Firefighters have largely contained many of the major fires that forced thousands of residents in various parts of California to flee their homes. Some are already returning.

"Despite regulations and laws to protect children, Fresno County authorities say school buses are still being exposed to pesticide clouds once or twice a year."

"A Sacramento judge sided with the styrene industry and against state environmental officials on Wednesday in ruling that the chemical doesn't have to be listed under Proposition 65 as a cause of cancer."

The new Sierra Suntower in Southern California's Antelope Valley uses 24,000 mirrors to concentrate light onto a tower that generates steam -- and enough electricty to power 4,000 local homes.

"There might be a scientific reason that the old-growth trees in Yosemite National Park don't seem quite as big or as plentiful as those in your grandfather's early snapshots of the park."

"As California entered a severe drought, many of the city of Sacramento's biggest water users increased their watering dramatically."

Biologists have found in San Francisco Bay a kelp used in miso soup which is on the list of 100 worst invasive alien species.

"The United Farm Workers union sued California’s occupational health and safety agency on Thursday, accusing it of doing too little to prevent farm laborers’ deaths from heat illness."

"Californians’ eagerness to battle global warming seems to be cooling a bit: The latest survey on the state’s environmental attitudes, released on Wednesday, showed that 47 percent consider the threat of global warming very serious, a decline of seven percentage points from two years ago."

"State officials who lead California's war on global warming often travel abroad on trips supported by the major greenhouse gas polluters they regulate, a Bee investigation has found. Industry lobbyists and executives routinely join them."