Category: Series
Posted inClimate Change, Climate Change, Land use, Transportation

Planners Claim Reduction in Car Pollution, but Details Show Overall Increase

by Angela Hart

Inscrutable “per capita” and “business as usual” comparisons hide rise in total greenhouse gases

Essentially, it’s a math trick: The per capita figure hides a predicted regional population growth of 28 percent. That means total passenger vehicle emissions regionwide would actually rise by 9.1 percent — an indication that regional planning is not helping California’s efforts to become a model in combating climate change.

This story is part of a special report on climate change in the Summer print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Posted inBay Area, Climate Change, Climate Change, Environment, Food Systems, Parks & Open Space

Big-Time Preservation, Thanks to Carbon Credits

by Dan Rademacher

A 19,000-acre area in Sonoma County is spared from vineyard and housing development

Carbon credits were essential to funding the big costs that come along with managing such large tracts. The nonprofit’s best estimate is that the credits will yield “several hundred thousand dollars” in annual income, based on similar deals on other parcels. This story is part of a special report on climate change in the summer print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Posted inCalifornia, Climate Change, Climate Change, Environment, Parks & Open Space

California’s Market for Hard-to-Verify Carbon Offsets Could Let Industry Pollute as Usual

Avatar photo by Maureen Nandini Mitra and Michael Stoll

Timber, dairy and chemical companies are lining up to sell  carbon credits, which regulators call “offsets,” to the largest California polluters so they can compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions. Many environmentalists say that because it is notoriously difficult to prove that such projects actually reduce the state’s overall carbon footprint, California should proceed slowly in approving a vast expansion of the cap-and-trade market. This story is part of a special report on climate change in the summer print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Posted inClimate Change, Climate Change

European, U.S. Climate Policies Trail California’s

by Chorel Centers and Kevin Forestieri

As California pushes forward on a wide range of aggressive goals to curb its contribution to climate change, the same solution that’s the centerpiece of the state’s effort — a cap-and-trade market for carbon emissions — is moving forward in a big way on the international stage. The European Union voted Wednesday to strengthen the role of the continental cap-and-trade system. But, as the New York Times reported, the union is far from unified on the issue. Many fear cap-and-trade would burden the European economy — in part because the U.S. has failed to pass its own federal cap-and-trade scheme.

Posted inClimate Change, Climate Change, Economy & Business, Environment, Utilities

Carbon Storage Could Aid Climate, but at What Cost?

by Lisa Weinzimer

While building a power plant in Southern California that buries carbon dioxide underground can help the industry meet California’s greenhouse gas and gas reduction goals, local concerns regarding health effects and air pollutants challenge the project’s environmental claims.

This story is part of a special report on climate change in the Summer print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Posted inClimate Change, Climate Change, Environment

Mapping California’s Biggest Polluters

by Darin Jensen, Mike Jones and Noah Arroyo

Carbon dioxide, as everyone knows, is invisible. But with a little mapmaking magic, the greenhouse gas comes into sharp view in a rainbow of colors, and shows clearly how and where California contributes to global warming. California’s cap-and-trade program requires the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to pay to pollute. Each metric ton of carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gas equivalent) requires an “allowance,” with the total supply (the “cap”) falling each year. These maps show the largest emitters. This is part of a special report on climate change in the Summer print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Posted inDomestic Violence, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Justice

Domestic Violence Case that Spurred San Francisco Reforms Comes to a Close

by Kevin Forestieri

The high-profile murder of Claire Joyce Tempongko more than 12 years ago showed just how ineffective the city was at dealing with domestic violence cases, spurring an investigation of the city’s enforcement of domestic violence policy. Now the state Supreme Court has reinstated the second-degree murder conviction of her ex-boyfriend.

Posted inMinimum Wage, News

S.F.’s Minimum Wage, Highest in the Nation, Eludes Thousands as Enforcement Efforts Face Obstacles

Avatar photo by Aaron Tilley and Michael Stoll

10-year-old reform unfinished as businesses routinely flout $10.55 mandate, labor activists say

This story is part of a special report in the Spring print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

While San Francisco’s minimum wage is the highest in the nation, thousands of workers still earn below the current mandate of $10.55 an hour, say economists, anti-poverty activists and public officials. It has been 10 years since voters passed the groundbreaking labor reform, and the city has built a first-of-its-kind inspection team that has recovered back wages for more than 3,000 workers. But these efforts appear to have addressed only a fraction of the problem. ALSO: Listen to discussion of S.F.’s minimum wage enforcement on KALW Radio’s “Your Call” Friday Media Roundtable.

Posted inCity Hall, Domestic Violence, Public Safety, Social Justice

Domestic Violence Record-Keeping Still Flawed, but Police Say Fix Is Near

by Tay Wiles

Some cases were not referred immediately to Special Victims Unit

This story appeared in the Spring print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Nine months after the San Francisco Police Department fully implemented a new digitized case management system, inspectors were still finding as many as 20 domestic violence cases per month that were not immediately referred to the Special Victims Unit for investigation, said a lieutenant in charge of the domestic violence team.

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