San Francisco Chronicle

People in 46 American metropolitan areas breathe air that exceeds federal soot levels, according to new figures from the Environmental Protection Agency. Nearly one-third of all Americans live in affected areas.

California transportation officials are confident that federal support will back up $10 billion in recently approved bond sales to fund the state's proposed high speed rail system.

A California state arm called the Bay Conservation and Development Commission has announced plans for a $125,000 contest to come up with ideas for cities to deal with climate change in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In this op-ed, "San Francisco is not London", Steve Falk, the CEO of the S.F. Chamber of Commerce, explains why London-style congestion pricing is inappropriate for the downtown core - that it would only hurt businesses without reducing congestion.

The federal government has blocked plans to build a 16-mile road through a Southern California state park, mainly over environmental concerns.

The national park under St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch has seen better days, and has always been a point of contention. Today, some residents want to build a cultural attraction in the park. The park service is resisting.

In back-to-back rulings, the Californian Air Resources Board approved the nation's strongest climate protection plan and the strictest on-road diesel emissions plans that will mean the oldest, most polluting trucks and buses will soon be no more.

In this op-ed, the executive director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority makes a case for congestion pricing in the City, though he is quick to indicate the SFCTA is only studying the concept to see if it could be applied there.

At a crucial two-day meeting, the California Air Resources Board may adopt, reject or modify two separate, landmark, controversial plans - one on climate change, the other on diesel emissions from trucks and buses.

A proposal to run a light rail subway through central San Francisco passed environmental scrutiny at the federal level, green lighting the project to move forward. Now all the $1.3 billion project needs is some federal funding.

Clearly it has aroused enormous excitement and hope amongst California's smart growth advocates, but the new anti-sprawl, greenhouse gas-reducing law, SB 375, may do more in the tone it sets than in the changes its supporters hope it makes.

Officials in San Francisco will be presented with reports today on possible ways to integrate congestion pricing and toll zones into the city. If approved, San Francisco would be the first city in the nation to implement congestion pricing.

An economic study has been published showing that the costs of air pollution to the 20 million Californians living in the state’s (and nation’s) two most polluted regions, the LA basin and San Joaquin Valley, to be around $28 billion annually.

Planners and parks officials in San Francisco are making moves to reimagine currently underused public space in the heart of the city as a new civic park and gathering place.

In what may prove a decisive test to see the political limits of what green building offers developers, a LEED Platinum, 10-story office building is proposed along San Francisco's tightly regulated waterfront - exceeding the height limit by 40 feet.

A $10 billion high speed rail bond is winning with 52.2% voting 'Yes' with 95% of the precincts reporting. This would be the first state bond measure supporting high speed rail to be supported by voters in U.S., though it only funds 1/3 of costs.

Passenger rail is on the minds of voters and politicians more than ever. Some say the next train era is on its way.

Critic John King says three new housing projects in San Francisco go beyond the goal of shelter, creating fun, attractive environments.

The CA Air Resources Board unveiled its final ‘scoping plan’ to meet the climate change targets set in the landmark 2006 law, AB 32. Business groups condemned it for its costs while land use planners criticized it for not doing more to curb sprawl.

Over the past few years, San Francisco's waterfront has become home to art pieces like an enormous, cartoony bow and arrow and a giant spider. Labor historians have a different idea: A five-story crane built in the early 1970s for loading coconuts.