San Benito County Local News: Sustainability

01/28/2024
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.

01/25/2024
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.

01/22/2024
After a presentation on the landfill project, the council unanimously agreed to oppose the recommended haul route along Hwy 25 and receive further direction about the city’s hazardous waste disposal site at a future meeting.

01/10/2024
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.

01/08/2024
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.

01/07/2024
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.

01/02/2024
BenitoLink looks ahead to construction projects in the county that are expected to begin or be completed in 2024.

12/28/2023
Dec. 28 marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Its purpose: “to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend.”

12/27/2023
The Monterey Bay region, which includes Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, is undergoing a major demographic shift with a younger generation that is more diverse, according to Chris Benner, director of the Institute for Social Transformation at UC Santa Cruz.

12/27/2023
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.

12/26/2023
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.

12/25/2023
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.

12/19/2023
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.

12/19/2023
Along with adding chemicals to wastewater, the city plans to rebuild part of the sewer system and replace manholes to control the odor.

12/19/2023
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.

12/17/2023
A small band of researchers have hatched an ambitious amphibian comeback, using foothill yellow-legged frog eggs from a creek near King City to reestablish populations within the frog’s historic range.

12/14/2023
Water fights have shaped California since its infancy as a state, when its abundance seemed limitless. Now, Californians are being forced to confront limitations, and the state that prides itself on creating the future is now reckoning with its past.

12/12/2023
Officials in Kern County are proposing to build a carbon management facility that would be twice the size of Manhattan. By doing this, they would leverage federal tax credits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

12/11/2023
An estimated 100,000 pizza boxes have been removed from Yosemite’s waste stream. This is because the famed park now serves pizza on trays and puts to-go portions in compostable bags, part of a move to reduce food-related waste.