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"content": "\u003cp>The day after “Chanel” bloomed, people lined up on Wednesday at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers for a chance to catch a glimpse — and a whiff — of the human-sized corpse flower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens raised cameras and phones over their heads to snap photos of the flower’s striking burgundy bloom and yellow spike. One person looked on from a few feet away behind the safety of a white mask, perhaps as a barrier from the pungent aroma, a cross between a wet dog and ground beef abandoned in a hot afternoon sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pungent smell wasn’t as strong as the night before, said Lindzy Bivings, interpretive programs manager at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, which oversees the Conservatory of Flowers. Hours after Chanel bloomed on Tuesday night, visitors could smell the stinkiness from outside the conservatory walls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you were here in the park last night, you could smell it way outside the building. It was phenomenal,” Bivings added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After building anticipation over the past week, the Amorphophallus titanum — what most people know as a corpse flower — the conservatory extended its hours through Wednesday afternoon so people could capitalize on a brief window of up to 48 hours that it will remain in bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday, the stench had toned down, but visitors could still smell Chanel’s stinkiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got a faint smell of rotting meat in the air,” one visitor said at the conservatory, Rachel Thomas. “It smells like when you’re in the car and you’re driving and you’re like, I know something’s dead on the side of the road, but I don’t see it yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997674\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd gathers to see a corpse flower in bloom at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco on July 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth Laberge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s beautiful. The color is incredible,” Thomas said. “The contrast of the inside of the [bloom] versus the outside is really, really beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another visitor was amazed at how massive the flower looks in real life. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s huge. Is that a flower?’” said 10-year-old Keats Schwartz. “People are always saying that it stinks, but it’s not bad. It smells like spongy and mildewy and like wet.”[aside postID=science_1997603 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CorpseFlower.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel is part of a larger conservation effort among botanical gardens worldwide to preserve corpse flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel follows in the footsteps of other famous Conservatory blooms, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954818/san-francisco-rare-corpse-flower-bloom\">Scarlet in 2023\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952847/corpse-flower-california-academy-of-sciences-san-francisco\">Mirage in 2024\u003c/a>, which the conservatory gifted to the California Academy of Sciences in 2017. \u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\nCorpse flowers are the largest and most “pungent inflorescence,” a term used to describe a cluster of flowers. They only bloom once every three to five years. And when they do, their stench is rancid. People have likened the smell of the bloom to wet socks and dead animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The corpse flower has a tall central spike, called a spadix, which actually heats up and helps diffuse the smelly odor into the air. A petal-like structure, known as the spathe, surrounds the spadix. The spathe is green on the outside and a deep red, almost burgundy color on the inside. And that’s supposed to resemble rotting flesh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997671\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Staff explain the corpse flower to visitors during a viewing opportunity for a corpse flower in bloom at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco on July 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth Laberge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That “rotting flesh” and the strong odor are ways the corpse flower tricks pollinators into visiting. It’s called a deceptive pollination strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These flowers are native to the islands of Sumatra in Indonesia. In fact, the name of the flower is a direct translation of the words “bunga bangkai,” which in Bahasa Indonesia translates to “corpse flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only a few thousand corpse flowers are remaining in the wild in Indonesia and neighboring regions, and they’re considered threatened and endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Botanical gardens around the world — including the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco — are part of a large conservation effort to preserve these corpse flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After building anticipation over the past week, the Amorphophallus titanum — what most people know as a corpse flower — the conservatory extended its hours through Wednesday afternoon so people could capitalize on a brief window of up to 48 hours that it will remain in bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday, the stench had toned down, but visitors could still smell Chanel’s stinkiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got a faint smell of rotting meat in the air,” one visitor said at the conservatory, Rachel Thomas. “It smells like when you’re in the car and you’re driving and you’re like, I know something’s dead on the side of the road, but I don’t see it yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997674\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-14-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd gathers to see a corpse flower in bloom at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco on July 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth Laberge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s beautiful. The color is incredible,” Thomas said. “The contrast of the inside of the [bloom] versus the outside is really, really beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another visitor was amazed at how massive the flower looks in real life. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s huge. Is that a flower?’” said 10-year-old Keats Schwartz. “People are always saying that it stinks, but it’s not bad. It smells like spongy and mildewy and like wet.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel is part of a larger conservation effort among botanical gardens worldwide to preserve corpse flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel follows in the footsteps of other famous Conservatory blooms, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954818/san-francisco-rare-corpse-flower-bloom\">Scarlet in 2023\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952847/corpse-flower-california-academy-of-sciences-san-francisco\">Mirage in 2024\u003c/a>, which the conservatory gifted to the California Academy of Sciences in 2017. \u003cem>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\nCorpse flowers are the largest and most “pungent inflorescence,” a term used to describe a cluster of flowers. They only bloom once every three to five years. And when they do, their stench is rancid. People have likened the smell of the bloom to wet socks and dead animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The corpse flower has a tall central spike, called a spadix, which actually heats up and helps diffuse the smelly odor into the air. A petal-like structure, known as the spathe, surrounds the spadix. The spathe is green on the outside and a deep red, almost burgundy color on the inside. And that’s supposed to resemble rotting flesh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997671\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/250709-CorpseFlowerUpdate-08-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Staff explain the corpse flower to visitors during a viewing opportunity for a corpse flower in bloom at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco on July 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth Laberge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That “rotting flesh” and the strong odor are ways the corpse flower tricks pollinators into visiting. It’s called a deceptive pollination strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These flowers are native to the islands of Sumatra in Indonesia. In fact, the name of the flower is a direct translation of the words “bunga bangkai,” which in Bahasa Indonesia translates to “corpse flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only a few thousand corpse flowers are remaining in the wild in Indonesia and neighboring regions, and they’re considered threatened and endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Botanical gardens around the world — including the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco — are part of a large conservation effort to preserve these corpse flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, July 9\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931251/corpse-flower-san-francisco-conservatory-of-flowers-golden-gate-park\">Conservatory of Flowers\u003c/a> in San Francisco, something rare, massive, and a little stinky is happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A human-sized \u003cem>Amorphophallus titanum\u003c/em> — better known as a corpse flower — is in a full, dramatic, short-lived bloom. The flower, which staffers have dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLbHwC8S9qw/?img_index=1\">Chanel\u003c/a>,” opened Tuesday afternoon. The Conservatory is extending its hours Wednesday, the organization said on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DL3YpLrSRoC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">social media post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cabbage-like leaves, called the spathe, have opened on the plant, fully revealing the tall central spike known as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLbHwC8S9qw/?img_index=1\">spadix.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bloom is a large work in progress because it takes about three years since the last bloom for all the energy to be stored up by this plant,” said Lindzy Bivings, interpretive programs manager at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, which oversees the Conservatory of Flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997609\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997609\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A corpse flower in full bloom. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Native to the islands of Sumatra in Indonesia, which are also home to the largest flower in the world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/02/colossal-blossom\">the Rafflesia\u003c/a>, only a few thousand corpse flowers remain in the wild and are considered vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corpse flowers produce the largest unbranched \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/science/inflorescence\">inflorescence\u003c/a> in the world — a technical term for a cluster of flowers — and are capable of reaching over 10 feet tall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corpse flowers emit a uniquely pungent aroma that smells like rotting flesh or decaying meat. A real attraction for the carrion beetle, a pollinator that typically lays their eggs in dead animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycUNj_Hv4_Y\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That stench is mimicking the smell of a dead animal,” Bivings explained. “It’s called deception. It’s a deceptive pollination strategy, a real scientific term, which is fun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does the flower emit a terrible odor, but it also generates heat through a process called thermogenesis. “The spadix can heat up,” Bivings said, referencing the fleshy, tall central part of the plant that holds the tiny flowers. “Part of that heat is thought to volatilize the odor,” she said. “In the wild, that scent can be smelled from up to a mile away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bloom will last only 24 to 48 hours.[aside postID=science_1997477 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_ClimateDrag_GC-5_qed.jpg']“If you want the smell, come the night of or early the next morning,” Bivings advised. “If you just want to see the amazing flower, you can come anytime the next day or the day after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel is part of a larger conservation effort among botanical gardens worldwide to preserve corpse flowers. “There are botanical gardens working to do genetic studies so we can determine whether or not the corpse flowers in different gardens could be used to have a diverse enough set of genetics,” Bivings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel follows in the footsteps of other famous Conservatory blooms, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954818/san-francisco-rare-corpse-flower-bloom\">Scarlet in 2023\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952847/corpse-flower-california-academy-of-sciences-san-francisco\">Mirage in 2024\u003c/a>, which the conservatory gifted to the California Academy of Sciences in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, over 7,000 people visited Scarlet during its peak bloom, which coincided with the July 4th weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To manage the crowds, the Conservatory will extend its hours and keep the building open late on the night of the bloom, until approximately 9 p.m. “We are so thrilled to have Chanel be able to bloom,” Bivings said. Folks can also follow along virtually, with\u003ca href=\"https://gggp.org/corpseflower/\"> an option to watch the live stream.\u003c/a> For the latest updates, be sure to check the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/conservatoryofflowers/\">conservatory’s social media.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so fascinating that it [the corpse flower] stores so much energy that it can literally grow from zero to six feet within two months. And sometimes what happens is that it only produces one leaf per year, but that one leaf can get to be 12 feet tall,” Bivings said. “And so I just think this energy cycle is so incredibly fascinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The rare, massive, and very smelly bloom will only last for a couple of days, and the Conservatory of Flowers is offering extended hours so people can see it.",
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"title": "A Corpse Flower Is Blooming at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers — and It Stinks | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, July 9\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931251/corpse-flower-san-francisco-conservatory-of-flowers-golden-gate-park\">Conservatory of Flowers\u003c/a> in San Francisco, something rare, massive, and a little stinky is happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A human-sized \u003cem>Amorphophallus titanum\u003c/em> — better known as a corpse flower — is in a full, dramatic, short-lived bloom. The flower, which staffers have dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLbHwC8S9qw/?img_index=1\">Chanel\u003c/a>,” opened Tuesday afternoon. The Conservatory is extending its hours Wednesday, the organization said on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DL3YpLrSRoC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">social media post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cabbage-like leaves, called the spathe, have opened on the plant, fully revealing the tall central spike known as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLbHwC8S9qw/?img_index=1\">spadix.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bloom is a large work in progress because it takes about three years since the last bloom for all the energy to be stored up by this plant,” said Lindzy Bivings, interpretive programs manager at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, which oversees the Conservatory of Flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997609\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997609\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/DL_502CorpseFlower_SPADIX_AND_SPATHE_PROFILE-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A corpse flower in full bloom. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Native to the islands of Sumatra in Indonesia, which are also home to the largest flower in the world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/02/colossal-blossom\">the Rafflesia\u003c/a>, only a few thousand corpse flowers remain in the wild and are considered vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corpse flowers produce the largest unbranched \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/science/inflorescence\">inflorescence\u003c/a> in the world — a technical term for a cluster of flowers — and are capable of reaching over 10 feet tall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corpse flowers emit a uniquely pungent aroma that smells like rotting flesh or decaying meat. A real attraction for the carrion beetle, a pollinator that typically lays their eggs in dead animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ycUNj_Hv4_Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ycUNj_Hv4_Y'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That stench is mimicking the smell of a dead animal,” Bivings explained. “It’s called deception. It’s a deceptive pollination strategy, a real scientific term, which is fun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does the flower emit a terrible odor, but it also generates heat through a process called thermogenesis. “The spadix can heat up,” Bivings said, referencing the fleshy, tall central part of the plant that holds the tiny flowers. “Part of that heat is thought to volatilize the odor,” she said. “In the wild, that scent can be smelled from up to a mile away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bloom will last only 24 to 48 hours.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If you want the smell, come the night of or early the next morning,” Bivings advised. “If you just want to see the amazing flower, you can come anytime the next day or the day after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel is part of a larger conservation effort among botanical gardens worldwide to preserve corpse flowers. “There are botanical gardens working to do genetic studies so we can determine whether or not the corpse flowers in different gardens could be used to have a diverse enough set of genetics,” Bivings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chanel follows in the footsteps of other famous Conservatory blooms, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954818/san-francisco-rare-corpse-flower-bloom\">Scarlet in 2023\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952847/corpse-flower-california-academy-of-sciences-san-francisco\">Mirage in 2024\u003c/a>, which the conservatory gifted to the California Academy of Sciences in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, over 7,000 people visited Scarlet during its peak bloom, which coincided with the July 4th weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To manage the crowds, the Conservatory will extend its hours and keep the building open late on the night of the bloom, until approximately 9 p.m. “We are so thrilled to have Chanel be able to bloom,” Bivings said. Folks can also follow along virtually, with\u003ca href=\"https://gggp.org/corpseflower/\"> an option to watch the live stream.\u003c/a> For the latest updates, be sure to check the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/conservatoryofflowers/\">conservatory’s social media.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so fascinating that it [the corpse flower] stores so much energy that it can literally grow from zero to six feet within two months. And sometimes what happens is that it only produces one leaf per year, but that one leaf can get to be 12 feet tall,” Bivings said. “And so I just think this energy cycle is so incredibly fascinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-could-flood-like-texas-but-thunderstorms-likely-wont-be-to-blame",
"title": "California Could Flood Like Texas. But Thunderstorms Likely Won’t Be to Blame",
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"headTitle": "California Could Flood Like Texas. But Thunderstorms Likely Won’t Be to Blame | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A major thunderstorm like the one that produced devastating flash flooding in Texas over the holiday weekend is not likely in the Bay Area or most of California, but climate scientists say that if the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">perfect weather\u003c/a> at the right time of year and geography align, serious flooding can still wreak havoc here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are several significant differences between the recent deluge in Texas, which has killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-07-07/texas-floods-deaths-guadalupe-river-flooding\">more than 100 people\u003c/a>, and the type of flooding that happens in California. First, in the Golden State, it’s the cold winter months that bring flooding, often from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025352/atmospheric-rivers-deliver-strong-bay-area-rain-sierra-snow\">back-to-back atmospheric river storms\u003c/a>. The instability caused by these rainstorms, which douse the region in water, can generate thunderstorms of varying intensity and trigger flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California typically doesn’t experience massive warm summertime storms because of its Mediterranean climate. The disastrous Texas flooding is a reminder that the ferocity of Mother Nature isn’t always predictable. As the climate continues to warm, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982079/this-winters-floods-may-be-only-a-taste-of-the-megafloods-to-come-climate-scientists-warn\">resulting in wetter storms\u003c/a>, Californians living near waterways need to be prepared for more extreme weather events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When California floods in the winter, there’s always the possibility of a deadly event depending on where a storm makes landfall. For instance, last November, an atmospheric river parked over the North Bay, causing localized flooding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015534/bay-area-record-breaking-rainfall-deluge-surprises-forecasters\">killing two in Santa Rosa\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The magnitude of the severity of the flooding absolutely could happen in California, and it is the kind of flooding that we are very concerned about,” said Daniel Swain, a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist. “But the physical meteorology involved would be very different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How weather messaging works\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Texas, the National Weather Service issued multiple warnings, including its highest level of alert for once-in-a-generation flooding, Swain said. However, the timing of some of the alerts — in the middle of the night — and the regularity of the warnings may have caused people to either miss them or not take them seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jay Lund, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, likened the immediacy of flash floods to earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1970392\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1970392\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/10/napa-earthquake-scaled-e1602798338426.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1294\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks by a mobile home that shifted off its foundation at a mobile home park following a reported 6.0 earthquake on Aug. 24, 2014, in Napa, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They happen right away and with almost no warning,” he said. “You have to have an excellent warning system because if it happens in the middle of the night, most people aren’t going to hear it because they’ll be asleep.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the Bay Area’s diverse microclimates, it’s challenging for meteorologists to precisely predict where an atmospheric river will drop the most rain. However, forecasters will alert the public to the possibility of flash flooding and update their messaging as new information becomes available. The National Weather Service’s Bay Area office has issued flash flood warnings for San Francisco during atmospheric rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For urban areas like San Francisco, if we’re getting 1 to 3 inches an hour rain rates, we can pile up water very fast because that overwhelms storm drains and can cause some pretty significant localized flooding,” said Brian Garcia, warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service’s Bay Area office.[aside postID=science_1997565 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/GavinNewsomGetty.jpg']Like in Kerr County in Texas, most California localities don’t use sirens to alert the public about flooding, “because our flooding kind of builds and we can see what is coming in,” state climatologist Michael Anderson said. However, some do, like the Marin County communities of Fairfax, Ross and San Anselmo, which \u003ca href=\"https://rossvalleyfire.org/services/creek-levels-weather#:~:text=San%20Anselmo%20Flood%20Horn,sound%20or%20maintain%20the%20horn.\">maintain flood horns or sirens\u003c/a> that they sound when flooding is imminent. \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\nCalifornia relies heavily on the weather service for messaging about potential flooding from storms. For instance, last December, San Franciscans were startled awake by a blaring weather alert on their phones warning them of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018477/why-did-sf-get-tornado-warning-but-not-scotts-valley-where-twister-hit\">potential tornado\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to flooding, the weather service issues watches, warnings and advisories. Flash flood warnings also have three different levels, ranging from the base level to catastrophic. Beyond the alerts, the weather service leans on traditional radio broadcasts, local authorities and news outlets to get the word out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia said the difference between a warning and an advisory is that a warning suggests “there could be trouble,” but an advisory means “the trouble is coming to you.” He recommends that all Bay Area residents sign up for text emergency alerts at \u003ca href=\"http://alertthebay.org\">alertthebay.org\u003c/a> and pay attention to any “action statements” within the message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the action statement says something like get to high ground immediately, that is a cue to take immediate action,” Garcia said. “Whether it’s moving to higher floors, going to the top of a hill, or moving yourself to higher ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Flooding from thunderstorms is possible in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What distinguishes the Bay Area’s localized flash flooding events from those in Texas is the duration of the atmospheric river, its geographic location and the level of wetness in the system. Atmospheric rivers in California can last for days and arrive in a succession train, while thunderstorms last for a few hours at most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Texas can get these systems that consist of thunderstorms that don’t move very much over a period of time, producing an enormous amount of rainfall,” said John Monteverdi, emeritus professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University. “That’s different from the kind of flooding that happens when the Russian River floods, maybe once every two or three years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980754\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A kayaker in a red boat paddles down a flooded street alongside shops.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Sebastopol resident encounters fellow paddlers in a canoe as he paddles in the floodwaters surrounding the market district, The Barlow, after the Russian River crested its banks on Feb. 28, 2019, in Sebastopol, California. \u003ccite>(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, a big flash-flood-producing thunderstorm in California isn’t entirely out of the picture and can occur during the summertime in the Sierra Nevada or the deserts across the southeastern part of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kind of thing that happened in Texas could also happen in California,” said Nicholas Pinter, associate director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “Anyone out hiking in confined, rugged topography needs to be aware that we have this risk of flash flooding in California, kind of similar to Texas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Texas thunderstorm covering a broad geographic area and producing a wall of water is “not typical of California,” the “wettest precipitation events are getting wetter” and in turn elevating flood risk, which is in line with the effects of human-caused climate change on storms in both states, said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University.[aside postID=news_12046061 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Tahoe1.jpg']“We know we’re in a climate where the kind of intense precipitation that leads to flooding is more likely overall for a given storm,” he said. “Our infrastructure in many cases was not designed and built for the most intense conditions that are now occurring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has experienced numerous wet years that resulted in flooding, including the Great Flood of 1862 and other extreme events in 1955, 1964, 1986 and 1997, as well as more recent occurrences such as 2017 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a major flood to occur anywhere in California, a specific set of ingredients — geographic location, soil moisture and storm intensity — is required, according to Anderson, the state climatologist. He pointed to the winter of 2023, when nine atmospheric rivers hit the state over 18 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s almost one every other day, and that led to substantial flooding across the state,” he said. “So, what we look for is different than what Texas has to look out for\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The primary issue is that during a series of winter storms, the soil across the region can become oversaturated, leading to flooding in Santa Rosa, the Russian River watershed, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">Pajaro Valley\u003c/a>, among other areas. Last November, a weeklong atmospheric river “embedded with thunderstorms” hammered parts of the Russian River watershed with “40% of [its] annual rainfall out of that one storm,” Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997638\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Camp Mystic stands next to a creek that feeds into the Guadalupe River, on Monday, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after flash flooding swept through the area. \u003ccite>(Eli Hartman/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wildfire-scorched areas are also susceptible to flooding during atmospheric rivers or heavy rains that fall during a monsoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fire creates a hydrophobic layer on the soil that magnifies the impact of flooding because the water cannot infiltrate it,” said Anna Serra-Llobet, a researcher at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serra-Llobet said she worries about flooding next winter across wildfire burn scars, especially in Southern California and the Sierra Nevada, as those areas will be primed for flash floods full of ash and debris. In the case of the Los Angeles fires, those floodwaters could hit urban areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said there needs to be more public outreach on how to respond during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t understand the risk where they live, and I think we need more drills to be more prepared,” she said. “Creating a risk culture could help many communities to be more proactive and effective in acting during a disaster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Deadly floods like Texas’ are rare in California, but climate change-fueled storms could make them more likely, climate scientists say — even in the Bay Area.\r\n",
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"title": "California Could Flood Like Texas. But Thunderstorms Likely Won’t Be to Blame | KQED",
"description": "Deadly floods like Texas’ are rare in California, but climate change-fueled storms could make them more likely, climate scientists say — even in the Bay Area.\r\n",
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"headline": "California Could Flood Like Texas. But Thunderstorms Likely Won’t Be to Blame",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A major thunderstorm like the one that produced devastating flash flooding in Texas over the holiday weekend is not likely in the Bay Area or most of California, but climate scientists say that if the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">perfect weather\u003c/a> at the right time of year and geography align, serious flooding can still wreak havoc here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are several significant differences between the recent deluge in Texas, which has killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-07-07/texas-floods-deaths-guadalupe-river-flooding\">more than 100 people\u003c/a>, and the type of flooding that happens in California. First, in the Golden State, it’s the cold winter months that bring flooding, often from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025352/atmospheric-rivers-deliver-strong-bay-area-rain-sierra-snow\">back-to-back atmospheric river storms\u003c/a>. The instability caused by these rainstorms, which douse the region in water, can generate thunderstorms of varying intensity and trigger flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California typically doesn’t experience massive warm summertime storms because of its Mediterranean climate. The disastrous Texas flooding is a reminder that the ferocity of Mother Nature isn’t always predictable. As the climate continues to warm, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982079/this-winters-floods-may-be-only-a-taste-of-the-megafloods-to-come-climate-scientists-warn\">resulting in wetter storms\u003c/a>, Californians living near waterways need to be prepared for more extreme weather events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When California floods in the winter, there’s always the possibility of a deadly event depending on where a storm makes landfall. For instance, last November, an atmospheric river parked over the North Bay, causing localized flooding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015534/bay-area-record-breaking-rainfall-deluge-surprises-forecasters\">killing two in Santa Rosa\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The magnitude of the severity of the flooding absolutely could happen in California, and it is the kind of flooding that we are very concerned about,” said Daniel Swain, a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist. “But the physical meteorology involved would be very different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How weather messaging works\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Texas, the National Weather Service issued multiple warnings, including its highest level of alert for once-in-a-generation flooding, Swain said. However, the timing of some of the alerts — in the middle of the night — and the regularity of the warnings may have caused people to either miss them or not take them seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jay Lund, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, likened the immediacy of flash floods to earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1970392\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1970392\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/10/napa-earthquake-scaled-e1602798338426.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1294\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks by a mobile home that shifted off its foundation at a mobile home park following a reported 6.0 earthquake on Aug. 24, 2014, in Napa, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They happen right away and with almost no warning,” he said. “You have to have an excellent warning system because if it happens in the middle of the night, most people aren’t going to hear it because they’ll be asleep.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the Bay Area’s diverse microclimates, it’s challenging for meteorologists to precisely predict where an atmospheric river will drop the most rain. However, forecasters will alert the public to the possibility of flash flooding and update their messaging as new information becomes available. The National Weather Service’s Bay Area office has issued flash flood warnings for San Francisco during atmospheric rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For urban areas like San Francisco, if we’re getting 1 to 3 inches an hour rain rates, we can pile up water very fast because that overwhelms storm drains and can cause some pretty significant localized flooding,” said Brian Garcia, warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Like in Kerr County in Texas, most California localities don’t use sirens to alert the public about flooding, “because our flooding kind of builds and we can see what is coming in,” state climatologist Michael Anderson said. However, some do, like the Marin County communities of Fairfax, Ross and San Anselmo, which \u003ca href=\"https://rossvalleyfire.org/services/creek-levels-weather#:~:text=San%20Anselmo%20Flood%20Horn,sound%20or%20maintain%20the%20horn.\">maintain flood horns or sirens\u003c/a> that they sound when flooding is imminent. \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\nCalifornia relies heavily on the weather service for messaging about potential flooding from storms. For instance, last December, San Franciscans were startled awake by a blaring weather alert on their phones warning them of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018477/why-did-sf-get-tornado-warning-but-not-scotts-valley-where-twister-hit\">potential tornado\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to flooding, the weather service issues watches, warnings and advisories. Flash flood warnings also have three different levels, ranging from the base level to catastrophic. Beyond the alerts, the weather service leans on traditional radio broadcasts, local authorities and news outlets to get the word out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia said the difference between a warning and an advisory is that a warning suggests “there could be trouble,” but an advisory means “the trouble is coming to you.” He recommends that all Bay Area residents sign up for text emergency alerts at \u003ca href=\"http://alertthebay.org\">alertthebay.org\u003c/a> and pay attention to any “action statements” within the message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the action statement says something like get to high ground immediately, that is a cue to take immediate action,” Garcia said. “Whether it’s moving to higher floors, going to the top of a hill, or moving yourself to higher ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Flooding from thunderstorms is possible in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What distinguishes the Bay Area’s localized flash flooding events from those in Texas is the duration of the atmospheric river, its geographic location and the level of wetness in the system. Atmospheric rivers in California can last for days and arrive in a succession train, while thunderstorms last for a few hours at most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Texas can get these systems that consist of thunderstorms that don’t move very much over a period of time, producing an enormous amount of rainfall,” said John Monteverdi, emeritus professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University. “That’s different from the kind of flooding that happens when the Russian River floods, maybe once every two or three years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980754\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A kayaker in a red boat paddles down a flooded street alongside shops.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/RS59853_GettyImages-1128158019-qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Sebastopol resident encounters fellow paddlers in a canoe as he paddles in the floodwaters surrounding the market district, The Barlow, after the Russian River crested its banks on Feb. 28, 2019, in Sebastopol, California. \u003ccite>(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, a big flash-flood-producing thunderstorm in California isn’t entirely out of the picture and can occur during the summertime in the Sierra Nevada or the deserts across the southeastern part of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kind of thing that happened in Texas could also happen in California,” said Nicholas Pinter, associate director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “Anyone out hiking in confined, rugged topography needs to be aware that we have this risk of flash flooding in California, kind of similar to Texas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Texas thunderstorm covering a broad geographic area and producing a wall of water is “not typical of California,” the “wettest precipitation events are getting wetter” and in turn elevating flood risk, which is in line with the effects of human-caused climate change on storms in both states, said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We know we’re in a climate where the kind of intense precipitation that leads to flooding is more likely overall for a given storm,” he said. “Our infrastructure in many cases was not designed and built for the most intense conditions that are now occurring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has experienced numerous wet years that resulted in flooding, including the Great Flood of 1862 and other extreme events in 1955, 1964, 1986 and 1997, as well as more recent occurrences such as 2017 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a major flood to occur anywhere in California, a specific set of ingredients — geographic location, soil moisture and storm intensity — is required, according to Anderson, the state climatologist. He pointed to the winter of 2023, when nine atmospheric rivers hit the state over 18 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s almost one every other day, and that led to substantial flooding across the state,” he said. “So, what we look for is different than what Texas has to look out for\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The primary issue is that during a series of winter storms, the soil across the region can become oversaturated, leading to flooding in Santa Rosa, the Russian River watershed, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">Pajaro Valley\u003c/a>, among other areas. Last November, a weeklong atmospheric river “embedded with thunderstorms” hammered parts of the Russian River watershed with “40% of [its] annual rainfall out of that one storm,” Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997638\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/07/CampMysticAP1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Camp Mystic stands next to a creek that feeds into the Guadalupe River, on Monday, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after flash flooding swept through the area. \u003ccite>(Eli Hartman/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wildfire-scorched areas are also susceptible to flooding during atmospheric rivers or heavy rains that fall during a monsoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fire creates a hydrophobic layer on the soil that magnifies the impact of flooding because the water cannot infiltrate it,” said Anna Serra-Llobet, a researcher at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serra-Llobet said she worries about flooding next winter across wildfire burn scars, especially in Southern California and the Sierra Nevada, as those areas will be primed for flash floods full of ash and debris. In the case of the Los Angeles fires, those floodwaters could hit urban areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said there needs to be more public outreach on how to respond during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t understand the risk where they live, and I think we need more drills to be more prepared,” she said. “Creating a risk culture could help many communities to be more proactive and effective in acting during a disaster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"headTitle": "California Has Invested Billions in Forest Fire Efforts. Newsom Wants the US to Follow | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>With the worst of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997257/california-faces-rough-fire-season-as-us-forest-service-work-becomes-more-politicized\">wildfire season ahead\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday to direct the federal government to dramatically increase its investment in forest management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Mount Howell lookout tower in Colfax, Newsom spoke to reporters about a model executive order sent to the White House that he said would bring federal firefighting and forest management efforts more in line with California’s. He said the requests come at a pivotal time because of Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Forest Service and what Newsom called the “illegal federalization of California’s National Guard troops,” pulling some of them away from firefighting missions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Trump administration needs to step up, and they need to fund these efforts, not just here in California, but throughout the Western United States,” Newsom said. “Lives and property are on the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While California is doing its part, “the federal government is not meeting this call,” the text of the proposed order said. Over the next year, the state has allotted more than $4 billion for wildfire protection and forest resilience. In comparison, Newsom said the Trump administration has appropriated $7 billion for the entire country’s 238 million acres of federal lands in the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft order would make it federal policy for the U.S. to match the capabilities and investments of “the most advanced states and local governments with respect to forest management and firefighting capabilities.” It would direct the Office of Management and Budget to develop spending plans to do so, including the reversal of recent staffing and funding cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985183\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a hard hat walks through a forest with a device to start fires.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lighting a prescribed fire in the Six Rivers National Forest. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All Trump has to do is sign the order, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have an open hand as it relates to wanting to work together,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick Wright, director of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, said the state and federal government are collectively treating more than 700,000 acres a year to reduce wildfire risk. But he said he is “deeply concerned that recent cutbacks” could jeopardize the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In many parts of California, federal staff are the backbone of our system,” he said. “They know the terrain, they know the community, they know fire risk, they don’t need fancy computer models to tell them where to focus to make those communities safe.”[aside postID=science_1997257 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/Prescribed-Burn_Penn-Valley_Nevada-County06_qed.jpg']Increased federal investment is vital because the U.S. government owns 57% of the forestland in California, compared to the 3% the state owns, Newsom said. He added that an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/empowering-commonsense-wildfire-prevention-and-response/\">early June executive order\u003c/a> from Trump on federal wildfire prevention and response does not go far enough to match California’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Forest Service has lost 10% of all positions, which will likely “impact wildfire response this year,” Newsom said, adding that noncompetitive federal firefighter pay has led to further staffing shortages. California, meanwhile, has nearly doubled Cal Fire’s ranks since Newsom took office in 2019, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s possible, Newsom said, because the state has doubled Cal Fire’s annual budget to $3.78 billion in that time and invested more than $4 billion in wildfire prevention and forest resilience. That work includes using AI-powered tools to locate fires, deploying drones to help conduct prescribed burns and monitor wildfires, and creating the “world’s largest civilian firefighting aviation fleet,” adding 16 helicopters and seven retrofitted U.S. Coast Guard air tankers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also established Task Force Rattlesnake, comprising 300 California National Guard members under the direction of Cal Fire, to help fight and prevent fires. However, that unit is operating at \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/06/24/california-national-guard-fire-crews-operating-at-just-40-capacity-due-to-trumps-illegal-guard-deployment/\">40% of capacity\u003c/a> because the Trump administration diverted eight of the 14 teams to the federalization of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buildings are destroyed along Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants Trump to reassign the units to help Cal Fire as the wildfire season ramps up during the hottest time of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got men and women, literally, sitting there in their barracks doing nothing when they could be doing something as important as preparing for wildfire season,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far this year, there have already been more than 3,200 wildfires in California. And with much of Northern California under a \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/wrh/CAFW\">red flag warning\u003c/a> for lightning and fast-moving fires for the Fourth of July weekend, Newsom said it’s imperative that Trump takes swift action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s essential to “keep these fires small,” said Anale Burlew, Cal Fire chief deputy director of operations. “Destructive fires in California affect everyone, whether it’s smoke, evacuation, damage to home or natural resources, or long-term fiscal impacts; we are all connected, and the impacts of wildfire ripple through communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With the worst of wildfire season ahead, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged President Donald Trump to direct the federal government to increase its investment in wildfire prevention and support.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With the worst of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997257/california-faces-rough-fire-season-as-us-forest-service-work-becomes-more-politicized\">wildfire season ahead\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday to direct the federal government to dramatically increase its investment in forest management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Mount Howell lookout tower in Colfax, Newsom spoke to reporters about a model executive order sent to the White House that he said would bring federal firefighting and forest management efforts more in line with California’s. He said the requests come at a pivotal time because of Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Forest Service and what Newsom called the “illegal federalization of California’s National Guard troops,” pulling some of them away from firefighting missions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Trump administration needs to step up, and they need to fund these efforts, not just here in California, but throughout the Western United States,” Newsom said. “Lives and property are on the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While California is doing its part, “the federal government is not meeting this call,” the text of the proposed order said. Over the next year, the state has allotted more than $4 billion for wildfire protection and forest resilience. In comparison, Newsom said the Trump administration has appropriated $7 billion for the entire country’s 238 million acres of federal lands in the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft order would make it federal policy for the U.S. to match the capabilities and investments of “the most advanced states and local governments with respect to forest management and firefighting capabilities.” It would direct the Office of Management and Budget to develop spending plans to do so, including the reversal of recent staffing and funding cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985183\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a hard hat walks through a forest with a device to start fires.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/231110-PRESCRIBED-BURN-DV-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lighting a prescribed fire in the Six Rivers National Forest. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All Trump has to do is sign the order, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have an open hand as it relates to wanting to work together,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick Wright, director of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, said the state and federal government are collectively treating more than 700,000 acres a year to reduce wildfire risk. But he said he is “deeply concerned that recent cutbacks” could jeopardize the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In many parts of California, federal staff are the backbone of our system,” he said. “They know the terrain, they know the community, they know fire risk, they don’t need fancy computer models to tell them where to focus to make those communities safe.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Increased federal investment is vital because the U.S. government owns 57% of the forestland in California, compared to the 3% the state owns, Newsom said. He added that an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/empowering-commonsense-wildfire-prevention-and-response/\">early June executive order\u003c/a> from Trump on federal wildfire prevention and response does not go far enough to match California’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Forest Service has lost 10% of all positions, which will likely “impact wildfire response this year,” Newsom said, adding that noncompetitive federal firefighter pay has led to further staffing shortages. California, meanwhile, has nearly doubled Cal Fire’s ranks since Newsom took office in 2019, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s possible, Newsom said, because the state has doubled Cal Fire’s annual budget to $3.78 billion in that time and invested more than $4 billion in wildfire prevention and forest resilience. That work includes using AI-powered tools to locate fires, deploying drones to help conduct prescribed burns and monitor wildfires, and creating the “world’s largest civilian firefighting aviation fleet,” adding 16 helicopters and seven retrofitted U.S. Coast Guard air tankers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also established Task Force Rattlesnake, comprising 300 California National Guard members under the direction of Cal Fire, to help fight and prevent fires. However, that unit is operating at \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/06/24/california-national-guard-fire-crews-operating-at-just-40-capacity-due-to-trumps-illegal-guard-deployment/\">40% of capacity\u003c/a> because the Trump administration diverted eight of the 14 teams to the federalization of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/240109-CAWindStorm-048_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buildings are destroyed along Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants Trump to reassign the units to help Cal Fire as the wildfire season ramps up during the hottest time of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got men and women, literally, sitting there in their barracks doing nothing when they could be doing something as important as preparing for wildfire season,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far this year, there have already been more than 3,200 wildfires in California. And with much of Northern California under a \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/wrh/CAFW\">red flag warning\u003c/a> for lightning and fast-moving fires for the Fourth of July weekend, Newsom said it’s imperative that Trump takes swift action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s essential to “keep these fires small,” said Anale Burlew, Cal Fire chief deputy director of operations. “Destructive fires in California affect everyone, whether it’s smoke, evacuation, damage to home or natural resources, or long-term fiscal impacts; we are all connected, and the impacts of wildfire ripple through communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "from-dugout-to-zen-den-san-francisco-giants-champion-mental-wellness",
"title": "San Francisco Giants’ Mental Wellness Team is One of the Largest in Major League Baseball",
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"headTitle": "San Francisco Giants’ Mental Wellness Team is One of the Largest in Major League Baseball | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Down in the underbelly of Oracle Park, tucked off a cement hallway known as the “tunnel,” there’s a tiny windowless office that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-giants\">San Francisco Giants\u003c/a> team psychologist Shana Alexander calls her “Zen Den.” The lights are low, the wall art conjures lily pads and dandelions and the leather couch is long enough for a 6-foot-2-inch pitcher to lie down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Alexander offers over a backdrop of airy flute music is no ordinary guided meditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Picture yourself in the dugout. A slight breeze, the coolness of the air, maybe some sweat on your upper lip. You smell the smell of pine tar,” she murmured, a couple of hours before a night game last month. “Picture whether you want to take the first couple pitches or you swing right away. You drop the bat, and you take off running. You round first and you slide into second.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander joined the Giants in 2020, as coaches across professional baseball, basketball and football began treating mental focus and calm with the same importance as running drills or lifting weights; and star athletes like Kevin Love and Simone Biles detailed their own struggles with anxiety and depression in an effort to normalize mental health conversations in elite sports and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander now leads a three-person mental health team — one of the largest in Major League Baseball — tasked with shaping Giants players’ mental performance on and off the field. Athletes have embraced the program, transforming what started as a way to help them hit .300 into a public responsibility to the next generation: to model a kind of masculinity that is both tough and vulnerable, and a brotherhood that extends a helping hand as often as a high five.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drew Robinson sits with his dog, Ellie, in the Giants’ dugout at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. A former professional baseball player, Robinson now serves as a mental health advocate with the San Francisco Giants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Baseball is a unique sport. It’s slow, and all of a sudden it’s super intense. And then it’s like, ‘OK, now go sit in the dugout and be slow again,’” she said. “Our body is not conditioned to respond in that way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stress hormone overload, combined with the pressure to look cool in front of 40,000 fans, can be a particularly poisonous cocktail when a player makes a mistake. If a basketball player misses a shot, he immediately has to hustle back to defense. But if a shortstop makes an error or a batter strikes out, they have the rest of the inning to stew over what went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to sit with it and wait until the next time you get to step up to the plate or the ball flies out to the outfield to make that catch,” said Alexander, who also works for the Sacramento Kings in the offseason.[aside postID=news_12039317 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/IMG_1625-1020x765.jpg']The career trajectory in baseball is also slow. Players are\u003ca href=\"https://www.mlb.com/news/players-who-went-directly-from-the-draft-to-mlb\"> almost never drafted\u003c/a> directly into the major leagues. They train in the minors, often spending years in a kind of baseball purgatory — bouncing between Double A and Triple A — while self-doubt feeds on the constant change and uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sucked to be honest with you, to be bouncing back and forth,” said Giants’ right fielder Mike Yastrzemski, before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in late July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, he said mental health wasn’t taken seriously in baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it was, ‘If you’re not tough enough to handle this, then you shouldn’t be in the sport,’” Yastrzemski said. “And I think that was a really poor way to look at it. Athletes are humans, and there are things that are hard to deal with off the field, just like there are on the field.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Giants’ mental health resources have evolved steadily — from outside therapy referrals to part-time consultants to a full-time clinical psychologist who comes to every home game in San Francisco, Alexander, and another, based at the team’s spring training and rehab site in Arizona, Emily Payette, caring for 180 players across the Giants’ four minor league teams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Bailey scores a run for the San Francisco Giants during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If I know a guy’s having surgery or they’ve just been sent back here to Arizona for an injury, I’ll always check in with them,” Payette said, especially if the player is 26 — considered “older” in baseball — and facing a year of recovery. “It creates questions: ‘Am I gonna come back the same player? Will I be replaced?’ That’s a really dangerous place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team hit an inflection point with mental health in the spring of 2020, when one of the athletes attempted suicide. Utility player Drew Robinson was getting called up to the majors, then demoted back to the minors — back and forth — when he suffered a series of injuries. He was 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I was home watching all my friends and teammates playing on my TV in my living room, I just felt completely isolated, alienated and lonely,” Robinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997048\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997048\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drew Robinson speaks on the field before a game during Mental Health Day at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. A former professional baseball player, Robinson now works as a mental health advocate with the San Francisco Giants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then he and his fiancée broke up. Then the pandemic hit, baseball shut down and Robinson spent a “very scary” month quarantined alone in his house. But he said the main reason he tried to kill himself was that he was endlessly insecure and fiercely unable to admit it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a man,” he remembered thinking to himself. “I got to tough this out. I can get through this. I don’t need help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robinson survived his suicide attempt, and when he came back to play for the Giants’ AAA team, the Sacramento River Cats, Alexander noticed something unusual when she visited. After practice, six or seven guys asked to meet with her — a record number. They said they knew Robinson talked to her, and hearing their teammate extol the virtues of therapy, they figured she could help them, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997049\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997049\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Logan Webb pitches for the San Francisco Giants during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized, Dr. Payette and I had given a million presentations to these guys, and they kinda listened,” Alexander said. “But when Drew spoke, they heard him differently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander recognized the value of having a peer embedded in the team, a bridge between players and clinicians. So when Robinson retired in 2021, she immediately hired him to be the team’s full-time mental health advocate. He visits all the minor and major league teams, throws batting practice, runs drills, hangs out in the dugout through the ups and downs of the game, and gently lets baseball talk evolve into informal therapy before referring players to Alexander or Payette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I describe myself as the starting line for their mental health journey,” Robinson said. “I encourage them to have more emotional range in their life. I always use the example of when my mom is having the worst day of her life, she doesn’t need me to be this big, tough, macho, masculine man. She needs a nurturing, loving, empathetic son.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997046\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pregame panel discussion on mental health during Mental Health Day at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Robinson’s role is outward-facing, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a home game in May, he offered opening remarks at a pregame panel on youth mental health, did an on-field interview on the jumbotron, then crossed the foul line to hug the mother of a 13-year-old little leaguer who died by suicide last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also speaks at high schools and community events, and each year designs a “slogan shirt” for the players to wear during practice and press interviews. Last year’s said, “Strength isn’t always physical.” This year’s: “We’d rather hear from you than about you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Initially, some of the staff were like, ‘Oooo, I don’t know, that might be a bit heavy for the clubhouse,’” Alexander said. “Drew went and talked to some of the players and they said, ‘No, we want to make a statement. We’ll wear that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kids hold a sign that says, ‘Skippin’ School For Baseball’ during a game between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Athletes have an unparalleled platform. Fans idolize them, track their every move, and hang on their every word. Several Giants use that platform to talk about mental health. Pitcher Logan Webb has campaigned both inside and outside the franchise on substance use and the dangers of fentanyl poisoning, after his cousin, Kade, died from an overdose in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Giants deserve to be referred to as leaders in this space,” said Jon Coyles, MLB’s senior vice president of drug, health and safety programs, referring to the team’s internal and external mental health work. “They serve as a really nice, effective model, not just for the other MLB teams, but for all professional sports teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yastrzemski launched his own mental health awareness campaign with the Giants called Mustache May. Back when he was struggling in the minor leagues, he grew a mustache just to make himself smile. The trend caught on with teammates and evolved into an annual monthlong event that simultaneously destigmatizes mental health and redefines masculinity. The annual Mustache May T-shirt reads: “Care for your homies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski runs to first base after hitting the ball during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. Off the field, he advocates for mental health awareness in professional sports. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We need to convince people that it’s OK to check on your friends, it’s OK to check on your family, it’s OK to ask how someone is doing and it’s also OK for them to tell you the truth,” he said. “It’s OK to not be OK at times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Giants’ batting practice in May, a group of little leaguers lined up behind the cage, clutching baseballs that Yaz later signed and sealed with a fist bump. All the boys wore fake mustaches, from a blonde Hulk Hogan horseshoe to a long black handlebar that 13-year-old Burnam Lowell said made him look like “an Italian dad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the boys were exactly sure why they were wearing mustaches, but they are certain that facing a 100-mile-an-hour speedball is cool — and if the hero facing the pitch wanted to raise awareness around mental health, Burnam said, that’s cool too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997067\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997067 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants signs autographs for Little League players at Oracle Park in San Francisco on May 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Giants)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people look up to these guys, and hearing it from an all-star is inspiring,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mustache May exposes young kids to a new kind of literacy around mental health, teaching them to look out for their homies early on, said Gerard Choucroun, executive director of the Heart and Armor Foundation for veterans health, one of the philanthropic beneficiaries of Mustache May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a goof,” he said. “Having a mustache be the symbol of this big, powerful thing actually demystifies it in a way that I think is really healthy. It actually pulls some of the negative air out of mental health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander is always amazed to see her work with players come full circle, from guided meditations in her tiny Zen Den to player-driven campaigns that reach thousands of young players and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids aren’t going to be wearing a mustache for me. But he does it, and guess what?” she said. “We got a whole audience with little mustaches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated August 19, 2025 with details of Mike Yastrzemski’s trade.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Down in the underbelly of Oracle Park, tucked off a cement hallway known as the “tunnel,” there’s a tiny windowless office that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-giants\">San Francisco Giants\u003c/a> team psychologist Shana Alexander calls her “Zen Den.” The lights are low, the wall art conjures lily pads and dandelions and the leather couch is long enough for a 6-foot-2-inch pitcher to lie down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Alexander offers over a backdrop of airy flute music is no ordinary guided meditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Picture yourself in the dugout. A slight breeze, the coolness of the air, maybe some sweat on your upper lip. You smell the smell of pine tar,” she murmured, a couple of hours before a night game last month. “Picture whether you want to take the first couple pitches or you swing right away. You drop the bat, and you take off running. You round first and you slide into second.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander joined the Giants in 2020, as coaches across professional baseball, basketball and football began treating mental focus and calm with the same importance as running drills or lifting weights; and star athletes like Kevin Love and Simone Biles detailed their own struggles with anxiety and depression in an effort to normalize mental health conversations in elite sports and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander now leads a three-person mental health team — one of the largest in Major League Baseball — tasked with shaping Giants players’ mental performance on and off the field. Athletes have embraced the program, transforming what started as a way to help them hit .300 into a public responsibility to the next generation: to model a kind of masculinity that is both tough and vulnerable, and a brotherhood that extends a helping hand as often as a high five.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drew Robinson sits with his dog, Ellie, in the Giants’ dugout at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. A former professional baseball player, Robinson now serves as a mental health advocate with the San Francisco Giants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Baseball is a unique sport. It’s slow, and all of a sudden it’s super intense. And then it’s like, ‘OK, now go sit in the dugout and be slow again,’” she said. “Our body is not conditioned to respond in that way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stress hormone overload, combined with the pressure to look cool in front of 40,000 fans, can be a particularly poisonous cocktail when a player makes a mistake. If a basketball player misses a shot, he immediately has to hustle back to defense. But if a shortstop makes an error or a batter strikes out, they have the rest of the inning to stew over what went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to sit with it and wait until the next time you get to step up to the plate or the ball flies out to the outfield to make that catch,” said Alexander, who also works for the Sacramento Kings in the offseason.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The career trajectory in baseball is also slow. Players are\u003ca href=\"https://www.mlb.com/news/players-who-went-directly-from-the-draft-to-mlb\"> almost never drafted\u003c/a> directly into the major leagues. They train in the minors, often spending years in a kind of baseball purgatory — bouncing between Double A and Triple A — while self-doubt feeds on the constant change and uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sucked to be honest with you, to be bouncing back and forth,” said Giants’ right fielder Mike Yastrzemski, before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in late July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, he said mental health wasn’t taken seriously in baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it was, ‘If you’re not tough enough to handle this, then you shouldn’t be in the sport,’” Yastrzemski said. “And I think that was a really poor way to look at it. Athletes are humans, and there are things that are hard to deal with off the field, just like there are on the field.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Giants’ mental health resources have evolved steadily — from outside therapy referrals to part-time consultants to a full-time clinical psychologist who comes to every home game in San Francisco, Alexander, and another, based at the team’s spring training and rehab site in Arizona, Emily Payette, caring for 180 players across the Giants’ four minor league teams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-68-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Bailey scores a run for the San Francisco Giants during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If I know a guy’s having surgery or they’ve just been sent back here to Arizona for an injury, I’ll always check in with them,” Payette said, especially if the player is 26 — considered “older” in baseball — and facing a year of recovery. “It creates questions: ‘Am I gonna come back the same player? Will I be replaced?’ That’s a really dangerous place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team hit an inflection point with mental health in the spring of 2020, when one of the athletes attempted suicide. Utility player Drew Robinson was getting called up to the majors, then demoted back to the minors — back and forth — when he suffered a series of injuries. He was 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I was home watching all my friends and teammates playing on my TV in my living room, I just felt completely isolated, alienated and lonely,” Robinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997048\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997048\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drew Robinson speaks on the field before a game during Mental Health Day at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. A former professional baseball player, Robinson now works as a mental health advocate with the San Francisco Giants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then he and his fiancée broke up. Then the pandemic hit, baseball shut down and Robinson spent a “very scary” month quarantined alone in his house. But he said the main reason he tried to kill himself was that he was endlessly insecure and fiercely unable to admit it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a man,” he remembered thinking to himself. “I got to tough this out. I can get through this. I don’t need help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robinson survived his suicide attempt, and when he came back to play for the Giants’ AAA team, the Sacramento River Cats, Alexander noticed something unusual when she visited. After practice, six or seven guys asked to meet with her — a record number. They said they knew Robinson talked to her, and hearing their teammate extol the virtues of therapy, they figured she could help them, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997049\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997049\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-32-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Logan Webb pitches for the San Francisco Giants during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized, Dr. Payette and I had given a million presentations to these guys, and they kinda listened,” Alexander said. “But when Drew spoke, they heard him differently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander recognized the value of having a peer embedded in the team, a bridge between players and clinicians. So when Robinson retired in 2021, she immediately hired him to be the team’s full-time mental health advocate. He visits all the minor and major league teams, throws batting practice, runs drills, hangs out in the dugout through the ups and downs of the game, and gently lets baseball talk evolve into informal therapy before referring players to Alexander or Payette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I describe myself as the starting line for their mental health journey,” Robinson said. “I encourage them to have more emotional range in their life. I always use the example of when my mom is having the worst day of her life, she doesn’t need me to be this big, tough, macho, masculine man. She needs a nurturing, loving, empathetic son.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997046\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-19-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pregame panel discussion on mental health during Mental Health Day at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Robinson’s role is outward-facing, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a home game in May, he offered opening remarks at a pregame panel on youth mental health, did an on-field interview on the jumbotron, then crossed the foul line to hug the mother of a 13-year-old little leaguer who died by suicide last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also speaks at high schools and community events, and each year designs a “slogan shirt” for the players to wear during practice and press interviews. Last year’s said, “Strength isn’t always physical.” This year’s: “We’d rather hear from you than about you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Initially, some of the staff were like, ‘Oooo, I don’t know, that might be a bit heavy for the clubhouse,’” Alexander said. “Drew went and talked to some of the players and they said, ‘No, we want to make a statement. We’ll wear that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BASEBALLPSYCHOLOGY-46-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kids hold a sign that says, ‘Skippin’ School For Baseball’ during a game between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Athletes have an unparalleled platform. Fans idolize them, track their every move, and hang on their every word. Several Giants use that platform to talk about mental health. Pitcher Logan Webb has campaigned both inside and outside the franchise on substance use and the dangers of fentanyl poisoning, after his cousin, Kade, died from an overdose in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Giants deserve to be referred to as leaders in this space,” said Jon Coyles, MLB’s senior vice president of drug, health and safety programs, referring to the team’s internal and external mental health work. “They serve as a really nice, effective model, not just for the other MLB teams, but for all professional sports teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yastrzemski launched his own mental health awareness campaign with the Giants called Mustache May. Back when he was struggling in the minor leagues, he grew a mustache just to make himself smile. The trend caught on with teammates and evolved into an annual monthlong event that simultaneously destigmatizes mental health and redefines masculinity. The annual Mustache May T-shirt reads: “Care for your homies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/250521-BaseballPsychology-50-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski runs to first base after hitting the ball during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025. Off the field, he advocates for mental health awareness in professional sports. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We need to convince people that it’s OK to check on your friends, it’s OK to check on your family, it’s OK to ask how someone is doing and it’s also OK for them to tell you the truth,” he said. “It’s OK to not be OK at times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Giants’ batting practice in May, a group of little leaguers lined up behind the cage, clutching baseballs that Yaz later signed and sealed with a fist bump. All the boys wore fake mustaches, from a blonde Hulk Hogan horseshoe to a long black handlebar that 13-year-old Burnam Lowell said made him look like “an Italian dad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the boys were exactly sure why they were wearing mustaches, but they are certain that facing a 100-mile-an-hour speedball is cool — and if the hero facing the pitch wanted to raise awareness around mental health, Burnam said, that’s cool too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997067\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997067 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/050125_BFD0247-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants signs autographs for Little League players at Oracle Park in San Francisco on May 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Giants)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people look up to these guys, and hearing it from an all-star is inspiring,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mustache May exposes young kids to a new kind of literacy around mental health, teaching them to look out for their homies early on, said Gerard Choucroun, executive director of the Heart and Armor Foundation for veterans health, one of the philanthropic beneficiaries of Mustache May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a goof,” he said. “Having a mustache be the symbol of this big, powerful thing actually demystifies it in a way that I think is really healthy. It actually pulls some of the negative air out of mental health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander is always amazed to see her work with players come full circle, from guided meditations in her tiny Zen Den to player-driven campaigns that reach thousands of young players and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids aren’t going to be wearing a mustache for me. But he does it, and guess what?” she said. “We got a whole audience with little mustaches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated August 19, 2025 with details of Mike Yastrzemski’s trade.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Luna Angulo grew up without knowing the feeling of wind in her hair or salt on her skin while exploring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027540/land-sinking-fast-around-bay-area-worsening-effects-sea-level-rise\">San Francisco Bay\u003c/a>. But that’s no longer the case for the 25-year-old, who now trains kayakers to take on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039505/a-bay-area-refinery-town-contemplates-future-without-big-oil\">big oil\u003c/a> and other polluters in actions along Richmond’s 32 miles of shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mission of Angulo’s queer-led “kayaktivism” group, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.richcityrays.com/\">Rich City Rays\u003c/a>, is twofold: to employ non-violent direct action in protests against companies like Chevron, which operates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006203/richmonds-plan-to-spend-550-million-from-chevron-considers-a-future-without-the-oil-giant\">a major oil refinery in Richmond\u003c/a>, and to challenge predominantly white narratives within the sport. The groups use kayaks “and our bodies” to physically protest the systems that create harm to their communities and the world through the creation and burning of fossil fuels, Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We live next to this beautiful body of water that is dominated by industry, and we are not raised to believe that we have access to it,” she said, dressed in a black, thick-strapped tank top, a matching denim skirt and dangly, beaded butterfly earrings. “Part of the inspiration is about reclaiming our right to access it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Angulo, who has been previously involved in city politics, the effects of climate change in Richmond are personal. She’s lived with asthma since childhood, which she attributes to the pollution emitted from the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though my family doesn’t have a history of asthma and it’s not passed on through my ancestors, it is very much a product of my environment,” Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997512\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997512 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo kayaks at Safe Harbor Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early May, the Rich City Rays led a kayak protest on San Francisco Bay near Point Molate, the former naval depot where Chevron docks “boats bringing crude oil from the Amazon, Ecuador and around the world” to refine in Richmond, Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group tries not to block ships, but instead takes up space and “reclaims their right to have access to the water” by holding signs with messages like, “Resist, Rise For Climate Justice.”[aside postID=science_1997477 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_ClimateDrag_GC-5_qed.jpg']“Seals come up and greet us,” Angulo said. “It’s life-affirming for us to be able to be out in community and protest, but also by feeling joyful at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-violent activism organization, led by entirely queer and trans-identifying people, was inspired to adopt their approach after learning about a similar group called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mosquitofleet.us/\">Mosquito Fleet\u003c/a> from the Pacific Northwest, which has led water-based actions to protest Arctic drilling projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angulo and fellow organizer Asho Alvarez said the Rich City Rays are reflective of the “climate justice movement overall,” and connected by their queerness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Through the lens of queerness, we’re able to reimagine the world that we want to live in and not necessarily adhere to a lot of heteronormative rules that we’ve been taught,” Alvarez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angulo said it was a no-brainer to recognize the connection between climate change and LGBTQIA+ struggles, and that her queer kayaking community inspires her to continue fighting the fossil fuel companies that have worsened the climate crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997423\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo’s boots sit on a kayak after a trip into the water at Safe Harbor Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We are all people who care passionately about the world that we live in, but also have this shared experience of being queer,” she said. “Queer people in many ways have an opportunity to see the ways that all of our systems of oppression are deeply interconnected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Rich City Rays aren’t only protesting on the bay; they also teach young people of color to “reclaim their right to have a relationship with the water” by holding introductory kayaking events, community paddles and action-oriented training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group is hosting a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DK8WLbPvzoy/?hl=en&img_index=1\">queer kayak camp trip\u003c/a> on Tomales Bay the weekend of June 28 and will provide kayaks and gear for attendees. They will also hold an open summer picnic on July 5 at Point Molate and a BIPOC paddle at the Richmond Marina on July 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really beautiful to be held not only by the water, but by each other,” Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Luna Angulo grew up without knowing the feeling of wind in her hair or salt on her skin while exploring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027540/land-sinking-fast-around-bay-area-worsening-effects-sea-level-rise\">San Francisco Bay\u003c/a>. But that’s no longer the case for the 25-year-old, who now trains kayakers to take on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039505/a-bay-area-refinery-town-contemplates-future-without-big-oil\">big oil\u003c/a> and other polluters in actions along Richmond’s 32 miles of shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mission of Angulo’s queer-led “kayaktivism” group, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.richcityrays.com/\">Rich City Rays\u003c/a>, is twofold: to employ non-violent direct action in protests against companies like Chevron, which operates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006203/richmonds-plan-to-spend-550-million-from-chevron-considers-a-future-without-the-oil-giant\">a major oil refinery in Richmond\u003c/a>, and to challenge predominantly white narratives within the sport. The groups use kayaks “and our bodies” to physically protest the systems that create harm to their communities and the world through the creation and burning of fossil fuels, Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We live next to this beautiful body of water that is dominated by industry, and we are not raised to believe that we have access to it,” she said, dressed in a black, thick-strapped tank top, a matching denim skirt and dangly, beaded butterfly earrings. “Part of the inspiration is about reclaiming our right to access it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Angulo, who has been previously involved in city politics, the effects of climate change in Richmond are personal. She’s lived with asthma since childhood, which she attributes to the pollution emitted from the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though my family doesn’t have a history of asthma and it’s not passed on through my ancestors, it is very much a product of my environment,” Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997512\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997512 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QueerKayak-33-BL_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo kayaks at Safe Harbor Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early May, the Rich City Rays led a kayak protest on San Francisco Bay near Point Molate, the former naval depot where Chevron docks “boats bringing crude oil from the Amazon, Ecuador and around the world” to refine in Richmond, Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group tries not to block ships, but instead takes up space and “reclaims their right to have access to the water” by holding signs with messages like, “Resist, Rise For Climate Justice.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Seals come up and greet us,” Angulo said. “It’s life-affirming for us to be able to be out in community and protest, but also by feeling joyful at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-violent activism organization, led by entirely queer and trans-identifying people, was inspired to adopt their approach after learning about a similar group called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mosquitofleet.us/\">Mosquito Fleet\u003c/a> from the Pacific Northwest, which has led water-based actions to protest Arctic drilling projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angulo and fellow organizer Asho Alvarez said the Rich City Rays are reflective of the “climate justice movement overall,” and connected by their queerness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Through the lens of queerness, we’re able to reimagine the world that we want to live in and not necessarily adhere to a lot of heteronormative rules that we’ve been taught,” Alvarez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angulo said it was a no-brainer to recognize the connection between climate change and LGBTQIA+ struggles, and that her queer kayaking community inspires her to continue fighting the fossil fuel companies that have worsened the climate crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997423\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/250603-QUEERKAYAK-36-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo’s boots sit on a kayak after a trip into the water at Safe Harbor Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond on June 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We are all people who care passionately about the world that we live in, but also have this shared experience of being queer,” she said. “Queer people in many ways have an opportunity to see the ways that all of our systems of oppression are deeply interconnected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Rich City Rays aren’t only protesting on the bay; they also teach young people of color to “reclaim their right to have a relationship with the water” by holding introductory kayaking events, community paddles and action-oriented training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group is hosting a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DK8WLbPvzoy/?hl=en&img_index=1\">queer kayak camp trip\u003c/a> on Tomales Bay the weekend of June 28 and will provide kayaks and gear for attendees. They will also hold an open summer picnic on July 5 at Point Molate and a BIPOC paddle at the Richmond Marina on July 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really beautiful to be held not only by the water, but by each other,” Angulo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Fishnets and Fossil Fuels: Meet 3 Bay Area Climate-Conscious Drag Artists",
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"headTitle": "Fishnets and Fossil Fuels: Meet 3 Bay Area Climate-Conscious Drag Artists | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Usually, talking about natural disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995420/climate-scientists-warn-of-growing-whiplash-effect-on-weather-patterns\">massive wildfires\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997275/california-lawmakers-divided-over-polluters-pay-plan-to-combat-climate-crisis\">climate change\u003c/a> kills the party — unless you’re San Francisco-based drag queen Eve Swallows, who knows how to turn a number about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997275/california-lawmakers-divided-over-polluters-pay-plan-to-combat-climate-crisis\">divesting from big oil\u003c/a> into a beach dance blowout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an early June surf event at Pacifica State Beach, the sun-kissed crowd burst into spontaneous movement after she performed, wearing a slick black latex, high-slit gown and a movable oil field pump fascinator. She called out the Trump Administration’s “attack on our coast with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035274/the-future-of-oil-drilling-off-californias-coast-could-be-at-stake-in-a-hearing-today\">offshore drilling\u003c/a>” in a petrol-themed medley that included “Think You The S*** (Fart)” by Ice Spice and “Gas Pedal” by Sage the Gemini — plus “Gasoline” in three ways by Britney Spears, The Chicks and a duet by Haim and Taylor Swift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate drag is second nature for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eveswallows/\">Eve Swallows\u003c/a> because the environment played a pivotal role in helping her find “self-acceptance and compassion as a genderqueer person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag accomplishes a paradox of embracing joy and fun and also serious issues of liberation, social justice and climate justice,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eve Swallows, whose tongue-in-cheek name is inspired by the original biblical Eve, is part of a growing family of artists who are draggifying the climate movement by injecting environmental themes into their performances and helping to embolden \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11776789/how-you-are-feeling-about-climate-change-and-tips-on-overcoming-fear-grief\">a generation plagued by climate anxiety\u003c/a> with humor, camp and queer community. The movement was once hyper-local, but now drag sensation \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pattiegonia/?hl=en\">Pattie Gonia\u003c/a> is hosting a national climate-themed affair, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pattiegonia.net/tour\">\u003cem>SAVE HER! – An Environmental Drag Show\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. The drag artists aim to inspire audiences to embark on their climate activism journeys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997336 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eve Swallows performs at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My hope is that \u003cem>SAVE HER!\u003c/em> can be a blueprint for anyone to use who they are as a person and their identity and what they’re good at to try to make a difference in this world,” Pattie Gonia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based drag king \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/veritas_22/?hl=en\">VERA!\u003c/a>, who co-leads the tour, noted that the number of climate-minded performers is now growing. They father — or mentor — 37 drag children, including King LOTUS BOY, whose drag centers on themes such as disability justice and sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be out here just fighting for queer and trans lives if we don’t have a planet to stand on,” VERA! said. “I want queer and trans folks to thrive for generations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Creating a national climate drag movement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>VERA! and Pattie Gonia’s drag anniversary points back to a queer hike on Angel Island in October 2022. Their union began when VERA! went into the splits on a log and licked a pine cone, prompting Pattie Gonia to ask them if they would perform in the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did my makeup in the woods out of her makeup bag in five minutes, and we had the best time,” VERA! said. “Then our love was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">VERA! poses for a photo at Baker Beach in San Francisco on June 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few months later, VERA! invited Pattie Gonia to a show called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfoasis.com/princess\">\u003cem>Princess\u003c/em>\u003c/a> at Oasis in San Francisco, and the two decided to co-produce a climate-themed drag show. \u003cem>SAVE HER!\u003c/em> came to life in April 2023 in the city by the bay with climate-related drag numbers and upcycled costumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>SAVE HER\u003c/em>! show includes a third co-lead, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theonlysequoia/?hl=en\">Sequoia \u003c/a>from Salt Lake City. In each show — from San Francisco to New York City — the trio scouts local talent and hosts a meet-and-greet before the event with environmental and queer organizations, such as \u003ca href=\"https://climateactionca.org/\">Climate Action California\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklash.com/\">Oaklash\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a big environmental-loving family that we have now across the nation,” VERA! said.[aside postID=science_1997397 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2177822620-KQED.jpg']VERA!’s set starts with “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses and ends with “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. For VERA! their dad-like long-haired climate drag is about preserving queer communities while human-caused climate change continues to ravage our world with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994538/3-bay-area-cities-had-hottest-summer-in-history-as-climate-change-pushes-temps-up\">hotter summers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022718/altadena-rallies-to-rebuild-burned-spiritual-centers\">larger wildfires\u003c/a> and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">extreme storms\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag in and of itself and people fulfilling their liberation through drag is a movement,” VERA! said. “Adding climate justice to that is another movement. It’s an ecological movement sandwich.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the show, Pattie Gonia performs several acts, including “Barbie Girl” by Aqua, in an upcycled pink look made out of shower curtains, Barbie pieces and pool noodles. In contrast to the song’s original lyrics, her message is “life in plastic is not fantastic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pattie Gonia created \u003cem>SAVE HER! \u003c/em>to liven up climate work because “the climate movement is boring as f***” and deserves to be filled with joy and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are really hungry for something that is fun and something where they can meet other people in the climate movement,” Pattie Gonia said. “We forget the power of art and of community, and making action happen for the climate movement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spectators cheer on Eve Swallows during her performance at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the show’s Friday the 13th Los Angeles stop, the drag artists turned the evening into a fundraiser for immigrant legal defense funds. That night, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/vivllainous/?hl=en\">Vivian Jenna Wilson\u003c/a>, the 21-year-old daughter of Elon Musk and Justine Wilson, made her drag debut as Vivllainous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young trans woman wore a black bodysuit and a translucent corset while lip-syncing to “Wasted Love” by JJ. In a group performance, she waved a transgender pride flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It felt like a very interesting and beautiful collision of world events,” Pattie Gonia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Drag is rooted in activism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>King LOTUS BOY — one of VERA!’s many drag children — frequently paints his face with bright orange, red and yellow powders and intricate black lines to mirror those of traditional Chinese opera. He often ties his drag to political causes, including \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HmODhYWBtgFUd3dGpdXm7s54_pwSS-kuIicbdP_-Uy0/edit?tab=t.0\">climate activism\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990430/why-these-queer-pro-palestinian-advocates-are-calling-for-a-boycott-of-sf-pride\">Palestinian liberation\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044042/advocates-raise-alarms-over-california-budgets-restrictions-on-immigration-legal-aid\">immigration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like to use my drag to talk about the things that I care about, and subtly try to show people how everything is connected,” he said. “We can’t separate climate justice from racial justice from disability justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King LOTUS BOY poses for a photo at Franklin Square in San Francisco on June 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since drag’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980160/how-sfs-drag-queens-shaped-the-city-and-the-world\">inception\u003c/a>, artists have used it as a form of protest and self-expression. VERA! believes that centering human-caused climate change in drag is an added layer of activism so that queer people can have more time “to enjoy Earth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We care about each other and we care about other people, and I feel like deep down that’s what activism means,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eve Swallows doesn’t think climate drag is enough on its own to “move the needle on climate change,” but said partnering with local queer climate and environmental organizations, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.solarpunkfarms.com/\">SolarPunk Farms\u003c/a> in Sonoma County, can have a greater impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997323\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eve Swallows performs at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early June, dressed in snug blue jean overalls, a white ruffled-sleeved peasant blouse and a high blond ponytail, she emceed a queer and trans event at Pacifica State Beach with \u003ca href=\"https://www.queersurf.org/\">Queer Surf\u003c/a>, a group of LGBTQ+ surfers striving to make the sport more accessible while improving coastal access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one number, she devoured a CrunchWrap Supreme and a Baja Blast from the beach’s shoreline Taco Bell, while performing to “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.” The high-camp routine may not seem inherently like activism, but \u003cem>“\u003c/em>any expression of queer and trans joy in this moment feels like activism, given the political climate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to take it a step further and partner with local organizations around the intersection of queerness, the outdoors, or climate and embed yourself within them,” Eve Swallows said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turning looks, sustainably\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>King LOTUS BOY’s outfits and performances have evolved from clearly conveying a climate theme to embodying a lifestyle of sustainability. His first climate-esque act, from 2021, focused on the overconsumption of plastics, entering the year 3023 with imagery of the world filled with fluttering trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wearing a jellyfish-like skirt made of transparent plastic packing bubbles, packing peanut-encrusted wings and a green bubble wrap rope harness, he performed to “Plastic” by Moses Sumney and “XS” and “Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys), both by Rina Sawayama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997319\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997319\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King LOTUS BOY poses for a photo at Franklin Square in San Francisco on June 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Halfway through the performance, the Oakland-based drag king called out the world’s top plastic polluters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was feeling my grief and my anger, but I was also receiving a lot of positive energy from the crowd,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that performance, his drag has become less about climate and more about how to live sustainably. Due to the popularity of \u003cem>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/em>, the art form of drag has gained global recognition. But for King LOTUS BOY, the price tag of pulling new looks and wigs for every show isn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945686/upcycling-and-bio-art-two-different-approaches-to-the-fast-fashion-problem\">Fast fashion’\u003c/a>s heavy toll on the earth’s resources prompted him to design many of his outfits using repurposed materials. Drawing on his experience as a disabled and immunocompromised person, he recently created a romper out of rhinestone-coated, used KN95 masks in orange, plaid and black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The pandemic is not over,” he said. “It’s important to me that people are still remembering that and not just completely abandoning masks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For King LOTUS BOY, sustainability isn’t only about upcycled fabric; it’s about making everyday decisions to sustain himself financially, emotionally and physically, while taking a stand on issues he cares about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking up space, existing and being unapologetic and having my weird sense of humor, that’s also part of sustaining myself because it makes me happy and it hopefully makes you happy too,” King LOTUS BOY said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Usually, talking about natural disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995420/climate-scientists-warn-of-growing-whiplash-effect-on-weather-patterns\">massive wildfires\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997275/california-lawmakers-divided-over-polluters-pay-plan-to-combat-climate-crisis\">climate change\u003c/a> kills the party — unless you’re San Francisco-based drag queen Eve Swallows, who knows how to turn a number about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997275/california-lawmakers-divided-over-polluters-pay-plan-to-combat-climate-crisis\">divesting from big oil\u003c/a> into a beach dance blowout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an early June surf event at Pacifica State Beach, the sun-kissed crowd burst into spontaneous movement after she performed, wearing a slick black latex, high-slit gown and a movable oil field pump fascinator. She called out the Trump Administration’s “attack on our coast with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035274/the-future-of-oil-drilling-off-californias-coast-could-be-at-stake-in-a-hearing-today\">offshore drilling\u003c/a>” in a petrol-themed medley that included “Think You The S*** (Fart)” by Ice Spice and “Gas Pedal” by Sage the Gemini — plus “Gasoline” in three ways by Britney Spears, The Chicks and a duet by Haim and Taylor Swift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate drag is second nature for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eveswallows/\">Eve Swallows\u003c/a> because the environment played a pivotal role in helping her find “self-acceptance and compassion as a genderqueer person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag accomplishes a paradox of embracing joy and fun and also serious issues of liberation, social justice and climate justice,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eve Swallows, whose tongue-in-cheek name is inspired by the original biblical Eve, is part of a growing family of artists who are draggifying the climate movement by injecting environmental themes into their performances and helping to embolden \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11776789/how-you-are-feeling-about-climate-change-and-tips-on-overcoming-fear-grief\">a generation plagued by climate anxiety\u003c/a> with humor, camp and queer community. The movement was once hyper-local, but now drag sensation \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pattiegonia/?hl=en\">Pattie Gonia\u003c/a> is hosting a national climate-themed affair, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pattiegonia.net/tour\">\u003cem>SAVE HER! – An Environmental Drag Show\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. The drag artists aim to inspire audiences to embark on their climate activism journeys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997336 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_ClimateDrag_GC-26_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eve Swallows performs at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My hope is that \u003cem>SAVE HER!\u003c/em> can be a blueprint for anyone to use who they are as a person and their identity and what they’re good at to try to make a difference in this world,” Pattie Gonia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based drag king \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/veritas_22/?hl=en\">VERA!\u003c/a>, who co-leads the tour, noted that the number of climate-minded performers is now growing. They father — or mentor — 37 drag children, including King LOTUS BOY, whose drag centers on themes such as disability justice and sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be out here just fighting for queer and trans lives if we don’t have a planet to stand on,” VERA! said. “I want queer and trans folks to thrive for generations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Creating a national climate drag movement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>VERA! and Pattie Gonia’s drag anniversary points back to a queer hike on Angel Island in October 2022. Their union began when VERA! went into the splits on a log and licked a pine cone, prompting Pattie Gonia to ask them if they would perform in the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did my makeup in the woods out of her makeup bag in five minutes, and we had the best time,” VERA! said. “Then our love was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250608_ClimateDrag_GC-30_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">VERA! poses for a photo at Baker Beach in San Francisco on June 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few months later, VERA! invited Pattie Gonia to a show called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfoasis.com/princess\">\u003cem>Princess\u003c/em>\u003c/a> at Oasis in San Francisco, and the two decided to co-produce a climate-themed drag show. \u003cem>SAVE HER!\u003c/em> came to life in April 2023 in the city by the bay with climate-related drag numbers and upcycled costumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>SAVE HER\u003c/em>! show includes a third co-lead, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theonlysequoia/?hl=en\">Sequoia \u003c/a>from Salt Lake City. In each show — from San Francisco to New York City — the trio scouts local talent and hosts a meet-and-greet before the event with environmental and queer organizations, such as \u003ca href=\"https://climateactionca.org/\">Climate Action California\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklash.com/\">Oaklash\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a big environmental-loving family that we have now across the nation,” VERA! said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>VERA!’s set starts with “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses and ends with “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. For VERA! their dad-like long-haired climate drag is about preserving queer communities while human-caused climate change continues to ravage our world with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994538/3-bay-area-cities-had-hottest-summer-in-history-as-climate-change-pushes-temps-up\">hotter summers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022718/altadena-rallies-to-rebuild-burned-spiritual-centers\">larger wildfires\u003c/a> and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">extreme storms\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag in and of itself and people fulfilling their liberation through drag is a movement,” VERA! said. “Adding climate justice to that is another movement. It’s an ecological movement sandwich.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the show, Pattie Gonia performs several acts, including “Barbie Girl” by Aqua, in an upcycled pink look made out of shower curtains, Barbie pieces and pool noodles. In contrast to the song’s original lyrics, her message is “life in plastic is not fantastic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pattie Gonia created \u003cem>SAVE HER! \u003c/em>to liven up climate work because “the climate movement is boring as f***” and deserves to be filled with joy and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are really hungry for something that is fun and something where they can meet other people in the climate movement,” Pattie Gonia said. “We forget the power of art and of community, and making action happen for the climate movement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-29-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spectators cheer on Eve Swallows during her performance at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the show’s Friday the 13th Los Angeles stop, the drag artists turned the evening into a fundraiser for immigrant legal defense funds. That night, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/vivllainous/?hl=en\">Vivian Jenna Wilson\u003c/a>, the 21-year-old daughter of Elon Musk and Justine Wilson, made her drag debut as Vivllainous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young trans woman wore a black bodysuit and a translucent corset while lip-syncing to “Wasted Love” by JJ. In a group performance, she waved a transgender pride flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It felt like a very interesting and beautiful collision of world events,” Pattie Gonia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Drag is rooted in activism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>King LOTUS BOY — one of VERA!’s many drag children — frequently paints his face with bright orange, red and yellow powders and intricate black lines to mirror those of traditional Chinese opera. He often ties his drag to political causes, including \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HmODhYWBtgFUd3dGpdXm7s54_pwSS-kuIicbdP_-Uy0/edit?tab=t.0\">climate activism\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990430/why-these-queer-pro-palestinian-advocates-are-calling-for-a-boycott-of-sf-pride\">Palestinian liberation\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044042/advocates-raise-alarms-over-california-budgets-restrictions-on-immigration-legal-aid\">immigration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like to use my drag to talk about the things that I care about, and subtly try to show people how everything is connected,” he said. “We can’t separate climate justice from racial justice from disability justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King LOTUS BOY poses for a photo at Franklin Square in San Francisco on June 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since drag’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980160/how-sfs-drag-queens-shaped-the-city-and-the-world\">inception\u003c/a>, artists have used it as a form of protest and self-expression. VERA! believes that centering human-caused climate change in drag is an added layer of activism so that queer people can have more time “to enjoy Earth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We care about each other and we care about other people, and I feel like deep down that’s what activism means,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eve Swallows doesn’t think climate drag is enough on its own to “move the needle on climate change,” but said partnering with local queer climate and environmental organizations, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.solarpunkfarms.com/\">SolarPunk Farms\u003c/a> in Sonoma County, can have a greater impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997323\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250607_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eve Swallows performs at the Queer Surf drag show at Pacifica State Beach in Pacifica on June 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early June, dressed in snug blue jean overalls, a white ruffled-sleeved peasant blouse and a high blond ponytail, she emceed a queer and trans event at Pacifica State Beach with \u003ca href=\"https://www.queersurf.org/\">Queer Surf\u003c/a>, a group of LGBTQ+ surfers striving to make the sport more accessible while improving coastal access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one number, she devoured a CrunchWrap Supreme and a Baja Blast from the beach’s shoreline Taco Bell, while performing to “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.” The high-camp routine may not seem inherently like activism, but \u003cem>“\u003c/em>any expression of queer and trans joy in this moment feels like activism, given the political climate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to take it a step further and partner with local organizations around the intersection of queerness, the outdoors, or climate and embed yourself within them,” Eve Swallows said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turning looks, sustainably\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>King LOTUS BOY’s outfits and performances have evolved from clearly conveying a climate theme to embodying a lifestyle of sustainability. His first climate-esque act, from 2021, focused on the overconsumption of plastics, entering the year 3023 with imagery of the world filled with fluttering trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wearing a jellyfish-like skirt made of transparent plastic packing bubbles, packing peanut-encrusted wings and a green bubble wrap rope harness, he performed to “Plastic” by Moses Sumney and “XS” and “Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys), both by Rina Sawayama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997319\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997319\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/06/20250604_CLIMATEDRAG_GC-1-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King LOTUS BOY poses for a photo at Franklin Square in San Francisco on June 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Halfway through the performance, the Oakland-based drag king called out the world’s top plastic polluters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was feeling my grief and my anger, but I was also receiving a lot of positive energy from the crowd,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that performance, his drag has become less about climate and more about how to live sustainably. Due to the popularity of \u003cem>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/em>, the art form of drag has gained global recognition. But for King LOTUS BOY, the price tag of pulling new looks and wigs for every show isn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945686/upcycling-and-bio-art-two-different-approaches-to-the-fast-fashion-problem\">Fast fashion’\u003c/a>s heavy toll on the earth’s resources prompted him to design many of his outfits using repurposed materials. Drawing on his experience as a disabled and immunocompromised person, he recently created a romper out of rhinestone-coated, used KN95 masks in orange, plaid and black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The pandemic is not over,” he said. “It’s important to me that people are still remembering that and not just completely abandoning masks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For King LOTUS BOY, sustainability isn’t only about upcycled fabric; it’s about making everyday decisions to sustain himself financially, emotionally and physically, while taking a stand on issues he cares about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking up space, existing and being unapologetic and having my weird sense of humor, that’s also part of sustaining myself because it makes me happy and it hopefully makes you happy too,” King LOTUS BOY said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "This Oakland Block Tried to Quit Fossil Fuels. Here’s What They Learned",
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"content": "\u003cp>Just before the 2019 holiday season, musician Isaac Zones got an \u003ca href=\"https://citris-uc.org/oakland-ecoblock-looking-for-interested-neighborhoods/\">email\u003c/a>, forwarded from a friend. It asked, “Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His answer was, well, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block,” Zones said. Zones lives on an East Oakland street lined with century-old single-family Victorians, mid-century, boxy apartment buildings and everything in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">The initiative, headed by researchers at UC Berkeley, invited entire neighborhoods to apply for major upgrades\u003c/a>: energy- and water-efficient appliances, insulation and solar panels, along with a shared back-up battery and microgrid to protect the street from power blackouts. All for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In return, the researchers would get to test out a theory: would retrofitting buildings together, all at once, save money by buying in bulk? Would it save time for a contractor to walk from one job across the street to another? Would people even want to sign up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project would tackle a significant but overlooked issue: the planet-warming pollution that comes from buildings and the energy they use. In the U.S., that’s roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/commercial-and-residential-sector-emissions\">one-third\u003c/a> of all emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A way to cut that pollution is to wean buildings off fossil fuels like natural gas and swap out gas appliances for electric ones. But doing this home by home and business by business is expensive and slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Therese Peffer, a researcher from UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment CITRIS Climate initiative, helps neighbors plant trees on a block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So researchers at UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment set out to study if there was another way to slash pollution from buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They felt there was already enough attention on how to construct new buildings for a warmer world. “New construction is easy, right? It’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is,” said Therese Peffer, who heads the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country,” Peffer said — the millions of offices, warehouses, restaurants and homes we already have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Peffer and her colleagues at UC Berkeley got a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/CEC-500-2020-009-AP.pdf\">$5 million grant\u003c/a> from the state of California to test out a new, block-scale approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Isaac Zones was ready to sign his block up as the guinea pig.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting neighbors on board\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Isaac Zones and his wife, Vivian Santana Pacheco, had always cared about the environment, but their passion grew after they had their child, now in elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want this world to be a habitable one for him,” Santana Pacheco said. “Already, I feel like we’re behind, and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issac Zones (left) and Vivian Santana-Pacheco (right) stand for a portrait in front of their electric vehicle in Oakland, California, on Aug. 11, 2023. The couple is a part of a group of neighbors in Oakland that are beginning to electrify their home appliances. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pair went door to door, selling neighbors on the project, called “EcoBlock.” The task wasn’t unfamiliar: they’d gone door-knocking after moving to the block almost a decade ago. But that time it was to invite people out for a block party, which has since become an annual tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking neighbors to come out for a beer is different than asking them to overhaul their largest asset, but Santana Pacheco and Zones had a lot of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some residents were immediately game: they wanted air conditioning to deal with California’s increasing heat waves, and they valued how the project prioritized a low and middle-income neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Santana Pacheco and Zones convinced 15 out of the 25 properties on the block to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The holdouts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So, who didn’t want to be part of EcoBlock?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Johnson lives in a white Victorian that’s been in his family for almost 100 years. He’s a retired contractor and spent decades remodeling his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995170\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Johnson stands in his kitchen in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024. Johnson decided against participating in the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His energy bills are incredibly low already, and he thinks there are other ways to tackle planet-warming pollution; things like aviation fuel and shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, he isn’t ready to give up all fossil fuels just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole EcoBlock wanted to take away the gas,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was a major goal of the project — weaning homes off natural gas, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20the%20second%20most,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere.\">powerful climate pollutant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other people who opted out of the project had done unpermitted work on their homes, and feared they’d get in trouble with the city. And some people felt distrustful of an outside institution leading the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EcoBlock faced other hurdles: a pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As prices rose, the project shrank. Instead of an all-electric utopia, EcoBlock would mostly address the biggest sources of a home’s pollution: heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Workers, workers everywhere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finally, in 2024, construction began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, there were workers everywhere, blowing insulation into walls, replacing HVAC systems and installing solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had this joke on the block: who’s getting the porta party in front of their house? That’s how we know who’s getting construction done,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995169\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995169\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salalai Vongsy, a contractor with Eco Performance Builders, works in Jesse Hassinger’s home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, five-and-a-half years after the block signed on, the work is almost done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors are reveling in their new comforts: new heating and cooling, insulation, bathroom fans to improve air circulation, solar panels, new roofs to support them and more. The block has also had a facelift, with chunks of sidewalk concrete ripped up and trees and native plants put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several more ambitious aspects of the project were scrapped along the way due to funding and feasibility limitations: a shared back-up battery, a community microgrid and a shared electric vehicle and charger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But residents ultimately seem grateful for their upgrades and for having an outside entity coordinate all the details for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Did it work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now that the first EcoBlock is near completion: Did Therese Peffer and her colleagues’ theory work? Is upgrading a whole block faster and cheaper than going house by house?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peffer’s takeaway: yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here is why, and what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1995320 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Corlett stands next to a newly installed heat pump at his home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>This pilot project was far more expensive than future ones. \u003c/strong>The EcoBlock pilot cost $8 million, funded by a state grant and a private donor. But that included the cost of all kinds of experts, and parts of the project that were designed but never used.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Peffer thinks the next attempt would cost just a third of that, and go much faster. “It takes that first time of kicking the tires and trying to break things to kind of lay that pathway for the next one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Buying in bulk saves money.\u003c/strong> Peffer estimates EcoBlock saved 10-20% on bulk purchases of equipment like appliances, wires and electric panels. They were also able to get more competitive bids from contractors, because multiple homes needed work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Return on investment for energy efficiency for low-income residents faces an unexpected hurdle.\u003c/strong> Many low-income residents have discounted energy rates and/or relatively low energy use, which means the timeline for the return on investment for energy efficiency improvements can be prohibitively long, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003col start=\"2\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Proximity of buildings helps, but being on the same street might not be so important.\u003c/strong> The project contractor, Keith O’Hara, who heads Eco Performance Builders, said his crews saved time by being able to use the last few hours of a day to cross a street and start on a new project, or simply to help another crew carry a heavy appliance. But if a full block isn’t attempting to remove all gas appliances from their homes with the goal of removing a gas main beneath their road, they don’t necessarily need to be on the same block. “I just think it’s really hard to get all those people on the block to agree,” O’Hara said.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1996563 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/04/250321-VIRTUALPOWERPLANT-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Instead, O’Hara said, homes could be in the same general area as one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003col start=\"3\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>You don’t need to overhaul everything. \u003c/strong>While this project had lofty goals, Peffer thinks future EcoBlocks could focus on smaller, more manageable upgrades. “Maybe it’s bulk purchasing. Like, ‘I want an induction stove, do you want an induction stove? Let’s go in together and see if we can get a 10% discount,’” she said.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It all hinges on the neighbors. \u003c/strong>Neighbors are crucial to the success of a project like this in several ways:\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The neighbors need to be committed.\u003c/strong> EcoBlock attempted to do these upgrades on a different Oakland block at first, one that did not raise its hand for the project, and that attempt ended in failure. But having a block volunteer made for much greater buy-in and patience when obstacles came up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It helps to have a neighborhood where there is already some sense of camaraderie.\u003c/strong> Because Santana Pacheco and Zones had built ties through an annual block party, they’d already established a baseline of trust among neighbors, which “made it easier for folks to take a leap of faith and not get completely discouraged through all the ups and downs,” Zones reflected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">If you don’t have a sense of trust among your neighbors, the first step is to build that: share fruit from your backyard tree, host a gathering or start a group chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The best publicist for a project like this is your neighbor.\u003c/strong> Because your neighbor can better understand your specific interests, they may speak your language or have some other cultural similarity.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">“Also because we are sticking it out and probably have as much to lose as they do,” Santana Pacheco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and neighbors plant trees on their block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Group projects help increase buy-in.\u003c/strong> One of the major project funders, the California Energy Commission, reported that aspects of the project, which brought the block together, such as planned tree plantings, increased engagement.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The final EcoBlock solar panels are slated to turn on in the fall. After gathering data about costs and electricity use for some time, Peffer and her team will have more detailed lessons to share, including guides for other blocks to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, though, it is the desire people have to build community that has stuck with residents and researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s “something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with good people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever,” Peffer said. “The door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Zones, the project has meant a lot as he considers how to tackle climate change, which often feels overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So much of it seems like a string of losses. And this felt like a victory of some kind,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "This Oakland Block Tried to Quit Fossil Fuels. Here’s What They Learned | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Just before the 2019 holiday season, musician Isaac Zones got an \u003ca href=\"https://citris-uc.org/oakland-ecoblock-looking-for-interested-neighborhoods/\">email\u003c/a>, forwarded from a friend. It asked, “Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His answer was, well, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block,” Zones said. Zones lives on an East Oakland street lined with century-old single-family Victorians, mid-century, boxy apartment buildings and everything in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984963/electric-avenue-one-oakland-blocks-improbable-journey-to-ditch-gas\">The initiative, headed by researchers at UC Berkeley, invited entire neighborhoods to apply for major upgrades\u003c/a>: energy- and water-efficient appliances, insulation and solar panels, along with a shared back-up battery and microgrid to protect the street from power blackouts. All for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In return, the researchers would get to test out a theory: would retrofitting buildings together, all at once, save money by buying in bulk? Would it save time for a contractor to walk from one job across the street to another? Would people even want to sign up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project would tackle a significant but overlooked issue: the planet-warming pollution that comes from buildings and the energy they use. In the U.S., that’s roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/commercial-and-residential-sector-emissions\">one-third\u003c/a> of all emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A way to cut that pollution is to wean buildings off fossil fuels like natural gas and swap out gas appliances for electric ones. But doing this home by home and business by business is expensive and slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-16-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Therese Peffer, a researcher from UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment CITRIS Climate initiative, helps neighbors plant trees on a block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So researchers at UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment set out to study if there was another way to slash pollution from buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They felt there was already enough attention on how to construct new buildings for a warmer world. “New construction is easy, right? It’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is,” said Therese Peffer, who heads the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country,” Peffer said — the millions of offices, warehouses, restaurants and homes we already have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Peffer and her colleagues at UC Berkeley got a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/CEC-500-2020-009-AP.pdf\">$5 million grant\u003c/a> from the state of California to test out a new, block-scale approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Isaac Zones was ready to sign his block up as the guinea pig.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting neighbors on board\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Isaac Zones and his wife, Vivian Santana Pacheco, had always cared about the environment, but their passion grew after they had their child, now in elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want this world to be a habitable one for him,” Santana Pacheco said. “Already, I feel like we’re behind, and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67844_20230810-BlossomStreet-13-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issac Zones (left) and Vivian Santana-Pacheco (right) stand for a portrait in front of their electric vehicle in Oakland, California, on Aug. 11, 2023. The couple is a part of a group of neighbors in Oakland that are beginning to electrify their home appliances. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pair went door to door, selling neighbors on the project, called “EcoBlock.” The task wasn’t unfamiliar: they’d gone door-knocking after moving to the block almost a decade ago. But that time it was to invite people out for a block party, which has since become an annual tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking neighbors to come out for a beer is different than asking them to overhaul their largest asset, but Santana Pacheco and Zones had a lot of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some residents were immediately game: they wanted air conditioning to deal with California’s increasing heat waves, and they valued how the project prioritized a low and middle-income neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Santana Pacheco and Zones convinced 15 out of the 25 properties on the block to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The holdouts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So, who didn’t want to be part of EcoBlock?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Johnson lives in a white Victorian that’s been in his family for almost 100 years. He’s a retired contractor and spent decades remodeling his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995170\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Johnson stands in his kitchen in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024. Johnson decided against participating in the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His energy bills are incredibly low already, and he thinks there are other ways to tackle planet-warming pollution; things like aviation fuel and shipping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, he isn’t ready to give up all fossil fuels just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole EcoBlock wanted to take away the gas,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was a major goal of the project — weaning homes off natural gas, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20the%20second%20most,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere.\">powerful climate pollutant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other people who opted out of the project had done unpermitted work on their homes, and feared they’d get in trouble with the city. And some people felt distrustful of an outside institution leading the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EcoBlock faced other hurdles: a pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As prices rose, the project shrank. Instead of an all-electric utopia, EcoBlock would mostly address the biggest sources of a home’s pollution: heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Workers, workers everywhere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finally, in 2024, construction began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, there were workers everywhere, blowing insulation into walls, replacing HVAC systems and installing solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had this joke on the block: who’s getting the porta party in front of their house? That’s how we know who’s getting construction done,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995169\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995169\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/11/241113-ECOBLOCKFOLLOWUP-59-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salalai Vongsy, a contractor with Eco Performance Builders, works in Jesse Hassinger’s home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, five-and-a-half years after the block signed on, the work is almost done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors are reveling in their new comforts: new heating and cooling, insulation, bathroom fans to improve air circulation, solar panels, new roofs to support them and more. The block has also had a facelift, with chunks of sidewalk concrete ripped up and trees and native plants put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several more ambitious aspects of the project were scrapped along the way due to funding and feasibility limitations: a shared back-up battery, a community microgrid and a shared electric vehicle and charger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But residents ultimately seem grateful for their upgrades and for having an outside entity coordinate all the details for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Did it work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now that the first EcoBlock is near completion: Did Therese Peffer and her colleagues’ theory work? Is upgrading a whole block faster and cheaper than going house by house?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peffer’s takeaway: yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here is why, and what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1995320 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/12/241113-EcoBlockFollowup-11-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Corlett stands next to a newly installed heat pump at his home in Oakland on Nov. 13, 2024, as part of the EcoBlock project. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>This pilot project was far more expensive than future ones. \u003c/strong>The EcoBlock pilot cost $8 million, funded by a state grant and a private donor. But that included the cost of all kinds of experts, and parts of the project that were designed but never used.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Peffer thinks the next attempt would cost just a third of that, and go much faster. “It takes that first time of kicking the tires and trying to break things to kind of lay that pathway for the next one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Buying in bulk saves money.\u003c/strong> Peffer estimates EcoBlock saved 10-20% on bulk purchases of equipment like appliances, wires and electric panels. They were also able to get more competitive bids from contractors, because multiple homes needed work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Return on investment for energy efficiency for low-income residents faces an unexpected hurdle.\u003c/strong> Many low-income residents have discounted energy rates and/or relatively low energy use, which means the timeline for the return on investment for energy efficiency improvements can be prohibitively long, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003col start=\"2\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Proximity of buildings helps, but being on the same street might not be so important.\u003c/strong> The project contractor, Keith O’Hara, who heads Eco Performance Builders, said his crews saved time by being able to use the last few hours of a day to cross a street and start on a new project, or simply to help another crew carry a heavy appliance. But if a full block isn’t attempting to remove all gas appliances from their homes with the goal of removing a gas main beneath their road, they don’t necessarily need to be on the same block. “I just think it’s really hard to get all those people on the block to agree,” O’Hara said.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Instead, O’Hara said, homes could be in the same general area as one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003col start=\"3\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>You don’t need to overhaul everything. \u003c/strong>While this project had lofty goals, Peffer thinks future EcoBlocks could focus on smaller, more manageable upgrades. “Maybe it’s bulk purchasing. Like, ‘I want an induction stove, do you want an induction stove? Let’s go in together and see if we can get a 10% discount,’” she said.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It all hinges on the neighbors. \u003c/strong>Neighbors are crucial to the success of a project like this in several ways:\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The neighbors need to be committed.\u003c/strong> EcoBlock attempted to do these upgrades on a different Oakland block at first, one that did not raise its hand for the project, and that attempt ended in failure. But having a block volunteer made for much greater buy-in and patience when obstacles came up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>It helps to have a neighborhood where there is already some sense of camaraderie.\u003c/strong> Because Santana Pacheco and Zones had built ties through an annual block party, they’d already established a baseline of trust among neighbors, which “made it easier for folks to take a leap of faith and not get completely discouraged through all the ups and downs,” Zones reflected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">If you don’t have a sense of trust among your neighbors, the first step is to build that: share fruit from your backyard tree, host a gathering or start a group chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>The best publicist for a project like this is your neighbor.\u003c/strong> Because your neighbor can better understand your specific interests, they may speak your language or have some other cultural similarity.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">“Also because we are sticking it out and probably have as much to lose as they do,” Santana Pacheco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1995535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1995535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/250126-EcoBlock-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and neighbors plant trees on their block in Oakland on Jan. 26, 2025. The block is part of EcoBlock, a collaborative project bringing together academics, professionals, government agencies, utilities, private donors and residents. The initiative aims to help an entire city block reduce emissions through insulation upgrades, electric appliances and solar panels. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Group projects help increase buy-in.\u003c/strong> One of the major project funders, the California Energy Commission, reported that aspects of the project, which brought the block together, such as planned tree plantings, increased engagement.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The final EcoBlock solar panels are slated to turn on in the fall. After gathering data about costs and electricity use for some time, Peffer and her team will have more detailed lessons to share, including guides for other blocks to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, though, it is the desire people have to build community that has stuck with residents and researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s “something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with good people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever,” Peffer said. “The door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Zones, the project has meant a lot as he considers how to tackle climate change, which often feels overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So much of it seems like a string of losses. And this felt like a victory of some kind,” Zones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "a-brutal-attack-upended-her-life-it-also-exposed-gaps-in-californias-hospital-safety-laws",
"title": "A Brutal Attack Upended Her Life. It Also Exposed Gaps in California’s Hospital Safety Laws",
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"headTitle": "A Brutal Attack Upended Her Life. It Also Exposed Gaps in California’s Hospital Safety Laws | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The assault pulled like a riptide on Dr. Dani Golomb’s life, spinning her in unexpected directions, but not quite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">fully pulling her under\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb was working on a California Pacific Medical Center inpatient psychology unit on Sept. 5, 2020, when a patient attacked and dragged her, grabbing her metal clipboard out of her hand and smashing it against her head, knocking her unconscious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury, and the headaches and other symptoms still linger. She took multiple leaves of absence from her job, including one that lasted a year, setting her back on her journey to becoming a psychiatrist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attack happened shortly after she finished medical school and moved from Salt Lake City to San Francisco for a residency at California Pacific Medical Center, Sutter Health’s flagship hospital. Golomb wanted to practice psychiatry in the Bay Area, hoping to one day open her own private practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why I went to medical school. Most people go in because they are passionate about medicine,” she said. “I went in because I was passionate about working with individuals in therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the attack, Golomb — with her life and career upended — dedicated herself to improving safety protections for her colleagues. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">She shared her story with KQED\u003c/a>, which triggered the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker\">launch an investigation\u003c/a>, including an inspection of the psych unit where she was attacked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997083\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Feb. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The details of the investigation, which concluded last fall, have not been discussed publicly until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I put so much work into providing [investigators] with as much information as I could, sending them documents, connecting them with people, talking to nurses about the importance of reporting,” Golomb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She feels state regulators and her employer fell short of providing the safety protections the hospital needs. Her story exposes holes in California’s workplace violence regulations for healthcare workers — namely, a lack of reporting on the part of employers and enforcement on the part of Cal/OSHA and its understaffed offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA investigators identified numerous other colleagues who suffered attacks on California Pacific Medical Center’s inpatient psych unit. In one instance, a patient broke the nose and ribs of a nurse who “will never return again,” the Cal/OSHA inspection found.[aside postID=news_11980953 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg']In another case, a patient charged at an occupational therapist who was leading an exercise group and lifted them off the floor. “He carried me across the room by my neck,” the therapist reported, according to interview notes included in the Cal/OSHA report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He dragged me to a corner of the room and pulled a chair in front of us. He said if I don’t get to talk to the judge, ‘I am going to kill her,’” the therapist said, according to the notes. A security guard eventually defused the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, two years after Golomb’s assault, Sutter Health relocated the inpatient psych unit where she was attacked to its Davies Campus. The hospital said it spent about $40 million outfitting the unit with cameras, panic buttons, duress alarms and secured doors to enhance safety. Staff can reach security by phone and a voice-operated device. The floor also has security officers during daytime hours, which Golomb said has made staff feel safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal/OSHA report alleged numerous hospital failures at the new unit on security training, staffing, informing staff of “incident investigations and any corrective actions,” and a lack of “physical barriers between patients and clinicians” in some areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A patient has jumped from the waist height counter onto a nurse from behind in the past, injuring his shoulders and neck,” the report said, noting blind corners, broken elevators and insufficient emergency exits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997087\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1997087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-800x1036.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1036\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-800x1036.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-1020x1321.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-768x994.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door.jpg 1076w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of an out-of-order elevator from the Cal/OSHA report on Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Screenshot from Cal/OSHA report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All of the details in the inspection were validating, Golomb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the first sign it might not produce the meaningful change Golomb sought came when investigators told her that her case fell outside the statute of limitations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like, ‘Wait a second, this is off the table?’ That was the impetus for this investigation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result of the inspection, which cited \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker\">KQED’s reporting\u003c/a>, regulators issued two small citations to the hospital totaling $1,575: a fine of $525 for failing to maintain two failed separate exits and a $1,050 fine for failing to implement Sutter’s workplace violence prevention plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA must issue a citation no later than six months after the “occurrence of a violation,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB§ionNum=6317\">labor code\u003c/a>. But the “occurrence” continues until it is “corrected, or the division discovers the violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA did not appear to become aware of Golomb’s 2020 assault until she came forward with her story years later. Garrett Brown, a former field inspector who worked for more than two decades at Cal/OSHA, said regulators could still have examined Golomb’s attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hospital was legally required to file a violent incident report to state regulators within 72 hours, but Cal/OSHA has no record of the incident. Sutter Health acknowledged that it did not initially report Golomb’s assault or injury but said it did record the assault in an injury log filed with the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statute of limitations should be six months after Cal/OSHA became aware of the assault rather than when it occurred, Brown said, adding that it’s “outrageous” and “pisses him off” that it didn’t look at Golomb’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health said it has the appropriate safeguards in place, follows state guidelines and is \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1738851.015\">contesting both citations.\u003c/a> Cal/OSHA declined to comment further because of that appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Sutter spokesperson told KQED in a statement that providing a safe place for employees to work and patients to receive care is the hospital’s top priority. “We continually reevaluate our procedures and facilities to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The citations felt like a slap on the wrist for Sutter, Golomb said, and the hospital’s appeal was like a slap across her face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997089 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Dani Golomb poses for a portrait in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Park on Monday, March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Seeing this was just like, ‘Oh, right, nobody cares about enforcement,’” she said. “And I don’t mean nobody cares about me. I mean, nobody cares about the safety of workers and poor patients.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the problem is what Brown calls an “outrageous understaffing” of Cal/OSHA inspectors, with only two individuals who are charged with overseeing all of San Francisco’s workplaces, according to a Cal/OSHA organization chart dated the first of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district manager is under enormous pressure to open, close, open, close, open, close the inspections because there’s this stack that grows every day of complaints and accidents that report,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Lopez, Cal/OSHA’s communications deputy director, pushed back and said in a statement the number of available inspectors does not determine the pace of an investigation. “Timely enforcement is critical, as these cases often involve serious safety concerns that affect both employers and workers,” he said. “Cal/OSHA prioritizes inspection activities based on the greatest risk to employees, responding to imminent hazards, fatalities, serious injury and illnesses and serious complaints.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez added that Cal/OSHA recently hired an associate safety engineer, noting that San Francisco is a particularly competitive market and the agency is “actively” recruiting to fill three remaining vacancies in its office. “The division’s vacancy rate is among the lowest it has been in several years,” he said, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/DOSH-Recruitment-Hiring.html\">pointing to a fact sheet that pegged it at 13%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2014, California health care facilities have been subject to the nation’s strongest workplace violence regulations.[aside postID=science_1991739 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/02/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']California Sen. Alex Padilla, when he was a state lawmaker, crafted the rules with SB 1299 “to help ensure safer working environments for the nurses and doctors who provide critical care for our communities, but it’s clear that more needs to be done to build on our efforts,” he told KQED in a statement. “Physicians on the frontlines of our mental health crisis deserve a safe workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Nurses Association, which sponsored the legislation, has since criticized the state’s enforcement and hospitals for underreporting violent incidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb pushed for accountability another way, thrusting herself into an organizing effort with her coworkers and leading residents to push for stronger protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb and her resident colleagues joined the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union, and engaged in contentious bargaining with Sutter Health over demands for, among other things, 24-hour security in the inpatient psych unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989597/assault-on-psych-doctor-spurs-call-for-california-health-system-to-boost-safety\">urged Sutter Health in a letter addressed to its leadership\u003c/a> to step up safety measures. “Health care workers who keep us safe and healthy deserve safety in their workplace, too,” then-Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said last June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last October, the residents and Sutter agreed to a contract, which included increased salaries and housing stipends, as well as an education fund to cover conferences and other professional development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997093 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident at CPMC Sutter Davies Campus, holds a piece of pottery she made at her home in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. Golomb makes art as a coping mechanism after experiencing workplace violence incidents where patients have attacked staff. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the union failed to secure one key demand: round-the-clock security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb said it is hard not to feel disappointed. “A big piece of it is in the institutions,” she said. “But a part of me wants to say to myself, ‘Did I not fight hard enough?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She cannot remember what she first envisioned residency to be like. She certainly did not imagine she would have endured such a horrific assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One that could have ended my career in medicine. Then to have a brain that has changed because of it,” she said. “I’ve come such a long way in my recovery, but I also feel that experience has made me even more clear about what my beliefs are in practicing medicine and the kind of doctor I want to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s counting the days until she graduates at the end of June. She’ll take time off before starting a private practice in San Francisco, not too far from California Pacific Medical Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very exciting,” Golomb said. “But it’s very much like being a senior in high school and you’re just like, ‘Come on, let’s go.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "A Brutal Attack Upended Her Life. It Also Exposed Gaps in California’s Hospital Safety Laws | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The assault pulled like a riptide on Dr. Dani Golomb’s life, spinning her in unexpected directions, but not quite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">fully pulling her under\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb was working on a California Pacific Medical Center inpatient psychology unit on Sept. 5, 2020, when a patient attacked and dragged her, grabbing her metal clipboard out of her hand and smashing it against her head, knocking her unconscious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury, and the headaches and other symptoms still linger. She took multiple leaves of absence from her job, including one that lasted a year, setting her back on her journey to becoming a psychiatrist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attack happened shortly after she finished medical school and moved from Salt Lake City to San Francisco for a residency at California Pacific Medical Center, Sutter Health’s flagship hospital. Golomb wanted to practice psychiatry in the Bay Area, hoping to one day open her own private practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why I went to medical school. Most people go in because they are passionate about medicine,” she said. “I went in because I was passionate about working with individuals in therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the attack, Golomb — with her life and career upended — dedicated herself to improving safety protections for her colleagues. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">She shared her story with KQED\u003c/a>, which triggered the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker\">launch an investigation\u003c/a>, including an inspection of the psych unit where she was attacked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1997083\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240208-HospitalViolence-09-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Feb. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The details of the investigation, which concluded last fall, have not been discussed publicly until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I put so much work into providing [investigators] with as much information as I could, sending them documents, connecting them with people, talking to nurses about the importance of reporting,” Golomb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She feels state regulators and her employer fell short of providing the safety protections the hospital needs. Her story exposes holes in California’s workplace violence regulations for healthcare workers — namely, a lack of reporting on the part of employers and enforcement on the part of Cal/OSHA and its understaffed offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA investigators identified numerous other colleagues who suffered attacks on California Pacific Medical Center’s inpatient psych unit. In one instance, a patient broke the nose and ribs of a nurse who “will never return again,” the Cal/OSHA inspection found.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In another case, a patient charged at an occupational therapist who was leading an exercise group and lifted them off the floor. “He carried me across the room by my neck,” the therapist reported, according to interview notes included in the Cal/OSHA report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He dragged me to a corner of the room and pulled a chair in front of us. He said if I don’t get to talk to the judge, ‘I am going to kill her,’” the therapist said, according to the notes. A security guard eventually defused the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, two years after Golomb’s assault, Sutter Health relocated the inpatient psych unit where she was attacked to its Davies Campus. The hospital said it spent about $40 million outfitting the unit with cameras, panic buttons, duress alarms and secured doors to enhance safety. Staff can reach security by phone and a voice-operated device. The floor also has security officers during daytime hours, which Golomb said has made staff feel safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal/OSHA report alleged numerous hospital failures at the new unit on security training, staffing, informing staff of “incident investigations and any corrective actions,” and a lack of “physical barriers between patients and clinicians” in some areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A patient has jumped from the waist height counter onto a nurse from behind in the past, injuring his shoulders and neck,” the report said, noting blind corners, broken elevators and insufficient emergency exits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997087\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1997087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-800x1036.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1036\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-800x1036.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-1020x1321.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door-768x994.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/Elevator-Door.jpg 1076w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of an out-of-order elevator from the Cal/OSHA report on Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Screenshot from Cal/OSHA report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All of the details in the inspection were validating, Golomb said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the first sign it might not produce the meaningful change Golomb sought came when investigators told her that her case fell outside the statute of limitations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like, ‘Wait a second, this is off the table?’ That was the impetus for this investigation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result of the inspection, which cited \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker\">KQED’s reporting\u003c/a>, regulators issued two small citations to the hospital totaling $1,575: a fine of $525 for failing to maintain two failed separate exits and a $1,050 fine for failing to implement Sutter’s workplace violence prevention plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA must issue a citation no later than six months after the “occurrence of a violation,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB§ionNum=6317\">labor code\u003c/a>. But the “occurrence” continues until it is “corrected, or the division discovers the violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA did not appear to become aware of Golomb’s 2020 assault until she came forward with her story years later. Garrett Brown, a former field inspector who worked for more than two decades at Cal/OSHA, said regulators could still have examined Golomb’s attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hospital was legally required to file a violent incident report to state regulators within 72 hours, but Cal/OSHA has no record of the incident. Sutter Health acknowledged that it did not initially report Golomb’s assault or injury but said it did record the assault in an injury log filed with the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statute of limitations should be six months after Cal/OSHA became aware of the assault rather than when it occurred, Brown said, adding that it’s “outrageous” and “pisses him off” that it didn’t look at Golomb’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health said it has the appropriate safeguards in place, follows state guidelines and is \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1738851.015\">contesting both citations.\u003c/a> Cal/OSHA declined to comment further because of that appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Sutter spokesperson told KQED in a statement that providing a safe place for employees to work and patients to receive care is the hospital’s top priority. “We continually reevaluate our procedures and facilities to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The citations felt like a slap on the wrist for Sutter, Golomb said, and the hospital’s appeal was like a slap across her face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997089 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250310_Dani-Golomb_DMB_00203_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Dani Golomb poses for a portrait in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Park on Monday, March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Seeing this was just like, ‘Oh, right, nobody cares about enforcement,’” she said. “And I don’t mean nobody cares about me. I mean, nobody cares about the safety of workers and poor patients.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the problem is what Brown calls an “outrageous understaffing” of Cal/OSHA inspectors, with only two individuals who are charged with overseeing all of San Francisco’s workplaces, according to a Cal/OSHA organization chart dated the first of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district manager is under enormous pressure to open, close, open, close, open, close the inspections because there’s this stack that grows every day of complaints and accidents that report,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Lopez, Cal/OSHA’s communications deputy director, pushed back and said in a statement the number of available inspectors does not determine the pace of an investigation. “Timely enforcement is critical, as these cases often involve serious safety concerns that affect both employers and workers,” he said. “Cal/OSHA prioritizes inspection activities based on the greatest risk to employees, responding to imminent hazards, fatalities, serious injury and illnesses and serious complaints.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez added that Cal/OSHA recently hired an associate safety engineer, noting that San Francisco is a particularly competitive market and the agency is “actively” recruiting to fill three remaining vacancies in its office. “The division’s vacancy rate is among the lowest it has been in several years,” he said, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/DOSH-Recruitment-Hiring.html\">pointing to a fact sheet that pegged it at 13%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2014, California health care facilities have been subject to the nation’s strongest workplace violence regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California Sen. Alex Padilla, when he was a state lawmaker, crafted the rules with SB 1299 “to help ensure safer working environments for the nurses and doctors who provide critical care for our communities, but it’s clear that more needs to be done to build on our efforts,” he told KQED in a statement. “Physicians on the frontlines of our mental health crisis deserve a safe workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Nurses Association, which sponsored the legislation, has since criticized the state’s enforcement and hospitals for underreporting violent incidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb pushed for accountability another way, thrusting herself into an organizing effort with her coworkers and leading residents to push for stronger protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb and her resident colleagues joined the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union, and engaged in contentious bargaining with Sutter Health over demands for, among other things, 24-hour security in the inpatient psych unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989597/assault-on-psych-doctor-spurs-call-for-california-health-system-to-boost-safety\">urged Sutter Health in a letter addressed to its leadership\u003c/a> to step up safety measures. “Health care workers who keep us safe and healthy deserve safety in their workplace, too,” then-Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said last June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last October, the residents and Sutter agreed to a contract, which included increased salaries and housing stipends, as well as an education fund to cover conferences and other professional development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1997093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1997093 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/240209-HospitalViolence-29-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident at CPMC Sutter Davies Campus, holds a piece of pottery she made at her home in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. Golomb makes art as a coping mechanism after experiencing workplace violence incidents where patients have attacked staff. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the union failed to secure one key demand: round-the-clock security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb said it is hard not to feel disappointed. “A big piece of it is in the institutions,” she said. “But a part of me wants to say to myself, ‘Did I not fight hard enough?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She cannot remember what she first envisioned residency to be like. She certainly did not imagine she would have endured such a horrific assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One that could have ended my career in medicine. Then to have a brain that has changed because of it,” she said. “I’ve come such a long way in my recovery, but I also feel that experience has made me even more clear about what my beliefs are in practicing medicine and the kind of doctor I want to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s counting the days until she graduates at the end of June. She’ll take time off before starting a private practice in San Francisco, not too far from California Pacific Medical Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very exciting,” Golomb said. “But it’s very much like being a senior in high school and you’re just like, ‘Come on, let’s go.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "‘Hottest Event of the Year’: Bay Area Braces for Elevated Heat — and High Tides, Too",
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"headTitle": "‘Hottest Event of the Year’: Bay Area Braces for Elevated Heat — and High Tides, Too | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After milder weather over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041463/memorial-day-weekend-weather-wont-feel-summer-much-bay-area\">Memorial Day weekend\u003c/a>, the Bay Area is forecast to see its hottest temperatures of the year later this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With highs pushing triple digits in the warmest parts of the region on Friday, National Weather Service meteorologists are encouraging residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996980/californias-snowpack-shrinks-igniting-concerns-of-early-wildfires\">prepare for wildfire risk\u003c/a> and moderate to major heat risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters also warned of minor flooding risks along the bay shoreline on Tuesday night, due to high tides expected to peak at 6.88 feet around midnight. The flooding isn’t supposed to be as impactful as a king tide. Still, the perigean spring tides — due to the moon being in the new phase and closest to Earth — will bring “nuisance flooding with impacts mainly for the lowest lying locations,” according to the weather service’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=CI&glossary=1&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&site=MTR&version=1\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s “Embarcadero may experience a little bit of flooding and places in the North Bay along the San Pablo Bay,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As temperatures begin to rise, the interior parts of the Bay Area will see moderate heat risk and localized areas across portions of the North Bay, the interior mountains, the East Bay hills and the interior Central Coast could see major heat risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994662\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-800x516.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-768x495.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1536x991.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1920x1238.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two women play in the water at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in Pleasanton, California, on Aug. 17, 2015. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect temperatures to peak on Friday, with interior valleys reaching the mid-90s to 106 degrees. It’s expected to reach 99 degrees in Concord and Livermore, and places like Cloverdale and Healdsburg could experience triple-digit heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re forecasting it to be the hottest event of the year currently, but if anything, we’ll likely be issuing advisories for the interior areas either later today or during the overnight shift,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will remain hot on Saturday with highs in the middle to upper 90s. Gass said the warm temperatures will also bring elevated fire weather concerns on Friday into Saturday, as daytime relative humidity will be in the low teens and only slightly rise overnight above 2,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Across the warmest areas, we urge people to take breaks during the hottest time of the day, make sure you have access to shady locations, and never leave pets or children in a car unattended,” Gass said.[aside postID=science_1996948 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/05/20250519_SICKPELICANS_GC-38-KQED-1020x680.jpg']If the marine layer compresses enough, Gass said San Francisco could also warm up. The service’s forecast discussion suggests that “a lack of stronger offshore flow will keep coastal areas in check. However, they`ll still be warm, but not in an impactful way with max temps in the upper 60s to mid-80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the marine layer doesn’t keep us cool, we could see moderate risk extend into the city, but we’re still evaluating that,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UCLA, said the warm-up might be a preview of what could be a very hot summer statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last couple of days in May and the first couple of days in June look particularly hot, including in Northern California and the Bay Area, than they have so far this season,” Swain said during his semi-regular \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZeJxLF36U\">YouTube office hours\u003c/a> on Friday. “The rest of California and the West and Southwest will be quite toasty as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said a hot summer, if it materializes, would exacerbate drought conditions across much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The West is mostly in drought,” he said.”Most of these droughts are going to get worse before they get better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters are also paying attention to late next week when a low-pressure system, if it sets up, could bring isolated showers to the Sierra Nevada and Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of scenario could produce some lightning or even the potential for an isolated dry or thunderstorm or two if it were to come to fruition,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After milder weather over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041463/memorial-day-weekend-weather-wont-feel-summer-much-bay-area\">Memorial Day weekend\u003c/a>, the Bay Area is forecast to see its hottest temperatures of the year later this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With highs pushing triple digits in the warmest parts of the region on Friday, National Weather Service meteorologists are encouraging residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996980/californias-snowpack-shrinks-igniting-concerns-of-early-wildfires\">prepare for wildfire risk\u003c/a> and moderate to major heat risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters also warned of minor flooding risks along the bay shoreline on Tuesday night, due to high tides expected to peak at 6.88 feet around midnight. The flooding isn’t supposed to be as impactful as a king tide. Still, the perigean spring tides — due to the moon being in the new phase and closest to Earth — will bring “nuisance flooding with impacts mainly for the lowest lying locations,” according to the weather service’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=CI&glossary=1&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&site=MTR&version=1\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s “Embarcadero may experience a little bit of flooding and places in the North Bay along the San Pablo Bay,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As temperatures begin to rise, the interior parts of the Bay Area will see moderate heat risk and localized areas across portions of the North Bay, the interior mountains, the East Bay hills and the interior Central Coast could see major heat risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994662\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-800x516.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-768x495.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1536x991.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/CaliforniaHeatWaveAP-1920x1238.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two women play in the water at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in Pleasanton, California, on Aug. 17, 2015. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect temperatures to peak on Friday, with interior valleys reaching the mid-90s to 106 degrees. It’s expected to reach 99 degrees in Concord and Livermore, and places like Cloverdale and Healdsburg could experience triple-digit heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re forecasting it to be the hottest event of the year currently, but if anything, we’ll likely be issuing advisories for the interior areas either later today or during the overnight shift,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will remain hot on Saturday with highs in the middle to upper 90s. Gass said the warm temperatures will also bring elevated fire weather concerns on Friday into Saturday, as daytime relative humidity will be in the low teens and only slightly rise overnight above 2,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Across the warmest areas, we urge people to take breaks during the hottest time of the day, make sure you have access to shady locations, and never leave pets or children in a car unattended,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If the marine layer compresses enough, Gass said San Francisco could also warm up. The service’s forecast discussion suggests that “a lack of stronger offshore flow will keep coastal areas in check. However, they`ll still be warm, but not in an impactful way with max temps in the upper 60s to mid-80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the marine layer doesn’t keep us cool, we could see moderate risk extend into the city, but we’re still evaluating that,” Gass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UCLA, said the warm-up might be a preview of what could be a very hot summer statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last couple of days in May and the first couple of days in June look particularly hot, including in Northern California and the Bay Area, than they have so far this season,” Swain said during his semi-regular \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZeJxLF36U\">YouTube office hours\u003c/a> on Friday. “The rest of California and the West and Southwest will be quite toasty as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said a hot summer, if it materializes, would exacerbate drought conditions across much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The West is mostly in drought,” he said.”Most of these droughts are going to get worse before they get better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters are also paying attention to late next week when a low-pressure system, if it sets up, could bring isolated showers to the Sierra Nevada and Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of scenario could produce some lightning or even the potential for an isolated dry or thunderstorm or two if it were to come to fruition,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>At least $60 million in federal funding for climate projects across the Bay Area is at risk, stalling efforts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029182/federal-policy-turmoil-threatens-californias-wildfire-prevention-efforts\">wildfire prevention\u003c/a> and other critical projects across the region amid the uncertainty, according to a new survey by Together Bay Area, which represents dozens of nonprofits, tribes and public agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the 28 respondents, which include water agencies, nonprofits, environmental consulting firms and public agencies, said the federal government froze their grants; many have no idea of their funding status because agency staffers aren’t communicating with them, and others are blindly billing for their projects with no assurance they will be reimbursed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funding limbo comes as the Trump administration has taken \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031373/a-radically-reshaped-epa-takes-its-toll-on-bay-area-environmental-justice-efforts\">drastic steps to reshape the Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a>, cut or freeze hundreds of grants and deemphasize programs that promote climate awareness. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the cuts will eliminate “forced discrimination programs” and “serve every American with equal dignity and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found out that nature-based solutions to the climate crisis are slowing down and stopping because of the federal administration’s orders,” said Annie Burke, the executive director of Together Bay Area. “That’s not a good thing. Climate change doesn’t care about what’s happening in Washington, D.C.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surveyed groups are spread across the nine Bay Area counties and Santa Cruz County; the climate projects in jeopardy include efforts to protect endangered fish species, adapt to wildfire risk and shield communities from the dangers of flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927406\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/IMG_0118-e1742855390118.jpg\" alt=\"A CalFire wildland crewmember uses a drip torch to light land on fire for a prescribed burn.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California fire officials say planning more burns safely could reduce catastrophic risks posed by wildfire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think this is just the beginning; every day, I’m getting emails from members saying there’s another million-dollar project that just got paused,” Burke said. “Overall, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and it’s making people stressed and uncertain about the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the surveyed leaders expressed hope that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012256/californias-10-billion-climate-bond-ahead-with-a-strong-lead\">$10 billion climate bond\u003c/a> passed by California voters in November could help fill in the potential funding gaps, but state officials aren’t sure all projects will exactly align with the bond’s goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Julie Alvis, deputy assistant secretary for administration at the California Natural Resources Agency, said around $2.7 billion will likely be available from the climate bond this year, but that won’t be certain until the state budget is finalized in July. Key areas for grants include safe drinking water, water infrastructure, wildfire prevention, clean energy and climate resilience, Alvis said.[aside postID=news_12027540 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/BayFarmShoreline_001_qed-1020x680.jpg']“We could see more applications coming in with more demand than resources available, which makes it difficult for organizations to compete given that there might be more projects in the mix to evaluate,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Coastal Conservancy is already accepting grant applications for wetland restoration projects, coastal flood risk management, public access and coastal resource protection. The agency will begin deciding on grants this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that we’re going to use the climate bond to just backfill any lost federal funds,” said Amy Hutzel, executive officer at the Coastal Conservancy. “To the extent that projects align with the state’s objectives, they could be competitive for climate bond funding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so much uncertainty over projects that had been planned for years, Burke said this is a moment for California and private funders to help organizations meet their missions, which play into the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going to save us is us working locally, regionally, to advocate for funding in Sacramento,” she said. “If we don’t think differently and organize differently, it’s going to set us back years, if not decades, in the work to adapt to and mitigate the climate crisis\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re in triage’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least $6 million for restoring native habitat for endangered salmon, mitigating flooding issues and reducing wildfire risk is in question, said Kellyx Nelson, executive director of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, which uses nature-based solutions for climate resilience and natural disaster mitigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t tell you exactly what the risk is because some of the greatest impact to us right now is uncertainty,” Nelson said. “Information is changing hour by hour, almost minute by minute. Some of it comes down to interpretation because it’s not even clear what’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_647328\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-647328\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1440x961.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1180x788.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-960x641.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kellyx Nelson, executive director of San Mateo County Resource Conservation District, stands next to a retention pond on land managed by flower grower Dave Repetto in San Mateo County, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Tara Lohan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Funding for local grants comes from various sources, including the Biden-era infrastructure act and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But federal agencies are either not communicating with her staff, were fired or don’t know the status of their grants, Nelson said, adding that there’s also confusion from unresolved lawsuits and federal firings or court decisions that “aren’t being recognized by the administration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For grants that Nelson knows aren’t frozen, her staff is billing for the projects, but she is hesitant to keep moving forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in triage,” she said. “We aren’t moving forward with something where a grant manager has said to us, ‘Don’t work on this.’ If we don’t hear from anybody, we’re moving forward. Then it’s scary because we’re moving forward and hoping that isn’t a concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996464\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996464\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1286\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-800x514.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1020x656.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-160x103.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-768x494.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1536x988.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1920x1235.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, south of San José, could lose $800,000 in funding for accessible trails designed for people with disabilities. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Open Space Authority Santa Clara Valley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Santa Clara County, south of San José, $800,000 in funds are at risk that would create trails for people with disabilities within the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996323/where-to-see-wildflowers-near-you-in-the-bay-area\">Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrea Mackenzie, general manager of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, said the team has already hired consultants, is designing the project and hopes to break ground in 2026. Though Congress had already approved the funds, she said she had not been able to get answers about the grant status from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, which did not reply to KQED for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Coyote Valley is one of the last undeveloped valley floors in the San Francisco Bay Area in one of the most diverse and fastest growing communities in the Bay Area,” she said. “It would be made accessible to people with disabilities in wheelchairs, with walkers, crutches and people who just can’t handle slopes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At least $60 million in federal funding for climate projects across the Bay Area is at risk, stalling efforts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029182/federal-policy-turmoil-threatens-californias-wildfire-prevention-efforts\">wildfire prevention\u003c/a> and other critical projects across the region amid the uncertainty, according to a new survey by Together Bay Area, which represents dozens of nonprofits, tribes and public agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the 28 respondents, which include water agencies, nonprofits, environmental consulting firms and public agencies, said the federal government froze their grants; many have no idea of their funding status because agency staffers aren’t communicating with them, and others are blindly billing for their projects with no assurance they will be reimbursed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funding limbo comes as the Trump administration has taken \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031373/a-radically-reshaped-epa-takes-its-toll-on-bay-area-environmental-justice-efforts\">drastic steps to reshape the Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a>, cut or freeze hundreds of grants and deemphasize programs that promote climate awareness. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the cuts will eliminate “forced discrimination programs” and “serve every American with equal dignity and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found out that nature-based solutions to the climate crisis are slowing down and stopping because of the federal administration’s orders,” said Annie Burke, the executive director of Together Bay Area. “That’s not a good thing. Climate change doesn’t care about what’s happening in Washington, D.C.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surveyed groups are spread across the nine Bay Area counties and Santa Cruz County; the climate projects in jeopardy include efforts to protect endangered fish species, adapt to wildfire risk and shield communities from the dangers of flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927406\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/IMG_0118-e1742855390118.jpg\" alt=\"A CalFire wildland crewmember uses a drip torch to light land on fire for a prescribed burn.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California fire officials say planning more burns safely could reduce catastrophic risks posed by wildfire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think this is just the beginning; every day, I’m getting emails from members saying there’s another million-dollar project that just got paused,” Burke said. “Overall, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and it’s making people stressed and uncertain about the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the surveyed leaders expressed hope that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012256/californias-10-billion-climate-bond-ahead-with-a-strong-lead\">$10 billion climate bond\u003c/a> passed by California voters in November could help fill in the potential funding gaps, but state officials aren’t sure all projects will exactly align with the bond’s goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Julie Alvis, deputy assistant secretary for administration at the California Natural Resources Agency, said around $2.7 billion will likely be available from the climate bond this year, but that won’t be certain until the state budget is finalized in July. Key areas for grants include safe drinking water, water infrastructure, wildfire prevention, clean energy and climate resilience, Alvis said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We could see more applications coming in with more demand than resources available, which makes it difficult for organizations to compete given that there might be more projects in the mix to evaluate,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Coastal Conservancy is already accepting grant applications for wetland restoration projects, coastal flood risk management, public access and coastal resource protection. The agency will begin deciding on grants this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that we’re going to use the climate bond to just backfill any lost federal funds,” said Amy Hutzel, executive officer at the Coastal Conservancy. “To the extent that projects align with the state’s objectives, they could be competitive for climate bond funding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so much uncertainty over projects that had been planned for years, Burke said this is a moment for California and private funders to help organizations meet their missions, which play into the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going to save us is us working locally, regionally, to advocate for funding in Sacramento,” she said. “If we don’t think differently and organize differently, it’s going to set us back years, if not decades, in the work to adapt to and mitigate the climate crisis\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re in triage’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least $6 million for restoring native habitat for endangered salmon, mitigating flooding issues and reducing wildfire risk is in question, said Kellyx Nelson, executive director of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, which uses nature-based solutions for climate resilience and natural disaster mitigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t tell you exactly what the risk is because some of the greatest impact to us right now is uncertainty,” Nelson said. “Information is changing hour by hour, almost minute by minute. Some of it comes down to interpretation because it’s not even clear what’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_647328\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-647328\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1440x961.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-1180x788.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/04/Tara-Lohan_2-960x641.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kellyx Nelson, executive director of San Mateo County Resource Conservation District, stands next to a retention pond on land managed by flower grower Dave Repetto in San Mateo County, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Tara Lohan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Funding for local grants comes from various sources, including the Biden-era infrastructure act and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But federal agencies are either not communicating with her staff, were fired or don’t know the status of their grants, Nelson said, adding that there’s also confusion from unresolved lawsuits and federal firings or court decisions that “aren’t being recognized by the administration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For grants that Nelson knows aren’t frozen, her staff is billing for the projects, but she is hesitant to keep moving forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in triage,” she said. “We aren’t moving forward with something where a grant manager has said to us, ‘Don’t work on this.’ If we don’t hear from anybody, we’re moving forward. Then it’s scary because we’re moving forward and hoping that isn’t a concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996464\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996464\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1286\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-800x514.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1020x656.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-160x103.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-768x494.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1536x988.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/CVAL-Rainbow-N.Perry-2024-04-2-1920x1235.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, south of San José, could lose $800,000 in funding for accessible trails designed for people with disabilities. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Open Space Authority Santa Clara Valley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Santa Clara County, south of San José, $800,000 in funds are at risk that would create trails for people with disabilities within the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996323/where-to-see-wildflowers-near-you-in-the-bay-area\">Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrea Mackenzie, general manager of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, said the team has already hired consultants, is designing the project and hopes to break ground in 2026. Though Congress had already approved the funds, she said she had not been able to get answers about the grant status from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, which did not reply to KQED for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Coyote Valley is one of the last undeveloped valley floors in the San Francisco Bay Area in one of the most diverse and fastest growing communities in the Bay Area,” she said. “It would be made accessible to people with disabilities in wheelchairs, with walkers, crutches and people who just can’t handle slopes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "lessons-from-elsewhere-managing-san-franciscos-stormwater-sewage-mess",
"title": "Lessons From Elsewhere: Managing San Francisco's Stormwater and Sewage Mess",
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"headTitle": "Lessons From Elsewhere: Managing San Francisco’s Stormwater and Sewage Mess | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco shares one nasty thing in common with New York, Chicago and Milwaukee. When big storms soak each city, \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop\">millions of gallons of stormwater and raw sewage pour\u003c/a> into nearby waterways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a legacy of how the cities were built over a century ago. Sewage and stormwater flow through the same pipes, and during large storms, the combined systems overflow, spilling into rivers, lakes and oceans. The federal government has mandated that the four cities clean up the water pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has spent billions of dollars to improve its system, but it has a long way to go, especially with the growing intensity of storms due to human-caused climate change. Water experts suggest the city can learn from the successes of other cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New York has invested in green infrastructure, turning its concrete jungle into a sponge to soak up water. Chicago and Milwaukee both dug massive tunnels deep in the earth to capture water flows while also leading the way with adaptation strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has upgraded parts of the combined sewer and stormwater system, installed collection boxes across the city and created hundreds of small green infrastructure projects, all to capture hundreds of millions of gallons of water annually, reducing overflows by 80% since the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996294\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A greener, safer corridor: Trees line the center median of Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco on Feb. 28, 2025, as part of a streetscape project that transformed the area with widened sidewalks, stormwater planters and redesigned intersections to enhance pedestrian safety and urban greenery. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most of the year, the system works well, treating all of the city’s wastewater with little issue. However, during the rainy season, the city discharges nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-05/3-24-cv-02594-city-county-san-francisco-complaint-2024-05-01.pdf\">2 billion gallons of sewage water\u003c/a> into the ocean and San Francisco Bay, according to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop\">Surfers and environmentalists\u003c/a> are pressing the city to reduce pollution further and say they avoid the ocean on rainy days because swimming in the murky water can lead to ear and skin infections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last winter, sewers spilled into the bay 15 times, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. In an email to KQED, city officials wrote that all its fixes “alone are not a solution for reducing the impact of the increasingly intense storms that climate change brings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996293 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Revitalizing a historic alley: Trees line Spofford Alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Feb. 28, 2025, as part of the Chinatown Spofford Living Alley project. The project includes flow-through planters that manage stormwater, pedestrian lighting for safety and bench seating for visitors to rest and take in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The dispute over water pollution in San Francisco reached the Supreme Court after the EPA alleged the city repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco sued in response, claiming the regulations were too vague. The conservative-leaning court \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029553/supreme-court-sides-with-san-francisco-against-epa-sewage-lawsuit\">largely sided with the city\u003c/a> in an opinion released in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no simple or cheap solution for San Francisco’s sewage woes, and no city has implemented a perfect fix, but Chicago, Milwaukee and New York’s efforts to soak up the rain provide a potential model for how to tackle the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chicago — ‘Waterways are cleaner than ever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chicago has a long history of water quality issues. In the late 1800s, the Chicago River was essentially the city’s latrine and flowed directly into Lake Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We soon started to see massive outbreaks of typhoid and other waterborne diseases,” said Karl Rockne, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. “We recognized that we had to do something here in Chicago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996291\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-768x483.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1536x966.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1920x1208.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grit and progress: Laborers pause for a photograph on Sept. 22, 1904, during construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal extension. Covered in drilling mud, they stand beside compressed air rock drills used to bore holes for explosives. Built from 1903 to 1907, the four-mile extension connected Lockport to Joliet, enabling full navigation from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River and replacing the aging I&M Canal. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To prevent sewage from reaching Lake Michigan, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=kSsrrKMwPzQ&feature=youtu.be\">reversed the river’s flow\u003c/a> on \u003ca href=\"https://mwrd.org/news/chicago-rivers-reversal-1900-was-engineering-triumph-transformed-our-city-chicago-sun-times\">Jan. 2, 1900\u003c/a>. The city later built an elaborate maze of sewers and treatment plants and by 1930, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.chipublib.org/fa-chicago-sewers-collection/#:~:text=Later%2C%20the%20establishment%20of%20the,most%20extensive%20in%20the%20world.\">Sewers Collection\u003c/a> at the Chicago Library, it had the most extensive system in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that was not enough, and in the 1970s, the Windy City still discharged sewage into waterways about 100 times a year. The federal government required Chicago to clean up its act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Chicago has reduced its smelly water issues by digging massive tunnels up to 300 feet below the Chicago River and others that flow around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12029553 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/08/cleaner-1180x787.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also captures runoff and sewage in three above-ground reservoirs, storing the water until it can be treated and released. The current system can store 11 billion gallons of water and will have the capacity to hold 17.5 billion gallons by 2029.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is working, but there is always going to be some storm that will create problems,” said Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “When the tunnels and reservoirs fill up, and you get another storm that takes you basically back to ground zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the city discharges about 10 times annually, about the same as San Francisco. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago hopes discharges will decrease when the new reservoir is finished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The pollution load has drastically decreased,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, assistant director of engineering for Chicago’s reclamation district. But storms are testing the system, he added, which was designed before the current effects of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996295\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/481300323_938424718481344_7313946279226847448_n-e1741972639259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1254\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Building Chicago’s infrastructure: Workers construct the Calumet Sag Sewer near 127th Street and the Little Calumet River on July 20, 1921. This vital project helped expand the city’s sewer system, supporting flood control and wastewater management in the growing region. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The waterways are cleaner than ever, but we still have flooding,” Fitzpatrick said. “So we realize [the tunnels and reservoirs] aren’t the only solution.” The agency also manages porous parking lots and hundreds of other projects that allow rainwater to infiltrate into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What can San Francisco learn from Chicago regarding reducing dirty flows? Garcia said tunnels are an “obvious thing to do,” but it is important to remember that Chicago has many times the open space and can store 16 times more water than San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPUC said digging tunnels would significantly raise water bills for San Franciscans. In a fact sheet, the agency wrote the 7-by-7 mile-wide city would need 13 miles of tunnels 24 feet in diameter to capture overflows just on the city’s bayside each year but noted it still wouldn’t prevent discharges “in the biggest storms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New York — ‘An all-the-above strategy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2005, the federal government cited New York City for violating the Clean Water Act because its sewer systems \u003ca href=\"https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/cso/nyc-cso\">spewed contaminated water\u003c/a> into Flushing Bay, Jamaica Bay and tributaries to the East River, Long Island Sound and Outer Harbor. Around 60% of New York City’s sewers are part of a combined system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Chicago, which sits on massive amounts of limestone that it was able to dig into, New York City has limited subterranean space, extensive underground infrastructure and a high water table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A living landscape: The green roof at Greenpoint Public Library in Brooklyn, New York, on March 7, 2025. Completed in 2020 as part of the library’s Environmental Education Center, the space features soil beds for horticultural programs, solar panels for renewable energy and permeable paving to manage rainwater sustainably. \u003ccite>(Jack Beal for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Big Apple has instead invested in more than 13,000 rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“New York City is not the first city to use green infrastructure, but it is the first city to broadly implement it specifically for this purpose of combined sewer overflow management,” said Bernice Rosenzweig\u003cstrong>, \u003c/strong>professor of environmental science at Sarah Lawrence College.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While New York still grapples with reducing its discharges, Rosenzweig thinks San Francisco can learn a lot from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996289\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/NYC_Map-e1741973347558.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1355\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mapping sustainability: The Green Infrastructure Program map, created by New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, offers an interactive tool for users to explore green infrastructure projects across the city’s five boroughs, highlighting efforts to manage stormwater and promote environmental resilience. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of New York City Department of Environmental Protection)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“New York City and San Francisco have a lot of similarities,” Rosenzweig said — even though New York’s population is more than 10 times bigger. “They’re some of the densest communities in the United States, and they both rely on subterranean infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building green infrastructure has the effect of punching “holes” in the hard concrete landscape to “create sponges” so rainwater can be absorbed into the ground, said Jennifer Cherrier, an earth and environmental sciences professor at City University of New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city isn’t relying solely on green infrastructure; it also has plans that include holding tanks, sewer improvements and marsh restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996290 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"659\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1020x336.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-768x253.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1536x506.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1920x633.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nature’s solutions: (Left) A rain garden at Saint Mary’s Park in the Bronx, New York, in March 2025, captures runoff from the recreation center’s roof, gradually releasing it to irrigate the garden while easing the strain on the city’s drainage system. The curb cuts direct water from the pavement into the ground. (Right) Snowdrops bloom in a rain garden beside permeable pavers at the Gil Hodges Community Garden in Brooklyn, New York, in March 2025. This rain garden, paired with permeable pavers, captures and reuses over 285,000 gallons of rainwater annually, promoting sustainable stormwater management. \u003ccite>(Jack Beal for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our waters are getting a lot cleaner,” Cherrier said. “We have great white shark nursery grounds showing up again. We have had whales underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the advocacy group Save the Sound estimates that more than 21 billion gallons of raw sewage enter New York City’s coastal waters annually, more than 10 times that of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really do need an all-of-the-above strategy, and the strategies that are implemented are going to vary across the city,” Rosenzweig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Milwaukee — ‘Every drop of water counts’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At the height of a water quality crisis in the 1970s, Milwaukee poured millions of gallons of sewage and stormwater into Lake Michigan an average of 60 times a year. Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, described the rivers in the region “as big, open sewers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, over time, the city brought down the number of discharges; last year, it had only one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal was zero, and we had one,” Shafer said. “That’s not good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996284 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1121\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-800x448.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1020x572.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1536x861.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1920x1076.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lessons from Chicago’s infrastructure: The McCook Reservoir, stages 1 and 2, part of Chicago’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), photographed on May 15, 2023, during excavation. This critical infrastructure project is designed to prevent pollution and manage stormwater, helping to protect the city from flooding and improve water quality. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dan Wendt/MWRDGC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Milwaukee applied the strategies pioneered in Chicago, digging miles of deep tunnels. It’s also developed more green infrastructure, like New York, transforming more than 5 square miles of land into a watershed and deploying rain barrels and green roofs to capture billions of gallons of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tunnels are the backbone of everything we do,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also sends alerts for residents to reduce water use during storms to “preserve the tunnels for the big events by cutting off the water at the surface.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996321 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A step toward sustainability: A green infrastructure installation at San Francisco State University on Feb. 28, 2025, outside the science building. This basin captures and infiltrates stormwater through a spillway, channeling runoff into a swale that directs water to an outlet drain, enhancing the campus’s resilience to heavy rainfall. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When we started it, we were laughed at,” Shafer said. “Now we have people actively signing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPUC said San Francisco’s water use is low compared to other cities, and the city has enough capacity to not issue household alerts. “We’re more worried about the rain coming down rather than people flushing their toilets; we can generally handle that,” said Joel Prather, the SFPUC’s assistant general manager for wastewater enterprise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Shafer understands San Francisco is geographically different, he thinks the city could learn from Milwaukee’s success at reducing pollution in Lake Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think you have to take this approach that every drop of water counts, no matter where it hits the surface,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco’s aging sewer system overflows during storms, polluting the ocean and bay. Other big cities have tackled the issue with tunnels, green development and holistic water management. ",
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"title": "Lessons From Elsewhere: Managing San Francisco's Stormwater and Sewage Mess | KQED",
"description": "San Francisco’s aging sewer system overflows during storms, polluting the ocean and bay. Other big cities have tackled the issue with tunnels, green development and holistic water management. ",
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"headline": "Lessons From Elsewhere: Managing San Francisco's Stormwater and Sewage Mess",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco shares one nasty thing in common with New York, Chicago and Milwaukee. When big storms soak each city, \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop\">millions of gallons of stormwater and raw sewage pour\u003c/a> into nearby waterways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a legacy of how the cities were built over a century ago. Sewage and stormwater flow through the same pipes, and during large storms, the combined systems overflow, spilling into rivers, lakes and oceans. The federal government has mandated that the four cities clean up the water pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has spent billions of dollars to improve its system, but it has a long way to go, especially with the growing intensity of storms due to human-caused climate change. Water experts suggest the city can learn from the successes of other cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New York has invested in green infrastructure, turning its concrete jungle into a sponge to soak up water. Chicago and Milwaukee both dug massive tunnels deep in the earth to capture water flows while also leading the way with adaptation strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has upgraded parts of the combined sewer and stormwater system, installed collection boxes across the city and created hundreds of small green infrastructure projects, all to capture hundreds of millions of gallons of water annually, reducing overflows by 80% since the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996294\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A greener, safer corridor: Trees line the center median of Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco on Feb. 28, 2025, as part of a streetscape project that transformed the area with widened sidewalks, stormwater planters and redesigned intersections to enhance pedestrian safety and urban greenery. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most of the year, the system works well, treating all of the city’s wastewater with little issue. However, during the rainy season, the city discharges nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-05/3-24-cv-02594-city-county-san-francisco-complaint-2024-05-01.pdf\">2 billion gallons of sewage water\u003c/a> into the ocean and San Francisco Bay, according to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop\">Surfers and environmentalists\u003c/a> are pressing the city to reduce pollution further and say they avoid the ocean on rainy days because swimming in the murky water can lead to ear and skin infections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last winter, sewers spilled into the bay 15 times, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. In an email to KQED, city officials wrote that all its fixes “alone are not a solution for reducing the impact of the increasingly intense storms that climate change brings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996293 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-37-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Revitalizing a historic alley: Trees line Spofford Alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Feb. 28, 2025, as part of the Chinatown Spofford Living Alley project. The project includes flow-through planters that manage stormwater, pedestrian lighting for safety and bench seating for visitors to rest and take in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The dispute over water pollution in San Francisco reached the Supreme Court after the EPA alleged the city repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco sued in response, claiming the regulations were too vague. The conservative-leaning court \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029553/supreme-court-sides-with-san-francisco-against-epa-sewage-lawsuit\">largely sided with the city\u003c/a> in an opinion released in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no simple or cheap solution for San Francisco’s sewage woes, and no city has implemented a perfect fix, but Chicago, Milwaukee and New York’s efforts to soak up the rain provide a potential model for how to tackle the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chicago — ‘Waterways are cleaner than ever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chicago has a long history of water quality issues. In the late 1800s, the Chicago River was essentially the city’s latrine and flowed directly into Lake Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We soon started to see massive outbreaks of typhoid and other waterborne diseases,” said Karl Rockne, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. “We recognized that we had to do something here in Chicago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996291\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-768x483.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1536x966.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0201_daily_historical_1904_0922_2958_000-1920x1208.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grit and progress: Laborers pause for a photograph on Sept. 22, 1904, during construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal extension. Covered in drilling mud, they stand beside compressed air rock drills used to bore holes for explosives. Built from 1903 to 1907, the four-mile extension connected Lockport to Joliet, enabling full navigation from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River and replacing the aging I&M Canal. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To prevent sewage from reaching Lake Michigan, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=kSsrrKMwPzQ&feature=youtu.be\">reversed the river’s flow\u003c/a> on \u003ca href=\"https://mwrd.org/news/chicago-rivers-reversal-1900-was-engineering-triumph-transformed-our-city-chicago-sun-times\">Jan. 2, 1900\u003c/a>. The city later built an elaborate maze of sewers and treatment plants and by 1930, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.chipublib.org/fa-chicago-sewers-collection/#:~:text=Later%2C%20the%20establishment%20of%20the,most%20extensive%20in%20the%20world.\">Sewers Collection\u003c/a> at the Chicago Library, it had the most extensive system in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that was not enough, and in the 1970s, the Windy City still discharged sewage into waterways about 100 times a year. The federal government required Chicago to clean up its act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Chicago has reduced its smelly water issues by digging massive tunnels up to 300 feet below the Chicago River and others that flow around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also captures runoff and sewage in three above-ground reservoirs, storing the water until it can be treated and released. The current system can store 11 billion gallons of water and will have the capacity to hold 17.5 billion gallons by 2029.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is working, but there is always going to be some storm that will create problems,” said Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “When the tunnels and reservoirs fill up, and you get another storm that takes you basically back to ground zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the city discharges about 10 times annually, about the same as San Francisco. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago hopes discharges will decrease when the new reservoir is finished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The pollution load has drastically decreased,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, assistant director of engineering for Chicago’s reclamation district. But storms are testing the system, he added, which was designed before the current effects of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996295\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/481300323_938424718481344_7313946279226847448_n-e1741972639259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1254\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Building Chicago’s infrastructure: Workers construct the Calumet Sag Sewer near 127th Street and the Little Calumet River on July 20, 1921. This vital project helped expand the city’s sewer system, supporting flood control and wastewater management in the growing region. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The waterways are cleaner than ever, but we still have flooding,” Fitzpatrick said. “So we realize [the tunnels and reservoirs] aren’t the only solution.” The agency also manages porous parking lots and hundreds of other projects that allow rainwater to infiltrate into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What can San Francisco learn from Chicago regarding reducing dirty flows? Garcia said tunnels are an “obvious thing to do,” but it is important to remember that Chicago has many times the open space and can store 16 times more water than San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPUC said digging tunnels would significantly raise water bills for San Franciscans. In a fact sheet, the agency wrote the 7-by-7 mile-wide city would need 13 miles of tunnels 24 feet in diameter to capture overflows just on the city’s bayside each year but noted it still wouldn’t prevent discharges “in the biggest storms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New York — ‘An all-the-above strategy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2005, the federal government cited New York City for violating the Clean Water Act because its sewer systems \u003ca href=\"https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/cso/nyc-cso\">spewed contaminated water\u003c/a> into Flushing Bay, Jamaica Bay and tributaries to the East River, Long Island Sound and Outer Harbor. Around 60% of New York City’s sewers are part of a combined system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Chicago, which sits on massive amounts of limestone that it was able to dig into, New York City has limited subterranean space, extensive underground infrastructure and a high water table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_254-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A living landscape: The green roof at Greenpoint Public Library in Brooklyn, New York, on March 7, 2025. Completed in 2020 as part of the library’s Environmental Education Center, the space features soil beds for horticultural programs, solar panels for renewable energy and permeable paving to manage rainwater sustainably. \u003ccite>(Jack Beal for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Big Apple has instead invested in more than 13,000 rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“New York City is not the first city to use green infrastructure, but it is the first city to broadly implement it specifically for this purpose of combined sewer overflow management,” said Bernice Rosenzweig\u003cstrong>, \u003c/strong>professor of environmental science at Sarah Lawrence College.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While New York still grapples with reducing its discharges, Rosenzweig thinks San Francisco can learn a lot from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996289\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/NYC_Map-e1741973347558.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1355\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mapping sustainability: The Green Infrastructure Program map, created by New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, offers an interactive tool for users to explore green infrastructure projects across the city’s five boroughs, highlighting efforts to manage stormwater and promote environmental resilience. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of New York City Department of Environmental Protection)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“New York City and San Francisco have a lot of similarities,” Rosenzweig said — even though New York’s population is more than 10 times bigger. “They’re some of the densest communities in the United States, and they both rely on subterranean infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building green infrastructure has the effect of punching “holes” in the hard concrete landscape to “create sponges” so rainwater can be absorbed into the ground, said Jennifer Cherrier, an earth and environmental sciences professor at City University of New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city isn’t relying solely on green infrastructure; it also has plans that include holding tanks, sewer improvements and marsh restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996290 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"659\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1020x336.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-768x253.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1536x506.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/20250307_Water-Cities_JB_121_duo-1920x633.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nature’s solutions: (Left) A rain garden at Saint Mary’s Park in the Bronx, New York, in March 2025, captures runoff from the recreation center’s roof, gradually releasing it to irrigate the garden while easing the strain on the city’s drainage system. The curb cuts direct water from the pavement into the ground. (Right) Snowdrops bloom in a rain garden beside permeable pavers at the Gil Hodges Community Garden in Brooklyn, New York, in March 2025. This rain garden, paired with permeable pavers, captures and reuses over 285,000 gallons of rainwater annually, promoting sustainable stormwater management. \u003ccite>(Jack Beal for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our waters are getting a lot cleaner,” Cherrier said. “We have great white shark nursery grounds showing up again. We have had whales underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the advocacy group Save the Sound estimates that more than 21 billion gallons of raw sewage enter New York City’s coastal waters annually, more than 10 times that of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really do need an all-of-the-above strategy, and the strategies that are implemented are going to vary across the city,” Rosenzweig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Milwaukee — ‘Every drop of water counts’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At the height of a water quality crisis in the 1970s, Milwaukee poured millions of gallons of sewage and stormwater into Lake Michigan an average of 60 times a year. Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, described the rivers in the region “as big, open sewers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, over time, the city brought down the number of discharges; last year, it had only one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal was zero, and we had one,” Shafer said. “That’s not good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996284 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1121\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-800x448.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1020x572.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1536x861.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/23-0515_0005-1920x1076.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lessons from Chicago’s infrastructure: The McCook Reservoir, stages 1 and 2, part of Chicago’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), photographed on May 15, 2023, during excavation. This critical infrastructure project is designed to prevent pollution and manage stormwater, helping to protect the city from flooding and improve water quality. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dan Wendt/MWRDGC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Milwaukee applied the strategies pioneered in Chicago, digging miles of deep tunnels. It’s also developed more green infrastructure, like New York, transforming more than 5 square miles of land into a watershed and deploying rain barrels and green roofs to capture billions of gallons of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tunnels are the backbone of everything we do,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also sends alerts for residents to reduce water use during storms to “preserve the tunnels for the big events by cutting off the water at the surface.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1996321 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/03/250228-WaterCitiesSF-19-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A step toward sustainability: A green infrastructure installation at San Francisco State University on Feb. 28, 2025, outside the science building. This basin captures and infiltrates stormwater through a spillway, channeling runoff into a swale that directs water to an outlet drain, enhancing the campus’s resilience to heavy rainfall. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When we started it, we were laughed at,” Shafer said. “Now we have people actively signing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPUC said San Francisco’s water use is low compared to other cities, and the city has enough capacity to not issue household alerts. “We’re more worried about the rain coming down rather than people flushing their toilets; we can generally handle that,” said Joel Prather, the SFPUC’s assistant general manager for wastewater enterprise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Shafer understands San Francisco is geographically different, he thinks the city could learn from Milwaukee’s success at reducing pollution in Lake Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think you have to take this approach that every drop of water counts, no matter where it hits the surface,” he said.\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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