Rachel Becker
Rachel Becker is a reporter at CalMatters with a background in scientific research. After studying the links between the brain and the immune system, Rachel left the lab bench with her master's degree to become a journalist via the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing. For nearly three years, Rachel was a staff science reporter at The Verge, where she wrote stories and hosted videos covering a range of beats including climate change, nicotine, and nuclear technology. Her byline has also appeared in NOVA Next, National Geographic News, Smithsonian, Slate, Nature, Nature Medicine, bioGraphic, and Hakai Magazine, as well as the PBS Digital Studios video series Gross Science and the YouTube show MinuteEarth. Rachel is now an environment reporter for CALmatters, where she covers climate change and California's environmental policies.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday he will not be attending the U.N. climate change conference. His press office cited “family obligations” and said Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will go in his place.
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Gov. Newsom expands the California drought emergency from 50 counties to statewide, but does not order mandatory water conservation. He did authorize water regulators to ban wasteful water use, such as spraying down public sidewalks.
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Officials warn that next year’s cuts in water supply could go even deeper as severe drought grips nearly 90% of California. Residents of the North Coast and Bay Area conserved more than Southern Californians did.
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With most of the state gripped by extreme dryness, some conditions are better, some worse, than the last record-breaking drought. Over-pumping of wells hasn’t stopped. But urban residents haven’t lapsed back into water-wasting lifestyles.
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It’s California’s first big step toward regulating “forever chemicals,” which are ubiquitous in California and around the globe.
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Extreme drought now grips 85% of California so the governor is seeking voluntary action. Newsom expanded the drought emergency to nine more counties, mostly along the Central Coast and in the Bay Area.
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Drought resilience depends on location but also extraordinary engineering — determining which California places are running out of water this year and which remain in good shape.
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With most of the state gripped by extreme dryness, some conditions are better, some worse, than the last record-breaking drought. Over-pumping of wells hasn’t stopped. But urban residents haven’t lapsed back into water-wasting lifestyles.
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The Legislative Analyst’s Office warns California lawmakers to prepare to dispatch emergency drinking water to vulnerable communities, particularly in the Central Valley.
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The Russian River watershed is hard hit by lack of rainfall. The emergency order will allow state officials to relax some restrictions on reservoirs and assist endangered fish.