Environment

When the Cypress Freeway collapsed twenty years ago, one child survived because a Children’s Hospital surgeon climbed into the wreckage, got down on his stomach amid the other emergency workers, and performed an amputation on the spot. The doctor, James Betts, tells the story.

Twenty years after the powerful earthquake, Oakland residents recall the day everything changed.

Midway through the Bay Bridge retrofit, what are the environmental consequences of a major construction project in the middle of the bay?

For water carriers in a precipitation-finicky state such as California, a stormy day like Tuesday can save or deceive. The rain doesn’t make promises, and that’s how the East Bay Municipal Utility District got caught in a bind during this last water year…

After listening to more than a dozen passionate speakers, Oakland Port Commissioners last night approved a ban next year on trucks don’t comply with new clean air standards. The ban on dirty trucks, which will go into effect Jan. 1 of next year, will require seaport facility operators to deny entry to trucks with engine model years earlier than 1994, or those with engine model years between 1994 and 2003 that have met standards set by the California Air Resources…

With fewer city workers to keep up with routine maintenance, trash is proliferating in some of Oakland’s most popular green spaces. Volunteer workers may be the key to fighting that trend.

After listening to more than a dozen passionate speakers, Oakland Port Commissioners last night approved a ban next year on trucks that don’t comply with new clean air standards. The ban on polluting trucks, goes into effect Jan. 1, will require seaport facility operators to deny entry to trucks with engine model years earlier than 1994, or those with engine model years between 1994 and 2003 that have not met standards set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Some…

A panel of scientists, environmentalists and urban organization leaders gathered Tuesday afternoon in downtown Oakland to help kick off a three-day conference on water usage and the potential perils of climate change around San Francisco Bay. Heather Cooley, a research associate with the Water Program of the Pacific Institute, Water Program, an Oakland-based environmental advocacy nonprofit, warned at the panel that that her studies have found the sea level is rising in San Francisco Bay.  High enough sea levels could…