Santa Clara County Sustainability Digest

One of the tools in state housing law that’s generated excitement among YIMBYs for its power to build new high-density housing could also end up leading to just the opposite: urban sprawl.

After being rejected twice by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the Palo Alto City Council is set to consider and vote on a new Housing Element plan.

The City of Santa Clara is struggling to maintain aging infrastructure and is now facing $624 million in unfunded repairs and upgrades, according to City Manager Jovan Grogan.

At a recent breakfast with local business leaders, PG&E executives outlined upcoming projects to improve reliability and increase capacity in the Silicon Valley region.

As energy costs go up and awareness of the environmental footprint increases, people are turning to energy consultants for energy audits and advice.

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

The City Council unanimously agreed to stop enforcing its ban on gas infrastructure to comply with a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Board of Appeals which struck down a similar prohibition on gas infrastructure in Berkeley in 2023.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

When Palo Alto passed an ambitious tree-protection law in 2022, it aimed to shield the city's treasured canopy from destruction. But as the council pared back the law, some called for more radical measures.

A federal appeals court has declined to reconsider its controversial April 2023 decision that mutes Los Altos’ and other cities’ attempts to require natural gas bans in new construction.

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.

Mountain View's bookmobile program is getting an upgrade, transitioning to an all-electric vehicle and putting the city a step closer to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

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.

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.

Electric vehicle battery fires are known to burn hot, long and occasionally reignite. But they may have met their match with a new tool specifically designed to put out electric vehicle fires faster.

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.

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.