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Author Archives: Rachel Becker

Rachel Becker is a reporter with a background in scientific research. After studying the links between the brain and the immune system, Rachel left the lab bench with her master's degree to become a journalist via the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing. For nearly three years, Rachel was a staff science reporter at The Verge, where she wrote stories and hosted videos covering a range of beats including climate change, nicotine, and nuclear technology. Her byline has also appeared in NOVA Next, National Geographic News, Smithsonian, Slate, Nature, Nature Medicine, bioGraphic, and Hakai Magazine, as well as the PBS Digital Studios video series Gross Science and the YouTube show MinuteEarth. Rachel is now an environment reporter for CALmatters, where she covers climate change and California's environmental policies.

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Mary Nichols, who has been chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board since 2007, poses for a portrait outside her home in Los Angeles on Dec. 15, 2020. Photo by Kendrick Brinson for CalMatters

Legacy of a clean-air czar: Clearer skies, bold alliances and bitter controversy

Avatar by Rachel Becker December 23, 2020January 4, 2021

Mary Nichols has been pivotal in California’s war on smog. But as her tenure ends next week, activists say she didn’t do enough to protect low-income communities and they scuttled her candidacy for Biden’s top environmental post. Wounded but tenacious, she’s contemplating her next battles.

Dr. Rafik Abdou checks on a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2020. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo

California’s intensive care nightmare: Which hospitals are full?

Avatar by Rachel Becker December 9, 2020December 8, 2020
Chevrolet Volt electric car plugged into an EV charging station in Montreal, Canada. Photo via iStock

GM drops Trump fight against California car standards

Avatar by Rachel Becker November 23, 2020November 24, 2020
Coche eléctrico Chevrolet Volt conectado a una estación de carga de vehículos eléctricos en Montreal, Canadá. Foto vía iStock

GM abandona la lucha de Trump contra los estándares de automóviles de California

Avatar by Rachel Becker November 23, 2020November 23, 2020
A water tank serving Buena Vista Migrant Center near Watsonville on Nov. 10, 2020. The tank stores water from a well that exceeds state guidelines for a chemical called PFOA by 3 parts per trillion--the state's new threshold is 10. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Well water throughout California contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

Avatar by Rachel Becker November 19, 2020December 4, 2020
Homes destroyed by the LNU Lighting Complex Fire seen interspersed with untouched homes above Lake Berryessa, a resort area and water supply reservoir, on Sept. 21, 2020. Following the lighting complex fires in August, residents were advised not to drink or boil the tap water out of concerns for benzene and other contaminants. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Unsafe to drink: Wildfires threaten rural towns with tainted water

Avatar by Rachel Becker October 5, 2020October 7, 2020
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands in front of four electric cars to announce an executive order requiring all new passenger vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035, a move the governor says would achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, on Sept. 23, 2020, at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Photo by Daniel Kim, The Sacramento Bee via AP/Pool

Newsom orders ban of new gas-powered cars by 2035

Avatar by Rachel Becker September 23, 2020September 25, 2020
Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the North Complex Fire zone in Butte County on Friday, Sep 11, 2020, outside of Oroville. Newsom has declared a statewide emergency due to the widespread fires and extreme weather conditions, and secured a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to bolster the state’s emergency response to the Northern California wildfires. Photo by Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee

‘Debate is over,’ California’s governor says. ‘This is a climate damn emergency.’

Avatar by Rachel Becker September 11, 2020September 11, 2020
Workers sort through plastic items on a conveyor belt at greenwaste recycling facility in San Jose

Legislature narrowly rejects nation’s toughest restrictions on plastics

Avatar by Rachel Becker September 1, 2020September 1, 2020
Oil Tanker at the Port of Long Beach. Image via iStock

Shape up or ship out: California requires ships, trucks to eliminate thousands of tons of pollution

Avatar by Rachel Becker August 27, 2020August 29, 2020

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