Nonpartisan policy analysts took aim at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to use $1 billion in state funds to seed innovative climate change efforts, questioning the state’s ability to even identify the right projects. The Climate Catalyst Loan Fund, which Newsom called for in his $222.2 budget proposal for next year, would offer low-interest loans to...
Photos of 'King Tides' Globally Show Risks of Climate Change
DEPOE BAY, Ore. — Tourists, nature lovers and amateur scientists are whipping out their cameras to document the effects of extreme high tides on shorelines from the United States to New Zealand, and by doing so are helping better predict what rising sea levels will mean for coastal communities around...
Guardian of Monarch Butterfly Grounds Eulogized in Mexico
OCAMPO, Mexico — Hundreds of farmers and agricultural workers thronged the funeral of activist Homero Gómez González on Friday, and the homage to him was like a tribute to the monarch butterfly he so staunchly defended. The butterflies' annual migration, threatened by logging, avocado farming and climate and environmental change,...
California's Monarch Butterflies Critically Low for 2nd Year
SAN FRANCISCO — The western monarch butterfly population wintering along California's coast remains critically low for the second year in a row, a count by an environmental group released Thursday showed. The count of the orange-and-black insects by the Xerces Society, a nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on the conservation...
Gov. Gavin Newsom Restarts Giant Water Tunnel Project
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom has restarted a project to build a giant, underground tunnel that would pump billions of gallons of water from the San Joaquin Delta to the southern part of the state. Newsom's administration on Wednesday issued a Notice of Preparation for the project, which is the...
Fever Chart: Earth Had Its Hottest Decade on Record in 2010s
WASHINGTON — The decade that just ended was by far the hottest ever measured on Earth, capped off by the second-warmest year on record, two U.S. agencies reported Wednesday. And scientists said they see no end to the way man-made climate change keeps shattering records. “If you think you've heard...
Opinion: Sierra Tree Deaths Punctuate Climate Urgency
When the Navy brought me to California in 1990, I immediately fell in love with the beauty of the backcountry and the trees of San Diego County. In fact, the majesty of sugar pines 6 foot in diameter, the enormous white fir, the incense cedar, Jeffrey pines and Ponderosa inspired me...
Steyer Wants Climate Change Refugees to Enter US Legally
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer on Friday unveiled an immigration proposal seeking to make immigrants fleeing the effects of climate change eligible for legal entry into the United States. Like a lot of his White House rivals, Steyer is promising to use executive action to reinstate Obama administration...
As Wildfires Get Worse, Smoke Spreads, Stokes Health Worries
PARADISE — First came the flames, a raging firestorm propelled by 50 mph wind gusts that incinerated Kelsey Norton’s house and killed 85 people in her community. Then came the smoke — not just from the forest but also from 14,000 houses and their contents that burned, generating a thick...
Australian PM's Leadership Criticized During Wildfire Crisis
CANBERRA, Australia — As his country burned, Australia's prime minister was cursed and jeered out of a town, called an “idiot,” a “moron” and worse, and skewered at home and abroad for his dismissive response toward climate change. Australia’s deadly wildfires have proven to be not just a crisis for...