Environment
Molly Peterson
Environment and Health Editor
Rachel Becker
Water Reporter
Alejandro Lazo
Climate Reporter
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
California Divide / Environmental Justice Reporter
California Wildfires
The West is burning, so California struggles to find help fighting its wildfires
California’s early outbreak of major fires means its neighbors can’t send much aid because they’re ablaze, too.
Environment
Shape up or ship out: California requires ships, trucks to eliminate thousands of tons of pollution
Diesel trucks, oil tankers and other ships must comply with two new rules that are the state’s most ambitious strike against smog in a decade. The cost could reach nearly $7 billion.
Environment
California lawmakers propose last-minute bill providing funds for fighting wildfires
A fee added to utility bills — less than $1 per month — would be extended until 2045 if the legislation is adopted by two-thirds of both chambers.
Environment
A collision of crises: Central Valley suffers searing heat, smoke and virus hot spots
The dangerous trio has Californians unable to escape unhealthful air and reluctant to leave home.
Environment
Answers to 7 burning questions about California’s rolling blackouts
Why is the state suffering its first energy emergency in almost 20 years? Well, where do we start?
Environment
Five automakers finalize deal with California to clean up car emissions
The companies pledged to meet state greenhouse gas requirements, not Trump administration rollbacks. In exchange, they get more time to meet them.
Environment
Disaster planning in nursing homes: The questions to ask your loved one’s facility
This guide is part of our “Older and overlooked” series on the danger wildfires pose to California’s older population, especially during COVID-19. Skip straight to: How to research a care home The questions experts recommend asking The coronavirus pandemic is a sudden, new threat to assisted living and skilled nursing homes — and those facilities […]
Environment
Nursing homes weren’t ready for a pandemic. They’re not ready for wildfire, either
When the ominous beep of an emergency alert roused Mark and Kathy Allen out of bed in Sebastopol on Oct. 9, 2017, the Tubbs Fire was heading toward Santa Rosa. So the Allens did too. They knew the assisted living facility where Mark’s mother lived was in the path of fast-moving flames. They sped toward […]
Environment
How we analyzed where older Californians are at increased risk for wildfire
The average age of those who died in the 2018 Camp Fire was 72. The average age of those who died in the fires that burned across Sonoma and Napa a year before: 73. As wildfires grow more devastating in California, some of the most vulnerable are older people who live independently and who live […]