San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s recommended budget would significantly reduce city support for the city’s Environment Department starting this summer, scaling back one of the agency’s only flexible funding sources.
Category: Environment
Posted inEnvironment, Health, Neighborhoods
Remembering the Bayview Activist Who Fought for Community’s Health and Dignity
Marie Harrison did not initially choose to be an activist. Yet the battles around housing, energy and pollution turned a self-identified “milk and cookies” mom into an environmental justice warrior in Bayview-Hunters Point.
Posted inEnvironment, Exposed, Health
City Sat on Plutonium Findings, Then Faulted Navy Over Delay
San Francisco health and redevelopment officials waited nearly a month to alert the community about a suspected plutonium detection at the Hunters Point Shipyard, even as they criticized the U.S. Navy for keeping the discovery under wraps.
Posted inCalifornia, Climate Change, Environment, Transportation
Vehicle Electrification in California at a Turning Point
As state officials debate how to support adoption of carbon-free mobility, some EV boosters say the government has to stop touting eco-goals or offering incentives, and “get the hell out of the way” as the market grows.
Posted inCalifornia, Climate Change, Environment, Transportation
California Proposes Charging Subsidies, Rebates to Boost EVs — but Leaves Key Details Unsettled
California regulators Tuesday released a set of proposals recommitting the state to consistent promotion of clean transportation, largely in response to the collapse of federal support for transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels.
Posted inClimate Change, Environment, Transportation
New California EV Plans Could Lower Costs, Expand Charging
California is preparing to roll out new policy ideas to keep electric vehicle adoption on pace after Congress and the White House scrapped federal purchase subsidies and cut funding for EV infrastructure. On Monday, regulators plan to give Gov. Gavin Newsom a menu of proposals to expand charging, lower costs and accelerate the transition away […]
Posted inEnvironment, Transportation
California Weighs New EV Incentives Backed by Fee on Gas Cars and Trucks
Congressional Republicans and President Trump have killed the U.S. electric vehicle rebate program, with most payments ending after September — to the dismay of climate-conscious car buyers. Now California regulators are evaluating an economically elegant but politically unproven idea to replace it: “feebates.”
The policy is a hybrid — part fee, part consumer rebate. Tacking an extra charge on the sale of gas-powered cars or trucks could raise the billions of dollars needed to subsidize the rapid adoption of zero-emission transportation, encouraging many buyers to make the switch.
Posted inEnvironment
Oakland Bioremediation Experiment Could Offer Cheaper, Safer Toxic Cleanup
A West Oakland project aims to test a remediation method that uses plants and fungi to remove or break down contaminants in soil. The experiment would remediate a former auto-wrecking yard and its techniques might be cheaper and safer than the typical method of digging up polluted soil and moving it to a specialized landfill.
Posted inCommunity, Environment, Health
New Air Quality Monitoring App Aims to Protect Students in Polluted Bay Area Communities
A new app aims to provide school administrators and teachers in these communities with real-time data that can help them protect students from harmful air pollution. When air quality is especially poor, teachers might keep kids inside during recess or a coach might cancel or move a sports team practice, said Kristina Hill, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Hill developed the tool in collaboration with Charisma Acey, also an associate professor at UC Berkeley, and a focus group of advocates from five Bay Area communities with high levels of air pollution.
The app offers an interactive map where Bay Area residents can see hourly readings of the air quality in their area. It draws on the existing PurpleAir monitor network but adds key improvements like correcting for errors caused by fog and combining data from multiple monitors to paint a clearer picture of air quality in a neighborhood.