"A federal judge has ruled strongly in favor of a major energy firm that [San Diego] sued for roughly $250 million over its pollution cleanup efforts beneath 166-acre Qualcomm Stadium site."

California's Monterey Shale formation holds a vast reserve of oil -- on the verge of being tapped -- that could rain riches and controversy on the state.

"Chevron ignored potentially life-threatening dangers to workers at its Richmond refinery and should pay a record fine of nearly $1 million stemming from the fire there in August, state regulators said Wednesday."

"MORGAN HILL -- Ten years ago this month, community leaders were shocked by the discovery that a company that manufactured road flares here had disposed of toxic chemicals improperly, creating a 10-mile-long underground plume of perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel."

After years of disagreement, planners from California and Nevada seem to have finally agreed on a plan that will allow development while protecting Lake Tahoe's crystalline waters.

KETTLEMAN CITY -- Maria Saucedo cried as she spoke of the two babies she has lost in Kettleman City -- one to birth defects and the other in a miscarriage. There's no proof, but she blames the toxic landscape surrounding her town. She and others who have suffered in Kettleman City say they live in a nasty soup of pollution. They make a compelling case."

"A mysterious new virus on the West Coast is believed to be causing fatal brain cancer in raccoons -- an alarming sign given the animals' frequent interactions with humans and the fact that tumors of any type were previously rarely found in the animals."

"The California Public Utilities Commission held an initial meeting Tuesday in an investigative process that could eventually result in ratepayers getting a refund for a portion of the bills they have paid during the San Onofre nuclear plant's year-long outage."

"RICHMOND, Calif. -- The Chevron refinery’s massive oil storage tanks sit on the hills overlooking this small, impoverished city in San Francisco’s East Bay. Painted earthen red to blend with the natural surroundings, the tanks cannot help dominating the city’s skyline, much the way the oil giant itself has long shaped Richmond’s identity, economy and politics."