Environmental Issues and Protection

Is CEQA Bad For Bike Projects?

I wade into the ongoing debate over CEQA, with much unease. For starters, the minute that I start to explain that CEQA stands for the California Environmental Quality Act and that San Francisco City Hall's administration of that particular law is the subject of a long-running and heated political d ... More >>

Environmental Protection: New Research Says It's About Spin

New Pavement Coatings: Improving on Plain Old "Lighter Colored"

Glen Canyon Park: Tree-Lovers Fight for Non-Native Species

Sharp Park: When a Golf Course Counts as a Natural Area

The Hard Data Indicates Laffs

Erin Brockovich Lawsuit: Carcinogen Still Found in Drinking Water, Environmentalists say

Hexavalent chromium is best known as the chemical compound at the center of Erin Brockovich's 1993 lawsuit against PG&E, which resulted in a $333 million settlement. The chemical had contaminated drinking water supplies in Hinkley, Calif.In 2001, the state legislature sought regulations for hexa ... More >>

Chevron Says Bay Area Air Is Safe After Refinery Fire

We already gave you the bad news today: Gas prices are ridiculously high, in part because of the Chevron fire last week. But there is some good news you can take in. Contrary to what you saw last Monday -- plumes of black smoke hanging in the air -- Chevron says you can go ahead and take a deep brea ... More >>

Nonprofit Says Producers, Not Taxpayers, Should Pay for Excess Trash

A report released yesterday claims that the United States throws away billions of dollars of reusable resources every year - $11.4 billion to be exact.Of the total solid waste coming out of our country, more than 40 percent is made up of unnecessary packaging. And most of that packaging that we typi ... More >>

Much Ado About the Planet

Vegan Eggs, Ethical Meat, and a Cupcake ATM!

​Hey guys! March 20th was Meatout. I refrained from eating meat. Best holiday ever.  ​The UN's World Water Day was this week too! Second coolest holiday of the week. Since this year's theme was food security, people actually talked about how meat is a nightmare for water conservation! It's ... More >>

Sierra Club, Historians File Lawsuit to Stop Construction of Hotel in Presidio National Park

​ Local nonprofits and environmentalists are suing the San Francisco Presidio Trust to try and stop its plans to build an "unnecessary" 14-building hotel in the Main Post of The Presidio National Park.The Presidio Historical Association and Sierra Club said they were left with "no choice" but to f ... More >>

Global Warming Will Submerge Ocean Beach at Little Cost to San Francisco

CosmoPolitician via Flickr​First, the bad news: Ocean Beach will likely sink, thanks to global warming. But the good news is, it won't suck nearly as bad as it will for our neighbors down in Southern California.The reason for this is that our beach is kinda lame, according to a new study. Therefor ... More >>

List: Why There Are Still No Green Jobs in San Francisco

Why Leland Yee Won the Sierra Club Endorsement

A snapshot of Leland Yee's environmental record​Somebody has it out for State Sen. Leland Yee -- someone aside from Rush Limbaugh. When the news hit that the highly esteemed Sierra Club tossed its support behind Yee for mayor, the Twitter activity started buzzing; City Hall insiders -- and even re ... More >>

Hillary Clinton Sued by S.F. Environmental Group Over Alleged Oil Pipeline Project Bias

Playing favorites?​Environmental groups are going after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, worried that she's allowing Washington lobbyists close to her get away with building a massive oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.Friends of the Earth, a nonprofit with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Fr ... More >>

Recycling Company Pays SFPD to Catch Trash Thieves

Slim's Liquor License Temporarily Suspended Due to Neighbor Complaints

Battle of the signs on the doors of Slim's​The alcohol permit for S.F. music venue Slim's was suspended for 10 days last week due to a long-running battle with a neighbor over noise complaints -- a battle venue part-owner Dawn Holliday hopes will end soon.The club was barred from serving alco ... More >>

New View for the Bayview

Obama National Forest Rule: Litigation Is 'Highly Likely'

Was he counting on Obama for protection?​Environmentalists have come out swinging hard against Obama's new forest rules, which they claim is a watered-down plan for wildlife protection across the nation. But are they prepared to take the president to court? "We are still early in the process, ... More >>

New Bill Seeks to Curb Use of Environmental Review to Delay Worthy Projects

Matt SmithThe bike lane injunction is in the rearview mirror, thankfully​Proposed Legislation by Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier aims to diminish the role of state environmental law in delaying local projects posing little threat to Mother Nature.And -- don't you know it -- Mary Miles, the attorney ... More >>

99¢ Only Stores Fined Enough to Afford 413,626 Items

Well, this'll cost a lot more...​The 99¢ Only chain has declined to appeal a federal judge's ruling -- meaning it now faces a fine of $409,490, or enough to afford 413,626 items at its stores. The chain was on the losing end of an Environmental Protection Agency suit claiming it had sold hundreds ... More >>

California Faces Interstate Lawsuit -- If Voters Don't Pass Prop. 23

Don't touch that greenhouse gas, warn out-of-state attorneys general...​If California voters don't pass Proposition 23 -- which would pull the rug out from under the state's 2006 law limiting greenhouse gas emissions -- a gang of out-of-state attorneys general have threatened to file suit against ... More >>

Is Chevron's Richmond Refinery 'Tour' a PR Stunt Connected to Expansion Plans?

Chevron's Richmond refinery​Chevron is facing serious criticism of its alleged efforts to evade state environmental laws and push through a proposed expansion of its oil refinery in Richmond. Faced with the opposition of environmental activists and some state legislators, is it a surprise that the ... More >>

Barge Manager Sentenced For Dumping Toxic Pollutants Into Bay

Dumping millions of gallons of toxic waste in the bay can land you in jail -- or worse​A barge manager who dumped -- and ordered his employees to dump -- perhaps millions of gallons of toxic pollutants into San Francisco Bay off the coast of Pittsburg has received a barge load of justice. Mark Gui ... More >>

Gear Up for Earth Day with Talk on Global Warming Cuisine

Gibbs Smith Publishers​As a drug rug-clad, headband-sporting Johnny Mathis might warble, it's beginning to look a lot like Earth Day. Revving up to Thursday, related food-themed happenings abound. Tomorrow, chef Laura Stec and atmospheric scientist Eugene Cordero, Ph.D. will appear at the Ma ... More >>

Big Rig Drivers Smoked in Quest to Loosen State Emission Standards

But don't Keep On Emittin' ... ​In a case involving a convoy of lawyers, federal judges ruled against a pair of truckers' organizations claiming the state of California's emissions standards were rigged.  Readers may be surprised to learn that the federal Clean Air Act gives California -- and ... More >>

I Wish I Knew How to Quit You: S.F. Chamber of Commerce Won't Leave Global Warming-Denialist U.S. Chamber

​People in fields such as petroleum, investment banking, or running chambers of commerce, know what it means to be blessed. They are embedded within industries that love to put on conventions and trade shows. Workers travel to distant cities, check into the Hyatt, mingle with people who went the s ... More >>

S.F. State Prof: Comparision of Republicans to Neanderthals Is Insulting -- To Neanderthals

His knuckles do not drag...​Angry words continue to be exchanged about fiery Florida freshman Congressman Alan Grayson referring to Republicans as "knuckle-dragging Neanderthals" and Rep. Nancy Pelosi's refusal to compel him to apologize. But a San Francisco State University professor has a probl ... More >>

No Impact Man

Earth Days

In environmental terms, Cash for Clunkers is a jalopy

SFGate Article on 'Diaper-Free Babies' Craps Out Debunked Notion that Diapers are Overwhelming Our Landfills

But the cute bear wants me to buy disposable diapers...​Like many of you, I was more than a bit amazed at an article yesterday on SFgate, in which a woman with the Marx Brothers-worthy name of Willow Lune explained her raison d'etre: Pushing a diaper-free lifestyle in which one's children can be t ... More >>

Mandatory Recycling Hasn't Led to Fascism In Other Locales -- But San Francisco's Proposed Fines are 10 Times Higher Than Elsewhere

It hasn't gotten quite to this point yet...There's no getting around it -- the notion of a government employee or contractor inspecting one's refuse and approving or disapproving its composition is creepy, regardless of how altruistic the goal of waste reduction. You cannot argue about this. That be ... More >>

Green Graves

Can a burial business still be eco-friendly if its new biodegradable caskets are brought in on cargo ships from China?

Big Dam Mess

The Environmental Defense Fund embarks on a national campaign to shame San Francisco into restoring the other great Yosemite valley, Hetch Hetchy. But is shame really a good political strategy?

Planet Pleasure

Earth Day in S.F.

A Question of Risk

Plans for a biodefense "hot lab" at Lawrence Livermore have ecologists, disarmament advocates, and mainstream scientists up in arms

Tabled Salt

Plans to buy Cargill's huge saltworks and restore them to wetlands are thwarted by a sour economy

Massing Gas

San Francisco asks the Navy to investigate potentially dangerous methane concentrations at Hunters Point Shipyard

Letters to the Editor

Tale of the Whale; Night Crawler: A Cure for the Common Cold

Letters to the Editor

Power to the People; A Love/Hate Relationship

The Return of the Screw

PG&E is doing to New England what greedy, polluting, out-of-state energy suppliers have done to PG&E and California

Russian Roulette

The Western Pacific gray whale, once thought extinct, clings to life in a remote Siberian sea. Biologists fear their research is serving as cover for massive oil drilling that could wipe out this lost tribe once and for all.

Devil Fish

Fierce prey. Spiritual brother. Ecological bellwether. The majestic gray whale inspires awe, conflict, and troubling environmental questions from the icy seas of Russia to the warm lagoons of Baja.

Current Events

How development pressure and environmental law may force radical change along the seemingly idyllic but deeply troubled Russian River

Love Your Mother

Earth Day events take place Saturday

Political Economy

How a Willie Brown real estate venture snagged tens of millions of dollars in government subsidies and opened the way for Democratic heavyweight Angelo Tsakopoulo to make even more money

Coming Clean

Environmental group targets Stanford investment muscle

Deep Xanadu-doo

William Randolph Hearst's heirs want to build hotels and a golf course on his seaside estate, below his fabled castle. Ranchers and environmentalists are raising Kane.