California

California is home to some of the nation’s most ambitious climate, housing, and social policy experiments. This archive tracks the progress stories and milestones emerging from the state — from clean energy breakthroughs to community health wins.

Tall old-growth redwood trees in northern California for an article about Yurok Tribe land return, for article on tribal co-management

Yurok Tribe becomes first Native people to co-manage land with the National Park Service

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Yurok Tribe land return marks a historic milestone as the tribe reclaims 125 acres of ancestral territory and becomes the first Native nation to formally co-manage land alongside the National Park Service. The agreement returns the parcel known as ‘O Rew, near Orick in Humboldt County, after more than a century of displacement that stripped the Yurok of roughly 90% of their homeland. Ecological restoration is already underway, with thousands of juvenile salmon returning to a rebuilt Prairie Creek. The deal reflects a growing Land Back movement and sets a new precedent for Indigenous stewardship of public lands.

A heat pump unit on a home exterior, representing U.S. heat pump sales growth supported by the Kigali Amendment

Nine U.S. states, including California and New York, sign heat pump agreement to clean up air pollution

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Nine U.S. states have inked an agreement to promote climate-friendly heat pump sales. The memorandum of understanding sets a 2030 target for heat pumps to make up 65% of residential heating, cooling, and water heating equipment sales. By 2040, the goal is for heat pumps to account for 90% of the HVAC and water heating market. The states on board with the agreement include: California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.

California coast, for article on Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area

First ever U.S. Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area declared in California

By / / Good News For Humankind

Indigenous marine stewardship just took a historic leap: three sovereign tribal nations along California’s northern coast have declared nearly 700 square miles of ocean and coastline under their own protection — the first Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area in U.S. history. The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, the Resighini Tribe, and the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community didn’t ask permission. They drew on their own authority to safeguard kelp forests, estuaries, salmon, and the surf smelt that Jaytuk Steinruck describes in songs going back forever. Their work alone covers 13% of California’s goal to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. It’s a powerful reminder that the people who’ve stewarded these places for millennia are still leading the way home.

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First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds

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Space-based solar power just cleared a milestone scientists have been chasing since the 1970s: a Caltech satellite spent a year in orbit, collected sunlight, and beamed it wirelessly back to a ground receiver on Earth. The SSPD-1 mission completed all three of its planned experiments, including testing an origami-inspired panel that unfolds without hinges and a purpose-built microwave transmitter. The appeal is simple — above the atmosphere, the Sun never sets, no clouds get in the way, and power could flow around the clock. Caltech’s team is honest that commercial-scale space solar is still years off, with cost and radiation durability to solve. But moving this idea from whiteboard to working demonstration brings humanity a real step closer to truly continuous clean energy.

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New protein test can detect 18 early stage cancers, scientists say

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A new blood test can screen for 18 different cancers at once — covering every major organ in the body — using a single ordinary blood draw. Researchers at U.S. biotech firm Novelna found the test caught 93% of earliest-stage cancers in male samples and 84% in female samples, while also pinpointing which organ the cancer came from in more than 80% of cases. Instead of hunting for tumor DNA, the team analyzed proteins in blood plasma, picking up faint signals before a tumor does visible damage. Larger studies are still needed before it reaches clinics, but a cheap, accurate, broad screening tool would be a quiet revolution for global health — especially in places where late diagnosis is still the norm.

Golden Gate Bridge, for article on Golden Gate Bridge suicide prevention net

Suicide-prevention net beneath Golden Gate Bridge completed

By / / Good News For Humankind

The Golden Gate Bridge now has a continuous stainless steel safety net running the full 1.7-mile span, suspended 20 feet below the deck where drivers can’t see it. As the net neared completion in 2023, the number of people who jumped fell by more than half — a quiet but powerful early sign that it’s working. The project was driven by the Bridge Rail Foundation, a small group of parents who lost children at the bridge and refused to give up over more than 18 years of advocacy. Their win is a reminder that thoughtful design, backed by evidence and persistence, can turn even the most heartbreaking places into something safer for everyone who comes next.

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American scientists repeatedly produce nuclear fusion ignition for the first time in history

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Nuclear fusion just cleared a crucial bar: scientists at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have now achieved ignition four separate times, with the best shot producing 89 percent more energy than the lasers delivered to the target. That repetition is what transforms a single 2022 breakthrough into real, replicable science — proof that the Sun-like reaction can be coaxed out of a frozen hydrogen pellet on Earth, again and again. Momentum is building beyond the lab, too, with more than $6 billion now invested in fusion worldwide and governments at COP28 agreeing to speed things along. The road from a boiled kettle’s worth of energy to a clean-powered grid is still long, but the hardest physics is finally behind us.

Aerial view of facility, for article on direct air capture

Heirloom Carbon Technologies opens first carbon capture facility in the U.S.

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Direct air capture has gone commercial in the United States for the first time, with Heirloom Carbon Technologies opening a plant in Tracy, California that can pull 1,000 metric tons of CO2 straight from the sky each year. The company speeds up a natural process: heating limestone, then letting the mineral soak up atmospheric carbon on open-air trays in days rather than years. The captured CO2 is locked into concrete and stored underground, with companies like Microsoft and Shopify buying removal credits to fund operations. Heirloom went from capturing one kilogram to one million kilograms in just over two years, and hopes to keep copying the design. Tackling legacy emissions, not just new ones, may be essential to stabilizing the climate worldwide.