California

"The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted to ban natural gas in new buildings starting in 2021."

"A recent announcement that the nonprofit that owns nine-tenths of Santa Catalina Island plans to boost eco-tourism by adding bison to existing herds has recharged a debate over the environmental impacts of the shaggy, imported beasts."

"A pair of wind-driven wildfires actively burning in Orange County and a couple of nearly extinguished blazes in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties have spawned the worst air quality in the nation, according to the government’s air quality monitoring agency."

"The cleanup of thousands of lead-contaminated homes, child-care centers, schools and parks surrounding the closed Exide battery recycling facility in Vernon is running behind schedule and over budget due to poor management by California regulators and has left children at continued risk of poisoning, according to a state audit released Tuesday."

"Decades ago, the Los Angeles coast was a dumping ground for thousands of barrels of acid sludge laced with the toxic pesticide DDT. The ocean buried the evidence for generations. No one could see it — until now."

"The elk are a main attraction in Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco. But ranchers who share the park say the elks’ numbers create problems."

"A bankruptcy court ruled Friday that Exide Technologies may abandon its shuttered battery recycling plant in Vernon, leaving a massive cleanup of lead and other toxic pollutants at the site and in surrounding neighborhoods to California taxpayers."