"SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Despite fierce opposition from much of the business community, California's grand experiment in taming global warming begins in earnest Wednesday."

"State officials are set to auction tens of millions of dollars' worth of carbon-emission allowances to scores of oil refiners, cement manufacturers and other large industrial polluters.

"Gill nets and a tippy rowboat are being used this month to pluck thousands of alien critters out of San Francisco's Mountain Lake as part of an innovative effort to resurrect the area's ecological history."

"California Proposition 39 results: 60 percent of voters approve measure to close tax loophole and fund clean energy and energy efficiency projects in public buildings. For a tax measure, California Proposition 39 had surprisingly little organized opposition."

"SUTTER CREEK, Calif. -- The first time this town put a major wager on a golden future was in 1851 when a local resident, R.C. Downs, talked budding tycoon Leland Stanford into joining him in investing in an under-performing mine."

"Measures in Richmond and El Monte, California that would have taxed sugar-sweetened beverages at a penny-per-ounce rate failed to pass in either city [Tuesday]."

"A measure that would require most foods made with genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled in California was significantly behind early Wednesday."

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ending a mystery that captivated the run-up to Election Day, the Arizona group behind an anonymous $11 million donation revealed under court order Monday that the shadowy donation was laundered through two groups, including one tied to David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who have played a huge role in spreading anonymous political cash around the country."

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Photos of animal abuse and suffering posted on a federal wildlife specialist's Facebook and other Web pages are stirring anger among wildlife advocates."

"Genetic engineering of crops is essentially the same as centuries-old, conventional plant breeding, except more precise, scientists say." As voting time nears on California's Proposition 37, arguments about science, safety, and the public's right to know intensify.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said its latest analysis of seismic faults near PG&E Corp's Diablo Canyon nuclear station in California showed the coastal plant could withstand an earthquake generated by an offshore fault identified in 2008, according to a statement on Friday."