Mark Ghilarducci, the state’s emergency services director, right, with Gov. Gavin Newsom as he signed wildfire legislation in 2019. Ghilarducci has worked in emergency services for four decades. John G Mabanglo/EPA, via Shutterstock Three times in the last four years, Mark Ghilarducci has tried to retire from his decade-long job as the head of emergency services […]

 A historically severe September heat wave is baking the West, breaking hundreds of records, posing a danger to public health and pushing California’s power grid to the limit. Some records have been shattered by wide margins as the scorching air mass exacerbates the fire danger in the drought-stricken region. After San Jose and Sacramento soared […]

California took some of its most aggressive steps yet to fight global warming as lawmakers passed a flurry of new climate bills late Wednesday, including a record $54 billion in climate spending, a measure to prevent the state’s last nuclear power plant from closing, sharp new restrictions on oil and gas drilling and a mandate […]

By 2035, California shoppers looking for new vehicles will have to buy electric. California made history late last week when its regulators approved an ambitious plan to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the state. While governments around the world have tried to incentivize consumers to purchase electric vehicles and encourage automakers […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, spoke during the opening ceremony at the Summit of the Americas on Wednesday.Credit…Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press Los Angeles has transformed into a major geopolitical stage this week as President Biden and dozens of other world leaders convene here for the ninth Summit of the Americas. If you aren’t already familiar, the Summit […]

The California Coastal Commission tonight rejected the proposed construction of a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, sealing the controversial project’s fate after more than 20 years of debate. The unanimous decision about the $1.4-billion plant in Huntington Beach is pivotal because it sets a high bar for the future of turning seawater into drinking water […]

The City Council unanimously approved more than a dozen measures Wednesday to tighten restrictions on plastic bags, utensils, food containers and other disposables with a goal of making Los Angeles a “zero waste” city. The measures, 14 in all, direct the city attorney to draft ordinances to expand the already existing plastic bag ban and […]

If adopted, the new measures would make a dent in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and set the bar for the broader auto industry. WASHINGTON — California on Wednesday made public an aggressive plan to mandate a steady increase in the sale of electric and zero-emissions vehicles, the first step in enacting a first-in-the-nation goal of […]

Winter precipitation amounts were not enough to significantly improve conditions in much of the country, government scientists said. Drought conditions are likely to continue across more than half of the continental United States through at least June, straining water supplies and increasing the risk of wildfires, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday. […]