Topline:
Homeowners rebuilding after the fires could save time and thousands of dollars by going all-electric, UC Berkeley researchers have found.
The context: A new report from the university’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment finds that homeowners who lost their homes in the fires could save up to $9,000 when choosing all-electric construction. But there are caveats.
Read on ... for more on what an all-electric rebuild may mean.
Homeowners rebuilding after the fires could save time and thousands of dollars by going all-electric, UC Berkeley researchers have found.
A new report from the university’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment finds that people who lost their homes in the fires could save up to $9,000 when choosing all-electric construction.
“An all-electric rebuild is in all likelihood less expensive and faster than a hybrid rebuild,” said Ken Alex, co-author of the report and director of Project Climate at UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. “It has public health and safety benefits, and the supply chain issues, which I think everybody is concerned about, are no worse for an all-electric rebuild than they would be for a hybrid rebuild.”
To come to this conclusion, the researchers analyzed existing research on costs of electric construction and appliances, as well as interviewed experts including at SoCalGas, the L.A. Department of Water and Power, and electric construction experts.
The U.S. Green Building Council California, a nonprofit based in L.A. that provides resources for more efficient building construction, recently published a rebuild guide for fire survivors.
It’s geared toward homeowners, designers and building contractors who want to rebuild more resilient homes. You can check it out here.
You can also find a list of rebates and tax incentives for rebuilding a more resilient home here.
The logic is relatively simple.
“If you build back hybrid, you actually have to build two systems — you have to rebuild whatever is damaged from the gas system and the electric system,” Alex said. “If you build back all-electric, you actually only have to build back one of those systems.”
On top of that, Alex says connecting gas to homes, schools or businesses often requires more time, permits and safety checks because methane gas is explosive and can leak dangerous chemicals.
But there’s a caveat: the report found that savings could be significantly less than $9,000 in Altadena and the Palisades because much of the gas infrastructure doesn't need to be rebuilt — it's underground and was undamaged by the fires.
Other savings come with appliances that are more efficient and safer to use, helping to cut electricity bills. Installing a highly efficient heat pump, for example, can make it so that homeowners don’t need air conditioning or a gas furnace or boiler.
Here’s some of our previous reporting on going all-electric:
Alex cautioned that the report can’t predict exact savings for individual homeowners.
Factors outside homeowners’ control are also at play.
California’s electricity rates are being pushed higher and higher — in no small part due to hardening the electric grid against wildfires, including putting power lines underground.
And President Donald Trump’s tariffs are likely to increase the cost of construction materials overall. The administration’s tariffs on China, where needed electric components come from, are likely to raise costs.
“Much of the electrical equipment required comes from China,” Alex said. “Somewhat less of it comes from China on the natural gas side, so that's something of a complication.”
And while California and local utilities such as LADWP and Southern California Edison have incentives to encourage electrification, federal rebates and tax incentives put in place by the Biden administration to help Americans remove gas from their homes and save on electricity bills, are being targeted by the Trump administration.
The report adds to an ongoing policy conversation on how to rebuild.
In February, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk launched an independent commission of experts to help inform policies that will make it easier, faster and more affordable to rebuild safer, cleaner homes.
“Many of these homes in Altadena and the Palisades and other neighborhoods were built before 1978, before we had our first state energy code, before we banned lead paint, things that now are common sense,” said Matt Petersen, president of the L.A. Cleantech Incubator and chair of the new commission. “ So how do we make sure we rebuild better so communities are more resilient in the long run?”
The commission recently released their initial policy recommendations, which include incentivizing all-electric rebuilds.
In March, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to speed up permitting for all-electric and fire-resistant construction. She had initially waived the city’s 2022 requirement for new construction to be all electric.
Advocates and fire survivors have called for all-electric rebuilding.
In Altadena, L.A. County is taking a different permitting approach. Their goal is to get all “like-for-like” rebuilds permitted within 30 days. That type of rebuild is more about the structure than what’s in it, so the 30-day goal includes homeowners who may decide to go with all-electric hookups, or solar and battery storage.
“We don’t want to pick winners and losers. We don’t want to say if you pick this we’ll give you a fast lane,” said Anish Saraiya, director of Altadena recovery for county Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “We want to make sure everyone is able to rebuild.”
Natural gas is primarily composed of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that’s heating up the planet. Natural gas in buildings is responsible for about 40% of the city of L.A.'s planet-heating pollution.
The world’s top scientists agree that the world needs to get off gas and other fossil fuels that are the single-largest contributor to the rapid climate change we’re already experiencing.
At the same time, research is increasingly showing that appliances such as gas stoves worsen indoor air quality and are prone to leaking carcinogenic fumes. Induction stoves, on the other hand, cook via electromagnetic waves and don’t emit such pollution.
Experts say the recent fires — made worse by human-caused climate change — provide an opportunity to speed up the electrification effort, while avoiding costly retrofits down the line.
Topline:
Cleanup is just beginning for a contaminated industrial site in South Gate, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials who are leading the effort.
Why it matters: The small, southeast L.A. city has three Superfund sites, areas designated by the federal government as highly contaminated with hazardous waste.
The backstory: The site, known as the Southern Avenue Industrial Area, housed a screw manufacturing business for 30 years, then a carpet adhesive plant. Both businesses are now defunct and the site was designated by the federal government as a Superfund site in 2012.
What's next: EPA officials estimate soil cleanup will take about two months. Groundwater cleanup planning will start in 2027 and could take a year or more.
Read on ... to learn about the other contaminated sites in South Gate.
Cleanup is just beginning for a contaminated industrial site in South Gate, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials who are leading the effort.
The small southeast L.A. city was built on industry — in the early 20th century it boomed with auto, chemical and other manufacturers.
That legacy also left it with three Superfund sites, areas designated by the federal government as highly contaminated with hazardous waste.
The three sites are all clustered on a large lot framed by Southern and Rayo avenues. A residential neighborhood is nearby.
“This site is less than 50 yards away from a home, so we want to make sure that we clean it to a point where we can feel confident,” said South Gate Mayor Joshua Barron.
South Gate is home to about 90,000 people, the majority of whom are Latino. The median household income is about $74,500 and the state has identified the city and surrounding communities to be disproportionately burdened by pollution and its health effects.
This site, dubbed the Southern Avenue Industrial Area, housed a screw manufacturing business for 30 years, then a carpet adhesive plant. Both businesses are now defunct and the site was designated by the federal government as a Superfund site in 2012.
The pollution at this property was compounded by pollution from companies next door.
One of the two adjacent Superfund sites was used by Cooper Drum Co., a steel drum recycling plant. A group of Cooper Drum’s former customers, including chemical manufacturers and oil companies, are paying for part of that cleanup. The other site, previously operated by an aircraft rivet and conveyor belt manufacturer, is still in the analysis and planning stages.
First, a site has to get officially listed. Then the EPA has to analyze the property to understand exactly what and where contamination occurred. Identifying who is responsible for pollution can take time, result in lawsuits, or not be resolved at all. If the responsible party is defunct or can’t pay for the cleanup, then taxpayers have to foot the bill.
EPA experts need to then analyze the site and develop a cleanup plan, and funding needs to be secured. The cleanup can take years, even decades. The federal government has been slowly working through a backlog of sites, identifying those of highest importance through the National Priorities List, of which there are 97 in California. Learn more about the Superfund process here.
At the Southern Avenue site where the EPA broke ground Tuesday, analyses commissioned by the agency found widespread lead and other toxic contamination in the soil, as well as a plume of trichloroethylene, a carcinogen, in the groundwater.
Officials say the plume has not affected the deeper aquifer South Gate and other southeast L.A. cities rely on for drinking water.
In 1986, the city closed water wells contaminated by the neighboring Cooper Drum site.
“ The water is safe to drink,” said Mike Montgomery, superfund director for the EPA. “What we're trying to do is prevent it from becoming impacted.”
EPA officials estimate soil cleanup will take about two months. Groundwater cleanup planning will start in 2027 and could take a year or more. The whole effort is estimated to cost between $45 million and $60 million, primarily through federal dollars.
Topline:
Forecasters predict that this year’s El Niño could be the strongest on record. LAist wants to help answer your questions about it.
The background: Scientists say an El Niño climate pattern has already formed in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Warming ocean temperatures are on track to exceed even the historic El Niño of 1997.
Why it matters: In Southern California, El Niño is expected to come with a lot of rain and high sea levels, as well as the resulting flooding, mudslides and coastal erosion.
Read on … to find the form where you can submit your questions about El Niño.
The summer heat may be sweltering at the moment in Southern California, but predictions about this winter’s El Niño show it could be the strongest on record.
So the LAist newsroom wants to know: What questions do you have? (You can submit below.)
We can tell you now that El Niño is a climate pattern that happens roughly every two to seven years, and is one of the most powerful drivers of the Earth’s weather.
During an El Niño event, the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America warms to above normal temperatures. The warm ocean adds moisture and heat to the atmosphere, influencing atmospheric circulation, temperatures and precipitation on a massive scale.
El Niño typically results in mild weather in the northern United States and wetter conditions in the southern part of the country.
In Southern California, we could start to see the effects of El Niño in the late fall or early winter. Generally, those effects include significant rain and high sea levels and the consequences that come with them, such as flooding, mudslides and coastal erosion.
Forecasters say there is a more than 90% chance of a powerful El Niño event this year, and a 70% chance that it’s record-setting.
That said, uncertainty remains around how exactly this winter’s El Niño will play out here.
So as you gear up for an El Niño winter, ask us your questions and we’ll do our best to get answers in the months ahead.
Topline:
The company behind the Garden Grove hazardous waste scare earlier this year is planning to resume full operations in late September, subject to an independently monitored, court-approved safety plan. The company employs 500 people at its Garden Grove facility.
The details: GKN Aerospace said in a news release that it had permanently decommissioned the tank that set off the hazmat scare in May and forced some 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate. Removal of the tank is pending review and approval from state regulatory agencies, according to an emailed response from Salma Elshakre, a spokesperson for the Orange County Health Care Agency, which is overseeing the cleanup.
Read more ... for more information on the controversy.
The company behind the Garden Grove hazardous waste scare earlier this year is planning to resume full operations in late September, subject to an independently monitored, court-approved safety plan.
GKN Aerospace employs 500 people at its Garden Grove facility.
GKN Aerospace said in a news release that it had permanently decommissioned the tank that set off the hazmat scare in May and forced some 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate.
Removal of the tank is pending review and approval from state regulatory agencies, according to an emailed response from Salma Elshakre, a spokesperson for the Orange County Health Care Agency, which is overseeing the cleanup.
All of the toxic chemical, methyl methacrylate (also known as MMA), has been removed from nearby tanks as well, Elshakre said.
This week, the company also announced a forthcoming $100 million compensation fund for affected residents and businesses. GKN expects to release details on how to apply in the coming months.
At least 39 lawsuits have been filed against the company in conjunction with the hazmat incident, according to a GKN webpage set up to track the fallout. The company pledged to explain the legal effect of participating in the compensation fund before it is launched.
Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said in a statement that the city “welcome[s] this progress and will continue to expect GKN to address the broader effects on our community.”
A coalition of community groups called GKN Out of Garden Grove Coalition wants the city to shut down the GKN plant completely. The coalition plans to release a report documenting the company’s alleged history of hazardous waste failures at a news conference Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at 11300 Stanford Ave. in Garden Grove.
Topline:
The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
What visas could be revoked: Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents. B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.
Why now: Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants — demanding more information about their social media histories, requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
He declined to comment on the number of visas that might be revoked, saying “as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis.”
The revocations would not necessarily result in their immediate deportation, the officials said. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.
Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants — demanding more information about their social media histories, requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called out people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to get into the United States and then apply for asylum.
“People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote on X. “Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.
B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care. It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many of these visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the United States and would be affected by the revocations.
Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and prove that they intend to return to their home countries.
In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery, as well as for people who have spoken out publicly against U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.
The administration has also moved to crack down on so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birthright citizenship. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court.
The State Department documents obtained by the AP suggest screening of current B1 and B2 visa holders began after the State Department received information about asylum requests from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
