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Image caption: California homeowners are fighting to get back cancelled fire insurance policies.
STATEWIDE AGGREGATOR
Insurers Still Fail to Reinstate Fire Policies

Homeowners whose fire insurance policies were not renewed remain frustrated in their fight to get them back.

Image caption: Some small composting facilities, made necessary by a methane-reduction law, have been set up in or near community gardens.
STATEWIDE NEWS & ANALYSIS
Compost Belongs in the Garden

Californians Against Waste was one of the main advocates behind SB 1383, which requires California to divert 75 percent of its organic waste from landfills. California Local talked to CAW’s Nick Lapis to learn more about what it does and …

Image caption: At the dump, food waste is methane-producing garbage. At a farm, it's a valuable part of the food web.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Back to the Land, Not the Landfill

In 2022, California trash haulers will begin turning millions of tons of methane-emitting organic waste into a new cash crop: compost.

Image caption: Cal Fire personnel engaged in live fire training in Williams, California.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Fighting Fire With Fire

What is California’s Forest Management Task Force and what does it do?

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Featured

A smoky blanket of particulate matter hovers over San Francisco’s skyline.
EXPLAINER
Getting Acquainted With AQI
Learn what's getting into Californians’ lungs and why it matters.
A Pyrocumulus cloud generated by the Dixie Fire in July, 2021.
EXPLAINER
What is Fire 'Containment?' That and Other Terms, Explained
What does it mean when firefighters call a fire "contained?" Here's a brief guide to commonly used fire prevention terminology.
Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
EXPLAINER
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained
There are many causes contributing to this crisis. And as you may already know, this situation really is nuts.
RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
EXPLAINER
California Dirt
RCDs were created to avoid a repeat of the Dust Bowl. Now they work with landowners to preserve the air, water and natural habitats that sustain us all.
Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
EXPLAINER
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population
How local government tries to control the world’s deadliest wild animal—the mosquito.
Supercell storms are just one of many weather phenomena in the era of climate change.
LOCALIST
The New Vocabulary of the Climate Change Era
As climate change causes more extreme and unusual weather, we need a new set of terms to describe the various phenomena
Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
EXPLAINER
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained
The heated controversy over what to do with abandoned railroad tracks
Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
EXPLAINER
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals
How the sun is helping push the state toward 100 percent renewable energy.
Just because record rains have been falling, the state’s water crisis remains.
EXPLAINER
What Is Drought? Probably Not What You Think
Recent torrential rains have helped, but California's drought is a long way from over.
From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
EXPLAINER
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis
In a state that declares water a “human right,” more than 2 percent of its residents have no drinkable water.
They help feed the whole country, but life for California’s farm workers remains a struggle.
EXPLAINER
How California Feeds the Country
California, a state known for high-tech and show business glitz, is also America’s farming powerhouse.
How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
EXPLAINER
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland
From its earliest days as a state, California has been trying to turn marshes into productive land.
Kerry Wood, CEO of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, says the organization researches areas of need to help donors direct their contributions.
EXPLAINER
What Is a Community Foundation?
By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.
Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
EXPLAINER
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment
The hidden price tag of “reclaiming” swamps and marshes as usable land.
The Pajaro River levee broke during the 2023 atmospheric river storms, flooding the town of Pajaro.
EXPLAINER
Is California Ready for More Extreme Weather Driven by Climate Change?
Increasingly extreme weather events are already testing California’s preparedness.
Since 1972, the California Coastal Commission has ruled over the state’s shoreline.
EXPLAINER
California Coastal Commission: Where It Comes From, What It Does
How a nuclear plant, a real estate development and an oil spill led to a landmark law.
Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
EXPLAINER
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage
For renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to be viable, ways to store the power they create are essential.
The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
EXPLAINER
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land
Starting in 1976, the legislature began creating agencies to buy up open land, and keep it open.
California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
EXPLAINER
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future
Installing 6 million heat pumps by 2030 is essential if California is to reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions.
Does California’s signature environmental law protect the state’s scenic beauty, or cause more problems than it solves?
EXPLAINER
CEQA: The Surprising Story of CA’s Key Environmental Law
54-year-old environmental law is often blamed for causing the state’s housing crisis. Is it getting a bad rap?
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