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"title": "Newsom Awarded the No-Bid Vaccine Contract to Blue Shield, a Trusted and Generous Supporter",
"headTitle": "Newsom Awarded the No-Bid Vaccine Contract to Blue Shield, a Trusted and Generous Supporter | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Gavin Newsom was just making a name for himself as mayor of San Francisco in 2005 when Blue Shield of California wrote him its first major check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young, business-friendly Democrat had exploded onto the national scene the year before by issuing same-sex marriage licenses in San Francisco, and he was pushing his next big idea, called Project Homeless Connect. The initiative would host bazaar-style events in neighborhoods across the city, linking homeless people to services like food assistance and health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom needed financial support from businesses, and Blue Shield answered with a $25,000 contribution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next 16 years, as Newsom’s political career flourished, the health insurance behemoth became one of his most generous and trusted supporters. It contributed nearly $23 million to Newsom’s campaigns and special causes, according to a California Healthline analysis of political and charitable contributions. Of that, nearly 90% has funded the homelessness initiatives that critics and allies say are dearest to Newsom’s heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, elected governor in 2018, in turn has rewarded Blue Shield and its executives with positions of power during the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 56,000 Californians’ lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing \u003ca href=\"https://khn.org/news/article/vaccination-chaos-fuels-push-to-recall-newsom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mounting criticism\u003c/a> early this year over the chaotic COVID-19 vaccination rollout and a growing recall effort to remove him from office, Newsom gave the insurer a $15 million, no-bid \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/contracts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contract\u003c/a> to take over California’s life-or-death effort to quickly vaccinate its 40 million residents. Last spring, Newsom also enlisted Blue Shield’s CEO, Paul Markovich, to help steer the state’s coronavirus testing strategy, another component of the state’s pandemic response that had \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-04/gavin-newsom-california-coronavirus-testing-task-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">faltered\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Blue Shield responded early and responded often,” and it was among the first to invest in Newsom’s controversial homelessness ideas, said Philip Mangano, who led homelessness policy under former President George W. Bush and now informally advises Newsom. “Gavin understood they could be depended on over the years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Newsom’s decision to rely on Blue Shield is backfiring. A growing number of public health officials and lawmakers say Blue Shield isn’t the right choice to coordinate the state’s vaccine distribution. And California’s counties, which are implementing the state’s coronavirus response, simply refuse to sign on with the insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s political future now hinges, in part, on how quickly Blue Shield — which is still charged with leading how vaccines are allocated — can get shots into Californians’ arms. The Republican-driven recall campaign slams him for his response to the pandemic and for violating his own public health recommendations when he\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-attended-French-Laundry-party-with-more-15725393.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> dined last fall\u003c/a> at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley with people from outside his household.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers say they have submitted 2.1 million signatures, and county election officials have until \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/recalls/newsom-calendar.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 29\u003c/a> to certify that at least 1.5 million are valid in order for the state to set a recall election this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield, which has already contributed $269,000 to a political account that Newsom could tap to fight a recall election, also declined multiple interview requests. But in an email, spokesperson Don Campbell said the Oakland-based company regularly supports candidates who share its mission of improving health care access and affordability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no financial or other benefit being bestowed upon, or accrued by, Blue Shield,” Campbell said. “Blue Shield was asked by the state to help with vaccines. Our reward is to help save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blue Shield Invested in Newsom’s Political Career Early\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield isn’t alone in donating to the governor and his projects. Other interest groups have given more, such as Silicon Valley’s Facebook and the health care giant Kaiser Permanente, which covers about one-quarter of the state’s population. (KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente is advising Blue Shield on vaccine distribution and has a special agreement with the state to vaccinate Californians — including patients outside its system. Kaiser Permanente also invested in homelessness projects in San Francisco after Newsom got them off the ground, and twice last year responded to Newsom’s pleas for corporate dollars to combat the state’s toughest crises: It gave $25 million to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/10/09/governor-newsom-announces-release-of-147-million-in-fourth-round-of-homekey-awards/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">state homelessness fund\u003c/a> set up by Newsom and $9.75 million to an immigrant COVID relief fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike Blue Shield, which gave $20 million to the homelessness fund, Kaiser Permanente has never donated to Newsom as a political candidate, according to local and state campaign records. Blue Shield has given to Newsom in every elected office he has held over the past 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how the game works. It’s just about standard influence peddling,” said David McCuan, a Sonoma State University political scientist. “What’s different here is the degree, or the depth of what [Blue Shield] has done under this governor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the company has funded Newsom and his policy initiatives in a way it hasn’t contributed to other politicians at the local or state level, records show, helping elevate him to higher office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield wrote its first check to Newsom for $500 in 2002, when the company was based in San Francisco and he was a city supervisor pushing an ambitious social welfare agenda to help both poor people and businesses that were growing impatient with the explosion of homeless people sleeping in front of their establishments and crowding hospital emergency rooms. It was Blue Shield’s only donation to a local political race in California that year, according to records with the secretary of state’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After he had ascended to the mayor’s office, 14 of Blue Shield’s top executives, including Markovich, contributed a combined $5,150 — on a single day, Aug. 22, 2007 — according to campaign statements filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission. The company’s contributions continued when he served as lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the company’s investment in Newsom soared during the 2018 gubernatorial race. Blue Shield and its executives contributed $71,550 to Newsom’s campaign, and the company partnered with powerful labor unions to form a special committee that allowed them to spend unlimited amounts of money on Newsom’s behalf. Blue Shield chipped in \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1394881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly $1 million\u003c/a> to that effort, and also gave $1 million to a committee formed by health industry groups to defeat one of Newsom’s primary opponents, then-state Treasurer John Chiang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Newsom won the election, Blue Shield contributed $100,000 to his inauguration celebration and cut a $50,000 check in his name to a charity supporting firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Newsom in office, Blue Shield focused on again giving to the governor’s deepest passion: homelessness. In January 2020, the same month Newsom promised to dedicate unprecedented resources to combating homelessness, Blue Shield announced its $20 million donation to his homelessness fund, which later transformed into “\u003ca href=\"https://www.bcsh.ca.gov/homekey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Homekey\u003c/a>.” That initiative is intended to finance the conversion of more than 6,000 hotel rooms across the state into housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one sector can solve the homelessness crisis alone,” Blue Shield quoted Newsom as saying in its Jan. 17, 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://news.blueshieldca.com/2020/01/17/newsom-homeless\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press release\u003c/a> announcing its donation. “It’s our collective responsibility to meet this moment with bold action and intentional leadership — and that’s exactly what Blue Shield’s leadership is doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/kkellyjanus/status/1222230500800110592?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The donation to Project Homekey came shortly before covid derailed Newsom’s sweeping health and homelessness agenda. But Newsom’s confidants say the relationship he forged with Blue Shield assured him that the company could quickly turn around the state’s troubled vaccination program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of their early investment, there was a level of trust — I would even say camaraderie — established going forward,” Mangano said. “Blue Shield took a risk way back when Gavin was becoming mayor. There are other organizations like Kaiser Permanente who have since staked out positions in support, but they weren’t there early and they weren’t the ones taking the greatest risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blue Shield Stands to Gain Enormous Prestige\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom announced that Blue Shield would take over California’s vaccine distribution, he emphasized the job would be in the hands of a nonprofit with an expansive provider network equipped to quickly get vaccines into arms. While it remains a nonprofit, the state\u003ca href=\"https://khn.org/news/blue-shield-of-california-loses-its-state-tax-exemption/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> stripped\u003c/a> Blue Shield of its tax-exempt status in 2014, alleging it operated much like a\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-audit-20150705-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> for-profit insurance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The insurer, which covers about 4 million Californians, took in $21 billion in revenue in 2019, the most recent year for which \u003ca href=\"https://www.blueshieldca.com/about/corporate-info/financial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data is available\u003c/a>, with net income of slightly more than $573 million. The same year, it paid Markovich $7.5 million, plus benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://healthinsuranceratings.ncqa.org/2019/HprPlandetails.aspx?id=4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Committee for Quality Assurance\u003c/a> has given Blue Shield a poor rating for efficient patient care. And on the chief job Newsom is asking it to do — getting vaccines to patients — Blue Shield is average, ranking 3 out of 5 in the national ranking on flu shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No other state appears to have delegated the vaccination job to an insurer, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. And because counties refuse to contract with Blue Shield, the Newsom administration is scrambling to give counties the option to work with the state government instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A growing number of state and local lawmakers are calling the deal a waste of taxpayer money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think having Blue Shield step in is going to get teachers vaccinated any quicker. I don’t think it’s going to get the 70-year-old Black folks vaccinated any quicker,” said state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sydneykamlager.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sydney Kamlager, \u003c/a>D-Los Angeles, adding that she has “more faith” in her local public health experts than in Blue Shield. “And they’re not doing it for free.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has insisted that the insurer won’t be allowed to profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But critics of the deal argue that even though Blue Shield isn’t technically allowed to make money off vaccinating Californians, the company stands to gain enormous prestige.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking over the program on March 1, Markovich has appeared in press conferences and the company has produced slick advertising urging Californians to get vaccinated. In \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/fTORbQOZe94\">one ad\u003c/a>, viewers are left with the image of the company’s blue logo on a black screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not about making money. This is about the marketing opportunity it represents. It’s huge,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-employee-suit-20151109-story.html\">Michael Johnson\u003c/a>, a Blue Shield \u003ca href=\"https://nonprofitaccountability.org/about-me\">whistleblower\u003c/a> who left his post as director of public policy in 2015. “The reason Blue Shield has been selected for this is not because of its capabilities, but because of its relationship with Newsom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Methodology\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How California Healthline compiled data about political and charitable spending by Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Political contributions: \u003c/strong>Blue Shield of California made direct contributions to Gavin Newsom’s personal campaign accounts for every political office he has held since 2002, when he served as a San Francisco supervisor. These contributions can be found on the \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California secretary of state’s\u003c/a> website or the \u003ca href=\"https://sfethics.org/disclosures/campaign-finance-disclosure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Ethics Commission\u003c/a> website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, Blue Shield has given large contributions to a ballot measure account run by the governor called “\u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1380675\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsom’s Ballot Measure Committee\u003c/a>,” which can accept unlimited amounts of money. Those contributions can be found on the California secretary of state’s website. And Blue Shield made sizable contributions, known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fppc.ca.gov/content/dam/fppc/NS-Documents/TAD/Campaign%2520Manuals/Manual_4/Manual_4_Ch_11_IE_Reporting.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">independent expenditures\u003c/a>,” to two ballot measure committees that benefited Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial bid. One, “Newsom for Governor 2018, Sponsored by Labor Organizations and \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1394881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blue Shield of California\u003c/a>,” was also supported by the Service Employees International Union and teachers, police and firefighters unions. The other, “\u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1400864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chiang for Governor 2018\u003c/a>; Health Care Providers for Fiscal Accountability Opposed to John,” also received contributions from the California Medical Association and California Dental Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Charitable contributions:\u003c/strong> Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente have made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fppc.ca.gov/transparency/behested-payments.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">behested payments\u003c/a>,” which are donations to charities and other nonprofit organizations in elected officials’ names. Blue Shield gave in Newsom’s name to “Project Homeless Connect” while he was mayor and “Project Homekey” as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente gave to Project Homekey and a state COVID immigrant relief fund in Newsom’s name. Behested payments to state elected officials are disclosed on the California Fair Political Practices Commission website, and behested payments to Newsom when he was mayor are on the San Francisco Ethics Commission website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by \u003ca href=\"http://khn.org/\">KHN\u003c/a>, which publishes \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiahealthline.org/\">California Healthline\u003c/a>, an editorially independent service of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">California Health Care Foundation\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ssl.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&ec=Republish&tid=UA-53070700-2&z=1616436837010&cid=1ecd769e-ebb7-4d24-87ee-3bc7e37e40ee&ea=https%3A%2F%2Fkhn.org%2Fnews%2Farticle%2Fblue-shield-spent-years-cultivating-a-relationship-with-newsom-it-got-the-state-vaccine-contract%2F&el=Blue%20Shield%20Spent%20Years%20Cultivating%20a%20Relationship%20with%20Newsom.%20It%20Got%20the%20State%20Vaccine%20Contract.\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gavin Newsom was just making a name for himself as mayor of San Francisco in 2005 when Blue Shield of California wrote him its first major check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young, business-friendly Democrat had exploded onto the national scene the year before by issuing same-sex marriage licenses in San Francisco, and he was pushing his next big idea, called Project Homeless Connect. The initiative would host bazaar-style events in neighborhoods across the city, linking homeless people to services like food assistance and health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom needed financial support from businesses, and Blue Shield answered with a $25,000 contribution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next 16 years, as Newsom’s political career flourished, the health insurance behemoth became one of his most generous and trusted supporters. It contributed nearly $23 million to Newsom’s campaigns and special causes, according to a California Healthline analysis of political and charitable contributions. Of that, nearly 90% has funded the homelessness initiatives that critics and allies say are dearest to Newsom’s heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, elected governor in 2018, in turn has rewarded Blue Shield and its executives with positions of power during the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 56,000 Californians’ lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing \u003ca href=\"https://khn.org/news/article/vaccination-chaos-fuels-push-to-recall-newsom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mounting criticism\u003c/a> early this year over the chaotic COVID-19 vaccination rollout and a growing recall effort to remove him from office, Newsom gave the insurer a $15 million, no-bid \u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/contracts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contract\u003c/a> to take over California’s life-or-death effort to quickly vaccinate its 40 million residents. Last spring, Newsom also enlisted Blue Shield’s CEO, Paul Markovich, to help steer the state’s coronavirus testing strategy, another component of the state’s pandemic response that had \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-04/gavin-newsom-california-coronavirus-testing-task-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">faltered\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Blue Shield responded early and responded often,” and it was among the first to invest in Newsom’s controversial homelessness ideas, said Philip Mangano, who led homelessness policy under former President George W. Bush and now informally advises Newsom. “Gavin understood they could be depended on over the years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Newsom’s decision to rely on Blue Shield is backfiring. A growing number of public health officials and lawmakers say Blue Shield isn’t the right choice to coordinate the state’s vaccine distribution. And California’s counties, which are implementing the state’s coronavirus response, simply refuse to sign on with the insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s political future now hinges, in part, on how quickly Blue Shield — which is still charged with leading how vaccines are allocated — can get shots into Californians’ arms. The Republican-driven recall campaign slams him for his response to the pandemic and for violating his own public health recommendations when he\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-attended-French-Laundry-party-with-more-15725393.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> dined last fall\u003c/a> at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley with people from outside his household.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers say they have submitted 2.1 million signatures, and county election officials have until \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/recalls/newsom-calendar.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 29\u003c/a> to certify that at least 1.5 million are valid in order for the state to set a recall election this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield, which has already contributed $269,000 to a political account that Newsom could tap to fight a recall election, also declined multiple interview requests. But in an email, spokesperson Don Campbell said the Oakland-based company regularly supports candidates who share its mission of improving health care access and affordability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no financial or other benefit being bestowed upon, or accrued by, Blue Shield,” Campbell said. “Blue Shield was asked by the state to help with vaccines. Our reward is to help save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blue Shield Invested in Newsom’s Political Career Early\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield isn’t alone in donating to the governor and his projects. Other interest groups have given more, such as Silicon Valley’s Facebook and the health care giant Kaiser Permanente, which covers about one-quarter of the state’s population. (KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente is advising Blue Shield on vaccine distribution and has a special agreement with the state to vaccinate Californians — including patients outside its system. Kaiser Permanente also invested in homelessness projects in San Francisco after Newsom got them off the ground, and twice last year responded to Newsom’s pleas for corporate dollars to combat the state’s toughest crises: It gave $25 million to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/10/09/governor-newsom-announces-release-of-147-million-in-fourth-round-of-homekey-awards/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">state homelessness fund\u003c/a> set up by Newsom and $9.75 million to an immigrant COVID relief fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike Blue Shield, which gave $20 million to the homelessness fund, Kaiser Permanente has never donated to Newsom as a political candidate, according to local and state campaign records. Blue Shield has given to Newsom in every elected office he has held over the past 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how the game works. It’s just about standard influence peddling,” said David McCuan, a Sonoma State University political scientist. “What’s different here is the degree, or the depth of what [Blue Shield] has done under this governor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the company has funded Newsom and his policy initiatives in a way it hasn’t contributed to other politicians at the local or state level, records show, helping elevate him to higher office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue Shield wrote its first check to Newsom for $500 in 2002, when the company was based in San Francisco and he was a city supervisor pushing an ambitious social welfare agenda to help both poor people and businesses that were growing impatient with the explosion of homeless people sleeping in front of their establishments and crowding hospital emergency rooms. It was Blue Shield’s only donation to a local political race in California that year, according to records with the secretary of state’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After he had ascended to the mayor’s office, 14 of Blue Shield’s top executives, including Markovich, contributed a combined $5,150 — on a single day, Aug. 22, 2007 — according to campaign statements filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission. The company’s contributions continued when he served as lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the company’s investment in Newsom soared during the 2018 gubernatorial race. Blue Shield and its executives contributed $71,550 to Newsom’s campaign, and the company partnered with powerful labor unions to form a special committee that allowed them to spend unlimited amounts of money on Newsom’s behalf. Blue Shield chipped in \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1394881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly $1 million\u003c/a> to that effort, and also gave $1 million to a committee formed by health industry groups to defeat one of Newsom’s primary opponents, then-state Treasurer John Chiang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Newsom won the election, Blue Shield contributed $100,000 to his inauguration celebration and cut a $50,000 check in his name to a charity supporting firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Newsom in office, Blue Shield focused on again giving to the governor’s deepest passion: homelessness. In January 2020, the same month Newsom promised to dedicate unprecedented resources to combating homelessness, Blue Shield announced its $20 million donation to his homelessness fund, which later transformed into “\u003ca href=\"https://www.bcsh.ca.gov/homekey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Homekey\u003c/a>.” That initiative is intended to finance the conversion of more than 6,000 hotel rooms across the state into housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one sector can solve the homelessness crisis alone,” Blue Shield quoted Newsom as saying in its Jan. 17, 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://news.blueshieldca.com/2020/01/17/newsom-homeless\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press release\u003c/a> announcing its donation. “It’s our collective responsibility to meet this moment with bold action and intentional leadership — and that’s exactly what Blue Shield’s leadership is doing.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The donation to Project Homekey came shortly before covid derailed Newsom’s sweeping health and homelessness agenda. But Newsom’s confidants say the relationship he forged with Blue Shield assured him that the company could quickly turn around the state’s troubled vaccination program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of their early investment, there was a level of trust — I would even say camaraderie — established going forward,” Mangano said. “Blue Shield took a risk way back when Gavin was becoming mayor. There are other organizations like Kaiser Permanente who have since staked out positions in support, but they weren’t there early and they weren’t the ones taking the greatest risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blue Shield Stands to Gain Enormous Prestige\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom announced that Blue Shield would take over California’s vaccine distribution, he emphasized the job would be in the hands of a nonprofit with an expansive provider network equipped to quickly get vaccines into arms. While it remains a nonprofit, the state\u003ca href=\"https://khn.org/news/blue-shield-of-california-loses-its-state-tax-exemption/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> stripped\u003c/a> Blue Shield of its tax-exempt status in 2014, alleging it operated much like a\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-audit-20150705-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> for-profit insurance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The insurer, which covers about 4 million Californians, took in $21 billion in revenue in 2019, the most recent year for which \u003ca href=\"https://www.blueshieldca.com/about/corporate-info/financial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data is available\u003c/a>, with net income of slightly more than $573 million. The same year, it paid Markovich $7.5 million, plus benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://healthinsuranceratings.ncqa.org/2019/HprPlandetails.aspx?id=4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Committee for Quality Assurance\u003c/a> has given Blue Shield a poor rating for efficient patient care. And on the chief job Newsom is asking it to do — getting vaccines to patients — Blue Shield is average, ranking 3 out of 5 in the national ranking on flu shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No other state appears to have delegated the vaccination job to an insurer, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. And because counties refuse to contract with Blue Shield, the Newsom administration is scrambling to give counties the option to work with the state government instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A growing number of state and local lawmakers are calling the deal a waste of taxpayer money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think having Blue Shield step in is going to get teachers vaccinated any quicker. I don’t think it’s going to get the 70-year-old Black folks vaccinated any quicker,” said state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sydneykamlager.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sydney Kamlager, \u003c/a>D-Los Angeles, adding that she has “more faith” in her local public health experts than in Blue Shield. “And they’re not doing it for free.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has insisted that the insurer won’t be allowed to profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But critics of the deal argue that even though Blue Shield isn’t technically allowed to make money off vaccinating Californians, the company stands to gain enormous prestige.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking over the program on March 1, Markovich has appeared in press conferences and the company has produced slick advertising urging Californians to get vaccinated. In \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/fTORbQOZe94\">one ad\u003c/a>, viewers are left with the image of the company’s blue logo on a black screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not about making money. This is about the marketing opportunity it represents. It’s huge,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-employee-suit-20151109-story.html\">Michael Johnson\u003c/a>, a Blue Shield \u003ca href=\"https://nonprofitaccountability.org/about-me\">whistleblower\u003c/a> who left his post as director of public policy in 2015. “The reason Blue Shield has been selected for this is not because of its capabilities, but because of its relationship with Newsom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Methodology\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How California Healthline compiled data about political and charitable spending by Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Political contributions: \u003c/strong>Blue Shield of California made direct contributions to Gavin Newsom’s personal campaign accounts for every political office he has held since 2002, when he served as a San Francisco supervisor. These contributions can be found on the \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California secretary of state’s\u003c/a> website or the \u003ca href=\"https://sfethics.org/disclosures/campaign-finance-disclosure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Ethics Commission\u003c/a> website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, Blue Shield has given large contributions to a ballot measure account run by the governor called “\u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1380675\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsom’s Ballot Measure Committee\u003c/a>,” which can accept unlimited amounts of money. Those contributions can be found on the California secretary of state’s website. And Blue Shield made sizable contributions, known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fppc.ca.gov/content/dam/fppc/NS-Documents/TAD/Campaign%2520Manuals/Manual_4/Manual_4_Ch_11_IE_Reporting.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">independent expenditures\u003c/a>,” to two ballot measure committees that benefited Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial bid. One, “Newsom for Governor 2018, Sponsored by Labor Organizations and \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1394881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blue Shield of California\u003c/a>,” was also supported by the Service Employees International Union and teachers, police and firefighters unions. The other, “\u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1400864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chiang for Governor 2018\u003c/a>; Health Care Providers for Fiscal Accountability Opposed to John,” also received contributions from the California Medical Association and California Dental Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Charitable contributions:\u003c/strong> Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente have made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.fppc.ca.gov/transparency/behested-payments.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">behested payments\u003c/a>,” which are donations to charities and other nonprofit organizations in elected officials’ names. Blue Shield gave in Newsom’s name to “Project Homeless Connect” while he was mayor and “Project Homekey” as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente gave to Project Homekey and a state COVID immigrant relief fund in Newsom’s name. Behested payments to state elected officials are disclosed on the California Fair Political Practices Commission website, and behested payments to Newsom when he was mayor are on the San Francisco Ethics Commission website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by \u003ca href=\"http://khn.org/\">KHN\u003c/a>, which publishes \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiahealthline.org/\">California Healthline\u003c/a>, an editorially independent service of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">California Health Care Foundation\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Cities Are Rushing to Ban Gas in New Homes. But the State Is Moving Slower",
"headTitle": "California Cities Are Rushing to Ban Gas in New Homes. But the State Is Moving Slower | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">The push to ban natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings has mushroomed in California since Berkeley passed the first prohibition in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Altogether, 21 municipalities in the state have passed measures to require all-electric construction, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/2019-building-energy-efficiency-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">tally\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, while an additional 19 discourage gas hookups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose have closed the spigot on natural gas by passing electric-only building mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists have sought to harness the momentum of decarbonization efforts, the declining cost of electric appliances, and the clamoring of Californians for the state to move more rapidly to reduce carbon emissions, which fuel climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All last year, the groups blitzed officials at the California Energy Commission in hopes of securing an electrification requirement in this year’s building code update, which goes into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Stakeholders began debating the update this month in a series of commission meetings, but a statewide natural gas ban sought by environmental groups appears increasingly unlikely after the commission circulated a proposal indicating a preference for incentivizing electric heat pumps rather than a gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The commission sent out a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=236877&DocumentContentId=70032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">summary\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of its planned tweaks and is collecting feedback from environmentalists and industry groups as it prepares to release a draft of its 2022 building code later this month in advance of a month-and-a-half-long rulemaking process. The commission is expected to vote on the plan this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While the summary indicates a willingness by the commission to require electrification for new construction, any new mandate will likely not be included in the building code until 2026 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Under the commission’s proposed plan, new homes must be “electric ready,” which means stoves, furnaces, dryers and other appliances that run on gas must have an electric plug installed within 3 feet, with the home’s electrical panel required to include capacity for the future installation of electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Title 24 updates, as the code revisions are known, occur every three years. The 2019 version, which included a requirement that all newly constructed buildings have solar panels, went into effect in 2020, and developers and builders say they are still scrambling to catch up to that particular rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a statewide building labor group is opposing a bill from a Silicon Valley lawmaker that would ban natural gas in new state buildings. In an opposition letter, the group called it a “part of a concerted extremist political agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional critics of these anti-gas policies include other gas industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-06/switching-to-all-electric-homes-in-california-would-be-a-mistake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">groups\u003c/a> as well as Southern California Gas Co. and the California Restaurant Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Labor Takes Aim at Decarbonization Package\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To hear first-term state Sen. David Cortese tell it, when he started on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors more than a decade ago, the county wasn’t far into its transition to clean energy.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, every school district in the area had made more progress than at the county level, he says. Santa Clara had no environmental stewardship goals, no big solar farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We didn’t even have one of those [solar pilot projects] in the parking lot,” said Cortese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed, Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-lawmakers-declare-a-climate-emergency/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">declared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a climate emergency in 2019 and has built four major solar farms, pushing aggressively toward 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese says he was able to work quickly passing ambitious climate policies with a five-member Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was the president, but any member could just bring an initiative, any Tuesday,” he said. “We didn’t even have a bill deadline. If I had three votes, which I generally did, we could move something that’s the first of its kind in the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quickly learned the situation was different in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By California tradition, freshman legislators introduce their first bill on their first day, and Cortese figured he’d make a splash with a package of climate bills centered on decarbonization, channeling the progress of cities pushing similar plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB30\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">SB 30\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, would ban natural gas in newly constructed state buildings beginning next year and require the state to have a plan for decarbonizing all of its existing buildings by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 31\u003c/a>, would create new building decarbonization programs with a focus on providing opportunities for low-income customers. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 32\u003c/a> would require cities to update their general plans with defined targets for decarbonization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passage of the bills would send a market signal that decarbonization in new buildings is a priority, and would allow the state to prove that the economics of making them greener can work before imposing the policy on the private market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a small-bore change is too little to meet the climate emergency, environmentalists say: California controls about 16 million square feet of state-owned and leased office space in Sacramento, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Resources/Page-Content/Real-Estate-Services-Division-Resources-List-Folder/State-Facility-Long-Range-Planning-Study\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a 2015 assessment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, including 24 office buildings.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet despite its relatively small scope, Cortese’s plan was met with immediate derision from organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeremy Smith, deputy legislative director of the State Building & Construction Trades Council, penned a fiery letter to the Legislature, describing the bills “as part of a concerted extremist political agenda aimed at irresponsibly phasing out natural gas from the state’s already unstable and strained energy portfolio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Robbie Hunter, the group’s president, says the opposition stems from a “big problem of imbalance in the state,” pointing to August’s rolling blackouts, when about 800,000 Californians went without power for a few hours during a searing heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter’s analysis is that state officials are squeezing Californians from two sides. On the one hand, California is pushing electric cars and “driving up the need for more electricity,” while at the same time “moving against the requirement of gas turbine plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consumers drive up the need, while you’re reducing the ability to create an electricity baseload,” he said. “The system is far out of whack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Another powerful player, the California Building Industry Association, expressed concern to Cortese about potential impacts on “ratepayers, construction costs and grid reliability,” according to Christopher Ochoa, a senior attorney with the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only have a climate crisis, we have a housing crisis as well,” he said. “Whether it’s housing inventory, affordability or homelessness. How do you balance the costs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>‘This is Either a Climate Emergency or It’s Not’ \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While industry groups blame the state’s reliance on renewable energy for last summer’s power outage during a blistering heat wave, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">postmortem\u003c/span>\u003c/a> conducted by three state agencies attributed\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>the problem to the failure of energy planners to fully anticipate the impact climate change could have on the grid. The analysis found that the state had not lined up enough resources to meet demand during an event that crippled the entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California faces increasing energy challenges and strains on its power grid from many directions — transportation electrification, wildfires, increasing temperatures, fossil fuel plant decommissioning, and the state’s goal for reaching carbon neutrality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Federico, executive director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, says the state needs to address these challenges holistically rather than cling to fossil fuels, which contribute to the kind of extreme heat that creates disruptions like the one to the grid last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points out that electrification can’t happen overnight given how long it takes for building stock to turn over. “That is why we need aggressive programs starting now,” she wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building electrification is relatively low-tech compared to other technologies for achieving carbon neutrality — we know how to do it, it’s been done in many places, and it’s a critical element of achieving our carbon neutral goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cortese was more blunt: “Look, this is either a climate emergency or it’s not. If this isn’t the equivalent of a pandemic happening on the greenhouse gas front, then stop now. But it is a problem. It’s a problem I’m committed to solving. If that’s the case, you can’t kick these things to the next two-year session. Buying time is not a good strategy right now. The good strategy is all hands on deck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Opposition Letter\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The building trade’s opposition letter arrived within a week of Cortese taking office, and it contained a key mischaracterization of his bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith’s letter said, “This bill would prohibit construction of new state, residential, or commercial buildings that have natural gas connections.” The legislation, however, would only apply to state buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Percolating behind Cortese’s bills and Hunter’s opposition letter is the effort to ban gas in the statewide building code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But energy commission officials and draft documents seem to indicate, a few years after requiring solar panels on new homes, staff aren’t ready to make that move,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The solar mandate went into effect in 2020 for builders that filed for permits last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For years before, the state required incremental upgrades to walls, attics, windows and other measures to improve energy efficiency and bring down energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s latest plan appears to lay similar groundwork for a gas ban later this decade, and key environmental groups who have pushed for a state ban on gas in new buildings seem to accept this gradual timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“This approach is not the all-electric code that the clean buildings coalition, including NRDC, and the hundreds of concerned California residents who have been speaking at public hearings over the last six months have been calling for,” Pierre Delforge, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pierre-delforge/will-california-lead-pollution-free-construction\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in a blog post. “But with the right balance of carrots and sticks, it could effectively shift most of new construction toward highly efficient electric heat pumps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group sent a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=237028&DocumentContentId=70198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter\u003c/a> asking the commission to commit to requiring all-electric construction by the year 2025.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\n\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">The push to ban natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings has mushroomed in California since Berkeley passed the first prohibition in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Altogether, 21 municipalities in the state have passed measures to require all-electric construction, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/2019-building-energy-efficiency-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">tally\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, while an additional 19 discourage gas hookups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose have closed the spigot on natural gas by passing electric-only building mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists have sought to harness the momentum of decarbonization efforts, the declining cost of electric appliances, and the clamoring of Californians for the state to move more rapidly to reduce carbon emissions, which fuel climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All last year, the groups blitzed officials at the California Energy Commission in hopes of securing an electrification requirement in this year’s building code update, which goes into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Stakeholders began debating the update this month in a series of commission meetings, but a statewide natural gas ban sought by environmental groups appears increasingly unlikely after the commission circulated a proposal indicating a preference for incentivizing electric heat pumps rather than a gas ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The commission sent out a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=236877&DocumentContentId=70032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">summary\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of its planned tweaks and is collecting feedback from environmentalists and industry groups as it prepares to release a draft of its 2022 building code later this month in advance of a month-and-a-half-long rulemaking process. The commission is expected to vote on the plan this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While the summary indicates a willingness by the commission to require electrification for new construction, any new mandate will likely not be included in the building code until 2026 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Under the commission’s proposed plan, new homes must be “electric ready,” which means stoves, furnaces, dryers and other appliances that run on gas must have an electric plug installed within 3 feet, with the home’s electrical panel required to include capacity for the future installation of electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Title 24 updates, as the code revisions are known, occur every three years. The 2019 version, which included a requirement that all newly constructed buildings have solar panels, went into effect in 2020, and developers and builders say they are still scrambling to catch up to that particular rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a statewide building labor group is opposing a bill from a Silicon Valley lawmaker that would ban natural gas in new state buildings. In an opposition letter, the group called it a “part of a concerted extremist political agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional critics of these anti-gas policies include other gas industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-06/switching-to-all-electric-homes-in-california-would-be-a-mistake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">groups\u003c/a> as well as Southern California Gas Co. and the California Restaurant Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Labor Takes Aim at Decarbonization Package\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To hear first-term state Sen. David Cortese tell it, when he started on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors more than a decade ago, the county wasn’t far into its transition to clean energy.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, every school district in the area had made more progress than at the county level, he says. Santa Clara had no environmental stewardship goals, no big solar farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“We didn’t even have one of those [solar pilot projects] in the parking lot,” said Cortese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed, Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-lawmakers-declare-a-climate-emergency/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">declared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a climate emergency in 2019 and has built four major solar farms, pushing aggressively toward 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese says he was able to work quickly passing ambitious climate policies with a five-member Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was the president, but any member could just bring an initiative, any Tuesday,” he said. “We didn’t even have a bill deadline. If I had three votes, which I generally did, we could move something that’s the first of its kind in the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quickly learned the situation was different in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By California tradition, freshman legislators introduce their first bill on their first day, and Cortese figured he’d make a splash with a package of climate bills centered on decarbonization, channeling the progress of cities pushing similar plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB30\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">SB 30\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, would ban natural gas in newly constructed state buildings beginning next year and require the state to have a plan for decarbonizing all of its existing buildings by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 31\u003c/a>, would create new building decarbonization programs with a focus on providing opportunities for low-income customers. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 32\u003c/a> would require cities to update their general plans with defined targets for decarbonization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passage of the bills would send a market signal that decarbonization in new buildings is a priority, and would allow the state to prove that the economics of making them greener can work before imposing the policy on the private market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a small-bore change is too little to meet the climate emergency, environmentalists say: California controls about 16 million square feet of state-owned and leased office space in Sacramento, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Resources/Page-Content/Real-Estate-Services-Division-Resources-List-Folder/State-Facility-Long-Range-Planning-Study\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a 2015 assessment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, including 24 office buildings.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet despite its relatively small scope, Cortese’s plan was met with immediate derision from organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeremy Smith, deputy legislative director of the State Building & Construction Trades Council, penned a fiery letter to the Legislature, describing the bills “as part of a concerted extremist political agenda aimed at irresponsibly phasing out natural gas from the state’s already unstable and strained energy portfolio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Robbie Hunter, the group’s president, says the opposition stems from a “big problem of imbalance in the state,” pointing to August’s rolling blackouts, when about 800,000 Californians went without power for a few hours during a searing heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter’s analysis is that state officials are squeezing Californians from two sides. On the one hand, California is pushing electric cars and “driving up the need for more electricity,” while at the same time “moving against the requirement of gas turbine plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consumers drive up the need, while you’re reducing the ability to create an electricity baseload,” he said. “The system is far out of whack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Another powerful player, the California Building Industry Association, expressed concern to Cortese about potential impacts on “ratepayers, construction costs and grid reliability,” according to Christopher Ochoa, a senior attorney with the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only have a climate crisis, we have a housing crisis as well,” he said. “Whether it’s housing inventory, affordability or homelessness. How do you balance the costs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>‘This is Either a Climate Emergency or It’s Not’ \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">While industry groups blame the state’s reliance on renewable energy for last summer’s power outage during a blistering heat wave, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Preliminary-Root-Cause-Analysis-Rotating-Outages-August-2020.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">postmortem\u003c/span>\u003c/a> conducted by three state agencies attributed\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>the problem to the failure of energy planners to fully anticipate the impact climate change could have on the grid. The analysis found that the state had not lined up enough resources to meet demand during an event that crippled the entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California faces increasing energy challenges and strains on its power grid from many directions — transportation electrification, wildfires, increasing temperatures, fossil fuel plant decommissioning, and the state’s goal for reaching carbon neutrality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Federico, executive director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, says the state needs to address these challenges holistically rather than cling to fossil fuels, which contribute to the kind of extreme heat that creates disruptions like the one to the grid last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points out that electrification can’t happen overnight given how long it takes for building stock to turn over. “That is why we need aggressive programs starting now,” she wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building electrification is relatively low-tech compared to other technologies for achieving carbon neutrality — we know how to do it, it’s been done in many places, and it’s a critical element of achieving our carbon neutral goals,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cortese was more blunt: “Look, this is either a climate emergency or it’s not. If this isn’t the equivalent of a pandemic happening on the greenhouse gas front, then stop now. But it is a problem. It’s a problem I’m committed to solving. If that’s the case, you can’t kick these things to the next two-year session. Buying time is not a good strategy right now. The good strategy is all hands on deck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Opposition Letter\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The building trade’s opposition letter arrived within a week of Cortese taking office, and it contained a key mischaracterization of his bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith’s letter said, “This bill would prohibit construction of new state, residential, or commercial buildings that have natural gas connections.” The legislation, however, would only apply to state buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Percolating behind Cortese’s bills and Hunter’s opposition letter is the effort to ban gas in the statewide building code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But energy commission officials and draft documents seem to indicate, a few years after requiring solar panels on new homes, staff aren’t ready to make that move,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The solar mandate went into effect in 2020 for builders that filed for permits last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For years before, the state required incremental upgrades to walls, attics, windows and other measures to improve energy efficiency and bring down energy costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission’s latest plan appears to lay similar groundwork for a gas ban later this decade, and key environmental groups who have pushed for a state ban on gas in new buildings seem to accept this gradual timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“This approach is not the all-electric code that the clean buildings coalition, including NRDC, and the hundreds of concerned California residents who have been speaking at public hearings over the last six months have been calling for,” Pierre Delforge, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pierre-delforge/will-california-lead-pollution-free-construction\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">wrote\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in a blog post. “But with the right balance of carrots and sticks, it could effectively shift most of new construction toward highly efficient electric heat pumps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group sent a \u003ca href=\"https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=237028&DocumentContentId=70198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter\u003c/a> asking the commission to commit to requiring all-electric construction by the year 2025.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp",
"title": "Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay",
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"headTitle": "Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who’s Eating Who in Monterey Bay | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Refrigerants Are the Worst Greenhouse Gases You’ve Never Heard Of. Here's What You Can Do",
"headTitle": "Refrigerants Are the Worst Greenhouse Gases You’ve Never Heard Of. Here’s What You Can Do | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Open your refrigerator. Take a look around the inside walls. See that label?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is a record of the gas inside, and it’s responsible for keeping your food cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gas is called a refrigerant, and refrigerants are found in everything from air conditioning systems to grocery store freezers, from industrial warehouses to Slurpee machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the gases used in refrigerants are hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. While they work well at keeping things cool, they have a significant drawback: they’re hundreds to thousands of times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hydrofluorocarbons are the worst greenhouse gas that nobody’s heard of,” says Danielle Wright, executive director of the environmental nonprofit, the \u003ca href=\"https://nasrc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on how to cut greenhouse gases, say management and disposal of HFC refrigerants is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">number one way\u003c/a> to address climate change globally. Quickly phasing down HFC use has the potential to avert \u003ca href=\"https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6083/2013/acp-13-6083-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">0.5° C in warming by 2100\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One large glass of HFC 134 has the same warming as a thousand pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from our cars,” says Stanford professor of Earth system science Rob Jackson, referring to one of the most commonly used HFCs. “It’s really an amazingly potent greenhouse gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If those gases were well-contained and disposed of properly at the end of their usable life, the high global warming potential of these gases may not have become a major concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are not contained. HFC refrigerants leak. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates supermarkets in the U.S. leak an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/gc_averagestoreprofile_final_june_2011_revised_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25% of their refrigerants annually\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wright’s organization estimates that for the entire U.S., that’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from 12.5 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason we got to these leaky systems isn’t because we can’t build a leak-proof system, it’s because it’s not cost-effective to do so,” Wright said. Refilling refrigerants is simply less expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, HFCs account for 4% to 5 % of greenhouse gas emissions today, said Pamela Gupta, a manager overseeing HFC regulations at the California Air Resources Board. But the demand for refrigeration and cooling is growing as Earth warms, Gupta says: “They are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, nationally and also globally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the majority of the HFCs used in California are in air conditioning units, state regulators and academics see promise in addressing HFC use in supermarkets, given the large amount of refrigerant supermarkets use, and their high leak rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While experts agree it’s important to phase down all greenhouse gases quickly, some are harder to address than others; curbing HFCs is pretty straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Replacing HFCs is much simpler than eliminating carbon dioxide pollution,” Jackson says. “We don’t have to replace our entire energy and transportation sectors to get rid of HFCs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Refrigeration Isn’t What You Think It Is\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand what refrigerants do, it helps to know a little about how they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ed Estberg, a refrigeration consultant for Raley’s Supermarkets, knows quite a bit about the subject. His first job as a refrigeration mechanic apprentice was in 1962. He’s spent the decades since gaining expertise in the field. Nonprofit leaders to managers at competitor chains call him a master innovator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estberg says, to understand refrigeration, you’ve got to wrap your mind around something counterintuitive:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as cold,” he says. “Absolute zero’s -459.6° F, anything above that has heat in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ice cream, for example, is much warmer than absolute zero. Refrigeration doesn’t actually cool something; it removes the heat from something you want to be cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re just moving the heat away from the place where you don’t want it to a place you don’t care,” Estberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A place like the backside of your refrigerator, where it typically feels warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The exposed ceiling of this Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exposed ceiling of this Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a large supermarket, refrigerants speed through a pipe superhighway, cruising from ceilings down to refrigeration units, where they absorb the ambient heat circling your frozen peas, and travel skyward again, to a machine room above the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through a master stroke of engineering, the excess heat is discharged as steam or warm air — usually from supermarket roofs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refrigerants, ready to absorb more heat, then cycle back through the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why We Use HFCs In the First Place\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, the most widely used refrigerants were chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. CFCs are synthetic chemicals that were effective at keeping things cool, but had a treacherous side effect: ripping a hole in Earth’s ozone layer, threatening humans and all life with harmful ultraviolet radiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, world leaders gathered at a United Nations conference to hammer out an agreement to phase out CFCs: \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Montreal Protocol was the first United Nations treaty to be ratified by all countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of the few things humanity’s done collaboratively that actually worked,” says Project Drawdown senior research fellow Kevin Bayuk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As CFCs phased out, HFCs became the common gases used for refrigeration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, nations in the Montreal Protocol, realizing the dangers of HFCs, gathered again in Kigali, Rwanda, to craft a new agreement. In what became known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol/amendments/kigali-amendment-2016-amendment-montreal-protocol-agreed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, \u003c/a>nations pledged to slash HFCs by more than 80% over 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, President Biden asked the Senate to ratify it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, new federal and \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/HFC%20Workshop%20Presentation%20%28October%2024%202018%29%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California laws\u003c/a> already mirror the Kigali phasedown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Next Step Is a Look to the Past\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace HFCs, grocery stores are turning back to what they used before synthetic refrigerants hit the market. These are called natural refrigerants because they’re found in nature and don’t have to be synthesized in a lab. They include ammonia, propane — and carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Natural refrigerants have zero or near-zero global warming potential,” says Wright of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason companies moved away from natural refrigerants is that they have drawbacks: ammonia is toxic, propane is flammable, and carbon dioxide requires high amounts of pressure. That’s one reason stores that switch can’t simply put natural refrigerants into their existing systems. They have to rebuild the whole system of pipes and heat transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, not many stores have done this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of the total number of grocery stores in the U.S., only 1% are using natural refrigerants,” Wright says. “If we were to move to, let’s say, 10% adoption, that’s equivalent to about six and a half million cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Supermarket of the Future\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A high-ceilinged, natural-light-infused Raley’s supermarket on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento boasts several climate-friendly features: efficient LED lights, a roof covered in solar panels, and a refrigeration system cooled by two natural refrigerants: carbon dioxide and ammonia. The CO2 circulates through the store, absorbing ambient heat, and the ammonia is used in the machine room above the supermarket floor, to keep it far from customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973209 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"(Left to right) Ed Estberg, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Estberg, left, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After more than 50 years building and adapting supermarket refrigeration systems based on changing refrigerant regulation, Estberg is hoping to build a system that lasts far into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t want to go through this again,” he says, “It’s expensive and it’s time consuming. And it takes a long time to perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s and other supermarkets are spurred on by a recent California regulation setting a limit on how much global warming potential is allowed in any new store construction. Currently, the only refrigerants that meet the requirement are natural ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s director of sustainability, Mark Koppang, says anything that can help supermarkets defray the cost of building a new system helps. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Business-Solutions-and-Rebates/Refrigerant-Pilot-Program-Summary.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">incentive program\u003c/a> from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District helped fund the refrigeration system at the new Raley’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would the company make the switch without regulation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a business decision to be made,” Koppang said. “I think there’s a case to be made that we might not if we didn’t have to. But that’s a moot point now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Individuals Can Do\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Bayuk from Project Drawdown says there’s good reason to “to feel optimistic about refrigerants” in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “But it does require at least a certain amount of people to put their attention on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how you can do that:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Collective action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>While there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenamerica.org/coolit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some efforts\u003c/a> to push supermarkets to move away from HFCs, Danielle Wright of NASRC thinks that’s “misplaced effort.” Instead, she says, “consumers will have more impact pressuring their local legislators to support policies that incentivize low global warming potential solutions, fast-track innovative technologies, and support workforce training programs.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Students at universities have created groups to address refrigerant management on campus, including recycling student mini-fridges. One example is at \u003ca href=\"https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>, another is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.yalerefrigerantsinitiative.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Individual action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Environmental Investigation Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://eia-global.org/reports/20200625-hfc-free-refrigerator-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide to purchasing a climate-friendly fridge\u003c/a> for your own home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For people in the technology or financial sectors, Kevin Bayuk of Project Drawdown says there are ample opportunities for innovation to build appliances that accommodate non-HFC refrigerants, and for financing the transition away from HFCs.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Open your refrigerator. Take a look around the inside walls. See that label?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is a record of the gas inside, and it’s responsible for keeping your food cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gas is called a refrigerant, and refrigerants are found in everything from air conditioning systems to grocery store freezers, from industrial warehouses to Slurpee machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the gases used in refrigerants are hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. While they work well at keeping things cool, they have a significant drawback: they’re hundreds to thousands of times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hydrofluorocarbons are the worst greenhouse gas that nobody’s heard of,” says Danielle Wright, executive director of the environmental nonprofit, the \u003ca href=\"https://nasrc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on how to cut greenhouse gases, say management and disposal of HFC refrigerants is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">number one way\u003c/a> to address climate change globally. Quickly phasing down HFC use has the potential to avert \u003ca href=\"https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6083/2013/acp-13-6083-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">0.5° C in warming by 2100\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One large glass of HFC 134 has the same warming as a thousand pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from our cars,” says Stanford professor of Earth system science Rob Jackson, referring to one of the most commonly used HFCs. “It’s really an amazingly potent greenhouse gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If those gases were well-contained and disposed of properly at the end of their usable life, the high global warming potential of these gases may not have become a major concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are not contained. HFC refrigerants leak. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates supermarkets in the U.S. leak an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/gc_averagestoreprofile_final_june_2011_revised_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25% of their refrigerants annually\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wright’s organization estimates that for the entire U.S., that’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from 12.5 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason we got to these leaky systems isn’t because we can’t build a leak-proof system, it’s because it’s not cost-effective to do so,” Wright said. Refilling refrigerants is simply less expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, HFCs account for 4% to 5 % of greenhouse gas emissions today, said Pamela Gupta, a manager overseeing HFC regulations at the California Air Resources Board. But the demand for refrigeration and cooling is growing as Earth warms, Gupta says: “They are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, nationally and also globally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the majority of the HFCs used in California are in air conditioning units, state regulators and academics see promise in addressing HFC use in supermarkets, given the large amount of refrigerant supermarkets use, and their high leak rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While experts agree it’s important to phase down all greenhouse gases quickly, some are harder to address than others; curbing HFCs is pretty straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Replacing HFCs is much simpler than eliminating carbon dioxide pollution,” Jackson says. “We don’t have to replace our entire energy and transportation sectors to get rid of HFCs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Refrigeration Isn’t What You Think It Is\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand what refrigerants do, it helps to know a little about how they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ed Estberg, a refrigeration consultant for Raley’s Supermarkets, knows quite a bit about the subject. His first job as a refrigeration mechanic apprentice was in 1962. He’s spent the decades since gaining expertise in the field. Nonprofit leaders to managers at competitor chains call him a master innovator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estberg says, to understand refrigeration, you’ve got to wrap your mind around something counterintuitive:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as cold,” he says. “Absolute zero’s -459.6° F, anything above that has heat in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ice cream, for example, is much warmer than absolute zero. Refrigeration doesn’t actually cool something; it removes the heat from something you want to be cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re just moving the heat away from the place where you don’t want it to a place you don’t care,” Estberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A place like the backside of your refrigerator, where it typically feels warm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973210 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The exposed ceiling of this Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47640_IMG_6403-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exposed ceiling of this Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento shows some of the thousands of feet of pipes that cycle refrigerants through a store, keeping products cold. \u003ccite>(Laura Klivans/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a large supermarket, refrigerants speed through a pipe superhighway, cruising from ceilings down to refrigeration units, where they absorb the ambient heat circling your frozen peas, and travel skyward again, to a machine room above the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through a master stroke of engineering, the excess heat is discharged as steam or warm air — usually from supermarket roofs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refrigerants, ready to absorb more heat, then cycle back through the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why We Use HFCs In the First Place\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, the most widely used refrigerants were chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. CFCs are synthetic chemicals that were effective at keeping things cool, but had a treacherous side effect: ripping a hole in Earth’s ozone layer, threatening humans and all life with harmful ultraviolet radiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, world leaders gathered at a United Nations conference to hammer out an agreement to phase out CFCs: \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Montreal Protocol was the first United Nations treaty to be ratified by all countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of the few things humanity’s done collaboratively that actually worked,” says Project Drawdown senior research fellow Kevin Bayuk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As CFCs phased out, HFCs became the common gases used for refrigeration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, nations in the Montreal Protocol, realizing the dangers of HFCs, gathered again in Kigali, Rwanda, to craft a new agreement. In what became known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol/amendments/kigali-amendment-2016-amendment-montreal-protocol-agreed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, \u003c/a>nations pledged to slash HFCs by more than 80% over 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, President Biden asked the Senate to ratify it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, new federal and \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/HFC%20Workshop%20Presentation%20%28October%2024%202018%29%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California laws\u003c/a> already mirror the Kigali phasedown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Next Step Is a Look to the Past\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace HFCs, grocery stores are turning back to what they used before synthetic refrigerants hit the market. These are called natural refrigerants because they’re found in nature and don’t have to be synthesized in a lab. They include ammonia, propane — and carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Natural refrigerants have zero or near-zero global warming potential,” says Wright of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason companies moved away from natural refrigerants is that they have drawbacks: ammonia is toxic, propane is flammable, and carbon dioxide requires high amounts of pressure. That’s one reason stores that switch can’t simply put natural refrigerants into their existing systems. They have to rebuild the whole system of pipes and heat transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, not many stores have done this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of the total number of grocery stores in the U.S., only 1% are using natural refrigerants,” Wright says. “If we were to move to, let’s say, 10% adoption, that’s equivalent to about six and a half million cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Supermarket of the Future\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A high-ceilinged, natural-light-infused Raley’s supermarket on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento boasts several climate-friendly features: efficient LED lights, a roof covered in solar panels, and a refrigeration system cooled by two natural refrigerants: carbon dioxide and ammonia. The CO2 circulates through the store, absorbing ambient heat, and the ammonia is used in the machine room above the supermarket floor, to keep it far from customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973209 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"(Left to right) Ed Estberg, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley's on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/RS47641_IMG_6416-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Estberg, left, Mark Koppang, and Nathan Smith in the machine room of the Raley’s on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. Carbon dioxide removes heat from the products on the floor of the store, and then ammonia, which is only in the machine room, removes that heat from the carbon dioxide. The heat is discharged as steam or warm air from the roof of the store.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After more than 50 years building and adapting supermarket refrigeration systems based on changing refrigerant regulation, Estberg is hoping to build a system that lasts far into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t want to go through this again,” he says, “It’s expensive and it’s time consuming. And it takes a long time to perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s and other supermarkets are spurred on by a recent California regulation setting a limit on how much global warming potential is allowed in any new store construction. Currently, the only refrigerants that meet the requirement are natural ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raley’s director of sustainability, Mark Koppang, says anything that can help supermarkets defray the cost of building a new system helps. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Business-Solutions-and-Rebates/Refrigerant-Pilot-Program-Summary.ashx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">incentive program\u003c/a> from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District helped fund the refrigeration system at the new Raley’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would the company make the switch without regulation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a business decision to be made,” Koppang said. “I think there’s a case to be made that we might not if we didn’t have to. But that’s a moot point now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Individuals Can Do\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Bayuk from Project Drawdown says there’s good reason to “to feel optimistic about refrigerants” in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “But it does require at least a certain amount of people to put their attention on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how you can do that:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Collective action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>While there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenamerica.org/coolit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some efforts\u003c/a> to push supermarkets to move away from HFCs, Danielle Wright of NASRC thinks that’s “misplaced effort.” Instead, she says, “consumers will have more impact pressuring their local legislators to support policies that incentivize low global warming potential solutions, fast-track innovative technologies, and support workforce training programs.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Students at universities have created groups to address refrigerant management on campus, including recycling student mini-fridges. One example is at \u003ca href=\"https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>, another is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.yalerefrigerantsinitiative.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Individual action\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Environmental Investigation Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://eia-global.org/reports/20200625-hfc-free-refrigerator-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide to purchasing a climate-friendly fridge\u003c/a> for your own home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For people in the technology or financial sectors, Kevin Bayuk of Project Drawdown says there are ample opportunities for innovation to build appliances that accommodate non-HFC refrigerants, and for financing the transition away from HFCs.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "CDC Gives Green Light for Fully Vaccinated People to Meet Each Other Indoors",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidance for vaccinated people, giving the green light to resume some pre-pandemic activities and relax precautions that have been in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html\">the new guidance says\u003c/a> people who are fully vaccinated can visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they have gotten the second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines (or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccinated people can also visit, unmasked, with people from another household who are not yet vaccinated, as long as those people are at low risk of serious illness from the virus. However, the agency said, vaccinated people should continue to wear masks when they’re in public, avoid crowds and take other precautions when gathering with unvaccinated people who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guidance also allows fully vaccinated individuals to forgo testing and quarantining following a known COVID-19 exposure, as long as they are not experiencing symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said this new guidance is a “first step” to returning to everyday activities. There’s accumulating evidence to show that people who are fully vaccinated are less likely to become infected and also “potentially” less likely to spread the virus to others, agency officials wrote in a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement about the new guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guidance is specific to freedoms that vaccinated people can resume in their own homes, but the agency warns that everyone — even those who are vaccinated — should continue to follow recommended guidelines in public settings, including wearing masks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC is not updating its travel guidance at this time, Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing on Monday. She stressed that everyone should continue to avoid nonessential trips, regardless of vaccination status. The CDC director cited previous spikes in case counts after surges in travel and the emergence of variants from international locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing travel guidance still applies in the case of fully vaccinated grandparents who are hoping to visit their low-risk family members, Walensky said in response to a reporter’s question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would like to give the opportunity to vaccinated grandparents to visit their grandchildren and children who are healthy and who are local, but our travel guidance currently has been unchanged,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three available vaccines have been proven to protect against severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, Walensky added. But she said there is still a small risk that vaccinated people could become infected with mild or asymptomatic disease and potentially even pass it on to others who are not vaccinated. She said this remains an ongoing area of research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walensky said this is the first round of guidance, but more will follow as the science evolves and more people are fully vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe these recommendations are an important first step in our efforts to resume everyday activities in our communities,” she said. “However, we remain in the midst of a serious pandemic, and still over 90% of our population is not fully vaccinated, though we are working hard to get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration is working to scale up vaccine manufacturing and distribution and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/02/973030394/biden-says-u-s-will-have-vaccine-supply-for-all-adults-by-may-prioritizes-teache\">announced last week\u003c/a> that the country will have enough supply for every adult by the end of May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The country’s seven-day average of daily vaccinations is nearly 2.2 million, and a record-breaking 2.9 million doses were administered on Saturday, according to Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser on the White House COVID-19 Response Team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walensky said that as of Monday, about 59 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. And about 31 million people — or 9.2% of the U.S. population — are fully vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the CDC’s specific guidance for what fully vaccinated people can do:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure to COVID-19 if asymptomatic.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said fully vaccinated people should continue to take these COVID-19 precautions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/index.html\">increased risk for severe COVID-19\u003c/a> disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Follow guidance issued by individual employers;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=CDC+Says+It%27s+Safe+For+Vaccinated+People+To+Do+These+Activities&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidance for vaccinated people, giving the green light to resume some pre-pandemic activities and relax precautions that have been in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html\">the new guidance says\u003c/a> people who are fully vaccinated can visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they have gotten the second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines (or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaccinated people can also visit, unmasked, with people from another household who are not yet vaccinated, as long as those people are at low risk of serious illness from the virus. However, the agency said, vaccinated people should continue to wear masks when they’re in public, avoid crowds and take other precautions when gathering with unvaccinated people who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guidance also allows fully vaccinated individuals to forgo testing and quarantining following a known COVID-19 exposure, as long as they are not experiencing symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said this new guidance is a “first step” to returning to everyday activities. There’s accumulating evidence to show that people who are fully vaccinated are less likely to become infected and also “potentially” less likely to spread the virus to others, agency officials wrote in a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement about the new guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guidance is specific to freedoms that vaccinated people can resume in their own homes, but the agency warns that everyone — even those who are vaccinated — should continue to follow recommended guidelines in public settings, including wearing masks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC is not updating its travel guidance at this time, Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing on Monday. She stressed that everyone should continue to avoid nonessential trips, regardless of vaccination status. The CDC director cited previous spikes in case counts after surges in travel and the emergence of variants from international locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing travel guidance still applies in the case of fully vaccinated grandparents who are hoping to visit their low-risk family members, Walensky said in response to a reporter’s question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would like to give the opportunity to vaccinated grandparents to visit their grandchildren and children who are healthy and who are local, but our travel guidance currently has been unchanged,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three available vaccines have been proven to protect against severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, Walensky added. But she said there is still a small risk that vaccinated people could become infected with mild or asymptomatic disease and potentially even pass it on to others who are not vaccinated. She said this remains an ongoing area of research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walensky said this is the first round of guidance, but more will follow as the science evolves and more people are fully vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe these recommendations are an important first step in our efforts to resume everyday activities in our communities,” she said. “However, we remain in the midst of a serious pandemic, and still over 90% of our population is not fully vaccinated, though we are working hard to get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration is working to scale up vaccine manufacturing and distribution and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/02/973030394/biden-says-u-s-will-have-vaccine-supply-for-all-adults-by-may-prioritizes-teache\">announced last week\u003c/a> that the country will have enough supply for every adult by the end of May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The country’s seven-day average of daily vaccinations is nearly 2.2 million, and a record-breaking 2.9 million doses were administered on Saturday, according to Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser on the White House COVID-19 Response Team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walensky said that as of Monday, about 59 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. And about 31 million people — or 9.2% of the U.S. population — are fully vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the CDC’s specific guidance for what fully vaccinated people can do:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure to COVID-19 if asymptomatic.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said fully vaccinated people should continue to take these COVID-19 precautions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/index.html\">increased risk for severe COVID-19\u003c/a> disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Follow guidance issued by individual employers;\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=CDC+Says+It%27s+Safe+For+Vaccinated+People+To+Do+These+Activities&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Study Finds Wildfire Smoke More Harmful to Humans Than Pollution From Cars",
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"content": "\u003cp>Tens of millions of Americans experienced at least a day last year shrouded in wildfire smoke. Entire cities were blanketed, in some cases for weeks, as unprecedented wildfires tore across the Western U.S., causing increases in hospitalizations for respiratory emergencies and concerns about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/09/907099868/smokey-skies-are-the-new-normal-are-they-making-us-sick\">people’s longer-term health\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new study finds those concerns are well founded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego say that the tiny particles released in wildfire smoke are up to 10 times more harmful to humans than particles released from other sources, such as car exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research, published in the journal \u003cem>Nature Communications\u003c/em> on Friday, paints a worrisome picture for Americans living on a fire-prone continent, especially as climate change amplifies fire risk worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Air pollution] has been decreasing in some regions of the U.S.,” says Rosana Aguilera, a postdoctoral scholar and one of the study’s co-authors. “This is not the case in wildfire-prone areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilera and co-author \u003ca href=\"https://tcorringham.scrippsprofiles.ucsd.edu/biography/\">Tom Corringham\u003c/a> looked at hospital admissions data over 14 years in Southern California and compared that to spikes in air pollution during strong wind events. They found that pollutants from wildfire smoke caused up to a 10% increase in hospital admissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty aware of the physical costs of wildfire, in terms of firefighting costs and damage to property,” Corringham says, referencing the more than $10 billion lost in damages and efforts to corral California’s fires last season. “But there’s been a lot of work that has shown that the health impacts due to wildfire smoke are on the same order of magnitude, or possibly even greater, than the direct physical cost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings are particularly concerning, he says, given the increase in wildfire activity that California and other states have experienced in recent years, and the expectation that wildfires will become more intense and frequent as the climate warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/915723316/1-in-7-americans-have-experienced-dangerous-air-quality-due-to-wildfires-this-ye\">NPR analysis of air quality\u003c/a> on the West Coast found that 1 in 7 residents experienced at least one day of unhealthy air conditions last year. For weeks, the smoke was so thick in parts of Oregon, Washington and California that public health officials urged people to stay indoors and avoid physical activities. That smoke drifted east, creating \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/wildfire-smoke-brings-haze-vivid-sunsets-east-coast-73058373\">hazy skies and an oddly vibrant sun\u003c/a> as far away as the East Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research focused on microscopic particles, commonly called PM2.5, which can travel the longest distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-twentieth the diameter of a human hair, PM2.5 particles are among the main components of wildfire smoke. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/why-wildfire-smoke-health-concern\">pose a health risk to people\u003c/a> because they’re able to pass through the nose and lungs, bypassing the body’s defense mechanisms, as they make their way into the bloodstream. From there they can harm the heart, lungs and other vital organs, increasing the risk of stroke, heart attacks and respiratory problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are a number of sources of PM2.5, including power plants and vehicles, but the findings indicate that PM2.5 from some may be more harmful than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s consistent with other recent research, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sheryl-Magzamen\">Sheryl Magzamen\u003c/a>, an associate professor at Colorado State University who focuses on the health effects of wildfire smoke and was not involved in the study. And she says it’s worrisome, in part, because there’s very little people can do to limit smoke events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have tailpipe and emissions standards. We have smokestack standards and we have [Environmental Protection Agency] regulations,” Magzamen says. “We just don’t have the same policy levers for smoke events.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another complication is the need for more small fires to prevent bigger ones. Fire is a necessary and normal process in many forests. But years of fire suppression have allowed unhealthy amounts of vegetation to accumulate on forest floors, providing unnatural amounts of fuel once fires start. Fire and forest ecologists say more regular, controlled fires can lower the risk of catastrophic wildfires, like those the U.S. has seen in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more fires mean more smoke, both for people nearby and also downwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the mitigation for exposure relies on people and households and communities knowing when to avoid smoke exposure,” Magzamen says. “We don’t have the mechanisms right now to let people understand when they’re being exposed to smoke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corringham says the new research shows the need to improve air monitoring systems and public health programs. He suggests providing financial aid to at-risk populations and low-income households so they can purchase air filters. And he urges action to minimize global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen it getting much worse in the last decade,” Corringham says. “Anything we can do today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the global climate system will have significant benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Study+Finds+Wildfire+Smoke+More+Harmful+To+Humans+Than+Pollution+From+Cars+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tens of millions of Americans experienced at least a day last year shrouded in wildfire smoke. Entire cities were blanketed, in some cases for weeks, as unprecedented wildfires tore across the Western U.S., causing increases in hospitalizations for respiratory emergencies and concerns about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/09/907099868/smokey-skies-are-the-new-normal-are-they-making-us-sick\">people’s longer-term health\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new study finds those concerns are well founded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego say that the tiny particles released in wildfire smoke are up to 10 times more harmful to humans than particles released from other sources, such as car exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research, published in the journal \u003cem>Nature Communications\u003c/em> on Friday, paints a worrisome picture for Americans living on a fire-prone continent, especially as climate change amplifies fire risk worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Air pollution] has been decreasing in some regions of the U.S.,” says Rosana Aguilera, a postdoctoral scholar and one of the study’s co-authors. “This is not the case in wildfire-prone areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilera and co-author \u003ca href=\"https://tcorringham.scrippsprofiles.ucsd.edu/biography/\">Tom Corringham\u003c/a> looked at hospital admissions data over 14 years in Southern California and compared that to spikes in air pollution during strong wind events. They found that pollutants from wildfire smoke caused up to a 10% increase in hospital admissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty aware of the physical costs of wildfire, in terms of firefighting costs and damage to property,” Corringham says, referencing the more than $10 billion lost in damages and efforts to corral California’s fires last season. “But there’s been a lot of work that has shown that the health impacts due to wildfire smoke are on the same order of magnitude, or possibly even greater, than the direct physical cost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings are particularly concerning, he says, given the increase in wildfire activity that California and other states have experienced in recent years, and the expectation that wildfires will become more intense and frequent as the climate warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/915723316/1-in-7-americans-have-experienced-dangerous-air-quality-due-to-wildfires-this-ye\">NPR analysis of air quality\u003c/a> on the West Coast found that 1 in 7 residents experienced at least one day of unhealthy air conditions last year. For weeks, the smoke was so thick in parts of Oregon, Washington and California that public health officials urged people to stay indoors and avoid physical activities. That smoke drifted east, creating \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/wildfire-smoke-brings-haze-vivid-sunsets-east-coast-73058373\">hazy skies and an oddly vibrant sun\u003c/a> as far away as the East Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research focused on microscopic particles, commonly called PM2.5, which can travel the longest distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-twentieth the diameter of a human hair, PM2.5 particles are among the main components of wildfire smoke. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/why-wildfire-smoke-health-concern\">pose a health risk to people\u003c/a> because they’re able to pass through the nose and lungs, bypassing the body’s defense mechanisms, as they make their way into the bloodstream. From there they can harm the heart, lungs and other vital organs, increasing the risk of stroke, heart attacks and respiratory problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are a number of sources of PM2.5, including power plants and vehicles, but the findings indicate that PM2.5 from some may be more harmful than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s consistent with other recent research, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sheryl-Magzamen\">Sheryl Magzamen\u003c/a>, an associate professor at Colorado State University who focuses on the health effects of wildfire smoke and was not involved in the study. And she says it’s worrisome, in part, because there’s very little people can do to limit smoke events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have tailpipe and emissions standards. We have smokestack standards and we have [Environmental Protection Agency] regulations,” Magzamen says. “We just don’t have the same policy levers for smoke events.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another complication is the need for more small fires to prevent bigger ones. Fire is a necessary and normal process in many forests. But years of fire suppression have allowed unhealthy amounts of vegetation to accumulate on forest floors, providing unnatural amounts of fuel once fires start. Fire and forest ecologists say more regular, controlled fires can lower the risk of catastrophic wildfires, like those the U.S. has seen in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more fires mean more smoke, both for people nearby and also downwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the mitigation for exposure relies on people and households and communities knowing when to avoid smoke exposure,” Magzamen says. “We don’t have the mechanisms right now to let people understand when they’re being exposed to smoke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corringham says the new research shows the need to improve air monitoring systems and public health programs. He suggests providing financial aid to at-risk populations and low-income households so they can purchase air filters. And he urges action to minimize global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen it getting much worse in the last decade,” Corringham says. “Anything we can do today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the global climate system will have significant benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Study+Finds+Wildfire+Smoke+More+Harmful+To+Humans+Than+Pollution+From+Cars+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "To Lead Climate Initiatives at Treasury, Biden Turns to Another UC Berkeley Academic",
"headTitle": "To Lead Climate Initiatives at Treasury, Biden Turns to Another UC Berkeley Academic | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973063\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973063 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg 310w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley’s Catherine Wolfram was tapped by Biden as deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics at the U.S. Treasury Department. (Jim Block for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business) \u003ccite>(UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolfram is a leading expert on climate change and energy markets. She’ll serve as a deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics\u003cspan class=\"s3\">, a newly created position at the Treasury Department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic that the Biden Administration is paying so much attention to climate change, and I’m excited to be part of the efforts,” she said in a statement posted to the university’s \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/prof-catherine-wolfram-joins-the-us-treasury-department-to-lead-energy-and-climate-change-policy/\">\u003cspan class=\"s5\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s one thing to sit in your office and write about what policy makers should and shouldn’t do, but I’m really curious to see how these decisions get made in practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Her early academic career examined U.S. regulation of electricity markets. More recently, she’s studied climate change and energy issues in the developing world, particularly in \u003cspan class=\"s6\">sub-Saharan Africa\u003c/span> and India, and leading randomized controlled trials to evaluate energy programs in the U.S., Ghana and Kenya, the university said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>Catherine represents the sort of balanced, careful thinking about the environment and the need to address climate change that Biden has been talking about for his whole campaign and his early presidency,” \u003cspan class=\"s7\">Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas, said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He described her thinking as needing to take major steps on climate change, but in a cost effective way and with “careful analysis of the impact that these programs have [to] figure out what works, and what doesn’t work as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of her focuses might be how to encourage more sustainable economic development, Bornstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Biden has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department: Wolfram, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a professor emerita, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Capital Access Adair Morse, an associate professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university says Wolfram is already working in her new role.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973063\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1973063 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222.jpg 310w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/414-90b84363c66233eb859f48c7435fb222-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UC Berkeley’s Catherine Wolfram was tapped by Biden as deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics at the U.S. Treasury Department. (Jim Block for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business) \u003ccite>(UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden has tapped Catherine Wolfram, a professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, as his latest climate hire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolfram is a leading expert on climate change and energy markets. She’ll serve as a deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy economics\u003cspan class=\"s3\">, a newly created position at the Treasury Department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic that the Biden Administration is paying so much attention to climate change, and I’m excited to be part of the efforts,” she said in a statement posted to the university’s \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/prof-catherine-wolfram-joins-the-us-treasury-department-to-lead-energy-and-climate-change-policy/\">\u003cspan class=\"s5\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s one thing to sit in your office and write about what policy makers should and shouldn’t do, but I’m really curious to see how these decisions get made in practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Her early academic career examined U.S. regulation of electricity markets. More recently, she’s studied climate change and energy issues in the developing world, particularly in \u003cspan class=\"s6\">sub-Saharan Africa\u003c/span> and India, and leading randomized controlled trials to evaluate energy programs in the U.S., Ghana and Kenya, the university said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>Catherine represents the sort of balanced, careful thinking about the environment and the need to address climate change that Biden has been talking about for his whole campaign and his early presidency,” \u003cspan class=\"s7\">Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas, said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He described her thinking as needing to take major steps on climate change, but in a cost effective way and with “careful analysis of the impact that these programs have [to] figure out what works, and what doesn’t work as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of her focuses might be how to encourage more sustainable economic development, Bornstein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Biden has now picked three women from Berkeley’s business school to staff his Treasury Department: Wolfram, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a professor emerita, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Capital Access Adair Morse, an associate professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university says Wolfram is already working in her new role.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Environmentalists Push California to Cut Ties with Prosecutor Association Over Misspent Funds",
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"content": "\u003cp>Environmental groups last week pressed state lawmakers and officials to cut ties with the California District Attorneys Association after an internal audit found the group misspent millions of dollars earmarked for environmental and worker safety litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition, which includes the Sierra Club California, the California League of Conservation Voters and at least eight other groups called the association’s actions a “dereliction” of public duty in a letter addressed to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and various committees\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We call on our government to not only demand redress for what is, for all intents and purposes, a theft of funds from the people of California, but to take all necessary steps to terminate the partnership between CDAA, CalEPA, and the legislature,” the group wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with CDAA, an advocacy and training group for prosecutors across California, say their mistake was failing to adequately control how they spent money, describing the issue as an “accounting irregularity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit, conducted by the accounting firm Hemming Morse, found the group had a “long-standing practice of borrowing funds received from environmental and worker safety settlements” to bolster its general fund and pay for training, research, and the lobbying activities of California prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties donated the settlement money to CDAA often with strict stipulations that it be spent on the training and hiring of lawyers to assist municipalities in complex environmental litigation and other specific purposes related to environmental law and worker safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDAA provides training, resources and sometimes representation for smaller municipalities that lack the resources and experience to fight well-heeled corporations, oil companies and other business interests over expensive environmental lawsuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the audit, first \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Audit-finds-state-district-attorney-group-15868701.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported\u003c/a> by the San Francisco Chronicle, found that the group’s fund to pay for these kinds of specialized attorneys was short about $2.8 million and mostly depleted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public and the state trusted them to manage these funds well. And they didn’t,” said Ken Spence, a policy adviser with NextGen California, one of the groups behind the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They used it to pursue their own priorities,” he said. “The funds were intended to enforce environmental protection and do so in communities where oftentimes they don’t have the resources to do so themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit does not describe any illegal activity, but the attorney general’s office is reportedly reviewing the findings. CDAA leadership commissioned the audit out of concern that the organization was misspending money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vern Pierson, president of the CDAA and the district attorney for El Dorado County said the money was spent on training prosecutors, medical examiners and police officers, as well as on impaired driving investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is the money should not have been commingled,” he said. “It should have been treated as restricted, which means it can only be used for a particular purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the organization is committed to repaying “any misdirected funds,” although he acknowledged it’s still working on an “exact process to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erin Curtis, a spokesperson for the California Environmental Protection Agency, said the audit “brought to light important reforms that need to occur.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that agency staff were already connecting with individual district attorneys, a commission for peace officer standards and training, and “others in the enforcement community to explore potential collaborations to ensure that the circuit prosecutor and training programs remain vibrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grant money that CalEPA awarded to CDAA was spent appropriately, according to the audit and agency records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cristine Soto DeBerry, founder and executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://prosecutorsalliance.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prosecutors Alliance of California\u003c/a>, said the audit “revealed some real concerns about CDAA’s accounting practices and raises questions about whether we should continue to allocate public funds before there’s clarity around what has happened and how it will be remedied.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said CDAA has not made clear their plan for “repaying those funds and making sure that the jurisdictions that contributed to them are made whole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alliance has positioned itself as a reform-minded alternative for prosecutors seeking professional training and assistance.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Environmental groups last week pressed state lawmakers and officials to cut ties with the California District Attorneys Association after an internal audit found the group misspent millions of dollars earmarked for environmental and worker safety litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition, which includes the Sierra Club California, the California League of Conservation Voters and at least eight other groups called the association’s actions a “dereliction” of public duty in a letter addressed to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and various committees\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We call on our government to not only demand redress for what is, for all intents and purposes, a theft of funds from the people of California, but to take all necessary steps to terminate the partnership between CDAA, CalEPA, and the legislature,” the group wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with CDAA, an advocacy and training group for prosecutors across California, say their mistake was failing to adequately control how they spent money, describing the issue as an “accounting irregularity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit, conducted by the accounting firm Hemming Morse, found the group had a “long-standing practice of borrowing funds received from environmental and worker safety settlements” to bolster its general fund and pay for training, research, and the lobbying activities of California prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties donated the settlement money to CDAA often with strict stipulations that it be spent on the training and hiring of lawyers to assist municipalities in complex environmental litigation and other specific purposes related to environmental law and worker safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDAA provides training, resources and sometimes representation for smaller municipalities that lack the resources and experience to fight well-heeled corporations, oil companies and other business interests over expensive environmental lawsuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the audit, first \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Audit-finds-state-district-attorney-group-15868701.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported\u003c/a> by the San Francisco Chronicle, found that the group’s fund to pay for these kinds of specialized attorneys was short about $2.8 million and mostly depleted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public and the state trusted them to manage these funds well. And they didn’t,” said Ken Spence, a policy adviser with NextGen California, one of the groups behind the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They used it to pursue their own priorities,” he said. “The funds were intended to enforce environmental protection and do so in communities where oftentimes they don’t have the resources to do so themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit does not describe any illegal activity, but the attorney general’s office is reportedly reviewing the findings. CDAA leadership commissioned the audit out of concern that the organization was misspending money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vern Pierson, president of the CDAA and the district attorney for El Dorado County said the money was spent on training prosecutors, medical examiners and police officers, as well as on impaired driving investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is the money should not have been commingled,” he said. “It should have been treated as restricted, which means it can only be used for a particular purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the organization is committed to repaying “any misdirected funds,” although he acknowledged it’s still working on an “exact process to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erin Curtis, a spokesperson for the California Environmental Protection Agency, said the audit “brought to light important reforms that need to occur.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that agency staff were already connecting with individual district attorneys, a commission for peace officer standards and training, and “others in the enforcement community to explore potential collaborations to ensure that the circuit prosecutor and training programs remain vibrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grant money that CalEPA awarded to CDAA was spent appropriately, according to the audit and agency records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cristine Soto DeBerry, founder and executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://prosecutorsalliance.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prosecutors Alliance of California\u003c/a>, said the audit “revealed some real concerns about CDAA’s accounting practices and raises questions about whether we should continue to allocate public funds before there’s clarity around what has happened and how it will be remedied.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said CDAA has not made clear their plan for “repaying those funds and making sure that the jurisdictions that contributed to them are made whole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alliance has positioned itself as a reform-minded alternative for prosecutors seeking professional training and assistance.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions, From Side Effects to Safety",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated April 26, 2021, 5:53 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11870973/cdc-vaccine-committee-votes-to-recommend-jj-vaccine-use-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lifted a 10-day pause\u003c/a> of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine. Bay Area counties followed suit, announcing they would resume using the single-dose shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/13/world/johnson-vaccine-blood-clots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> halted\u003c/a> the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 “out of an abundance of caution” after a rare type of \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/blood-clots-and-the-johnson-johnson-vaccine-what-we-know-so-far/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blood clot\u003c/a> showed up in 6 women within about two weeks of receiving the vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safety is our top priority. This pause was an example of our extensive safety monitoring working as they were designed to work — identifying even these small number of cases,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement. “We’ve lifted the pause based on the FDA and CDC’s review of all available data and in consultation with medical experts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, the CDC updated the total to 15 women, ages 18 to 59, who experienced a combination of rare blood clots and low platelets between 6 and 15 days after vaccination. Over the weekend, UCSF announced that it was treating a male patient in his 30s for the condition, which is known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11869210]In the U.S., roughly eight million people have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The relative risk is really, really low for these severe blood clots,” said Dr. Catherine Blish, infectious disease specialist at Stanford Medicine. If you develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving the vaccine, seek medical treatment with your health care provider or an urgent care clinic or hospital emergency room, and let the provider know you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said in a statement earlier this month that one purpose of the pause was to let health care providers know what to do. The usual treatment for blood clots, a blood-thinning medication called heparin, can be dangerous used for this type of clot, and the CDC is alerting health providers to be prepared to offer alternate treatments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11855623,news_11861322]We’ve searched for and compiled answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the vaccine. Our answers come from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calendar/after-dark-online-covid-catchup?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&UTM_campaign=FY21AfterDark\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live Q&A\u003c/a> with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploratorium.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Exploratorium\u003c/a> featuring Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine, and Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. We also consulted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization and various other medical associations and journal articles. For those of you who want to dig deeper, we’ve linked to some of those.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"backtotop\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Jump to a question:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question1\">How were the vaccines developed so quickly?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question2\">How do people know the vaccines are safe and effective?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question3\">What are the possible side effects of getting a vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question4\">But the FDA approved this vaccine after two months of observation; isn’t there a chance a really bad side effect could show up much later?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question11\">Why do you need multiple doses and how long does your immunity last?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question5\">Do the vaccines give me the virus?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question6\">Do the vaccines work against the variants?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question7\">Can you still get and transmit COVID-19 if you’ve been vaccinated?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question8\">Should you get vaccinated if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question9\">Were the vaccines tested on racially and ethnically diverse populations? Were they effective for a range of races/ethnicities?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question10\">What are the differences between the vaccines? Is one better than the others?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question12\">Are the vaccines safe for all ages? When will children be eligible?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question13\">Why should people in their 20s and 30s get vaccinated?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question14\">Should I get vaccinated if I already had COVID-19? And how long should I wait after I’ve had COVID-19 to get it?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question15\">If I’m vaccinated, can I stop wearing a mask and get close to people again?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question16\">I am immunosuppressed, should I still get the vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question17\">Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question18\">Does the vaccine allow any authority to track me?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question19\">How do I get the vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question1\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How were the vaccines developed so quickly?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. government agencies and private companies collaborated on a project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Operation-Warp-Speed/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Operation Warp Speed\u003c/a> to fast-track the coronavirus vaccine. This accelerated timeline doesn’t mean any steps were skipped in the testing stages for the vaccines. The shortcuts related to funding and to dialogue and planning, which went quickly since everyone had the same goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, companies hesitate to manufacture a vaccine until they’re in the FDA approval process. It’s a big risk to invest a lot of money in manufacturing without knowing whether the vaccine will be approved. But under Operation Warp Speed, governments pre-paid for the vaccines to eliminate the financial risk for the companies involved. This allowed them to manufacture the vaccine at the same time they were doing the testing. So when the testing was complete, a lot of doses were already available to distribute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason for how quickly these vaccines were developed is that the processes used for making the vaccines aren’t new. mRNA had already been studied for years, and and was being developed for other infectious diseases. Because of this, researchers already knew how to make an mRNA vaccine and could customize development and testing for SARS-CoV-2. Adenovirus vaccines, the method used by Johnson & Johnson, are common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA authorized the emergency use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After a thorough analysis of the data, the FDA’s scientists and physicians have determined that the vaccine meets the FDA’s expectations for safety and effectiveness appropriate for theauthorization of a vaccine for emergency use,” Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D. and director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 to investigate 6 cases in which a rare blood clot developed, out of the roughly 7 million people who’d received the vaccine in the U.S. to that point. Medical experts say that the risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 is \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33254369/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">50 times higher\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The halt on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus vaccine was lifted 10 days later on April 23 after a review of the initial six cases and 9 additional cases by the FDA and CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have concluded that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement. “We are confident that this vaccine continues to meet our standards for safety, effectiveness and quality. We recommend people with questions about which vaccine is right for them have those discussions with their health care provider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question2\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How do people know the vaccines are safe and effective?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-conclude-phase-3-study-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pfizer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.modernatx.com/sites/default/files/content_documents/mRNA-1273-Update-11-16-20-Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moderna\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-third-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnson & Johnson\u003c/a> conducted full trials and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/media/143890/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">didn’t skip any steps\u003c/a> in the stages of testing for the vaccines’ safety and efficacy. The \u003ca href=\"https://media.defense.gov/2020/Aug/13/2002476369/-1/-1/0/200813-D-ZZ999-100.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stages\u003c/a> included testing in animals and an application for FDA approval to test in humans. Then the drug companies tested the vaccine in a small number of individuals before conducting tests in tens of thousands of people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only part of this process that was shorter than usual was in how long drug companies observed people for long-term side effects before requesting FDA authorization to distribute the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would normally wait, let’s say, six months after testing of the vaccine,” Wachter said. “They waited two months, and why? Because this was an absolute emergency and a catastrophe. And so in waiting extra months, there would have been hundreds of thousands of people that would have died.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA recently resumed the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a short pause to investigate incidents of a rare blood clot showing up in a small percentage of people in the U.S. who received this vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say a pause like this is normal when a new medication or vaccine becomes available to the public, and does not indicate that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The relative risk is really, really low for these severe blood clots,” said Dr. Catherine Blish, infectious disease specialist at Stanford Medicine after the initial reports. “So we’ve had the six cases out of almost seven million vaccines delivered, which is about one in a million. And while this has been hugely controversial, the birth control pills are associated with about one in 1000-100 rate of blood clots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA was asking for a minimum of 50% efficacy against the coronavirus. After two doses, Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine is 95% effective at preventing the symptoms of COVID-19 and Moderna’s is a little over 94%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is about 77% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 28 days after vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those results and the safety records are why the FDA \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/emergency-use-authorization-vaccines-explained#:~:text=An%20Emergency%20Use%20Authorization%20(EUA)%20is%20a%20mechanism%20to%20facilitate,the%20current%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">authorized\u003c/a> the emergency use of these vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question3\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: What are the possible side effects of getting a vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The possible short-term side effects for all the vaccines include pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as tiredness, chills and headaches. If you get side effects, they would typically start within a day or two of injection and last a few days. The side effects, experts note, are your immune system telling you the vaccine is working and your body is creating antibodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you find yourself experiencing these side effects, consult your doctor before taking over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen, aspirin, antihistamines or acetaminophen. Also, don’t take these medications before you get the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC reports that a December study found that a small fraction of people — 11.1 recipients per million doses administered — had a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be lethal. The CDC has listed a few allergies that could \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prevent\u003c/a> someone from getting the vaccine. The agency also recommends people get screened for allergies before receiving the vaccine, and that vaccine sites have epinephrine injections available. If you have allergies, you may wish to consult your doctor about the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two systems that allow you or your doctor to report any unusual side effects to officials at the CDC and elsewhere: \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/vsafe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">V-safe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://vaers.hhs.gov/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">VAERS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 15 cases confirmed by the CDC in which blood clots developed, it happened within three weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If you develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving the vaccine, seek medical treatment with your health care provider or an urgent care clinic or hospital emergency room, and let the provider know you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question4\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: But the FDA approved this vaccine after two months of observation; isn’t there a chance a really bad side effect could show up much later?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to experts, says Wachter, in the history of vaccines there have been no instances of a serious, worrisome side effect that didn’t show up in the first two months. So while no one is saying it’s impossible for a long-term side effect to emerge later, both Wachter and Bibbins-Domingo say the risk of that is not even close to the risk of contracting COVID-19 and dying or ending up with long-term physical problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s certainly not a close call, especially when you look at the surge in California, and also when you look at how much we really are still learning about how much the coronavirus affects the body,” said Bibbins-Domingo. “People should talk to their doctors, they should ask questions, but really the balance is in favor of getting this vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While regulators don’t yet know whether there’s a link between the vaccine and the extremely rare cases of blood clots. \u003cem>If there is\u003c/em>, it could be an example of the kind of thing that only occurs one in a million times. This type of case, then, typically only shows up once the number of vaccinated people rises above one million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23640658/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many medications\u003c/a> including birth control pills, carry a higher risk for blood clots. And the risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 is \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33254369/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">50 times higher\u003c/a> than if you get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question11\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Why do you need multiple doses for some of the vaccines and how long does your immunity last?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the first dose gives you most of the protection against severe disease, and the second dose takes you all the way there. Plus experts think the second dose may extend how long the vaccine lasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fourteen days after your first dose of either vaccine, you are 80% protected on average, says Wachter. In case that makes you think about skipping the second dose, remember that the vaccine trials were two doses, so what we know about how well the vaccine works depends on two doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers still don’t know exactly how long your immunity will last after receiving both doses. Only a few months of data on the vaccines exist so far. But, says Bibbins-Domingo, there are indications they will provide longer-term immunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people who received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine before the FDA halted its use, it becomes more effective after 28 days at preventing severe or critical illness, at 85%; overall protection stays about the same, at 66% after 14 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question5\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the vaccines give me the coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. None of the vaccines contain live coronavirus or synthetic coronavirus. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">They train\u003c/a> your immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus and then disappears. You cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine. Also, mRNA vaccines do not interact with your DNA because the mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The antibodies your immune system creates protect you from the symptoms of COVID-19, especially severe symptoms. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that the time between getting the vaccine and producing these antibodies is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">several weeks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mRNA vaccine is the newer technology; Marla Broadfoot, a Ph.D. geneticist who’s also an independent journalist, likes to compare mRNA to scratch paper on which you write a note then throw away when you’re done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“mRNA is a kind of molecular scratch paper that carries these instructions around the cell where they can be used to construct proteins,” she \u003ca href=\"https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2021/02/when-writing-about-sars-cov-2-variants-utilize-metaphors/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://healthjournalism.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Association of Health Care Journalists\u003c/a>. “In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA is giving our cells instructions for making the spike protein, a harmless bit of the coronavirus. Our cells recognize the protein as foreign and make antibodies against it and against the virus. In the meantime, the mRNA scratch paper disintegrates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a common virus, engineered so it cannot infect you, to prompt your body to make the spike protein and the antibodies against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question6\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the vaccines work against the variants?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. You may have heard otherwise, but the important point is that the vaccines are highly effective against the variants in preventing severe disease — that is, preventing hospitalizations and deaths. It’s true the vaccines were less \u003cem>potent \u003c/em>against the variants in lab tests, meaning they generated fewer antibodies. However, the vaccines trigger a range of immune responses in addition to antibodies, and the immune response is so robust that it can lose a good bit of potency and still be effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts think a vaccinated person who contracts a variant of the coronavirus may experience mild or moderate symptoms a little more than they would with the original coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s normal for viruses to mutate, and scientists expected it. The important point is that every infection the vaccines prevent denies the coronavirus a chance to mutate further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question7\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Can you still get and transmit COVID-19 if you’ve been vaccinated?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial trials tested vaccines on how effective they are at preventing severe disease. These studies did not examine whether the vaccines prevent infection or transmission of that infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early evidence suggests that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines may be able prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0329-COVID-19-Vaccines.html\">recent CDC study\u003c/a> with roughly 4,000 participants showed that mRNA vaccines were effective at preventing coronavirus infections in real-world conditions. Results showed that after partial vaccination, the risk of infection was reduced by 80 percent. Two weeks or more following the second dose of the vaccine, the risk of infection was reduced by 90 percent. More research is needed to confirm these results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bibbins-Domingo says that all indications are that vaccines have the ability to prevent infection, but this is still being studied. The uncertainty about this is why people who’ve had the vaccine are advised to continue to wear masks and socially distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question8\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Should you get vaccinated if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vaccines were not studied in pregnant and nursing women. Based on the review of the data on how the mRNA vaccines work and on the side effects, says Bibbins-Domingo, medical authorities say pregnant and nursing women should consider getting the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pregnant women are at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">higher risk\u003c/a> than other women of having severe illness if they contract COVID-19, according to the CDC, and might be at higher risk of preterm birth or other complications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-moderna-covid-19-mrna-1273-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Health Organization\u003c/a> says women who are at high risk of exposure or who have underlying health conditions may receive the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2020/12/vaccinating-pregnant-and-lactating-patients-against-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.smfm.org/media/2591/SMFM_Vaccine_Statement_12-1-20_(final).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine \u003c/a>say the vaccine should not be withheld from pregnant women who wish to receive it. Both organizations objected to excluding pregnant and lactating women from the vaccine trials, and they are pressing for future trials to include these groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question9\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Were the vaccines tested on racially and ethnically diverse populations? Were they effective for a range of races/ethnicities?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. And yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drug companies gathered demographic information from participants in the study. Both of the vaccine clinical trials included a smaller percentage of Blacks and Asians than in the U.S. population and a roughly similar percentage of Latinos. Here’s where you can find the demographic information for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moderna’s\u003c/a> vaccine, and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pfizer-BioNTech’s\u003c/a>. And here’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. population\u003c/a> from the census as of 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coronavirus has hit certain populations much harder: Black, Latino, Indigenous and lower-income people are suffering high rates of COVID-19 and are among the most important groups to be vaccinated. At the same time, says Bibbins-Domingo, they may have serious questions about the vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oftentimes these same communities have very legitimate concerns about trusting government, trusting the medical establishment, trusting science, because of historical instances where, really, there is basis for that mistrust,” said Bibbins-Domingo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States’ history of medical exploitation, especially of minorities, includes incidents like the widely condemned \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p013281q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tuskegee experiment\u003c/a> on Black men with syphilis, from 1932-1972, and the forced sterilization of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449330/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Latina\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/forced-sterilization-policies-us-targeted-minorities-and-those-disabilities-and-lasted-21st\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">African American\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2015.1083229?journalCode=rwhr20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Native American\u003c/a> women as late as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449330/\">1970s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there are many examples of racist treatment throughout the history of health care, there are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11861322/were-learning-the-wrong-lessons-from-the-tuskegee-experiment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">failures\u003c/a> in America’s current health care system that reinforce structures of racism and drive distrust. And the country’s immigration debate can also show \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/04/why-can-t-i-micro-chip-an-illegal/340979/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why it’s hard\u003c/a> for people of color to trust government health projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bibbins-Domingo encourages people to seek answers to their questions, particularly from doctors or organizations they trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://rootsclinic.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roots Community Health Center\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chaaweb.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Community Health for Asian Americans\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://thelatinacenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Latina Center\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nativehealth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Native American Health Center\u003c/a> serve their communities and understand the historical factors and current struggles that influence perceptions of the health care system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question11\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: What are the differences between the vaccines? Is one better than the others?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are essentially the same; they are both mRNA vaccines, with the same side effects and the same effectiveness. The way they prompt your immune system to respond and make antibodies is the same. The main difference is which fat globule they use to get the mRNA into the cell. Both require two doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a different delivery system involving \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a disabled adenovirus\u003c/a> to trigger your immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus. It requires only on shot. Its use was halted on April 13, 2021, as the CDC and FDA review 6 cases of women who developed blood clots within a couple of weeks of receiving the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-03-15-2021-Bay-Area-health-officers-statement-COVID19-vaccine.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A joint statement\u003c/a> signed by all of the Bay Area’s health officers in March noted that the vaccines are “100 percent effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19. Our collective medical advice is this: the best vaccine is the one you can get the soonest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question12\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Are the vaccines safe for all ages? When will children be eligible?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was tested and found safe for ages 16 and up. The Moderna vaccine was authorized for ages 18 and up. Before the FDA halted its use, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was authorized for ages 18 and up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug companies have to test the vaccine in an age group before they can show it’s safe for those ages. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are currently testing the vaccine in both young children and adolescents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pfizer-BioNTech recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005503/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">results of a Phase 3 clinical trial\u003c/a> that showed the vaccine was effective and well-tolerated in adolescents aged 12-15. However, the vaccine has not yet been authorized by the FDA for use in adolescents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-will-kids-get-covid-vaccines/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Some health experts\u003c/a> say vaccines could be authorized for adolescents this summer and for young children in early 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people 65 and older, the risk from COVID-19 is much higher than the risk of the vaccine. Very elderly and frail people with underlying health conditions should be evaluated before receiving the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question13\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Why should people in their 20s and 30s get vaccinated?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While young people are less likely to get really sick from COVID-19, they can still get and spread the virus. Also, many young people are in contact with parents, grandparents and others who are older and more at risk. Finally, while the likelihood of a young person getting a serious case requiring hospitalization is lower, some have become seriously ill or died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question14\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Should I get vaccinated if I already had COVID-19? And how long should I wait after I’ve had COVID-19 to get it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yes.\u003c/a> The level of protection you receive from the vaccine is higher than what you get from having had COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC\u003c/a>, once you’ve recovered and completed your isolation requirements, you can get the vaccine. However, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC says\u003c/a> people who were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma should wait 90 days before getting the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question15\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: If I’m vaccinated, can I stop wearing a mask and get close to people again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No\u003c/a>. Even if you’re vaccinated, you can still get and transmit the disease. Remember, the trials only thoroughly tested how well the vaccine protects against the symptoms of COVID-19. Researchers are still studying whether the vaccine prevents infection and transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question16\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: I am immunosuppressed; should I still get the vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immunocompromised people are at a higher risk for severe COVID-19. While there is no data on mRNA vaccines in people who are immunocompromised, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC\u003c/a> does not recommend against it, but does recommend people be counseled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question17\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. There’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/technology/pfizer-vaccine-infertility-disinformation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no evidence\u003c/a> that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility. In early December, an internet post spread a false rumor about this, but it was proven \u003ca href=\"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/dec/10/blog-posting/no-pfizers-head-research-didnt-say-covid-19-vaccin/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to be untrue\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question18\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Does the vaccine allow any authority to track me?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-microchip-not-injected-covi/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-labels-would-not-microchip-or-track-individuals-but-serve-logistical-purpose-idUSKBN28O1TM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No\u003c/a>. There is a microchip on the syringe’s label (not inside the actual vaccine) that tracks the vaccine’s expiration date and whether it has been used. It does not track who receives the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question19\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How do I get the vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See KQED’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Where Can I Get a COVID-19 Vaccine in the Bay Area? \u003c/a>” post.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MyTurn\u003c/a> website will tell you if you’re eligible for the vaccine and when appointments are available. If you’re not eligible, you can register to receive a notification when you become eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>*If you are wondering whether you should get a vaccine, contact your health provider.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions health experts are hearing.",
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"title": "Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions, From Side Effects to Safety | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated April 26, 2021, 5:53 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11870973/cdc-vaccine-committee-votes-to-recommend-jj-vaccine-use-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lifted a 10-day pause\u003c/a> of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine. Bay Area counties followed suit, announcing they would resume using the single-dose shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/13/world/johnson-vaccine-blood-clots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> halted\u003c/a> the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 “out of an abundance of caution” after a rare type of \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/blood-clots-and-the-johnson-johnson-vaccine-what-we-know-so-far/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blood clot\u003c/a> showed up in 6 women within about two weeks of receiving the vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safety is our top priority. This pause was an example of our extensive safety monitoring working as they were designed to work — identifying even these small number of cases,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement. “We’ve lifted the pause based on the FDA and CDC’s review of all available data and in consultation with medical experts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, the CDC updated the total to 15 women, ages 18 to 59, who experienced a combination of rare blood clots and low platelets between 6 and 15 days after vaccination. Over the weekend, UCSF announced that it was treating a male patient in his 30s for the condition, which is known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the U.S., roughly eight million people have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The relative risk is really, really low for these severe blood clots,” said Dr. Catherine Blish, infectious disease specialist at Stanford Medicine. If you develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving the vaccine, seek medical treatment with your health care provider or an urgent care clinic or hospital emergency room, and let the provider know you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC said in a statement earlier this month that one purpose of the pause was to let health care providers know what to do. The usual treatment for blood clots, a blood-thinning medication called heparin, can be dangerous used for this type of clot, and the CDC is alerting health providers to be prepared to offer alternate treatments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We’ve searched for and compiled answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the vaccine. Our answers come from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calendar/after-dark-online-covid-catchup?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&UTM_campaign=FY21AfterDark\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live Q&A\u003c/a> with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploratorium.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Exploratorium\u003c/a> featuring Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine, and Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. We also consulted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization and various other medical associations and journal articles. For those of you who want to dig deeper, we’ve linked to some of those.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"backtotop\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Jump to a question:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question1\">How were the vaccines developed so quickly?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question2\">How do people know the vaccines are safe and effective?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question3\">What are the possible side effects of getting a vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question4\">But the FDA approved this vaccine after two months of observation; isn’t there a chance a really bad side effect could show up much later?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question11\">Why do you need multiple doses and how long does your immunity last?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question5\">Do the vaccines give me the virus?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question6\">Do the vaccines work against the variants?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question7\">Can you still get and transmit COVID-19 if you’ve been vaccinated?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question8\">Should you get vaccinated if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question9\">Were the vaccines tested on racially and ethnically diverse populations? Were they effective for a range of races/ethnicities?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question10\">What are the differences between the vaccines? Is one better than the others?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question12\">Are the vaccines safe for all ages? When will children be eligible?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question13\">Why should people in their 20s and 30s get vaccinated?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question14\">Should I get vaccinated if I already had COVID-19? And how long should I wait after I’ve had COVID-19 to get it?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question15\">If I’m vaccinated, can I stop wearing a mask and get close to people again?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question16\">I am immunosuppressed, should I still get the vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question17\">Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question18\">Does the vaccine allow any authority to track me?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#question19\">How do I get the vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question1\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How were the vaccines developed so quickly?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. government agencies and private companies collaborated on a project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Operation-Warp-Speed/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Operation Warp Speed\u003c/a> to fast-track the coronavirus vaccine. This accelerated timeline doesn’t mean any steps were skipped in the testing stages for the vaccines. The shortcuts related to funding and to dialogue and planning, which went quickly since everyone had the same goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, companies hesitate to manufacture a vaccine until they’re in the FDA approval process. It’s a big risk to invest a lot of money in manufacturing without knowing whether the vaccine will be approved. But under Operation Warp Speed, governments pre-paid for the vaccines to eliminate the financial risk for the companies involved. This allowed them to manufacture the vaccine at the same time they were doing the testing. So when the testing was complete, a lot of doses were already available to distribute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason for how quickly these vaccines were developed is that the processes used for making the vaccines aren’t new. mRNA had already been studied for years, and and was being developed for other infectious diseases. Because of this, researchers already knew how to make an mRNA vaccine and could customize development and testing for SARS-CoV-2. Adenovirus vaccines, the method used by Johnson & Johnson, are common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA authorized the emergency use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After a thorough analysis of the data, the FDA’s scientists and physicians have determined that the vaccine meets the FDA’s expectations for safety and effectiveness appropriate for theauthorization of a vaccine for emergency use,” Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D. and director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 to investigate 6 cases in which a rare blood clot developed, out of the roughly 7 million people who’d received the vaccine in the U.S. to that point. Medical experts say that the risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 is \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33254369/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">50 times higher\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The halt on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus vaccine was lifted 10 days later on April 23 after a review of the initial six cases and 9 additional cases by the FDA and CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have concluded that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement. “We are confident that this vaccine continues to meet our standards for safety, effectiveness and quality. We recommend people with questions about which vaccine is right for them have those discussions with their health care provider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question2\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How do people know the vaccines are safe and effective?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-conclude-phase-3-study-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pfizer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.modernatx.com/sites/default/files/content_documents/mRNA-1273-Update-11-16-20-Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moderna\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-third-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnson & Johnson\u003c/a> conducted full trials and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/media/143890/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">didn’t skip any steps\u003c/a> in the stages of testing for the vaccines’ safety and efficacy. The \u003ca href=\"https://media.defense.gov/2020/Aug/13/2002476369/-1/-1/0/200813-D-ZZ999-100.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stages\u003c/a> included testing in animals and an application for FDA approval to test in humans. Then the drug companies tested the vaccine in a small number of individuals before conducting tests in tens of thousands of people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only part of this process that was shorter than usual was in how long drug companies observed people for long-term side effects before requesting FDA authorization to distribute the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would normally wait, let’s say, six months after testing of the vaccine,” Wachter said. “They waited two months, and why? Because this was an absolute emergency and a catastrophe. And so in waiting extra months, there would have been hundreds of thousands of people that would have died.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA recently resumed the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a short pause to investigate incidents of a rare blood clot showing up in a small percentage of people in the U.S. who received this vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say a pause like this is normal when a new medication or vaccine becomes available to the public, and does not indicate that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The relative risk is really, really low for these severe blood clots,” said Dr. Catherine Blish, infectious disease specialist at Stanford Medicine after the initial reports. “So we’ve had the six cases out of almost seven million vaccines delivered, which is about one in a million. And while this has been hugely controversial, the birth control pills are associated with about one in 1000-100 rate of blood clots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA was asking for a minimum of 50% efficacy against the coronavirus. After two doses, Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine is 95% effective at preventing the symptoms of COVID-19 and Moderna’s is a little over 94%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is about 77% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 28 days after vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those results and the safety records are why the FDA \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/emergency-use-authorization-vaccines-explained#:~:text=An%20Emergency%20Use%20Authorization%20(EUA)%20is%20a%20mechanism%20to%20facilitate,the%20current%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">authorized\u003c/a> the emergency use of these vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question3\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: What are the possible side effects of getting a vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The possible short-term side effects for all the vaccines include pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as tiredness, chills and headaches. If you get side effects, they would typically start within a day or two of injection and last a few days. The side effects, experts note, are your immune system telling you the vaccine is working and your body is creating antibodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you find yourself experiencing these side effects, consult your doctor before taking over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen, aspirin, antihistamines or acetaminophen. Also, don’t take these medications before you get the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC reports that a December study found that a small fraction of people — 11.1 recipients per million doses administered — had a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be lethal. The CDC has listed a few allergies that could \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prevent\u003c/a> someone from getting the vaccine. The agency also recommends people get screened for allergies before receiving the vaccine, and that vaccine sites have epinephrine injections available. If you have allergies, you may wish to consult your doctor about the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two systems that allow you or your doctor to report any unusual side effects to officials at the CDC and elsewhere: \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/vsafe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">V-safe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://vaers.hhs.gov/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">VAERS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 15 cases confirmed by the CDC in which blood clots developed, it happened within three weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If you develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving the vaccine, seek medical treatment with your health care provider or an urgent care clinic or hospital emergency room, and let the provider know you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question4\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: But the FDA approved this vaccine after two months of observation; isn’t there a chance a really bad side effect could show up much later?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to experts, says Wachter, in the history of vaccines there have been no instances of a serious, worrisome side effect that didn’t show up in the first two months. So while no one is saying it’s impossible for a long-term side effect to emerge later, both Wachter and Bibbins-Domingo say the risk of that is not even close to the risk of contracting COVID-19 and dying or ending up with long-term physical problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s certainly not a close call, especially when you look at the surge in California, and also when you look at how much we really are still learning about how much the coronavirus affects the body,” said Bibbins-Domingo. “People should talk to their doctors, they should ask questions, but really the balance is in favor of getting this vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While regulators don’t yet know whether there’s a link between the vaccine and the extremely rare cases of blood clots. \u003cem>If there is\u003c/em>, it could be an example of the kind of thing that only occurs one in a million times. This type of case, then, typically only shows up once the number of vaccinated people rises above one million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23640658/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many medications\u003c/a> including birth control pills, carry a higher risk for blood clots. And the risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 is \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33254369/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">50 times higher\u003c/a> than if you get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question11\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Why do you need multiple doses for some of the vaccines and how long does your immunity last?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the first dose gives you most of the protection against severe disease, and the second dose takes you all the way there. Plus experts think the second dose may extend how long the vaccine lasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fourteen days after your first dose of either vaccine, you are 80% protected on average, says Wachter. In case that makes you think about skipping the second dose, remember that the vaccine trials were two doses, so what we know about how well the vaccine works depends on two doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers still don’t know exactly how long your immunity will last after receiving both doses. Only a few months of data on the vaccines exist so far. But, says Bibbins-Domingo, there are indications they will provide longer-term immunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people who received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine before the FDA halted its use, it becomes more effective after 28 days at preventing severe or critical illness, at 85%; overall protection stays about the same, at 66% after 14 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question5\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the vaccines give me the coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. None of the vaccines contain live coronavirus or synthetic coronavirus. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">They train\u003c/a> your immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus and then disappears. You cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine. Also, mRNA vaccines do not interact with your DNA because the mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The antibodies your immune system creates protect you from the symptoms of COVID-19, especially severe symptoms. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that the time between getting the vaccine and producing these antibodies is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">several weeks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mRNA vaccine is the newer technology; Marla Broadfoot, a Ph.D. geneticist who’s also an independent journalist, likes to compare mRNA to scratch paper on which you write a note then throw away when you’re done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“mRNA is a kind of molecular scratch paper that carries these instructions around the cell where they can be used to construct proteins,” she \u003ca href=\"https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2021/02/when-writing-about-sars-cov-2-variants-utilize-metaphors/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://healthjournalism.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Association of Health Care Journalists\u003c/a>. “In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA is giving our cells instructions for making the spike protein, a harmless bit of the coronavirus. Our cells recognize the protein as foreign and make antibodies against it and against the virus. In the meantime, the mRNA scratch paper disintegrates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a common virus, engineered so it cannot infect you, to prompt your body to make the spike protein and the antibodies against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question6\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the vaccines work against the variants?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. You may have heard otherwise, but the important point is that the vaccines are highly effective against the variants in preventing severe disease — that is, preventing hospitalizations and deaths. It’s true the vaccines were less \u003cem>potent \u003c/em>against the variants in lab tests, meaning they generated fewer antibodies. However, the vaccines trigger a range of immune responses in addition to antibodies, and the immune response is so robust that it can lose a good bit of potency and still be effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts think a vaccinated person who contracts a variant of the coronavirus may experience mild or moderate symptoms a little more than they would with the original coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s normal for viruses to mutate, and scientists expected it. The important point is that every infection the vaccines prevent denies the coronavirus a chance to mutate further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question7\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Can you still get and transmit COVID-19 if you’ve been vaccinated?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial trials tested vaccines on how effective they are at preventing severe disease. These studies did not examine whether the vaccines prevent infection or transmission of that infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early evidence suggests that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines may be able prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0329-COVID-19-Vaccines.html\">recent CDC study\u003c/a> with roughly 4,000 participants showed that mRNA vaccines were effective at preventing coronavirus infections in real-world conditions. Results showed that after partial vaccination, the risk of infection was reduced by 80 percent. Two weeks or more following the second dose of the vaccine, the risk of infection was reduced by 90 percent. More research is needed to confirm these results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bibbins-Domingo says that all indications are that vaccines have the ability to prevent infection, but this is still being studied. The uncertainty about this is why people who’ve had the vaccine are advised to continue to wear masks and socially distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question8\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Should you get vaccinated if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vaccines were not studied in pregnant and nursing women. Based on the review of the data on how the mRNA vaccines work and on the side effects, says Bibbins-Domingo, medical authorities say pregnant and nursing women should consider getting the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pregnant women are at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">higher risk\u003c/a> than other women of having severe illness if they contract COVID-19, according to the CDC, and might be at higher risk of preterm birth or other complications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-moderna-covid-19-mrna-1273-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Health Organization\u003c/a> says women who are at high risk of exposure or who have underlying health conditions may receive the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2020/12/vaccinating-pregnant-and-lactating-patients-against-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.smfm.org/media/2591/SMFM_Vaccine_Statement_12-1-20_(final).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine \u003c/a>say the vaccine should not be withheld from pregnant women who wish to receive it. Both organizations objected to excluding pregnant and lactating women from the vaccine trials, and they are pressing for future trials to include these groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question9\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Were the vaccines tested on racially and ethnically diverse populations? Were they effective for a range of races/ethnicities?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. And yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drug companies gathered demographic information from participants in the study. Both of the vaccine clinical trials included a smaller percentage of Blacks and Asians than in the U.S. population and a roughly similar percentage of Latinos. Here’s where you can find the demographic information for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moderna’s\u003c/a> vaccine, and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pfizer-BioNTech’s\u003c/a>. And here’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. population\u003c/a> from the census as of 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coronavirus has hit certain populations much harder: Black, Latino, Indigenous and lower-income people are suffering high rates of COVID-19 and are among the most important groups to be vaccinated. At the same time, says Bibbins-Domingo, they may have serious questions about the vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oftentimes these same communities have very legitimate concerns about trusting government, trusting the medical establishment, trusting science, because of historical instances where, really, there is basis for that mistrust,” said Bibbins-Domingo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States’ history of medical exploitation, especially of minorities, includes incidents like the widely condemned \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p013281q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tuskegee experiment\u003c/a> on Black men with syphilis, from 1932-1972, and the forced sterilization of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449330/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Latina\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/forced-sterilization-policies-us-targeted-minorities-and-those-disabilities-and-lasted-21st\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">African American\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2015.1083229?journalCode=rwhr20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Native American\u003c/a> women as late as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449330/\">1970s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there are many examples of racist treatment throughout the history of health care, there are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11861322/were-learning-the-wrong-lessons-from-the-tuskegee-experiment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">failures\u003c/a> in America’s current health care system that reinforce structures of racism and drive distrust. And the country’s immigration debate can also show \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/04/why-can-t-i-micro-chip-an-illegal/340979/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why it’s hard\u003c/a> for people of color to trust government health projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bibbins-Domingo encourages people to seek answers to their questions, particularly from doctors or organizations they trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://rootsclinic.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roots Community Health Center\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chaaweb.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Community Health for Asian Americans\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://thelatinacenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Latina Center\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nativehealth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Native American Health Center\u003c/a> serve their communities and understand the historical factors and current struggles that influence perceptions of the health care system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question11\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: What are the differences between the vaccines? Is one better than the others?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are essentially the same; they are both mRNA vaccines, with the same side effects and the same effectiveness. The way they prompt your immune system to respond and make antibodies is the same. The main difference is which fat globule they use to get the mRNA into the cell. Both require two doses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a different delivery system involving \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a disabled adenovirus\u003c/a> to trigger your immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus. It requires only on shot. Its use was halted on April 13, 2021, as the CDC and FDA review 6 cases of women who developed blood clots within a couple of weeks of receiving the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-03-15-2021-Bay-Area-health-officers-statement-COVID19-vaccine.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A joint statement\u003c/a> signed by all of the Bay Area’s health officers in March noted that the vaccines are “100 percent effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19. Our collective medical advice is this: the best vaccine is the one you can get the soonest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question12\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Are the vaccines safe for all ages? When will children be eligible?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was tested and found safe for ages 16 and up. The Moderna vaccine was authorized for ages 18 and up. Before the FDA halted its use, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was authorized for ages 18 and up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug companies have to test the vaccine in an age group before they can show it’s safe for those ages. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are currently testing the vaccine in both young children and adolescents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pfizer-BioNTech recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005503/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">results of a Phase 3 clinical trial\u003c/a> that showed the vaccine was effective and well-tolerated in adolescents aged 12-15. However, the vaccine has not yet been authorized by the FDA for use in adolescents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-will-kids-get-covid-vaccines/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Some health experts\u003c/a> say vaccines could be authorized for adolescents this summer and for young children in early 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people 65 and older, the risk from COVID-19 is much higher than the risk of the vaccine. Very elderly and frail people with underlying health conditions should be evaluated before receiving the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question13\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Why should people in their 20s and 30s get vaccinated?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While young people are less likely to get really sick from COVID-19, they can still get and spread the virus. Also, many young people are in contact with parents, grandparents and others who are older and more at risk. Finally, while the likelihood of a young person getting a serious case requiring hospitalization is lower, some have become seriously ill or died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question14\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Should I get vaccinated if I already had COVID-19? And how long should I wait after I’ve had COVID-19 to get it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yes.\u003c/a> The level of protection you receive from the vaccine is higher than what you get from having had COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC\u003c/a>, once you’ve recovered and completed your isolation requirements, you can get the vaccine. However, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC says\u003c/a> people who were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma should wait 90 days before getting the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question15\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: If I’m vaccinated, can I stop wearing a mask and get close to people again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No\u003c/a>. Even if you’re vaccinated, you can still get and transmit the disease. Remember, the trials only thoroughly tested how well the vaccine protects against the symptoms of COVID-19. Researchers are still studying whether the vaccine prevents infection and transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question16\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: I am immunosuppressed; should I still get the vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immunocompromised people are at a higher risk for severe COVID-19. While there is no data on mRNA vaccines in people who are immunocompromised, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC\u003c/a> does not recommend against it, but does recommend people be counseled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question17\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. There’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/technology/pfizer-vaccine-infertility-disinformation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no evidence\u003c/a> that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility. In early December, an internet post spread a false rumor about this, but it was proven \u003ca href=\"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/dec/10/blog-posting/no-pfizers-head-research-didnt-say-covid-19-vaccin/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to be untrue\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question18\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: Does the vaccine allow any authority to track me?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-microchip-not-injected-covi/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-labels-would-not-microchip-or-track-individuals-but-serve-logistical-purpose-idUSKBN28O1TM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No\u003c/a>. There is a microchip on the syringe’s label (not inside the actual vaccine) that tracks the vaccine’s expiration date and whether it has been used. It does not track who receives the vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"question19\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Q: How do I get the vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See KQED’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855623/where-can-i-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-the-bay-area-your-questions-answered\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Where Can I Get a COVID-19 Vaccine in the Bay Area? \u003c/a>” post.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MyTurn\u003c/a> website will tell you if you’re eligible for the vaccine and when appointments are available. If you’re not eligible, you can register to receive a notification when you become eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>*If you are wondering whether you should get a vaccine, contact your health provider.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "State Auditor Says California Air Regulator Overstated Emission Reductions",
"headTitle": "State Auditor Says California Air Regulator Overstated Emission Reductions | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">A state \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">audit\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of climate programs overseen by the California Air Resources Board has found the air regulator overstated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from its electric vehicle incentive program and other initiatives. The board is in charge of implementing the state’s most aggressive efforts to reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Given the ambitious nature of the State’s climate change goals and the short time frame to meet them, California is in need of more reliable tools with which to make funding decisions,” California State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a note accompanying the report, released on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howle warned that the state is in danger of failing to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40% below the level in 1990. She highlighted carbon pollution from cars and trucks as a key problem — since 2013, emissions from the transportation sector have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1948712/your-suv-is-really-messing-with-the-states-climate-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">soared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to record highs in California while falling in other areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit found CARB can’t say how much its incentives for electric vehicles contribute to emission reductions of planet-warming gases. Howle said the air board is not gathering and evaluating enough data, accounting for overlapping reductions between regulatory programs, or determining the impact of these incentives on consumer behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her report doesn’t say that the incentive programs aren’t working, but rather that CARB needs to better collect and evaluate data. While the audit did find that CARB overstated its emissions reductions, it said it’s not clear by how much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a spokesperson for the air board, said in an email that the agency stands “behind our staff,” as well as the “methodology and robust public process that seeks stakeholder input on emissions reductions attributed to regulations and incentives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“To ensure community health relief, the scope and magnitude of the necessary transition to zero is unprecedented,” she wrote. “Ninety percent of Californians still breathe unhealthy air. We agree that this is unacceptable. The board will be hearing new regulatory items in the near future related to doubling down on zero-emission vehicles, trucks, and equipment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turner added that the agency “will strive further [to] strengthen our world-leading programs as we respond to the auditor’s recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, criticized the agency in a statement, saying the findings “are unfortunately not surprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cooper blamed the leadership of Mary Nichols, who retired as the board’s chair in December, for the deficiencies flagged by the audit. Cooper wrote that the agency “continuously ignored the calls of Legislators and California taxpayers to look closely at how their incentive programs disproportionately left California’s struggling middle-class footing the bill for wealthy communities so that they could purchase electric vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">President Joe Biden reportedly considered Nichols to lead the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971853/mary-nichols-californias-great-environmental-warrior-did-not-fight-the-right-battles-to-some\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">faded \u003c/span>\u003c/a>from contention after a complaint from environmental justice groups about her support for California’s cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s report examined cap and trade, a market-based climate initiative that aims to limit greenhouse gases by putting a ceiling on industry emissions and allowing businesses to buy and sell credits to produce them at an auction. While the landmark program generates a lot of money, the revenue is “finite and can be unpredictable,” the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for fossil fuels plummeted across the state last spring when California issued a shelter-in-place order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the May cap-and-trade auction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1965124/californias-cap-and-trade-program-generates-severely-reduced-revenue\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">generated\u003c/span>\u003c/a> very little money, and the state was forced to reduce key environmental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">CARB is required to use cap-and-trade money to invest in communities and create jobs, but the audit found the agency “has done relatively little to measure specific socioeconomic benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency “has been slow to measure the jobs its programs create or support and the benefits of job training its programs require,” Howle wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to meet its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels relies on cap and trade, but the program has come under increasing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1946804/researchers-press-california-to-strengthen-landmark-climate-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">criticism\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for depending too much on complicated market-based mechanisms and not enough on regulations, as well as for allowing companies to “pay to pollute” in low-income communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Jared Blumenfeld, the head of Cal EPA, which oversees the air board, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972525/california-environmental-officials-switch-to-offense-as-biden-takes-charge\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">acknowledged\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the criticisms in an interview with KQED this month, saying, \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s3\">CARB will examine its regulations and the impact of cap-and-trade program on communities that have experienced environmental degradation.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003cbr>\nOf the state’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2045, Blumenfeld said “cap and trade will play a role, but we all anticipate it will play a slightly smaller role than originally thought.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">evaluation\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of the role of California’s cap-and-trade program began last year and must be completed by the end of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The state auditor warned that California is in danger of failing to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40% below the level in 1990.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">A state \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">audit\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of climate programs overseen by the California Air Resources Board has found the air regulator overstated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from its electric vehicle incentive program and other initiatives. The board is in charge of implementing the state’s most aggressive efforts to reduce emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“Given the ambitious nature of the State’s climate change goals and the short time frame to meet them, California is in need of more reliable tools with which to make funding decisions,” California State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a note accompanying the report, released on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howle warned that the state is in danger of failing to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40% below the level in 1990. She highlighted carbon pollution from cars and trucks as a key problem — since 2013, emissions from the transportation sector have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1948712/your-suv-is-really-messing-with-the-states-climate-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">soared\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to record highs in California while falling in other areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit found CARB can’t say how much its incentives for electric vehicles contribute to emission reductions of planet-warming gases. Howle said the air board is not gathering and evaluating enough data, accounting for overlapping reductions between regulatory programs, or determining the impact of these incentives on consumer behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her report doesn’t say that the incentive programs aren’t working, but rather that CARB needs to better collect and evaluate data. While the audit did find that CARB overstated its emissions reductions, it said it’s not clear by how much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a spokesperson for the air board, said in an email that the agency stands “behind our staff,” as well as the “methodology and robust public process that seeks stakeholder input on emissions reductions attributed to regulations and incentives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“To ensure community health relief, the scope and magnitude of the necessary transition to zero is unprecedented,” she wrote. “Ninety percent of Californians still breathe unhealthy air. We agree that this is unacceptable. The board will be hearing new regulatory items in the near future related to doubling down on zero-emission vehicles, trucks, and equipment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turner added that the agency “will strive further [to] strengthen our world-leading programs as we respond to the auditor’s recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, criticized the agency in a statement, saying the findings “are unfortunately not surprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Cooper blamed the leadership of Mary Nichols, who retired as the board’s chair in December, for the deficiencies flagged by the audit. Cooper wrote that the agency “continuously ignored the calls of Legislators and California taxpayers to look closely at how their incentive programs disproportionately left California’s struggling middle-class footing the bill for wealthy communities so that they could purchase electric vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">President Joe Biden reportedly considered Nichols to lead the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1971853/mary-nichols-californias-great-environmental-warrior-did-not-fight-the-right-battles-to-some\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">faded \u003c/span>\u003c/a>from contention after a complaint from environmental justice groups about her support for California’s cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s report examined cap and trade, a market-based climate initiative that aims to limit greenhouse gases by putting a ceiling on industry emissions and allowing businesses to buy and sell credits to produce them at an auction. While the landmark program generates a lot of money, the revenue is “finite and can be unpredictable,” the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for fossil fuels plummeted across the state last spring when California issued a shelter-in-place order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the May cap-and-trade auction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1965124/californias-cap-and-trade-program-generates-severely-reduced-revenue\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">generated\u003c/span>\u003c/a> very little money, and the state was forced to reduce key environmental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">CARB is required to use cap-and-trade money to invest in communities and create jobs, but the audit found the agency “has done relatively little to measure specific socioeconomic benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency “has been slow to measure the jobs its programs create or support and the benefits of job training its programs require,” Howle wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a> to meet its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels relies on cap and trade, but the program has come under increasing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1946804/researchers-press-california-to-strengthen-landmark-climate-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">criticism\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for depending too much on complicated market-based mechanisms and not enough on regulations, as well as for allowing companies to “pay to pollute” in low-income communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Jared Blumenfeld, the head of Cal EPA, which oversees the air board, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972525/california-environmental-officials-switch-to-offense-as-biden-takes-charge\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">acknowledged\u003c/span>\u003c/a> the criticisms in an interview with KQED this month, saying, \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s3\">CARB will examine its regulations and the impact of cap-and-trade program on communities that have experienced environmental degradation.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003cbr>\nOf the state’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2045, Blumenfeld said “cap and trade will play a role, but we all anticipate it will play a slightly smaller role than originally thought.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">evaluation\u003c/span>\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of the role of California’s cap-and-trade program began last year and must be completed by the end of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "FDA Scientists Endorse Johnson & Johnson Vaccine",
"headTitle": "FDA Scientists Endorse Johnson & Johnson Vaccine | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"big-cap-wrap\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/span>cientists at the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is effective and prevents hospitalizations from the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson also revealed new, encouraging data showing the vaccine may do a better-than-expected job at protecting patients against new variants of the virus that causes disease. At the same time, FDA experts said the company’s study, results of which were originally made public in a Jan. 29 press release, includes insufficient information to draw conclusions on efficacy in people older than 75.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Documents from the FDA scientists, as well as separate documents from Johnson & Johnson, were released ahead of a Friday meeting of an FDA advisory panel in which outside experts will discuss and then vote on the risks and benefits of the new vaccine. The panel, known as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, makes recommendations to the FDA; the agency is not required to follow them, but it generally does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The J&J vaccine is the first vaccine to show efficacy given as a single dose. It also does not need to be kept frozen when being shipped, as the vaccines developed by Moderna and the team of Pfizer and BioNTech do. Both of those advantages could be profound when it comes to vaccinating as many people as possible, a key step in slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall in the study, the vaccine reduced cases of COVID-19 that were rated as moderate to severe by 66.1% when considering cases occurring at least 28 days after vaccination. There were 193 cases that occurred at least 28 days after vaccination in the placebo group and 66 in the vaccine group. As of Feb. 5, there were seven COVID-19 related deaths in the placebo group and none in the vaccine group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FDA researchers conducted a new analysis of how frequently volunteers in the study were hospitalized for COVID-19. When researchers counted cases 28 days after vaccination, there were zero hospitalizations in the vaccine arm and 16 in the placebo arm. For the full analysis set starting with the first dose, there were six hospitalizations for those who received the vaccine and 42 for those who did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson and the National Institutes of Health initially announced interim results of a 44,325 study testing the vaccine’s efficacy on Jan. 29. At the time, they said the 66% efficacy varied by geography. The vaccine was 72% protective in the U.S., compared to 58% in South Africa, where a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is circulating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In new documents, Johnson & Johnson said that in South Africa, the vaccine reduced severe or critical COVID-19 by 81.7% starting 28 days after vaccination, but that efficacy against more moderate disease was 64%. But the company said that the vaccine efficacy was not affected by the high prevalence of another variant in Brazil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unexpected side effects occurred at the same rate overall among volunteers who received the vaccine and placebo — about 0.5%. However, some rare conditions appeared more common with the vaccine. Blood clot-related conditions occurred in 15 volunteers who received the vaccine and 10 who received placebo. Tinnitus, a ringing in the ears, occurred in six volunteers who received the vaccine and none who received placebo. The FDA said it will recommend monitoring for thromboembolic events after an EUA is granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expected side effects that are related to the vaccine’s effect were common. Nearly half of volunteers reported injection site pain, 38.9% reported headaches, 38.2% fatigue, and 33% reported muscle aches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson also conducted an analysis in 2,650 volunteers looking at whether those who received the vaccine were less likely to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, without having symptoms. There were 50 such cases in the placebo group compared to 18 among those who received the vaccine, a 65.5% reduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States has purchased 100 million doses of the vaccine, with an option to buy an additional 200 million doses. \u003ca href=\"https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-announces-agreement-with-u-s-government-for-100-million-doses-of-investigational-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The agreement\u003c/a>, announced last August, netted J&J over $1 billion in a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the Department of Defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the company currently has a limited number of doses to contribute to the effort to step up the country’s vaccine rollout. It will be April before J&J begins to have substantial amounts of vaccine to feed into the distribution pipeline, Moncef Slaoui, former co-chair of Operation Warp Speed, said earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the company and the NIH said the vaccine was 85% effective at preventing severe disease, with no differences seen across the eight countries included in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J&J is also conducting a trial in the United States of a two-dose vaccine, with the doses given eight weeks apart. The results from that 30,000 person trial are not expected until sometime in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA documents represent the first close look at the data released Jan. 29, and are the result of a three-week effort by FDA scientists to independently evaluate the data generated in the trial. Friday’s panel will provide a deeper look at what those data actually mean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/24/new-data-shed-light-on-efficacy-of-jjs-single-dose-vaccine-against-covid-19/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story\u003c/a> was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STAT\u003c/a>, an online publication of Boston Globe Media that covers health, medicine, and scientific discovery.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The company also revealed new, encouraging data showing the vaccine may do a better-than-expected job at protecting patients against variants of the coronavirus.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"big-cap-wrap\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/span>cientists at the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is effective and prevents hospitalizations from the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson also revealed new, encouraging data showing the vaccine may do a better-than-expected job at protecting patients against new variants of the virus that causes disease. At the same time, FDA experts said the company’s study, results of which were originally made public in a Jan. 29 press release, includes insufficient information to draw conclusions on efficacy in people older than 75.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Documents from the FDA scientists, as well as separate documents from Johnson & Johnson, were released ahead of a Friday meeting of an FDA advisory panel in which outside experts will discuss and then vote on the risks and benefits of the new vaccine. The panel, known as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, makes recommendations to the FDA; the agency is not required to follow them, but it generally does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The J&J vaccine is the first vaccine to show efficacy given as a single dose. It also does not need to be kept frozen when being shipped, as the vaccines developed by Moderna and the team of Pfizer and BioNTech do. Both of those advantages could be profound when it comes to vaccinating as many people as possible, a key step in slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall in the study, the vaccine reduced cases of COVID-19 that were rated as moderate to severe by 66.1% when considering cases occurring at least 28 days after vaccination. There were 193 cases that occurred at least 28 days after vaccination in the placebo group and 66 in the vaccine group. As of Feb. 5, there were seven COVID-19 related deaths in the placebo group and none in the vaccine group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FDA researchers conducted a new analysis of how frequently volunteers in the study were hospitalized for COVID-19. When researchers counted cases 28 days after vaccination, there were zero hospitalizations in the vaccine arm and 16 in the placebo arm. For the full analysis set starting with the first dose, there were six hospitalizations for those who received the vaccine and 42 for those who did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson and the National Institutes of Health initially announced interim results of a 44,325 study testing the vaccine’s efficacy on Jan. 29. At the time, they said the 66% efficacy varied by geography. The vaccine was 72% protective in the U.S., compared to 58% in South Africa, where a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is circulating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In new documents, Johnson & Johnson said that in South Africa, the vaccine reduced severe or critical COVID-19 by 81.7% starting 28 days after vaccination, but that efficacy against more moderate disease was 64%. But the company said that the vaccine efficacy was not affected by the high prevalence of another variant in Brazil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unexpected side effects occurred at the same rate overall among volunteers who received the vaccine and placebo — about 0.5%. However, some rare conditions appeared more common with the vaccine. Blood clot-related conditions occurred in 15 volunteers who received the vaccine and 10 who received placebo. Tinnitus, a ringing in the ears, occurred in six volunteers who received the vaccine and none who received placebo. The FDA said it will recommend monitoring for thromboembolic events after an EUA is granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expected side effects that are related to the vaccine’s effect were common. Nearly half of volunteers reported injection site pain, 38.9% reported headaches, 38.2% fatigue, and 33% reported muscle aches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson & Johnson also conducted an analysis in 2,650 volunteers looking at whether those who received the vaccine were less likely to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, without having symptoms. There were 50 such cases in the placebo group compared to 18 among those who received the vaccine, a 65.5% reduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States has purchased 100 million doses of the vaccine, with an option to buy an additional 200 million doses. \u003ca href=\"https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-announces-agreement-with-u-s-government-for-100-million-doses-of-investigational-covid-19-vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The agreement\u003c/a>, announced last August, netted J&J over $1 billion in a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the Department of Defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the company currently has a limited number of doses to contribute to the effort to step up the country’s vaccine rollout. It will be April before J&J begins to have substantial amounts of vaccine to feed into the distribution pipeline, Moncef Slaoui, former co-chair of Operation Warp Speed, said earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the company and the NIH said the vaccine was 85% effective at preventing severe disease, with no differences seen across the eight countries included in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J&J is also conducting a trial in the United States of a two-dose vaccine, with the doses given eight weeks apart. The results from that 30,000 person trial are not expected until sometime in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA documents represent the first close look at the data released Jan. 29, and are the result of a three-week effort by FDA scientists to independently evaluate the data generated in the trial. Friday’s panel will provide a deeper look at what those data actually mean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/24/new-data-shed-light-on-efficacy-of-jjs-single-dose-vaccine-against-covid-19/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story\u003c/a> was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STAT\u003c/a>, an online publication of Boston Globe Media that covers health, medicine, and scientific discovery.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Was There Life on Mars? The Mission to Find Out Begins, as Perseverance Photos, Video Comes In",
"headTitle": "Was There Life on Mars? The Mission to Find Out Begins, as Perseverance Photos, Video Comes In | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Touchdown! No, it’s not football — unless you imagine a playing field 300 million miles long and a fiery 25,000 mph end-zone plunge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ball in play is NASA’s Perseverance rover, which successfully touched down on Mars on Thursday at 12:55 p.m. PST, following a seven-month voyage and seven nail-biting minutes blazing through its atmosphere.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?page=0&per_page=25&order=pub_date+desc&search=&condition_1=1%3Ais_in_resource_list&category=51\">Latest Mars images\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Follow the mission on Twitter\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[/pullquote]\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now safely on the ground in Mars’ \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/science/landing-site/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jezero Crater\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Perseverance is set for what could be a game-changing mission of discovery: a search for signs of past Martian life in the river-deposited sediments of what was probably, long ago, a lake bottom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>First Images from Jezero Crater\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only minutes after landing, Perseverance captured a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25596/perseverance-rovers-first-image-from-mars/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pair of images\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with two of its hazard avoidance cameras. The images were promptly relayed back to Earth via NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed over the landing site. The pictures were so fresh that dust lingered in the air, stirred up by Perseverance’s landing stage rockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1972870\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first full-color, high-resolution image captured by the Perseverance rover’s hazard avoidance camera, following its landing in Jezero Crater. \u003ccite>(NASA/JPL-Caltech)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the hours and days ahead, after the rover’s Mastcam camera is put into service, we should be able to enjoy sweeping, full-color, high-res panoramas from Jezero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And more\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. “SuperCam” will use a camera, laser, and spectrometer to probe the chemistry of nearby rocks and soil to search for the spectral fingerprints of organic compounds. “RIMFAX” will send radar pulses into the ground to probe underground structures beneath the rover. And the rover’s long, robotic arm carries an array of instruments, including a rock drill and ultraviolet and X-ray spectrometers to dig into Mars’ mineral secrets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>In Search of Martian Critters\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perseverance is the first mission to look for signs of life on Mars since the Viking landers in the late 1970s. The Vikings carried instruments designed to detect biological activity of any organisms in Mars’ soil, though their findings were inconclusive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perseverance will \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/searching-for-life-in-nasas-perseverance-mars-samples?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=daily20210217-1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">look for evidence of life\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that may have existed on Mars perhaps billions of years ago, when we know the planet possessed a thicker atmosphere and liquid surface water.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972815\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1972815\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-800x594.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-800x594.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA.jpg 947w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA’s Perseverance rover landing location in Jezero Crater. The rover landed safely on the dry lakebed, little more than a mile from the foot of a formation of river delta sediment, which scientists hope contain the chemical signatures of past life on Mars. \u003ccite>(NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA selected the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater to give Perseverance the best chance of finding signs of life. Long ago, the crater was filled with water, all the necessary ingredients for life were present. If life did thrive there, its chemical and mineral remnants might be found preserved in the rocks of the ancient lake bottom and shoreline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jezero Crater also features an extensive deposit of river sediment, washed into the lake from the surrounding terrain at the mouth of a river, now long dry. This adds to the variety and abundance of material that Perseverance will have access to as it crawls around the dry lakebed and shoreline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Earth, the muddy sediments at lake bottoms are repositories of biological material: the remains of microbes that lived in the water and mud. Over time, the sediments harden into rock — mudstone or sandstone — and may preserve chemical residues of the long dead critters. On Earth we also find knobby rock formations, called stromatolites, created long ago by microorganisms living in the shallow waters along shorelines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If scientists can detect and analyze the chemical traces and rock formations left behind by ancient life on Earth, why not Mars? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Perseverance’s sophisticated yet portable instruments are unable to definitively reveal any “biosignatures” of ancient organisms in Jezero’s rocks, it’s still possible that more powerful instruments in laboratories back on Earth could. To this possibility, Perseverance will store promising soil and rock samples in sealed metal tubes and leave them along its trail. A future mission to collect these samples and return them to Earth, the Mars Sample Return mission, is already being planned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Seven Minutes of Terror\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing an SUV-sized robotic rover on Mars isn’t a job for the faint of heart. The sequence of critical maneuvers from atmospheric entry and descent to landing must be pulled off without a hitch, and thus has been coined the “Seven Minutes of Terror.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes about seven minutes from when the spacecraft hits Mars’ upper atmosphere to when it lands on the surface, and every step of the process is carried out automatically through carefully preprogrammed commands and actions. Radio signals between Perseverance and its controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena took over 11 minutes to travel through space, so a real-time remote-controlled landing by human hand was impossible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czjS9h4Fpg&feature=emb_logo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the landing sequence began, controllers back on Earth could only sit back and hope for the best until it was all over. Jezero Crater’s rough terrain added to the stress, making this landing the most dangerous yet.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8860/nasas-next-mars-rover-is-ready-for-the-most-precise-landing-yet/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA’s getting pretty good at this\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is really saying something considering the nature of the challenges to overcome.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ingenuity\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike the four previous Mars rovers, Perseverance didn’t go to the red planet alone. Hitching a ride on the rover’s underbelly is the tiny, 4-pound “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mars Helicopter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,” named Ingenuity through the same student essay contest that gave us Perseverance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972862\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1972862 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration of the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, after being set on the ground by the Perseverance rover. \u003ccite>(NASA/JPL-Caltech)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The light-weight, double-rotor vehicle is a technology demonstration for aerial exploration of Mars in the future. Equipped with computer, navigation sensors, two small cameras, solar cells and wireless communication, Ingenuity will make one or more short flights sometime within the first month of the mission, after mission scientists and engineers find a suitable launch location and determine the most favorable weather conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Life on Mars?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s exciting to think that we may be on the verge of finally uncovering hard evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life. This will be a world-changing discovery, even if all we find is the chemical residue of single-celled microbes that lived a billion years ago. In whatever form the evidence comes, it will answer that age old question: Are we alone in the universe?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine if Perseverance’s first high-resolution pictures of a Martian rock bore images of a fossilized life form of some sort? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlikely — but not impossible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Now safely on the ground and sending back images, Perseverance is set for what could be a game-changing mission of discovery: a search for signs of past Martian life in the river-deposited sediments of what was probably, long ago, a lake bottom.\r\n\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Touchdown! No, it’s not football — unless you imagine a playing field 300 million miles long and a fiery 25,000 mph end-zone plunge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ball in play is NASA’s Perseverance rover, which successfully touched down on Mars on Thursday at 12:55 p.m. PST, following a seven-month voyage and seven nail-biting minutes blazing through its atmosphere.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?page=0&per_page=25&order=pub_date+desc&search=&condition_1=1%3Ais_in_resource_list&category=51\">Latest Mars images\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Follow the mission on Twitter\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now safely on the ground in Mars’ \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/science/landing-site/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jezero Crater\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Perseverance is set for what could be a game-changing mission of discovery: a search for signs of past Martian life in the river-deposited sediments of what was probably, long ago, a lake bottom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>First Images from Jezero Crater\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only minutes after landing, Perseverance captured a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25596/perseverance-rovers-first-image-from-mars/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pair of images\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with two of its hazard avoidance cameras. The images were promptly relayed back to Earth via NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed over the landing site. The pictures were so fresh that dust lingered in the air, stirred up by Perseverance’s landing stage rockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1972870\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/PIA24430-Perseverances_first_full-color_look_at_Mars-NASA-JPL-Caltech.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first full-color, high-resolution image captured by the Perseverance rover’s hazard avoidance camera, following its landing in Jezero Crater. \u003ccite>(NASA/JPL-Caltech)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the hours and days ahead, after the rover’s Mastcam camera is put into service, we should be able to enjoy sweeping, full-color, high-res panoramas from Jezero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And more\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. “SuperCam” will use a camera, laser, and spectrometer to probe the chemistry of nearby rocks and soil to search for the spectral fingerprints of organic compounds. “RIMFAX” will send radar pulses into the ground to probe underground structures beneath the rover. And the rover’s long, robotic arm carries an array of instruments, including a rock drill and ultraviolet and X-ray spectrometers to dig into Mars’ mineral secrets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>In Search of Martian Critters\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perseverance is the first mission to look for signs of life on Mars since the Viking landers in the late 1970s. The Vikings carried instruments designed to detect biological activity of any organisms in Mars’ soil, though their findings were inconclusive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perseverance will \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/searching-for-life-in-nasas-perseverance-mars-samples?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=daily20210217-1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">look for evidence of life\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that may have existed on Mars perhaps billions of years ago, when we know the planet possessed a thicker atmosphere and liquid surface water.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972815\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1972815\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-800x594.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-800x594.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/Perseverance-Landing-Site-NASA.jpg 947w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA’s Perseverance rover landing location in Jezero Crater. The rover landed safely on the dry lakebed, little more than a mile from the foot of a formation of river delta sediment, which scientists hope contain the chemical signatures of past life on Mars. \u003ccite>(NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA selected the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater to give Perseverance the best chance of finding signs of life. Long ago, the crater was filled with water, all the necessary ingredients for life were present. If life did thrive there, its chemical and mineral remnants might be found preserved in the rocks of the ancient lake bottom and shoreline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jezero Crater also features an extensive deposit of river sediment, washed into the lake from the surrounding terrain at the mouth of a river, now long dry. This adds to the variety and abundance of material that Perseverance will have access to as it crawls around the dry lakebed and shoreline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Earth, the muddy sediments at lake bottoms are repositories of biological material: the remains of microbes that lived in the water and mud. Over time, the sediments harden into rock — mudstone or sandstone — and may preserve chemical residues of the long dead critters. On Earth we also find knobby rock formations, called stromatolites, created long ago by microorganisms living in the shallow waters along shorelines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If scientists can detect and analyze the chemical traces and rock formations left behind by ancient life on Earth, why not Mars? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Perseverance’s sophisticated yet portable instruments are unable to definitively reveal any “biosignatures” of ancient organisms in Jezero’s rocks, it’s still possible that more powerful instruments in laboratories back on Earth could. To this possibility, Perseverance will store promising soil and rock samples in sealed metal tubes and leave them along its trail. A future mission to collect these samples and return them to Earth, the Mars Sample Return mission, is already being planned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Seven Minutes of Terror\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Landing an SUV-sized robotic rover on Mars isn’t a job for the faint of heart. The sequence of critical maneuvers from atmospheric entry and descent to landing must be pulled off without a hitch, and thus has been coined the “Seven Minutes of Terror.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes about seven minutes from when the spacecraft hits Mars’ upper atmosphere to when it lands on the surface, and every step of the process is carried out automatically through carefully preprogrammed commands and actions. Radio signals between Perseverance and its controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena took over 11 minutes to travel through space, so a real-time remote-controlled landing by human hand was impossible.\u003c/span>\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/4czjS9h4Fpg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/4czjS9h4Fpg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the landing sequence began, controllers back on Earth could only sit back and hope for the best until it was all over. Jezero Crater’s rough terrain added to the stress, making this landing the most dangerous yet.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8860/nasas-next-mars-rover-is-ready-for-the-most-precise-landing-yet/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA’s getting pretty good at this\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is really saying something considering the nature of the challenges to overcome.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ingenuity\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike the four previous Mars rovers, Perseverance didn’t go to the red planet alone. Hitching a ride on the rover’s underbelly is the tiny, 4-pound “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mars Helicopter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,” named Ingenuity through the same student essay contest that gave us Perseverance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1972862\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1972862 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/02/25118_PIA23962-16.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration of the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, after being set on the ground by the Perseverance rover. \u003ccite>(NASA/JPL-Caltech)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The light-weight, double-rotor vehicle is a technology demonstration for aerial exploration of Mars in the future. Equipped with computer, navigation sensors, two small cameras, solar cells and wireless communication, Ingenuity will make one or more short flights sometime within the first month of the mission, after mission scientists and engineers find a suitable launch location and determine the most favorable weather conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Life on Mars?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s exciting to think that we may be on the verge of finally uncovering hard evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life. This will be a world-changing discovery, even if all we find is the chemical residue of single-celled microbes that lived a billion years ago. In whatever form the evidence comes, it will answer that age old question: Are we alone in the universe?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine if Perseverance’s first high-resolution pictures of a Martian rock bore images of a fossilized life form of some sort? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlikely — but not impossible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"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. ",
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"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. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"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",
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"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>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "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",
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"planet-money": {
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"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",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
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