Linksploration - Bay Area: Recent Episodes
Sharon, Jeanne, and Christy
We've been away due to a family health crisis, but we're back! Just in time for historic streetcars, vintage buses, and the all-time favorite: the boat tram! (Not to mention the cablecars.) It's MUNI Heritage Weekend in San Francisco. Learn about the historic streetcars, the Market Street Railway, and find out what the the Routle is. You will definitely want to check out the show notes on this one for photos and links!
Let's talk recycling from a little different angle. Meet Race to Zero Waste! I guarantee you will get answers to some of your recycling questions.
Want to incorporate native plants into your garden? Or just hear about local plants? There is a lot more to it than I thought. We talk with Beth Wurzburg of the California Native Plant Society about their nursery, Native Here, in Tilden Park.
Now renamed Pacheco Marsh, the newly restored five mile stretch at the mouth of Walnut Creek is our newest park. In January, 2023, we toured the restoration in progress. Now we get the before and after as we attend the park's grand opening on May 3, 2025. Enjoy conversations with some of the celebrants, and fascinating descriptions of how the engineers at the Contra Costa County Flood Control District made it happen.
Even P&GE wants you to replace your gas appliances! Bill Olsen from the Contra Costa chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby explains how to get started, what it might cost, and how to make a plan.
There's never a dull moment living near the Martinez Refinery! After being assessed a $4.5 million penalty, you would think they would clean up their act, but you would be wrong. Heidi Taylor of Healthy Martinez brings us up to date - or almost up to date. After this episode was recorded, on the refinery's very first day of restarting operations, another fire broke out and a worker was injured.
Got a broken toaster? Leggings with a torn seam? A broken necklace? The Repair Cafe is here for you.
Marsh Creek runs from the flanks of Mt Diablo to the San Joaquin River, and it is full of surprising wildlife! For the MLK Day of Service, we are picking up trash and keeping our eyes peeled.
Continuing our exploration of area creeks, we are revisiting a 2023 episode about one of the biggest waterway projects in the area, one that is slated to become a public park: the Lower Walnut Creek Restoration Project.
Happy Thanksgiving! Like everyone, we are busy busy with holiday cheer, so we are doing a minisode updating three prior episodes.
You may already be using iNaturalist as an app on your phone to identify plants and animals. If you aren't yet, you will want to get started by the end of this episode! And did you know that it got its start right here in the Bay Area? Now it's a worldwide phenomenon used by lay contributors and scientists alike. Join us as iNat board member Cat Chang explains how it works, how it got its start, and what it is used for.
So far in our creeks series, we have been looking at attempts to restore them to as close to natural as possible. But what if we look at urban creeks in a different way, as their own ecosystems, including the unhoused people who live along them? How will climate change affect these systems? In this episode, we go out in the field and talk to Dr. Costanza Rampini of San Jose State and Dr. Gregory Pasternack of UC Davis, researchers who are investigating exactly this issue in a Bay Area project called Resilient, Equitable Urban Stream Corridors.
The friends of San Ramon Creek are amazing! Tune in to hear about all they have accomplished. I guarantee you will want to join them.
After a short hiatus in August, we're back with a new series: Friends of the Creeks! Every friends group is different. Join us as we tour the Alhambra Native Plant Trail with the Friends of Alhambra Creek.
Fossil fuels are doing serious damage to the planet, yet public pension funds continue to invest in them. A lot of people and organizations think that's wrong, including our guest in this episode, Dr. Carlos Davidson, emeritus professor of environmental science at San Francisco State. We learn what's happening in the campaign for fossil fuel divestment.
It's time for an update from Sustainable Contra Costa. Their special theme this summer is to prepare for the next drought by developing those good water efficiency habits in the Summer Water Savers Challenge. Learn what's up with Laura Wehrley. Then sign up to help Sustainable Contra Costa reach their goal!
This is the week we would normally be publishing a new episode, but I came back from vacation with an unwelcome souvenir - not Covid, thank goodness - and so we ask your indulgence until I am back at full strength. Thanks!
There's a plan! Adam Varat from the Port of San Francisco introduces us to the Waterfront Resilience Plan and how the city hopes to protect its shoreline infrastructure.
The Concord Naval Weapons Station closed 19 years ago. After some false starts, it looks like its redevelopment is finally underway. We get the scoop from Guy Bjerke, who is the director of the project for the City of Concord.
Marsh Creek in Brentwood was engineered to be a drainage ditch, but the Contra Costa County Flood Control District, in partnership with American Rivers, is changing that. We tour the Three Creeks Restoration Project to see what is possible within the constraints of suburban living.
Rooftop solar seems like the front line answer to climate change, but there's a problem: how to share the cost of maintaining the grid and other programs among users, as more and more homeowners opt out. In this episode we look at the latest effort to fix the problem by - yes - taking another swipe at rooftop solar. Hang on to the end to hear what our neighbor Nevada is doing!
The refinery's lawsuit against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is settled; what's next? Let's check in with Heidi Taylor from Healthy Martinez. (Hint: there's more to keep an eye on.)
After the work comes the party! A stroll up the Richmond Greenway takes us to Unity Park and the after-party. We talk to exhibitors, listen to music, and generally chill out.
Urban Tilth work day in Richmond: Planting, weeding, mulching, and meeting the staff and volunteers who make it happen. We met the cutest weeder, age 5 - and they found a potato!
Electrification is coming! And there is much to learn. Rebates! Tax credits! Cheaper power! And where to get help. Brenna Shafizadeh of the Climate Reality Project shares her expertise.
We have a special holiday gift for you from our friends over at the Bay Area Chapter of the Climate Reality Project, and their podcast, "Everyday Climate Champions"! Ravinder Sehgal of the San Francisco Veg Society talks about why and how to reduce meat consumption to benefit you, the animals, and the climate. It's a win-win-win!
What's new at the Martinez refinery? They have added flares and stinky gas releases to their repertoire. Meanwhile, there is a December 21 court date with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and a class action lawsuit is getting underway. In this bonus minisode, we get an update from Heidi Taylor of Healthy Martinez.
We're back and planting! Learn about native plants, and efforts to bring them back in the Bay Area. We get to work at an annual event planting native plants, and also learn about their history, how they almost got wiped out, and the fun of resoring them to a part of their former territory. Spoiler alert: we ask about beavers.
Greetings listeners! We haven't forgotten you. Jeanne was on vacation in Spain, and came back with a A+ cold - (or should we say F-?). We are taking a short break, but we will be back in a few weeks with another exciting episode. Meanwhile, this is your opportunity to catch up on any episodes you may have missed, either on your favorite podcast player, or at linksploration.com.
Back in June, we began a conversation with Sadie Wilson of the Greenbelt Alliance about their Resilience Hotspots program. Now we take a closer look at the Suisun Marsh, one of the first group of 5 hotspots, with Sadie and Alex Lunine of Sustainable Solano.
In honor of climate week, host Jeanne puts on her CPA hat and gives listeners a tour of the Inflation Reduction Act, the giant legislation giving tax incentives for all kinds of climate mitigation, plus rebates. It's wild!
What's happening with rooftop solar now that the new net metering system has taken effect? What is the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act? What else is new in the rooftop solar market? We thought we knew it all, but there is lots to learn. Join us as we chat again with our solar experts, Pat Villano and Amit Roy of Your Energy Solutions.
When we think about climate change, we often focus on the big picture; after all it is an earth-wide problem. This week we zoom in and talk with Laura Wehrley of Sustainable Contra Costa about what they do and what we can do as individuals, right here, right now.
Following a release of toxic dust from the Martinez Refinery, which looms above the historic town of Martinez, local residents banded together to form Healthy Martinez, a group advocating for cleaner air and more transparency from the refinery. We interview Heidi Taylor of Healthy Martinez about what happened, what's happening, and what they want to happen.
In this minisode, we have a blast at the Martinez Beaver Festival. Just can't get enough of the little chompers!
The Greenbelt Alliance has been a longtime Bay Area institution. Now they are tackling climate change in five local sites they are calling "resilience hotspots". We chat with Greenbelt Alliance's Sadie Wilson about how these places were chosen, what they mean by "resilience", and, well . . . what's the plan?
In this follow-up minisode, we tour an active beaver colony in Fairfield, CA, and learn even more about the lifestyles of the toothy and hairy. A visit to the home of the Laurel Creek beavers.
Climate change! In this conversation, we talk with Lynda Deschambault of Contra Costa County Climate Leaders about what separates the best cities from the . . . not so good. Some of the factors are what you expect, but some are surprising. And we name names.
May 6 was the Bay Area Bike Swap Festival. Join us as we talk to participants representing all things bicycle. There's a lot going on; the variety is astonishing. We talk to all kinds of folks, and observe our first bunny hop!
Twenty million people showed up for the first Earth Day in 1970. Its character has evolved over the years. We discuss its history, meaning, and what it has become in the Bay Area, including a preview of Earth Day Lafayette with Surahbi Konkur of Sustainable Lafayette. Also check the show notes for links to happenings around the Bay this weekend!
We love waste! In this episode, we tour the sewage processing plant of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District. But wait - there's more! It turns out that there are a multiplicity of wastewater districts in the Bay Area, and every one of them treats its sewage a little bit differently. So we did a little comparison. Join us as we follow your poop from the flush to the Bay, with a side excursion to see how the various sanitary districts are getting value from it.
Beavers! They're baaack! Beavers are amazing animals. Hear about their incredible physiology, the story of the Martinez beavers, and what's next for them in the Bay Area.
No solar panels needed to get renewably-sourced electricity! Go with your community choice aggregator (CCA). For Contra Costa County, that's Marin Clean Energy, or MCE. In this episode, MCE's Jenna Tenney explains how CCA works and why choose it.
Where Walnut Creek - the stream, not the town - meets Suisun Bay, it is getting a new life. After many years as a sad, diked and silted, artificial channel, it is being reborn as a lively mix of revitalized habitat for a wide variety of plants, birds, mammals and fish. Though it's not yet open to the public, we got a guided tour with Paul Detjens, the project manager. Join us for a sneak preview of this amazing preserve right on our doorstep.
In our second episode on rooftop solar, we discuss net energy metering and the changes in store, as well as the newly extended federal tax credit and right-sizing the system with our guests Pat Villano & Amit Roy of Your Energy Solutions.
In this, the first of a two-episode series, we dig into the nuts and bolts of rooftop solar, from how the panels work, to financing, to how to find a good installer, and more.
Visit the recycling center and meet Big Blue! Find out where your recycling goes and what actually gets reprocessed. Begin to answer the $64,000 question: Is it worth it?
It's Flood Preparedness Week! And so we kick off our podcast with a conversation with Eric Simmons, an engineer with FEMA's Flood Mitigation Division. Eric talks about all things flood risk, and we trace it to Contra Costa County. Find out how to evaluate your own flood risk, how flood maps are tied to historic flood risk, and why flood insurance premiums vary by city. (Hint: Unincorporated Contra Costa has the best rates.)
Coming very soon: the new podcast about climate change and related issues in the Diablo Valley and the wider San Francisco Bay area. Introducing Linksploration - Bay Area!