Inside Climate News: California Bill Aims to Keep Toxic PFAS off Its Crops
California, the nation’s top agricultural producer, could ban pesticides with PFAS after researchers found the “forever chemicals” on 40 percent of the conventional produce grown in the state. Schultz, D-Burbank, introduced A.B. 1603 earlier this year to ban the use, sale and manufacture of PFAS pesticides in California starting in 2035.
Climate Action Now: Beavers Excel At Creating carbon-sequestering wetlands
In 2023, California began relocating beavers (Castor canadensis) from the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds to return them to the lands of the Tule River and Mountain Maidu indigenous tribes. Now, researchers have found that the beavers’ return to the Tásmam Koyóm meadow north of the Sierra Nevada (especially their subsequent dam-building!) has reinvigorated the wetland ecosystem….
Heatmap News: Federal Judge Breaks Trump’s Permitting Blockade
April 21 - A federal court seems to have struck down a swath of Trump administration moves to paralyze solar and wind permits. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper on Tuesday enjoined a raft of actions by the Trump administration that delayed federal renewable energy permits, granting a request submitted by regional trade groups.
Sentinel: Proposed Expansion of Santa Cruz Marine Protected Areas
April 24 - The California Fish and Game Commission will review a proposal for expanded marine protected areas in Santa Cruz County Tuesday morning April 28…..The proposal includes an expansion of the small Natural Bridges state marine reserve and the creation of a new state marine conservation area at Pleasure Point.
Lookout: Group of local contractors to use straw bales to build low-income housing
Local contractors are working together to bring low-income housing for community members experiencing homelessness. The project will use renewable materials such as straw bales to lessen climate change impacts.
Environment Colorado: Plastic Pellet-Free Waters Act Signed into Law
Great news -- our sister organization Environment Colorado just won a campaign to protect Colorado's wildlife and waterways from plastic pellet pollution! Plastic pellets are small, lentil-sized pieces of plastic that are used in manufacturing….
Heatmap: New Documents Undermine Trump Administration’s Claims About Offshore Wind Deal
When the Trump administration announced it was paying TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to cancel the company’s offshore wind leases, it painted the deal as a mutually beneficial trade: The government would reimburse the company for every penny it spent to acquire the leases, and in return, Total would “redirect” the money to U.S. oil and gas development. Now, the terms of the deal have been made public, and Americans’ side of the bargain appears to be worthless.
Inside Climate News: Trump’s Budget Proposes Massive Cuts for Climate and Environmental Programs
President Trump’s annual budget request to Congress continues his administration’s defunding of climate change programs, environmental protection and renewable energy, slashing the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency…
Canary Media: The US offshore wind industry finally gets a break
April 10 - Five U.S. wind projects continue construction, with some now producing power, as the Trump admin misses a deadline to appeal court decisions letting them proceed. President Donald Trump and Interior Department chief Doug Burgum have spent months in an all-out assault against offshore wind projects in federal waters.
Save The Waves: Awarded "Environmentalist of the Year" By Surf Industry Association
We are honored to have been named "Environmentalist of the Year"by Surf Industry Manufacturers Association for their 2026 Waterman's Ball. "This global nonprofit is dedicated to protecting surf ecosystems around the world, working to preserve waves, coastlines, and the communities that depend on them through science, policy, and advocacy." - SIMA
Mercury News: Bill calls for protection of ‘surfing reserves’ off California’s coast
A bill authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, would designate state surfing reserves using the California Coastal Act of 1976, which aims at giving protections for coastal areas from development and ensuring public access…
Climate Action Now: Record Clean Energy Installations 2025
According to new data from global energy think tank Ember, the world installed a record 814 GW of new solar and wind capacity in 2025, 17% more than in 2024 (696 GW). The latest additions bring the combined global installed capacity of wind and solar to 4,174 GW (over 4 TW), highlighting the rapid expansion of the two fastest-growing sources of electricity in history.
Earthjustice: Victory to Protect Florida’s Wetlands and Wildlife
We (recently) won a major lawsuit to protect Florida’s wetlands, home to the critically endangered Florida panther and other wildlife. A federal appeals court upheld a 2024 ruling that stopped a wetlands permitting handover from the first Trump Administration to Florida. Federal wetlands permitting has more public participation and requires consultation with tribes.
E&E NEWS: Judge Nixes Trump Changes to Endangered Species Act Regs
A coalition of environmental groups scored a win Monday (3/30/26)in a long legal battle when a federal court in California tossed out a set of regulatory rollbacks that undercut Endangered Species Act protections. The ruling comes after nearly a decade of legal combat that began under the first Trump administration…
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History: We Achieved The Highest Accreditation!
We are proud to announce that we have achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded to the nation's museums! Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.
Center For Biological Diversity: New Analyses Of Pesticides and Rare Cancer Warnings
Two new analyses show that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has routinely failed to require cancer warnings on pesticide products — even when its own assessments found a high cancer risk for those products. The Center for Biological Diversity looked at labels for all currently approved pesticides, finding that the EPA put cancer warnings on only 69 of 4,919 products …
Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Native Seed Farm Safeguarding California’s Future
At Heritage Growers, every acre is being cultivated to repair ecosystems and help the Golden State meet its ambitious conservation goals. This native seed farm in Colusa is tackling one of the most fundamental — and least visible — environmental recovery challenges facing the American West: the shortage of locally adapted native seeds needed to restore damaged ecosystems at scale.
Inside Climate News: Report Shows Earth’s Climate is Out of Balance, as Indicators Hit New Extremes
The State of the Global Climate report highlights the significance of record-high concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For the first time, it includes a metric called Earth’s Energy Imbalance as a key climate indicator, measuring the rate at which energy from the sun enters and leaves the planet.
Climate Action Now: Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve News from Mexico
World Wildlife Fund Mexico recently reported that the overwintering population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) increased by a whopping 64% from winter 2024-2025 to winter 2025-2026, as illegal logging has been nearly eliminated in the Monarch Reserve…
The Guardian: Antarctic whales’ remarkable comeback is threatened by krill fishing
In Antarctica a remarkable comeback is taking place. In the very same waters of the Southern Ocean where whalers slaughtered more than 2 million whales during the 20th century, pushing a number of species to the brink of extinction, populations are recovering.