Climate Change & Energy

Fraud hits California wind industry

08/01/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

The California Energy Commission has accused wind turbine manufacturing company, DyoCore Inc., of misrepresenting the performance of a small wind turbine in order to qualify the product for a state rebate.
Read more »

Tags: california energy commission, dyocore inc, fraud, rebate, wind energy
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

Report: San Francisco faces water-related dangers

07/27/2011
By Alison Hawkes

San Francisco  has been identified as one of the most vulnerable cities in the nation when it comes to water-related impacts of climate change. In a report entitled “Thirsty for Answers,” published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the organization reviewed more than 75 scientific studies and other reports to come up with a...
Read more »

Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Field Notes Blog | 1 Comment »

San Francisco launching clean power program

07/26/2011
By Alison Hawkes

San Francisco's seven year effort to start a clean power program could begin as early as next June. Success will depend on whether residents choose to pay an extra $7 a month on PG&E electric bills.
Read more »

Tags: cleanpowersf, , renewable energy, , san francisco public utilities commission
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

Brown’s invite-only clean energy conference

07/25/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

A two-day, invite-only conference to flesh out California Governor Jerry Brown’s plans to reach 20,000 MW of new renewable energy in the state by 2020 began today. With the budget fight behind him, Brown says clean energy is his first priority.
Read more »

Tags: california governor jerry brown, clean energy, conference, solar energy
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

Shells of California mussels weakening

07/15/2011
By Alison Hawkes

A UC Davis study shows that rising acid levels in the ocean are weakening the shells of California mussels, which provide critical food and habitat to many species.
Read more »

Tags: , mussels, ocean acidification
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

California panel rejects boulder rampart on Ocean Beach

07/15/2011
By Alison Hawkes

A California panel has ruled that San Francisco can't use boulders to defend Ocean Beach from pounding waves and must instead find a long term solution.
Read more »

Tags: , california coastal commission, , , , ,
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

San Francisco catches on to bulk solar purchasing

07/13/2011
By Alex Zielinski
San Francisco catches on to bulk solar purchasing

In an effort to boost the city’s solar energy use, San Francisco officials launched a pioneering program today keying in on a simple model: group discounts. “Solar@Work”, developed by the city’s Department of the Environment and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, encourages commercial business owners to join together to create one solar purchasing group....
Read more »

Tags: ,
Posted in Climate Change & Energy | 2 Comments »

Rare earth metals under Pacific hard to get

07/12/2011
By Alison Hawkes

The high tech and hybrid vehicle market are fueling high demand for rare earth metals. But a promising stash deep under the Pacific will be all but impossible to reach, say experts.
Read more »

Tags: hybrid vehicles, pacific ocean, rare earth metals
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | Comments Off

Climate change is making California coast cooler, rainer

07/06/2011
By Alison Hawkes

Yearly rainfall has increased 6 percent in San Francisco over the last 30 years, a trend that matches climate change predictions. Inland, however, is heating up.
Read more »

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | 1 Comment »

California hits record in solar power installations

07/06/2011
By Alison Hawkes

In 2010, California increased its solar power installations by 46 percent over 2009. It's now halfway towards state 2016 goals for the solar industry.
Read more »

Tags: ,
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, The Daily Catch: Bay Area Headlines | 1 Comment »

Featured Video

"It's gettin' real in the Whole Foods parking lot" by Smog and Fog Films.

Follow Us!

Recent Comments

Jerry: The statement that the SF Public Utilities Commission is developing local w...
Tree Removal Brisbane: We all love trees!...
Howard Wong: The high risk to the City's finances is a real concern---because the Federa...
MROSD: Thank you for taking an interest in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Di...
Mark: If we're financially responsible for the trees fronting our property, I sur...
Anon: So they didn't consider to include non-business owners? What gives?...
Ultra-Humanite: I believe it's called survival of the fittest for a reason....
Mark: Just leave mother nature alone and if that means the demise of the spotted ...
Michelle Burke: If property owners are fined $500 per tree because they failed to give near...
Chris: Reduce City workers benefits to reasonable standards and the City will sudd...

Field Notes Blog

Report: San Francisco faces water-related dangers

San Francisco  has been identified as one of the most vulnerable cities in the nation when it comes to water-related impacts of climate change....
Read more »

Builders cheer demise of California environmental law

Upon attending the West Coast Green events at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this week, I was thrilled to find out that Governor...
Read more »

Recycling carpets in California will save landfill space

Of the myriad of things cramming California landfills, discarded carpets are taking up lots of space. About 400 million pounds are tossed each year,...
Read more »

Got News?

Send story tips or news items for The Daily Catch:

[email protected]

We want to hear from you!

Who we are

Way Out West is a news site for the Bay Area dedicated to daily coverage of local green news.

We're camping out at public meetings, traipsing through parks, and sticking our noses into green tech research to bring you relevant local stories that matter.

WOW is produced by two local environmental journalists for you, our eco-savvy readers. We'd love to hear what you want from this site.