Environment

The move comes after environmentalists lambasted Newsom for failing to tackle California’s oil and gas production. The oil industry called it an “illegal mandate” and vowed to fight it. Fracking accounts for only 17% of California's oil production.

The Russian River watershed is hard hit by lack of rainfall. The emergency order will allow state officials to relax some restrictions on reservoirs and assist endangered fish.

The USDA declared California a natural disaster due to its severe drought, triggering aid for growers and ranchers who supply much of the nation’s food. Why has the federal government stepped in to help with California’s water woes?

Like house guests overstaying their welcome, foreign crabs have been nearly impossible to boot out of California. A new strategy, born of failure, may help combat armies of invasive plants and animals that are preying on vulnerable native creatures.

Researchers calculated that California’s rules reduced diesel exhaust by 78% compared to 51% for federal rules, leading to fewer deaths from heart attacks and lung disease.

After 40 years of debate about whether offroaders, endangered species and nearby towns can coexist, California’s coastal board ordered an end to offroad vehicles at the state park within three years. The decision capped a 12-hour meeting with fiery comments from about 200 offroaders, conservationists and residents.

Big Basin, nearly wiped out by fire, remains closed as the state struggles to protect nearly 300 parks from climate change. Solutions are costly: thinning forests, adding sand to beaches, moving parking lots and buildings.

Huge gaps exist in scientific knowledge, but California is about to set the world’s first health guidelines for microplastics in drinking water. Yet no one agrees how to test water for the tiny bits of plastic, or how dangerous they are.

Valley residents have waited more than a decade for the end of burns at vineyards and groves that spew smoke. Several board members pushed for quicker action, but the board voted to grant four more years.

On the edge of the Salton Sea, state officials and investors are seeking to turn brine into ‘white gold’ that can power electric cars. But will this help solve the Imperial Valley’s troubles — or add to them?