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"bio": "Ezra David Romero is a climate reporter for KQED News. He covers the absence and excess of water in the Bay Area — think sea level rise, flooding and drought. For nearly a decade he’s covered how warming temperatures are altering the lives of Californians. He’s reported on farmers worried their pistachio trees aren’t getting enough sleep, families desperate for water, scientists studying dying giant sequoias, and alongside firefighters containing wildfires. His work has appeared on local stations across California and nationally on public radio shows like Morning Edition, Here and Now, All Things Considered and Science Friday. ",
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"title": "Did the World Make Progress on Climate Change? Here's What Was Decided at Global Talks",
"headTitle": "Did the World Make Progress on Climate Change? Here’s What Was Decided at Global Talks | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Contentious climate negotiations ended in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, as negotiators from around the world finalized a modest deal to help control global warming and pay for the costs of a hotter Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep-seated tensions flared between richer countries that have prospered by burning fossil fuels, and developing ones, which are bearing the brunt of climate-driven disasters. But in a historic move, countries agreed to establish a fund to support poorer countries already hit hardest by the impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement at the close of the meeting, Lia Nicholson of the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda said the new fund “must be the lifeboat that we need it to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The negotiations went nearly two days past their scheduled deadline – into “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/zaheer_fakir/status/1593907569281695746?s=20&t=-i5_AHiYvzMHkzmta-RNWA\">hostage phase\u003c/a>,” as one South African delegate put it. Countries struggled to compromise on a plan that would reduce global dependence on fossil fuels, while helping vulnerable countries pay for the damage caused by worsening sea level rise, storms, droughts, heat waves and other climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final deal, announced Sunday morning in Egypt, reiterates the goal set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep overall global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (about 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial era of the 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it is unclear how that goal will be achieved, because negotiators could not agree that fossil fuels must be phased out. The vast majority of planet-warming pollution comes from humans’ use of oil, gas and coal, and most remaining fossil fuel deposits must remain untapped in order to rein in global warming, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8\">scientists have determined.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We call for reduced CO2 emissions,” said Zambia’s environment minister Collins Nzovu after the meeting ended. “That’s a basic issue. Right now, as it is, we will not reach 1.5 [degrees Celsius]. We are off the map completely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what was and wasn’t decided at COP27, and what it means for humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>World leaders did not agree to phase down fossil fuels\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many nations arrived at the talks with the hope of keeping “1.5 degrees alive.” The world is on a path to hit almost double that level of warming by the end of the century. Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 degrees Fahrenheit), storms, heat waves and other climate impacts \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\">become much more destructive\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the COP27 talks got underway, a broad coalition of countries began calling for the phase-down of all fossil fuels. Small island nationals joined European countries in pushing for that language to be included in a final agreement. So did India, a country that had pushed back against the idea of phasing out coal at \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">last year’s COP26 talks in Glasgow\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite a last minute push, the Egyptian delegation, which brokered the final deal as hosts of the conference, did not put phasing down fossil fuels in the final text. Instead, the final agreement encourages “efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia have long pushed back against efforts to curb fossil fuels. At these talks, the country announced that it continues to see a future of oil production, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/19/false-solutions-scepticism-over-saudi-carbon-capture-plan\">will invest in new efforts to capture emissions\u003c/a> and prevent them from reaching the atmosphere, known as carbon capture and sequestration. Climate activists say this new shift is simply a way to prop up fossil fuels with a technology that will not scale up for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“New calls to accelerate deployment of renewable energy were very welcome,” said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute, in a statement. “But it is mind boggling that countries did not muster the courage to call for phasing down fossil fuels, which are the biggest driver of climate change. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980856 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Methane is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas that is currently released in huge quantities by oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8.jpg 911w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Methane is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas that is currently released in huge quantities by oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. \u003ccite>(Matthew Brown/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Richer nations agree to create a fund to pay developing countries for climate damages\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Developing countries arrived with a key demand at these talks: wealthier countries must \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1133270753/climate-change-loss-damage-cop27\">compensate them for the rising costs of floods, storms and other climate impacts\u003c/a>. Now, they’ve agreed to start setting up a fund to do just that for the most vulnerable countries, including island nations struggling for survival as sea levels rise, and low-income countries grappling with deadly droughts, floods and heat waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest and most-powerful 20 countries produce \u003ca href=\"https://climateanalytics.org/publications/2021/closing-the-gap-the-impact-of-g20-climate-commitments-on-limiting-temperature-rise-to-15c/\">about 80% of the world’s emissions\u003c/a> every year. Low-income countries produce relatively little heat-trapping pollution. But the toll of climate change is already devastating many of them, economically and culturally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve already seen islands disappearing,” said Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands. “These climate impacts are happening now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and other representatives from smaller countries came to the conference demanding the creation of a new fund, housed under the United Nations, that would pay developing countries for the “loss and damage” they’re already suffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the planet is burning up, we are burning up on the front line,” said Sherry Rehman, climate change minister for Pakistan. “We are the ground-zero of that climate change. So while we are seeing that burn, we are not contributing to that burn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As talks progressed, stark fault lines emerged over which countries should pay for the damages, and which countries would be eligible to receive them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. is the largest historical contributor to climate change by a large margin. Today, China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. But Chinese representatives at COP27 said, while the country is open to voluntarily contributing to loss and damage, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/china-willing-contribute-climate-compensation-mechanism-chinese-climate-envoy-2022-11-09/\">it should only be an obligation\u003c/a> for historically wealthier countries like the U.S. and European Union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several European countries pushed back, wanting to see a new loss and damage fund with a “broad contributor base,” given that China and India are expected to increase their emissions until the end of the decade as their economies grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fund that didn’t draw money from current high-emitters was “unacceptable,” said European Commission executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, earlier in the week. “I think everybody should be brought into the system on the basis of where they are today. And those countries who have the facility to support the most vulnerable should do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions also rose over whether all developing countries should be eligible to receive funds, or just the most vulnerable, like small islands and African nations. Under the United Nations framework, India and China are \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/WESP2022_ANNEX.pdf\">still considered developing countries\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. said little on the issue for most of the negotiations, a silence that was deafening for many developing countries. Before the talks, Biden Administration officials said they wanted to explore using existing networks for humanitarian aid, instead of creating a new dedicated fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one can deny the scale of loss and damage we see around the globe,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in Egypt. “The world is burning and drowning before our eyes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final COP27 agreement sets up a timeline for countries to work out the details of a new fund over the next year. Chile’s Environment Minister Maisi Rojas, who helped lead the group of negotiators who created the fund, called the agreement “historic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she had mixed feelings about the meeting overall. “Remember, we are talking about loss and damage because we failed to reduce emissions,” she said after the marathon talks concluded early Sunday morning. “So it’s not really a reason to celebrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newly-created fund does not specify which countries will be required to contribute, though it mentions “expanding” the sources of funding, a nod to Europe’s demand that other countries contribute as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the deal also does not set a firm timeline for when the money must arrive. Many wealthy countries, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1136817427/low-income-countries-want-more-money-for-climate-damage-theyre-unlikely-to-get-i\">including the U.S.\u003c/a>, have failed to follow through on billions of dollars of previously promised climate funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s worth noting that we have the fund, but we need money to make it worthwhile,” said Mohamed Adow, executive director of Power Shift Africa, a policy and advocacy group working on climate action in Africa. “What we have is an empty bucket. Now we need to fill it so that support can flow to the most impacted people who are suffering right now at the hands of the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980857\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980857 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit. \u003ccite>(Peter Dejong/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Money promised years earlier is still missing for developing nations\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Wealthier countries said in 2009 that they would provide developing nations with $100 billion a year in financing by 2020 to help them limit their own greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to impacts like more extreme floods and worsening drought. The arrangement, called climate financing, is rooted in the fact that industrialized countries such as the United States have emitted most of the pollution heating the Earth, while poorer nations are bearing disproportionate harm caused by rising temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those promises, the latest tally by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows developing countries received just $83.3 billion in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/06/1133532209/money-will-likely-be-the-central-tension-in-the-u-n-s-cop27-climate-negotiations\">shortfall in promised climate funding\u003c/a> for low-income nations is a “serious concern,” participants at this year’s meeting said, and they urged industrialized countries to make good on their long standing commitments. The final agreement did not say when those commitments should be met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if wealthy nations come through on their pledges, it’ll still be far short of what developing countries actually need to respond to climate change. To meet the climate goals they’ve set so far, developing countries will require at least $5.8 trillion up to 2030, according to the final agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How are we going to make this transition?” said Colombia Environment Minister Susana Muhamad at the conference. “Especially for oil producing and coal exporting countries like ours, that conversation isn’t even on the table and without that conversation we’re probably not going to phase out fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of money for developing countries was one of the central issues at this year’s climate talks. Wealthier countries’ failure to deliver promised funding has added to pressure that developing countries are facing from inflation and heavy debt burdens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final agreement struck in Egypt says developing countries need “accelerated financial support” from wealthier nations. It calls for reforms at development banks like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund so that developing countries can get more climate funding without adding to their debts. And it says development banks, which were set up to give financial and technical aid to poorer countries, should \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1134865038/investors-have-trillions-to-fight-climate-change-developing-nations-get-little-o\">do more to encourage private investment\u003c/a> in low-income nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the world needs to invest at least $4 trillion every year to create a low-carbon global economy, the final agreement says. Raising that sort of money will require a “transformation” of the entire financial system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980858\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980858\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478.jpg 909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes are surrounded by floodwaters in Sohbat Pur city, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province this summer. It is likely that climate change helped drive deadly floods in Pakistan, according to a recent scientific analysis. \u003ccite>(Zahid Hussain/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Don’t forget: climate emissions are still rising too fast\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At the summit, both developing countries and the European Union pushed nations to have their emissions peak by 2025. That’s faster than China and India’s plans, which would allow emissions to rise through the end of the decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, few countries submitted new plans to reduce their emissions and the final agreement didn’t impose any firm deadlines for new commitments, though it reiterated the importance of the 1.5 degree goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nations will be leaving Egypt knowing that goal is still not in reach. In a best case scenario, emissions are only expected to fall around 10% by 2030, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022\">report from the United Nations Environment Programme\u003c/a>. To keep warming to the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, emissions would need to fall 45% by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, countries aren’t keeping the promises that they’ve made so far. If emissions stay on their current course, they’ll rise around 7% compared to 2020 levels, instead of falling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>There are some small bright spots\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Going into this meeting, there were reasons to think that some of the basic agreements of the past – for example, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – might be on shaky ground. That’s because the global economy is fragile. Russia invaded Ukraine and the relationship between the two largest emitters of fossil fuels, the U.S. and China, has been strained – though there are indications that relations \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/14/1136459450/biden-xi-meeting\">may be improving\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been a very difficult year with the energy crisis,” said U.N. Climate Chief Simon Steele after the meeting wrapped up, referring to fuel shortages caused by Russia’s invasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, that global context did not completely derail the talks. While the final deal does not do enough to avoid catastrophic warming – and falls far short of what many climate advocates had hoped to see – countries didn’t go back on previous promises either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there were a handful of smaller announcements at COP27 that could help control greenhouse gas emissions and protect people from severe weather. One hundred and fifty countries have now signed a pledge to reduce methane pollution. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, which means it traps a lot of heat in the atmosphere, and it’s emitted mostly from oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is also a new plan to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1134756354/u-n-plan-would-help-warn-people-in-vulnerable-countries-about-climate-threats\">beef up weather forecasts\u003c/a> and disaster warnings in places that don’t have robust national weather services. And on the money front, there are concrete pledges to spend \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/special-presidential-envoy-for-climate-and-treasury-secretary-support-the-launch-of-the-just-energy-transition-partnership-jetp-in-indonesia/\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> on clean energy in rapidly growing countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 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=Did+the+world+make+progress+on+climate+change%3F+Here%27s+what+was+decided+at+global+talks&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Contentious climate negotiations ended in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, as negotiators from around the world finalized a modest deal to help control global warming and pay for the costs of a hotter Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep-seated tensions flared between richer countries that have prospered by burning fossil fuels, and developing ones, which are bearing the brunt of climate-driven disasters. But in a historic move, countries agreed to establish a fund to support poorer countries already hit hardest by the impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement at the close of the meeting, Lia Nicholson of the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda said the new fund “must be the lifeboat that we need it to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The negotiations went nearly two days past their scheduled deadline – into “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/zaheer_fakir/status/1593907569281695746?s=20&t=-i5_AHiYvzMHkzmta-RNWA\">hostage phase\u003c/a>,” as one South African delegate put it. Countries struggled to compromise on a plan that would reduce global dependence on fossil fuels, while helping vulnerable countries pay for the damage caused by worsening sea level rise, storms, droughts, heat waves and other climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final deal, announced Sunday morning in Egypt, reiterates the goal set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep overall global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (about 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial era of the 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it is unclear how that goal will be achieved, because negotiators could not agree that fossil fuels must be phased out. The vast majority of planet-warming pollution comes from humans’ use of oil, gas and coal, and most remaining fossil fuel deposits must remain untapped in order to rein in global warming, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8\">scientists have determined.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We call for reduced CO2 emissions,” said Zambia’s environment minister Collins Nzovu after the meeting ended. “That’s a basic issue. Right now, as it is, we will not reach 1.5 [degrees Celsius]. We are off the map completely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what was and wasn’t decided at COP27, and what it means for humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>World leaders did not agree to phase down fossil fuels\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many nations arrived at the talks with the hope of keeping “1.5 degrees alive.” The world is on a path to hit almost double that level of warming by the end of the century. Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 degrees Fahrenheit), storms, heat waves and other climate impacts \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\">become much more destructive\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the COP27 talks got underway, a broad coalition of countries began calling for the phase-down of all fossil fuels. Small island nationals joined European countries in pushing for that language to be included in a final agreement. So did India, a country that had pushed back against the idea of phasing out coal at \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">last year’s COP26 talks in Glasgow\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite a last minute push, the Egyptian delegation, which brokered the final deal as hosts of the conference, did not put phasing down fossil fuels in the final text. Instead, the final agreement encourages “efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia have long pushed back against efforts to curb fossil fuels. At these talks, the country announced that it continues to see a future of oil production, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/19/false-solutions-scepticism-over-saudi-carbon-capture-plan\">will invest in new efforts to capture emissions\u003c/a> and prevent them from reaching the atmosphere, known as carbon capture and sequestration. Climate activists say this new shift is simply a way to prop up fossil fuels with a technology that will not scale up for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“New calls to accelerate deployment of renewable energy were very welcome,” said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute, in a statement. “But it is mind boggling that countries did not muster the courage to call for phasing down fossil fuels, which are the biggest driver of climate change. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980856 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Methane is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas that is currently released in huge quantities by oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22315109628586-fbae934167882ed092fe562e64a26ddbb2d9f4f8.jpg 911w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Methane is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas that is currently released in huge quantities by oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. \u003ccite>(Matthew Brown/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Richer nations agree to create a fund to pay developing countries for climate damages\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Developing countries arrived with a key demand at these talks: wealthier countries must \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1133270753/climate-change-loss-damage-cop27\">compensate them for the rising costs of floods, storms and other climate impacts\u003c/a>. Now, they’ve agreed to start setting up a fund to do just that for the most vulnerable countries, including island nations struggling for survival as sea levels rise, and low-income countries grappling with deadly droughts, floods and heat waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest and most-powerful 20 countries produce \u003ca href=\"https://climateanalytics.org/publications/2021/closing-the-gap-the-impact-of-g20-climate-commitments-on-limiting-temperature-rise-to-15c/\">about 80% of the world’s emissions\u003c/a> every year. Low-income countries produce relatively little heat-trapping pollution. But the toll of climate change is already devastating many of them, economically and culturally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve already seen islands disappearing,” said Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands. “These climate impacts are happening now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and other representatives from smaller countries came to the conference demanding the creation of a new fund, housed under the United Nations, that would pay developing countries for the “loss and damage” they’re already suffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the planet is burning up, we are burning up on the front line,” said Sherry Rehman, climate change minister for Pakistan. “We are the ground-zero of that climate change. So while we are seeing that burn, we are not contributing to that burn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As talks progressed, stark fault lines emerged over which countries should pay for the damages, and which countries would be eligible to receive them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. is the largest historical contributor to climate change by a large margin. Today, China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. But Chinese representatives at COP27 said, while the country is open to voluntarily contributing to loss and damage, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/china-willing-contribute-climate-compensation-mechanism-chinese-climate-envoy-2022-11-09/\">it should only be an obligation\u003c/a> for historically wealthier countries like the U.S. and European Union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several European countries pushed back, wanting to see a new loss and damage fund with a “broad contributor base,” given that China and India are expected to increase their emissions until the end of the decade as their economies grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fund that didn’t draw money from current high-emitters was “unacceptable,” said European Commission executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, earlier in the week. “I think everybody should be brought into the system on the basis of where they are today. And those countries who have the facility to support the most vulnerable should do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions also rose over whether all developing countries should be eligible to receive funds, or just the most vulnerable, like small islands and African nations. Under the United Nations framework, India and China are \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/WESP2022_ANNEX.pdf\">still considered developing countries\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. said little on the issue for most of the negotiations, a silence that was deafening for many developing countries. Before the talks, Biden Administration officials said they wanted to explore using existing networks for humanitarian aid, instead of creating a new dedicated fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one can deny the scale of loss and damage we see around the globe,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in Egypt. “The world is burning and drowning before our eyes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final COP27 agreement sets up a timeline for countries to work out the details of a new fund over the next year. Chile’s Environment Minister Maisi Rojas, who helped lead the group of negotiators who created the fund, called the agreement “historic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she had mixed feelings about the meeting overall. “Remember, we are talking about loss and damage because we failed to reduce emissions,” she said after the marathon talks concluded early Sunday morning. “So it’s not really a reason to celebrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newly-created fund does not specify which countries will be required to contribute, though it mentions “expanding” the sources of funding, a nod to Europe’s demand that other countries contribute as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the deal also does not set a firm timeline for when the money must arrive. Many wealthy countries, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1136817427/low-income-countries-want-more-money-for-climate-damage-theyre-unlikely-to-get-i\">including the U.S.\u003c/a>, have failed to follow through on billions of dollars of previously promised climate funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s worth noting that we have the fund, but we need money to make it worthwhile,” said Mohamed Adow, executive director of Power Shift Africa, a policy and advocacy group working on climate action in Africa. “What we have is an empty bucket. Now we need to fill it so that support can flow to the most impacted people who are suffering right now at the hands of the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980857\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980857 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22321420485530_custom-f74ab6b0517dcbdf9b45b95958916761325770d4.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit. \u003ccite>(Peter Dejong/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Money promised years earlier is still missing for developing nations\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Wealthier countries said in 2009 that they would provide developing nations with $100 billion a year in financing by 2020 to help them limit their own greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to impacts like more extreme floods and worsening drought. The arrangement, called climate financing, is rooted in the fact that industrialized countries such as the United States have emitted most of the pollution heating the Earth, while poorer nations are bearing disproportionate harm caused by rising temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those promises, the latest tally by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows developing countries received just $83.3 billion in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/06/1133532209/money-will-likely-be-the-central-tension-in-the-u-n-s-cop27-climate-negotiations\">shortfall in promised climate funding\u003c/a> for low-income nations is a “serious concern,” participants at this year’s meeting said, and they urged industrialized countries to make good on their long standing commitments. The final agreement did not say when those commitments should be met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if wealthy nations come through on their pledges, it’ll still be far short of what developing countries actually need to respond to climate change. To meet the climate goals they’ve set so far, developing countries will require at least $5.8 trillion up to 2030, according to the final agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How are we going to make this transition?” said Colombia Environment Minister Susana Muhamad at the conference. “Especially for oil producing and coal exporting countries like ours, that conversation isn’t even on the table and without that conversation we’re probably not going to phase out fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of money for developing countries was one of the central issues at this year’s climate talks. Wealthier countries’ failure to deliver promised funding has added to pressure that developing countries are facing from inflation and heavy debt burdens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final agreement struck in Egypt says developing countries need “accelerated financial support” from wealthier nations. It calls for reforms at development banks like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund so that developing countries can get more climate funding without adding to their debts. And it says development banks, which were set up to give financial and technical aid to poorer countries, should \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1134865038/investors-have-trillions-to-fight-climate-change-developing-nations-get-little-o\">do more to encourage private investment\u003c/a> in low-income nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the world needs to invest at least $4 trillion every year to create a low-carbon global economy, the final agreement says. Raising that sort of money will require a “transformation” of the entire financial system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980858\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980858\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/ap22309085966955-1f2234f35b2b2fc3aa8a89d20575b5ac84409478.jpg 909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes are surrounded by floodwaters in Sohbat Pur city, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province this summer. It is likely that climate change helped drive deadly floods in Pakistan, according to a recent scientific analysis. \u003ccite>(Zahid Hussain/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Don’t forget: climate emissions are still rising too fast\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At the summit, both developing countries and the European Union pushed nations to have their emissions peak by 2025. That’s faster than China and India’s plans, which would allow emissions to rise through the end of the decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, few countries submitted new plans to reduce their emissions and the final agreement didn’t impose any firm deadlines for new commitments, though it reiterated the importance of the 1.5 degree goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nations will be leaving Egypt knowing that goal is still not in reach. In a best case scenario, emissions are only expected to fall around 10% by 2030, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022\">report from the United Nations Environment Programme\u003c/a>. To keep warming to the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, emissions would need to fall 45% by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, countries aren’t keeping the promises that they’ve made so far. If emissions stay on their current course, they’ll rise around 7% compared to 2020 levels, instead of falling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>There are some small bright spots\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Going into this meeting, there were reasons to think that some of the basic agreements of the past – for example, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – might be on shaky ground. That’s because the global economy is fragile. Russia invaded Ukraine and the relationship between the two largest emitters of fossil fuels, the U.S. and China, has been strained – though there are indications that relations \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/14/1136459450/biden-xi-meeting\">may be improving\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been a very difficult year with the energy crisis,” said U.N. Climate Chief Simon Steele after the meeting wrapped up, referring to fuel shortages caused by Russia’s invasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, that global context did not completely derail the talks. While the final deal does not do enough to avoid catastrophic warming – and falls far short of what many climate advocates had hoped to see – countries didn’t go back on previous promises either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there were a handful of smaller announcements at COP27 that could help control greenhouse gas emissions and protect people from severe weather. One hundred and fifty countries have now signed a pledge to reduce methane pollution. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, which means it traps a lot of heat in the atmosphere, and it’s emitted mostly from oil and gas operations, landfills and agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is also a new plan to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1134756354/u-n-plan-would-help-warn-people-in-vulnerable-countries-about-climate-threats\">beef up weather forecasts\u003c/a> and disaster warnings in places that don’t have robust national weather services. And on the money front, there are concrete pledges to spend \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/special-presidential-envoy-for-climate-and-treasury-secretary-support-the-launch-of-the-just-energy-transition-partnership-jetp-in-indonesia/\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> on clean energy in rapidly growing countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 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=Did+the+world+make+progress+on+climate+change%3F+Here%27s+what+was+decided+at+global+talks&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There was a moment a few years back when it seemed to Jessie Liu like the entire state of California was on fire. Mendocino, Shasta, Trinity, Lake and Santa Clara counties all endured the flames of the hellish wildfire season of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hit us so suddenly and abruptly,” said Liu, a physician at \u003ca href=\"https://laclinica.org/\">La Clínica de La Raza\u003c/a>, a health care facility that serves lower-income, uninsured and underinsured patients in Oakland. “It’s shocking how quickly that’s become the norm. It’s something that we are now expecting. We were very fortunate this year to have a relatively light — knock on wood — wildfire season. But we can’t expect to be this fortunate here and in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liu and her patients have not yet faced evacuation because of the fires, but she figures it’s a question of when, not if. And when that moment comes, Liu will have a new tool to help ease the abruptness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate experts at Harvard and officials with the nonprofit humanitarian relief agency Americares have prepared a first-of-its-kind series of open-source reference materials to help health care facilities successfully withstand a range of natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reference information, known as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americares.org/what-we-do/community-health/climate-resilient-health-clinics/\">Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit\u003c/a>, contains detailed guidance for health care administrators, physicians and patients on topics ranging from dealing with power outages to crafting social media posts to managing the treatment of patients with such ailments as kidney disease, diabetes and asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The information, which was largely compiled using survey data from clinic workers who were asked what they wish they knew about treating patients during natural disasters, is available as a series of downloadable PDFs at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americares.org/what-we-do/community-health/climate-resilient-health-clinics/\">toolkit website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first reference materials, which were released this summer, focused on helping facilities, doctors and their patients successfully navigate extreme heat events. Officials recently released guides focused on wildfires, and an informational module concerning hurricanes will soon be available to all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort, a collaboration of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/\">Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment\u003c/a> at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Global Health Institute, is specifically designed for use by free and charitable care health clinics. Biogen, the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, has been a key sponsor of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In future years, the designers of the toolkit hope to expand availability of the resources so they can be used by health care facilities in lower-income countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Designers of the toolkit said it occupies a unique position as a source of medical information that simultaneously provides resources both for those who work in hospitals and those who are treated in them. Policy manuals and communication plans are typically designed for health care administrators. Medical reference books are aimed at providers. And health care information pamphlets are usually reserved for patients. But with aspects of the toolkit designed for each of those audiences, its creators say it is distinctly able to serve all three of those groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we want to make sure we get is a crucial interface between health care systems and patients that is, potentially, uniquely able to keep people safe,” said Aaron Bernstein, director of the Harvard climate center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernstein said that the information contained in the toolkit was designed with an eye toward anticipating potential issues and providing opportunities for planning and practical decision-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone has serious medical problems and says, ‘You know, I really would like to evacuate. I just have no idea how I can do it. I don’t have a car or there’s nowhere for me to go,’” Bernstein said. “There’s a lot of folks who may not have thought as much about not only how they would and where they would evacuate to, but, again, critically, whether their medical conditions may make it so that it’s even more important for them to be proactive. And I think a provider can really underscore that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being proactive is a chief concern for providers like Jessie Liu. She said the open-source nature of the toolkit — which keeps it free, adaptable and easy to access — is vital given that many of the patients she serves have lower incomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In particular for our populations who are at greater risk because of their lower socioeconomic status, greater percentage of outdoor laborers, by way of being Black, brown, Native and living in communities and neighborhoods that have historically been marginalized and under-resourced, we are wanting to be able to provide culturally appropriate and easily accessible resources,” Liu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the importance of providing that information goes beyond simply addressing medical concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are the bastions of health for our communities,” Liu said. “We’re at the front lines, and patients and communities come to us. They trust us. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There was a moment a few years back when it seemed to Jessie Liu like the entire state of California was on fire. Mendocino, Shasta, Trinity, Lake and Santa Clara counties all endured the flames of the hellish wildfire season of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hit us so suddenly and abruptly,” said Liu, a physician at \u003ca href=\"https://laclinica.org/\">La Clínica de La Raza\u003c/a>, a health care facility that serves lower-income, uninsured and underinsured patients in Oakland. “It’s shocking how quickly that’s become the norm. It’s something that we are now expecting. We were very fortunate this year to have a relatively light — knock on wood — wildfire season. But we can’t expect to be this fortunate here and in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liu and her patients have not yet faced evacuation because of the fires, but she figures it’s a question of when, not if. And when that moment comes, Liu will have a new tool to help ease the abruptness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate experts at Harvard and officials with the nonprofit humanitarian relief agency Americares have prepared a first-of-its-kind series of open-source reference materials to help health care facilities successfully withstand a range of natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reference information, known as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americares.org/what-we-do/community-health/climate-resilient-health-clinics/\">Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit\u003c/a>, contains detailed guidance for health care administrators, physicians and patients on topics ranging from dealing with power outages to crafting social media posts to managing the treatment of patients with such ailments as kidney disease, diabetes and asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The information, which was largely compiled using survey data from clinic workers who were asked what they wish they knew about treating patients during natural disasters, is available as a series of downloadable PDFs at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americares.org/what-we-do/community-health/climate-resilient-health-clinics/\">toolkit website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first reference materials, which were released this summer, focused on helping facilities, doctors and their patients successfully navigate extreme heat events. Officials recently released guides focused on wildfires, and an informational module concerning hurricanes will soon be available to all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort, a collaboration of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/\">Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment\u003c/a> at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Global Health Institute, is specifically designed for use by free and charitable care health clinics. Biogen, the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, has been a key sponsor of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In future years, the designers of the toolkit hope to expand availability of the resources so they can be used by health care facilities in lower-income countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Designers of the toolkit said it occupies a unique position as a source of medical information that simultaneously provides resources both for those who work in hospitals and those who are treated in them. Policy manuals and communication plans are typically designed for health care administrators. Medical reference books are aimed at providers. And health care information pamphlets are usually reserved for patients. But with aspects of the toolkit designed for each of those audiences, its creators say it is distinctly able to serve all three of those groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we want to make sure we get is a crucial interface between health care systems and patients that is, potentially, uniquely able to keep people safe,” said Aaron Bernstein, director of the Harvard climate center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernstein said that the information contained in the toolkit was designed with an eye toward anticipating potential issues and providing opportunities for planning and practical decision-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone has serious medical problems and says, ‘You know, I really would like to evacuate. I just have no idea how I can do it. I don’t have a car or there’s nowhere for me to go,’” Bernstein said. “There’s a lot of folks who may not have thought as much about not only how they would and where they would evacuate to, but, again, critically, whether their medical conditions may make it so that it’s even more important for them to be proactive. And I think a provider can really underscore that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being proactive is a chief concern for providers like Jessie Liu. She said the open-source nature of the toolkit — which keeps it free, adaptable and easy to access — is vital given that many of the patients she serves have lower incomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In particular for our populations who are at greater risk because of their lower socioeconomic status, greater percentage of outdoor laborers, by way of being Black, brown, Native and living in communities and neighborhoods that have historically been marginalized and under-resourced, we are wanting to be able to provide culturally appropriate and easily accessible resources,” Liu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the importance of providing that information goes beyond simply addressing medical concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are the bastions of health for our communities,” Liu said. “We’re at the front lines, and patients and communities come to us. They trust us. We have to … it’s our responsibility and our role to provide that information and that guidance, especially in these natural disasters that are known to have such great impacts on human health.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Releases Sweeping New Climate Action Plan to Reach Carbon Neutrality",
"headTitle": "California Releases Sweeping New Climate Action Plan to Reach Carbon Neutrality | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California air regulators on Wednesday released a final draft of the state’s new climate blueprint, charting an ambitious path to dramatically reduce planet-warming gas emissions over the next two decades.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘It’s the most ambitious set of climate goals of any jurisdiction in the world, and it’ll spur an economic transformation akin to the industrial revolution.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan would siphon down the state’s use of fossil fuels almost entirely and paints a not-too-distant picture of what Gov. Gavin Newsom said is a “pollution-free future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the most ambitious set of climate goals of any jurisdiction in the world, and if adopted, it’ll spur an economic transformation akin to the industrial revolution,” Newsom said in a statement emailed to reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His administration is billing it as the world’s first “achievable roadmap to implement carbon neutrality,” from a major economy. But nothing in this document will be easy for California. Nor is it guaranteed to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, drafted by the state Air Resources Board, calls for slashing greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 48% by the year 2030 and 85% by 2045 (so far, the state has cut its carbon pollution by just 3% — and recent research from a UCLA-led \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122011022#:~:text=In%20this%20short%20communication%2C%20we,GHG)%20emission%20reductions%20since%202003.\">study suggests those gains might have been wiped out by the firestorms of 2020\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California would need to add tens of millions of electric cars to its roads and be using a tenth of the liquid petroleum, gas and diesel it uses today in a little more than two decades.[aside postID=\"news_11930288,science_1980725\" label=\"Related Posts\"]State officials said the backbone of the transition is a “clean, affordable and reliable grid,” and the policy framework includes a commitment to build no new gas plants. Instead, the state will meet the increased demand for electricity with renewable energy. To do that, California will need to build more wind and solar at a highly expedited rate, quadrupling its current capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep the lights on, California will need to double its existing electricity generation capacity. The state narrowly avoided rolling blackouts this year after electricity demand nearly surpassed supply during a heat wave that baked the state for 10 days in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s climate adviser, acknowledged on a call with reporters that “this plan will indeed be very difficult to achieve because of the scale of the task and the speed with which it needs to be delivered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she said, “the governor will not take failure as an option, and neither should any of us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A more aggressive plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful air board circulated a preliminary draft of the plan early in the year with the goal of 40% emissions reductions by 2030, but Gov. Newsom asked the agency to be more aggressive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the board hashed out the details over the course of months, California passed regulations to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Newsom signed a series of aggressive climate bills into law setting new targets for clean energy and carbon sequestration on natural and working lands, establishing new rules on existing oil wells near neighborhoods and schools and expanding carbon capture and removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest draft incorporates these new efforts and others on offshore wind, clean fuels and climate-friendly housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But advocates and environmentalists want the state to move even faster, and have pressed for more aggressive targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ellie Cohen, CEO of policy nonprofit The Climate Center, and UC Berkeley professor Dan Kammen \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2022/11/california-climate-air-resources-board-scoping-plan/\">argued in an opinion piece\u003c/a> last week for California’s target to be “at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also criticized the state for what they said is “gambling on carbon capture and storage, a failed and expensive technology that perpetuates pollution in frontline communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reached by email on his way back from the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, Kammen said that the state’s latest version still relies too much on these technologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The harsh grip of petroleum’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2006, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, into law, which mandated that the state produce a climate change road map every five years. The air board released the first plan in 2008, and this is its third update.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board Chair Liane Randolph told reporters that this update “is far and away the most important and the one with the most ambitious targets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to take action to reduce the worst impacts of a changing climate,” Randolph said. “And there is only one way to do that: Break forever our dependance on fossil fuels, the harsh grip of petroleum, and move as fast as we can to a clean energy economy. And that’s what this plan does. It delivers a massive reduction of climate-warming pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state estimates it would cut air pollution by 71% and save Californians $200 billion in health costs due to pollution, while creating 4 million new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan would siphon down the state’s use of fossil fuels almost entirely and paints a not-too-distant picture of what Gov. Gavin Newsom said is a “pollution-free future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the most ambitious set of climate goals of any jurisdiction in the world, and if adopted, it’ll spur an economic transformation akin to the industrial revolution,” Newsom said in a statement emailed to reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His administration is billing it as the world’s first “achievable roadmap to implement carbon neutrality,” from a major economy. But nothing in this document will be easy for California. Nor is it guaranteed to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, drafted by the state Air Resources Board, calls for slashing greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 48% by the year 2030 and 85% by 2045 (so far, the state has cut its carbon pollution by just 3% — and recent research from a UCLA-led \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122011022#:~:text=In%20this%20short%20communication%2C%20we,GHG)%20emission%20reductions%20since%202003.\">study suggests those gains might have been wiped out by the firestorms of 2020\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California would need to add tens of millions of electric cars to its roads and be using a tenth of the liquid petroleum, gas and diesel it uses today in a little more than two decades.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>State officials said the backbone of the transition is a “clean, affordable and reliable grid,” and the policy framework includes a commitment to build no new gas plants. Instead, the state will meet the increased demand for electricity with renewable energy. To do that, California will need to build more wind and solar at a highly expedited rate, quadrupling its current capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep the lights on, California will need to double its existing electricity generation capacity. The state narrowly avoided rolling blackouts this year after electricity demand nearly surpassed supply during a heat wave that baked the state for 10 days in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s climate adviser, acknowledged on a call with reporters that “this plan will indeed be very difficult to achieve because of the scale of the task and the speed with which it needs to be delivered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she said, “the governor will not take failure as an option, and neither should any of us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A more aggressive plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful air board circulated a preliminary draft of the plan early in the year with the goal of 40% emissions reductions by 2030, but Gov. Newsom asked the agency to be more aggressive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the board hashed out the details over the course of months, California passed regulations to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Newsom signed a series of aggressive climate bills into law setting new targets for clean energy and carbon sequestration on natural and working lands, establishing new rules on existing oil wells near neighborhoods and schools and expanding carbon capture and removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest draft incorporates these new efforts and others on offshore wind, clean fuels and climate-friendly housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But advocates and environmentalists want the state to move even faster, and have pressed for more aggressive targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ellie Cohen, CEO of policy nonprofit The Climate Center, and UC Berkeley professor Dan Kammen \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2022/11/california-climate-air-resources-board-scoping-plan/\">argued in an opinion piece\u003c/a> last week for California’s target to be “at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also criticized the state for what they said is “gambling on carbon capture and storage, a failed and expensive technology that perpetuates pollution in frontline communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reached by email on his way back from the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, Kammen said that the state’s latest version still relies too much on these technologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The harsh grip of petroleum’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2006, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, into law, which mandated that the state produce a climate change road map every five years. The air board released the first plan in 2008, and this is its third update.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board Chair Liane Randolph told reporters that this update “is far and away the most important and the one with the most ambitious targets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to take action to reduce the worst impacts of a changing climate,” Randolph said. “And there is only one way to do that: Break forever our dependance on fossil fuels, the harsh grip of petroleum, and move as fast as we can to a clean energy economy. And that’s what this plan does. It delivers a massive reduction of climate-warming pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state estimates it would cut air pollution by 71% and save Californians $200 billion in health costs due to pollution, while creating 4 million new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"headTitle": "FAQ: What’s at Stake at the COP27 Global Climate Negotiations | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A major international climate meeting is kicking off in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Hundreds of world leaders will spend the next two weeks discussing global efforts to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pay for the costs of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meeting comes at a crucial time for the planet: if nations, including the United States, follow through on their current promises to pivot away from fossil fuels, it’s still possible to avoid catastrophic warming later this century. But it’s unclear how, exactly, those promises will be met, and who will foot the bill for the deadly climate effects already underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what you need to know about what’s at stake and how the meeting will unfold.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. Why is this meeting happening now?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The meeting that begins today is an annual event hosted by the branch of the United Nations that handles global negotiations about climate change. At the 2015 meeting, the Paris Climate agreement was signed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that agreement, basically every country in the world promised to address climate change by coming up with their own plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are making the world hotter. Since then, the annual meeting has taken on extra significance, because it’s the official time to check in on those promises, and make new ones. For example, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">U.S. promised to cut its emissions by about half\u003c/a> by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In United Nations jargon, the meeting is called the Conference of the Parties, or COP. This is the 27th Conference of the Parties meeting, so it’s frequently referred to as COP27.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. What has happened since last year’s COP meeting?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">last year’s meeting\u003c/a>, world leaders agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions more quickly than in the past. But they failed to make substantive promises about how that would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, there have been some big geopolitical changes. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will loom over this year’s meeting. The invasion further complicated relationships between the world’s largest economies, and upended global fossil fuel markets. One immediate effect of the war is multiple countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094586702/china-promotes-coal-in-setback-for-efforts-to-cut-emissions\">including China\u003c/a> have increased their short-term reliance on coal-fired power plants, which are the most intense global source of greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another effect is that many countries, especially in Europe, are scrambling to develop new sources of natural gas to replace imports of Russian gas. In order to avoid the direst climate catastrophes in the future, nearly all new gas, coal and oil have to stay in the ground, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there have been positive developments as well. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, is growing rapidly. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1132003727/an-influential-energy-group-sees-reason-for-climate-optimism\">International Energy Agency predicts\u003c/a> that global demand for all types of fossil fuels will peak by the mid-2030s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980729\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-800x588.png\" alt=\"Notes Climate policy and warming projections display the likely range of potential outcomes. Source: United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report 2022\" width=\"800\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-800x588.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-160x118.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-768x564.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR.png 995w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Notes\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>Climate policy and warming projections display the likely range of potential outcomes.\u003cbr>Source: United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report 2022 \u003ccite>(Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. How much ground do world leaders need to make up at this conference?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In short, the world is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1131687504/heres-how-far-behind-the-world-is-on-reining-in-climate-change\">way off track\u003c/a> from its goal of cutting the pollution that drives climate change. Collectively, nations have promised to cut their emissions by about 3% by 2030. But the science shows emissions need to fall dramatically faster – 45% by 2030. That’s to limit warming to the goal set by the Paris climate agreement: 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. That’s about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most nations aren’t even cutting emissions enough to meet the pledges they’ve already made. So today, the world is heading toward about 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by 2100. While a handful of countries are expected to make new, more ambitious emissions pledges at these talks, the countries producing most of the climate pollution aren’t expected to make dramatic cutbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the largest emitters, China and India, plan to increase emissions until 2030. They’ve argued that their growing economies need the support of fossil fuels, as other wealthier countries have historically done.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. What do scientists say is at stake if world leaders don’t make deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The science is clear: the faster greenhouse emissions drop, the more lives and livelihoods will be saved. And the sooner, the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that because earlier this year, international \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1082564304/billions-of-people-are-in-danger-from-climate-change-u-n-report-warns\">climate scientists finished\u003c/a> publishing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027457702/three-hopeful-takeaways-from-the-uns-climate-change-report\">most comprehensive\u003c/a> climate science report ever. It catalogued the ways in which climate change is affecting everyday lives around the world, because the Earth is already about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) hotter than it was in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say it’s possible to limit overall global warming to about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit, (2 degrees Celsius), which is the upper limit set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980728\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-800x559.png\" alt=\"Notes Global temperature refers to the average temperature of Earth's air and water. Source: NOAA, as of Nov. 4\" width=\"800\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-160x112.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-768x537.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR.png 1004w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Notes\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>Global temperature refers to the average temperature of Earth’s air and water.\u003cbr>Source: NOAA, as of Nov. 4 \u003ccite>(Jess Eng and Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Scientists also warn that decades of sea level rise, extreme drought, heat waves and storms are unavoidable because of how much global temperatures have already risen. That means billions of people will need to adapt to a hotter Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But limiting emissions could avoid some of the most extreme impacts, like much more deadly heat waves, more flooding in coastal cities due to sea level rise and the loss of almost all coral reefs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>5. What will be the most contentious topics at these talks?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are getting increasingly frustrated with wealthier nations. Most low-income countries have done little to cause climate change, since their greenhouse gas emissions are small. But impacts like extreme storms and flooding are taking a huge toll on them, often because they lack the resources to better protect themselves. This year, a coalition of the most vulnerable countries is seeking compensation for these costs, known as “loss and damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They argue that wealthier nations should pay for the problems they caused, including the cultural losses that happen when towns and villages must relocate. So far, wealthier countries have agreed to keep discussing it, but haven’t committed to providing new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>6. How much would it cost to deal with climate change?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s going to require huge investments. There’s no getting around it. But there’s also a lot of money to be made eliminating emissions from the global economy. And experts say the cost of not dealing with this problem could be ruinous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the United States alone, quickly cutting carbon emissions could grow the country’s economy by $3 trillion over the next 50 years, says Deloitte, the consulting firm. On the other hand, not doing enough to respond to climate change could cost the U.S. $14.5 trillion over the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At COP27, one of the biggest issues is going to be money that developed countries promised poorer nations years ago to help them cut emissions and adapt to the climate impacts they’re already experiencing. Since industrialized nations are responsible for most of the emissions that are making the planet hotter, they pledged $100 billion a year in financing for developing countries by 2020. But rich countries still haven’t delivered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say making good on that promise is crucial to keep poorer nations on board with efforts to cut emissions. But they also say that $100 billion is just a fraction of the money the developing world is going to need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 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=FAQ%3A+What%27s+at+stake+at+the+COP27+global+climate+negotiations&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A major international climate meeting is kicking off in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Hundreds of world leaders will spend the next two weeks discussing global efforts to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pay for the costs of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meeting comes at a crucial time for the planet: if nations, including the United States, follow through on their current promises to pivot away from fossil fuels, it’s still possible to avoid catastrophic warming later this century. But it’s unclear how, exactly, those promises will be met, and who will foot the bill for the deadly climate effects already underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what you need to know about what’s at stake and how the meeting will unfold.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. Why is this meeting happening now?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The meeting that begins today is an annual event hosted by the branch of the United Nations that handles global negotiations about climate change. At the 2015 meeting, the Paris Climate agreement was signed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that agreement, basically every country in the world promised to address climate change by coming up with their own plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are making the world hotter. Since then, the annual meeting has taken on extra significance, because it’s the official time to check in on those promises, and make new ones. For example, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">U.S. promised to cut its emissions by about half\u003c/a> by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In United Nations jargon, the meeting is called the Conference of the Parties, or COP. This is the 27th Conference of the Parties meeting, so it’s frequently referred to as COP27.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. What has happened since last year’s COP meeting?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">last year’s meeting\u003c/a>, world leaders agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions more quickly than in the past. But they failed to make substantive promises about how that would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, there have been some big geopolitical changes. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will loom over this year’s meeting. The invasion further complicated relationships between the world’s largest economies, and upended global fossil fuel markets. One immediate effect of the war is multiple countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094586702/china-promotes-coal-in-setback-for-efforts-to-cut-emissions\">including China\u003c/a> have increased their short-term reliance on coal-fired power plants, which are the most intense global source of greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another effect is that many countries, especially in Europe, are scrambling to develop new sources of natural gas to replace imports of Russian gas. In order to avoid the direst climate catastrophes in the future, nearly all new gas, coal and oil have to stay in the ground, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there have been positive developments as well. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, is growing rapidly. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1132003727/an-influential-energy-group-sees-reason-for-climate-optimism\">International Energy Agency predicts\u003c/a> that global demand for all types of fossil fuels will peak by the mid-2030s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980729\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-800x588.png\" alt=\"Notes Climate policy and warming projections display the likely range of potential outcomes. Source: United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report 2022\" width=\"800\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-800x588.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-160x118.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR-768x564.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-1-NPR.png 995w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Notes\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>Climate policy and warming projections display the likely range of potential outcomes.\u003cbr>Source: United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report 2022 \u003ccite>(Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. How much ground do world leaders need to make up at this conference?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In short, the world is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1131687504/heres-how-far-behind-the-world-is-on-reining-in-climate-change\">way off track\u003c/a> from its goal of cutting the pollution that drives climate change. Collectively, nations have promised to cut their emissions by about 3% by 2030. But the science shows emissions need to fall dramatically faster – 45% by 2030. That’s to limit warming to the goal set by the Paris climate agreement: 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. That’s about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most nations aren’t even cutting emissions enough to meet the pledges they’ve already made. So today, the world is heading toward about 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by 2100. While a handful of countries are expected to make new, more ambitious emissions pledges at these talks, the countries producing most of the climate pollution aren’t expected to make dramatic cutbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the largest emitters, China and India, plan to increase emissions until 2030. They’ve argued that their growing economies need the support of fossil fuels, as other wealthier countries have historically done.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. What do scientists say is at stake if world leaders don’t make deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The science is clear: the faster greenhouse emissions drop, the more lives and livelihoods will be saved. And the sooner, the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that because earlier this year, international \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1082564304/billions-of-people-are-in-danger-from-climate-change-u-n-report-warns\">climate scientists finished\u003c/a> publishing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027457702/three-hopeful-takeaways-from-the-uns-climate-change-report\">most comprehensive\u003c/a> climate science report ever. It catalogued the ways in which climate change is affecting everyday lives around the world, because the Earth is already about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) hotter than it was in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say it’s possible to limit overall global warming to about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit, (2 degrees Celsius), which is the upper limit set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980728\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-800x559.png\" alt=\"Notes Global temperature refers to the average temperature of Earth's air and water. Source: NOAA, as of Nov. 4\" width=\"800\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-160x112.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR-768x537.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/11/COP27-2-NPR.png 1004w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Notes\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>Global temperature refers to the average temperature of Earth’s air and water.\u003cbr>Source: NOAA, as of Nov. 4 \u003ccite>(Jess Eng and Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Scientists also warn that decades of sea level rise, extreme drought, heat waves and storms are unavoidable because of how much global temperatures have already risen. That means billions of people will need to adapt to a hotter Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But limiting emissions could avoid some of the most extreme impacts, like much more deadly heat waves, more flooding in coastal cities due to sea level rise and the loss of almost all coral reefs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>5. What will be the most contentious topics at these talks?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are getting increasingly frustrated with wealthier nations. Most low-income countries have done little to cause climate change, since their greenhouse gas emissions are small. But impacts like extreme storms and flooding are taking a huge toll on them, often because they lack the resources to better protect themselves. This year, a coalition of the most vulnerable countries is seeking compensation for these costs, known as “loss and damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They argue that wealthier nations should pay for the problems they caused, including the cultural losses that happen when towns and villages must relocate. So far, wealthier countries have agreed to keep discussing it, but haven’t committed to providing new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>6. How much would it cost to deal with climate change?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s going to require huge investments. There’s no getting around it. But there’s also a lot of money to be made eliminating emissions from the global economy. And experts say the cost of not dealing with this problem could be ruinous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the United States alone, quickly cutting carbon emissions could grow the country’s economy by $3 trillion over the next 50 years, says Deloitte, the consulting firm. On the other hand, not doing enough to respond to climate change could cost the U.S. $14.5 trillion over the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At COP27, one of the biggest issues is going to be money that developed countries promised poorer nations years ago to help them cut emissions and adapt to the climate impacts they’re already experiencing. Since industrialized nations are responsible for most of the emissions that are making the planet hotter, they pledged $100 billion a year in financing for developing countries by 2020. But rich countries still haven’t delivered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say making good on that promise is crucial to keep poorer nations on board with efforts to cut emissions. But they also say that $100 billion is just a fraction of the money the developing world is going to need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 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=FAQ%3A+What%27s+at+stake+at+the+COP27+global+climate+negotiations&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'It Comes to Race': Marin City Residents Demand Flood Protections",
"headTitle": "‘It Comes to Race’: Marin City Residents Demand Flood Protections | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of KQED’s series “Sacrifice Zones: Bay Area Shoreline Communities Reimagining Their Homes in the Face of the Climate Emergency.” The project looks at communities of color facing the worst of rising seas and fighting to thrive. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">Read more of KQED’s reparations coverage.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The long-neglected water system in Marin City, an unincorporated community about 5 miles north of San Francisco, is one of the most vulnerable to climate-driven flooding in the entire Bay Area. The neighborhoods of mostly one-story homes and apartments abut Richardson Bay, separated from the water by Highway 101 and a narrow bike trail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A single tidal gate allows water to escape into the bay, and it’s regularly filled with sand and debris. When atmospheric rivers dump rainwater, the water from the gate backs up into the channel under the freeway and floods the only road in and out of Marin City, rendering it impassable by car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Marin City is like a bathtub with only one drain,” said Kristina Hill, director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the century, climate change may make these \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094722000275\">deluges from the sky up to 37% wetter\u003c/a>, according to a June 2022 study by Bay Area climate scientists, and the flooding in Marin City far worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, warming temperatures could push San Francisco Bay up from sea level rise — as much as 10.2 feet by the end of the century. Brackish water could displace and corrode underground sewer pipes and other infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980558\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980558\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright green baseball field in the foreground, surrounded by hills lined with homes and the bay beyond it. Behind the bay there are white clouds and an outline of the San Francisco shore lined with tall buildings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin City can be seen from Alta Trail northwest of the unincorporated area of Marin County. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All these low-lying areas are going to have a flooding threat that is much bigger than we anticipate when looking at just sea level rise,” said Kris May, founder of the Pathways Climate Institute. Marin County found that sea level rise \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/cd/planning/slr/baywave/vulnerability-assessment-final/final_allpages_bvbconsulting_reduced.pdf?la=en\">could flood half of all commercial properties in Marin City (PDF)\u003c/a> and displace those in low-lying areas. Residents have long said that Marin City’s neglected water system is an ugly example of racism in the region’s past housing policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 3,000 people — 63% people of color — dwell within Marin City’s 344 acres. About \u003ca href=\"https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US0645820\">13% live below the poverty line\u003c/a>, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, despite the fact that the area is part of Marin County, one of the richest in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Terrie Harris-Green, executive director, Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice']‘We’re at a place in Marin City where we’re saying enough is enough. It comes to race. It comes down to it.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People in Marin City have higher asthma rates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2017/09/28/marin-city-health-issues-discussed-at-state-forum/\">shorter life expectancies\u003c/a> and huge cost burdens when compared to the rest of the state. Add climate change, and residents here face a double vulnerability, as do many communities of color around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Marin City has flooded for over 80 years,” said resident Terrie Harris-Green, swiveling in a black, pleather office chair to prop up an inundation map of Marin City on a nearby chair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 72-year-old Black woman wears a bright red floor-length dress and a cloud-colored cardigan. She’s the founder of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MCCRHJ/\">Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice\u003c/a> and has fought for environmental justice for this community for decades. She said the local government hasn’t adequately invested in this community and its infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re left out of so much when it comes to this county, but we’re going to continue to fight,” she said. “We’re at a place in Marin City where we’re saying enough is enough. It comes to race. It comes down to it. It comes to race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green and other residents are wrestling with officials they don’t trust for agency over climate plans and flood protections, vowing that Marin City won’t continue to be neglected. They are calling for reparations to repair the harm caused by decades of government inaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980603 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman with short brown hair wears a flowy black blouse. She stands in front of a fenced in pond surrounded by weeds. A highway is in the background and building lined hills are in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terrie Harris-Green poses for a portrait near a pond in Marin City on April 7, 2022, after a community meeting with California Senator Mike McGuire to discuss flooding issues in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Four megafloods this century\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/mtr/AtmosphericRiver_10_24-25_2021\">atmospheric river parked itself\u003c/a> over Marin City last October, turning looping residential streets into rivers, swamping Donahue Street, and filling the freeway underpass and the only entrance into the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinaka Green and her 14-year-old son were driving home from a high school football game when the storm hit. They sat for hours, stuck behind a line of cars, sandwiched between the highway and San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were trapped,” said Green, Harris-Green’s 41-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She abandoned her car on the side of the road in the neighboring city of Sausalito, a ritzy tourist destination with quaint houseboats and wine bars, and trudged a quarter-mile through knee-deep water. She said sewage spilled from utility holes, merging with the stormwater and drenching their shoes and clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We took off everything, put it in a bag and threw it away,” she said. Fast floods caused by atmospheric rivers are incredibly dangerous. The same year, two people died when their car \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZFktiKpSOo\">was submerged in a flooded underpass in Millbrae\u003c/a>. The main underpass into and out of Millbrae regularly floods, like Marin City’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This flooding is a precursor of what the Bay Area will experience as climate change escalates, increasing the risk of a California megaflood. Superstorms fueled by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101890265/how-climate-change-is-escalating-the-risk-of-a-california-megaflood\">atmospheric rivers could bring more than 16 inches of rainfall across the state in one month\u003c/a> and cause catastrophic flooding, according to new research from UCLA scientists Xingying Huang and Daniel Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is we built our infrastructure assuming these events were very rare,” said Swain. “Now, they are something you should be expecting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many as four megafloods could swamp California this century, according to Swain. How bad the megastorms will be for Marin City will depend, in part, on how fast the world reduces emissions that cause climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The worst-case scenario for Marin City is a megastorm wailing on the community at the same time as a king tide, trapping residents for many consecutive days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our tolerance for making mistakes is getting really, really small,” said UC Berkeley’s Hill. “We just don’t have any room for error anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980605 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people in neon yellow rain gear reach into a flooded storm drain. Behind them is a playground and a stream of water in a grey cement culvert. The water is brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers try to divert water into drains as rain pours down on Oct. 24, 2021, in Marin City. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘They don’t want to see us’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2014, a storm dropped nearly two inches of rain on Marin City, a deluge that coincided with a king tide that pushed tides 8 feet higher than usual. Flooding cut off access into the neighborhoods and swamped Highway 101, backing up traffic for miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County launched a study of the issue following that storm. Since then, flooding has shut down highway traffic completely and blocked Marin City’s only egress three more times. During a 2017 flood, residents reported that \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SFEP_RWNA_09.07_MarinCityClimate.090122.pdf\">a school bus driver left children (PDF)\u003c/a> to “walk through contaminated water to get home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During last October’s storm, Lauren Mims and her father worried that floodwaters would overwhelm their car on the way to the grocery store. She’s one of a handful of teens who train with Harris-Green’s climate group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are not really paid attention to because there’s a lot of African Americans here, and they don’t want to see us,” Mims, 14, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green and others have pressed officials for new flooding infrastructure for decades. The last major drainage improvement project occurred in the mid-1990s when a shopping center was built next to the freeway along with a temporary floodwall to block rising water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thirty-some years later, the aging drainage system of pipes, a tide gate and culverts don’t “function as originally designed,” according to a \u003ca href=\"https://marinflooddistrict.org/documents/marin-city-flood-drainage-study-january-2018/?filter_categories%5B%5D=576\">2017 county drainage study (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you talk about sea level rise projections in 2050 with 3 feet — we have that right now,” Harris-Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial/video/7059492308387007791\" data-video-id=\"7059492308387007791\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@kqedofficial\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial?refer=embed\">@kqedofficial\u003c/a> Lauren Mims of Marin City’s \u003ca title=\"poem\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/poem?refer=embed\">#poem\u003c/a> speaks to the climate crisis affecting her community. 🗣\u003ca title=\"climatechange\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/climatechange?refer=embed\">#climatechange\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"climateaction\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/climateaction?refer=embed\">#climateaction\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"youth4climate\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/youth4climate?refer=embed\">#youth4climate\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - kqed\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7059492294818417455?refer=embed\">♬ original sound – kqed\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A history of displacement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early 20th century, Marin City was green pastureland and bustling dairies. In the 1940s, shipbuilders constructed rows of motel-style apartments to house thousands of workers who built warships in Sausalito for the Navy during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green’s family relocated to Marin City from Texas, migrating here as many Black people did from the South and the Midwest for work in the shipyards. When the war was over, many families stayed, including Harris-Green’s. But county conservation land restricted Marin City’s growth. Many of Marin City’s Black residents were displaced when, in the 1960s, officials tore down temporary housing from the shipbuilding effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“White families were able to go out and buy homes. Not so for people of color,” Harris-Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>African Americans were kept from buying houses in other parts of the county by \u003ca href=\"http://iurd.berkeley.edu/uploads/Marin_City_Final.pdf\">“restrictive, exclusionary covenants” (PDF)\u003c/a> according to a displacement case study by researchers at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Black families bought homes in the hillsides around Marin City that increased in value over time. In the 1980s, these homeowners aged or passed away and many of their families could no longer afford them. They were forced to sell, mostly to white families.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We want equal treatment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980578\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980578 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing glasses, an orange headscarf, a black shire and a grey jacket speaks into a microphone in a white colored church. A line of people stand behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aleta Touré, from Marin City, speaks during public comment at the first in-person meeting of the California Reparations Task Force at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco’s Fillmore District on April 14, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a bright April day, Marin City residents gathered at Rocky Graham Park, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/our-work/rocky-graham-park\">the only park in Marin City\u003c/a>, for a community-led reparations event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green spoke from behind a lectern under a silver-and-green metal gazebo. She said the health inequities people in Marin City experience are especially unjust as Marin County is ranked the \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/main/county-press-releases/press-releases/2022/hhs-healthiestcounty-042722#:~:text=San%20Rafael%2C%20CA%20%E2%80%93%20Marin%20has,Rankings%20%26%20Roadmaps%20released%20April%2027.\">healthiest county in the state\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need reparations here in Marin City,” she said. “Too much sickness and disease is happening and been happening in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is exploring how to repair the harm of a violent history of slavery and centuries of oppression through the work of a statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11906054/it-means-to-repair-what-you-should-know-about-reparations-for-black-californians\">task force on reparations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green said, as part of that effort, leaders must engage residents in climate adaptation plans for issues like flooding, not just in one-off community engagement-type meetings, but in direct involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Shannon Lee Bynum, Marin City resident']‘We want fair justice and we want equal treatment. We deserve it and we work for it.’[/pullquote]“We’ve gone to our political leaders long enough, because they treat us as if we don’t exist,” said Harris-Green. “We want to participate in planning and decision-making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shannon Lee Bynum, 65, was raised in small, military-style apartments within Marin City. His family was one of the first Black families to buy a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bynum’s father ran a funeral business and tried to buy a house elsewhere in Marin County but was denied because of racist housing policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want fair justice and we want equal treatment,” he said. “We deserve it and we work for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bynum said justice looks like “healthy stuff like everybody else,” affordable homes, easy access to parks and all of the privileges synonymous with Marin County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Black people living with the legacy of slavery and facing climate threats, the two issues are as interconnected as air is to lungs, said Maya Carrasquillo, civil and environmental engineering professor at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see the way it affects people and mostly people that look like us,” said Carrasquillo, who identifies racially as Black and ethnically as an Afro-Latina. “You can’t look at one without the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If climate solutions center communities of color, she said, they can be a form of reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not enough to just say, ‘We’re gonna try to protect you,'” Carrasquillo said of the flooding. “We need to make sure that you’re out of harm’s way, period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980541\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980541\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man in a black pants, a white T-shirt and a black baseball cap picks up an empty blue five gallon jug of water. He is near a red outdoor wall of a house and a number of empty five gallon jugs.\" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Lee Bynum replaces a filtered water tank at his home in Marin City on March 1, 2022. His family won’t drink the tap water here. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Neglect and a culture of mistrust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Harris-Green’s group and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SFEP_RWNA_09.07_MarinCityClimate.090122.pdf\">surveyed 280 residents (PDF)\u003c/a> and found that 85% were concerned about aging pipes, 43% about sewage contaminating their drinking water and 40% about chemical dumping in Marin City during WWII when shipbuilders operated before modern environmental regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Marin Municipal Water District regularly tests water flowing into Marin City and hasn’t found elevated levels of contamination, according to health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state hasn’t tested the soil because it doesn’t have clear documentation that toxic waste was dumped there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a dissatisfying answer to Harris-Green.[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation='Aalaya Wheeler, Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice']‘We have the same breath in our bodies that anybody else has. We should have the same environmental rights and freedoms as everybody else.’[/pullquote]Her group is leading a series of independent actions, mapping pollution-filled utility holes and unmarked waste sites and partnering with environmental groups to test for contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A consulting firm found heavy metal pollution at a pond that drains into the bay. It recommended the contamination be removed, which has not happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After residents complained about cloudy and brown water coming out of their taps, Harris-Green’s group began circulating cardboard test boxes to more than 50 homes so that residents could have their tap water examined for metals or other pollution. Her staff is still compiling and analyzing the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aalaya Wheeler, a 26-year-old who works for Harris-Green’s group, helped residents with the effort, running sink water over thin test strips and collecting samples in clear plastic bottles. She doesn’t understand why little has been done to fix contamination and flooding issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have the same breath in our bodies that anybody else has,” Wheeler said. “We should have the same environmental rights and freedoms as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980540\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman in a multicolored headscarf and a grey sweatshirt fills a translucent bottle full of water in a offwhite kitchen. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinaka Green takes water samples from the kitchen tap at the home of Shannon Lee Bynum in Marin City on March 1, 2022, to test for contaminants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Finally getting attention\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>County and state officials are struggling to meet the demands of Marin City residents and expedite climate adaptation here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County Health Officer Matt Willis said he is in regular contact with Harris-Green. He said comprehensive soil and water testing is needed to alleviate the community’s concerns about potential contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not found yet any evidence of elevated levels, but I think we need to be even more comprehensive,” Willis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional and state officials have pledged to walk the community with Harris-Green, but this has yet to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County District 10 Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, who is white, acknowledged that Marin City has not received significant investments for flooding or testing issues because of “systemic racism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe we need to change up our systems,” said Moulton-Peters, who represents Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moulton-Peters and county officials have pursued several grant opportunities to pay for flood prevention around Marin City that have so far been unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Marin City’s representative in Congress, convened a series of private stakeholder meetings to respond to the concerns of residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffman told KQED in an emailed statement that funds from the federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/\">Bipartisan Infrastructure Law\u003c/a>, intended to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, could help fix flooding issues in Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also has convened a working group to improve emergency response to the area and access to and egress from Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman in a light-blue collared shirt speaks to a crowd of mixed-race people next to a pond.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters and California Senator Mike McGuire speak during a community meeting to address issues of flooding in Marin City on April 7, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Geography of hope\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The work Harris-Green is slogging through daily — pressing leaders for change, holding rallies and testing for contamination — is building power for people of color to have agency over the decisions that affect them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These acts of shifting power dynamics create what UC Davis professor Beth Rose Middleton Manning calls \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2514848619875920\">a geography of hope\u003c/a>, a way the community can force social and ecological outcomes in the face of injustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A geography of hope is very much about people’s relationship to their place and envisioning how to get out of difficult situations,” said Middleton Manning, associate director of environmental and climate justice for the UC Davis Institute of the Environment. “[It] is the practice of making that real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The actions of Harris-Green, Wheeler and Mims could push Marin County to end a culture of racism while protecting Marin City from flooding caused by climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When our people came here from the South, they came here to make life better for themselves, which included their community. Ingrained in me is [the idea]: ‘We got to help one another,'” said Harris-Green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980542\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing a black blouse and short brown hair looks to the left. A woman in a teal tank-top looks at her. The sky is almost white, but yet blue. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terrie Harris-Green speaks during a community meeting to address flooding in Marin City, near a pond at the Marin Gateway Shopping Center that is prone to flooding, in Marin City on April 7, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On an unseasonably cool July day, Harris-Green sounded hopeful. State Sen. Mike McGuire had just called her and said, “Terrie, I have some good news for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California allocated $10 million in its latest budget to start planning solutions for Marin City’s flooding issues; it’s the first time officials asked Harris-Green what needs fixing in Marin City. She called it a “historic moment” that “gives us a sense of hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days later, Harris-Green read an article in the Marin Independent Journal about the Marin City flooding plan that quoted \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2022/07/03/marin-highway-flooding-projects-get-30m-from-state/\">state officials talking about the importance of protecting Highway 101\u003c/a>. She felt like the officials might be favoring the highway and called McGuire back to say, in no uncertain terms, that the flooding in Marin City must be the priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Annelise Finney contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Broken pipes. A backed-up tidal gate. A single road in and out of town that regularly floods. Facing storms super-fueled by climate change, Black residents of Marin City demand officials fix a water system the county's long neglected.",
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"description": "Broken pipes. A backed-up tidal gate. A single road in and out of town that regularly floods. Facing storms super-fueled by climate change, Black residents of Marin City demand officials fix a water system the county's long neglected.",
"title": "'It Comes to Race': Marin City Residents Demand Flood Protections | KQED",
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"subhead": "Broken pipes. A backed up tidal gate. A single road in and out of town that regularly floods. Marin City's Black residents want climate justice.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of KQED’s series “Sacrifice Zones: Bay Area Shoreline Communities Reimagining Their Homes in the Face of the Climate Emergency.” The project looks at communities of color facing the worst of rising seas and fighting to thrive. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">Read more of KQED’s reparations coverage.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The long-neglected water system in Marin City, an unincorporated community about 5 miles north of San Francisco, is one of the most vulnerable to climate-driven flooding in the entire Bay Area. The neighborhoods of mostly one-story homes and apartments abut Richardson Bay, separated from the water by Highway 101 and a narrow bike trail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A single tidal gate allows water to escape into the bay, and it’s regularly filled with sand and debris. When atmospheric rivers dump rainwater, the water from the gate backs up into the channel under the freeway and floods the only road in and out of Marin City, rendering it impassable by car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Marin City is like a bathtub with only one drain,” said Kristina Hill, director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the century, climate change may make these \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094722000275\">deluges from the sky up to 37% wetter\u003c/a>, according to a June 2022 study by Bay Area climate scientists, and the flooding in Marin City far worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, warming temperatures could push San Francisco Bay up from sea level rise — as much as 10.2 feet by the end of the century. Brackish water could displace and corrode underground sewer pipes and other infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980558\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980558\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright green baseball field in the foreground, surrounded by hills lined with homes and the bay beyond it. Behind the bay there are white clouds and an outline of the San Francisco shore lined with tall buildings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54020_042_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin City can be seen from Alta Trail northwest of the unincorporated area of Marin County. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All these low-lying areas are going to have a flooding threat that is much bigger than we anticipate when looking at just sea level rise,” said Kris May, founder of the Pathways Climate Institute. Marin County found that sea level rise \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/cd/planning/slr/baywave/vulnerability-assessment-final/final_allpages_bvbconsulting_reduced.pdf?la=en\">could flood half of all commercial properties in Marin City (PDF)\u003c/a> and displace those in low-lying areas. Residents have long said that Marin City’s neglected water system is an ugly example of racism in the region’s past housing policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 3,000 people — 63% people of color — dwell within Marin City’s 344 acres. About \u003ca href=\"https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US0645820\">13% live below the poverty line\u003c/a>, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, despite the fact that the area is part of Marin County, one of the richest in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We’re at a place in Marin City where we’re saying enough is enough. It comes to race. It comes down to it.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People in Marin City have higher asthma rates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2017/09/28/marin-city-health-issues-discussed-at-state-forum/\">shorter life expectancies\u003c/a> and huge cost burdens when compared to the rest of the state. Add climate change, and residents here face a double vulnerability, as do many communities of color around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Marin City has flooded for over 80 years,” said resident Terrie Harris-Green, swiveling in a black, pleather office chair to prop up an inundation map of Marin City on a nearby chair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 72-year-old Black woman wears a bright red floor-length dress and a cloud-colored cardigan. She’s the founder of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MCCRHJ/\">Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice\u003c/a> and has fought for environmental justice for this community for decades. She said the local government hasn’t adequately invested in this community and its infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re left out of so much when it comes to this county, but we’re going to continue to fight,” she said. “We’re at a place in Marin City where we’re saying enough is enough. It comes to race. It comes down to it. It comes to race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green and other residents are wrestling with officials they don’t trust for agency over climate plans and flood protections, vowing that Marin City won’t continue to be neglected. They are calling for reparations to repair the harm caused by decades of government inaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980603 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman with short brown hair wears a flowy black blouse. She stands in front of a fenced in pond surrounded by weeds. A highway is in the background and building lined hills are in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/001_KQEDScience_MarinCityTerrieGreen_04072022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terrie Harris-Green poses for a portrait near a pond in Marin City on April 7, 2022, after a community meeting with California Senator Mike McGuire to discuss flooding issues in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Four megafloods this century\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/mtr/AtmosphericRiver_10_24-25_2021\">atmospheric river parked itself\u003c/a> over Marin City last October, turning looping residential streets into rivers, swamping Donahue Street, and filling the freeway underpass and the only entrance into the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinaka Green and her 14-year-old son were driving home from a high school football game when the storm hit. They sat for hours, stuck behind a line of cars, sandwiched between the highway and San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were trapped,” said Green, Harris-Green’s 41-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She abandoned her car on the side of the road in the neighboring city of Sausalito, a ritzy tourist destination with quaint houseboats and wine bars, and trudged a quarter-mile through knee-deep water. She said sewage spilled from utility holes, merging with the stormwater and drenching their shoes and clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We took off everything, put it in a bag and threw it away,” she said. Fast floods caused by atmospheric rivers are incredibly dangerous. The same year, two people died when their car \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZFktiKpSOo\">was submerged in a flooded underpass in Millbrae\u003c/a>. The main underpass into and out of Millbrae regularly floods, like Marin City’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This flooding is a precursor of what the Bay Area will experience as climate change escalates, increasing the risk of a California megaflood. Superstorms fueled by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101890265/how-climate-change-is-escalating-the-risk-of-a-california-megaflood\">atmospheric rivers could bring more than 16 inches of rainfall across the state in one month\u003c/a> and cause catastrophic flooding, according to new research from UCLA scientists Xingying Huang and Daniel Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is we built our infrastructure assuming these events were very rare,” said Swain. “Now, they are something you should be expecting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many as four megafloods could swamp California this century, according to Swain. How bad the megastorms will be for Marin City will depend, in part, on how fast the world reduces emissions that cause climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The worst-case scenario for Marin City is a megastorm wailing on the community at the same time as a king tide, trapping residents for many consecutive days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our tolerance for making mistakes is getting really, really small,” said UC Berkeley’s Hill. “We just don’t have any room for error anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980605 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people in neon yellow rain gear reach into a flooded storm drain. Behind them is a playground and a stream of water in a grey cement culvert. The water is brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/GettyImages-1348745966-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers try to divert water into drains as rain pours down on Oct. 24, 2021, in Marin City. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘They don’t want to see us’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2014, a storm dropped nearly two inches of rain on Marin City, a deluge that coincided with a king tide that pushed tides 8 feet higher than usual. Flooding cut off access into the neighborhoods and swamped Highway 101, backing up traffic for miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County launched a study of the issue following that storm. Since then, flooding has shut down highway traffic completely and blocked Marin City’s only egress three more times. During a 2017 flood, residents reported that \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SFEP_RWNA_09.07_MarinCityClimate.090122.pdf\">a school bus driver left children (PDF)\u003c/a> to “walk through contaminated water to get home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During last October’s storm, Lauren Mims and her father worried that floodwaters would overwhelm their car on the way to the grocery store. She’s one of a handful of teens who train with Harris-Green’s climate group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are not really paid attention to because there’s a lot of African Americans here, and they don’t want to see us,” Mims, 14, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green and others have pressed officials for new flooding infrastructure for decades. The last major drainage improvement project occurred in the mid-1990s when a shopping center was built next to the freeway along with a temporary floodwall to block rising water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thirty-some years later, the aging drainage system of pipes, a tide gate and culverts don’t “function as originally designed,” according to a \u003ca href=\"https://marinflooddistrict.org/documents/marin-city-flood-drainage-study-january-2018/?filter_categories%5B%5D=576\">2017 county drainage study (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you talk about sea level rise projections in 2050 with 3 feet — we have that right now,” Harris-Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial/video/7059492308387007791\" data-video-id=\"7059492308387007791\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@kqedofficial\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial?refer=embed\">@kqedofficial\u003c/a> Lauren Mims of Marin City’s \u003ca title=\"poem\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/poem?refer=embed\">#poem\u003c/a> speaks to the climate crisis affecting her community. 🗣\u003ca title=\"climatechange\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/climatechange?refer=embed\">#climatechange\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"climateaction\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/climateaction?refer=embed\">#climateaction\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"youth4climate\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/youth4climate?refer=embed\">#youth4climate\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - kqed\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7059492294818417455?refer=embed\">♬ original sound – kqed\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A history of displacement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early 20th century, Marin City was green pastureland and bustling dairies. In the 1940s, shipbuilders constructed rows of motel-style apartments to house thousands of workers who built warships in Sausalito for the Navy during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green’s family relocated to Marin City from Texas, migrating here as many Black people did from the South and the Midwest for work in the shipyards. When the war was over, many families stayed, including Harris-Green’s. But county conservation land restricted Marin City’s growth. Many of Marin City’s Black residents were displaced when, in the 1960s, officials tore down temporary housing from the shipbuilding effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“White families were able to go out and buy homes. Not so for people of color,” Harris-Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>African Americans were kept from buying houses in other parts of the county by \u003ca href=\"http://iurd.berkeley.edu/uploads/Marin_City_Final.pdf\">“restrictive, exclusionary covenants” (PDF)\u003c/a> according to a displacement case study by researchers at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Black families bought homes in the hillsides around Marin City that increased in value over time. In the 1980s, these homeowners aged or passed away and many of their families could no longer afford them. They were forced to sell, mostly to white families.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We want equal treatment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980578\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1980578 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing glasses, an orange headscarf, a black shire and a grey jacket speaks into a microphone in a white colored church. A line of people stand behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55258_008_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aleta Touré, from Marin City, speaks during public comment at the first in-person meeting of the California Reparations Task Force at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco’s Fillmore District on April 14, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a bright April day, Marin City residents gathered at Rocky Graham Park, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/our-work/rocky-graham-park\">the only park in Marin City\u003c/a>, for a community-led reparations event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green spoke from behind a lectern under a silver-and-green metal gazebo. She said the health inequities people in Marin City experience are especially unjust as Marin County is ranked the \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/main/county-press-releases/press-releases/2022/hhs-healthiestcounty-042722#:~:text=San%20Rafael%2C%20CA%20%E2%80%93%20Marin%20has,Rankings%20%26%20Roadmaps%20released%20April%2027.\">healthiest county in the state\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need reparations here in Marin City,” she said. “Too much sickness and disease is happening and been happening in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is exploring how to repair the harm of a violent history of slavery and centuries of oppression through the work of a statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11906054/it-means-to-repair-what-you-should-know-about-reparations-for-black-californians\">task force on reparations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris-Green said, as part of that effort, leaders must engage residents in climate adaptation plans for issues like flooding, not just in one-off community engagement-type meetings, but in direct involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We want fair justice and we want equal treatment. We deserve it and we work for it.’",
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"citation": "Shannon Lee Bynum, Marin City resident",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’ve gone to our political leaders long enough, because they treat us as if we don’t exist,” said Harris-Green. “We want to participate in planning and decision-making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shannon Lee Bynum, 65, was raised in small, military-style apartments within Marin City. His family was one of the first Black families to buy a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bynum’s father ran a funeral business and tried to buy a house elsewhere in Marin County but was denied because of racist housing policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want fair justice and we want equal treatment,” he said. “We deserve it and we work for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bynum said justice looks like “healthy stuff like everybody else,” affordable homes, easy access to parks and all of the privileges synonymous with Marin County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Black people living with the legacy of slavery and facing climate threats, the two issues are as interconnected as air is to lungs, said Maya Carrasquillo, civil and environmental engineering professor at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see the way it affects people and mostly people that look like us,” said Carrasquillo, who identifies racially as Black and ethnically as an Afro-Latina. “You can’t look at one without the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If climate solutions center communities of color, she said, they can be a form of reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not enough to just say, ‘We’re gonna try to protect you,'” Carrasquillo said of the flooding. “We need to make sure that you’re out of harm’s way, period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980541\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980541\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man in a black pants, a white T-shirt and a black baseball cap picks up an empty blue five gallon jug of water. He is near a red outdoor wall of a house and a number of empty five gallon jugs.\" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS54013_034_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Lee Bynum replaces a filtered water tank at his home in Marin City on March 1, 2022. His family won’t drink the tap water here. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Neglect and a culture of mistrust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Harris-Green’s group and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SFEP_RWNA_09.07_MarinCityClimate.090122.pdf\">surveyed 280 residents (PDF)\u003c/a> and found that 85% were concerned about aging pipes, 43% about sewage contaminating their drinking water and 40% about chemical dumping in Marin City during WWII when shipbuilders operated before modern environmental regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Marin Municipal Water District regularly tests water flowing into Marin City and hasn’t found elevated levels of contamination, according to health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state hasn’t tested the soil because it doesn’t have clear documentation that toxic waste was dumped there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a dissatisfying answer to Harris-Green.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We have the same breath in our bodies that anybody else has. We should have the same environmental rights and freedoms as everybody else.’",
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"citation": "Aalaya Wheeler, Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Her group is leading a series of independent actions, mapping pollution-filled utility holes and unmarked waste sites and partnering with environmental groups to test for contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A consulting firm found heavy metal pollution at a pond that drains into the bay. It recommended the contamination be removed, which has not happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After residents complained about cloudy and brown water coming out of their taps, Harris-Green’s group began circulating cardboard test boxes to more than 50 homes so that residents could have their tap water examined for metals or other pollution. Her staff is still compiling and analyzing the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aalaya Wheeler, a 26-year-old who works for Harris-Green’s group, helped residents with the effort, running sink water over thin test strips and collecting samples in clear plastic bottles. She doesn’t understand why little has been done to fix contamination and flooding issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have the same breath in our bodies that anybody else has,” Wheeler said. “We should have the same environmental rights and freedoms as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980540\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman in a multicolored headscarf and a grey sweatshirt fills a translucent bottle full of water in a offwhite kitchen. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS53993_014_KQED_MarinCityWaterTesting_03012022-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinaka Green takes water samples from the kitchen tap at the home of Shannon Lee Bynum in Marin City on March 1, 2022, to test for contaminants. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Finally getting attention\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>County and state officials are struggling to meet the demands of Marin City residents and expedite climate adaptation here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County Health Officer Matt Willis said he is in regular contact with Harris-Green. He said comprehensive soil and water testing is needed to alleviate the community’s concerns about potential contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not found yet any evidence of elevated levels, but I think we need to be even more comprehensive,” Willis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional and state officials have pledged to walk the community with Harris-Green, but this has yet to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County District 10 Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, who is white, acknowledged that Marin City has not received significant investments for flooding or testing issues because of “systemic racism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe we need to change up our systems,” said Moulton-Peters, who represents Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moulton-Peters and county officials have pursued several grant opportunities to pay for flood prevention around Marin City that have so far been unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Marin City’s representative in Congress, convened a series of private stakeholder meetings to respond to the concerns of residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffman told KQED in an emailed statement that funds from the federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/\">Bipartisan Infrastructure Law\u003c/a>, intended to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, could help fix flooding issues in Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also has convened a working group to improve emergency response to the area and access to and egress from Marin City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1980579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman in a light-blue collared shirt speaks to a crowd of mixed-race people next to a pond.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55181_004_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters and California Senator Mike McGuire speak during a community meeting to address issues of flooding in Marin City on April 7, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Geography of hope\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The work Harris-Green is slogging through daily — pressing leaders for change, holding rallies and testing for contamination — is building power for people of color to have agency over the decisions that affect them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These acts of shifting power dynamics create what UC Davis professor Beth Rose Middleton Manning calls \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2514848619875920\">a geography of hope\u003c/a>, a way the community can force social and ecological outcomes in the face of injustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A geography of hope is very much about people’s relationship to their place and envisioning how to get out of difficult situations,” said Middleton Manning, associate director of environmental and climate justice for the UC Davis Institute of the Environment. “[It] is the practice of making that real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The actions of Harris-Green, Wheeler and Mims could push Marin County to end a culture of racism while protecting Marin City from flooding caused by climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When our people came here from the South, they came here to make life better for themselves, which included their community. Ingrained in me is [the idea]: ‘We got to help one another,'” said Harris-Green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1980542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980542\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing a black blouse and short brown hair looks to the left. A woman in a teal tank-top looks at her. The sky is almost white, but yet blue. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/RS55193_013_KQED_MarinCity_04072022-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terrie Harris-Green speaks during a community meeting to address flooding in Marin City, near a pond at the Marin Gateway Shopping Center that is prone to flooding, in Marin City on April 7, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On an unseasonably cool July day, Harris-Green sounded hopeful. State Sen. Mike McGuire had just called her and said, “Terrie, I have some good news for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California allocated $10 million in its latest budget to start planning solutions for Marin City’s flooding issues; it’s the first time officials asked Harris-Green what needs fixing in Marin City. She called it a “historic moment” that “gives us a sense of hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days later, Harris-Green read an article in the Marin Independent Journal about the Marin City flooding plan that quoted \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2022/07/03/marin-highway-flooding-projects-get-30m-from-state/\">state officials talking about the importance of protecting Highway 101\u003c/a>. She felt like the officials might be favoring the highway and called McGuire back to say, in no uncertain terms, that the flooding in Marin City must be the priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Annelise Finney contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "SF Supervisors Unhappy With City's Lack of Action to Protect Bayview-Hunters Point Residents From Toxic Sea Level Rise",
"headTitle": "SF Supervisors Unhappy With City’s Lack of Action to Protect Bayview-Hunters Point Residents From Toxic Sea Level Rise | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A committee of San Francisco supervisors Thursday challenged Mayor London Breed’s assertion that the city understands the risk of climate change-related flooding in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee reviewed a June report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury that \u003ca href=\"https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/2021_2022/2022%20CGJ%20Report_Buried%20Problems%20and%20a%20Buried%20Process%20-%20The%20Hunters%20Point%20Naval%20Shipyard%20in%20a%20Time%20of%20Climate%20Change.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">confirmed what Bayview-Hunters Point residents have been saying\u003c/span>\u003c/a>: The city is not acting fast enough on how sea level rise could surface legacy toxic contamination and spread it in neighborhoods near the Cold War-era naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='small' citation='Supervisor Dean Preston']‘Seven recommendations from the Civil Grand Jury. Seven responses from the mayor’s office that the city will not implement them. I don’t think that’s a good place to be.’[/pullquote]The former Navy shipyard, located on the city’s southeast shoreline, is an 866-acre federal Superfund site, meaning it’s a location the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as highly contaminated with hazardous waste. Along this bayshore edge of Bayview-Hunters Point, where radioactive contamination remains buried in the soil, lies one of the most polluted areas of the entire San Francisco Bay shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Committee members Dean Preston and Connie Chan and Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton all but chastised Mayor Breed, who did not attend the meeting, for not supporting the jury’s findings. In August, the mayor issued a letter saying \u003ca href=\"https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/2021_2022/Hunters%20Point%20Response_MYR_081122.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she disagrees partially or wholly with the findings\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seven recommendations from the Civil Grand Jury. Seven responses from the mayor’s office that the city will not implement them,” Preston said. “I don’t think that’s a good place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1979614,science_1980255']He said that doesn’t mean the city has to agree to all of the jury’s recommendations, but said the issue is serious, and that the mayor’s response is “unusual” and “hopefully that can be revisited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Civil Grand Jury found the city, the U.S. Navy and the regulators overseeing the Hunters Point Superfund site have not adequately accounted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979645/see-a-map-of-hazardous-sites-at-risk-from-rising-seas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for how rising groundwater could mix with toxics and expose residents to it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors recommended the city pay for an independent study about how groundwater rise could affect toxic contamination in the soil at the Superfund site, using multiple sea level rise scenarios. Their report also recommended convening a permanent Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Oversight Committee to examine and question decisions about the cleanup, and communicate requests from residents and the city to the Navy and oversight agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sara Miles, a member of the civil grand jury, told the supervisors there are many minds across city departments thinking about groundwater rise as a result of climate change; it’s just that “Hunters Point is artificially excluded from their oversight or their participation in the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1979658']She said the city needs additional staff across all departments if it intends to focus on how groundwater rise could affect Bayview-Hunters Point or other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re concerned that they may miss other similar problems because there aren’t enough of them, and they don’t have a range of expertise,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee invited all the regulatory agencies overseeing the Superfund site — the Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board — to the meeting, but none of their representatives attended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The U.S. Navy declined to show up today,” Walton said. “They sent a letter rather than show up for the people of this city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Philip, health officer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, did show up. And the supervisors grilled her with questions. Does she feel the department has the opportunity to increase staffing to monitor groundwater rise? How involved is her department in the Navy’s process? What actions had her department taken to analyze concerns around sea level rise prior to the jury’s report?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Philip told the supervisors the agency has a dedicated staff person, but with the scale of the issue, Walton told her more are needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I personally believe that the least the department can do is probably put some resources together to have more eyes on the monitoring of additional science,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979637\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in the Bayview sit behind the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked how much control Philip’s department has over the cleanup, she responded by saying the agency does not have regulatory power over the shipyard but will offer recommendations and comments when allowed, like during the five-year review of the Navy cleanup in the spring of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to the Civil Grand Jury’s message that public information about the toxic sites is difficult to find and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979658/poorly-prepared-sf-civil-grand-jury-slams-city-for-not-protecting-residents-from-toxic-contamination\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">unintelligible\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, Phillip said that, with the upcoming five-year review by the Navy, her goal is “make it as understandable as possible” for the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton said he is pushing for a 100% clean-up of the site and will ensure that takes place before the land can be redeveloped into housing or businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community members pleaded with the supervisors to take action. Arieann Harrison with the Marie Harrison Community Foundation said independent testing has found that residents, including herself, already have high levels of contaminants such as uranium in their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I tested positive for that stuff, I’m pretty sure that a lot of other residents will test positive as well,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Marcy Adelman, a psychologist and a resident of District 10, asked the board to develop recommendations that will support community health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re on a precipice here, and if we don’t act, it will be too late,” she said. “The city has to get in the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the committee, the Navy says it disagrees with the jury report and has accounted for both sea level rise and groundwater rise. Officials wrote the Navy is “methodical in its cleanup approach, which is based on the best available data, science and engineering.” Officials also wrote the next five-year review will “include an evaluation of the potential effects of sea level rise and associated groundwater elevation changes on the remedies currently in place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Connie Chan asked the deputy city attorney to explore whether the supervisors can subpoena the parties if the Navy and other regulatory agencies decide not to attend future meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we appreciate the written responses, it is unfortunate that the regulatory bodies, as well as the Navy, cannot be here to present the data in person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors will release recommendations for the city at a Sept. 29 meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund site has been partially cleaned up. With the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy is continuing the cleanup, preparing it for eventual development into a sweeping new neighborhood with mixed-use construction of businesses, research institutions and thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A committee of San Francisco supervisors Thursday challenged Mayor London Breed’s assertion that the city understands the risk of climate change-related flooding in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee reviewed a June report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury that \u003ca href=\"https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/2021_2022/2022%20CGJ%20Report_Buried%20Problems%20and%20a%20Buried%20Process%20-%20The%20Hunters%20Point%20Naval%20Shipyard%20in%20a%20Time%20of%20Climate%20Change.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">confirmed what Bayview-Hunters Point residents have been saying\u003c/span>\u003c/a>: The city is not acting fast enough on how sea level rise could surface legacy toxic contamination and spread it in neighborhoods near the Cold War-era naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Seven recommendations from the Civil Grand Jury. Seven responses from the mayor’s office that the city will not implement them. I don’t think that’s a good place to be.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The former Navy shipyard, located on the city’s southeast shoreline, is an 866-acre federal Superfund site, meaning it’s a location the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as highly contaminated with hazardous waste. Along this bayshore edge of Bayview-Hunters Point, where radioactive contamination remains buried in the soil, lies one of the most polluted areas of the entire San Francisco Bay shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Committee members Dean Preston and Connie Chan and Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton all but chastised Mayor Breed, who did not attend the meeting, for not supporting the jury’s findings. In August, the mayor issued a letter saying \u003ca href=\"https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/2021_2022/Hunters%20Point%20Response_MYR_081122.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she disagrees partially or wholly with the findings\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seven recommendations from the Civil Grand Jury. Seven responses from the mayor’s office that the city will not implement them,” Preston said. “I don’t think that’s a good place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He said that doesn’t mean the city has to agree to all of the jury’s recommendations, but said the issue is serious, and that the mayor’s response is “unusual” and “hopefully that can be revisited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Civil Grand Jury found the city, the U.S. Navy and the regulators overseeing the Hunters Point Superfund site have not adequately accounted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979645/see-a-map-of-hazardous-sites-at-risk-from-rising-seas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for how rising groundwater could mix with toxics and expose residents to it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors recommended the city pay for an independent study about how groundwater rise could affect toxic contamination in the soil at the Superfund site, using multiple sea level rise scenarios. Their report also recommended convening a permanent Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Oversight Committee to examine and question decisions about the cleanup, and communicate requests from residents and the city to the Navy and oversight agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sara Miles, a member of the civil grand jury, told the supervisors there are many minds across city departments thinking about groundwater rise as a result of climate change; it’s just that “Hunters Point is artificially excluded from their oversight or their participation in the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She said the city needs additional staff across all departments if it intends to focus on how groundwater rise could affect Bayview-Hunters Point or other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re concerned that they may miss other similar problems because there aren’t enough of them, and they don’t have a range of expertise,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee invited all the regulatory agencies overseeing the Superfund site — the Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board — to the meeting, but none of their representatives attended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The U.S. Navy declined to show up today,” Walton said. “They sent a letter rather than show up for the people of this city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Philip, health officer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, did show up. And the supervisors grilled her with questions. Does she feel the department has the opportunity to increase staffing to monitor groundwater rise? How involved is her department in the Navy’s process? What actions had her department taken to analyze concerns around sea level rise prior to the jury’s report?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Philip told the supervisors the agency has a dedicated staff person, but with the scale of the issue, Walton told her more are needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I personally believe that the least the department can do is probably put some resources together to have more eyes on the monitoring of additional science,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979637\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in the Bayview sit behind the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked how much control Philip’s department has over the cleanup, she responded by saying the agency does not have regulatory power over the shipyard but will offer recommendations and comments when allowed, like during the five-year review of the Navy cleanup in the spring of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to the Civil Grand Jury’s message that public information about the toxic sites is difficult to find and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979658/poorly-prepared-sf-civil-grand-jury-slams-city-for-not-protecting-residents-from-toxic-contamination\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">unintelligible\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, Phillip said that, with the upcoming five-year review by the Navy, her goal is “make it as understandable as possible” for the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton said he is pushing for a 100% clean-up of the site and will ensure that takes place before the land can be redeveloped into housing or businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community members pleaded with the supervisors to take action. Arieann Harrison with the Marie Harrison Community Foundation said independent testing has found that residents, including herself, already have high levels of contaminants such as uranium in their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I tested positive for that stuff, I’m pretty sure that a lot of other residents will test positive as well,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Marcy Adelman, a psychologist and a resident of District 10, asked the board to develop recommendations that will support community health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re on a precipice here, and if we don’t act, it will be too late,” she said. “The city has to get in the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the committee, the Navy says it disagrees with the jury report and has accounted for both sea level rise and groundwater rise. Officials wrote the Navy is “methodical in its cleanup approach, which is based on the best available data, science and engineering.” Officials also wrote the next five-year review will “include an evaluation of the potential effects of sea level rise and associated groundwater elevation changes on the remedies currently in place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Connie Chan asked the deputy city attorney to explore whether the supervisors can subpoena the parties if the Navy and other regulatory agencies decide not to attend future meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we appreciate the written responses, it is unfortunate that the regulatory bodies, as well as the Navy, cannot be here to present the data in person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors will release recommendations for the city at a Sept. 29 meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund site has been partially cleaned up. With the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy is continuing the cleanup, preparing it for eventual development into a sweeping new neighborhood with mixed-use construction of businesses, research institutions and thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "migratory-birds-return-as-salt-ponds-heal-documenting-a-damaged-world-in-transition",
"title": "Migratory Birds Return As Salt Ponds Heal: Documenting a Damaged World in Transition",
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"headTitle": "Migratory Birds Return As Salt Ponds Heal: Documenting a Damaged World in Transition | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Perhaps unsurprisingly, taking photographs from a doorless helicopter was proving more difficult than San Francisco Bay Area photographer joSon had anticipated. Bundled in ski apparel and buckled into his seat, he had done his best to prepare. But the driving winds on this chilly November day quickly numbed his fingers, and more than once his camera smacked against his face as a gust rattled the two-seater aircraft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four thousand feet below, the placid salt ponds that lured him to this precarious position draped the southern inland tip of San Francisco Bay like a multicolored quilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many Bay Area residents, joSon’s first glimpse of the South Bay’s salt ponds was from the relative comfort of a commercial airliner. Descending into San Francisco International Airport, travelers glimpse an otherworldly landscape of geometric lines and vibrant colors fringing the jagged coastline and muddy blue-green of the Bay — the result of more than 150 years of industrial salt mining. As bay water is pumped through a series of artificial ponds, sun and steady winds cause it to evaporate, leaving each pond saltier than the one before. And as the salinity changes, so do the pigmented microorganisms that thrive in the brine, giving each pond a unique color — from the lime green of Dunaliella algae in low-salinity pools to the rose-petal reds of salt-loving halobacteria in crystallization ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Levees neatly separate the photo into four squares of red and rose. One is the red of a stop sign, another is a desert rose, a third is a pale orange, and a fourth is a dark rose. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Halobacteria produce a red tinge in the South Bay’s saltiest ponds. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The colors and patterns reminded joSon of rice paddies in Vietnam, where he spent part of his childhood and lived as a Buddhist monk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Pale lime water marks a salt pond at the top of the page in a curve with a foot shape at the bottom. On the left is another pond in yellow-gold. The lower right shows ??????\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">By 2050, sea levels along the West Coast are expected to rise between 4 and 8 inches. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Captivated, he returned to the South Bay salt ponds again and again, dangling from a helicopter, often in frigid temperatures, over the course of two years to capture their “bizarre beauty.” Over time, he noticed a transformation taking place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where some of the ponds once were, the locations were now flooded with seawater,” joSon told me. In place of the neon colors of industrial salt ponds, he began noticing “thousands of pearl-like brown and white dots” — flocks of American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and other shorebirds returning to the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he didn’t yet realize it, joSon was documenting one of the largest wetland restoration projects in United States history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2003, the multinational corporation Cargill sold more than 15,000 acres of its South Bay salt ponds — most but not all of its holdings — to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California State Coastal Conservancy, and the California Department of Fish and Game. This sale launched the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979879\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979879\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two turquoise creeks run from the bottom of the image to the top. On the left, the creek shows branching tributaries. The creeks run parallel to a levee in the center of the photo, through a lush landscape of green and brown restored wetlands.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two creeks run parallel to a levee through restored South Bay wetlands. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the decades since, a consortium of more than a dozen nonprofits and state and federal agencies have collaborated to return much of the area to tidal marsh by mid-century. In doing so, they hope to recreate habitat for beleaguered native species, restore the coastline’s natural flood resilience, and improve the overall quality of the South Bay’s coastal ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nature has adapted in ways that are complicating their efforts. While the salt ponds have undeniably had negative impacts on many species, including threatened Ridgway’s rails (Rallus obsoletus), they have unintentionally benefited others, like canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) and buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), which overwinter on the shallow pools. More complicating still, the threat of climate change and sea-level rise has been looming ever larger since the project’s inception. Restoring the wetlands requires balancing the needs of plants and animals — including humans — that have long populated the South Bay’s wetlands with those of species that have more recently come to depend upon the human-made salt ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Exploitation of the salty South Bay\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite their surreal present-day appearance, salt ponds have a history in the South Bay stretching nearly as far back as the wetlands themselves. Around 3,000 years ago, as the rapid rate of sea-level rise driven by the end of the last Ice Age began to slow, marsh plants took hold along the edges of the bay. The increased vegetation trapped more and more sediment from upstream erosion and tidal deposition, leveling out the transition from water to land and allowing wetlands to rise above the tidal flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For millennia afterward, expansive mudflats bordered the South Bay’s shore, exposed twice daily at low tide. Upslope, verdant marshes were a meshwork of hundreds of plant species. Further inland still, bay water, filling natural depressions only during the highest winter tides, evaporated under the late-summer sun, leaving behind large natural salt deposits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='science_1918301' label='What Are Those Weird, Pink Ponds in San Francisco Bay?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">]\u003c/span>Even human harvesting of the ponds dates to prehistoric times. Long before European colonizers arrived, Ohlone people crystallized salt on willow twigs or burned small patches of marsh plants to reap the salty ash left behind. Such harvests were bountiful enough to not only enrich the Ohlone’s own food, but to trade with other tribes throughout the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archaeological surveys of Ohlone shellmounds — sacred sites often constructed for burials — give us an idea of the region’s biodiversity during these early stewards’ time. Though mostly composed of shells from bay mussels, clams and oysters mixed with sand and clay, the mounds also contained remnants of other animals, including black-tailed deer, harbor seals, Chinook salmon and even species no longer found in the San Francisco estuary, such as Tule elk and sea otters. In some instances, the interred were not humans, but culturally significant species like the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which went extinct in the wild in the 1980s and has since been reintroduced through captive breeding programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979880\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Swirls of pale gold, dusty gray and dark gold pour across the image, with dots of crusty islands in white and green running across the upper right corner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As the salinity of the South Bay’s salt ponds changes so, too, does the pigmented microorganisms that thrive in the brine, resulting in an array of striking colors. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After arriving in the late 1700s, the Spanish quickly co-opted Indigenous salt harvesting techniques and enslaved the Ohlone to produce salt for export to Europe. Still, this early salt production remained relatively small in scale, relying on natural salinas — the Spanish term for elongated, landward pools used to harvest salt —the largest of which was the1,200-acre Crystal Salt Pond near the modern-day city of Hayward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979878\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A curve of green water in the upper left corner abuts a yellow and green border, shaped to the bay's curve. On the other side of the bay, the sharp, 90-degree edges of man-made levees square off against the curving bay. The levees are in stripes of dark orange, indigo blue, and pale tan. Outside the levees is a broken landscape of pale brown with dark cracks running through.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Along the coast of the South Bay, the soft curves of tidal wetlands often butt up against the straight lines of human-made levees. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The South Bay’s first artificial salt ponds were built by a German sailor named John Johnson in 1853. Even as he and others began manipulating the landscape, however, legal restrictions on how much acreage could be bought on credit meant that most salt ponds were small, family-run operations. Many families owned as few as 20 acres, and built pond levees against natural creeks and sloughs, minimizing impacts on the local ecology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in 1868, California removed all acreage restrictions, clearing the way for land barons to purchase and “reclaim” vast swaths of wetlands. Almost immediately, speculators began buying up tracts of Bay Area wetlands with grand visions of industrialization to support the region’s burgeoning cities — themselves built atop meadows and oak woodlands. Within decades, shellmounds turned into shipping hubs, hunting grounds into game lodges, and family-owned ponds into corporate-owned saltworks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the rest of San Francisco Bay was being developed, the South Bay proved surprisingly difficult to break. The salty soil made agriculture untenable, and the shallow, muddy bay bottom stifled developers’ dreams of building the world’s most valuable industrial harbor. Salt harvesting, however, remained profitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the 1950s, artificial South Bay salt ponds, at this point almost entirely consolidated under the ownership of a single company called Leslie Salt, covered 25,000 acres and had consumed roughly half of historical tidal marshes. Levees crisscrossed the edges of the bay, segmenting the former marshes into pools of varying salinities and upending the hydrology that had long fed the wetlands. The wetlands that weren’t used for salt production were snatched up by real estate developers, who dredged, filled and built upon them to create communities like Foster City and Redwood Shores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979888\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979888\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Triangular and rectangular shapes of dry brown land with fractal edges jut from the lower right and upper left corners of the image, into brownish-green water on the left of the image and baby blue water on the top of the image. Large river-like cracks in the dry land open to intrusion from the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">More than a century and a half of rampant development has upended the natural hydrology of the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These projects, combined with a report from the Army Corps of Engineers advocating further filling of the bay, sparked outrage among ecologically conscious locals who wished to preserve the space for public access and wildlife. In 1961, environmentalists formed the Save San Francisco Bay Association (later known as Save the Bay, a key partner on the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization successfully advocated a ban on filling the bay to build more housing. In 1974, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first urban wildlife refuge, was established on land formerly owned by Leslie Salt. A few years later, Leslie sold their remaining holdings to Cargill, which harvested and sold a million tons of salt per year at its peak — slightly more than the weight of the nearby Golden Gate Bridge. Of particular interest to joSon, some of that salt helped produce the napalm that the United States military used to destroy villages and lives during the Vietnam War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979877\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979877\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange square intrudes from the lower right corner of the image, bumping up against a levee of white and blue, separating the salt pond from the bay. Landscapes of green and brown spill in fractal shapes from the levee into the a pale turquoise water of the bay.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A surreal patch of San Francisco Bay and artificial salt pond. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time Cargill sold most of its ponds to the state of California, setting the stage for the West Coast’s largest wetlands restoration project, San Francisco Bay’s estuary was in dire straits. In total, somewhere between 80% and 95% of tidal wetlands had been degraded or developed. Removal of groundwater for reclamation had caused the land to actually sink in places — as much as 13 feet in the Santa Clara Valley — leaving the surrounding communities more vulnerable to flooding. Just 1,000 of the original 6,000 miles of channels that fed the bay and deposited the sediment and freshwater necessary for the wetlands to thrive were left intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fabric of interwoven wetland ecosystems that provide natural flood protection and habitat for thousands of species had been unraveled. One of the few, frayed threads remaining were the salt ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Migratory birds return\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When John Johnson, Leslie Salt, and other fortune-seekers began diking the South Bay for salt ponds, they likely put little thought into what it would mean for the surrounding waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wetland species. But while they were molding the land to their own purposes, nature was adapting to them. And though many species were forced out, others found sanctuary in the salty South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979889\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979889\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Dark brown and black waters swirl in curving lines through dark grey salt flats dotte,d by white birds.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even dry salt beds provide important habitat for local and transient species. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For threatened western snowy plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus), driven by beachgoers from the shorelines they historically populated, the salt ponds granted reprieve. Earthen islands built to dampen the tidal erosion of the levees and dried salt beds proved well-suited for camouflaging the sandy-feathered shorebirds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Likewise, migratory water birds left with few places to roost and forage during their yearly journey along the 9,000-mile Pacific Flyway, a migration corridor stretching from Alaska to Patagonia, found a feast of brine shrimp and other invertebrates in the calm, shallow salt ponds. During one spring migration in the 1980s, researchers tallied more than 200,000 birds in a single pond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Thousands of white dots mark a landscape far below of dark green and brown. These are migratory birds in a single salt pond.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During one spring migration in the 1980s, researchers tallied more than 200,000 birds in a single salt pond. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The whole Pacific Flyway comes through here,” says Dave Halsing, a California State Coastal Conservancy scientist and executive project manager for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP). “For those couple of weeks, this is all there is. The whole Central Valley of California used to be marshy open space. Now it’s all subdivisions and farmland. The stopover has become the bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even humans have benefitted to some degree from the salt ponds. Though not nearly as effective as wetlands, the ponds’ levees provide an important buffer between the bay and the surrounding communities, reducing flood risks during heavy rains and high tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside PostID='quest_20389']\u003c/span>Taking all of these unintended consequences into consideration has complicated efforts to restore the South Bay. “If all we had to do was tidal marsh restoration, it would be very simple,” Halsing says. “But it’s not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, the SBSPRP is taking an adaptive approach, essentially treating the whole 50-year-long project as a series of smaller, more manageable endeavors, with the overall goal of restoring at least half of the 15,100 acres to tidal wetlands while maintaining current levels of flood protection and biodiversity. What this means in practice is breaching many of the ponds, preserving others as they are, and enhancing the rest by adding artificial islands for roosting, or altering salinity and water levels to attract certain species. Then the team monitors how those changes impact various species, and adjusts its strategy as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a distance, the work looks like a child’s sandbox, with mounds of earth surrounding bright yellow mechanical beasts of all shapes and sizes. Up close, it’s not all that different from any other construction site; half a dozen people or so busying about in hard hats and bright-colored vests, the loud rumble and hydraulic hisses of excavators and bulldozers roaring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' citation='Donna Ball, San Francisco Estuary Institute']‘We had thought that it would take longer. It’s great to know that we’re having a positive effect.’[/pullquote]Once the groundwork has been laid according to a specific pond’s fate — levees raised or lowered, earth graded to the desired slope, flood channels added or gated — volunteers from Save the Bay work with project biologists for what Donna Ball, a San Francisco Estuary Institute biologist and lead scientist on the SBSPRP, says is one of the most important parts of restoring the ecosystem: replanting vegetation. “Putting plants in is really the habitat piece,” Ball says. “It’s really the meat of trying to think about each species and what they might need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To date, around 3,000 acres have been restored to tidal wetlands and 700 acres of ponds have been enhanced. Just as the first plants 3,000 years ago provided the foundation for the wetlands — and all the biodiversity they support — these initial plantings are bringing life back to the landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, just eight years after breaching the first ponds, Ridgway’s rails were discovered meandering through the marsh. A year later, researchers found salt marsh harvest mice (Reithrodontomys raviventris), an endangered species endemic to the Bay Area, scampering around dense carpets of pickleweed. Even threatened longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and other local fishes were visiting the surrounding waters in greater numbers than before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wetlands were returning much faster than anyone had anticipated. “We had thought that it would take longer,” Ball says. “It’s great to know that we’re having a positive effect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Importantly, even with the number of artificial salt ponds shrinking, improvements to those that remain has actually increased migratory water bird numbers. A study from the U.S. Geological Survey found that between 2002 and 2014, the number of overwintering water birds (both waterfowl and shorebirds) that stopped over in the project area more than doubled. By comparison, in nearby ponds still owned by Cargill for salt production, there was virtually no change in water bird visitation over roughly the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A landscape of a white salt crust sits on top of winding dark red waters, wriggling through the salt crust. A dark yellow levee runs from the lower right corner to the upper left corner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though many of the South Bay’s salt ponds are being converted to tidal marsh, some will be left intact to support ground-nesting birds. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>And though they haven’t experienced a similar surge, western snowy plover populations have held steady thanks to habitat enhancements, including spreading oyster shells on dried salt ponds for improved camouflage and removing nearby perches used by predatory raptors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SBSPRP was restoring balance to the South Bay wetlands. But increasingly, the weight of climate change has been threatening to tip the scales back out of whack. To ensure their progress would not be undone, the project leaders had to start planning not only for what the wetlands needed today, but for what they will need in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A fighting chance’ as bay waters rise\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As I stand on one of the easternmost levees of Ravenswood, an open space preserve along the shore of the South Bay and one of three main restoration sites for the SBSPRP, it’s easy to grasp the Bay Area’s vulnerability to climate change. Within a 7-mile radius of me, over largely flat terrain, lies Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park, with a combined population of nearly 200,000 people. Water from the bay practically laps at my feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by 2050 sea levels along the West Coast are expected to rise between 4 and 8 inches. At the same time, flooding is expected to become more frequent and severe, with major flood events occurring five times as often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979891\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979891\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Dark orange salt pond water in the upper left corner meets a pale gold curve of levee. On the other side of the levee are the pale and dark brown wetlands, with dark green riparian areas twisting through.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Both levees and wetlands can protect surrounding communities from sea level rise. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While climate change had long been considered by the SBSPRP, Ball says the increasingly dire predictions about when the Bay Area could feel its effects — and how severe those impacts could be on people and wildlife — has ramped up the project’s urgency, since healthy wetlands can serve as a natural barrier to flooding and storm surges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key word, however, is healthy. Even under ideal conditions, it takes time for restored wetlands to go from sparse and fragile vegetation to lush and robust. And rising seas and severe storms are not ideal circumstances for adolescent wetlands, inundating or robbing the young upstarts of the sediment they need to develop and thrive. The sooner ponds can be breached and restoration started, the more likely it is that the wetlands will be able to mature into a resilient ecosystem. Indeed, a 2019 study from Point Blue Conservation Science, a key partner in the restoration project, showed that if tidal fluctuations weren’t restored to certain parts of the project area by mid-century, they might never accrete enough sediment to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even mature wetlands will eventually succumb to rising seas if rates of erosion and inundation outpace sedimentation. That is, unless they have somewhere to run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While plants might appear immobile, over long periods of time plant populations can move in response to their environment. For wetland flora such as salt marsh gumplant (Grindelia stricta) or alkali heath (Frankenia salina), both of which love salty soil but prefer drier conditions, this means extending their roots upland as water levels rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979871\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A landscape of marsh plants in peach, yellow, cream and brown falls from the upper left to the lower right, meeting a narrow triangle of grey-blue water. Long, narrow rivers run down the wetland to the bay.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Given time, marsh plants will move upslope or downslope to more suitable soil. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically, there was plenty of space for Bay Area marshes to migrate. Gradually sloped transition zones, or ecotones, hundreds to thousands of feet wide, bordered much of the wetlands, providing a spectrum of overlapping habitats from subtidal to salt marsh to upland meadows. Today, development has encroached on 90% of those areas, reducing them in most places to just a handful of feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To give the South Bay’s nascent wetlands a fighting chance in the face of climate change, the SBSPRP is adding ecotones to many of their tidal marsh restoration sites during the latest phase of construction. Ecotones aren’t possible everywhere, but they have wide-ranging benefits. In addition to restoring wildlife habitat and tempering floods, they can preserve the beauty and accessibility of the wetlands for the region’s human inhabitants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979892 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A pale tan creek winds from the bottom of the image to the upper left corner, through lush green wetlands. The vegetation on either side of the creek is yellow-green, dark green and brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A small creek winds through restored wetlands in San Francisco’s South Bay. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rather than protecting the Bay Area from floods by building a levee that would turn San Francisco Bay into a giant bathtub, Ball says, ecotones and other nature-based solutions can help “maintain this habitat — even for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A continual cycle of rebirth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a sunny early afternoon in spring, I visit Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, another of the main project sites for the SBSPRP. At the entrance, a sign briefly nods to the complicated history of the landscape, no doubt preparing visitors who might soon be confused by the presence of levees, flood control gates, and managed ponds in an ecological reserve. Moments into my walk, however, I feel no confusion: This land is undoubtedly wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I head toward the trail loop, marsh wrens (Cistothorus palustris) burst from the grasses lining both sides of the path, chittering in alarm at my presence before sinking back into the tangle. To my right, a raft of American avocets, heads golden-brown, beaks slightly upturned, bob lazily in a shallow pond. To my left, a long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) slinks through the tidal mudflats foraging for invertebrates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further down the trail, I find myself face-to-face with the full scope of the restoration project. I pass a half dozen ponds of various water levels and shades of yellow, hinting at their differences in salinity. In most, an artificial island emerges a foot or so above the surface. I walk atop levees for most of the journey, occasionally crossing over a floodgate separating pond from pond, or pond from bay. At one of the outermost points from the trailhead I come upon a dried salt bed, a parched moonscape shattered at the edges and scattered with oyster shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at each turn I find signs of life. Goldfinches, yellowthroats and song sparrows flitting through the tall upland grasses. Ducks, herons and egrets along the channels bordering the tidal marshes. Sandpipers, willets, and stilts on the islands of the managed ponds. I even come across an unattended egg nestled atop a patch of clover on the bank of the levee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel grateful for this space, a stone’s throw from busy metropolises and yet a world away. But strangely, I also find myself feeling thankful for the salt ponds — not only those that have been restored and enhanced, but also their human-made predecessors. Almost all of the restorable land along the shores of the South Bay exists because the industrial salt ponds unintentionally preserved this place. If not for the salt ponds, the area would have almost certainly been developed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tension between what I know of the land’s tumultuous history and the peace I find there makes me think of joSon. Drawing on his past as a Buddhist monk, the photographer considers the restoration project a form of rebirth, a way of healing the wetlands while reconciling the land’s past traumas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The concept of rebirth defines how we grow and redefine ourselves by simultaneously shedding and embracing our painful past,” he says. For him, the arc of the salt ponds’ history offers a way of thinking about how individuals, cultures and places can “adapt and move on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the end of the trail, I come across the relics of a former salt harvesting operation, retained for posterity. Beyond, wooden pilings worn smooth by tides and time emerge from mudflats and murky ponds, supporting ghost structures no longer present. As the wetlands devour the scars of industry, a semblance of what this landscape once was — and has always been to the Ohlone, who continue to hold ceremonies at shellmound sites — is reemerging: a sacred place for plants, animals and people, a wetland in a constant cycle of being reborn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In San Francisco's salty South Bay, an ambitious wetlands restoration project is attempting to balance a return to the ecological past with the realities of a warming future.",
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"title": "Migratory Birds Return As Salt Ponds Heal: Documenting a Damaged World in Transition | KQED",
"description": "In San Francisco's salty South Bay, an ambitious wetlands restoration project is attempting to balance a return to the ecological past with the realities of a warming future.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Perhaps unsurprisingly, taking photographs from a doorless helicopter was proving more difficult than San Francisco Bay Area photographer joSon had anticipated. Bundled in ski apparel and buckled into his seat, he had done his best to prepare. But the driving winds on this chilly November day quickly numbed his fingers, and more than once his camera smacked against his face as a gust rattled the two-seater aircraft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four thousand feet below, the placid salt ponds that lured him to this precarious position draped the southern inland tip of San Francisco Bay like a multicolored quilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many Bay Area residents, joSon’s first glimpse of the South Bay’s salt ponds was from the relative comfort of a commercial airliner. Descending into San Francisco International Airport, travelers glimpse an otherworldly landscape of geometric lines and vibrant colors fringing the jagged coastline and muddy blue-green of the Bay — the result of more than 150 years of industrial salt mining. As bay water is pumped through a series of artificial ponds, sun and steady winds cause it to evaporate, leaving each pond saltier than the one before. And as the salinity changes, so do the pigmented microorganisms that thrive in the brine, giving each pond a unique color — from the lime green of Dunaliella algae in low-salinity pools to the rose-petal reds of salt-loving halobacteria in crystallization ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Levees neatly separate the photo into four squares of red and rose. One is the red of a stop sign, another is a desert rose, a third is a pale orange, and a fourth is a dark rose. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2474-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Halobacteria produce a red tinge in the South Bay’s saltiest ponds. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The colors and patterns reminded joSon of rice paddies in Vietnam, where he spent part of his childhood and lived as a Buddhist monk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Pale lime water marks a salt pond at the top of the page in a curve with a foot shape at the bottom. On the left is another pond in yellow-gold. The lower right shows ??????\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A2645-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">By 2050, sea levels along the West Coast are expected to rise between 4 and 8 inches. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Captivated, he returned to the South Bay salt ponds again and again, dangling from a helicopter, often in frigid temperatures, over the course of two years to capture their “bizarre beauty.” Over time, he noticed a transformation taking place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where some of the ponds once were, the locations were now flooded with seawater,” joSon told me. In place of the neon colors of industrial salt ponds, he began noticing “thousands of pearl-like brown and white dots” — flocks of American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and other shorebirds returning to the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he didn’t yet realize it, joSon was documenting one of the largest wetland restoration projects in United States history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2003, the multinational corporation Cargill sold more than 15,000 acres of its South Bay salt ponds — most but not all of its holdings — to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California State Coastal Conservancy, and the California Department of Fish and Game. This sale launched the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979879\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979879\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two turquoise creeks run from the bottom of the image to the top. On the left, the creek shows branching tributaries. The creeks run parallel to a levee in the center of the photo, through a lush landscape of green and brown restored wetlands.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3866-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two creeks run parallel to a levee through restored South Bay wetlands. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the decades since, a consortium of more than a dozen nonprofits and state and federal agencies have collaborated to return much of the area to tidal marsh by mid-century. In doing so, they hope to recreate habitat for beleaguered native species, restore the coastline’s natural flood resilience, and improve the overall quality of the South Bay’s coastal ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nature has adapted in ways that are complicating their efforts. While the salt ponds have undeniably had negative impacts on many species, including threatened Ridgway’s rails (Rallus obsoletus), they have unintentionally benefited others, like canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) and buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), which overwinter on the shallow pools. More complicating still, the threat of climate change and sea-level rise has been looming ever larger since the project’s inception. Restoring the wetlands requires balancing the needs of plants and animals — including humans — that have long populated the South Bay’s wetlands with those of species that have more recently come to depend upon the human-made salt ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Exploitation of the salty South Bay\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite their surreal present-day appearance, salt ponds have a history in the South Bay stretching nearly as far back as the wetlands themselves. Around 3,000 years ago, as the rapid rate of sea-level rise driven by the end of the last Ice Age began to slow, marsh plants took hold along the edges of the bay. The increased vegetation trapped more and more sediment from upstream erosion and tidal deposition, leveling out the transition from water to land and allowing wetlands to rise above the tidal flats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For millennia afterward, expansive mudflats bordered the South Bay’s shore, exposed twice daily at low tide. Upslope, verdant marshes were a meshwork of hundreds of plant species. Further inland still, bay water, filling natural depressions only during the highest winter tides, evaporated under the late-summer sun, leaving behind large natural salt deposits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Even human harvesting of the ponds dates to prehistoric times. Long before European colonizers arrived, Ohlone people crystallized salt on willow twigs or burned small patches of marsh plants to reap the salty ash left behind. Such harvests were bountiful enough to not only enrich the Ohlone’s own food, but to trade with other tribes throughout the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archaeological surveys of Ohlone shellmounds — sacred sites often constructed for burials — give us an idea of the region’s biodiversity during these early stewards’ time. Though mostly composed of shells from bay mussels, clams and oysters mixed with sand and clay, the mounds also contained remnants of other animals, including black-tailed deer, harbor seals, Chinook salmon and even species no longer found in the San Francisco estuary, such as Tule elk and sea otters. In some instances, the interred were not humans, but culturally significant species like the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which went extinct in the wild in the 1980s and has since been reintroduced through captive breeding programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979880\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Swirls of pale gold, dusty gray and dark gold pour across the image, with dots of crusty islands in white and green running across the upper right corner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3459-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As the salinity of the South Bay’s salt ponds changes so, too, does the pigmented microorganisms that thrive in the brine, resulting in an array of striking colors. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After arriving in the late 1700s, the Spanish quickly co-opted Indigenous salt harvesting techniques and enslaved the Ohlone to produce salt for export to Europe. Still, this early salt production remained relatively small in scale, relying on natural salinas — the Spanish term for elongated, landward pools used to harvest salt —the largest of which was the1,200-acre Crystal Salt Pond near the modern-day city of Hayward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979878\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A curve of green water in the upper left corner abuts a yellow and green border, shaped to the bay's curve. On the other side of the bay, the sharp, 90-degree edges of man-made levees square off against the curving bay. The levees are in stripes of dark orange, indigo blue, and pale tan. Outside the levees is a broken landscape of pale brown with dark cracks running through.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4200-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Along the coast of the South Bay, the soft curves of tidal wetlands often butt up against the straight lines of human-made levees. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The South Bay’s first artificial salt ponds were built by a German sailor named John Johnson in 1853. Even as he and others began manipulating the landscape, however, legal restrictions on how much acreage could be bought on credit meant that most salt ponds were small, family-run operations. Many families owned as few as 20 acres, and built pond levees against natural creeks and sloughs, minimizing impacts on the local ecology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in 1868, California removed all acreage restrictions, clearing the way for land barons to purchase and “reclaim” vast swaths of wetlands. Almost immediately, speculators began buying up tracts of Bay Area wetlands with grand visions of industrialization to support the region’s burgeoning cities — themselves built atop meadows and oak woodlands. Within decades, shellmounds turned into shipping hubs, hunting grounds into game lodges, and family-owned ponds into corporate-owned saltworks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the rest of San Francisco Bay was being developed, the South Bay proved surprisingly difficult to break. The salty soil made agriculture untenable, and the shallow, muddy bay bottom stifled developers’ dreams of building the world’s most valuable industrial harbor. Salt harvesting, however, remained profitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the 1950s, artificial South Bay salt ponds, at this point almost entirely consolidated under the ownership of a single company called Leslie Salt, covered 25,000 acres and had consumed roughly half of historical tidal marshes. Levees crisscrossed the edges of the bay, segmenting the former marshes into pools of varying salinities and upending the hydrology that had long fed the wetlands. The wetlands that weren’t used for salt production were snatched up by real estate developers, who dredged, filled and built upon them to create communities like Foster City and Redwood Shores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979888\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979888\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Triangular and rectangular shapes of dry brown land with fractal edges jut from the lower right and upper left corners of the image, into brownish-green water on the left of the image and baby blue water on the top of the image. Large river-like cracks in the dry land open to intrusion from the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4310-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">More than a century and a half of rampant development has upended the natural hydrology of the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These projects, combined with a report from the Army Corps of Engineers advocating further filling of the bay, sparked outrage among ecologically conscious locals who wished to preserve the space for public access and wildlife. In 1961, environmentalists formed the Save San Francisco Bay Association (later known as Save the Bay, a key partner on the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization successfully advocated a ban on filling the bay to build more housing. In 1974, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first urban wildlife refuge, was established on land formerly owned by Leslie Salt. A few years later, Leslie sold their remaining holdings to Cargill, which harvested and sold a million tons of salt per year at its peak — slightly more than the weight of the nearby Golden Gate Bridge. Of particular interest to joSon, some of that salt helped produce the napalm that the United States military used to destroy villages and lives during the Vietnam War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979877\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979877\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange square intrudes from the lower right corner of the image, bumping up against a levee of white and blue, separating the salt pond from the bay. Landscapes of green and brown spill in fractal shapes from the levee into the a pale turquoise water of the bay.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4239-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A surreal patch of San Francisco Bay and artificial salt pond. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time Cargill sold most of its ponds to the state of California, setting the stage for the West Coast’s largest wetlands restoration project, San Francisco Bay’s estuary was in dire straits. In total, somewhere between 80% and 95% of tidal wetlands had been degraded or developed. Removal of groundwater for reclamation had caused the land to actually sink in places — as much as 13 feet in the Santa Clara Valley — leaving the surrounding communities more vulnerable to flooding. Just 1,000 of the original 6,000 miles of channels that fed the bay and deposited the sediment and freshwater necessary for the wetlands to thrive were left intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fabric of interwoven wetland ecosystems that provide natural flood protection and habitat for thousands of species had been unraveled. One of the few, frayed threads remaining were the salt ponds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Migratory birds return\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When John Johnson, Leslie Salt, and other fortune-seekers began diking the South Bay for salt ponds, they likely put little thought into what it would mean for the surrounding waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wetland species. But while they were molding the land to their own purposes, nature was adapting to them. And though many species were forced out, others found sanctuary in the salty South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979889\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979889\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Dark brown and black waters swirl in curving lines through dark grey salt flats dotte,d by white birds.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3705-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even dry salt beds provide important habitat for local and transient species. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For threatened western snowy plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus), driven by beachgoers from the shorelines they historically populated, the salt ponds granted reprieve. Earthen islands built to dampen the tidal erosion of the levees and dried salt beds proved well-suited for camouflaging the sandy-feathered shorebirds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Likewise, migratory water birds left with few places to roost and forage during their yearly journey along the 9,000-mile Pacific Flyway, a migration corridor stretching from Alaska to Patagonia, found a feast of brine shrimp and other invertebrates in the calm, shallow salt ponds. During one spring migration in the 1980s, researchers tallied more than 200,000 birds in a single pond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Thousands of white dots mark a landscape far below of dark green and brown. These are migratory birds in a single salt pond.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A4348-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During one spring migration in the 1980s, researchers tallied more than 200,000 birds in a single salt pond. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The whole Pacific Flyway comes through here,” says Dave Halsing, a California State Coastal Conservancy scientist and executive project manager for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP). “For those couple of weeks, this is all there is. The whole Central Valley of California used to be marshy open space. Now it’s all subdivisions and farmland. The stopover has become the bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even humans have benefitted to some degree from the salt ponds. Though not nearly as effective as wetlands, the ponds’ levees provide an important buffer between the bay and the surrounding communities, reducing flood risks during heavy rains and high tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Taking all of these unintended consequences into consideration has complicated efforts to restore the South Bay. “If all we had to do was tidal marsh restoration, it would be very simple,” Halsing says. “But it’s not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, the SBSPRP is taking an adaptive approach, essentially treating the whole 50-year-long project as a series of smaller, more manageable endeavors, with the overall goal of restoring at least half of the 15,100 acres to tidal wetlands while maintaining current levels of flood protection and biodiversity. What this means in practice is breaching many of the ponds, preserving others as they are, and enhancing the rest by adding artificial islands for roosting, or altering salinity and water levels to attract certain species. Then the team monitors how those changes impact various species, and adjusts its strategy as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a distance, the work looks like a child’s sandbox, with mounds of earth surrounding bright yellow mechanical beasts of all shapes and sizes. Up close, it’s not all that different from any other construction site; half a dozen people or so busying about in hard hats and bright-colored vests, the loud rumble and hydraulic hisses of excavators and bulldozers roaring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We had thought that it would take longer. It’s great to know that we’re having a positive effect.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Once the groundwork has been laid according to a specific pond’s fate — levees raised or lowered, earth graded to the desired slope, flood channels added or gated — volunteers from Save the Bay work with project biologists for what Donna Ball, a San Francisco Estuary Institute biologist and lead scientist on the SBSPRP, says is one of the most important parts of restoring the ecosystem: replanting vegetation. “Putting plants in is really the habitat piece,” Ball says. “It’s really the meat of trying to think about each species and what they might need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To date, around 3,000 acres have been restored to tidal wetlands and 700 acres of ponds have been enhanced. Just as the first plants 3,000 years ago provided the foundation for the wetlands — and all the biodiversity they support — these initial plantings are bringing life back to the landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, just eight years after breaching the first ponds, Ridgway’s rails were discovered meandering through the marsh. A year later, researchers found salt marsh harvest mice (Reithrodontomys raviventris), an endangered species endemic to the Bay Area, scampering around dense carpets of pickleweed. Even threatened longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and other local fishes were visiting the surrounding waters in greater numbers than before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wetlands were returning much faster than anyone had anticipated. “We had thought that it would take longer,” Ball says. “It’s great to know that we’re having a positive effect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Importantly, even with the number of artificial salt ponds shrinking, improvements to those that remain has actually increased migratory water bird numbers. A study from the U.S. Geological Survey found that between 2002 and 2014, the number of overwintering water birds (both waterfowl and shorebirds) that stopped over in the project area more than doubled. By comparison, in nearby ponds still owned by Cargill for salt production, there was virtually no change in water bird visitation over roughly the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A landscape of a white salt crust sits on top of winding dark red waters, wriggling through the salt crust. A dark yellow levee runs from the lower right corner to the upper left corner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3997-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though many of the South Bay’s salt ponds are being converted to tidal marsh, some will be left intact to support ground-nesting birds. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>And though they haven’t experienced a similar surge, western snowy plover populations have held steady thanks to habitat enhancements, including spreading oyster shells on dried salt ponds for improved camouflage and removing nearby perches used by predatory raptors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SBSPRP was restoring balance to the South Bay wetlands. But increasingly, the weight of climate change has been threatening to tip the scales back out of whack. To ensure their progress would not be undone, the project leaders had to start planning not only for what the wetlands needed today, but for what they will need in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A fighting chance’ as bay waters rise\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As I stand on one of the easternmost levees of Ravenswood, an open space preserve along the shore of the South Bay and one of three main restoration sites for the SBSPRP, it’s easy to grasp the Bay Area’s vulnerability to climate change. Within a 7-mile radius of me, over largely flat terrain, lies Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park, with a combined population of nearly 200,000 people. Water from the bay practically laps at my feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by 2050 sea levels along the West Coast are expected to rise between 4 and 8 inches. At the same time, flooding is expected to become more frequent and severe, with major flood events occurring five times as often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979891\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979891\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Dark orange salt pond water in the upper left corner meets a pale gold curve of levee. On the other side of the levee are the pale and dark brown wetlands, with dark green riparian areas twisting through.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3554-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Both levees and wetlands can protect surrounding communities from sea level rise. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While climate change had long been considered by the SBSPRP, Ball says the increasingly dire predictions about when the Bay Area could feel its effects — and how severe those impacts could be on people and wildlife — has ramped up the project’s urgency, since healthy wetlands can serve as a natural barrier to flooding and storm surges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key word, however, is healthy. Even under ideal conditions, it takes time for restored wetlands to go from sparse and fragile vegetation to lush and robust. And rising seas and severe storms are not ideal circumstances for adolescent wetlands, inundating or robbing the young upstarts of the sediment they need to develop and thrive. The sooner ponds can be breached and restoration started, the more likely it is that the wetlands will be able to mature into a resilient ecosystem. Indeed, a 2019 study from Point Blue Conservation Science, a key partner in the restoration project, showed that if tidal fluctuations weren’t restored to certain parts of the project area by mid-century, they might never accrete enough sediment to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even mature wetlands will eventually succumb to rising seas if rates of erosion and inundation outpace sedimentation. That is, unless they have somewhere to run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While plants might appear immobile, over long periods of time plant populations can move in response to their environment. For wetland flora such as salt marsh gumplant (Grindelia stricta) or alkali heath (Frankenia salina), both of which love salty soil but prefer drier conditions, this means extending their roots upland as water levels rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979871\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A landscape of marsh plants in peach, yellow, cream and brown falls from the upper left to the lower right, meeting a narrow triangle of grey-blue water. Long, narrow rivers run down the wetland to the bay.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Given time, marsh plants will move upslope or downslope to more suitable soil. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically, there was plenty of space for Bay Area marshes to migrate. Gradually sloped transition zones, or ecotones, hundreds to thousands of feet wide, bordered much of the wetlands, providing a spectrum of overlapping habitats from subtidal to salt marsh to upland meadows. Today, development has encroached on 90% of those areas, reducing them in most places to just a handful of feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To give the South Bay’s nascent wetlands a fighting chance in the face of climate change, the SBSPRP is adding ecotones to many of their tidal marsh restoration sites during the latest phase of construction. Ecotones aren’t possible everywhere, but they have wide-ranging benefits. In addition to restoring wildlife habitat and tempering floods, they can preserve the beauty and accessibility of the wetlands for the region’s human inhabitants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979892 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A pale tan creek winds from the bottom of the image to the upper left corner, through lush green wetlands. The vegetation on either side of the creek is yellow-green, dark green and brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/07/88A3805-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A small creek winds through restored wetlands in San Francisco’s South Bay. \u003ccite>(joSon/bioGraphic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rather than protecting the Bay Area from floods by building a levee that would turn San Francisco Bay into a giant bathtub, Ball says, ecotones and other nature-based solutions can help “maintain this habitat — even for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A continual cycle of rebirth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a sunny early afternoon in spring, I visit Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, another of the main project sites for the SBSPRP. At the entrance, a sign briefly nods to the complicated history of the landscape, no doubt preparing visitors who might soon be confused by the presence of levees, flood control gates, and managed ponds in an ecological reserve. Moments into my walk, however, I feel no confusion: This land is undoubtedly wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I head toward the trail loop, marsh wrens (Cistothorus palustris) burst from the grasses lining both sides of the path, chittering in alarm at my presence before sinking back into the tangle. To my right, a raft of American avocets, heads golden-brown, beaks slightly upturned, bob lazily in a shallow pond. To my left, a long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) slinks through the tidal mudflats foraging for invertebrates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further down the trail, I find myself face-to-face with the full scope of the restoration project. I pass a half dozen ponds of various water levels and shades of yellow, hinting at their differences in salinity. In most, an artificial island emerges a foot or so above the surface. I walk atop levees for most of the journey, occasionally crossing over a floodgate separating pond from pond, or pond from bay. At one of the outermost points from the trailhead I come upon a dried salt bed, a parched moonscape shattered at the edges and scattered with oyster shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at each turn I find signs of life. Goldfinches, yellowthroats and song sparrows flitting through the tall upland grasses. Ducks, herons and egrets along the channels bordering the tidal marshes. Sandpipers, willets, and stilts on the islands of the managed ponds. I even come across an unattended egg nestled atop a patch of clover on the bank of the levee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel grateful for this space, a stone’s throw from busy metropolises and yet a world away. But strangely, I also find myself feeling thankful for the salt ponds — not only those that have been restored and enhanced, but also their human-made predecessors. Almost all of the restorable land along the shores of the South Bay exists because the industrial salt ponds unintentionally preserved this place. If not for the salt ponds, the area would have almost certainly been developed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tension between what I know of the land’s tumultuous history and the peace I find there makes me think of joSon. Drawing on his past as a Buddhist monk, the photographer considers the restoration project a form of rebirth, a way of healing the wetlands while reconciling the land’s past traumas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The concept of rebirth defines how we grow and redefine ourselves by simultaneously shedding and embracing our painful past,” he says. For him, the arc of the salt ponds’ history offers a way of thinking about how individuals, cultures and places can “adapt and move on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the end of the trail, I come across the relics of a former salt harvesting operation, retained for posterity. Beyond, wooden pilings worn smooth by tides and time emerge from mudflats and murky ponds, supporting ghost structures no longer present. As the wetlands devour the scars of industry, a semblance of what this landscape once was — and has always been to the Ohlone, who continue to hold ceremonies at shellmound sites — is reemerging: a sacred place for plants, animals and people, a wetland in a constant cycle of being reborn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "See a Map of Bay Area Hazardous Sites at Risk From Rising Seas",
"headTitle": "See a Map of Bay Area Hazardous Sites at Risk From Rising Seas | KQED",
"content": "\u003ch5>Bay Area Hazardous Sites and 2100 Sea Level Rise\u003c/h5>\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 90%\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Click the arrow to view the map legend. Use your mouse to move the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the dots to view details. Click on the magnifying glass to search for a specific address. Areas marked by circles show the impact of rising seas and groundwater together, while squares show groundwater impacts only. Sources: Climate Central, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USGS\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Embed/index.html?webmap=3e86f6c8e421434984af53fe450e9b3c&extent=-122.5783,37.3195,-121.8292,37.9367&home=true&zoom=true&scale=true&search=true&searchextent=false&details=true&legend=true&active_panel=legend&disable_scroll=true&theme=light\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 900 hazardous sites — power plants, sewage treatment plants, refineries, cleanup areas and other facilities — across California could be inundated with ocean water and groundwater by the end of the century, according to climate scientists at UCLA and UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate change is presenting new risks that can lead to excess releases of hazardous materials from these highly industrialized parts of our coastline,” said UCLA’s Lara Cushing. “Our analysis also shows that communities of color are much more likely to live near one of these risk sites, as are lower-income communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cushing and UC Berkeley’s Rachel Morello-Frosch, both environmental health scientists, last year launched an interactive tool, \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/home?authuser=0\">Toxic Tides\u003c/a>, mapping California’s hazardous sites that could be inundated by sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first iteration of the project looked at middle-of-the-line climate scenarios based on models used by the\u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications-for-low-lying-islands-coasts-and-communities/\"> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hearing feedback from shoreline residents and local officials in a series of virtual community workshops that the work was informative but didn’t estimate the riskiest scenarios, \u003ca href=\"http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the scientists have updated their project with a more extreme scenario\u003c/a> in which ice sheets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/antarctic-ice-shelves-are-shattering-how-fast-will-seas-rise\">West Antarctica collapse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this occurs, San Francisco Bay could rise by 10.1 feet by 2100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Differences in scientific modeling scenarios before the year 2050 are minor, but they diverge significantly after mid-century. The results depend on greenhouse gas emissions, which human beings will determine by the rate they burn fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important to consider the worst-case scenario because, unfortunately, our leaders, especially at the federal level, have not risen to the challenge of addressing climate change,” said Cushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers also used federal groundwater data to examine how rising ocean water would drive freshwater up from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research highlights the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and a cluster of other hazardous sites in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview-Hunters Point. And dozens of power plants, refineries, landfills and other industrial sites line communities like East Palo Alto, Richmond, Oakland and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Sea level rise] can enhance the risk of groundwater encroachment, particularly in sites where there are toxic contaminants in the soil, or even in the groundwater,” said Morello-Frosch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is especially important to understand, she said, for places where toxic contamination is in \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-04/documents/a_citizens_guide_to_capping.pdf\">soil with a cap — often made of concrete, clay or strong plastic-like materials\u003c/a> — holding it in place to protect the public and the environment. The problem with these caps: Rising groundwater from below could eat away at the pollution, spread it to other areas or bring that contaminated water aboveground, exposing people and San Francisco Bay itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientist’s findings showcase significant risk. But they note that understanding the effect of sea level rise and groundwater encroachment on each hazardous facility will take site-specific data. This could include the level of contamination, the depth of groundwater, any existing caps, or sea walls and other protective measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to develop these tools because you want to get all of this data together in one place,” Morello-Frosch said. “There needs to be some coordinated effort to begin to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Data sources\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Toxic Tides team provided KQED with \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/extreme-scenarios?authuser=0\">the map’s data layers\u003c/a>, which feature the high-risk aversion scenario for sea level rise as described in \u003ca href=\"http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the latest state guidance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5bd9f318e4b0b3fc5cec20ed\">Groundwater data\u003c/a> originates from the U.S. Geological Survey. The data layer shows 3 meters (9.8 feet), which corresponds most closely to the degree of sea level rise for the high-risk aversion scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood risk projections are based on rising sea levels, tides and storm surge. Site-specific details about groundwater contamination are not included in these findings. Scientists derived hazardous site data from federal databases that track landfills, toxic cleanup sites, refineries, sewage treatment plants and other sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The databases include the U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s U.S. Energy Atlas, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center, and the Enverus database of oil and gas well permits. The authors say “a lack of groundwater data coupled with imprecise estimates of facility boundaries may lead to potential underestimates of the number of at-risk facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings do not include an exhaustive list of all potentially contaminated sites, like underground storage tanks or other industrial sites with contamination. Find more information on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://explorer.adaptingtorisingtides.org/home\"> Bay Shoreline Flood Explorer \u003c/a> or the San Francisco Baykeeper \u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/shoreview/pollution.html\"> Sea Level Rise and Pollution Risk to the Bay \u003c/a> website.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Hundreds of refineries, cleanup areas and other hazardous sites across California could be inundated with ocean water and groundwater by the end of the century.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ch5>Bay Area Hazardous Sites and 2100 Sea Level Rise\u003c/h5>\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 90%\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Click the arrow to view the map legend. Use your mouse to move the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the dots to view details. Click on the magnifying glass to search for a specific address. Areas marked by circles show the impact of rising seas and groundwater together, while squares show groundwater impacts only. Sources: Climate Central, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USGS\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Embed/index.html?webmap=3e86f6c8e421434984af53fe450e9b3c&extent=-122.5783,37.3195,-121.8292,37.9367&home=true&zoom=true&scale=true&search=true&searchextent=false&details=true&legend=true&active_panel=legend&disable_scroll=true&theme=light\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 900 hazardous sites — power plants, sewage treatment plants, refineries, cleanup areas and other facilities — across California could be inundated with ocean water and groundwater by the end of the century, according to climate scientists at UCLA and UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate change is presenting new risks that can lead to excess releases of hazardous materials from these highly industrialized parts of our coastline,” said UCLA’s Lara Cushing. “Our analysis also shows that communities of color are much more likely to live near one of these risk sites, as are lower-income communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cushing and UC Berkeley’s Rachel Morello-Frosch, both environmental health scientists, last year launched an interactive tool, \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/home?authuser=0\">Toxic Tides\u003c/a>, mapping California’s hazardous sites that could be inundated by sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first iteration of the project looked at middle-of-the-line climate scenarios based on models used by the\u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications-for-low-lying-islands-coasts-and-communities/\"> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hearing feedback from shoreline residents and local officials in a series of virtual community workshops that the work was informative but didn’t estimate the riskiest scenarios, \u003ca href=\"http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the scientists have updated their project with a more extreme scenario\u003c/a> in which ice sheets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/antarctic-ice-shelves-are-shattering-how-fast-will-seas-rise\">West Antarctica collapse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this occurs, San Francisco Bay could rise by 10.1 feet by 2100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Differences in scientific modeling scenarios before the year 2050 are minor, but they diverge significantly after mid-century. The results depend on greenhouse gas emissions, which human beings will determine by the rate they burn fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important to consider the worst-case scenario because, unfortunately, our leaders, especially at the federal level, have not risen to the challenge of addressing climate change,” said Cushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers also used federal groundwater data to examine how rising ocean water would drive freshwater up from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research highlights the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and a cluster of other hazardous sites in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview-Hunters Point. And dozens of power plants, refineries, landfills and other industrial sites line communities like East Palo Alto, Richmond, Oakland and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Sea level rise] can enhance the risk of groundwater encroachment, particularly in sites where there are toxic contaminants in the soil, or even in the groundwater,” said Morello-Frosch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is especially important to understand, she said, for places where toxic contamination is in \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-04/documents/a_citizens_guide_to_capping.pdf\">soil with a cap — often made of concrete, clay or strong plastic-like materials\u003c/a> — holding it in place to protect the public and the environment. The problem with these caps: Rising groundwater from below could eat away at the pollution, spread it to other areas or bring that contaminated water aboveground, exposing people and San Francisco Bay itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientist’s findings showcase significant risk. But they note that understanding the effect of sea level rise and groundwater encroachment on each hazardous facility will take site-specific data. This could include the level of contamination, the depth of groundwater, any existing caps, or sea walls and other protective measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important to develop these tools because you want to get all of this data together in one place,” Morello-Frosch said. “There needs to be some coordinated effort to begin to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Data sources\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Toxic Tides team provided KQED with \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/extreme-scenarios?authuser=0\">the map’s data layers\u003c/a>, which feature the high-risk aversion scenario for sea level rise as described in \u003ca href=\"http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the latest state guidance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5bd9f318e4b0b3fc5cec20ed\">Groundwater data\u003c/a> originates from the U.S. Geological Survey. The data layer shows 3 meters (9.8 feet), which corresponds most closely to the degree of sea level rise for the high-risk aversion scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood risk projections are based on rising sea levels, tides and storm surge. Site-specific details about groundwater contamination are not included in these findings. Scientists derived hazardous site data from federal databases that track landfills, toxic cleanup sites, refineries, sewage treatment plants and other sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The databases include the U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s U.S. Energy Atlas, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center, and the Enverus database of oil and gas well permits. The authors say “a lack of groundwater data coupled with imprecise estimates of facility boundaries may lead to potential underestimates of the number of at-risk facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings do not include an exhaustive list of all potentially contaminated sites, like underground storage tanks or other industrial sites with contamination. Find more information on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://explorer.adaptingtorisingtides.org/home\"> Bay Shoreline Flood Explorer \u003c/a> or the San Francisco Baykeeper \u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/shoreview/pollution.html\"> Sea Level Rise and Pollution Risk to the Bay \u003c/a> website.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Poorly Prepared': SF Civil Grand Jury Slams City for Not Protecting Residents From Toxic Contamination",
"headTitle": "‘Poorly Prepared’: SF Civil Grand Jury Slams City for Not Protecting Residents From Toxic Contamination | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Standing atop the Polk Street steps of San Francisco City Hall, Arieann Harrison chanted into a megaphone alongside other Bayview-Hunters Point residents, begging city officials to value their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I say, ‘Can we,’ you say, ‘Live,’” Harrison called out. “Can we!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Live!” the crowd shouted back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rally earlier this month followed a report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury that confirmed what Bayview-Hunters Point residents have been saying: The city is not acting on — is barely even thinking about — how sea level rise could surface legacy toxic contamination, spreading it in neighborhoods near the World War II-era naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to invite our mayor — who we love — to show us that she loves us back,” said Harrison. As the founder of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, she fights for people’s health in this part of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report said in blunt and emphatic language that neither the city, nor the Navy, nor any agency involved in Hunters Point has accounted for the severe risk that human-caused climate change poses to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Arieann Harrison, founder, Marie Harrison Community Foundation'] ‘I want to invite our mayor — who we love — to show us that she loves us back.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury “found that rising groundwater in the Shipyard could interact in dangerous ways with future infrastructure, and with hazardous toxins the Navy plans to leave buried in the soil. We wanted to know if this new science and these risks had been taken into account by the City, by OCII [the San Francisco Office of Community Infrastructure and Investment], or by the Navy and its regulators. We found that they had not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors wrote that the city is “poorly prepared” to protect the health and safety of Bayview-Hunters Point residents, and “cannot cut corners in an era of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harrison and others who live in the neighborhood around the shipyard, the report validated their message to city officials: that the threats from toxic contamination and climate change are real and demand lasting solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to secure the future for us as residents and for our kids,” said Harrison. “I am a mother. I am a grandmother. And I want them to not live through a legacy of toxicity. I don’t want them to worry about all the things they have to worry about in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The toxic legacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979781\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979781\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-800x450.png\" alt=\"A photo illustration with torn up pieces of white and grey pieces of paper. Each has an excerpt from a report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Portions of the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report ‘Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change.’ \u003ccite>(Sarah Khalida Mohamad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The bayshore edge of Bayview-Hunters Point is one of the most polluted areas of the entire San Francisco shoreline. The former Navy shipyard, located on the city’s southeast shoreline, is an 866-acre federal Superfund site, a location the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as highly contaminated with hazardous waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the middle of the last century, the Navy decontaminated ships there after atomic bomb tests and established the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. Research and other activities contaminated the soil with radionuclides, heavy metals, and petroleum fuels, among other toxic compounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund site has been partially cleaned up. With the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy is continuing the cleanup, preparing it for the eventual development of a sweeping new neighborhood with mixed-use construction of businesses, research institutions and thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the problem is that the cleanup didn’t prepare the site for the worst of rising tides. The Navy’s most recent report on the cleanup describes how, at many sites, toxic contamination that’s buried in the soil is held in place with a cap — often made of concrete, clay or strong plastic-like materials. The problem: Rising sea levels both flood on top of the land and press inward under the surface, pushing up the groundwater underneath this buried contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley scientist Rachel Morello-Frosch says caps over toxic contamination may not hold as the bay presses groundwater upward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you start having groundwater encroachment, those caps of legacy sites can be breached,” she noted. “So it can come up, and it can move to different areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As groundwater rises, the buried pollution can spread throughout the community, exposing people and the bay to contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An ‘impenetrable system’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979681\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A sliver of greenish blue baywater in the foreground. Giant silver metal cranes sit upon a rock levee. Behind the cranes is an apartment laden hill. The mostly white apartments appear to be multiple stories.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in Hunters Point are seen through gantry cranes from San Francisco Bay on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LeBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report is an indictment of the city and the regulatory agencies overseeing what happens at the Hunters Point Superfund site — that is, the Navy, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report says lack of attention, inaccessible documents, technical language and poor communication among the agencies involved in cleanup at the Superfund site leave residents of Bayview-Hunters Point and the city unacceptably vulnerable to contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Civil Grand Jury is a panel of 19 citizens who don’t work in government. They serve for a year to investigate and issue reports on significant local government actions or, as they make clear in this case, government lack of action.\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation='San Francisco Civil Grand Jury']‘Aside from some glimmers of awareness at regulatory agencies, groundwater rise has not yet been meaningfully considered in the cleanup at the Hunters Point Shipyard.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>“The Jury believes that the essence of the City’s disconnect from the Shipyard cleanup lies in the lack of attention paid to it by leaders throughout the City,” the jurors wrote. “Aside from some glimmers of awareness at regulatory agencies, groundwater rise has not yet been meaningfully considered in the cleanup at the Hunters Point Shipyard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, the jurors wrote that city leaders have not paid much attention to the cleanup itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite the enormous stakes of the process governing the Shipyard cleanup,” the report says, “there is little understanding of the process throughout the City, or even that the City can influence this process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To come to their conclusions, the members of the grand jury read reams and reams of documents, some of which they said were “impenetrable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jurors wrote that because reports on the cleanup are “arcane and very difficult to understand,” it was hard for them to determine what work the Navy had completed. As a result, they wrote, “the cleanup governance process is inaccessible, even invisible” to city leaders or citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hidden inside this impenetrable system, [the agencies in charge of the cleanup] are engaging with important questions that concern anyone who might someday live in the Shipyard,” the jurors wrote. “They should certainly concern the leaders of San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report offers seven recommendations for San Francisco leaders. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fund an independent study about how groundwater rise could affect toxic contamination in the soil at the Superfund site, under multiple sea level rise scenarios.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Create a permanent Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Oversight Committee to examine and question decisions about the cleanup, and communicate requests to the Navy and oversight agencies.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For that committee, by March 1, 2023, prepare a report on its recommendations based on the groundwater study and deliver that report to the Board of Supervisors, the mayor and the Department of Public Health.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“This is a solvable problem,” the jurors wrote. “And there is still hope that groundwater rise will be addressed in the Shipyard before it is too late.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>City officials respond \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 634px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979668 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp.jpg\" alt=\"Two maps of the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview-Hunters Point side by side. One shows where current groundwater is at and the other shows where groundwater will move to with four feet of sea level rise. The darker the color the closer to the surface the groudnwater is.\" width=\"634\" height=\"764\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp.jpg 634w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp-160x193.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco officials say they are studying where groundwater rise could happen across the city. But the civil grand jury found they aren’t examining how that rise could affect toxic contamination in Bayview-Hunters Point. \u003ccite>(City and County of San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report 'Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change')\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton denied requests for an interview for this story. City staff emailed a statement that said officials welcome the report and will carefully consider the recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email pointed to a study the city is working on in collaboration with scientists from Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute. That study will evaluate how sea level rise will affect flooding and groundwater. A preliminary summary of the study says that sea level rise can push up groundwater as far as three miles inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also noted it intends to conduct a study analyzing “known contaminated sites and the potential for rising groundwater to mobilize contaminants.” But the city hasn’t found funding for that study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the grand jury report says the study underway won’t be adequate to guide critical decisions about protecting residents in Bayview-Hunters Point. “The City urgently needs better, more detailed predictions of how groundwater will react to sea level rise at this site,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jurors got a preview of the study; the example foreshadows 4 feet of sea level rise — less than half of the end-of-the-century, worst-case scenario laid out in \u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the state’s sea level rise guidance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Standing atop the Polk Street steps of San Francisco City Hall, Arieann Harrison chanted into a megaphone alongside other Bayview-Hunters Point residents, begging city officials to value their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I say, ‘Can we,’ you say, ‘Live,’” Harrison called out. “Can we!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Live!” the crowd shouted back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rally earlier this month followed a report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury that confirmed what Bayview-Hunters Point residents have been saying: The city is not acting on — is barely even thinking about — how sea level rise could surface legacy toxic contamination, spreading it in neighborhoods near the World War II-era naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to invite our mayor — who we love — to show us that she loves us back,” said Harrison. As the founder of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, she fights for people’s health in this part of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report said in blunt and emphatic language that neither the city, nor the Navy, nor any agency involved in Hunters Point has accounted for the severe risk that human-caused climate change poses to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": " ‘I want to invite our mayor — who we love — to show us that she loves us back.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury “found that rising groundwater in the Shipyard could interact in dangerous ways with future infrastructure, and with hazardous toxins the Navy plans to leave buried in the soil. We wanted to know if this new science and these risks had been taken into account by the City, by OCII [the San Francisco Office of Community Infrastructure and Investment], or by the Navy and its regulators. We found that they had not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors wrote that the city is “poorly prepared” to protect the health and safety of Bayview-Hunters Point residents, and “cannot cut corners in an era of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harrison and others who live in the neighborhood around the shipyard, the report validated their message to city officials: that the threats from toxic contamination and climate change are real and demand lasting solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to secure the future for us as residents and for our kids,” said Harrison. “I am a mother. I am a grandmother. And I want them to not live through a legacy of toxicity. I don’t want them to worry about all the things they have to worry about in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The toxic legacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979781\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979781\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-800x450.png\" alt=\"A photo illustration with torn up pieces of white and grey pieces of paper. Each has an excerpt from a report from the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Grand-Jury-Bayview-Hunters-Point-4.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Portions of the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report ‘Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change.’ \u003ccite>(Sarah Khalida Mohamad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The bayshore edge of Bayview-Hunters Point is one of the most polluted areas of the entire San Francisco shoreline. The former Navy shipyard, located on the city’s southeast shoreline, is an 866-acre federal Superfund site, a location the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as highly contaminated with hazardous waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the middle of the last century, the Navy decontaminated ships there after atomic bomb tests and established the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. Research and other activities contaminated the soil with radionuclides, heavy metals, and petroleum fuels, among other toxic compounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Superfund site has been partially cleaned up. With the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy is continuing the cleanup, preparing it for the eventual development of a sweeping new neighborhood with mixed-use construction of businesses, research institutions and thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the problem is that the cleanup didn’t prepare the site for the worst of rising tides. The Navy’s most recent report on the cleanup describes how, at many sites, toxic contamination that’s buried in the soil is held in place with a cap — often made of concrete, clay or strong plastic-like materials. The problem: Rising sea levels both flood on top of the land and press inward under the surface, pushing up the groundwater underneath this buried contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley scientist Rachel Morello-Frosch says caps over toxic contamination may not hold as the bay presses groundwater upward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you start having groundwater encroachment, those caps of legacy sites can be breached,” she noted. “So it can come up, and it can move to different areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As groundwater rises, the buried pollution can spread throughout the community, exposing people and the bay to contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An ‘impenetrable system’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979681\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A sliver of greenish blue baywater in the foreground. Giant silver metal cranes sit upon a rock levee. Behind the cranes is an apartment laden hill. The mostly white apartments appear to be multiple stories.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS54624_012_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in Hunters Point are seen through gantry cranes from San Francisco Bay on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LeBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report is an indictment of the city and the regulatory agencies overseeing what happens at the Hunters Point Superfund site — that is, the Navy, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report says lack of attention, inaccessible documents, technical language and poor communication among the agencies involved in cleanup at the Superfund site leave residents of Bayview-Hunters Point and the city unacceptably vulnerable to contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Civil Grand Jury is a panel of 19 citizens who don’t work in government. They serve for a year to investigate and issue reports on significant local government actions or, as they make clear in this case, government lack of action.\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>“The Jury believes that the essence of the City’s disconnect from the Shipyard cleanup lies in the lack of attention paid to it by leaders throughout the City,” the jurors wrote. “Aside from some glimmers of awareness at regulatory agencies, groundwater rise has not yet been meaningfully considered in the cleanup at the Hunters Point Shipyard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, the jurors wrote that city leaders have not paid much attention to the cleanup itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite the enormous stakes of the process governing the Shipyard cleanup,” the report says, “there is little understanding of the process throughout the City, or even that the City can influence this process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To come to their conclusions, the members of the grand jury read reams and reams of documents, some of which they said were “impenetrable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jurors wrote that because reports on the cleanup are “arcane and very difficult to understand,” it was hard for them to determine what work the Navy had completed. As a result, they wrote, “the cleanup governance process is inaccessible, even invisible” to city leaders or citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hidden inside this impenetrable system, [the agencies in charge of the cleanup] are engaging with important questions that concern anyone who might someday live in the Shipyard,” the jurors wrote. “They should certainly concern the leaders of San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report offers seven recommendations for San Francisco leaders. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Fund an independent study about how groundwater rise could affect toxic contamination in the soil at the Superfund site, under multiple sea level rise scenarios.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Create a permanent Hunters Point Shipyard Cleanup Oversight Committee to examine and question decisions about the cleanup, and communicate requests to the Navy and oversight agencies.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For that committee, by March 1, 2023, prepare a report on its recommendations based on the groundwater study and deliver that report to the Board of Supervisors, the mayor and the Department of Public Health.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“This is a solvable problem,” the jurors wrote. “And there is still hope that groundwater rise will be addressed in the Shipyard before it is too late.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>City officials respond \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 634px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979668 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp.jpg\" alt=\"Two maps of the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview-Hunters Point side by side. One shows where current groundwater is at and the other shows where groundwater will move to with four feet of sea level rise. The darker the color the closer to the surface the groudnwater is.\" width=\"634\" height=\"764\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp.jpg 634w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/map-bvhp-160x193.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco officials say they are studying where groundwater rise could happen across the city. But the civil grand jury found they aren’t examining how that rise could affect toxic contamination in Bayview-Hunters Point. \u003ccite>(City and County of San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report 'Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change')\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton denied requests for an interview for this story. City staff emailed a statement that said officials welcome the report and will carefully consider the recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email pointed to a study the city is working on in collaboration with scientists from Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute. That study will evaluate how sea level rise will affect flooding and groundwater. A preliminary summary of the study says that sea level rise can push up groundwater as far as three miles inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also noted it intends to conduct a study analyzing “known contaminated sites and the potential for rising groundwater to mobilize contaminants.” But the city hasn’t found funding for that study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the grand jury report says the study underway won’t be adequate to guide critical decisions about protecting residents in Bayview-Hunters Point. “The City urgently needs better, more detailed predictions of how groundwater will react to sea level rise at this site,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jurors got a preview of the study; the example foreshadows 4 feet of sea level rise — less than half of the end-of-the-century, worst-case scenario laid out in \u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\">the state’s sea level rise guidance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Climate Rules Won't Be Undercut by Supreme Court's Ruling, Experts Say",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to drastically limit the power of the federal Environmental Protection Agency to regulate planet-warming emissions\u003c/a> upsets environmentalists, but experts say it doesn’t necessarily pose a threat to California’s ability to maintain its own stringent greenhouse gas reduction rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 6-3 vote in the West Virginia v. EPA decision marks a significant change in how the federal EPA can exercise power to address climate change, making it clear that without approval from Congress, the agency is limited in how it can set national standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger question now is how the ruling could affect the control all federal agencies have in imposing regulations and how states like California — which have historically taken a stronger approach to tackling climate change — could be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Air Resources Board, which oversees the state’s efforts to reduce air pollution, told CalMatters the agency agrees that the state’s policies and regulatory agencies now play an even more critical role in the fight against climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several experts say the ruling would not hinder the state’s efforts. Still, California’s efforts alone can’t solve a global problem, said attorney Sean Donahue, whose firm, Donahue, Goldberg & Littleton, wrote a brief in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has its own state laws that are regulating carbon dioxide emissions, so in that respect, it matters less to California directly,” Donahue said. “However, we’re all affected by climate change. California is doing a lot to try to reduce its own emissions, but we won’t have a safe climate unless everybody pitches in, and the federal government’s efforts are really important there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s authority to independently set stronger tailpipe emissions standards than those of the federal government was granted half a century ago, when Congress passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Clean Air Act in 1970\u003c/a>. The law included special conditions for California to help the state address its severe smog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts worry that Thursday’s ruling could lead federal agencies to take a more cautious and less effective approach to addressing major threats to public health and safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The opinion takes away one of the EPA’s tools to address climate change going forward,” said UCLA law professor Blake Emerson. “But the broader significance is that it’s going to provide a precedent for both the Supreme Court itself and the lower courts to strike down federal regulations, both with regards to the environment and with regards to market regulation and public health and safety if those courts think that the agency has taken a really major policy position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Climate Change Coverage' tag='climate-change']Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, agreed, adding that “regulations that affect significant swaths of the economy that are not explicitly authorized by Congress with very specific and clear statutory language, are especially vulnerable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several state leaders on Thursday maintained that California would continue to lead the nation in setting its own rules to reduce emissions, affirming that the ruling would not impede the state’s efforts to combat climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s ruling makes it even more imperative that California and other states succeed in our efforts to combat the climate crisis,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California will remain the tentpole for this movement with record investments and aggressive policies to reduce pollution, to protect people from extreme weather, and to leave our children and grandchildren a world that’s better off than we found it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta called the Supreme Court’s decision “misguided and gravely disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are running out of time in the fight against climate change, and we need all levels of government working together to take action before it’s too late,” he said in a statement.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>“In California, we have strong programs in place to address climate change, and we will not go backwards. With the future of our planet at stake, our commitment to tackling the climate crisis cannot waver.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The US Supreme Court's decision to limit federal environmental protection rules will have little to no effect on California's carbon-reduction policies, according to experts — and state leaders say they are doubling down on their climate commitment.",
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"description": "The US Supreme Court's decision to limit federal environmental protection rules will have little to no effect on California's carbon-reduction policies, according to experts — and state leaders say they are doubling down on their climate commitment.",
"title": "California Climate Rules Won't Be Undercut by Supreme Court's Ruling, Experts Say | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to drastically limit the power of the federal Environmental Protection Agency to regulate planet-warming emissions\u003c/a> upsets environmentalists, but experts say it doesn’t necessarily pose a threat to California’s ability to maintain its own stringent greenhouse gas reduction rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 6-3 vote in the West Virginia v. EPA decision marks a significant change in how the federal EPA can exercise power to address climate change, making it clear that without approval from Congress, the agency is limited in how it can set national standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger question now is how the ruling could affect the control all federal agencies have in imposing regulations and how states like California — which have historically taken a stronger approach to tackling climate change — could be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Air Resources Board, which oversees the state’s efforts to reduce air pollution, told CalMatters the agency agrees that the state’s policies and regulatory agencies now play an even more critical role in the fight against climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several experts say the ruling would not hinder the state’s efforts. Still, California’s efforts alone can’t solve a global problem, said attorney Sean Donahue, whose firm, Donahue, Goldberg & Littleton, wrote a brief in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has its own state laws that are regulating carbon dioxide emissions, so in that respect, it matters less to California directly,” Donahue said. “However, we’re all affected by climate change. California is doing a lot to try to reduce its own emissions, but we won’t have a safe climate unless everybody pitches in, and the federal government’s efforts are really important there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s authority to independently set stronger tailpipe emissions standards than those of the federal government was granted half a century ago, when Congress passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Clean Air Act in 1970\u003c/a>. The law included special conditions for California to help the state address its severe smog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts worry that Thursday’s ruling could lead federal agencies to take a more cautious and less effective approach to addressing major threats to public health and safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The opinion takes away one of the EPA’s tools to address climate change going forward,” said UCLA law professor Blake Emerson. “But the broader significance is that it’s going to provide a precedent for both the Supreme Court itself and the lower courts to strike down federal regulations, both with regards to the environment and with regards to market regulation and public health and safety if those courts think that the agency has taken a really major policy position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, agreed, adding that “regulations that affect significant swaths of the economy that are not explicitly authorized by Congress with very specific and clear statutory language, are especially vulnerable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several state leaders on Thursday maintained that California would continue to lead the nation in setting its own rules to reduce emissions, affirming that the ruling would not impede the state’s efforts to combat climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s ruling makes it even more imperative that California and other states succeed in our efforts to combat the climate crisis,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California will remain the tentpole for this movement with record investments and aggressive policies to reduce pollution, to protect people from extreme weather, and to leave our children and grandchildren a world that’s better off than we found it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta called the Supreme Court’s decision “misguided and gravely disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are running out of time in the fight against climate change, and we need all levels of government working together to take action before it’s too late,” he said in a statement.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>“In California, we have strong programs in place to address climate change, and we will not go backwards. With the future of our planet at stake, our commitment to tackling the climate crisis cannot waver.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget",
"title": "Cal Fire Fumbles Key Responsibilities to Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires Despite Historic Budget",
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"headTitle": "Cal Fire Fumbles Key Responsibilities to Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires Despite Historic Budget | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Richard A. Wilson is worried about wildfires this summer, amid dry conditions, extreme temperatures, punishing winds and the amplification of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are very vulnerable,” the 90-year-old said while looking out the window of his house on Buck Mountain, part of a 3,000-acre cattle ranch spanning Mendocino and Trinity counties that has been in his family for 80 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson estimates about 70% of his land — the whole northern end, including grassland, and pine and Douglas fir timberland — has burned in recent years. It was hit by the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire and the 2020 August Complex Fire, both among the largest fires in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The scale of the fires covered the country in a way we hadn’t seen, in size or intensity,” Wilson recalled.[pullquote align='right' citation='Richard Wilson, former head of Cal Fire']‘Their business [now] is putting fires out. The bigger the fires, the more people they need to put the fires out. That’s a complete reverse of somebody trying to deal with the forest so if there is a fire, it doesn’t get out of control and burn the whole thing down.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires in California have burned nearly 7 million acres in the last two years alone. It is not only the size of the fires but also the destruction that’s breathtaking. In just the 2021 fire season, the Dixie Fire destroyed the town of Greenville and the Caldor Fire devastated the foothills community of Grizzly Flats. Both were the first fires in modern state history to burn across the Sierra Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Wilson fears, will be dangerous, as well: “We are headed into a tenuous time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson is not just any worried landowner: He’s the former head of Cal Fire, the state department responsible for fighting wildfires and managing forestland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while Cal Fire is broadly recognized as a leader in firefighting, Wilson says it is also partly to blame for the looming danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he led the department in the 1990s, he claims it viewed caring for forest health as a primary mission. Foresters are trained to see wooded areas as living ecosystems, and know how to make them more fire-resilient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the years after his tenure, he says the culture changed. Firefighting, not forestry, became the route to advancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s now a fire department. A very good fire department. But it’s not a forestry department,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Cal Fire is at an inflection point: trying to return to a greater emphasis on fire mitigation and forest health, while still working to protect communities from historic and deadly wildfires. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature lavished the department with record amounts of money for prescribed burns, brush clearing and cutting fuel breaks. But money alone does not solve the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has publicly signaled a commitment to rebalancing its priorities. But a monthslong investigation by The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the department continues to fumble key responsibilities related to forest management and wildfire mitigation, potentially leaving the state at greater risk of catastrophic fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation found:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The state set aside a record $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest health in 2021. However, Cal Fire’s forest management hiring remains stagnant, while its firefighting staffing has ballooned.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal Fire is struggling to track wildfire prevention projects that experts say are desperately needed to protect communities from destructive wildfires. The department still can’t determine how many acres of work it completed and funded through grants in the fiscal year ending in June 2021.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal Fire has taken years to implement laws passed by the state Legislature. A program, required under state law to bolster the prescribed-burn workforce, suffered nearly a year of delay. So far, only two burn bosses have been certified, slowing the pace of protective projects. Experts say this delay has caused a loss of opportunities to enact community-protecting work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For at least four years, Cal Fire has failed to send its annual report to the Legislature detailing the department’s fire prevention efforts. The report, required by law, is an inventory of Cal Fire’s efforts and helps lawmakers understand the state’s progress on protecting vulnerable communities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has increased its output during the past five years. It completed fire prevention work — directly or through grants — on 105,000 acres in the fiscal year that ended in June 2020. The department could not provide a more current total.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/8.12.20-CA-Shared-Stewardship-MOU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tasked\u003c/a> Cal Fire, along with partners that control state and private land, with performing 500,000 acres of forest management and fire mitigation work every year by 2025. But progress toward that goal has been slow, in part because a key state program \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/04/12/newsom-hailed-this-critical-wildfire-prevention-program-two-years-on-it-hasnt-completed-a-single-project/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">failed to increase project completions\u003c/a>. [pullquote align='right' citation='Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler']‘Watching these fires get larger and more damaging since 2014, I sincerely recognize the need to change the way we do — and have changed the way that we do — business.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Cal Fire’s Joe Tyler, who was appointed chief in March, said the department is making progress on improving forest health and protecting communities in advance of catastrophic fires by “investing in community preparedness and mitigation” and “continuing to do those fuels projects across the board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to this year’s creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/p24fmjyg/cwpm-news-release_2022.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation division\u003c/a>, which aims to “develop, prioritize and implement strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tyler said the longer, more extreme wildfire seasons — coupled with the pandemic — have left the department’s workforce “fatigued.” That has affected Cal Fire’s administrative, forest management and fire suppression capabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler also acknowledged the need to change Cal Fire’s culture so it focuses more on prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Watching these fires get larger and more damaging since 2014, I sincerely recognize the need to change the way we do — and have changed the way that we do — business,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire practitioners like Margo Robbins, executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council, argue this change at Cal Fire is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that they have forgotten that forestry is part of their responsibility, quite frankly,” said Robbins, whose expertise is in setting intentional fires that benefit the landscape and can protect communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that Cal Fire is “moving in the right direction” by boosting investment in fire mitigation and fuel reduction. And the department has helped accommodate cultural prescribed burning led by Native American communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “they have a ways to go,” Robbins added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they would focus more on that management piece, I think we would be seeing a very different scenario on our landscapes and a very different scenario in terms of wildfires,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rebranding the department, changing the culture\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979580\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighters in orange and yellow uniforms stand in front of a burning hillside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-768x580.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-1536x1160.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters from the State of California and the Orange County Fire Authority on a controlled burn in Crystal Cove State Park, June 27, 1998. \u003ccite>(Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back when Wilson ran Cal Fire in the 1990s, it was known by its official name: the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. He says during those years he made sure foresters — who are trained in managing forest health — had a lot of say. He feels their voice has disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/jwpajqnx/foresters-and-directors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">photo lineup of Cal Fire’s past executive roster\u003c/a> , Wilson is the last chief wearing a suit and tie. All subsequent chiefs are wearing uniforms with badges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their business [now] is putting fires out,” Wilson said. “The bigger the fires, the more people they need to put the fires out. That’s a complete reverse of somebody trying to deal with the forest so if there is a fire, it doesn’t get out of control and burn the whole thing down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new chief, Tyler, is a 30-year veteran of the department who previously oversaw aspects of Cal Fire’s firefighting and emergency response. He said he witnessed the culture change, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I recall far ago in my career, in the ’90s, where fuels treatment, fuels reduction, vegetation management was an extremely high priority of the department,” Tyler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979575\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-800x642.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-800x642.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-1020x818.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-160x128.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-768x616.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-1536x1232.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM.png 1588w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photoline up of Cal Fire’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/jwpajqnx/foresters-and-directors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive roster\u003c/a> from 1990 to the present. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But then, with the onset of larger and more damaging fires, the department’s focus increasingly shifted to suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The name “Cal Fire” embodies this tension. In 2006, the Legislature passed a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200520060AB1423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">law\u003c/a> allowing The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to rebrand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the bill — including the department’s firefighters union — argued the change was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22015888-ab-1423-assembly-bill-bill-analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">necessary to reflect [the department’s] primary role as a fire-fighting agency.\u003c/a> ” But the department itself had opposed the legislation, worried that the new moniker would obscure its forest management mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These tensions are once again at the fore as California faces a new wildfire reality.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Record investment, few new fire-prevention hires\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Last year, Newsom and lawmakers allocated a record $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest management, with the bulk of it going to Cal Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a record amount. As of April, about half of the $1.5 billion had been “committed” to specific projects and initiatives, \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Forest-Stewardship/Wildfire-Resilience-Program/2022-04-29-Wildfire-Resilience-Budget-Report.pdf\">according\u003c/a> to a recent report from the Natural Resources Agency, which oversees Cal Fire. The state has up to seven years to spend the bulk of the investment; some money may have to be spent sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says the committed money is going to good use. “We’ve launched over 550 new projects with that funding,” said Jessica Morse, deputy secretary for forest and wildland resilience with the Natural Resources Agency. “Which is pretty fast — for bureaucracy, from appropriation — within less than a year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of these projects are specific wildfire prevention and forest health efforts, according to a chart on the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Forest-Stewardship/Wildfire-Resilience-Program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>. For example, the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District is planning a 641-acre fuel break to protect the communities of Groveland and Big Oak Flat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A number of projects don’t turn dirt or remove dangerous brush. Some fund studies of mitigation techniques and vegetation types. Another pays a consulting firm half-a-million dollars to develop a communications strategy for the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of other projects are related to climate change resilience, but have no immediate connection to wildfires. For example, a $600,000 allocation will help the city of Glendale, in Los Angeles County, plant 500 trees within the most “tree-poor area of the City.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of that money would go to distributing pamphlets to urban property owners on “the benefits of trees and tree care,” the project description reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979578\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979578 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-800x541.png\" alt=\"Chart showing rising costs of responding to wildfires.\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM.png 1076w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State spending on firefighting has more than tripled since 2005, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a>. Despite recent increases, spending on resource management and fire prevention is still a small fraction of the total. \u003ccite>(LAO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In spite of last year’s investment, the bulk of Cal Fire’s overall spending remains focused on fire suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last three fiscal years, Cal Fire allocated nearly $8 billion for “fire protection,” according to figures provided by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, or LAO. That money is used “to attack fires quickly and aggressively … until the fire is under control,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2022-23/pdf/GovernorsBudget/3000/3540.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the department’s budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During those three years, the department allocated about $1.5 billion for “resource management,” which according to the department’s budget is for the “regulation of timber harvesting,” “coordination of climate and forest restoration” and “vegetation management projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staffing and new hires also heavily favor fire suppression. In the last three years, “fire protection” positions jumped from 7,076 to 8,187, according to figures provided by the state Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In an interview, senior Cal Fire officials noted that some positions in the department’s “fire protection” division focus on fire prevention work. About 3% of the division’s staff are described as “fire prevention” positions, according to Department of Finance figures.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that same time period, Cal Fire’s “resource management” division increased by 31 positions to a total of 518 — despite the massive investment in forest health and wildfire mitigation last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Note: Every department’s budget includes staffing figures, but the Department of Finance cautioned that some of the numbers for Cal Fire in recent years needed to be updated. The Department of Finance provided updated, accurate figures in response to a request from The California Newsroom.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts acknowledge the need to ramp up fire suppression forces in the face of extreme wildfires. But they argue there needs to be a complementary increase in resource management hiring to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robbins, with the Cultural Fire Management Council, called the hiring disparity “startling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking at these numbers,” she said, “it is very obvious to me that they’re not putting as much focus as they should be on prevention as opposed to reactionary suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Mason, vice president of policy and incentives with Pacific Forest Trust, a conservation group focused on sustainable forests, said the need for more resource management staffing is “substantial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cal Fire needs dozens, if not hundreds, of additional people working on the resource management side of the organization,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that Cal Fire can’t achieve forest sustainability alone, and should build up its workforce alongside other agencies focused on water resources, climate resilience and biodiversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One challenge, according to Morse with the Natural Resources Agency, is that last year’s historic investment in wildfire resilience is mostly one-time spending, meaning the agency cannot count on it in future budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because it’s not permanent funding, it’s hard to get permanent positions,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the money can be spent for up to seven years, Morse said. Some might have to be spent sooner. That would put a time limit on any positions created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates like Robbins and Mason are pushing for \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificforest.org/wildfire-resiliency-group-budget-letter/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">at least $1 billion in annual\u003c/a> for the next five years — totaling a minimum of $5 billion — for wildfire resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979582 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter in a yellow uniform drips flame from a torch onto a pile of brush. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire crews conduct a prescribed burn as part of its vegetation management program in February 2020. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Struggling to track progress\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An overarching initiative driving the state’s fire prevention efforts is an \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/8.12.20-CA-Shared-Stewardship-MOU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> Newsom forged with the federal government in the summer of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the plan, California and the U.S. Forest Service each committed to completing 500,000 acres of forest management work annually in the state by 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after signing the agreement, Newsom held a press conference in Butte County amid ruins of the North Complex Fire. Peering through the smoky air and clad in a vintage-style military jacket, he called the plan “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXga8CM_uuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a significant milestone, a significant step forward\u003c/a> .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In 2018, in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/5.10.18-Forest-EO.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive order\u003c/a>, former Gov. Jerry Brown set an annual 500,000-acre goal for California agencies, with a deadline of 2023, but Newsom’s agreement with the federal government \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/29/gov-gavin-newsom-retreats-on-1-billion-wildfire-prevention-plan-ahead-of-meeting-with-president-biden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pushed \u003c/a>the target back two years.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring progress toward this goal is murky at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Newsroom requested data on the number of fire prevention acres Cal Fire itself completed, or funded through grants, in recent years. The department provided a chart showing a steady increase in total acreage, reaching over 105,000 acres in the fiscal year ending in June 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cal Fire is still figuring out the total number it completed and funded through grants between July 2020 and June 2021. And the department did not provide any data on the current fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To achieve its 500,000-acre goal, the state will count wildfire prevention work performed by Cal Fire, its grantees and private landowners, which can include large properties such as logging companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But currently, Cal Fire does not have a way to track work completed by many private landowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It highlights something pretty basic, which is we need an accounting system that works,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with University of California Cooperative Extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He notes that tabulating total fire mitigation acres is a limited method of measuring risk reduction. He and other experts advocate for a system that takes into consideration factors like proximity to vulnerable communities and topography. But quantifying total acres of completed work is a basic step toward a more sophisticated assessment system, according to Moritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is aiming to develop an online dashboard to track progress on forest management and fire prevention work. The goal is to show “the public where these projects are occurring” by putting “all this data at their fingertips,” said Daniel Berlant, deputy director of the department’s newly created Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration has come under \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/23/newsom-misled-the-public-about-wildfire-prevention-efforts-ahead-of-worst-fire-season-on-record/\">criticism in the past for overstating the state’s wildfire prevention accomplishments,\u003c/a> first uncovered in an investigation by The California Newsroom last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has teased the new system — an upgrade of its existing, inconsistent \u003ca href=\"https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fegis.fire.ca.gov%2Farcgis%2Frest%2Fservices%2FCalMapper%2FCalMAPPER_Public%2FMapServer&source=sd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CalMAPPER\u003c/a> database — since last summer. But it hasn’t committed to a release date. At a meeting of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force last month, director Patrick Wright said it would offer “an initial flavor” of the dashboard in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An additional challenge stands in the way of measuring progress toward the 1 million acre goal. While the target seems straightforward, Cal Fire and the federal government haven’t arrived at an agreed-upon definition of what counts as an “acre.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are differing perspectives over which types of fuel reduction should be eligible. For example, if an area has to be hand-thinned prior to a prescribed burn, should that area be tallied twice? Is salvage-logging, the process of removing damaged trees after a fire, eligible? What if the federal and state governments work together on the same project — could they both count it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire says it has internal definitions of how to measure and count acres of forest management work. But an agreed-upon definition with the Forest Service remains elusive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, senior Cal Fire officials told The California Newsroom that the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force is taking the lead on crafting this definition. The task force is made up of representatives from the state and federal governments, tribal leaders and other groups that do forest health projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that we’re talking apples to apples,” Berlant said. When pressed, he and other senior officials did not provide a timeline for when that definition would be finalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979583\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979583 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a helmet tosses a dead branch down a dry, yellow hill. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire crews cleared brush to create a fuel break in San Diego County. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A ‘messy, confusing process’ to certify ‘burn bosses’ and expand prescribed fire\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s prescribed fire guidebook says setting controlled, beneficial fire “is a key tool for the Department and its cooperators to use in reducing fuels at a landscape scale while improving ecosystem health in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the workforce needed to meaningfully scale up prescribed fire, and protect forests and communities, is still largely lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually “burn bosses” — those qualified to plan and lead controlled burns — need to work for many years for fire suppression agencies, such as Cal Fire or the U.S. Forest Service, to get enough experience for certification. But being so busy fighting fires for much of the year, they struggle to get many burns done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, burns remain a key strategy, and the state’s goal has been to increase the workforce. To that end, the Legislature passed a bill in 2018 meant to increase the number of people trained to run burns. The law created a state-led training and certification program called State-Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss, or CA-RX. It signaled a shift in direction — and a hope that burn bosses who do not work for government agencies in suppression, but may work for nonprofits, will have more freedom to conduct burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, it took four years — until mid-April 2022 — for the first burn boss to be certified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a Public Records Act request make it clear that some Cal Fire unit chiefs, whose signoff was required to advance the certification process, did not fully support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delays in issuing and signing paperwork prevented the certification of trainees for the better part of a year. For example, course participants were not issued training checklists known as “task books,” which are used to evaluate their abilities. And trainees suggest these delays may have come at a cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am deeply concerned that I have still not been issued a task book to finalize my CARX certification,” wrote trainee Will Harling, director of the Mid Klamath Watershed Council, in an early January 2022 email to Cal Fire’s State Fire Training division. “This sense of urgency is shared by myself and others who have seen first-hand towns nearly wiped off the map in the time we have been waiting for this CARX certification process to be finalized, and have the skills and knowledge to safely implement prescribed burns that can help save homes and protect resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harling wasn’t the only one to write in frustration to the division. In response to a December 2021 email from another trainee, Battalion Chief Mark Bisbee within Cal Fire’s State Fire Training division acknowledged the program’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I guess the best way to characterize this entire process is messy, confusing,” Bisbee wrote. “The next step is in flux because […] not all Unit Chiefs are on board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bisbee acknowledged in his email that the certification program “has been a very long, drawn out process,” but said he would continue to advocate for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview in April, Bisbee said the slow start was partially due to only a few people being authorized to teach the program, but also to “bottlenecks within the bureaucracy.” While he said he saw progress within the department of accepting prescribed fire — which can be a hard adjustment for those trained only to put out fire — the paradigm shift was like a huge ship moving sideways: slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also acknowledged the push from lawmakers to take a new direction: “Whether Cal Fire is ready or not, the legislation is saying this is what we need to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a legislative oversight hearing last December, Lenya Quinn-Davidson — a fire adviser with the University of California who helped write the legislation and the curriculum and who hosted the first course — told lawmakers:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve missed a ton of opportunities for project implementation. There is a huge need for qualified burn bosses to plan and implement projects and to partner with the state and to partner with landowners. But without the state certification and the protections that it can provide, many of those folks are not willing to go out and do that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quinn-Davidson wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://fireadaptednetwork.org/california-burn-boss-program-new-path-forward-or-dead-end-street/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blog post \u003c/a>in mid-January about the delays in the certification process. Soon after it published, Cal Fire issued task books to almost all participants, according to a blog update. Will Harling confirmed receiving his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see this work happen more quickly,” Quinn-Davidson told The California Newsroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Reischman, Cal Fire’s deputy director of resource management, said he believes the program will prove a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a new course for us, so there’s a lot of changes and things that we had to do to get it up and running,” he said. “It’s a process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Missing reports and safety inspections\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In some instances, The California Newsroom discovered, Cal Fire is altogether neglecting oversight requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For over a decade, the Legislature has mandated that the department file an annual report detailing its fire prevention activities for the previous year, and its plans for improving prevention efforts moving forward. The report is an inventory of the department’s accomplishments, and lawmakers rely on it to understand the state’s progress on protecting vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an exhaustive search by the State Library, carried out at The California Newsroom’s request, found that the department has not filed this report in at least four years. The library’s most recent copy covers fiscal year 2014-15. The state’s website for \u003ca href=\"https://agencyreports.ca.gov/rep13922308081004\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agency reports\u003c/a> indicates the department may have filed a report for 2017, but the library does not have a copy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two state budgets, the Legislature also required Cal Fire to file reports on grants awarded to local governments and nonprofits for fire prevention, including the number of applications received and grants awarded. The reports were due in February of this year, according to the state’s website for agency reports. A search by the State Library turned up no copies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire did not provide copies of the reports in response to an email request. In an interview, Berlant said “the reports are in the works,” adding the department took its responsibilities seriously but had been delayed by the pandemic and that “fighting fire in the middle of December, January, February — that becomes a bit of our priority.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief Tyler said the department is actively working on completing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I myself learned about those reports to the Legislature that are due, I put a task in my own calendar to start checking up on those to ensure that those are getting submitted timely,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some legislation lays out clear mandates for Cal Fire, other bills establish goals for the department to meet. For example, a law passed in 2019 set a goal for Cal Fire to inspect homes within its responsibility area once every three years. These inspections are designed to educate homeowners about dangers with vegetation near the home and structural vulnerabilities to wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cal Fire is struggling to hit its inspection targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2021 report\u003c/a> from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, “CalFire was not able to provide data on how many unique properties were inspected each year or how many properties had not been inspected within the past three years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the LAO concluded, “[I]t is unclear what share of properties have received recent inspections.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department provided some information, and indicated some local Cal Fire units inspected 10% or fewer of their parcels each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant said the department is working to hit its goals and plans to hire more defensible space inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be working to not only increase those [inspection] numbers, but to make sure that those numbers are being reported to the public to see exactly where that work is being done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moritz, the wildfire specialist with University of California Cooperative Extension, said the inspections are essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly if Cal Fire was able to follow through and inspect 100% of the parcels that need it,” said Moritz, “presumably those inspections would lead to a great benefit, a great reduction in risk for both the firefighters and for the homeowners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also is supposed to update fire hazard severity maps every five years, but they were last updated in 2007. The agency told CapRadio in December that \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/12/20/after-years-of-delays-calfire-says-updated-and-expanded-wildfire-hazard-maps-are-on-their-way/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the new ones would be released in the next few months\u003c/a> — at that time, ostensibly February or March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview, Cal Fire staff now says the new maps likely will roll out in the summer and fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The maps are “a really important tool that we have for smarter building and design of our communities, because the building codes are attached to those maps,” according to Moritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaying the map updates, Moritz said, could lead to places still being identified at a lower hazard level than they should be. “You could have building going on that would not be at the building codes that are necessary for the hazard in that location,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s modeling has struggled to keep pace with the conditions feeding California’s extreme wildfires. Berlant says the department is now using science that “tracks extreme wind events at a much smaller scale, so that we can better mirror conditions that we’ve been experiencing in these last couple of fire seasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cal Fire’s chief responds\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The California Newsroom presented Chief Tyler with its findings, and he expounded on ways he plans to change the culture and structure of Cal Fire. He also reiterated his belief that Cal Fire can — and under his leadership will — balance its firefighting and forestry responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979588\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979588\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue uniform stands at a podium in front of a bulldozer. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler speaks in Santa Rosa for Wildfire Preparedness Week, May 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For example, experts and practitioners in the world of fire resilience have told The California Newsroom they feel an inability to publicly criticize or offer scrutiny of Cal Fire for fear of damaging their relationship with the department, being cut out of grants or not getting their permits signed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler acknowledged this fear is a real problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That disappoints me,” he said. “I have heard that in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his short time as chief, Tyler said he has been working to create an environment that welcomes open communication and collaboration. He said in his first weeks as the head of Cal Fire, he spent about six days a week soliciting input from stakeholders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morse, with the state’s Natural Resources Agency, added that Cal Fire’s participation in the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force brought the department to the table with representatives from nongovernment organizations, tribes and local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While he’s open to some changes, Tyler stopped short of advocating for radical overhauls to the department’s structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire uses a top-down organizational structure called the “incident command system.” This organizational model is often used by public agencies to manage emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler believes this structure is effective for fighting fires — and planning to prevent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cal Fire is a very paramilitary organization,” the chief said. “You can use that system for applying anything to this organization, whether that be fuels reduction, vegetation management, prescribed fire or full suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler also pushed back on \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2377\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">handing over fire prevention responsibilities\u003c/a> , such as prescribed burns and other mitigation efforts, to a cabinet-level position appointed by the governor — a proposal floated by one lawmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do not believe that there is a need to split this department,” Tyler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He emphasized his expectation that, when firefighters “are not actively suppressing fires and going to emergencies, they are doing defensible space inspections, they are doing fuels reduction [and] they are investing in prescribed fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important that these employees are doing the entire mission of the department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The California Newsroom is a collaboration of public radio stations, NPR and CalMatters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Cal Fire Fumbles Key Responsibilities to Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires Despite Historic Budget | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Richard A. Wilson is worried about wildfires this summer, amid dry conditions, extreme temperatures, punishing winds and the amplification of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are very vulnerable,” the 90-year-old said while looking out the window of his house on Buck Mountain, part of a 3,000-acre cattle ranch spanning Mendocino and Trinity counties that has been in his family for 80 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson estimates about 70% of his land — the whole northern end, including grassland, and pine and Douglas fir timberland — has burned in recent years. It was hit by the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire and the 2020 August Complex Fire, both among the largest fires in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The scale of the fires covered the country in a way we hadn’t seen, in size or intensity,” Wilson recalled.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Their business [now] is putting fires out. The bigger the fires, the more people they need to put the fires out. That’s a complete reverse of somebody trying to deal with the forest so if there is a fire, it doesn’t get out of control and burn the whole thing down.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires in California have burned nearly 7 million acres in the last two years alone. It is not only the size of the fires but also the destruction that’s breathtaking. In just the 2021 fire season, the Dixie Fire destroyed the town of Greenville and the Caldor Fire devastated the foothills community of Grizzly Flats. Both were the first fires in modern state history to burn across the Sierra Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Wilson fears, will be dangerous, as well: “We are headed into a tenuous time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson is not just any worried landowner: He’s the former head of Cal Fire, the state department responsible for fighting wildfires and managing forestland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while Cal Fire is broadly recognized as a leader in firefighting, Wilson says it is also partly to blame for the looming danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he led the department in the 1990s, he claims it viewed caring for forest health as a primary mission. Foresters are trained to see wooded areas as living ecosystems, and know how to make them more fire-resilient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the years after his tenure, he says the culture changed. Firefighting, not forestry, became the route to advancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s now a fire department. A very good fire department. But it’s not a forestry department,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Cal Fire is at an inflection point: trying to return to a greater emphasis on fire mitigation and forest health, while still working to protect communities from historic and deadly wildfires. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature lavished the department with record amounts of money for prescribed burns, brush clearing and cutting fuel breaks. But money alone does not solve the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has publicly signaled a commitment to rebalancing its priorities. But a monthslong investigation by The California Newsroom, a public media collaboration, found that the department continues to fumble key responsibilities related to forest management and wildfire mitigation, potentially leaving the state at greater risk of catastrophic fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation found:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The state set aside a record $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest health in 2021. However, Cal Fire’s forest management hiring remains stagnant, while its firefighting staffing has ballooned.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal Fire is struggling to track wildfire prevention projects that experts say are desperately needed to protect communities from destructive wildfires. The department still can’t determine how many acres of work it completed and funded through grants in the fiscal year ending in June 2021.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal Fire has taken years to implement laws passed by the state Legislature. A program, required under state law to bolster the prescribed-burn workforce, suffered nearly a year of delay. So far, only two burn bosses have been certified, slowing the pace of protective projects. Experts say this delay has caused a loss of opportunities to enact community-protecting work.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>For at least four years, Cal Fire has failed to send its annual report to the Legislature detailing the department’s fire prevention efforts. The report, required by law, is an inventory of Cal Fire’s efforts and helps lawmakers understand the state’s progress on protecting vulnerable communities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has increased its output during the past five years. It completed fire prevention work — directly or through grants — on 105,000 acres in the fiscal year that ended in June 2020. The department could not provide a more current total.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/8.12.20-CA-Shared-Stewardship-MOU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tasked\u003c/a> Cal Fire, along with partners that control state and private land, with performing 500,000 acres of forest management and fire mitigation work every year by 2025. But progress toward that goal has been slow, in part because a key state program \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/04/12/newsom-hailed-this-critical-wildfire-prevention-program-two-years-on-it-hasnt-completed-a-single-project/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">failed to increase project completions\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Watching these fires get larger and more damaging since 2014, I sincerely recognize the need to change the way we do — and have changed the way that we do — business.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Cal Fire’s Joe Tyler, who was appointed chief in March, said the department is making progress on improving forest health and protecting communities in advance of catastrophic fires by “investing in community preparedness and mitigation” and “continuing to do those fuels projects across the board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to this year’s creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/p24fmjyg/cwpm-news-release_2022.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation division\u003c/a>, which aims to “develop, prioritize and implement strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tyler said the longer, more extreme wildfire seasons — coupled with the pandemic — have left the department’s workforce “fatigued.” That has affected Cal Fire’s administrative, forest management and fire suppression capabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler also acknowledged the need to change Cal Fire’s culture so it focuses more on prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Watching these fires get larger and more damaging since 2014, I sincerely recognize the need to change the way we do — and have changed the way that we do — business,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire practitioners like Margo Robbins, executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council, argue this change at Cal Fire is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that they have forgotten that forestry is part of their responsibility, quite frankly,” said Robbins, whose expertise is in setting intentional fires that benefit the landscape and can protect communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that Cal Fire is “moving in the right direction” by boosting investment in fire mitigation and fuel reduction. And the department has helped accommodate cultural prescribed burning led by Native American communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “they have a ways to go,” Robbins added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they would focus more on that management piece, I think we would be seeing a very different scenario on our landscapes and a very different scenario in terms of wildfires,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rebranding the department, changing the culture\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979580\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighters in orange and yellow uniforms stand in front of a burning hillside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-768x580.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56650_GettyImages-567393319-qut-1536x1160.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters from the State of California and the Orange County Fire Authority on a controlled burn in Crystal Cove State Park, June 27, 1998. \u003ccite>(Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back when Wilson ran Cal Fire in the 1990s, it was known by its official name: the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. He says during those years he made sure foresters — who are trained in managing forest health — had a lot of say. He feels their voice has disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/jwpajqnx/foresters-and-directors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">photo lineup of Cal Fire’s past executive roster\u003c/a> , Wilson is the last chief wearing a suit and tie. All subsequent chiefs are wearing uniforms with badges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their business [now] is putting fires out,” Wilson said. “The bigger the fires, the more people they need to put the fires out. That’s a complete reverse of somebody trying to deal with the forest so if there is a fire, it doesn’t get out of control and burn the whole thing down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new chief, Tyler, is a 30-year veteran of the department who previously oversaw aspects of Cal Fire’s firefighting and emergency response. He said he witnessed the culture change, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I recall far ago in my career, in the ’90s, where fuels treatment, fuels reduction, vegetation management was an extremely high priority of the department,” Tyler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979575\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1979575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-800x642.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-800x642.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-1020x818.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-160x128.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-768x616.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM-1536x1232.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-12.49.08-PM.png 1588w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photoline up of Cal Fire’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/jwpajqnx/foresters-and-directors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive roster\u003c/a> from 1990 to the present. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But then, with the onset of larger and more damaging fires, the department’s focus increasingly shifted to suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The name “Cal Fire” embodies this tension. In 2006, the Legislature passed a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200520060AB1423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">law\u003c/a> allowing The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to rebrand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the bill — including the department’s firefighters union — argued the change was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22015888-ab-1423-assembly-bill-bill-analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">necessary to reflect [the department’s] primary role as a fire-fighting agency.\u003c/a> ” But the department itself had opposed the legislation, worried that the new moniker would obscure its forest management mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These tensions are once again at the fore as California faces a new wildfire reality.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Record investment, few new fire-prevention hires\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Last year, Newsom and lawmakers allocated a record $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest management, with the bulk of it going to Cal Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a record amount. As of April, about half of the $1.5 billion had been “committed” to specific projects and initiatives, \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Forest-Stewardship/Wildfire-Resilience-Program/2022-04-29-Wildfire-Resilience-Budget-Report.pdf\">according\u003c/a> to a recent report from the Natural Resources Agency, which oversees Cal Fire. The state has up to seven years to spend the bulk of the investment; some money may have to be spent sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says the committed money is going to good use. “We’ve launched over 550 new projects with that funding,” said Jessica Morse, deputy secretary for forest and wildland resilience with the Natural Resources Agency. “Which is pretty fast — for bureaucracy, from appropriation — within less than a year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of these projects are specific wildfire prevention and forest health efforts, according to a chart on the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Forest-Stewardship/Wildfire-Resilience-Program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>. For example, the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District is planning a 641-acre fuel break to protect the communities of Groveland and Big Oak Flat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A number of projects don’t turn dirt or remove dangerous brush. Some fund studies of mitigation techniques and vegetation types. Another pays a consulting firm half-a-million dollars to develop a communications strategy for the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of other projects are related to climate change resilience, but have no immediate connection to wildfires. For example, a $600,000 allocation will help the city of Glendale, in Los Angeles County, plant 500 trees within the most “tree-poor area of the City.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of that money would go to distributing pamphlets to urban property owners on “the benefits of trees and tree care,” the project description reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979578\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979578 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-800x541.png\" alt=\"Chart showing rising costs of responding to wildfires.\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-20-at-1.14.20-PM.png 1076w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State spending on firefighting has more than tripled since 2005, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a>. Despite recent increases, spending on resource management and fire prevention is still a small fraction of the total. \u003ccite>(LAO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In spite of last year’s investment, the bulk of Cal Fire’s overall spending remains focused on fire suppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last three fiscal years, Cal Fire allocated nearly $8 billion for “fire protection,” according to figures provided by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, or LAO. That money is used “to attack fires quickly and aggressively … until the fire is under control,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2022-23/pdf/GovernorsBudget/3000/3540.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the department’s budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During those three years, the department allocated about $1.5 billion for “resource management,” which according to the department’s budget is for the “regulation of timber harvesting,” “coordination of climate and forest restoration” and “vegetation management projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staffing and new hires also heavily favor fire suppression. In the last three years, “fire protection” positions jumped from 7,076 to 8,187, according to figures provided by the state Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In an interview, senior Cal Fire officials noted that some positions in the department’s “fire protection” division focus on fire prevention work. About 3% of the division’s staff are described as “fire prevention” positions, according to Department of Finance figures.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that same time period, Cal Fire’s “resource management” division increased by 31 positions to a total of 518 — despite the massive investment in forest health and wildfire mitigation last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Note: Every department’s budget includes staffing figures, but the Department of Finance cautioned that some of the numbers for Cal Fire in recent years needed to be updated. The Department of Finance provided updated, accurate figures in response to a request from The California Newsroom.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts acknowledge the need to ramp up fire suppression forces in the face of extreme wildfires. But they argue there needs to be a complementary increase in resource management hiring to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robbins, with the Cultural Fire Management Council, called the hiring disparity “startling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking at these numbers,” she said, “it is very obvious to me that they’re not putting as much focus as they should be on prevention as opposed to reactionary suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Mason, vice president of policy and incentives with Pacific Forest Trust, a conservation group focused on sustainable forests, said the need for more resource management staffing is “substantial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cal Fire needs dozens, if not hundreds, of additional people working on the resource management side of the organization,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that Cal Fire can’t achieve forest sustainability alone, and should build up its workforce alongside other agencies focused on water resources, climate resilience and biodiversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One challenge, according to Morse with the Natural Resources Agency, is that last year’s historic investment in wildfire resilience is mostly one-time spending, meaning the agency cannot count on it in future budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because it’s not permanent funding, it’s hard to get permanent positions,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the money can be spent for up to seven years, Morse said. Some might have to be spent sooner. That would put a time limit on any positions created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates like Robbins and Mason are pushing for \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificforest.org/wildfire-resiliency-group-budget-letter/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">at least $1 billion in annual\u003c/a> for the next five years — totaling a minimum of $5 billion — for wildfire resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979582 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter in a yellow uniform drips flame from a torch onto a pile of brush. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56652_51207660423_ab9176b089_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire crews conduct a prescribed burn as part of its vegetation management program in February 2020. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Struggling to track progress\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An overarching initiative driving the state’s fire prevention efforts is an \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/8.12.20-CA-Shared-Stewardship-MOU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> Newsom forged with the federal government in the summer of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the plan, California and the U.S. Forest Service each committed to completing 500,000 acres of forest management work annually in the state by 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after signing the agreement, Newsom held a press conference in Butte County amid ruins of the North Complex Fire. Peering through the smoky air and clad in a vintage-style military jacket, he called the plan “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXga8CM_uuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a significant milestone, a significant step forward\u003c/a> .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In 2018, in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/5.10.18-Forest-EO.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive order\u003c/a>, former Gov. Jerry Brown set an annual 500,000-acre goal for California agencies, with a deadline of 2023, but Newsom’s agreement with the federal government \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/29/gov-gavin-newsom-retreats-on-1-billion-wildfire-prevention-plan-ahead-of-meeting-with-president-biden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pushed \u003c/a>the target back two years.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring progress toward this goal is murky at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Newsroom requested data on the number of fire prevention acres Cal Fire itself completed, or funded through grants, in recent years. The department provided a chart showing a steady increase in total acreage, reaching over 105,000 acres in the fiscal year ending in June 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cal Fire is still figuring out the total number it completed and funded through grants between July 2020 and June 2021. And the department did not provide any data on the current fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To achieve its 500,000-acre goal, the state will count wildfire prevention work performed by Cal Fire, its grantees and private landowners, which can include large properties such as logging companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But currently, Cal Fire does not have a way to track work completed by many private landowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It highlights something pretty basic, which is we need an accounting system that works,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with University of California Cooperative Extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He notes that tabulating total fire mitigation acres is a limited method of measuring risk reduction. He and other experts advocate for a system that takes into consideration factors like proximity to vulnerable communities and topography. But quantifying total acres of completed work is a basic step toward a more sophisticated assessment system, according to Moritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is aiming to develop an online dashboard to track progress on forest management and fire prevention work. The goal is to show “the public where these projects are occurring” by putting “all this data at their fingertips,” said Daniel Berlant, deputy director of the department’s newly created Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration has come under \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/06/23/newsom-misled-the-public-about-wildfire-prevention-efforts-ahead-of-worst-fire-season-on-record/\">criticism in the past for overstating the state’s wildfire prevention accomplishments,\u003c/a> first uncovered in an investigation by The California Newsroom last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has teased the new system — an upgrade of its existing, inconsistent \u003ca href=\"https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fegis.fire.ca.gov%2Farcgis%2Frest%2Fservices%2FCalMapper%2FCalMAPPER_Public%2FMapServer&source=sd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CalMAPPER\u003c/a> database — since last summer. But it hasn’t committed to a release date. At a meeting of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force last month, director Patrick Wright said it would offer “an initial flavor” of the dashboard in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An additional challenge stands in the way of measuring progress toward the 1 million acre goal. While the target seems straightforward, Cal Fire and the federal government haven’t arrived at an agreed-upon definition of what counts as an “acre.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are differing perspectives over which types of fuel reduction should be eligible. For example, if an area has to be hand-thinned prior to a prescribed burn, should that area be tallied twice? Is salvage-logging, the process of removing damaged trees after a fire, eligible? What if the federal and state governments work together on the same project — could they both count it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire says it has internal definitions of how to measure and count acres of forest management work. But an agreed-upon definition with the Forest Service remains elusive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, senior Cal Fire officials told The California Newsroom that the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force is taking the lead on crafting this definition. The task force is made up of representatives from the state and federal governments, tribal leaders and other groups that do forest health projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that we’re talking apples to apples,” Berlant said. When pressed, he and other senior officials did not provide a timeline for when that definition would be finalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979583\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979583 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a helmet tosses a dead branch down a dry, yellow hill. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56653_51342881697_e3f59cf6dd_o-1-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire crews cleared brush to create a fuel break in San Diego County. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A ‘messy, confusing process’ to certify ‘burn bosses’ and expand prescribed fire\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s prescribed fire guidebook says setting controlled, beneficial fire “is a key tool for the Department and its cooperators to use in reducing fuels at a landscape scale while improving ecosystem health in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the workforce needed to meaningfully scale up prescribed fire, and protect forests and communities, is still largely lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually “burn bosses” — those qualified to plan and lead controlled burns — need to work for many years for fire suppression agencies, such as Cal Fire or the U.S. Forest Service, to get enough experience for certification. But being so busy fighting fires for much of the year, they struggle to get many burns done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, burns remain a key strategy, and the state’s goal has been to increase the workforce. To that end, the Legislature passed a bill in 2018 meant to increase the number of people trained to run burns. The law created a state-led training and certification program called State-Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss, or CA-RX. It signaled a shift in direction — and a hope that burn bosses who do not work for government agencies in suppression, but may work for nonprofits, will have more freedom to conduct burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, it took four years — until mid-April 2022 — for the first burn boss to be certified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a Public Records Act request make it clear that some Cal Fire unit chiefs, whose signoff was required to advance the certification process, did not fully support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delays in issuing and signing paperwork prevented the certification of trainees for the better part of a year. For example, course participants were not issued training checklists known as “task books,” which are used to evaluate their abilities. And trainees suggest these delays may have come at a cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am deeply concerned that I have still not been issued a task book to finalize my CARX certification,” wrote trainee Will Harling, director of the Mid Klamath Watershed Council, in an early January 2022 email to Cal Fire’s State Fire Training division. “This sense of urgency is shared by myself and others who have seen first-hand towns nearly wiped off the map in the time we have been waiting for this CARX certification process to be finalized, and have the skills and knowledge to safely implement prescribed burns that can help save homes and protect resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harling wasn’t the only one to write in frustration to the division. In response to a December 2021 email from another trainee, Battalion Chief Mark Bisbee within Cal Fire’s State Fire Training division acknowledged the program’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I guess the best way to characterize this entire process is messy, confusing,” Bisbee wrote. “The next step is in flux because […] not all Unit Chiefs are on board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bisbee acknowledged in his email that the certification program “has been a very long, drawn out process,” but said he would continue to advocate for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview in April, Bisbee said the slow start was partially due to only a few people being authorized to teach the program, but also to “bottlenecks within the bureaucracy.” While he said he saw progress within the department of accepting prescribed fire — which can be a hard adjustment for those trained only to put out fire — the paradigm shift was like a huge ship moving sideways: slow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also acknowledged the push from lawmakers to take a new direction: “Whether Cal Fire is ready or not, the legislation is saying this is what we need to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a legislative oversight hearing last December, Lenya Quinn-Davidson — a fire adviser with the University of California who helped write the legislation and the curriculum and who hosted the first course — told lawmakers:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve missed a ton of opportunities for project implementation. There is a huge need for qualified burn bosses to plan and implement projects and to partner with the state and to partner with landowners. But without the state certification and the protections that it can provide, many of those folks are not willing to go out and do that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quinn-Davidson wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://fireadaptednetwork.org/california-burn-boss-program-new-path-forward-or-dead-end-street/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blog post \u003c/a>in mid-January about the delays in the certification process. Soon after it published, Cal Fire issued task books to almost all participants, according to a blog update. Will Harling confirmed receiving his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see this work happen more quickly,” Quinn-Davidson told The California Newsroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Reischman, Cal Fire’s deputy director of resource management, said he believes the program will prove a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a new course for us, so there’s a lot of changes and things that we had to do to get it up and running,” he said. “It’s a process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Missing reports and safety inspections\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In some instances, The California Newsroom discovered, Cal Fire is altogether neglecting oversight requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For over a decade, the Legislature has mandated that the department file an annual report detailing its fire prevention activities for the previous year, and its plans for improving prevention efforts moving forward. The report is an inventory of the department’s accomplishments, and lawmakers rely on it to understand the state’s progress on protecting vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an exhaustive search by the State Library, carried out at The California Newsroom’s request, found that the department has not filed this report in at least four years. The library’s most recent copy covers fiscal year 2014-15. The state’s website for \u003ca href=\"https://agencyreports.ca.gov/rep13922308081004\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agency reports\u003c/a> indicates the department may have filed a report for 2017, but the library does not have a copy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two state budgets, the Legislature also required Cal Fire to file reports on grants awarded to local governments and nonprofits for fire prevention, including the number of applications received and grants awarded. The reports were due in February of this year, according to the state’s website for agency reports. A search by the State Library turned up no copies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire did not provide copies of the reports in response to an email request. In an interview, Berlant said “the reports are in the works,” adding the department took its responsibilities seriously but had been delayed by the pandemic and that “fighting fire in the middle of December, January, February — that becomes a bit of our priority.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief Tyler said the department is actively working on completing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I myself learned about those reports to the Legislature that are due, I put a task in my own calendar to start checking up on those to ensure that those are getting submitted timely,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some legislation lays out clear mandates for Cal Fire, other bills establish goals for the department to meet. For example, a law passed in 2019 set a goal for Cal Fire to inspect homes within its responsibility area once every three years. These inspections are designed to educate homeowners about dangers with vegetation near the home and structural vulnerabilities to wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cal Fire is struggling to hit its inspection targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2021 report\u003c/a> from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, “CalFire was not able to provide data on how many unique properties were inspected each year or how many properties had not been inspected within the past three years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the LAO concluded, “[I]t is unclear what share of properties have received recent inspections.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department provided some information, and indicated some local Cal Fire units inspected 10% or fewer of their parcels each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant said the department is working to hit its goals and plans to hire more defensible space inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be working to not only increase those [inspection] numbers, but to make sure that those numbers are being reported to the public to see exactly where that work is being done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moritz, the wildfire specialist with University of California Cooperative Extension, said the inspections are essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly if Cal Fire was able to follow through and inspect 100% of the parcels that need it,” said Moritz, “presumably those inspections would lead to a great benefit, a great reduction in risk for both the firefighters and for the homeowners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also is supposed to update fire hazard severity maps every five years, but they were last updated in 2007. The agency told CapRadio in December that \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/12/20/after-years-of-delays-calfire-says-updated-and-expanded-wildfire-hazard-maps-are-on-their-way/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the new ones would be released in the next few months\u003c/a> — at that time, ostensibly February or March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview, Cal Fire staff now says the new maps likely will roll out in the summer and fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The maps are “a really important tool that we have for smarter building and design of our communities, because the building codes are attached to those maps,” according to Moritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaying the map updates, Moritz said, could lead to places still being identified at a lower hazard level than they should be. “You could have building going on that would not be at the building codes that are necessary for the hazard in that location,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s modeling has struggled to keep pace with the conditions feeding California’s extreme wildfires. Berlant says the department is now using science that “tracks extreme wind events at a much smaller scale, so that we can better mirror conditions that we’ve been experiencing in these last couple of fire seasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cal Fire’s chief responds\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The California Newsroom presented Chief Tyler with its findings, and he expounded on ways he plans to change the culture and structure of Cal Fire. He also reiterated his belief that Cal Fire can — and under his leadership will — balance its firefighting and forestry responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979588\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979588\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue uniform stands at a podium in front of a bulldozer. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler speaks in Santa Rosa for Wildfire Preparedness Week, May 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For example, experts and practitioners in the world of fire resilience have told The California Newsroom they feel an inability to publicly criticize or offer scrutiny of Cal Fire for fear of damaging their relationship with the department, being cut out of grants or not getting their permits signed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler acknowledged this fear is a real problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That disappoints me,” he said. “I have heard that in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his short time as chief, Tyler said he has been working to create an environment that welcomes open communication and collaboration. He said in his first weeks as the head of Cal Fire, he spent about six days a week soliciting input from stakeholders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morse, with the state’s Natural Resources Agency, added that Cal Fire’s participation in the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force brought the department to the table with representatives from nongovernment organizations, tribes and local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While he’s open to some changes, Tyler stopped short of advocating for radical overhauls to the department’s structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire uses a top-down organizational structure called the “incident command system.” This organizational model is often used by public agencies to manage emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler believes this structure is effective for fighting fires — and planning to prevent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cal Fire is a very paramilitary organization,” the chief said. “You can use that system for applying anything to this organization, whether that be fuels reduction, vegetation management, prescribed fire or full suppression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler also pushed back on \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2377\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">handing over fire prevention responsibilities\u003c/a> , such as prescribed burns and other mitigation efforts, to a cabinet-level position appointed by the governor — a proposal floated by one lawmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do not believe that there is a need to split this department,” Tyler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He emphasized his expectation that, when firefighters “are not actively suppressing fires and going to emergencies, they are doing defensible space inspections, they are doing fuels reduction [and] they are investing in prescribed fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important that these employees are doing the entire mission of the department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "How Rising Sea Levels Could Push Up a 'Toxic Soup' Into Bay Area Neighborhoods",
"headTitle": "How Rising Sea Levels Could Push Up a ‘Toxic Soup’ Into Bay Area Neighborhoods | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Phoenix Armenta is worried about the future of neighborhoods along the edge of San Francisco Bay. Contaminated sites litter shoreline communities like West Oakland, where Armenta works as a community organizer. As climate change pushes bay water higher, floodwaters could mix with toxic pollution and threaten people’s health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation='Phoenix Armenta']‘I’m concerned that water is going to get into people’s homes. They’ll be polluted with a toxic soup.\u003c/span>‘[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that water is going to get into people’s homes,” said Armenta, regional resilience manager for the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. “They’ll be polluted with a toxic soup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two separate science groups have released updates to ongoing research exploring this threat for the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists and the state have well documented the potential impact of sea level rise on the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These researchers are examining an under-studied threat: rising ocean water driving fresh water up from the ground, which could move as far as three miles inland from the edge of the bay, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Pathways.SFEI_.Rising.Groundwater.pdf\">summary of ongoing work shared with KQED\u003c/a>.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1971660 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/12/KQEDSCIENCE_GRNDWTR.gif\" alt=\"An animated graphic shows how sea level rise will push groundwater up, with toxic results. The rising seawater pushes against salty groundwater, then fresh groundwater, then sewer, until it reaches basements and foundations.\" width=\"400\" height=\"720\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute forecast that groundwater will move into low-lying areas of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Marin counties, potentially s\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eeping past seawalls, flooding basements, overwhelming sewers and damaging building foundations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study is slated to be released in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists from UC Berkeley and UCLA are concerned that the groundwater will steep in toxic pollution before spreading into neighborhoods and the bay itself. They found that more than \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/extreme-scenarios?authuser=0\">900 toxic sites\u003c/a> could be affected by both sea level rise and groundwater rise across the state by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities like West Oakland — which abuts one of the West Coast’s busiest ports and is bound by busy freeways — already are dealing with high levels of air pollution and other adverse health outcomes because of their proximity to industry and its waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armenta, who uses they pronouns, heads the \u003ca href=\"https://woeip.org/featured-work/oakland-shoreline-leadership-academy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy\u003c/a>, teaching students of all ages about the issues for shoreline communities — including sea level rise and contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal is to give the students “who want to be part of the solution” an understanding of local shoreline issues, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Oakland, where there was redlining is exactly where all the toxic sites are. And exactly where all the sea level rise is going to happen,” Armenta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979181 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A black woman with green glasses and a black and white striped shirt sorts landscaping material using gloves and flanked by two young people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phoenix Armenta, program manager of the Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy and an environmental justice organizer, leads interns on a shoreline restoration trip in partnership with Save the Bay on March 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Amaya Nicole Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Climate justice red flags\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley’s Rachel Morello-Frosch and UCLA’s Lara Cushing are the scientists behind the \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/home?authuser=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toxic Tides\u003c/a> interactive tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, they released a stunning finding: About 400 sites — power plants, sewage treatment plants, refineries, cleanup sites and others — across the state are at risk of inundation, based on various sea-level-rise scenarios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their latest analysis found more than double that could be affected statewide, if more extreme scenarios and additional groundwater are considered. The scientists say they don’t see signs that greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The global] response to reducing emissions is quite underwhelming,” Morello-Frosch said of international efforts to limit warming. “Some scientists in the climate change community may feel like that’s too much of a severe estimate, 10 feet of sea level rise, but it’s important to show when we’re thinking about land-use planning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The take-home message of their work is that climate change is presenting new risks that could lead to human exposure to hazardous materials all along the California coastline, with a high Bay Area concentration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 90%\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific site. Click on each site for details. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: UC Berkeley, UCLA\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://yangj90.carto.com/builder/0a968569-b1f7-4798-960a-a0998e0589e2/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a historical central hub for commerce, the region has a legacy of contaminated sites from shipbuilding, computer chip manufacturing and other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pair’s work raises major red flags regarding climate justice. Many of these places are neighborhoods of color, where residents are increasingly at risk from the effects of warming temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities of color are much more likely to live near one of these risk sites, as are lower-income communities or communities where English is not the primary language that’s spoken,” said Cushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new analysis is innovative because it uses groundwater depth data from the U.S. Geological Survey alongside climate models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morello-Frosch says sea level rise will push groundwater up, “particularly in sites where there are toxic contaminants in the soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned that as seas rise, sites where contamination has been capped, partially cleaned up or never addressed could be disturbed, threatening Bay Area shoreline communities already fighting for pollution cleanups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists say that local groundwater mapping and “deep assessments” are crucial steps to understand specific local threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities can use this information to develop their own strategies at the local, county and statewide scales to begin to respond,” said Morello-Frosch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “unlike a hurricane, which is happening right away, this is a very slow-moving storm that we do have time to respond to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filling a data gap\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alameda, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties are partnering with scientists from Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='left' citation='Pathways Climate Institute, San Francisco Estuary Institute']‘Failure to acknowledge the threats, especially in underserved communities, could undermine the success of adapting to sea level rise adaptation plans.’\u003c/span>[/pullquote]The authors note that flooding has the “potential to damage building foundations, flood basements and other below grade structures, and to infiltrate and overwhelm sewers. Ultimately it may emerge aboveground as an urban flood hazard even before coastal floodwaters overtop the shoreline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also warn of “contaminants in the soil” entering buildings through sewer lines or other pathways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While they released the two-page document describing the work, they are not commenting until the research is finished later this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists are compiling and sorting through multiple datasets to understand the risk to infrastructure in low-lying areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They want to expand their work to all Bay Area counties, if they can find funding for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The memo says a “failure to acknowledge” the threats, especially in underserved communities, “could undermine the success of adapting to sea level rise and potentially threaten public health and the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that water is going to get into people’s homes,” said Armenta, regional resilience manager for the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. “They’ll be polluted with a toxic soup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two separate science groups have released updates to ongoing research exploring this threat for the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists and the state have well documented the potential impact of sea level rise on the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These researchers are examining an under-studied threat: rising ocean water driving fresh water up from the ground, which could move as far as three miles inland from the edge of the bay, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Pathways.SFEI_.Rising.Groundwater.pdf\">summary of ongoing work shared with KQED\u003c/a>.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1971660 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/12/KQEDSCIENCE_GRNDWTR.gif\" alt=\"An animated graphic shows how sea level rise will push groundwater up, with toxic results. The rising seawater pushes against salty groundwater, then fresh groundwater, then sewer, until it reaches basements and foundations.\" width=\"400\" height=\"720\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute forecast that groundwater will move into low-lying areas of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Marin counties, potentially s\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eeping past seawalls, flooding basements, overwhelming sewers and damaging building foundations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study is slated to be released in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists from UC Berkeley and UCLA are concerned that the groundwater will steep in toxic pollution before spreading into neighborhoods and the bay itself. They found that more than \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/extreme-scenarios?authuser=0\">900 toxic sites\u003c/a> could be affected by both sea level rise and groundwater rise across the state by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities like West Oakland — which abuts one of the West Coast’s busiest ports and is bound by busy freeways — already are dealing with high levels of air pollution and other adverse health outcomes because of their proximity to industry and its waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armenta, who uses they pronouns, heads the \u003ca href=\"https://woeip.org/featured-work/oakland-shoreline-leadership-academy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy\u003c/a>, teaching students of all ages about the issues for shoreline communities — including sea level rise and contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal is to give the students “who want to be part of the solution” an understanding of local shoreline issues, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Oakland, where there was redlining is exactly where all the toxic sites are. And exactly where all the sea level rise is going to happen,” Armenta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1979181 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A black woman with green glasses and a black and white striped shirt sorts landscaping material using gloves and flanked by two young people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/04/Image-from-iOS-23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phoenix Armenta, program manager of the Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy and an environmental justice organizer, leads interns on a shoreline restoration trip in partnership with Save the Bay on March 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Amaya Nicole Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Climate justice red flags\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley’s Rachel Morello-Frosch and UCLA’s Lara Cushing are the scientists behind the \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides/home?authuser=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toxic Tides\u003c/a> interactive tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, they released a stunning finding: About 400 sites — power plants, sewage treatment plants, refineries, cleanup sites and others — across the state are at risk of inundation, based on various sea-level-rise scenarios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their latest analysis found more than double that could be affected statewide, if more extreme scenarios and additional groundwater are considered. The scientists say they don’t see signs that greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The global] response to reducing emissions is quite underwhelming,” Morello-Frosch said of international efforts to limit warming. “Some scientists in the climate change community may feel like that’s too much of a severe estimate, 10 feet of sea level rise, but it’s important to show when we’re thinking about land-use planning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The take-home message of their work is that climate change is presenting new risks that could lead to human exposure to hazardous materials all along the California coastline, with a high Bay Area concentration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 90%\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific site. Click on each site for details. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: UC Berkeley, UCLA\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://yangj90.carto.com/builder/0a968569-b1f7-4798-960a-a0998e0589e2/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a historical central hub for commerce, the region has a legacy of contaminated sites from shipbuilding, computer chip manufacturing and other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pair’s work raises major red flags regarding climate justice. Many of these places are neighborhoods of color, where residents are increasingly at risk from the effects of warming temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities of color are much more likely to live near one of these risk sites, as are lower-income communities or communities where English is not the primary language that’s spoken,” said Cushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new analysis is innovative because it uses groundwater depth data from the U.S. Geological Survey alongside climate models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morello-Frosch says sea level rise will push groundwater up, “particularly in sites where there are toxic contaminants in the soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned that as seas rise, sites where contamination has been capped, partially cleaned up or never addressed could be disturbed, threatening Bay Area shoreline communities already fighting for pollution cleanups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists say that local groundwater mapping and “deep assessments” are crucial steps to understand specific local threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities can use this information to develop their own strategies at the local, county and statewide scales to begin to respond,” said Morello-Frosch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “unlike a hurricane, which is happening right away, this is a very slow-moving storm that we do have time to respond to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filling a data gap\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alameda, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties are partnering with scientists from Pathways Climate Institute and the San Francisco Estuary Institute.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
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