It can be tempting to think that the recent wildfire disasters in communities across the West were unlucky, one-off events, but evidence is accumulating that points to a trend.
In a new study, we found a 246% increase in the number of homes and structures destroyed by wildfires in the contiguous Western U.S. between the past two decades, 1999-2009 and 2010-2020.
The sixth atmospheric river, of an expected nine, slammed California with even more destruction, and the worst is yet to come. The strongest storm yet — of the barrage responsible for the deaths of at least 14 people, including a 5-year-old swept away by floodwaters in Paso Robles on Monday — also forced the evacuation […]
A new analysis shows how a just transition towards a green economy in California — one in which workers in the state’s fossil fuel industry would be able to find new employment and receive assistance if they’re displaced from their jobs — will be “both affordable and achievable,” contrary to claims from oil and gas giants and anti-climate lawmakers.
At least two people have died in a “bomb cyclone” that lashed California with hurricane-force wind and extreme rainfall Thursday, forcing evacuations and leaving more than 100,000 without power. The storm comes on the heels of a massive New Year’s Eve storm that left the soil waterlogged and is likely to be followed by two […]
In Southern California, automobile emissions are the biggest source of carbon dioxide in the air. But during the pandemic, when there were fewer cars on the road, those levels decreased.
An innovative solar project at a decommissioned nuclear power plant in California has found a way to tackle both the climate and biodiversity crises. Non-profit the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced Thursday that they would restore native prairie and habitat for pollinators beneath and around 160 megawatts […]
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday dramatically altered the structures by which new solar customers are compensated for the energy their solar panels produce. The commission slashed net metering rates for new solar panels by about 75%, replacing the old rates with varying payment rates based on the time of day and electricity demand. […]
In September of 2020, the smoke from major wildfires in California made the skies so dark that the state’s solar power production was reduced by 10 to 30 percent during peak hours, according to a National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) study. For several days during the wildfires, solar energy forecasts significantly overestimated the amount […]
The United States’ first auction of offshore wind development leases off the California Coast brought in bids of $402.1 million on Tuesday, as the carbon-free electricity market expanded into the Pacific Ocean.