Environment
In the past six months, Richmond officials have received hundreds of complaints regarding LED light pollution from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The goal of installing the new lights was to save energy, but now some residents can’t sleep.
The lack of modern energy services, also referred to as energy poverty, is an ongoing issue in the Bay Area. But many organizations are working hard to make new energy options available to households. In Richmond, in the Iron Triangle neighborhood, many low-income families now have access to solar panels thanks to Oakland non-profit GRID Alternatives. Starting in June, Alameda County will launch their very own community choice energy agency, East Bay Community Energy, in hopes of providing county residents with…
After almost eight years of grinding litigation that has brought proposals to develop Richmond’s controversial Point Molate area to a halt, the city and the developer who sued it over a plan to build a casino have finally reached a settlement. This means 13 years of political fighting since Richmond officially acquired the 270-acre parcel of land and former fuel depot from the Navy in 2003 may finally give way to a unified plan to make economic use of the…
The Home Team, a collaboration of design firms and community organizations, is working on a proposal to reduce the risk of rising sea levels in Richmond. The project is part of the Resilient by Design challenge, a 10-team competition to create the best model for addressing climate disasters in the Bay Area.
The Bay Area is sinking and climate change is speeding things up, according to a new study published in Science Advances this month. The study was conducted over the span of two years by researchers Manoocher Shirzaei and Roland Burgmann, who used satellite images to evaluate regions of the Bay Area, such as Treasure Island, which are experiencing sea level rise because of the accelerated melting of polar ice. Shirzaei is a former UC Berkeley post-doctoral student, and Burgmann is…
Almost five years after Richmond filed a lawsuit against Chevron for damages in response to the massive 2012 fire at the oil company’s local refinery, the case is finally moving forward to the trial phase.
Richmond’s mayor Tom Butt claims the county’s community warning system did not work correctly.
Richmond’s lawsuit against 29 oil and coal companies, including Chevron, aims to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for future costs related to climate change. Richmond is the ninth city to sue fossil fuel companies, following on the heels of San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz.
On January 31, over 100 people gathered on the observatory deck at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland to witness the rare spectacle of the Super Blood Blue Moon.