"Citing the Gulf oil spill, the senator says the Republican's stance could threaten the jobs of 400,000 workers. Analysts say oil drilling is one of her most effective wedge issues."

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac killed a solar panel and energy efficiency program Monterey County was launching with pride. Now California is fighting back.

"Two roaring wildfires in southern California prompted at least 2,300 evacuations and a state of emergency late Tuesday."

"When a [California] bill to ban a common plastic additive in feeding products for young children passed the Assembly on July 1, it marked a milestone in state legislative efforts to regulate bisphenol A."

"It's shaping up to be an active season for West Nile virus in Santa Clara County. ... But plans for a Tuesday evening fogging have outraged many West San Jose residents, who fear the county's large-scale spraying does more harm than good."

"U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Wednesday declared the entire concrete-lined Los Angeles River channel 'traditional navigable waters,' a designation crucial to applying Clean Water Act protections throughout its 834-square-mile urban watershed."

People on the Monterey Peninsula face rising water bills as the California state water board forces their supplier to turn to desalination.

San Francisco is requiring retailers to inform customers of how much electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit. The cell phone industry is attacking San Francisco in retaliation.

"FRESNO, Calif. - A hazardous-waste landfill suspected by Kettleman City residents of causing birth defects has been inaccurately testing treated contaminants for five years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says."

"A local agency that's completed hundreds of lead paint remediation projects across San Diego has halted two jobs and launched an internal inquiry as it acknowledges that it may have improperly dumped lead waste for the last decade."

Fishermen like walrus-mustached Larry Collins, captain of the Autumn Gale in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, face an agonizing choice.

The "citizens" initiatives on California's ballot are increasingly being sponsored by corporations. Opponents of Proposition 16 say it would lock into the state constitution a perpetual monopoly for Pacific Gas & Electric.

Local officials in Carlsbad, Calif., see salvation for their water-starved community in a huge proposed desalination plant. Poseidon Resources, the company hoping to build it, says building it won't cost taxpayers and ratepayers a dime. But tough investigative reporting shows that southern Californians would pay at least $640 million over 30 years for the project.

"The water supply of more than 2 million Californians has been exposed to harmful levels of nitrates over the past 15 years -- a time marked by lax regulatory efforts to contain the colorless and odorless contaminant, a California Watch investigation has found."

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $27.6 million to settle allegations that it improperly handled and dumped hazardous waste at stores across California in a case that led to changes in the retailer's practices nationwide, prosecutors said Monday."