"THERMAL – At one end of Avenue 54, a road slicing through some of the most fertile land in the United States, resides the California of the popular imagination: a place of Bermuda shorts, putting greens and picture-window champagne dinners overlooking the infinity pool.

"California approved one of the broadest and most controversial components of its landmark climate change law, pushing the state toward a low-carbon economy that relies less on imported foreign oil.

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday voted to adopt final rules that will regulate carbon emissions across a broad cross section of the state's economy, including oil and gas producers, utilities and transportation companies, farmers and the building industry.

"In a victory for environmentalists, a flame retardant common in furniture and baby products was officially listed yesterday by the state as a cancer-causing chemical."

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Governor Jerry Brown [Friday] signed legislation to ban the possession and sale of shark fins in California, saying shark finning for culinary purposes has led to substantial declines in shark populations worldwide."

"The National Park Service has released a draft assessment of a California oyster farm's impact on a wilderness area, concluding that the farm's continued operations would harm harbor seals."

"San Francisco -- The shipping companies responsible for the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill, which polluted San Francisco Bay and killed thousands of birds and fish, have agreed to pay $44.4 million to restore habitat and reimburse the agencies that responded to the disaster, state and federal officials announced Monday."

"As rising sea levels eat away at the California coastline over the next century, the advancing ocean could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to beach communities as tourism and tax revenue is swept away, according to a state-commissioned study released Tuesday."