Tahoe Truckee Region Sustainability Digest

The USA is likely to see consistent job growth from the transition to net zero, but the gains will be unevenly distributed, shows a new analysis conducted by Imperial College London researchers and published in Nature Climate Change.

A UCLA climate scientist says California’s redwoods might not last in their current groves for another 100 years. An effort is afoot to plant redwoods elsewhere in more potentially hospitable climates, such as the Pacific Northwest.

Researchers tell LAist that half of California’s population of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which are endangered, died last winter due to record weather. Causes of death include avalanches, starvation and getting eaten by mountain lions after moving to lower elevations for food.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law in October, SB 272 by Sen. John Laird, that requires local governments to plan for rising sea levels. It's already factoring into planning in places like Marin County.

China modeled some of its climate programs on policies first adopted by California. Now, California depends on the world’s most populous country for essential materials in its electric vehicle ambitions.

In an effort to reduce the risk of wildfire, Cal Poly Humboldt faculty and students have embarked on a three-year study to investigate tree health.

A long-awaited, controversial report weighs updates to standards that state officials say have failed to protect fish and wildlife. But environmentalists, Native tribes and others already are furious about how long this has taken—and the state is years away from taking action.

Maintaining certain interactions so that they remain similar to those that have controlled Earth conditions over the past 12,000 years is critical for ensuring human activities do not trigger dramatic changes that likely would decrease the Earth’s ability to support modern civilizations.

Satellite data from across California’s landscapes reveal an increase in nitrogen dioxide levels in remote forest areas, and wildfire and soil emissions are likely the reasons why, according to a paper from UC Davis published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

California’s only native sunfish, the Sacramento perch, was once abundant before invasive species decimated it. As the planet heats up and threatens cold-water game fish, the Sacramento perch may be on the cusp of a comeback, thanks to its ability to tolerate warm water.

California’s leading air regulator acknowledged major roadblocks to meeting its ambitious carbon emissions target for 2030. The hurdles revolve around the feasibility of carbon capture technologies and the state’s flagship climate program, known as cap-and-trade.

The total number of climate change court cases has more than doubled since 2017 and is growing worldwide. These findings, published by the UN Environment Programme and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, show that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.

As sea levels rise, many countries are considering a controversial strategy: relocation of communities. A Stanford analysis of planned relocations around the world reveals a blueprint for positive outcomes from an approach often considered a last resort.

Raising Shasta Dam to increase its capacity would provide 634,000 more acre-feet of water per year, legislators say. But that assumes there will always be enough precipitation, and the move risks flooding sacred Native American lands and harming local habitats.

In the magazine Nature, a team of scientists reports that they have detected changes in ocean color that cannot be explained by natural, year-to-year variability alone. These color shifts have occurred over 56 percent of the world’s oceans.

In an effort to improve lake clarity and reduce sediment loading from roadway runoff to protect the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe, Placer County is moving forward with construction of the transformative Lower Secline Water Quality project in Kings Beach.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe and ECO-CLEAN solutions are kicking off the 2023 summer season by expanding their robot-powered, beach-cleaning initiative to cover entire beaches in Lake Tahoe.

California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, permanently protecting the iconic and imperiled species.

Lake Tahoe saw a huge surge in visitors at the beginning of the pandemic. The North Tahoe Community Alliance, which serves as the region’s chamber of commerce, looks to address the resulting problems, such as overcrowding, garbage and traffic.

U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) announced that the Tahoe Transportation District will receive $3.4 million to fund its Clean Transit Initiative.

The Salt & Straw ice cream chain is part of the upcycling movement, creating high-quality products from leftover food with flavors like Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato, made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production.

BCycle, an industry leader in electric bike share operations and equipment used in communities around the country, is thrilled to bring bike share to Truckee.

Tahoe Gear Exchange is proactively working towards making the investment in outdoor recreation more feasible, along with repurposing recycled gear to increase overall accessibility to participate and enjoy outdoor recreation.

Truckee is pursuing a single-use plastic water bottle ban after receiving feedback from its recent Town Council meeting.

Climate-concerned youth from Truckee will travel to the capital next month to do a presentation on the electrification resolution they proposed in April to the Board of the Truckee-Tahoe Unified School District.

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.

El Dorado County supervisors added their support to Assembly Bill 704, which assists those who lost their homes in a disaster—like the Caldor and Mosquito fires—by eliminating the state’s requirement that their new homes include a solar power system.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe's plan to redevelop an aging office building into a new environment and education center, as well as the organization's headquarters, is building momentum.

The South Tahoe Public Utility District is developing a strategic plan for recycled water to analyze options and establish a roadmap for the future. The district will host a public meeting from 6-8 p.m. May 23.

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

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.