Yolo County Environment Digest

A new bill in Congress proposes banning new offshore fossil fuel drilling along the coast from Monterey to Mendocino County, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, said this week. The Central Coast of California Conservation Act would prohibit new exploration, development or production leases for natural gas or oil along the Central Coast, and a portion of the North Coast.

A huge algae bloom is responsible for the deaths of sea lions, pelicans and whales off the California coast.

A new online urban tree canopy mapping tool for California has been released by CalFire.

A look at the Davis Community Action Network working on the interconnected issues of affordable housing and the climate crisis.

While it’s an unprecedented third year in a row for no commercially caught salmon, brief windows will be allowed for sportsfishing in California.

The Senate Judiciary Committee spiked a bill to let wildfire victims sue oil companies over climate change. Labor unions, not Big Oil, led the opposition.

The pipeline caused a major oil spill a decade ago, fouling the ocean off Santa Barbara County. The new owners say they don’t need new permits for repairs. The fine is the Coastal Commission’s largest.

Trump ordered his attorney general to move against state climate programs that clash with his energy agenda. Legal experts say his claims about the laws being unconstitutional are an overreach.

Yolo County announced the launch of the Energy Partnership program to help residents take advantage of free energy efficiency resources to lower their energy costs.

The family friendly California Duck Days wetlands and wildlife festival will be held on April 26 at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters.

The California Air Resources Board is going to spend $100 million to track greenhouse gas emissions with satellites.

In the recurring legislative fight between YIMBY legislators and defenders of California’s signature environmental law, one bill could be a final legislative showdown.

The ports of LA and Long Beach are the biggest sources of air pollution in the LA basin. Air quality officials have drafted new rules to help electrify the ports. But community groups representing 400,000 residents say they don’t go far enough or fast enough to clean up their dirty air.

Evacuating the Tahoe basin in summer could take 14 hours, and 99% of properties are at risk — yet new resorts are being built in high-danger fire areas.

Billions of state and federal dollars are spent on Lake Tahoe. But is all this attention actually protecting this unique treasure? Pollutants pour in, while development continues. Funding has shifted in focus to tourism and traffic projects, while money spent directly on fixing the lake has declined.

Read on for more information about the 50 trees planted by Woodland Tree Foundation volunteers along just opened County Road 25A on March 15.

The public is invited to Whitehead Elementary School in Woodland on March 22 to learn more about the new outdoor “Cool School” designs for five elementary schools in the Woodland Joint Unified School District. Read on for details.

Local organizations implementing sustainability initiatives may be to apply for funding from the new Yolo County Community Climate Action Fund. Read on for details.

Read on to learn what 225 Davis residents who participated in 13 community conversations had to say.

A new bill by a Bay Area state senator aims to create a special fund to help clean up so-called forever chemicals in California’s water supply. Senate Bill 454 was introduced by Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, on February 18 and, if passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor, would create the PFAS Mitigation Fund.

AS HOST TO the largest battery storage facility in the world, on a site that just had its fourth fire in four years, the people of Monterey County have grown to realize that Moss Landing is a learning laboratory for California’s green energy transition.

Read on for more information about the fifth annual Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year contest and this year's winners.

For the past three years, more than 200,000 western monarch butterflies spent their winters along the California coast — huddling together in tall tree groves, finding respite from the wind from November to February.

The statewide count of overwintering monarch butterflies shows a sharp drop in number. Read on to learn more.

CHRIS BENNER AND MANUEL PASTOR have had front row seats to the changes taking place in the so-called Lithium Valley, the region around the Salton Sea, where a network of companies have hatched a plan for local and state government entities to mine vast quantities of lithium to use in the batteries that power electric vehicles.

The number of monarch butterflies overwintering in California are at a near-record low, and the wiping out of the Topanga butterfly habitat by the LA fires has made matters worse. Read on to learn more.

Energy demands from big tech, including for AI, has elected officials giving an old power source a second look.

Read on to learn more about Yolo County's recently adopted 2030 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

Read on for information about how you can enjoy the upcoming parade of planets visible to the naked eye in the night sky over the next several weeks.

The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins.

Key moisture measurements are only 2% to 5% of average, leaving dusty soils. And the recent swing from wet to dry is among the most extreme on record. This combination of climatic conditions crossed into a danger zone, priming much of Southern California for wind-whipped fires.

In a striking setback to reduce California’s air pollution but a win for trucking companies, state regulators have walked away from their ambitious plan to phase out diesel trucks less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.