Sacramento County Sustainability Digest

Most people who move because of climate change in the United States don't go far, and they end up in homes that are less threatened by the effects of global warming, according to new research.

As hot days become more extreme and common, California education researchers are urging that school districts be required to develop heat plans to keep students safe, just as they have policies for severe storms and active shooters.

More than a year after controversial state legislation mandating organic waste recycling went into effect, Republic Services is now set to begin fining households in Citrus Heights that are found to have significant contamination in waste carts.

Rachel Machi Wagoner heads the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, better known as CalRecycle, so of course her focus is the environment—and it’s something she has been passionate about since age 22.

Earth has pushed into “the danger zone,” not just for the natural world but also for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study by the international scientist group Earth Commission.

Hope. That’s what Josh Fryday, who oversees the California Volunteers state office, envisions its $6.9 million grant made to the city of Sacramento will provide to 600 local youth from underserved communities through employment opportunities and career pathways in sustainable sectors.

Goats eat a wide variety of vegetation and graze in steep, rocky terrain, which is why they’re an eco-friendly alternative to chemical herbicides or weed-whacking machines. But new state labor regulations are making it more expensive to provide goat-grazing services.

UC Davis researchers found that lab-grown meat is likely to leave a larger carbon footprint than retail beef, raising questions of the benefits of cultured meat production.

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.

From charred husks to so-called ”zombie trees,” Northern California’s high elevations need healing now.

Area jurisdictions move forward with biomass facilities to put to better use excess green waste. In exchange, we get heat and electricity.

The Galt City Council recently considered ways to remedy the issue of litter left behind on the Galt Market grounds following events there. Vendors and the city waste official were asked for their feedback.

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.”

Lake Mead, a key water source for California and six other states, is close to drying up. Water policy expert Felicia Marcus says dramatic action is needed on conservation, recycling and efficiency.

Despite rhetoric from politicians and media talking heads that California is a “green leader,” the reality is much different as regulators continue to approve thousands of oil well drilling permits.

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.

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

The C.K. McClatchy High School Eco Club has been fighting the environmental crisis in their own community by picking up trash around the school and informing students about the harmful effects of climate change. Members also are teaming up with the Sacramento Tree Foundation to plant as many trees as possible.

PepsiCo unveiled its new fleet of Tesla Semi electric trucks at its Sacramento bottling plant, becoming the first company in the world to acquire the zero-emissions vehicles. The vehicles will be used for local deliveries of Pepsi products while another 15 will be used at PepsiCo’s FritoLay manufacturing plant in Modesto.

Gov. Newsom reneged on pledge to wind down fossil fuel refineries.

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.

California’s snowpack is one of the deepest on record, but as temperatures rise, flooding concerns loom. The Sacramento Bee outlines the state’s flood mitigation plans, reservoirs and groundwater.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved California rules to phase out diesel-burning trucks, which experts say will kick off the transition to electric trucks in other states. California needed the waiver because its rules are more ambitious than EPA requirements.

Humanity still has a chance, close to the last, to prevent the worst of climate change ’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists says.

Communities with high concentrations of electric cars are affluent, college-educated and at least 75% white and Asian—revealing a barrier to electrifying the state’s entire fleet.

The salmon industry, worth about half a billion dollars, is devastated. The culprits: Drought and decades of water diversions and development.

The utility company was granted an exemption while seeking a 20-year extension, but state officials only want the nuclear power plant open through 2030 to smooth the transition to renewable energy.

A $4.4 billion project on the Sacramento River to add dams and store more water that will be sent south, the Sites Reservoir is still years away from completion. The final environmental report is expected this year.