John Britt and dozens of other tenants are breathing easier, now that they have government-funded air purifiers. Community groups cut through bureaucracy to put the devices in their hands, in a pilot project that might continue next year if it proves successful enough.
Category: Environment
Posted inClimate Change, Community, Environment, Housing
Green Retrofits Might Displace Tenants — One Landlord’s Pilot Project Aims to Protect Them
Amparo Vigil is decarbonizing and upgrading her property to help her tenants stay cool during sweltering heat waves.
The project aims to determine how to retrofit multi-unit buildings without displacing tenants, which could happen if the work scaled up across San Francisco and increased rents.
Posted inBay Area, Environment, Labor
Bay Area Ferry Electrification Will Also Be Jobs Program for Local Latinos
On a recent morning on San Francisco’s Pier 9, New Zealand’s prime minister and other officials finalized plans to electrify Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry’s fleet.
The project, part of a statewide push to satisfy green-energy mandates, will create jobs for Latino San Rafael residents who might otherwise struggle to break into the green-energy field.
Posted inBay Area, Environment, Housing
In the Name of Eelgrass
We bring you this story from Bay Nature, a newsroom covering the environment:
In the Richardson Bay, between Sausalito and Tiburon, anchors from the people who live on their boats are threatening vital eelgrass habitat. Even though an alternative anchor technology could prevent the damage, authorities are telling the residents to leave, potentially putting some at risk of homelessness.
Posted inAging, Climate Change, Environment, Health, Social Services
Protecting Chinatown’s Older Adults From Climate Disasters Requires More Funding, Nonprofits Say
Community organizations say the systems in Chinatown to protect older populations during extreme weather are not enough to meet the needs that could arise. Without sufficient financial backing, the health of many older residents in the neighborhood could be threatened during extreme weather disasters. Similar scenarios could transpire in San Francisco’s other climate-vulnerable areas.
Posted inAging, Climate Change, Environment, Health
Brightline Defense Takes on San Francisco’s Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Concerns: Q&A With Executive Director Eddie Ahn
As climate change exacerbates droughts, wildfires, floods, storms and other catastrophes, community organizations in the city are racing to put systems in place to both measure its impacts on residents and to provide the tools they need to support themselves during disasters.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Bay Area, Climate Change, Environment, Health
Cool San Francisco Could Get Walloped by Next Heat Wave, but City Says It’s Ready
Since the 1970s, San Francisco’s average temperature has increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit. City leaders are developing new strategies to keep people safe, with infrastructure designed for much cooler weather. The question is whether San Francisco is ready for the next deadly heat wave.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, California, Environment, History, Land use, Parks & Open Space, Social Justice
John Muir, Racial Politics and the Restoration of Indigenous Lands in Yosemite
John Muir has been honored extensively, with his name on many sites and institutions, including 28 schools, a college, a number of mountains, several trails, a glacier, a forest, a beach, a medical center, a highway and Muir Woods National Monument, one of the most visited destinations in the Bay Area. But in the time since the Sierra Club issued a nuanced statement in 2020 acknowledging some racist language in his early writings, some have come to believe that Muir’s legacy should be diminished, despite his contributions to the preservation of wilderness and later writings praising native tribes.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, Environment, Public Safety
Beyond Cute: SF Animal Control Enforces the Law, Educates, Helps Wildlife
Walk into Animal Care and Control’s bright and clean new facility on Bryant Street and you might be greeted by a human volunteer or an adoptable dog. But behind the scenes, officers are investigating alerts about possible abuse, errant wildlife and distressed animals.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Environment, Labor, Utilities
After You Unbox, Bin Your Recyclables the Right Way
With a holiday coming up that usually involves a lot of boxes, we revisit two stories about recycling. Follow recycling driver Gareth Willey on his morning route and hear how recycling is sorted by Recology.