Monterey County Sustainability Digest

The two-day CalMatters Ideas Festival wrapped on June 6 with more than a dozen events examining critical policy issues impacting the lives of millions of Californians.

These community projects can give renters and low-income homeowners a chance to go solar, but the PUC’s action is unlikely to give them the option.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, flew more 6,000 miles to Rome this month to deliver a brief speech on climate change at a Vatican-sponsored conference.

It’s been almost a half-century since I first heard the term “peripheral canal” uttered by William Gianelli, who was then-Gov. Ronald Reagan’s top water official. The project, in one form or another, had already been kicking around for decades.

Following a noise complaint, the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury investigated and released a report with recommendations for the Monterey Regional Airport.

A bill to rein in a proposed monthly fee on California electric bills would let California’s largest for-profit utility companies charge customers $24 per month — with fees as low as $6 for lower-income customers — as a kind of membership fee for the power grid.

CalTrans continues to work toward a May 27 reopening of Highway 1 at the Rocky Creek slip-out.

The Big Sur Land Trust purchase of the 84-acre parcel protects and enhances the Canyon Del Rey watershed.

An update on efforts by the County of Monterey to meet state mandated levels of affordable housing shows lack of significant progress.

A look at the progress made toward the goals outlined in the CSUMB Inclusive Sustainability Plan created in 2020.

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

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering closure of deep-sea coral restoration and research sites to fishing to protect habitats from bottom fishing gear in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

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.

In October, CSU Monterey Bay received a $1.13 million grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to support its ongoing role in a project called OpenET.

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.

The state’s environmental tool skews which communities are designated as disadvantaged, researchers say. Some immigrant neighborhoods could be left out, while other groups are overrepresented.

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.

Foragers at the beaches in Half Moon Bay might be damaging the area’s reef.

Environmental studies students have rolled out a campaign to gather support from faculty and students, and they believe they now have the research to support implementing a green roof on campus.

Pigs running down the streets of Salinas? “It’s not too far-fetched,” says one trapper. After incessant rain, Monterey County is experiencing a big pig problem.

State Senators Ben Allen and Catherine Blakespear announced a new measure to ban plastic bags statewide—particularly the thicker ones billed as “reusable.”

The funds would help California ports expand to handle giant wind turbines and other equipment. California’s first offshore wind farms are on a fast track off Humboldt County and Morro Bay.

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

Some automakers are reducing production of electric cars and Tesla sales have dropped. Can California sustain its record pace and meet the state mandate?

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.

California State University, Monterey Bay has big plans in the coming years: complete campus sustainability by 2030.

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

Alisal Unified School District has added a sixth coach to its growing fleet of electric school buses, retiring another old diesel rig for a shiny new yellow e-bus.

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.