences of an otherwise good law,” said its sponsor Mike Gatto, a Democratic assemblyman from LA, during a hearing in Sacramento last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some attorneys have used Proposition 65 to extract quick, go-away settlements from business owners who haven’t put up a sign, or simply haven’t put up the right sign, to warn people about everyday common household substances,” Gatto told fellow state legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, Gatto’s bill would give restaurants, parking garages and other businesses a 14-day grace period to put up a sign and pay a $500 fee before being hit with legal costs or hefty settlement bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would give cover to people like Bette Kroening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kroening owns Bette’s Oceanview Diner, a cozy neighborhood place on Fourth Street in Berkeley, known for its pancakes. In July 2006, Kroening got a letter from a private law firm, saying that the diner was in violation of Prop. 65.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kroening was taken off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew about Prop. 65 in terms of all the signs in the parking garages and all that kind of stuff,” she says. “I never imagined that applied to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It did apply to them, specifically to a brand of old-timey soda the diner sold called Original Nehi Grape, which came in a glass bottle with an elaborate painted label.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unbeknownst to Kroening, the paint contained a small amount of lead. Under Prop. 65, Kroenig should have had a warning sign on the cooler. She worried the violation could cost her thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know how far it was going to go. I felt really threatened,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, businesses have two choices when they get a letter like this: either settle with the law firm in an out-of-court settlement, or defend themselves against the charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the time, businesses settle out of court, often paying tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, in addition to an often smaller civil penalty that’s divided between the state and the “private enforcer,” who filed the 60-day notice through his or her law firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, for example, the grocery store Berkeley Bowl paid $22,000 in an out-of-court settlement over charges that it failed to post a Prop. 65 sign warning customers that grilled hamburgers can contain a variety of carcinogenic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of that payment, $21,000 went to the Berkeley-based law firm the Chanler Group, to cover what attorney Cliff Chanler described as costs related to testing the hamburger patties and consulting experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Bowl also paid a $1,000 civil penalty, of which $750 went to the state and $250 to Chanler’s client, Whitney Leeman. (We’ll have more on the role of plaintiffs like Leeman in part two of this story, next week.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kroenig decided to fight. She put a warning sign up on her cooler, then called her lawyer. Eventually the case was dropped. She was never sure why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a year later the state attorney general’s office sent a complaint \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/prop65/Chanler_51107_letter.pdf?\">letter\u003c/a> to the private law firm, headed by Cliff Chanler, that had targeted Bette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter said yes, the lead on the bottles was a problem. But it said the way the firm was pursuing this issue was not in the public interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the letter, the firm had turned this lead bottle issue into a cash cow. It had sent out more that 600 letters, like the one Bette Kroenig got, collecting $9 million in attorney’s fees over the course of just a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This case and others like it “smack of shakedown lawsuits,” says John Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, “or at least leveraging people to comply with what may be very picayune violations of Prop. 65.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Cliff Chanler, terms like “frivolous” or “shakedown” are “only rhetoric or hyperbole from the other side.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanler heads the Chanler Group. For over two decades, few, if any, law firms have \u003ca href=\"https://www.chanler.com/prop-65\">pursued\u003c/a> as many Prop. 65 cases as his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanler says if he’s had a lot of cases, well, that’s because there are a lot of toxic chemicals in our midst, like all the Chinese imports that have flooded the market in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re living in a — it might [sound like] hyperbole to say [it] — we’re living in a toxic cesspool. You would not believe the amount of toxics we find in everyday items,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As to the idea that these suits have become too profitable for his firm, and others like it? He says it’s the fair price for the work they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law is written so that if someone like my firm ends up promoting the public interest in a substantial manner, we’re able to go seek our hourly effort from the settling defendant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That cost of that hourly effort is part of what’s being discussed in Sacramento right now. And if Prop. 65 gets an overhaul, it’ll also affect another group of people: the “citizen enforcers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week we’ll meet some of these citizen enforcers, and find out what role they play in the Prop 65 debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ocean Beach in San Francisco (Molly Samuel/KQED) On Wednesday the National Resources Defense Council released a report on the water quality of beaches all around the country. It starts out with this pleasant thought: “(T)he water at your local beach … \u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/27/nrdc-beaches-report/\" rel=\"noopener\">Continue reading \u003cspan class=\"meta-nav\">\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Bay Area was well-represented in terms of bacteria that exceeded daily maximum standards. Contra Costa County had the highest exceedance rate in 2012 (17 percent), followed by San Mateo County (16 percent). San Francisco was No. 4 at 15 percent.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ocean Beach in San Francisco (Molly Samuel/KQED) On Wednesday the National Resources Defense Council released a report on the water quality of beaches all around the country. It starts out with this pleasant thought: “(T)he water at your local beach … \u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/27/nrdc-beaches-report/\" rel=\"noopener\">Continue reading \u003cspan class=\"meta-nav\">\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "An Environmental Catch-22: Fire Safety Chemicals in Insulation Pose Risks",
"headTitle": "An Environmental Catch-22: Fire Safety Chemicals in Insulation Pose Risks | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4743\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4743\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Image: \u003ca href=\"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_fire_using_gasoline.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kpahor/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17508\">directed state agencies\u003c/a> to reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions through a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/Green_Building_Action_Plan_B.18.12.pdf\">green building action plan\u003c/a> to “shrink the state’s environmental footprint.” The order also mandated using “environmentally preferable products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods that serve the same purpose.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just seven months later, a \u003ca href=\"http://superfund.berkeley.edu/pdf/395.pdf\">study in Building Research and Information\u003c/a> revealed that plastic foam insulation used to increase energy efficiency in buildings may pose an unnecessary risk to health and the environment. Manufacturers add potentially harmful fire-retardant chemicals to insulation to pass a flammability test required in building codes. But the test isn’t reliable for foam plastic insulation, argued fire scientist Vytenis Babrauskas and his colleagues. And the codes’ requirement for a thermal barrier – a thick wallboard that separates the insulation from a room’s interior – already makes insulation fire-safe without the need for flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) first learned about this apparent environmental Catch-22 when she had to replace the insulation in her home. A legislator known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/state/vote/skinner_n/bio.html\">her environmental record\u003c/a>, Skinner introduced a \u003ca href=\"http://elcerrito.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/new-skinner-bill-opposes-flame-retardant-in-building-insulation\">bill in January\u003c/a> calling on state officials to revisit building standards to ensure fire safety without relying on harmful chemicals. On Monday, the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_127&sess=CUR&house=B\">AB 127\u003c/a>, passed the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee, and could reach the Senate floor sometime in August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential for harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe main plastic insulation flame retardants — HBCD or HBCDD, for hexabromocyclododecane, and TCPP, for tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate – aren’t chemically bound to the insulation, so they can escape into the environment. Although researchers have shown that flame retardants in furniture foam can seep from foam into the air and settle in dust, it’s not clear how HBCD and TCPP wind up in indoor air and dust. Possible routes of dispersal include points of manufacture, use and disposal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both compounds, classified as high-volume chemicals by the Environmental Protection Agency (with U.S. import/production volumes between 20 million and 100 million pounds), occur in soil, sewage sludge and aquatic sediments and have been found in bivalves, fish, birds and other wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with its profile as a fat-loving, bioaccumulating toxic chemical, HBCD appears in higher levels in \u003ca href=\"http://saferinsulation.greensciencepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Covaci-HBCD-review.pdf\">predators like porpoises and falcons\u003c/a>. It’s also been found in human fat tissue, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21441408\">blood and breast milk\u003c/a>. Testing the possibility that the chemicals could enter our bodies through food, researchers \u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ehp.1204993.pdf\">found HBCD in 42 percent\u003c/a> of foods purchased in Dallas grocery stores. Canned sardines and smoked turkey sausages had the highest levels, in keeping with other studies suggesting that fatty foods could be an important exposure pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies in animals indicate that HBCD disrupts hormone function and interferes with the developing nervous system. Less is known about TCPP, though it’s also been detected in \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20383376\">human breast milk\u003c/a> and causes \u003ca href=\"http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/23/toxsci.kft100.long\">developmental\u003c/a> and neurological defects in animal studies. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire-safe buildings without chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBuilding standards regulating foam insulation date back to the 1960s, and required that products pass the “Steiner Tunnel” test, which measures flame spread from the bottom of a tunnel to its ceiling, outfitted with insulation. In the 1970s, the thermal barrier requirement was added to protect exposed insulation because, Babrauskas and his coauthors assert in their recent study, insulation proved highly flammable even after passing the Steiner test. Using flame retardants when a thermal barrier is present, the authors concluded, does not add a fire safety benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=6de6fdd0eab8e21e79fec4f33166?bill_id=201320140AB127\">AB 127 calls\u003c/a> on the State Fire Marshall to review California’s flammability standards for building insulation and work with government officials to ensure fire safety “while giving full consideration to the long-term human and ecological health impacts associated with chemical flame retardants.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Skinner made her case before the state Senate committee on Monday, several witnesses spoke in support of the bill, including Justin Malan of the U.S. Green Building Council California. Malan argued that although the builders, architects, planners and engineers he represents strongly support energy efficiency, they know that sometimes building materials need careful review. “Let’s not make the same costly, and lethal, mistakes we made with asbestos,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arlene Blum, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.greensciencepolicy.org/\">Green Science Policy Institute\u003c/a> and a chemist who has long sounded the alarm about the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-15/national/38550740_1_flame-retardants-pbdes-treated-products/2\">potential hazards of flame retardants\u003c/a>, urged the committee to \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/18/98102/governor_orders_change_in_state_policy_on_flame_retardants_in?category=bay+area\">follow the lead of Governor Brown\u003c/a>, who directed regulators to update the \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/the-political-firestorm-inside-your-sofa/\">state’s furniture flammability standards\u003c/a> to increase fire safety without using potentially toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing building standards require 15 minutes to flashover, when the fire turns from flame to conflagration as nearby combustibles ignite. By the time a fire hits the treated plastic foam insulation inside the wall, Blum said, “all the flame retardants do is make the fire more toxic, produce dioxins, which harm the health of first responders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lobbying against public health?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nTwelve public interest and business groups followed Malone and Blum in support of AB 127. Leading the opposition to the bill was Joe Lang, representing the chemical industry’s main trade group, the American Chemistry Council. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang, a veteran Sacramento lobbyist who once \u003ca href=\"http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/v/c/m/vcm94b00/Svcm94b00.pdf\">represented tobacco giant Philip Morris\u003c/a>, now heads the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/02/see-which-lobbying-firms-made-the-most-money-in-2012.html\">top-grossing lobbying firm\u003c/a> in Sacramento. His firm received more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">$1 million from chemical industry interests\u003c/a> over five years to help defeat five bills to regulate flame retardants added to consumer products. In the first quarter of this year, Lang and his associates have earned 40,000 from the American Chemistry Council, state records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claiming most of the opposition’s allotted time, Lang did not argue the merits of reviewing the state’s building code but lectured the committee on the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm?CFID=26318756&CFTOKEN=89839980\">Green Chemistry Initiative\u003c/a> (enacted in 2008 but plagued by budgetary problems and yet to see full implementation), which aims to identify chemical hazards and safer alternatives. He argued that AB 127 subverted the state’s green chemistry policy by asking for a separate process, not based on science, that evaluates chemical hazards one by one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang also argued that most of the evidence cited to show the risks of flame retardants studied chemicals that aren’t used in foam insulation. Then he referred to a \u003ca href=\"http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13630/trd_rar_ireland_tccp_en.pdf\">European Union risk assessment\u003c/a> for TCPP that failed to find evidence of risk to consumers or the environment, based on exposure models, though it did show harm to workers in plants where the chemicals are made. All of the studies that AB 127 supporters point to as support for the toxicity of flame retardants don’t apply in this case, Lang said. “They’re creating a hysteria. They’re creating a sense that fire retardants used in building insulation are in fact dangerous. That’s not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EU risk assessments of another flame retardant, known as Deca, also found no significant risks to health and the environment using their exposure models. Although the EU banned Deca in 2002, the subsequent favorable risk assessment helped win a reprieve, allowing manufacturers to continue using Deca in electronics and electrical equipment. But the EU banned the chemical for good in 2008 after the European Parliament challenged the assessment, citing health and environmental concerns. (In 2009, \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/deccadbe.html\">the EPA brokered a deal\u003c/a> with the two U.S. Deca manufacturers to phase out the chemical “to protect human health and the environment.”) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang didn’t mention any risk assessment studies for HBCD. But last month, the U.N. Environment Programme’s Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants \u003ca href=\"http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-567_en.htm?locale=en\">voted to add HBCD\u003c/a> to its list of globally banned chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Mounting research questions the safety and effectiveness of flame retardants used in consumer products. The chemicals are also used in the foam plastic insulation that improves energy efficiency in buildings. But a measure that just passed a Senate committee this week could pave the way for fire-safe, energy-efficient buildings without causing harm.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4743\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4743\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Image: \u003ca href=\"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_fire_using_gasoline.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kpahor/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17508\">directed state agencies\u003c/a> to reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions through a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/Green_Building_Action_Plan_B.18.12.pdf\">green building action plan\u003c/a> to “shrink the state’s environmental footprint.” The order also mandated using “environmentally preferable products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods that serve the same purpose.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just seven months later, a \u003ca href=\"http://superfund.berkeley.edu/pdf/395.pdf\">study in Building Research and Information\u003c/a> revealed that plastic foam insulation used to increase energy efficiency in buildings may pose an unnecessary risk to health and the environment. Manufacturers add potentially harmful fire-retardant chemicals to insulation to pass a flammability test required in building codes. But the test isn’t reliable for foam plastic insulation, argued fire scientist Vytenis Babrauskas and his colleagues. And the codes’ requirement for a thermal barrier – a thick wallboard that separates the insulation from a room’s interior – already makes insulation fire-safe without the need for flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) first learned about this apparent environmental Catch-22 when she had to replace the insulation in her home. A legislator known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/state/vote/skinner_n/bio.html\">her environmental record\u003c/a>, Skinner introduced a \u003ca href=\"http://elcerrito.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/new-skinner-bill-opposes-flame-retardant-in-building-insulation\">bill in January\u003c/a> calling on state officials to revisit building standards to ensure fire safety without relying on harmful chemicals. On Monday, the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_127&sess=CUR&house=B\">AB 127\u003c/a>, passed the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee, and could reach the Senate floor sometime in August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential for harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe main plastic insulation flame retardants — HBCD or HBCDD, for hexabromocyclododecane, and TCPP, for tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate – aren’t chemically bound to the insulation, so they can escape into the environment. Although researchers have shown that flame retardants in furniture foam can seep from foam into the air and settle in dust, it’s not clear how HBCD and TCPP wind up in indoor air and dust. Possible routes of dispersal include points of manufacture, use and disposal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both compounds, classified as high-volume chemicals by the Environmental Protection Agency (with U.S. import/production volumes between 20 million and 100 million pounds), occur in soil, sewage sludge and aquatic sediments and have been found in bivalves, fish, birds and other wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with its profile as a fat-loving, bioaccumulating toxic chemical, HBCD appears in higher levels in \u003ca href=\"http://saferinsulation.greensciencepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Covaci-HBCD-review.pdf\">predators like porpoises and falcons\u003c/a>. It’s also been found in human fat tissue, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21441408\">blood and breast milk\u003c/a>. Testing the possibility that the chemicals could enter our bodies through food, researchers \u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ehp.1204993.pdf\">found HBCD in 42 percent\u003c/a> of foods purchased in Dallas grocery stores. Canned sardines and smoked turkey sausages had the highest levels, in keeping with other studies suggesting that fatty foods could be an important exposure pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies in animals indicate that HBCD disrupts hormone function and interferes with the developing nervous system. Less is known about TCPP, though it’s also been detected in \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20383376\">human breast milk\u003c/a> and causes \u003ca href=\"http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/23/toxsci.kft100.long\">developmental\u003c/a> and neurological defects in animal studies. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire-safe buildings without chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBuilding standards regulating foam insulation date back to the 1960s, and required that products pass the “Steiner Tunnel” test, which measures flame spread from the bottom of a tunnel to its ceiling, outfitted with insulation. In the 1970s, the thermal barrier requirement was added to protect exposed insulation because, Babrauskas and his coauthors assert in their recent study, insulation proved highly flammable even after passing the Steiner test. Using flame retardants when a thermal barrier is present, the authors concluded, does not add a fire safety benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=6de6fdd0eab8e21e79fec4f33166?bill_id=201320140AB127\">AB 127 calls\u003c/a> on the State Fire Marshall to review California’s flammability standards for building insulation and work with government officials to ensure fire safety “while giving full consideration to the long-term human and ecological health impacts associated with chemical flame retardants.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Skinner made her case before the state Senate committee on Monday, several witnesses spoke in support of the bill, including Justin Malan of the U.S. Green Building Council California. Malan argued that although the builders, architects, planners and engineers he represents strongly support energy efficiency, they know that sometimes building materials need careful review. “Let’s not make the same costly, and lethal, mistakes we made with asbestos,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arlene Blum, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.greensciencepolicy.org/\">Green Science Policy Institute\u003c/a> and a chemist who has long sounded the alarm about the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-15/national/38550740_1_flame-retardants-pbdes-treated-products/2\">potential hazards of flame retardants\u003c/a>, urged the committee to \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/18/98102/governor_orders_change_in_state_policy_on_flame_retardants_in?category=bay+area\">follow the lead of Governor Brown\u003c/a>, who directed regulators to update the \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/the-political-firestorm-inside-your-sofa/\">state’s furniture flammability standards\u003c/a> to increase fire safety without using potentially toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing building standards require 15 minutes to flashover, when the fire turns from flame to conflagration as nearby combustibles ignite. By the time a fire hits the treated plastic foam insulation inside the wall, Blum said, “all the flame retardants do is make the fire more toxic, produce dioxins, which harm the health of first responders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lobbying against public health?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nTwelve public interest and business groups followed Malone and Blum in support of AB 127. Leading the opposition to the bill was Joe Lang, representing the chemical industry’s main trade group, the American Chemistry Council. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang, a veteran Sacramento lobbyist who once \u003ca href=\"http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/v/c/m/vcm94b00/Svcm94b00.pdf\">represented tobacco giant Philip Morris\u003c/a>, now heads the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/02/see-which-lobbying-firms-made-the-most-money-in-2012.html\">top-grossing lobbying firm\u003c/a> in Sacramento. His firm received more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">$1 million from chemical industry interests\u003c/a> over five years to help defeat five bills to regulate flame retardants added to consumer products. In the first quarter of this year, Lang and his associates have earned 40,000 from the American Chemistry Council, state records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claiming most of the opposition’s allotted time, Lang did not argue the merits of reviewing the state’s building code but lectured the committee on the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm?CFID=26318756&CFTOKEN=89839980\">Green Chemistry Initiative\u003c/a> (enacted in 2008 but plagued by budgetary problems and yet to see full implementation), which aims to identify chemical hazards and safer alternatives. He argued that AB 127 subverted the state’s green chemistry policy by asking for a separate process, not based on science, that evaluates chemical hazards one by one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang also argued that most of the evidence cited to show the risks of flame retardants studied chemicals that aren’t used in foam insulation. Then he referred to a \u003ca href=\"http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13630/trd_rar_ireland_tccp_en.pdf\">European Union risk assessment\u003c/a> for TCPP that failed to find evidence of risk to consumers or the environment, based on exposure models, though it did show harm to workers in plants where the chemicals are made. All of the studies that AB 127 supporters point to as support for the toxicity of flame retardants don’t apply in this case, Lang said. “They’re creating a hysteria. They’re creating a sense that fire retardants used in building insulation are in fact dangerous. That’s not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EU risk assessments of another flame retardant, known as Deca, also found no significant risks to health and the environment using their exposure models. Although the EU banned Deca in 2002, the subsequent favorable risk assessment helped win a reprieve, allowing manufacturers to continue using Deca in electronics and electrical equipment. But the EU banned the chemical for good in 2008 after the European Parliament challenged the assessment, citing health and environmental concerns. (In 2009, \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/deccadbe.html\">the EPA brokered a deal\u003c/a> with the two U.S. Deca manufacturers to phase out the chemical “to protect human health and the environment.”) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang didn’t mention any risk assessment studies for HBCD. But last month, the U.N. Environment Programme’s Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants \u003ca href=\"http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-567_en.htm?locale=en\">voted to add HBCD\u003c/a> to its list of globally banned chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama declared the debate over climate change and its causes obsolete Tuesday as he announced a wide-ranging plan to tackle pollution and prepare communities for global warming. Nurses attending the National Nurses United conference took … \u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/25/obama-climate-change-speech-live/\" rel=\"noopener\">Continue reading \u003cspan class=\"meta-nav\">\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Battle Rages Over East Bay Wildfire Plan",
"headTitle": "Battle Rages Over East Bay Wildfire Plan | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/06/2013-06-24-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Wildfire season in California started early this year, and researchers say the fires are \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201306060930\">burning stronger\u003c/a> because of the dry winter. The news is adding urgency to the effort to prevent fires like the 1991 Oakland Hills blaze that killed 25 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. But a proposal to cut 100,000 eucalyptus trees or more has stirred up controversy, and now, a long-running battle over the plan is coming to a head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rooting Out Non-Native Plants\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nOne hot late-spring morning Tom Klatt, the environmental projects manager for University of California, Berkeley, brings me to a piece of the school’s land he’s particularly proud of, at the top of Claremont Canyon in the Berkeley hills. The university has logged all the eucalyptus trees here, and is removing other non-native plants in an effort to reduce the risk of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4657\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 403px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/eucalyptus_rev1_900-e1372134472209.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4657 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/eucalyptus_rev1_900-e1372134472209.jpg\" alt=\"Update: The city of Oakland has clarified their language in the EIR and has decided to pursue a thinning approach similar to East Bay Parks.\" width=\"403\" height=\"502\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Update: The city of Oakland has clarified their language in the EIR and has decided to pursue a thinning approach similar to East Bay Parks.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Klatt’s wearing a business suit, but he’s not above pulling up a few weeds as we walk. He yanks out poison hemlock that’s growing along the trail into the canyon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we started this, this was a dark and shadowy tunnel of eucalyptus trees,” Klatt says. Now, it’s a sun-dappled spot; the hiking trail weaves through oak, bay and redwood trees. Those are native trees, as opposed to the eucalyptus, which are originally from Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have a forest, and this forest still can burn, but it doesn’t have the contribution of the eucalyptus litter. It doesn’t have the very tall trees that can ignite in crown fires and throw burning embers,” says Klatt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unkempt eucalyptus grove is a \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/06/12/eucalyptus-california-icon-fire-hazard-and-invasive-species/\">fire hazard\u003c/a>, Klatt says. The oils in the trees burn easily, and when burning leaves and bark catch the wind, they can spread the fire rapidly. That’s why, more than ten years ago, the school began removing the eucalyptus from this piece of property, and why it wants to cut down about 50,000 more trees here and in two other locations in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley, along with the city of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, is applying for a $5.6 million \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Home.aspx\">grant from FEMA\u003c/a> to remove eucalyptus. The project covers almost 1,000 acres on park, university and city land. There are already fire mitigation projects going on here, like the one Klatt showed me, but this grant would expand the work. All told, 100,000 trees or more would be cut under the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4622\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4622\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/IMG_5369-e1371855710317.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Klatt, environmental projects manager for UC Berkeley. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Klatt, environmental projects manager for UC Berkeley. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire in the Hills\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe East Bay hills are susceptible to fire, and whether or not eucalyptus are there won’t change that. The summers are dry and hot, and the Diablo winds — the East Bay’s version of the Santa Ana winds — can whip a spark into a wildfire. The wind was a major player in the 1991 fire. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.calema.ca.gov%2Ffireandrescue%2Fdocuments%2Fafter%2520action%2Fthe%2520east%2520bay%2520hills%2520fire%2520-%2520usfa-tr-060%2520-%2520october%25201991.pdf&ei=a8vEUYeNOcf0iQK3tYCABw&usg=AFQjCNGbZE_KWO4sOVRbTMPIujhOa3aUnA&sig2=ICHqCqrsn5aL81Py8RCSDQ&bvm=bv.48293060,d.cGE&cad=rja\">FEMA report\u003c/a> found a host of factors contributed to it being the disaster that it was: lack of coordination between the agencies fighting the fire, lack of water, people getting trapped on the narrow winding streets and wood roofs bursting into flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Mike Martin, a battalion chief with CalFire who fought that fire, says the eucalyptus played a role, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/openspaces/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-8748\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8748\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/hdpublicplaces-mod.jpg\" alt=\"hdpublicplaces-mod\" width=\"200\" height=\"46\">\u003c/a>“Early on in the fire, it hit some eucalyptus coming out of the Marlborough Terrace area, and it just put out a huge barrage of burning embers downwind from the fire,” Martin recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those embers spread the fire, catching on vegetation and roofs. Martin says a single eucalyptus isn’t necessarily a fire hazard. It’s when there’s a bunch of them, shedding leaves and bark into heaps on the forest floor, that there can be disastrous results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When something like that is burning, there is nothing in our arsenal that can compete with it,” says Martin. “You’re not gonna find any firefighters saying eucalyptus aren’t a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Backlash Against the Plan\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n“It’s unfortunate that the ’91 fire is used as justification of this project because what really went wrong is not trees,” says Dan Grassetti, the founder of the Hills Conservation Network, a group opposed to the plan. They sued the park district over a related eucalyptus removal project, and is happier with the tactic East Bay Parks is taking now — thinning the eucalyptus groves on their land, rather than cutting them down wholesale. But Grassetti’s group has been fighting UC Berkeley’s plan to remove all the eucalyptus on its property since 2005, and has \u003ca href=\"http://www.hillsconservationnetwork.org/HillsConservation3/Blog/Entries/2013/6/20_Next_Steps_files/HCN_Report_FINAL_06-17-2013b.pdf\">commissioned a report\u003c/a> responding to FEMA’s draft environmental impact statement on the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community’s been given a false choice,” he says. “The choice that UC’s put out there has been, either do what we want to do, or we do nothing. And that is just totally bogus as far as we’re concerned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4617\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4617\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/IMG_5360-e1371855484412.jpg\" alt=\"Dan Grassetti, founder of the Hills Conservation Network. (Molly Samuel/KQED) \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dan Grassetti, founder of the Hills Conservation Network. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grassetti brings me to a spot in Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve that he thinks is a good example of how to limit fire risk — and keep the eucalyptus. A red-shouldered hawk calls behind us as we look down a shady hill at a forest of eucalyptus trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, we’re standing here right now, and I would argue that it smells pretty good. And it’s kind of a pleasant environment. It’s shady. It’s cool. It’s good habitat,” Grassetti says. There’s space between the trees, and the ground below them is mostly clear of bark and leaves. “This is probably our ideal of how a eucalyptus grove could be maintained in the hills here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassetti argues, if UC Berkeley maintained its eucalyptus groves like this one, they wouldn’t be a fire hazard. But Klatt says keeping any of the trees isn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as you leave a single eucalyptus tree here that drops 20,000-plus seeds per year, you can be assured that you’re going to have regeneration of the species. So thinning it doesn’t get you out of the eucalyptus management business, doesn’t get you out of cleaning up the forest floor business and it isn’t really a solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“We’re never going to get a consensus on environmental issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. We pretty much accept that.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Grassetti and Klatt are on either end of the spectrum here. The Sierra Club has \u003ca href=\"http://theyodeler.org/?p=7539\">endorsed the plan\u003c/a>. But when it comes to cutting the eucalyptus, many community members fall somewhere in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I realize that the eucalyptus are a fire hazard, and for that reason it’s hard to object to that,” says Barbara Bauer. She lives near Claremont Canyon where she walks her dogs, Pal and Tempo. She was there for the ’91 fire; she had to evacuate and watched the hills burn. But she’s not on board with the plan to remove other trees, including acacia and Monterey pine. “I have real feelings for the trees that don’t necessarily have to go, for any good reason.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there are other concerns. Jeannie McKenzie raises goats and chickens in the backyard of her Oakland hills home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The thing I am most concerned about is these herbicides in our hills at the top of our watershed that is coming down through our properties,” says McKenzie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The herbicides would be applied directly to the stumps of the eucalyptus as soon as they’re cut, to prevent regrowth. But Klatt says there would likely be some spraying, too, to control other weeds, which isn’t described in the draft environmental impact statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klatt says he’s not surprised the plan’s been so controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never going to get a consensus on environmental issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. We pretty much accept that,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FEMA plans to begin working on the final environmental impact statement this summer. That will decide what – if any – elements of this plan they’ll fund. Klatt says the money would help them move faster, but either way, they’ll continue cutting, to try to limit the risk of another catastrophic wildfire in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/06/2013-06-24-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Wildfire season in California started early this year, and researchers say the fires are \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201306060930\">burning stronger\u003c/a> because of the dry winter. The news is adding urgency to the effort to prevent fires like the 1991 Oakland Hills blaze that killed 25 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. But a proposal to cut 100,000 eucalyptus trees or more has stirred up controversy, and now, a long-running battle over the plan is coming to a head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rooting Out Non-Native Plants\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nOne hot late-spring morning Tom Klatt, the environmental projects manager for University of California, Berkeley, brings me to a piece of the school’s land he’s particularly proud of, at the top of Claremont Canyon in the Berkeley hills. The university has logged all the eucalyptus trees here, and is removing other non-native plants in an effort to reduce the risk of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4657\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 403px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/eucalyptus_rev1_900-e1372134472209.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4657 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/eucalyptus_rev1_900-e1372134472209.jpg\" alt=\"Update: The city of Oakland has clarified their language in the EIR and has decided to pursue a thinning approach similar to East Bay Parks.\" width=\"403\" height=\"502\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Update: The city of Oakland has clarified their language in the EIR and has decided to pursue a thinning approach similar to East Bay Parks.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Klatt’s wearing a business suit, but he’s not above pulling up a few weeds as we walk. He yanks out poison hemlock that’s growing along the trail into the canyon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we started this, this was a dark and shadowy tunnel of eucalyptus trees,” Klatt says. Now, it’s a sun-dappled spot; the hiking trail weaves through oak, bay and redwood trees. Those are native trees, as opposed to the eucalyptus, which are originally from Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have a forest, and this forest still can burn, but it doesn’t have the contribution of the eucalyptus litter. It doesn’t have the very tall trees that can ignite in crown fires and throw burning embers,” says Klatt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unkempt eucalyptus grove is a \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/06/12/eucalyptus-california-icon-fire-hazard-and-invasive-species/\">fire hazard\u003c/a>, Klatt says. The oils in the trees burn easily, and when burning leaves and bark catch the wind, they can spread the fire rapidly. That’s why, more than ten years ago, the school began removing the eucalyptus from this piece of property, and why it wants to cut down about 50,000 more trees here and in two other locations in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley, along with the city of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, is applying for a $5.6 million \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Home.aspx\">grant from FEMA\u003c/a> to remove eucalyptus. The project covers almost 1,000 acres on park, university and city land. There are already fire mitigation projects going on here, like the one Klatt showed me, but this grant would expand the work. All told, 100,000 trees or more would be cut under the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4622\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4622\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/IMG_5369-e1371855710317.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Klatt, environmental projects manager for UC Berkeley. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Klatt, environmental projects manager for UC Berkeley. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire in the Hills\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe East Bay hills are susceptible to fire, and whether or not eucalyptus are there won’t change that. The summers are dry and hot, and the Diablo winds — the East Bay’s version of the Santa Ana winds — can whip a spark into a wildfire. The wind was a major player in the 1991 fire. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.calema.ca.gov%2Ffireandrescue%2Fdocuments%2Fafter%2520action%2Fthe%2520east%2520bay%2520hills%2520fire%2520-%2520usfa-tr-060%2520-%2520october%25201991.pdf&ei=a8vEUYeNOcf0iQK3tYCABw&usg=AFQjCNGbZE_KWO4sOVRbTMPIujhOa3aUnA&sig2=ICHqCqrsn5aL81Py8RCSDQ&bvm=bv.48293060,d.cGE&cad=rja\">FEMA report\u003c/a> found a host of factors contributed to it being the disaster that it was: lack of coordination between the agencies fighting the fire, lack of water, people getting trapped on the narrow winding streets and wood roofs bursting into flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Mike Martin, a battalion chief with CalFire who fought that fire, says the eucalyptus played a role, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/openspaces/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-8748\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8748\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/hdpublicplaces-mod.jpg\" alt=\"hdpublicplaces-mod\" width=\"200\" height=\"46\">\u003c/a>“Early on in the fire, it hit some eucalyptus coming out of the Marlborough Terrace area, and it just put out a huge barrage of burning embers downwind from the fire,” Martin recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those embers spread the fire, catching on vegetation and roofs. Martin says a single eucalyptus isn’t necessarily a fire hazard. It’s when there’s a bunch of them, shedding leaves and bark into heaps on the forest floor, that there can be disastrous results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When something like that is burning, there is nothing in our arsenal that can compete with it,” says Martin. “You’re not gonna find any firefighters saying eucalyptus aren’t a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Backlash Against the Plan\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n“It’s unfortunate that the ’91 fire is used as justification of this project because what really went wrong is not trees,” says Dan Grassetti, the founder of the Hills Conservation Network, a group opposed to the plan. They sued the park district over a related eucalyptus removal project, and is happier with the tactic East Bay Parks is taking now — thinning the eucalyptus groves on their land, rather than cutting them down wholesale. But Grassetti’s group has been fighting UC Berkeley’s plan to remove all the eucalyptus on its property since 2005, and has \u003ca href=\"http://www.hillsconservationnetwork.org/HillsConservation3/Blog/Entries/2013/6/20_Next_Steps_files/HCN_Report_FINAL_06-17-2013b.pdf\">commissioned a report\u003c/a> responding to FEMA’s draft environmental impact statement on the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community’s been given a false choice,” he says. “The choice that UC’s put out there has been, either do what we want to do, or we do nothing. And that is just totally bogus as far as we’re concerned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4617\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4617\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/IMG_5360-e1371855484412.jpg\" alt=\"Dan Grassetti, founder of the Hills Conservation Network. (Molly Samuel/KQED) \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dan Grassetti, founder of the Hills Conservation Network. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grassetti brings me to a spot in Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve that he thinks is a good example of how to limit fire risk — and keep the eucalyptus. A red-shouldered hawk calls behind us as we look down a shady hill at a forest of eucalyptus trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, we’re standing here right now, and I would argue that it smells pretty good. And it’s kind of a pleasant environment. It’s shady. It’s cool. It’s good habitat,” Grassetti says. There’s space between the trees, and the ground below them is mostly clear of bark and leaves. “This is probably our ideal of how a eucalyptus grove could be maintained in the hills here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassetti argues, if UC Berkeley maintained its eucalyptus groves like this one, they wouldn’t be a fire hazard. But Klatt says keeping any of the trees isn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as you leave a single eucalyptus tree here that drops 20,000-plus seeds per year, you can be assured that you’re going to have regeneration of the species. So thinning it doesn’t get you out of the eucalyptus management business, doesn’t get you out of cleaning up the forest floor business and it isn’t really a solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“We’re never going to get a consensus on environmental issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. We pretty much accept that.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Grassetti and Klatt are on either end of the spectrum here. The Sierra Club has \u003ca href=\"http://theyodeler.org/?p=7539\">endorsed the plan\u003c/a>. But when it comes to cutting the eucalyptus, many community members fall somewhere in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I realize that the eucalyptus are a fire hazard, and for that reason it’s hard to object to that,” says Barbara Bauer. She lives near Claremont Canyon where she walks her dogs, Pal and Tempo. She was there for the ’91 fire; she had to evacuate and watched the hills burn. But she’s not on board with the plan to remove other trees, including acacia and Monterey pine. “I have real feelings for the trees that don’t necessarily have to go, for any good reason.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there are other concerns. Jeannie McKenzie raises goats and chickens in the backyard of her Oakland hills home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The thing I am most concerned about is these herbicides in our hills at the top of our watershed that is coming down through our properties,” says McKenzie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The herbicides would be applied directly to the stumps of the eucalyptus as soon as they’re cut, to prevent regrowth. But Klatt says there would likely be some spraying, too, to control other weeds, which isn’t described in the draft environmental impact statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klatt says he’s not surprised the plan’s been so controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never going to get a consensus on environmental issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. We pretty much accept that,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FEMA plans to begin working on the final environmental impact statement this summer. That will decide what – if any – elements of this plan they’ll fund. Klatt says the money would help them move faster, but either way, they’ll continue cutting, to try to limit the risk of another catastrophic wildfire in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "River Otters in the Marin Headlands",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San Francisco Bay Area was recently abuzz over \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/S-F-s-only-river-otter-at-Sutro-Baths-4163180.php\">a lone river otter in Sutro Baths, affectionately called “Sutro Sam.”\u003c/a> Although Sutro Sam’s brief stint in the swimming complex ruins is now over, there are still plenty of other places in the Bay Area to see wild river otters. Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands is one of these places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3868\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3868\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-1.jpg\" alt=\"Rodeo Lagoon\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3868\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodeo Lagoon.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the help of citizens, \u003ca href=\"http://www.riverotterecology.org\">The River Otter Ecology Project\u003c/a> (ROEP) studies these animals to better understand their role in the Bay Area’s costal watersheds. 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At least 5 individuals have been spotted in this location, likely a female with pups and a male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3865\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3865\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-2.jpg\" alt=\"Scratches in the sand indicate river otter activity.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3865\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scratches in the sand indicate river otter activity.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike sea otters, river otters spend quite a lot of time on land. They are great runners, rock and tree climbers, and sleep in dens. This versatility allows river otters to eat everything from crustaceans to other mammals, which can be seen in their scat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3866\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-3.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3866\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-3.jpg\" alt=\"The River Otter Ecology Project collects river otter scat samples to learn more about wild river otters' diets\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3866\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The River Otter Ecology Project collects river otter scat samples to learn more about wild river otters’ diets.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Below is a QUEST video of a wild river otter scat dissection at Big Break Regional Shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[flickr video=4911254966 secret=2381fe7c89 w=640 h=360]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nAlthough river otters are not endangered, they are listed as a Species of Special Concern due to polluted waterways, habitat loss and being hunted for their fur. It can be difficult to spot river otters in the wild, but with the public’s help, ROEP has created an \u003ca href=\"http://www.riverotterecology.org/otter-spotter-interactive-map-of-bay-area-sightings.html\">interactive map of Bay Area river otter sightings.\u003c/a> Each pin details what was sighted and when, which may be helpful to optimistic hikers who would like to see them. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San Francisco Bay Area was recently abuzz over \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/S-F-s-only-river-otter-at-Sutro-Baths-4163180.php\">a lone river otter in Sutro Baths, affectionately called “Sutro Sam.”\u003c/a> Although Sutro Sam’s brief stint in the swimming complex ruins is now over, there are still plenty of other places in the Bay Area to see wild river otters. Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands is one of these places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3868\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3868\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-1.jpg\" alt=\"Rodeo Lagoon\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3868\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodeo Lagoon.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the help of citizens, \u003ca href=\"http://www.riverotterecology.org\">The River Otter Ecology Project\u003c/a> (ROEP) studies these animals to better understand their role in the Bay Area’s costal watersheds. Their \u003ca href=\"http://www.riverotterecology.org/otter-spotter-citizen-science-project.html\">OTTER SPOTTER Citizen Science Project\u003c/a> asks the public to submit any observational or physical data that can be used to document where river otters are in the Bay Area; photographs and video-recording of river otters are highly encouraged. Rodeo Lagoon is a site that this organization closely monitors due to high river otter activity. At least 5 individuals have been spotted in this location, likely a female with pups and a male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3865\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3865\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-2.jpg\" alt=\"Scratches in the sand indicate river otter activity.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3865\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scratches in the sand indicate river otter activity.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike sea otters, river otters spend quite a lot of time on land. They are great runners, rock and tree climbers, and sleep in dens. This versatility allows river otters to eat everything from crustaceans to other mammals, which can be seen in their scat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3866\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-3.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3866\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-3.jpg\" alt=\"The River Otter Ecology Project collects river otter scat samples to learn more about wild river otters' diets\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3866\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The River Otter Ecology Project collects river otter scat samples to learn more about wild river otters’ diets.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Below is a QUEST video of a wild river otter scat dissection at Big Break Regional Shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[flickr video=4911254966 secret=2381fe7c89 w=640 h=360]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nAlthough river otters are not endangered, they are listed as a Species of Special Concern due to polluted waterways, habitat loss and being hunted for their fur. It can be difficult to spot river otters in the wild, but with the public’s help, ROEP has created an \u003ca href=\"http://www.riverotterecology.org/otter-spotter-interactive-map-of-bay-area-sightings.html\">interactive map of Bay Area river otter sightings.\u003c/a> Each pin details what was sighted and when, which may be helpful to optimistic hikers who would like to see them. If outdoor trekking isn’t your thing, there are a number of zoos and aquariums in the Bay Area that exhibit river otters, such as \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfzoo.org\">The San Francisco Zoo\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.oaklandzoo.org\">Oakland Zoo\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.curiodyssey.org\">CuriOdyssey\u003c/a> and this coming summer, \u003ca href=\"http://www.aquariumofthebay.com\">Aquarium of the Bay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3867\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-4.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3867\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/roep-4.jpg\" alt=\"A river otter at Rodeo Lagoon\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3867\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A river otter at Rodeo Lagoon.\u003cbr>Photo by Andrea Dougall\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>By Susanne Rust and Serene Fang, The Center for Investigative Reporting A growing demand for milk and cheese in China has the potential to bring California’s beleaguered dairy industry back to life – and with it, renewed concern about its … \u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/13/dairy-cows/\" rel=\"noopener\">Continue reading \u003cspan class=\"meta-nav\">\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Eucalyptus: California Icon, Fire Hazard and Invasive Species",
"headTitle": "Eucalyptus: California Icon, Fire Hazard and Invasive Species | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4236\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/epicormic-bud.small_.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4236\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/epicormic-bud.small_.jpg\" alt='Specialized reproductive structures caleld \"epicormic shoots\" sprout from buds on the bushfire damaged trunk of a Eucalyptus tree, about two years after the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires. (Near Anglers Rest, Victoria, Australia./jjron)' width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4236\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Specialized reproductive structures called “epicormic shoots” sprout from buds on the bushfire damaged trunk of a Eucalyptus tree, about two years after the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires. Near Anglers Rest, Victoria, Australia. (Photo: jjron)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Biologists now count invasive species as a major threat to biological diversity second only to direct habitat loss and fragmentation. Why do they worry when new species enter an ecosystem? More than 90 percent of introduced plants in California have overcome barriers to survival and reproduction in their new home without harming native species. But a fraction display invasive traits, displacing native species and reshaping the ecological landscape. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), a symbol of California for some, never knew California soil \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr069/psw_gtr069.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">until the 1850s\u003c/a>, when seeds from Australia were planted, first as ornamentals, then mostly for timber and fuel. The California Invasive Plant Council (CAL-IPC) classifies blue gum eucalyptus as a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/paf/site/paf/342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“moderate” invasive\u003c/a> because the trees need certain conditions to thrive. For the most part, they’re not a problem in the drier regions of Southern California or the Central Valley. But along the coast, where summer fog brings buckets of moisture, it’s a different story. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue gum invades neighboring plant communities if adequate moisture is available for propagation, state resource ecologist David Boyd \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ipcw/pages/detailreport.cfm@usernumber=48&surveynumber=182.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted in a report\u003c/a> for CAL-IPC. Once established, the trees can alter local soil moisture, light availability, fire patterns, nitrogen mineralization rates and soil chemistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced species can disrupt ecological relationships among species that co-evolved over millennia, which is why \u003ca href=\"http://www.elkhornslough.org/habitat-restoration/projects/oak-woodland.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">many groups work\u003c/a> to remove eucalyptus and restore coast live oaks. California’s native oak woodlands still \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/ecosystem_processes/sierra/bio_diversity/habitat_relationship_terrestrial_sub5/abundance_distribution.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sustain more biodiversity\u003c/a> than any other terrestrial landscape even though more than a century of intensive agricultural, rangeland and urban development has claimed some \u003ca href=\"http://www.placer.ca.gov/~/media/cdr/Planning/PCCP/BackgroundData/OakWoodlands/OakWoodlandMgtPlan.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 million acres of woodlands\u003c/a>. (While settlers cleared the land of oaks, entrepreneurs planted eucalyptus trees by the millions.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Historic fire risk\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThat’s why many ecologists welcome \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Files/FAQ%204-1-13.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a plan to remove tens of thousands\u003c/a> of eucalyptus and other non-native trees from the East Bay Hills to reduce fire risk. UC Berkeley, together with the City of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, applied for \u003ca href=\"http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/05/17/fema-reviews-bay-area-pre-disaster-funding-applications-invites-public\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">up to $5.6 million\u003c/a> in grants to remove the non-natives—primarily eucalyptus, Monterey pine and acacia—under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Hazard Mitigation Grant programs. The total project would cover just under 1,000 acres and includes plans to encourage regrowth of native oak and bay trees. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/Executive_Summary.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fifteen major fires\u003c/a> roared through 9,000 acres of the East Bay Hills between 1923 and 1992, incinerating some 4,000 homes and killing 26 people. The Oakland “Tunnel” fire, considered the worst in California history, caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and killed 25 people. Following the Oakland fire, disaster experts urged large landowners in the East Bay Hills to work together to manage vegetation to prevent another catastrophic wildfire, says Tom Klatt, who manages environmental projects for UC Berkeley and serves on the UC Fire Mitigation Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Blue gum eucalyptus is one of the most fire-intensive plants,” says Klatt. Trees not only put a lot of fuel on the ground as they shed bark, leaves and twigs, but in intense fires, volatile compounds in foliage cause explosive burning. “Once bark catches fire, it gets blown ahead of the flame front and drops burning embers by the tens of thousands per acre in the urban community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 1923 fire started at Inspiration Point ran through the eucalyptus trees until it hit the ridgeline at Grizzly Peak, then came down to University and Shattuck before the wind finally changed direction, Klatt says. “It took out 568 homes on the north side of the Berkeley campus in two hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the fire risk, the plan remains contentious. Some residents worry about the use of \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/fema-plans-clear-cutting-85000-berkeley-and-oakland-trees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pesticides\u003c/a>, some feel eucalyptus’ \u003ca href=\"http://oaklandlocal.com/2013/06/storm-of-controversy-rages-over-fire-hazard-reduction-plans-for-oakland-hills/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flammability is overstated \u003c/a>and others who consider the trees cultural icons view the plans as \u003ca href=\"http://rockridge.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/proposal-to-reduce-fire-risk-in-east-bay-hills-by-cutting-85000-trees-draws-a-crowd\">an attack on a species\u003c/a> that’s been here so long we should consider it native. (For the record, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnps.org/cnps/archive/exotics.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Native Plant Society\u003c/a> defines “native” as any species that predated European contact.) Predicting how an introduced species will behave is complicated by the fact that ecological effects are difficult to observe—and may only appear when it’s too late to control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ecological impacts of eucalyptus \u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nEvidence of the trees’ impacts on East Bay ecosystems is relatively scarce. A \u003ca href=\"http://elkhornsloughctp.org/uploads/files/1109813068Sax2002.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2002 study\u003c/a> of the Berkeley hills found similar numbers and diversity of species in eucalyptus and native woodlands, but the species themselves were different. Monarchs use groves in Point Pinole as resting spots and several bird species, including \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/1_2_3.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">herons and egrets,\u003c/a> nest in eucalyptus in and near the tree-removal project areas, though how their use affects their reproductive success isn’t clear. (Klatt says that though he hasn’t seen nests in the UCB project areas, the law requires that they take steps to protect nesting birds and any species under state and federal protection.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More evidence comes from the Central Coast. At \u003ca href=\"http://www.elkhornsloughctp.org/training/show_train_detail.php?TRAIN_ID=EcoGYZ22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 2004 workshop\u003c/a> on the blue gum’s impact on the ecology of coastal ecosystems, researchers reported conflicting effects. Eucalyptus stands can provide habitat for birds near cities and water bodies, and for overwintering monarch butterflies. But the trees change the composition of insect and bird communities as they invade: the loss of native trees that grow along rivers could spell trouble for \u003ca href=\"http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/fact_sheets/default.cfm?fxsht=9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">neotropical migratory songbirds\u003c/a> and for species that nest in tree cavities. And when eucalyptus leaves enter streams, aquatic macroinvertebrate communities change, altering the food chain, likely because the chemical content of eucalyptus leaves differs from native foliage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4243\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/coast-live-oak.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4243\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/coast-live-oak.jpg\" alt=\"Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) — off Highway 101 in California. Though oak woodlands sustain more wildlife species than any other landscape, only 4 percent of the state’s woodland habitats are protected. The vast majority remain in private hands. (Photo: Peter O'Malley)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4243\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue oak (Quercus douglasii) — off Highway 101 in California. Though oak woodlands sustain more wildlife species than any other landscape, only 4 percent of the state’s woodland habitats are protected. The vast majority remain in private hands. (Photo: Peter O’Malley)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time the eucalyptus trees were planted in the East Bay, typically in 12 foot by 12 foot plots, most native woodlands and perennial native grasslands had already been converted to annual European grasslands, says forest ecologist Joe McBride, professor of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California at Berkeley. “And certainly by now a number of species are using those trees but they were here before the eucalyptus was planted, using oak woodlands, riparian woodlands and redwood forests in the East Bay. They just spread to eucalyptus and Monterey pines when the trees grew big enough. These populations aren’t going to disappear if eucalyptus is removed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But removal has proven difficult. “After two previous removal efforts in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, the trees have grown back,” Klatt says. Successful eradication requires at least 10 years of maintenance and drizzling about 2 ounces of diluted herbicide directly to the cut stump immediately after felling a tree, he explains. “If you do it within the first three minutes, we see 95 percent to 98 percent success with a single treatment.” But if the trees resprout, more applications will be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan aims to selectively cut eucalyptus while leaving bay, oaks and other native trees in the understory. “The more understory we preserve, the faster it recovers,” says Klatt. The plan also calls for retaining all the cut wood as chips for erosion control and moisture retention, and to encourage native regrowth, aided by birds and squirrels that plant acorns in chip beds. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McBride hasn’t seen evidence of eucalyptus’ invasive tendencies in the East Bay Hills but worries about its combustible nature. “We imported this plant from Australia but we didn’t import the normal fungus that decays the litter in Australia,” he says. Accumulations of bark and leaf litter under eucalyptus stands have measured up to 100 tons per acre, compared to about 3 tons per acre for coast live oaks. “It’s an enormous increase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Selected for flammability?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nSo how does the blue gum act in its native environment? For David Bowman, a forest ecologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, the question isn’t whether the trees are native or non-native—it’s whether they’re dangerous. “Looking at the eucalyptus forest outside my window in Tasmania, I see a gigantic fire hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At very high temperatures, eucalypt species release a flammable gas that mixes with air to send fireballs exploding out in front of the fire. With eucalyptus, you see these ember attacks, with huge bursts of sparks shooting out of the forests, Bowman says. “It’s just an extraordinary idea for a plant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s difficult to prove, Bowman suspects the trees evolved to be “uber flammable.” Sixty million years ago eucalyptus species hit on a way to recover from intense fire, he explains, using specialized structures hidden deep within their bark that allow rapid recovery through new branches, instead of re-sprouting from the roots like other trees. “They have this adaptive advantage of not having to rebuild their trunk. Whether their oil-rich foliage is also an adaptation, we don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a plant designed to burn in its life cycle, you can get fooled by its beauty and nice smell, Bowman says. “But on a really hot day, those things are going to burn like torches and shower our suburbs with sparks. And on an extremely hot day, they’re going to shoot out gas balls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With tiny pinhead seeds that germinate only in disturbed soils, the trees really aren’t good invaders, Bowman says–with one exception. “Fire opens up the woody capsules that hold the seeds, which love growing on freshly burned soil. Give a hillside a really good torching and the eucalyptus will absolutely dominate. They’ll grow intensively in the first few years of life and outcompete everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evolutionary dimensions of fire ecology are controversial, Bowman allows. “But if eucalyptus are these evolutionary freak plants that massively increase fire risk,” he says, it raises a troubling question: Are these intense fires a consequence of climate change or the interaction of climate and biology? “If it’s the latter, then what the hell have humans done? We’ve spread a dangerous plant all over the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*****\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information:\u003cbr>\nYou can still submit written comments to FEMA until midnight, June 17, 2013: via email at EBH-EIS-FEMA-RIX@fema.dhs.gov, via fax at FAX: (510) 627-7147, or via mail to P.O. Box 72379, Oakland, CA 94612-8579.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/Executive_Summary.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Executive summary of the project.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/may/26/firestorm-bushfire-dunalley-holmes-family\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Firestorm: \u003c/a>the story of a catastrophic fire that struck the Tasmanian township of Dunalley January 4, 2013.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "After more than 150 years on the California landscape, eucalyptus trees have iconic status for some Californians. But the stately trees may not only disrupt the native ecology, but seem to have evolved special adaptations that allow them to thrive after intense fires. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4236\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/epicormic-bud.small_.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4236\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/epicormic-bud.small_.jpg\" alt='Specialized reproductive structures caleld \"epicormic shoots\" sprout from buds on the bushfire damaged trunk of a Eucalyptus tree, about two years after the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires. (Near Anglers Rest, Victoria, Australia./jjron)' width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4236\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Specialized reproductive structures called “epicormic shoots” sprout from buds on the bushfire damaged trunk of a Eucalyptus tree, about two years after the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires. Near Anglers Rest, Victoria, Australia. (Photo: jjron)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Biologists now count invasive species as a major threat to biological diversity second only to direct habitat loss and fragmentation. Why do they worry when new species enter an ecosystem? More than 90 percent of introduced plants in California have overcome barriers to survival and reproduction in their new home without harming native species. But a fraction display invasive traits, displacing native species and reshaping the ecological landscape. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), a symbol of California for some, never knew California soil \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr069/psw_gtr069.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">until the 1850s\u003c/a>, when seeds from Australia were planted, first as ornamentals, then mostly for timber and fuel. The California Invasive Plant Council (CAL-IPC) classifies blue gum eucalyptus as a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/paf/site/paf/342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“moderate” invasive\u003c/a> because the trees need certain conditions to thrive. For the most part, they’re not a problem in the drier regions of Southern California or the Central Valley. But along the coast, where summer fog brings buckets of moisture, it’s a different story. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue gum invades neighboring plant communities if adequate moisture is available for propagation, state resource ecologist David Boyd \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ipcw/pages/detailreport.cfm@usernumber=48&surveynumber=182.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted in a report\u003c/a> for CAL-IPC. Once established, the trees can alter local soil moisture, light availability, fire patterns, nitrogen mineralization rates and soil chemistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced species can disrupt ecological relationships among species that co-evolved over millennia, which is why \u003ca href=\"http://www.elkhornslough.org/habitat-restoration/projects/oak-woodland.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">many groups work\u003c/a> to remove eucalyptus and restore coast live oaks. California’s native oak woodlands still \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/ecosystem_processes/sierra/bio_diversity/habitat_relationship_terrestrial_sub5/abundance_distribution.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sustain more biodiversity\u003c/a> than any other terrestrial landscape even though more than a century of intensive agricultural, rangeland and urban development has claimed some \u003ca href=\"http://www.placer.ca.gov/~/media/cdr/Planning/PCCP/BackgroundData/OakWoodlands/OakWoodlandMgtPlan.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 million acres of woodlands\u003c/a>. (While settlers cleared the land of oaks, entrepreneurs planted eucalyptus trees by the millions.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Historic fire risk\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThat’s why many ecologists welcome \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Files/FAQ%204-1-13.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a plan to remove tens of thousands\u003c/a> of eucalyptus and other non-native trees from the East Bay Hills to reduce fire risk. UC Berkeley, together with the City of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, applied for \u003ca href=\"http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/05/17/fema-reviews-bay-area-pre-disaster-funding-applications-invites-public\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">up to $5.6 million\u003c/a> in grants to remove the non-natives—primarily eucalyptus, Monterey pine and acacia—under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Hazard Mitigation Grant programs. The total project would cover just under 1,000 acres and includes plans to encourage regrowth of native oak and bay trees. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/Executive_Summary.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fifteen major fires\u003c/a> roared through 9,000 acres of the East Bay Hills between 1923 and 1992, incinerating some 4,000 homes and killing 26 people. The Oakland “Tunnel” fire, considered the worst in California history, caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and killed 25 people. Following the Oakland fire, disaster experts urged large landowners in the East Bay Hills to work together to manage vegetation to prevent another catastrophic wildfire, says Tom Klatt, who manages environmental projects for UC Berkeley and serves on the UC Fire Mitigation Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Blue gum eucalyptus is one of the most fire-intensive plants,” says Klatt. Trees not only put a lot of fuel on the ground as they shed bark, leaves and twigs, but in intense fires, volatile compounds in foliage cause explosive burning. “Once bark catches fire, it gets blown ahead of the flame front and drops burning embers by the tens of thousands per acre in the urban community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 1923 fire started at Inspiration Point ran through the eucalyptus trees until it hit the ridgeline at Grizzly Peak, then came down to University and Shattuck before the wind finally changed direction, Klatt says. “It took out 568 homes on the north side of the Berkeley campus in two hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the fire risk, the plan remains contentious. Some residents worry about the use of \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/fema-plans-clear-cutting-85000-berkeley-and-oakland-trees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pesticides\u003c/a>, some feel eucalyptus’ \u003ca href=\"http://oaklandlocal.com/2013/06/storm-of-controversy-rages-over-fire-hazard-reduction-plans-for-oakland-hills/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flammability is overstated \u003c/a>and others who consider the trees cultural icons view the plans as \u003ca href=\"http://rockridge.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/proposal-to-reduce-fire-risk-in-east-bay-hills-by-cutting-85000-trees-draws-a-crowd\">an attack on a species\u003c/a> that’s been here so long we should consider it native. (For the record, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnps.org/cnps/archive/exotics.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Native Plant Society\u003c/a> defines “native” as any species that predated European contact.) Predicting how an introduced species will behave is complicated by the fact that ecological effects are difficult to observe—and may only appear when it’s too late to control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ecological impacts of eucalyptus \u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nEvidence of the trees’ impacts on East Bay ecosystems is relatively scarce. A \u003ca href=\"http://elkhornsloughctp.org/uploads/files/1109813068Sax2002.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2002 study\u003c/a> of the Berkeley hills found similar numbers and diversity of species in eucalyptus and native woodlands, but the species themselves were different. Monarchs use groves in Point Pinole as resting spots and several bird species, including \u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/1_2_3.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">herons and egrets,\u003c/a> nest in eucalyptus in and near the tree-removal project areas, though how their use affects their reproductive success isn’t clear. (Klatt says that though he hasn’t seen nests in the UCB project areas, the law requires that they take steps to protect nesting birds and any species under state and federal protection.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More evidence comes from the Central Coast. At \u003ca href=\"http://www.elkhornsloughctp.org/training/show_train_detail.php?TRAIN_ID=EcoGYZ22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 2004 workshop\u003c/a> on the blue gum’s impact on the ecology of coastal ecosystems, researchers reported conflicting effects. Eucalyptus stands can provide habitat for birds near cities and water bodies, and for overwintering monarch butterflies. But the trees change the composition of insect and bird communities as they invade: the loss of native trees that grow along rivers could spell trouble for \u003ca href=\"http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/fact_sheets/default.cfm?fxsht=9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">neotropical migratory songbirds\u003c/a> and for species that nest in tree cavities. And when eucalyptus leaves enter streams, aquatic macroinvertebrate communities change, altering the food chain, likely because the chemical content of eucalyptus leaves differs from native foliage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4243\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/coast-live-oak.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4243\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/coast-live-oak.jpg\" alt=\"Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) — off Highway 101 in California. Though oak woodlands sustain more wildlife species than any other landscape, only 4 percent of the state’s woodland habitats are protected. The vast majority remain in private hands. (Photo: Peter O'Malley)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4243\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue oak (Quercus douglasii) — off Highway 101 in California. Though oak woodlands sustain more wildlife species than any other landscape, only 4 percent of the state’s woodland habitats are protected. The vast majority remain in private hands. (Photo: Peter O’Malley)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time the eucalyptus trees were planted in the East Bay, typically in 12 foot by 12 foot plots, most native woodlands and perennial native grasslands had already been converted to annual European grasslands, says forest ecologist Joe McBride, professor of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California at Berkeley. “And certainly by now a number of species are using those trees but they were here before the eucalyptus was planted, using oak woodlands, riparian woodlands and redwood forests in the East Bay. They just spread to eucalyptus and Monterey pines when the trees grew big enough. These populations aren’t going to disappear if eucalyptus is removed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But removal has proven difficult. “After two previous removal efforts in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, the trees have grown back,” Klatt says. Successful eradication requires at least 10 years of maintenance and drizzling about 2 ounces of diluted herbicide directly to the cut stump immediately after felling a tree, he explains. “If you do it within the first three minutes, we see 95 percent to 98 percent success with a single treatment.” But if the trees resprout, more applications will be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan aims to selectively cut eucalyptus while leaving bay, oaks and other native trees in the understory. “The more understory we preserve, the faster it recovers,” says Klatt. The plan also calls for retaining all the cut wood as chips for erosion control and moisture retention, and to encourage native regrowth, aided by birds and squirrels that plant acorns in chip beds. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McBride hasn’t seen evidence of eucalyptus’ invasive tendencies in the East Bay Hills but worries about its combustible nature. “We imported this plant from Australia but we didn’t import the normal fungus that decays the litter in Australia,” he says. Accumulations of bark and leaf litter under eucalyptus stands have measured up to 100 tons per acre, compared to about 3 tons per acre for coast live oaks. “It’s an enormous increase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Selected for flammability?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nSo how does the blue gum act in its native environment? For David Bowman, a forest ecologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, the question isn’t whether the trees are native or non-native—it’s whether they’re dangerous. “Looking at the eucalyptus forest outside my window in Tasmania, I see a gigantic fire hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At very high temperatures, eucalypt species release a flammable gas that mixes with air to send fireballs exploding out in front of the fire. With eucalyptus, you see these ember attacks, with huge bursts of sparks shooting out of the forests, Bowman says. “It’s just an extraordinary idea for a plant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s difficult to prove, Bowman suspects the trees evolved to be “uber flammable.” Sixty million years ago eucalyptus species hit on a way to recover from intense fire, he explains, using specialized structures hidden deep within their bark that allow rapid recovery through new branches, instead of re-sprouting from the roots like other trees. “They have this adaptive advantage of not having to rebuild their trunk. Whether their oil-rich foliage is also an adaptation, we don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a plant designed to burn in its life cycle, you can get fooled by its beauty and nice smell, Bowman says. “But on a really hot day, those things are going to burn like torches and shower our suburbs with sparks. And on an extremely hot day, they’re going to shoot out gas balls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With tiny pinhead seeds that germinate only in disturbed soils, the trees really aren’t good invaders, Bowman says–with one exception. “Fire opens up the woody capsules that hold the seeds, which love growing on freshly burned soil. Give a hillside a really good torching and the eucalyptus will absolutely dominate. They’ll grow intensively in the first few years of life and outcompete everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evolutionary dimensions of fire ecology are controversial, Bowman allows. “But if eucalyptus are these evolutionary freak plants that massively increase fire risk,” he says, it raises a troubling question: Are these intense fires a consequence of climate change or the interaction of climate and biology? “If it’s the latter, then what the hell have humans done? We’ve spread a dangerous plant all over the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*****\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information:\u003cbr>\nYou can still submit written comments to FEMA until midnight, June 17, 2013: via email at EBH-EIS-FEMA-RIX@fema.dhs.gov, via fax at FAX: (510) 627-7147, or via mail to P.O. Box 72379, Oakland, CA 94612-8579.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Libraries/Site_Documents/Executive_Summary.sflb.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Executive summary of the project.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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