Santa Cruz County Local Sustainability News Articles and Digest

Environment Sustainability

A Fire Burning Inside an L.A. County Landfill is Raising Alarms Over Toxic Air

01/29/2024
As an underground fire burns deep within Chiquita Canyon Landfill, air regulators are raising alarms over the possible spread of toxic vapors.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Sustainability Sports

Wetsuits Get New Life Through Rip Curl’s Recycle Program

01/29/2024
The invention of the wetsuit in the 1950s allowed surfers to brave chilly water year-round, but it came with an environmental cost: the neoprene material takes decades to decompose.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Water Sustainability

California Earns an A in Surfrider’s Annual State of the Beach Report

01/29/2024
When it comes to managing its coast, California is far ahead of other states in preparing for climate change, at least one environmental advocacy group says.

From Times Publishing Group...

Animals Sustainability

Should State Protect Mountain Lions?

01/29/2024
Mountain lions are provisionally protected and a final decision to offer them permanent protections is expected this year by the California Fish & Game Commission.

From CapPublicRadio...

Environment Water Sustainability

‘Hot Droughts’ Are Becoming More Common in the Arid West, New Study Finds

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.

From CalMatters...

Sustainability

Since California Cut Home Solar Payments, Demand Has Plunged 80%

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.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Environment Water Sustainability Community Service & Support

Students Make Waves to Protect Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

01/19/2024
Students throughout the nation have been engaging in environmental stewardship projects, as part of NOAA’s Ocean Guardian School program.

From Hilltromper Santa Cruz...

Parks & Recreation Sustainability Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship

Rules for Rainy Season Riding

01/16/2024
Image for display with article titled Rules for Rainy Season Riding

Rain is good. Eroded trails aren’t. Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship trail director Drew Perkins explains how to be a force for good and not evil when mountain biking after rain.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Business, Economy & Jobs Animals Sustainability

Dungeness Crab Fishery to Reopen Jan. 18

01/11/2024
After the commercial Dungeness crab season was delayed due to the presence of humpback whales, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it will reopen next week with some restrictions.

From Sacramento Bee...

Agriculture, Food & Gardening Sustainability Government

Newsom Pitches Spending $22M to Fight Fruit Flies

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.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Sustainability Community Service & Support

The World’s Next Big Carbon Capture Challenge? Figuring Out How to Use It

01/10/2024
Carbon capture is having a moment. Companies such as Chevron Corp. are building technology to capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks while others are working to yank the greenhouse gas out of the air.

From YubaNet...

Water Animals Sustainability

New Year Brings Protections for Deep-Sea Corals and Ocean Fishing Opportunities

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.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Business, Economy & Jobs Sustainability

Rooftop-Solar Industry Blames PG&E, Newsom as Bay Area Businesses Struggle

01/08/2024
Bay Area rooftop-solar businesses are reeling from a statewide change that gutted compensation for homeowners returning surplus power to the electrical grid, causing applications for new solar to plunge to a 10-year low.

From Monterey Herald...

Land Use & Development Water Sustainability

Homeowners Who Sued to Build a Seawall Could Reshape California’s Coast

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.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Environment History Sustainability City of Santa Cruz

Fundraiser to Protect Iconic Redwood Set for Saturday

01/03/2024
With the fate of the twin-trunked redwood tree on Walnut Avenue to be decided by the Santa Cruz City Council, the appellant of the heritage tree's removal will hold a fundraiser Jan. 6 to help protect it.

From Good Times...

Water Agriculture, Food & Gardening History Sustainability

Go Fish: Monterey Bay’s First Pioneers

01/02/2024
Image for display with article titled Go Fish: Monterey Bay’s First Pioneers

The original inhabitants of Monterey Bay were many things. But as much as anything, the area’s indigenous were fishermen and women.

From Benito Link...

Business, Economy & Jobs Elections & Politics Sustainability

Monterey Bay Area’s Elusive, Inclusive Economy

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.

From San Joaquin Valley Sun...

Animals Sustainability

San Diego Zoo Displays World’s Rarest Insect

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.

From The Mercury News...

Environment Animals Sustainability

Collisions With Buildings Are Killing Millions of Birds Nationwide

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.

From The New Yorker...

Animals Sustainability

A Deeper Look at ‘No Kill’ Animal Control in Los Angeles

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.

Santa Cruz County Local News: Sustainability