State of Change

Climate Disasters Are Destroying Black Retirements and the American Dream Workers facing disasters and failed insurance are draining their retirement savings, leaving many on their own in old age.

“In Altadena, a series of public and private failures left Black households most likely to face the complete loss of a home — a racial line seen nationwide, regardless of the type of disaster, due to housing policies that have left people of color in disaster zones." capitalbnews.org/black-retire...

Here's the thing: 2.5-3C of global warming is actually still really bad news. Is it better than 3-5C of warming? Undoubtedly. But I don't think many folks, apparently including Gates & advisors, appreciate just how radically transformed a 2.5-3C warmer world would be. [10/n]

California students hold walk outs in support of Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act Sacramento — Students in California and around the nation and world are extremely concerned with what the future holds for them, considering the increasing toll that Big Oil-induced climate disasters ...

We’re making our voices heard and letting legislators know that we’re watching and that we care about environmental justice." www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

California Schools Are Losing Tree Canopy About 85% of elementary schools studied in California experienced some loss of trees between 2018 and 2022, found a UC Davis study.

California playgrounds and open spaces are getting hotter, but few have much shading and many are actually losing tree cover, a team led by the UC Davis Urban Science Lab finds www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

💧☀️ Read in #ERW how climate change impacts mountain snowpack and the implications this has for agricultural water security in California 🫗🌽

🔗https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/3033-4942/ade7aa

#Environment #Water #Agriculture #ClimateChange #Snow #Irrigation #Hydrology #WaterResources ⛲🌾

Exxon Sues California Over New Climate Disclosure Laws The oil giant said requirements that companies calculate new details about greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks violate Exxon’s free speech rights.

Exxon Mobil sued California late Friday claiming that two new state laws that aim to fight climate change would violate the oil company’s free speech rights.

‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exclusive: Stardust Solutions Raises $60 Million to Build a Solar Geoengineering System by 2030 A U.S. firm led by former Israeli government physicists, Stardust seeks to patent its proprietary sunlight-scattering particle — but it won’t deploy its technology until global governments authorize s...

Major scoop from @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social:

Stardust Solutions, the Israeli geoengineering startup led by a team of Israeli physicists, just raised $60 million to develop the technology to artificially cool the planet by reflecting sunlight as soon as the 2030s.

heatmap.news/climate-tech...

State of Wildfires 2024–2025 Abstract. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires globally, yet our understanding of these high-impact events remains uneven and shaped by media attention and reg...

In the 2025 State of Wildfires report, the authors suggest that climate change made southern California wildfires much more expansive in 2025, increasing burned area 25-fold. And also that, in decades ahead, fire risk may *decrease* in the region, despite warming. essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

I'm proud to help lead the United Nations' #COP30 Local Leaders Forum next month in Brazil.

Regional leaders — from mayors to governors — are uniquely able to turn ambitious plans to tackle the climate crisis into reality at the local level.

California is all-hands-on-deck in this fight.

Hundreds of students across more than 50 California high schools are planning to participate in walkouts on Oct. 24 to voice support for legislation that would hold oil companies accountable for damage to infrastructure and costs associated with the climate crisis.

Learn more: bit.ly/47gxqSv

Can crowdsourcing help solve the data center power crunch? Data centers want to connect to the grid faster. Voltus says virtual power plants can help them do so — and cut costs for everyday utility customers.

“You’re paying home and business owners to be part of the solution to accommodate data centers. They’re already facing bill increases, not just because of large loads but because of utility investments, costs of climate change. This is a way to offset that.”
www.canarymedia.com/articles/vir...

California Resource Corp broke ground on state's 1st carbon capture project— "Carbon TerraVault" — but it will also enable more oil extraction.

At the ribbon-cutting Chris Parlier, Kern County Supervisor said, "It’s jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs and drill, baby drill."

bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/p...

California made it through another summer without a Flex Alert. Thank batteries, experts say Batteries that pair with clean solar and wind energy or just bolster electrical grids in general have completely taken off and are making a big difference on the California grid.

LA Times: California made it through another summer without a Flex Alert. Thank batteries, experts say

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-10-17/california-made-it-through-another-summer-without-a-flex-alert

#solar #climate #climateemergency #grid #power

How Can We Protect Marginalized Communities From Flood Damages? Californians are used to thinking about wildfires, but flooding is even harder to plan for.

"Where we've gone awry is that we've put flood insurance in the automobile & household insurance buckets, and those are high-probability low-consequence events. Flood insurance is a low-probability high-consequence event, and more like life insurance."
caclimateequity.substack.com/p/its-not-if...

China Has Overtaken America And Trump’s policies guarantee that we will never catch up

"China Has Overtaken America--And Trump’s policies guarantee that we will never catch up"
by @pkrugman.bsky.social
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/china-has-...

🎉 BREAKING: #SB279, introduced by @senatormcnerney, has been signed into law!

By expanding composting capacity, we can divert food scraps from landfills and provide California growers with a climate-friendly alternative to open burning.

Several images of zero-emission school buses are shown. One image includes students boarding a yellow school bus next to a pile of backpacks. "California Climate Investment Programs help students take clean rides to school." California Air Resources Board and California Climate Investments.

(1/3) Three school districts, the Stockton Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District, and McKinleyville Union School District, transformed their buses into 100% zero-emission fleets thanks to several California Climate Investment programs.

New sales tax to fund Bay Area transit closer to 2026 ballot Transit advocates say BART and Muni could face devastating cuts without long-term funding.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Monday that lays the groundwork for a 2026 ballot measure to shore up funding for Bay Area transit systems through a new sales tax.
sfstandard.com/2025/10/13/b...

California is building homes deeper into wildfire country. Here’s why. A housing shortage crisis combined with an era of climate-fueled wildfires has made building homes a fraught undertaking across much of California.

A housing shortage crisis combined with an era of climate-fueled wildfires has made building homes a fraught undertaking across much of California.

person working on plants

two people giving a plant demo

🌱 Big changes ahead for #California nurseries:
At the 2025 California Nursery Conference, growers got updates on new laws around plastics, water use & nutrients — all as climate change turns up the heat.
#CaliforniaNursery #Sustainability #AgPolicy
➡️ bit.ly/4mYFc9s

A state snake and shrub? Meet California’s newest designated state symbols Californians, your newest state symbols are the native big berry manzanita and the giant garter snake.

"Though snakes may make you recoil, they’re essential parts of our ecosystems. The giant gartersnake is unique to California, found only in the Central Valley. It is the largest of all garter snakes — some have been documented at more than 5 feet long!" @laist.com
laist.com/news/climate...

[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed SB 79, which will make it legal to build multi-family housing near high quality transit!

Our statement:
cayimby.org/news-events/...

The entire proposed Highway 37 Solano-Marin super bridge is estimated to cost $11 billion, all to replace an existing road between a couple of suburbs. And it's proposed at 114 feet wide.

For comparison, the Golden Gate Bridge is 90 feet wide.

S14, Ep4 | The Media As a Tool of Climate Obstruction Investigating the obstacles to action on climate change.

This conversation on how media adds to obstruction on climate action by @amywestervelt.bsky.social with @aronczyk.bsky.social and @maxboykoff.bsky.social is really good

EDIT: The companies that profit off those most vulnerable to the hard-to-breathe air that comes with climate change may inadvertently be adding to the problem, new research finds.

More than half of USA's sandy beaches to be lost by 2100: Report The foundation said erosion of sandy beaches is a normal coastal process, but climate change is intensifying and compounding its effects.

"More than half of America’s sandy beaches will be lost by 2100 due to climate-driven sea level rise, with that number at 70% in California." - @surfrider.org.

timesofsandiego.com/life/2025/10...

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time Record solar expansion and steady wind growth driving world’s shift away from fossil fuels in 2025, report finds

Positive news to finish off your Monday :-)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Birds are behaving strangely — and it could have dire implications for humanity, scientist warns Is it the sign of the a-flock-alypse?

Hitchcock was a visionary...
nypost.com/2025/10/07/s...

Sierra Nevada Glaciers Are Melting After 11,000 Years of Ice Scientists have discovered that glaciers in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada have existed for over 11,000 years, but rising temperatures are causing them to vanish.

"In Yosemite, the once-mighty Lyell Glacier, famously studied by John Muir, has shrunk by about 95 percent and split into two inactive ice patches."
www.activenorcal.com/sierra-nevad...