“It was surreal.” As an unseasonal winter storm blanketed Yosemite with snow Sunday, people took to social media to share their awe. Photos from the Yosemite Conservancy’s webcam show El Capitan shrouded in fog and a dusting of snow atop Half Dome. Videos and photos posted to social media show thick snowflakes coming down and […]
California plans to reach 60% renewables by 2030 and a zero emissions economy by 2045 as its investor-owned utilities (IOUs) face wildfires and bankruptcy, new and unproven electricity providers proliferate and customers demand a decentralized energy system. What could go wrong? The key to success is eliminating natural gas as an electricity resource, stakeholders told […]
Water is a currency in California, and the low-income farmworkers who pick the Central Valley’s crops know it better than anyone. They labor in the region’s endless orchards, made possible by sophisticated irrigation systems, but at home their faucets spew toxic water tainted by arsenic and fertilizer chemicals. “Clean water flows toward power and money,” […]
The Trump Administration has withdrawn the previous administration’s support for the removal of four dams on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Recently-appointed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has rescinded a letter of support that Obama-era Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wrote in 2016. Jewell’s letter threw the agency’s weight behind the plan to […]
Public Water Now is challenging the Monterey County Planning Commission’s approval of a combined development permit for California American Water’s proposed desalination plant project. On Thursday, the organization best known for backing a public takeover of Cal Am’s local water system filed an appeal to the Board of Supervisors of the Planning Commission’s narrow approval […]
From above, tracing the Colorado River along the Arizona-California line in an airplane, it’s easy to see how it happened. As the river bends and weaves through the Southwest, its contents are slowly drained away. Concrete canals send water to millions of people in Phoenix and Tucson, Los Angeles and San Diego. Farms, ribbons of […]
Snow In May: Yosemite Looks Like A Winter Wonderland In The Middle Of Spring
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Gabby Ferreira“It was surreal.” As an unseasonal winter storm blanketed Yosemite with snow Sunday, people took to social media to share their awe. Photos from the Yosemite Conservancy’s webcam show El Capitan shrouded in fog and a dusting of snow atop Half Dome. Videos and photos posted to social media show thick snowflakes coming down and […]
Want To Know If California Can Make Zero Emissions By 2045? Here’s What To Watch
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Utility Dive (Washington, D.C.)by Herman K. TrabishCalifornia plans to reach 60% renewables by 2030 and a zero emissions economy by 2045 as its investor-owned utilities (IOUs) face wildfires and bankruptcy, new and unproven electricity providers proliferate and customers demand a decentralized energy system. What could go wrong? The key to success is eliminating natural gas as an electricity resource, stakeholders told […]
They Grow The Nation’s Food, But They Can’t Drink The Water
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The New York Timesby Jose A. Del RealWater is a currency in California, and the low-income farmworkers who pick the Central Valley’s crops know it better than anyone. They labor in the region’s endless orchards, made possible by sophisticated irrigation systems, but at home their faucets spew toxic water tainted by arsenic and fertilizer chemicals. “Clean water flows toward power and money,” […]
Interior Department Pulls Support From Klamath Dam Removal Project
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Jefferson Public Radio (Redding, Calif.)by Liam MoriartyThe Trump Administration has withdrawn the previous administration’s support for the removal of four dams on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Recently-appointed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has rescinded a letter of support that Obama-era Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wrote in 2016. Jewell’s letter threw the agency’s weight behind the plan to […]
Public Water Now Appeals Monterey County’s Cal Am Desal Approval
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Monterey Heraldby Jim JohnsonPublic Water Now is challenging the Monterey County Planning Commission’s approval of a combined development permit for California American Water’s proposed desalination plant project. On Thursday, the organization best known for backing a public takeover of Cal Am’s local water system filed an appeal to the Board of Supervisors of the Planning Commission’s narrow approval […]
Final 100 Miles Of The Colorado Highlight How Badly The River Is Overtaxed
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Cronkite News (Phoenix)by Luke RunyonFrom above, tracing the Colorado River along the Arizona-California line in an airplane, it’s easy to see how it happened. As the river bends and weaves through the Southwest, its contents are slowly drained away. Concrete canals send water to millions of people in Phoenix and Tucson, Los Angeles and San Diego. Farms, ribbons of […]