Playing with Lead – Part 1
Congress recently passed tougher limits on lead levels due to the large number of recalls of imported toys. But the new law, which went into effect in February, doesn't seem to be keeping dangerous...
View ArticlePlaying with Lead – Part 2
Months after the federal government enacted stricter standards intended to keep lead out of children's toys, a KQED investigation found merchandise that violates the law still sitting on many Bay Area...
View ArticleGetting to Zero Waste
As of September 2009, San Francisco residents faced warnings, and even fines, if they failed to recycle, as the city aims to keep ever more garbage out of its landfills. But, after twenty years of...
View ArticleThe Politics of Green Wine
Wine grapes are one of the most sprayed crops in California. A growing number of farmers are choosing not to spray and are doing other things for the environment, too. The challenge is there are now so...
View ArticlePredicting Swine Flu
Why do some people get severely sick from swine flu and others barely feel it? As flu season ramps up, scientists at UCSF's Viral Discovery Center are racing to learn more about the 2009 H1N1 virus,...
View ArticleNational Parks Sounds Blog Video
Craig Miller's sound piece from a while back for the blog.
View ArticleHow to Identify a Bullet
Last month, the FBI released a report showing violent crime has dropped for the second year in a row... down nearly two percent in 2008, from a year earlier. Still, many homicide cases go unsolved. A...
View ArticlePredicting the Next Big One
It's been twenty years since the Loma Prieta Earthquake ravaged downtown Santa Cruz and damaged San Francisco's Marina District and the Bay Bridge. QUEST looks at the dramatic improvements in...
View ArticleSaving Our Parks
It may seem that California's parks dodged a bullet recently when the Governor announced that all of the state's financially strapped parks will remain open, but state parks still have to cut $14...
View ArticleGetting Paid to Go Solar
If you have solar panels on your house, you can count on reducing your electricity bill. Maybe you'll pay nothing at all. But what if you produce more than you use? Well, until recently in California,...
View ArticleA Bumpy Ride for High Speed Rail
Last year a majority of California voters approved a multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail project. Now comes the hard part: squeezing a 220-mph train system into California's densely populated cities....
View ArticleBoom Time for Open Space
This month marks an anniversary no one will celebrate: two years ago, the economic downturn many call "The Great Recession" began. Here in Northern California, like just about everywhere else, housing...
View ArticleWeb Extra: Scenes from the Pacific Garbage Patch
Reporter Lindsey Hoshaw recently returned from a trip to the Pacific Garbage Patch. She was the only journalist on a scientific expedition led by Charles Moore, who discovered the patch 12 years ago....
View ArticleRainwater Harvesting: Is It All Wet?
It's an El Niño year, which raises hopes for significant rainfall this winter. But after years of drought, some local homeowners aren't counting on it. They're conserving water by reviving the ancient...
View ArticleThe Future of Phone Books
The white pages, required by law in most states, have been estimated to consume 5 million trees a year to produce. They create challenges for recycling centers and with 90 percent of Americans using...
View ArticleSolar Thieves
Solar panels are a hot commodity these days and not just for residents and business owners who want to go green. It turns out that thieves are also embracing clean technology: Solar panel thefts are on...
View ArticleTruckers Clean Up Their Act
Truckers at the Port of Oakland are scrambling to clean up their rigs this month. If they can't show they've taken steps to reduce pollution from their trucks' diesel engines, they'll soon be out of...
View ArticleIs The Drought Over?
The recent rain storms have drenched Northern California, dumping in some places almost twice as much rain as we'd expect to see at this time of year. That's great news for a state that's suffered...
View ArticleThe Godfather of Green
Art Rosenfeld is retiring, stepping down from his post with the California Energy Commission. The 83-year-old nuclear physicist pushed California to enact some of the toughest energy efficiency...
View ArticleWither The Lawn
After three years of drought, California is finally getting some wet relief. Yet a series of strong storms doesn't end the state's need to conserve water. A new California law will impose restrictions...
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