2015

Not far from the Amish farms of Central Pennsylvania, in the rolling hills southwest of coal mining country, Dennis Brubaker raises 30,000 pigs a year for slaughter. In four enclosed barns, the hogs gain two pounds a day away from predators. That is, until they are shipped away to be processed for supermarkets.  Methane Digesters on California Dairy […]

One sunny Saturday in Stockton, Mary Serrano climbed into the driver’s seat of a bright-red, all-electric Chevrolet Spark. A retiree who normally drives a 20-year-old Toyota Camry, she was curious about the new technology on display at the local fairground. “I feel like I’m going to outer space,” she said giddily, as a company representative […]

California’s carbon marketplace is one of the tools the state is using to work toward its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goal. Large industries under the cap have choices about how they comply, including paying for permissions to pollute. But how does it all work? We explain (in a little longer than two and a half […]

EL DORADO, Arkansas – On the east side of this small town, tucked away not far from the Louisiana border, sit two massive incinerators with a surprising link to a landmark environmental law in California. It’s a place where old paint, leftover pesticides, seized cocaine, recalled hairspray, expired pharmaceuticals and many other hazardous chemicals come […]

In a small hearing room decorated with paintings of birds and flowers, Sen. Fran Pavley – the great-granddaughter of a three-time presidential candidate – sat down to present the bill that will likely cement her legacy as the California Legislature’s most accomplished environmentalist. As usual, her tone was understated, and her style more patient schoolmarm […]

It was mid-morning one day in May and somewhere deep inside a 25-story tower in Sacramento, an auction, cloaked in secrecy, was about to begin. Why this matters Cap and trade is among the most pioneering – yet controversial  – elements of California’s multi-layered approach to combating climate change. But the national reach of the program […]

Renewable energy technologies have made outstanding progress in the last decade.  Solar panels and wind turbines have become massively more efficient. In many locations, some forms of renewable energy are cost competitive. And yet…just as these exciting changes are taking place, many advocates are shifting their focus to an issue disconnected from the fundamental environmental […]

Answer: Political leaders, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate leader Kevin de León, as well as outside analysts, predict that California will meet its 2020 greenhouse gas goal. That goal, established by Assembly Bill 32, calls on California to shrink its greenhouse gas emissions to the amount emitted in 1990 — namely, 431 million metric […]

Ever since I moved from Central Pennsylvania, where my car would be buried in the snow for the better part of the winter, to Central California with summer heat waves, the question I’ve been asked most often is “did the weather influence your decision to relocate to Fresno?” Having studied how climate change impacts residential […]

The friendship between two men from vastly different backgrounds may shape the future of California.