El Dorado County Sustainability Digest

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District has begun operating an initial 5 electric school buses and charging stations, with 15 more expected to be funded through an upcoming grant.

An Earth Day celebration is taking place at Lake Tahoe Community College on Saturday, April 27 10AM - to 3PM.

The Tahoe Prosperity Center is calling for submissions to its Project Inventory Form of projects driving innovation in sectors such as Environmental Innovation, Health and Wellness, Outdoor/Sustainable Recreation and others.

The Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Council announced the hiring of Meyers resident Nettie Pardue as its first managing director, tasked with coordinating 30 parters to implement the Destination Stewardship Plan.

The city released a survey for resident input on government input and quality of life with the intent of utilizing the feedback in strategic planning for the future.

The buildings and parking lot on the 31 acre South Lake Tahoe Motel 6 property on the upper Truckee River will be removed and the land restored.

El Dorado Disposal requests customers to not dispose of e-waste in the trash, and provides free curbside battery pick-up upon request. There are also drop-off locations in Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills and Placerville.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians announced a $653,120 grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling program for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia program.

The consumer price index shows services are mostly responsible for persistent inflation, but prices for food and other goods in California remain high.

El Dorado County’s 2023-24 mid-year budget report projects the midyear General Fund balance will be just under $17 million, down from the previous year’s $25.9 million

Part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the projects include California’s Lava Cap Mine in Nevada City, Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine in Clearlake Oaks, and Southern Avenue Industrial Area in South Gate.

Ecologists estimate that up to 14,000 sequoias have been killed in recent wildfires. The National Park Service for the first time has begun replanting some severely burned areas.

New research warns of a possible collapse in Atlantic Ocean currents due to climate change. That could fundamentally alter global weather patterns.

There was a time not so long ago when trained observers were overwhelmed by the number of whales migrating through Monterey Bay.

The Wildlife Conservation Board voted to award $10.3 million to the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County to preserve the 27,000-acre Camatta Ranch in Santa Margarita.

California electric vehicle sales dropped significantly in the last half of 2023, raising questions about the state’s ability to phase out gas-powered cars.

When wildfire smoke and extreme heat combine, they create “a synergistic effect” or an “additional burden” on people’s health, researchers say.

As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts.

Chinook and other salmon runs are collapsing. Conservation groups call it too little, too late. Plan includes dam removals and restoring river flows.

As an underground fire burns deep within Chiquita Canyon Landfill, air regulators are raising alarms over the possible spread of toxic vapors.

Take a period of limited rainfall. Add heat. And you have what scientists call a “hot drought”—dry conditions made more intense by the evaporative power of hotter temperatures.

Experts worry that the steep decline could stall the state’s battle against climate change. Solar power is critical to meeting California’s ambitious requirement to switch to carbon-free electricity.

A 20-year experiment in the Sierra Nevada confirms that different forest management techniques are effective at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California.

California farmers face challenges posed by multiple types of fruit flies. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending just over $22 million to combat the spread of these flies.

New rules took effect Jan. 1 permanently protecting the most fragile deep sea corals off Southern California. Simultaneously, more than 4,500 square miles of ocean waters are now reopened to fishing after more than 20 years of closures.

Raging storms brought major damage to California’s coastline last winter. But in Half Moon Bay, a different kind of coastal upheaval is gaining momentum—one that could decide the fate of billions of dollars of property and affect hundreds of public beaches.

The El Dorado and Georgetown Divide resource conservation districts will host their annual Local Work Group meeting to allow private landowners in El Dorado County to provide specific requests on local program needs to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Visitors can see the critically endangered Lord How Island stick insect, on display for the first time in North America, in a special habitat at the zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.

A dark-sky movement to save birds from window strikes is sweeping the San Francisco Bay Area. Several cities have passed or are drafting laws restricting light pollution while making windows easier for birds to see.

Novelist Jonathan Franzen looks at how trap-neuter-release policies in feral cat colonies have troubling consequences for city residents, local wildlife and even the felines themselves.

The California Strategic Growth Council approved over $116 million in Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program grants to permanently protect 50,500 acres of croplands and rangelands, as well as lands utilized by Indigenous tribes for the cultivation of traditional resources.

Suppliers now have detailed steps to create a new source of drinking water. But it’s not really “toilet-to-tap.” Due to the cost, it’ll likely be only large suppliers.