Environment
The University of California Board of Regents voted Wednesday to add several environmental responsibility initiatives into its investment portfolio, but declined to act on student fossil-free coalitions’ demands that it divest from fossil fuel companies.
In the words of environmental activist David Helvarg, Point Molate “is the most beautiful part of the bay nobody’s ever heard of.”
A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by environmental groups that sought to halt rail shipments of volatile Bakken crude oil into Richmond. Judge Peter J. Busch ruled that the lawsuit was filed too late.
City releases a draft Environmental Impact Report of Chevron’s Modernization Project.
California is in a drought. Though the Bay Area experienced a few showers this week, far more rain is needed to make a dent in the state’s water shortage. Last year was the driest on record, and on January 17 Governor Jerry Brown made the drought emergency official. On Friday, the Department of Water Resources director released a statement reflecting the dire situation. “It is our duty to give State Water Project customers a realistic understanding of how much water…
U.S. Chemical Safety Board representatives and investigators on Monday recommended sweeping changes to the California petroleum industry following the August 2012 fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond.
Richmond isn’t the only town in the Bay Area that’s in the midst of approving a major oil project. Other nearby refineries are also upgrading. And surrounding communities are looking to Richmond for lessons on how to insure that environmental standards are met.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District—often referred to as the Air District—passed a resolution last week to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To meet the goal, Chevron’s century old refinery in Richmond would need to drastically cut the amount of greenhouse gasses it releases.
The Richmond Southeast Shoreline Community Advisory Group alleges radioactive material found by state officials on Richmond’s shoreline was illegally dumped by a chemical company in the sixties.