Self-reliance is an appealing concept, evoking the image of pioneers taking control of their own destiny, but it can be difficult to achieve in our modern world. The electrical grid which [...]
California has repeatedly strengthened its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It wants to have five million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2030 and it will ban sales of new [...]
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, goes the old saying — and Northern California has learned that where there are wildfires, there is smoke, sometimes blankets of irritating, unhealthy smoke. A [...]
Many Bay Area residents are addressing climate change by altering their purchasing habits, driving electric vehicles, and replacing natural gas appliances in homes. More are needed, though. [...]
The steady deep throb of a diesel engine is not as menacing as a villain’s laugh, but it is a threat nevertheless. Diesel exhaust is full of tiny sooty particles made up of black carbon, toxic [...]
Illustrations and comic strips from 1975, the year the Bay Area Monitor was first published, often depicted automobiles with little puffs of gray exhaust coming from their tailpipes. Refineries [...]
It may be startling to realize that 26 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California come from buildings — two-thirds of that from homes. Some of these emissions are indirect, from [...]
When Senate Bill 1 (Beall) passed in 2017, it raised the gasoline excise tax for the first time in 20 years to generate tens of billions of dollars to restore aging transportation infrastructure. [...]
In 2018, the Port of Oakland handled over 2.5 million cargo containers, making it the eighth-busiest port in the U.S. All that activity gives the Bay Area an enormous economic boost — the Port [...]
Already plentiful in electronic devices, batteries also power an increasing array of products formerly operated on fossil fuels. Many of them, from smartphone batteries to those in electric [...]
