Boiling Point: This California Desert Oasis Has Lessons For Climate Change
"Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is so green right now it’s hard to believe it’s in the middle of the desert."
"Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is so green right now it’s hard to believe it’s in the middle of the desert."
"Hundreds of firefighters aided by aircraft on Tuesday battled a wind-driven wildfire that damaged or destroyed at least nine buildings in rural Southern California and prompted authorities to order 4,000 residents to evacuate."
"A California law requiring baby food makers to test their products for toxic heavy metals is expected to surpass FDA guidelines in the race to pressure manufacturers to limit exposure, food safety groups say."
"The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes."
"The Democratic governor is supercharging climate policy and eyeing a future White House run. But critics say some of his constituents could be left behind."
"Gavin Newsom, the California governor, packed his bags and his ambition Monday and flew to Chinese provinces on a weeklong mission to negotiate climate agreements.
Last month, he was the only American invited to address the United Nations about climate change, where he excoriated the fossil fuel industry for what he called its decades of “deceit and denial.”
Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.
"Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills Saturday that would require large corporations operating in the state to disclose both their carbon footprints and their climate-related financial risks starting in 2026."
In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two on extreme weather and insurance.
"The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border. The project will remove four dams on the Klamath River. Work has already begun on removing the smallest of the four dams."
In the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles, the massive Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, threatening vulnerable immigrant communities in a growing toxic environment. The Living Downstream podcast reported extensively on these hazards, winning third place in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Awards for Reporting on the Environment’s explanatory reporting, small, category, in 2022. Inside Story spoke with one of the prizewinners.