Keep Informed

In the midday hours, prices plummet. An excess of energy produced across Texas, largely due to the state’s solar and wind fleet, signals it’s a good time to buy. It’s then that 500 batteries, which once fueled General Motors’ electric vehicles, charge up. The batteries, now in their second careers, are kept in staggered steel mesh containers…

North of Santa Cruz, 9 miles of new trails connect redwood forests and coastal bluffs. Late winter can mean hiking paradise on the Northern California coast. The hills are a radiant emerald green, wild mustard flowers carpet coastal bluffs in electric yellow…

In November 2025, the Department of Energy canceled $7.5 billion in grants. The cancellations terminated more than 300 financial awards covering hundreds of projects, including new wind and solar development as well as critical grid upgrades and efficiency programs expected to save money for consumers. Notably, the cancellations were in states that did not vote for President Trump…

When the sun sets, solar panels sadly become unproductive. For decades, that daily pause has underscored one of renewable energy’s biggest challenges: how to store sunlight efficiently for use after dark. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara believe they have found an elegant answer.... inside a small, carefully engineered molecule…

On February 3, 2026, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors received a staff presentation on the status of the Moss Landing Cleanup. The coordination committee of the Never Again Moss Landing (NAML) Stakeholder Group, of over 4,900 citizens, is provided the Board their end of year-1 recommendation of 12 fixes to prevent a future BESS fire.

Last week, 17 states and a coalition of environmental groups won a lawsuit in federal court to restore $5 billion in funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. The Trump administration unlawfully froze funds that Congress had…

Companies aren’t required to test cosmetics ingredients, including PFAS, for safety before using them in products. For over 20 years, EWG has advised consumers to avoid personal care products with PFAS. More recently, several states, including California, have taken steps to prevent the use of PFAS in cosmetics….

Eucalyptus are notorious trees familiar to most Californians. They are visually striking and aromatic, invasive and fast growing. They’re known to be oily and incredibly messy – as a result, highly flammable – thereby placing them in the crosshairs of wildfire mitigation groups, city planners and residents alike. Counties across the state have deployed all sorts of eucalyptus grove removal projects.

In the 1850s, settlers from around the world poured into California to seek their fortunes during the Gold Rush. The Washoe people, who had lived around Lake Tahoe for thousands of years, were pushed out. Farming, logging and mining took over their traditional territory in the Sierra Nevada, leading at times to violent conflicts. Now, 175 years later, the tribe is getting some of its land back.

Trophic structure describes how energy moves through living systems — starting with plants, then insects, then birds, and larger wildlife. It explains “who eats whom” and highlights how native plants form the foundation of healthy ecosystems. In the San Lorenzo Valley, these levels include: producers – native plants like Wild Ginger, Trillium……

Last May, the Trump administration proposed eliminating a key federal program that lowers energy bills for low-income households. Now, amid a mounting energy-affordability crisis, that program has officially survived — and even gotten a funding boost. On Feb 3, President Donald Trump signed a spending bill with more than $4 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

MethaneSAT, the world’s most advanced methane-detecting satellite and first spacecraft owned by an environmental nonprofit, promised to usher in a new era of climate accountability when the device entered Earth’s orbit in 2024. One year later, researchers with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) lost contact with the $88 million satellite, but not before downloading a trove of data collected over the prior year.

Analysis of federal data by a nonprofit watchdog group found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has drastically pulled back on holding polluters accountable. The nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) found that civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in cases referred by the Environmental Protection Agency dropped to just 16 in the first 12 months

Last year brought a torrent of bad news for the U.S. electric vehicle industry. Despite the upheaval, U.S. public charging networks had a growth spurt last year, according to a report released today by data analytics firm Paren. And the new chargers are working more reliably and being used more heavily than ever

Seaweed farms cover 3.5 million hectares of ocean and are busy locking away vast amounts more carbon than we realise, say researchers. In a new study they argue that in estimates of their blue carbon potential, we’ve been overlooking the unique way that seaweeds interact with seawater, which makes it absorb more CO2.

In the 1980s, the giant kangaroo rat was listed as a state and federally endangered species. In 2001, the animal’s protected status helped spur the establishment of the national monument on the southern part of the plain….

As the United States retreats from climate policy, China signaled its rising intent to lead a transition away from fossil fuels and toward Chinese-made renewable energy technologies in remarks to world leaders on (January 20). Speaking to world leaders at Davos, He Lifeng invited other countries to “embrace the opportunities” of Chinese-made renewable energy technologies…

In a major win for environmental justice groups, a state appellate court gave the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection the green light to implement its landmark environmental justice law. The 2020 law was written to protect overburdened communities from further pollution, but it wasn’t until 2023 that New Jersey finalized rules that gave the law teeth.

Norway has hit the brakes on its controversial plans to mine the deep ocean floor, announcing it will not issue any deep-sea mining licenses until at least 2029. The decision, confirmed in early December 2025, marks a significant shift in momentum for the fledgling industry and offers breathing room for environmental advocates who have long warned of the irreversible risks…

We’re thrilled to announce a rare chance to acquire 200 acres of stunning redwood forest in a strategic Sonoma County location — directly adjacent to Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve. In 2018, Save the Redwoods League acquired the 730-acre Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve, home to hundreds of old-growth coast redwoods more than 300 feet tall.

Last year, the National Marine Sanctuary System faced massive, proposed budget cuts, endangering our marine wildlife and coastal communities……. More than fourteen thousand messages were shared with lawmakers, creating an undeniable tidal wave of support for our marine sanctuaries and the communities that depend on them…

The French fast fashion law passed the Senate with 337 votes in favour with only one opposed, targeting companies like Shein and Temu with environmental penalties up to 50 percent of product prices. France moved closer to becoming the first European country to regulate ultra-fast fashion companies like Shein and Temu.

Offshore wind developers are back to building three major U.S. projects nearly a month after the Trump administration ordered them to pause construction. Ørsted, Equinor, and Dominion Energy all got the green light from federal judges last week to resume work on their massive, multibillion-dollar wind farms off America’s east coast….

Biochar water purification works more powerfully than scientists realized, with new research showing the material actively destroys pollutants rather than simply trapping them. Biochar water purification has long been understood as a filtration process….

California lawmakers are considering two bills that would slash red tape for households looking to add certain types of clean tech. Earlier this month, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), whose district includes San Francisco, introduced legislation that would make it easier for individuals to adopt all-electric, super-efficient heat pumps (SB 222) and plug-in solar panels (SB 868).

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 72 new animal, plant, and fungi species in 2025, enriching scientists’ understanding of Earth’s biodiversity and propelling our mission to regenerate the natural world. The new species include 15 beetles, 12 bush crickets, 11 sea slugs, seven fishes….

Jan 12 - The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency would cease to calculate the negative health impacts of air pollution in its future rule-making process and only consider industry costs. On the EPA’s website, the mission of the agency is to “protect human health and the environment.” Between 1999 and 2020, air pollution…

Last year, Mexico, Guatemala and Belize announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. The nature reserve was named the Great Mayan Jungle Biocultural Corridor and will stretch across jungle areas of southern Mexico and northern parts of the two Central American nations, encompassing more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares).