Fair Enough? Fair Trade Fashion Still Faces Challenges

02/14/2011
By Jessica Velez, SF Indie Fashion

Last July, Oakland’s Fair Trade USA reached a significant landmark in the fair trade fashion industry with the development of the world’s first-ever certification for ethically manufactured apparel. But the battle hasn’t been won. At last Monday’s Global Action Through Fashion event, panelists of well-informed fair trade experts and activists highlighted challenges that still face the industry....
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Environmental justice groups: California climate change law not at our expense

02/08/2011
By Alison Hawkes
Environmental justice groups: California climate change law not at our expense

California’s landmark climate change law survived a dirty battle at the polls last fall when oil industry groups tried to take it down in a ballot initiative. But now a new challenge has surfaced — this time by the environmental community. Environmental justice groups say that the regulatory plan that implements AB 32 doesn’t...
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UC Berkeley study: Using fear backfires on climate change

01/18/2011
By Alison Hawkes

It’s been a point of maddening frustration for scientists and environmentalists that as the predictions on global warming grow more dire, the public seems to be getting more skeptical. Blame conservatives for fomenting doubt and confusion for sure. But as UC Berkeley psychologist Robb Willer observed in a study recently, crying Cassandra can backfire....
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San Francisco tackles erosion, sea level rise on Ocean Beach

01/17/2011
By Alison Hawkes
San Francisco tackles erosion, sea level rise on Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach is one of San Francisco’s most uncertain recreational spots, its permanence in question as shifting sands and sea level rise threaten to change its dimensions, and even existence. City and federal officials are discussing whether to take a more proactive approach towards the sea, rather than let natural forces take their course....
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A storm of biblical proportions

01/16/2011
By Alison Hawkes

It’s been a long, cold rainy winter this year in California. But it could get worse — much worse. The USGS warned this past week that California is in the eye of a winter storm weather pattern that could be more disastrous than a major earthquake. They’re calling it the ARkstorm Scenario — a reference, one...
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Hidden Treasure: An Eco-City in San Francisco Bay?

01/11/2011
By Alison Hawkes

Listen to WOW reporter Alison Hawkes’ radio story about the greening of Treasure Island, which aired on KQED’s California Watch.
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Superfund site in San Francisco proves toxic for Navy, neighbors

Superfund site in San Francisco proves toxic for Navy, neighbors

A year after the dissolution of the Restoration Advisory Board for Hunters Point Shipyard, the Navy says it will introduce a new community involvement plan that emphasizes diversity. The announcement follows the White House’s reconvened interagency effort on environmental justice, which held its first meeting under the Obama administration in September.
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Stalking nature’s salmonoid miracle amid 7 million people

01/05/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger
Stalking nature’s salmonoid miracle amid 7 million people

It has been a fall and winter swollen with news stories about the endangered coho salmon's banner year in Marin County. The heavy rains many of us have been grousing about help the sea-dwelling salmon enter the rushing, inland creeks and swim to their spawning grounds.
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Whale swims into Tomales Bay, dazzling onlookers

12/31/2010
By Alison Hawkes

It’s rare that a whale turns up in Tomales Bay. But this week a 25-footer showed up to dine on worms, mollusks, and crustaceans during the annual winter migration from Alaska to the warmer waters of Baja, according to the Marin Independent Journal. A spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary...
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Demos of SF’s bike sharing program

12/20/2010
By Alison Hawkes

San Francisco is pioneering a new bike-sharing program in the vein of Paris and Barcelona. The project has been trumpeted by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office for years. With a $4 million grant that eventually came through, the city is readying 500 bikes for deployment in the spring of 2012. That’s a bit of a...
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Obama’s science advisor confident that action on climate change is happening

12/17/2010
By Alison Hawkes
Obama’s science advisor confident that action on climate change is happening

Not to knock your holiday spirits, but I think I'm stating the obvious that it's been an abysmal year for climate change.
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Top climate scientist says business interests winning in climate change debate

12/16/2010
By Alison Hawkes
Top climate scientist says business interests winning in climate change debate

NASA's top climate scientist James Hansen took world governments to task for choosing business interests over the needs of future generations in the fight against climate change.
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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....
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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...
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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,...
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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.

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