Environment

By Cathy Locke - Published: 12:00 am

The 2012 "fire season" will officially begin at 8 a.m. Monday, and fire officials urge residents, especially those living or recreating in rural areas, to use caution.

Scripps study finds seaweed benefit

By Susanne Rust - Updated: 12:17 am

California researchers have discovered that there may be a silver lining to an invasive and toxic seaweed that is killing some of Hawaii's coral reefs: It seems the seaweed contains compounds that could treat human diseases.

California budget cuts hurt long battle against invasive weed threat

By Matt Weiser - Updated: 3:22 pm

It doesn't take a botanist or even a nature nut to identify yellow star thistle along a favorite hiking trail. Every outdoor enthusiast has felt the familiar stab of introduction.

Gov. Jerry Brown's wildfire-liability plan assailed by U.S. attorney's office

By Kevin Yamamura - Updated: 2:08 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown tucked provisions into his budget that would limit payouts in wildfire liability cases, potentially saving timber companies and other major California landowners hundreds of millions of dollars as federal prosecutors pursue record-high damages in court.

Ruling on metering boosts solar industry in California

By Anne Gonzales - Published: Friday, May 25 2012 - 12:00 am

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday increased the number of rooftop solar installations that will qualify for credits by clarifying the way its net energy metering program is capped.

Concrete work begins on new Folsom Dam spillway

By Matt Weiser - Updated: 2:13 pm

After four years of digging, the concrete has begun flowing at Folsom Dam to construct a new flood control spillway.

California Fish and Game sues U.S. Army Corps over levee trees

By Matt Weiser - Published: Thursday, May 24 2012 - 12:00 am

The state of California sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday to fight rules that could eliminate trees on levees in Sacramento and statewide.

California agency says oil worker's death came after injection drilling started

By David Siders - Updated: Tuesday, May 22 2012 - 8:12 am

The Kern County sinkhole in which a Chevron oil worker died last June was in an area with spills and seeps dating back to the mid-1990s – about a year after oil producers started using a controversial kind of injection drilling there, state regulators said in a report released Monday.