The Brief

The climate crisis is so huge and overwhelming, it can be paralyzing to many of us. We all want to know that one thing that will really make the difference.

But guess what? There’s an app for that. There's of course no silver bullet to addressing the climate crisis, but a new app, Dashboard.Earth, aims to help users shake out of climate paralysis, take meaningful climate actions — and get rewarded for it.

The app, which launched publicly about six months ago and is currently in beta, gamifies climate action and education, and was curated specifically for L.A.

“I think at the end of the day, everybody wants to try and figure out what they can do on an individual level to make an impact either locally in their community or on the global scale,” said Kelly Shannon McNeill, associate director at the water conservation non-profit advocacy group Los Angeles Waterkeeper, which partnered with the developers to help design the app. “The goal for Dashboard.Earth is serving up bite-sized, really accessible, step-by-step actions that almost anybody could take regardless if they're a renter, a homeowner, etc.”

At this point, the app has three main actions — composting, electronics recycling and saving on energy. There are also plenty of actions like water conservation, tree planting and energy saving that point to rebates from, for example, the L.A. Department of Water and Power. The more actions you take, the more “sprouts” you gather — people with the most sprouts are more likely to win a weekly prize, such as a gift card to a local vegan restaurant or other rewards in partnership with local businesses. It also shows how people near you are taking similar actions to foster community.

A screenshot of the dashboard.earth app.

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“Climate is a really big problem, and to solve a big problem, we each need to start where we are with what we have. And for each of us, that means our own lives, our own homes, within our own families,” said Lauren Turk, director of strategic partnerships at Dashboard.Earth. “We've done the work of identifying the key actions that really matter in L.A. so that people can get started where they are with what they have.”

The financial incentives are also mostly tied to local utilities, such as LADWP and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. There’s also a calculator for incentives linked to the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

And not everything is just on the app — once you sign up for the app’s newsletter, you can join in-person climate action events too.

Turk said Dashboard.Earth is not complete and they are continuing to change the product based on user feedback. For example, they’re working to potentially develop pathways around “greening” your commute and eating a more plant-based diet. They aim to expand the app statewide by the end of the year, with curated pathways for communities across California.

A screenshot of the dashboard.earth app.

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Of course a single app won’t save the world — there are no silver bullets when it comes to addressing human-caused climate change — but for the smartphone-centric society we now live in, apps can be an effective tool to help people engage with meaningful climate action at an individual level. It can even be something of a gateway to starting to participate in broader, more systemic action.

And the reality is, to make a dent on climate, both individual and systemic action is needed — and individuals do have power to tip the scales towards broader social change — just 25% of a community’s population is needed to tip the scales to change social norms, according to 2018 research from the University of Pennsylvania.

How the app was developed

There are a lot of climate apps out there, but this one is unique in its hyperlocal focus — and financial incentives — and close work with local organizations, said Turk.

The app’s actions were developed over several years in partnership with local nonprofits that work on climate resilience, such as Accelerate Resilience Los Angeles and TreePeople, as well as LA Waterkeeper, Promesa Boyle Heights and Resilient Palisades, who helped develop the water conservation and bill savings paths. Homeboy Industries is a partner on the new electronics recycling path.

Over several years, pilots were run to identify what got people to engage. LA Waterkeeper led the water conservation pilot case studies with Promesa Boyle Heights and Resilient Palisades. That pilot revealed both the opportunities and limits to the app — most of the engagement came from the affluent Pacific Palisades, where they focused on water-saving rebates for actions such as transitioning lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes. In Boyle Heights, the messaging was more about indoor water conservation and bill savings, but engagement remained low.

Drought-tolerant native wildflowers.

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“The adoption in every community has not been equal and that's something that we're proactively working with Dashboard.Earth on to figure out how we can make this more accessible for everyone,” said McNeill.

One big issue on the water conservation side, she said, is that most financial incentives available are rebates, rather than direct install programs, so lower income folks can be left out since it may not be financially feasible to wait to receive a rebate after purchasing, for example, a low-flow toilet or faucet. And there’s the digital divide, so an app can’t replace grassroots in-person organizing.

Another issue is that renters don’t always have the power to take those bigger actions, such as transforming grassy lawns. McNeill said in that case, the app can be a helpful education tool. Her family rents a house, and she said she’s used the app to educate her landlord.

“I have not been successful at encouraging them to take advantage of the amazing rebates that we have for lawn transformation, but my small act of rebellion is I have just turned off the sprinklers, so we're at least not wasting water, especially during the winter,” she said with a chuckle.

While all the actions may not work for everyone, the main ones — separating food waste, recycling electronics, and taking action on energy efficiency — are things most anyone can do.

How the app helped one Angeleno take action

Separating food waste from the trash is one of the primary actions on the app, and most users are doing it for the first time, said Turk. Keeping food waste out of landfills is essential to lowering the super planet-heating gas methane — decomposing food waste in landfills is largely why they’re California’s third largest source of methane. (Learn more about L.A.’s composting effort here).

Walter Avelar said he had no idea keeping food waste out of the trash was such a powerful climate action until the company he’s a general manager for partnered with Dashboard.Earth to improve their sustainability efforts. Now, the Granada Hills resident and his family are experts at separating their food waste.

He’s also asked his team and managers at work to download the app and work to compost themselves they share pictures when they do to motivate each other, he said. And he’s considering speaking with the elementary school down his street to see if they compost, and asked his daughters to ask their high school about taking action on food waste.

A photo of some of Walter Avelar's family's food waste. They're all now experts at separating their food waste from the trash.

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“The reason no one’s doing it is because no one’s educated,” Avelar said. “I did not even know California had a law for you to start doing that. It's just talking about it, encouraging it, and you have to lead by example as well.”

There’s research that supports that when a neighbor takes an action, the trend catches on — for example, a 2020 study found that for every 100 Southland homes that converted their lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes using a rebate from the Metropolitan Water District, an additional 132 nearby homes were inspired to convert their own grass as well.

The app provides an alert about how many other people in his neighborhood are participating in separating food waste from the trash. Avelar said he just wishes the impact calculator — which currently uses an average calculated through the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste reduction model — was more specific to the amount of food waste he’s actually separating. Turk said the team is working on developing a more pound-for-pound translation so users can know exactly how much they’re diverting from the landfill.

Much of L.A.'s food waste will end up at Recology, a composting facility just outside Bakersfield.

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Avelar said he’s always cared about the environment, but hadn’t ever had the time or knowledge to take action, until he got on the app.

“I work a lot, but it’s about making a commitment to yourself, to my family, and just being educated,” Avelar said. “There's so much food that we throw away and I did not know that it creates gasses and it affects animals, it affects us, it affects everyone. And if we don't stop, I mean, I can't even imagine what's going to happen in 50, 60 years, or even when my girls have kids.”

Even his mother-in-law, who’s visiting from Panama, is fully on board now, Avelar said.

“Now, I come home after work and there's already a bag [with the separated food waste],” Avelar said. “It’s amazing. And all we did was talk about it. So I'm sure she's going to be taking it back to Panama.”

Last week, Synergy Quantum Academy students joined regional walkouts protesting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. But with the South L.A. school’s tall metal gate shut, some opted to climb and jump over it.

The school’s leadership wrote in messages to parents and staff that an “unauthorized staff member” then opened that campus gate — in conflict with Los Angeles Unified School District protocol.

That staff member, teacher Ricardo Lopez, said he acted out of concern for the safety of students who might have hurt themselves trying to leave the school.

He said the school fired him the same day. Now his dismissal has spurred further protests and raised questions about whose responsibility it is to ensure safety as students exercise their First Amendment rights.

Here’s what we know 

Thousands of students across Los Angeles walked out during the first week of February to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including students at Synergy Quantum Academy.

Lopez said that after the walkouts on Feb. 4, he heard several students talk about injuring themselves climbing over the metal fences that surround the South L.A. school.

On Thursday morning, during his academic prep period, Lopez said he saw students trying to climb over the metal gate on the north side of the campus.

“When I saw one of my [AP U.S. History] students climbing the fence and jumping…and like almost falling, I started rushing towards the gate,” Lopez said. “ I opened the gate for them so other students wouldn’t get hurt like the day before.”

Guidance from the ACLU of Southern California related to student walkouts states “locking exits to the school can pose serious health and safety concerns for students and staff.”

Lopez said he opened this gate on the north side of Synergy Quantum Academy and Maya Angelou Community High School's shared campus after watching students attempt to climb over Thursday Feb. 5.

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Lopez said within an hour, Synergy’s human resources department informed him that he’d been terminated for insubordination. Lopez said there was no hearing or additional meeting where he was able to defend his actions.

“What hurts even more was that they escorted me out like I was a — I felt like a criminal,” Lopez said.

The contents of his classroom were later boxed and sent to him via a third-party delivery service.

Lopez said it’s still unclear to him why he was fired. He said staff received an email earlier in the week telling them not to participate in student protests, but there was no mention of any policy related to the gate.

“ I wasn't participating [in the protest],” Lopez said. “To me it was about protecting students from getting hurt.”

What has the school communicated? 

The school’s public justification for terminating Lopez intersects with a longstanding source of friction in Los Angeles schools — the co-location of independent charter schools on the campuses of traditional district schools.

Synergy Quantum Academy shares a campus with Los Angeles Unified's Maya Angelou Community High School. Synergy is an independent charter school with a separate staff overseen by a board of directors outside of the district.

In messages to parents and staff, Synergy's principal said opening the gate conflicted with LAUSD protocol.

Synergy Quantum Academy enrolled 564 students in the 2024-2025 school year and is one of several charter schools operated by Synergy Academies.

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Synergy Academies CEO Rhonda Deomampo confirmed Lopez is no longer employed at the school.

In response to LAist's inquiry about which protocol was violated, Deomampo wrote in an email that Maya Angelou Community High School’s safety plan “clearly outlines the authority of the principal or designee in situations like these.” She also said “to date, the school has received no reports of student injuries related to student protests.”

The excerpt provided from the 206-page safety plan states it is the responsibility of the principal or designee to “maintain adequate safeguards to ensure the safety and welfare of students” during a walkout. The plan states “if students leave campus, school site administrators do not have a legal obligation to protect the safety and welfare of the students.” The document provided does not explicitly prohibit a staff member from opening a gate.

How is LAUSD involved? 

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said while independent charter schools are expected to follow district policies related to walkouts, the district does not weigh in on personnel decisions.

“Independent charter schools are responsible for the supervision and management of the charter school employees,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Lopez said at Synergy, like many charter schools, he was an “at-will” employee, which means he can be terminated with or without cause and does not have the additional protections associated with union membership.

Community calls for teacher’s reinstatement

Lopez said he has a shared background with many of his students as the son of undocumented, working, immigrant parents who didn’t have an opportunity to pursue higher education themselves.

“That's one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher because a lot of things that I learned [in college] really helped me grow,” Lopez said. Teaching was a way to pay forward that knowledge.

“ I really miss my students, you know, I miss being in the classroom,” Lopez said. “ I just want to be reinstated, you know, and just keep, keep doing what I'm doing, teaching and supporting my students and protecting my students.”

Lopez said he is also worried that the termination could jeopardize his teaching credential or ability to get future jobs as an educator.

On Tuesday, dozens of students from both Maya and Synergy joined with organizers from Unión del Barrio and the Association of Raza Educators to rally for Lopez’s reinstatement.

Ayleen was a junior in Lopez's AP U.S. History class. “ When he sees that a student's not OK, he asks them personally and he doesn't embarrass them in front of everybody," she said.

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Synergy junior Ayleen said she didn’t participate in Wednesday’s walkout, but heard about peers who’d jumped the fence and gotten hurt. Ayleen requested to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy.

“We truly believe that he shouldn't have been fired for protecting a student,” she said. “That's his number one priority as a teacher, protecting his students, and he's the only one that upheld that that day.”

Lopez was Ayleen’s AP U.S. History teacher. AP classes culminate in a rigorous test where students can earn college credit.

“He has this way of teaching that he helps so much because he re-words questions,” Ayleen said. “It sounds simple, but so many teachers don't do that. He genuinely helps us to learn.”

Ayleen’s mother, Mary, said she supported her daughter’s decision to join the Friday walkout in protest of Lopez’s termination and would like the school to bring him back.

According to an Instagram post, students from Maya and Synergy plan to participate in another walkout Friday — still against ICE, but now also in support of their former teacher.

The National Park Service is asking for public input for its study on whether the L.A. coastline between San Pedro and Santa Monica should qualify for national park designation.

Federal officials held a public meeting Wednesday and outlined the study process.

Congress passed a law in 2022 that called for this study and greenlit funding for the three-year effort.

Lawmakers will use the findings to decide whether to designate the stretch of coastline — which includes the Santa Monica Pier, Ballona Creek and RAT Beach — a national park.

Sarah Bodo, project manager at NPS, said the coastline is interpreted as part of the sea to approximately 200 yards inland.

“The 200-yard number is an effort to include the beach areas and the public lands, while excluding private property from the study area,” Bodo said. “In cases where private property is within 200 yards, those properties are excluded from the study.”

What are the criteria?

To become a national park, the area needs to contain nationally significant resources, not already be in the national park system and require direct NPS management.

Sequoia National Park, for example, was recognized in 1890 to protect the giant trees from logging.

Officials will also consider where the access, cost and size of the area can be managed by the department.

The National Park Service is studying whether the red portions of the L.A. coastline should qualify for national park designation.

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“A study area must meet all four of the criteria,” Bodo said.

What happens now?

The agency is early in the study process. If you have thoughts on the matter, now is the time to share them.

The public comment period is open until April 6.

In the coming months, the agency will review that feedback before preparing a study report for Congress.

Only Congress and the president have the ability to designate a new national park.

“At that point, it will be up to Congress or the president to take action or not. There is no timeline for further action from Congress or the president,” Bodo said. “The completion of the study does not establish a new park unit.”

The process could take years. The last designation given to Missouri’s Ste. Genevieve National Historic Park in 2018, according to the Associated Press. Congress ordered the study for that park in 2005.

Outstanding questions

One question raised at Wednesday’s meeting was what the benefits and downsides of having NPS manage this area are.

Bodo said that would depend on what the legislation would say if designated and how management would work.

“The National Park Service is required to conserve unimpaired scenery, natural and historic objects, wildlife of parks, and to provide for their enjoyment by the public. That's our overall mission,” Bodo said. “National parks can also generate economic activity in nearby communities.”

And, if designated, how exactly would management of this area work?

It’s also still too early to say, but existing property owners, like the county or city, could continue to own and manage the property, Bodo added.

“If this were to be designated, there maybe wouldn't be significant changes in that arena,” Bodo said. “The Park Service would seek to work collaboratively with local communities and existing agencies on common goals for resource protection and recreational opportunities.”

Another question asked was how might Park Service involvement along the L.A. coast affect fishing and hunting regulations?

“That's really dependent on land ownership, so if land ownership did not change, nothing would change,” Bodo said.

How you can participate

The National Park Service is looking for public input. A second virtual meeting will be held March 11 at 6 p.m. You can join here.

Public comments are also being accepted online here.

Want more Olympics updates? Subscribe here to get our newsletter, Rachel Goes to the Games, delivered to your inbox for a behind-the-scenes look at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

MILAN — U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim's quest for a historic Olympic halfpipe three-peat was foiled by none other than her teenage protégé.

Kim took home silver, after 17-year-old Gaon Choi of South Korea rebounded from a dramatic crash to overtake her in the final run.

"It's the kind of story you only see in dreams, so I'm incredibly happy it happened today," Choi said afterward.

Kim, 25, was within arm's reach of becoming the first halfpipe snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic golds. Despite a last-minute shoulder injury, she cruised easily through Wednesday's qualifiers, which were actually her first competition of the season.

And she was looking like a lock through much of Thursday's final — under a light nighttime snowfall in Livigno — which hinged on the best of three runs.

Kim's strong first showing gave her 88 points and an early lead, which she held for the majority of the competition as many other contenders — including her U.S. teammates Bea Kim and Maddy Mastro — fell on one or more of their runs.

A big crash nearly ended Choi's night early, but after a medical exam she returned to the halfpipe slope for two more runs.

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Choi also took a heavy fall on her opening run, needing a concussion check. She almost missed her second turn, only to fall again. But an impressive third run propelled her to the top of the leaderboard, with 90.25 points.

"It wasn't so much about having huge resolve," she said later. "I just kept thinking about the technique I was originally doing."

Then all eyes were on Kim, the last rider of the night, with a chance to retake the lead. But she fell on her cab double cork 1080, a trick she had landed cleanly in previous runs, which stuck her with her original score. Choi and her team broke down in happy sobs and cheers immediately.

As Choi wiped her eyes, a beaming Kim greeted her at the photo finish with a warm hug. As they lined up alongside bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono of Japan, Kim stood to Choi's side and pointed at her excitedly.

"I've known [Choi] since she was little, and it means a lot to see that I've inspired the next generation and they're now out here killing it," Kim said afterward.

Choi is the same age Kim was in 2018 when she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboard medal.

The two have known each other for nearly a decade, a bond that began when Choi's father struck up a friendship with Kim's dad — who emigrated from South Korea to the U.S. — in the lead-up to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Kim (R) gave Choi (L) a warm reception after the last run of the night.

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"Chloe's dad did a lot of mentoring to my dad," Choi said after winning the first World Cup she entered in 2023, at age 14. "I didn't know much because I was young, but Chloe's dad gave my dad a lot of advice. It made me who I am today."

Kim and her dad helped bring Choi to the U.S. to train with at California's Mammoth Mountain, and maintained a supportive relationship. Kim spoke highly of Choi at an earlier press conference, calling it a "full-circle moment" and saying she sees "a mirror reflection of myself and my family."

"We're seeing a big shift to Asians being dominant in snow sports," she added. "I've had aunts telling me that I shouldn't snowboard, get a real career, focus on school. It's cool to see that shift happening."

Choi's victory makes her the first female Korean athlete to win a medal in snow sports. This is also South Korea's first snowboard gold.

"I want to introduce this sport more to my country through my performance at this Olympics," Choi told Olympics.com before the Games. "I also believe that enjoying the Games is just as important as achieving good results."
Copyright 2026 NPR

A federal judge this week ruled against the city of Los Angeles in a long-running lawsuit over the city’s practice of destroying unhoused people’s property during encampment sweeps.

In a rare default judgment, U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer made a finding in favor of the plaintiffs — ending the case — because the city destroyed, fabricated or altered documents relevant to the case.

The judge found the city had acted "willfully and in bad faith" to deprive the plaintiffs of the information they requested repeatedly, and that the city's explanation for its misconduct was "not credible," according to court documents.

It’s a win for six unhoused residents and advocacy organization Ktown For All, who filed the lawsuit in 2019, challenging whether L.A. Sanitation employees violated unhoused residents’ constitutional rights when seizing and discarding belongings during sweeps.

L.A. city code allows employees to remove and impound unattended, abandoned or hazardous items that are in the public right-of-way. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged city sanitation workers arbitrarily seize and destroy property without objective standards or proper notice. With the default judgement, the court accepted those allegations as true.

City’s misconduct 

According to the judge's ruling, attorneys for Ktown For All argued that the city had "altered and fabricated key evidence" — including health hazard assessment reports and checklists —- after the lawsuit was filed. Their arguments were supported in 2023, after a forensic examiner reviewed some of the evidence and the court found the city had "altered, modified, and created documents" relevant to the case.

The city of L.A. admitted to destroying some documents, but argued it did so because the records were error-filled because of flawed record-keeping during the pandemic, not an “intent to deprive Plaintiffs of the information’s use in the litigation,” according to the ruling.

Fischer noted there were problematic documents associated with more than 90% of the 144 cleanup cases examined by the court. Those records were being used to justify the city’s legal defenses for seizing unhoused residents’ belongings.

The judge also affirmed that city employees rewrote some reports to change the reason for seizures, including adding details about “biohazards” and describing property as “surrendered” or “dangerous.”

According to the ruling, the L.A. City Attorney’s Office hid the misconduct from the court and violated multiple court orders over five years.

“The court cannot proceed to trial with confidence that plaintiffs have had access to the true facts,” Fischer wrote.

“Where a party so damages the integrity of the discovery process that there can never be assurance of proceeding on the true facts, a case-dispositive sanction may be appropriate,” the judge continued, quoting another legal ruling.

Reaction from the attorneys

Shayla Myers with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said the city’s fabrication and alteration of documents made a fair trial impossible.

“The fabrication of cleanup reports in this case is itself an indictment of the city's practices,” Myers said. “At these sweeps, the city provides unhoused people absolutely no recourse.”

L.A. city officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the court’s decision.

What’s next?

The plaintiffs are seeking damages and a permanent injunction blocking the city from seizing and discarding personal property during encampment cleanups. They have until March 27 to file a brief in support of a proposed permanent injunction.