Monterey County Sustainability Digest

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to bring the ordinance restricting single-use plastics back on Oct. 10, where they signaled they would support passing the county law.

Maintaining certain interactions so that they remain similar to those that have controlled Earth conditions over the past 12,000 years is critical for ensuring human activities do not trigger dramatic changes that likely would decrease the Earth’s ability to support modern civilizations.

Using intricate infrared images captured by airplane over California's Central Valley, researchers were able to distinguish Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines that were infected but not showing symptoms.

Satellite data from across California’s landscapes reveal an increase in nitrogen dioxide levels in remote forest areas, and wildfire and soil emissions are likely the reasons why, according to a paper from UC Davis published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Office parks, corporate campuses, strip malls would have to remove grass, or face fines of up to $500 a day.

California’s only native sunfish, the Sacramento perch, was once abundant before invasive species decimated it. As the planet heats up and threatens cold-water game fish, the Sacramento perch may be on the cusp of a comeback, thanks to its ability to tolerate warm water.

Rancho Cielo, a comprehensive center of learning and social services for underserved youth in Monterey County, is doing its part to fight climate change.

Some 7,000 square miles of ocean on California’s Central Coast could soon become the largest national marine sanctuary in the continental U.S. It could also make history as one of the first federal sanctuaries to be spearheaded by a Native American tribe.

California’s leading air regulator acknowledged major roadblocks to meeting its ambitious carbon emissions target for 2030. The hurdles revolve around the feasibility of carbon capture technologies and the state’s flagship climate program, known as cap-and-trade.

The total number of climate change court cases has more than doubled since 2017 and is growing worldwide. These findings, published by the UN Environment Programme and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, show that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.

As sea levels rise, many countries are considering a controversial strategy: relocation of communities. A Stanford analysis of planned relocations around the world reveals a blueprint for positive outcomes from an approach often considered a last resort.

San Francisco has become the prime example of what downtowns shouldn’t look like: vacant, crime-ridden and in various stages of decay. But in truth, it’s just one of many cities across the U.S. whose downtowns are reckoning with a post-pandemic wake-up call.

Raising Shasta Dam to increase its capacity would provide 634,000 more acre-feet of water per year, legislators say. But that assumes there will always be enough precipitation, and the move risks flooding sacred Native American lands and harming local habitats.

In the magazine Nature, a team of scientists reports that they have detected changes in ocean color that cannot be explained by natural, year-to-year variability alone. These color shifts have occurred over 56 percent of the world’s oceans.

California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, permanently protecting the iconic and imperiled species.

The Salt & Straw ice cream chain is part of the upcycling movement, creating high-quality products from leftover food with flavors like Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato, made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production.

Forestry experts say state-run nurseries play a crucial role in reforestation, one that has lagged because of underinvestment in recent decades.

The U.S. government has approved a proposed multibillion-dollar transmission line that would send wind-generated electricity from rural New Mexico to big cities in the West.

California legislative committees in the Assembly and Senate blocked two big climate bills. One would have made the state’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets more ambitious. Another would have allowed people to sue oil companies over health problems if they meet certain criteria.

The Palo Corona Regional Park, Rancho Cañada Unit, is a former golf course that has been transforming back into a natural setting. With that change, native species of plants are making a comeback. But after an especially wet winter, so are the weeds.

Pacific Gas and Electric will soon change the way it stores casks of new highly radioactive spent fuel from Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Fort Bragg is embarking on an innovative pilot project to desalt ocean water for the Mendocino Coast community using carbon-free wave action to power an energy-intensive process that in other cases generates climate changing greenhouse gases.

As the industry invests $40 billion in new US electric car plants, the rapid transformation raises labor and supply chain issues. Automaker Ford says, “we’re all in.”

Trucking companies say the deadlines for converting big rigs, delivery trucks and other heavy vehicles are unachievable and will cause “chaos and dysfunction.” The move is designed to clean communities' air, especially near ports, warehouses and freeways.

And neither was 1952. The top honor should really go to 1983, which clinched first at 231% of normal, an analysis by the Bay Area News Group found.

A federal appeals court has overturned Berkeley's first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas in new construction, agreeing with restaurant owners who argued the city bypassed federal energy regulations when it approved the ordinance.

From brainy write-ups to passionate pleas for reform, here are selected excerpts from CalMatters' Earth Day op-ed contest.

As demand soars for electric vehicles and renewable power, a new SLAC-Stanford Battery Center aims to build a better battery.

One of the options would override California’s water rights and split the cuts evenly between California, Nevada and Arizona—which would be a big blow to Imperial Valley farmers.

Up to 60% of 2030 models and two-thirds of 2032 models sold nationwide would be zero-emissions—less aggressive than California’s mandate.

Native plant species can adapt to natural challenges, biologists say, but non-native plants and trees may not fare as well.

As epic Sierra Nevada snowpack threatens to overwhelm this phantom lake bed with spring runoff, some fear the Tulare Lake Compost facility could be transformed into an environmental disaster.