News Archive

Two-thirds of California is in at least some degree of drought at the moment. With little rain in the forecast and a predicted dry winter climate, scientists say drought could get a lot worse. But is it the beginning of another multi-year drought?

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A 40-year Conflict Over A State Park: Has It Finally Reached A Breaking Point?

November 30, 2020

Enjoying nature while preserving it is an age-old conflict in California, but nowhere is it more fraught than at Oceano Dunes. Can off-roading and endangered species coexist?

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California Regulators Didn't Follow Rules In Approving Hundreds Of New Oil Well Permits, Audit Finds

November 27, 2020 | Ezra David Romero

A state audit released the day before Thanksgiving shows that California oil regulators didn’t follow their own rules and in 2019 issued hundreds of inappropriate permits for new wells.

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California Turkeys Will Likely Trot North As Climate Warms, But May Not Leave The Suburbs

November 23, 2020 | Ezra David Romero

Millions of commercially raised turkeys will be consumed this week, while their wilder cousins roam free. But wild turkeys may have to trot a little faster to keep up with the projected shifts in both summer and winter climate spaces.

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GM Drops Trump Fight Against California Car Standards

November 23, 2020

The auto company, aligned with President Trump, now aligns with president-election Joe Biden in climate change plans.

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New NASA Mission To Map Sea Level Rise May Help California Adapt To Changing Coastline

November 19, 2020 | Ezra David Romero

NASA researchers in California are teaming up to take these measurements from space. The goal is to track one of the clearest signs of global warming for the next decade.

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Ignoring Mega-Flood Risk — Like California Did With Wildfire Prevention — May Spell Disaster, Experts Say

November 13, 2020 | Ezra David Romero

A UCLA researcher is sounding the alarm to not wait on addressing impending floods from warming temperatures. Waiting to address flooding issues, like the state’s done with wildfire, could mean breaching of levees and flooding across the state.

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Ezra David Romero / Capital Public Radio

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California Is Making Progress On Safe Water For All, But Work Remains

November 12, 2020 | Nina Sparling

Some 1 million Californians lack access to safe drinking water. A new state report found there has been progress towards changing that, but a 2019 state program could benefit from funding and legislative oversight.

Photo courtesy of Cal Fire/Devil’s Garden Conservation Camp

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California’s Final Frontier Faces Firefighter Shortage

November 12, 2020

When the state consolidates inmate fire camps next month, remote Modoc County is left with few resources to prevent and battle its lightning-sparked fires

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Why Is Fracking In The News So Much? The Short Answer: Climate Change And People’s Health

November 6, 2020 | Ezra David Romero

What’s up with fracking? It was mentioned in the presidential debates, youth climate activists want the practice stopped, Gov. Newsom said he wants to end it, but then his administration issues new permits. Why is fracking getting so much play?

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