Rachel Becker
@ra-becks.bsky.social
Water reporter @CALmatters.org
Reposted by Rachel Becker
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
these anti-vaxers are going to kill so many people, especially children, and not one of them will ever face any consequences for it
A federal advisory panel with power over vaccine policy has voted to stop recommending a universal newborn shot to prevent the hepatitis B virus, which causes liver disease — a major shakeup to the childhood vaccine schedule under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Vaccine advisory panel votes to end universal newborn hep B shot in major shakeup
Parents appear to be able to continue to get the hep B vaccine for their kids, but the move could cause confusion among families and logistical barriers for health providers.
19thnews.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
these anti-vaxers are going to kill so many people, especially children, and not one of them will ever face any consequences for it
Reposted by Rachel Becker
Ann Carlson on the dismantling of CAFE Standards:
In a quick perusal of the proposed rule, it’s clear that the so-called “SAFE 3” standards are on very shaky legal ground and a complete assault on electric vehicles in general and EV companies in particular.
legal-planet.org/2025/12/05/s...
In a quick perusal of the proposed rule, it’s clear that the so-called “SAFE 3” standards are on very shaky legal ground and a complete assault on electric vehicles in general and EV companies in particular.
legal-planet.org/2025/12/05/s...
Some Early Thoughts on the Dismantling of CAFE Standards - Legal Planet
The so-called "SAFE 3" standards are on very shaky legal ground and a complete assault on electric vehicles in general.
legal-planet.org
December 5, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Ann Carlson on the dismantling of CAFE Standards:
In a quick perusal of the proposed rule, it’s clear that the so-called “SAFE 3” standards are on very shaky legal ground and a complete assault on electric vehicles in general and EV companies in particular.
legal-planet.org/2025/12/05/s...
In a quick perusal of the proposed rule, it’s clear that the so-called “SAFE 3” standards are on very shaky legal ground and a complete assault on electric vehicles in general and EV companies in particular.
legal-planet.org/2025/12/05/s...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
National weather service has a beach, hazards statement up through Monday; Long period swell, watch out for sneaker waves, and never turn out your back on the ocean!🌊 #MitchellsCove #CAwx #SeaSculptors
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
National weather service has a beach, hazards statement up through Monday; Long period swell, watch out for sneaker waves, and never turn out your back on the ocean!🌊 #MitchellsCove #CAwx #SeaSculptors
Reposted by Rachel Becker
During the shutdown, a fire in Joshua Tree National Park scorched hundreds of its namesake trees.
An inside source says staffing shortages are making it harder to salvage the trees, while park leaders maintain a major response isn't needed. My latest: bit.ly/49ySvuu
An inside source says staffing shortages are making it harder to salvage the trees, while park leaders maintain a major response isn't needed. My latest: bit.ly/49ySvuu
Hundreds of Joshua trees were scorched during the shutdown
A firefighter with the National Park Service says a fire wiped out more than a thousand Joshua trees amid the government shutdown. Restoration could be limited by a depleted staff, they said.
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
During the shutdown, a fire in Joshua Tree National Park scorched hundreds of its namesake trees.
An inside source says staffing shortages are making it harder to salvage the trees, while park leaders maintain a major response isn't needed. My latest: bit.ly/49ySvuu
An inside source says staffing shortages are making it harder to salvage the trees, while park leaders maintain a major response isn't needed. My latest: bit.ly/49ySvuu
Reposted by Rachel Becker
California’s child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields
Robert J Lopez
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Robert J Lopez
www.latimes.com/california/s...
California's child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields
State officials are failing to protect the health and safety of thousands of young field laborers, an investigation has found.
www.latimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
California’s child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields
Robert J Lopez
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Robert J Lopez
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
An unusually strong storm system has reached Southern California, raising fears that the rain could unleash what one expert called a 'flood on steroids' — a threat that has been lingering in the burn scars of recent wildfires. Here's what to know about debris flows.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
‘A flood on steroids’: What to know as storm, debris flows threaten LA
Burn scars slicked by fire and stripped of plants are especially vulnerable to pounding rain in Southern California. Below debris flows a USGS scientist says to be ready to fight like hell or get out ...
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:15 AM
An unusually strong storm system has reached Southern California, raising fears that the rain could unleash what one expert called a 'flood on steroids' — a threat that has been lingering in the burn scars of recent wildfires. Here's what to know about debris flows.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
An unusually strong storm system has reached Southern California, raising fears that the rain could unleash what one expert called a 'flood on steroids' — a threat that has been lingering in the burn scars of recent wildfires. Here's what to know about debris flows.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
‘A flood on steroids’: What to know as storm, debris flows threaten LA
Burn scars slicked by fire and stripped of plants are especially vulnerable to pounding rain in Southern California. Below debris flows a USGS scientist says to be ready to fight like hell or get out ...
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:15 AM
An unusually strong storm system has reached Southern California, raising fears that the rain could unleash what one expert called a 'flood on steroids' — a threat that has been lingering in the burn scars of recent wildfires. Here's what to know about debris flows.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
wow!
Imperial Irrigation District’s camera on the Salton Sea near Niland, California, exploding with Aurora color.
November 12, 2025 at 4:09 AM
wow!
TURNS OUT today *wasn't* the day: In an anticlimax to feverish negotiations, California and the six other states that rely on Colorado River water failed to reach even the beginnings of a deal. Water watchers say there's no time to waste for the dwindling reservoirs.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
No Colorado River deal for California and other Western states despite Trump administration deadline
Another Colorado River deadline sails into the rearview as states remain deadlocked over the parched river.
calmatters.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:07 AM
TURNS OUT today *wasn't* the day: In an anticlimax to feverish negotiations, California and the six other states that rely on Colorado River water failed to reach even the beginnings of a deal. Water watchers say there's no time to waste for the dwindling reservoirs.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Today's the day! Or ... is it? The Trump administration's deadline looms for Colorado River negotiators to at least agree to make a deal. So -- how real is this deadline, really? And what does it mean for California?
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Colorado River talks hit crunch time. What's at stake for California water?
Western states in the Colorado River basin are racing a federal deadline to hash out how to share the overtapped river. As the clock ticks down, two questions looms large: Just how real is this deadli...
calmatters.org
November 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Today's the day! Or ... is it? The Trump administration's deadline looms for Colorado River negotiators to at least agree to make a deal. So -- how real is this deadline, really? And what does it mean for California?
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
my latest: CRIT grants personhood status to #coloradoriver - 3rd in North America by Indigenous peoples. www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
Colorado River wins personhood status from Arizona tribal council
Personhood status creates a powerful new mechanism for protecting the eponymous river that makes life possible in their arid homelands.
www.azcentral.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:43 PM
my latest: CRIT grants personhood status to #coloradoriver - 3rd in North America by Indigenous peoples. www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference begins, California officials are the highest profile American delegation this week in Bélem, Brazil. The Trump administration has abandoned the Paris climate agreement and won’t send officials to the talks. bit.ly/43VqsBD
📸 Wagner Meier, Getty
📸 Wagner Meier, Getty
November 10, 2025 at 10:08 PM
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference begins, California officials are the highest profile American delegation this week in Bélem, Brazil. The Trump administration has abandoned the Paris climate agreement and won’t send officials to the talks. bit.ly/43VqsBD
📸 Wagner Meier, Getty
📸 Wagner Meier, Getty
Pitch to my editor for this story: but what even are deadlines, REALLY.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Colorado River talks hit crunch time. What's at stake for California water?
Western states in the Colorado River basin are racing a federal deadline to hash out how to share the overtapped river. As the clock ticks down, two questions looms large: Just how real is this deadli...
calmatters.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Pitch to my editor for this story: but what even are deadlines, REALLY.
calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org/environment/...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
Scientists have released an updated report card for the San Francisco Bay-Delta for the first time since 2019, which spotlights the health of the waterways that carry nearly half of California’s rain and snow. #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2025/11/06/p...
PRESS RELEASE: New assessment of the health of the San Francisco Estuary released
Press release from the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) Scientists have released an updated report card for the San Francisco Bay-Delta for the first time since 2019, which spotlights the health...
mavensnotebook.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Scientists have released an updated report card for the San Francisco Bay-Delta for the first time since 2019, which spotlights the health of the waterways that carry nearly half of California’s rain and snow. #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2025/11/06/p...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
Nobody wanted to talk about this...at first. Then they did. Rachel Becker gets below the surface on this one to talk to people about an invasive species whose costs are still climbing.
They've been compared to the 'bedbugs' of the Delta.
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
'Emerging threat': An invasive species is upending life in the Delta, with no help on the way
One year after the discovery that golden mussels had invaded the Delta, thick colonies coat boats and piers and threaten water supplies for cities and farms. Yet the state has no specific funding or p...
calmatters.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Nobody wanted to talk about this...at first. Then they did. Rachel Becker gets below the surface on this one to talk to people about an invasive species whose costs are still climbing.
They've been compared to the 'bedbugs' of the Delta.
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
'Emerging threat': An invasive species is upending life in the Delta, with no help on the way
One year after the discovery that golden mussels had invaded the Delta, thick colonies coat boats and piers and threaten water supplies for cities and farms. Yet the state has no specific funding or p...
calmatters.org
November 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
They've been compared to the 'bedbugs' of the Delta.
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
One year since their discovery near the Port of Stockton — a first for North America — golden mussels encrust boats and piers, and threaten water supplies for farms and cities. And there's no help on the way.
calmatters.org/environment/...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
❗Reminder: The application deadline for the @theopennotebook.bsky.social early-career fellowship is this Friday, October 31. This fellowship is:
✅ Paid ($6,600)
✅ Part-time
✅ Remote
✅ Mentored
✅ Open to applicants anywhere in the world
Learn more here: www.theopennotebook.com/early-career...
✅ Paid ($6,600)
✅ Part-time
✅ Remote
✅ Mentored
✅ Open to applicants anywhere in the world
Learn more here: www.theopennotebook.com/early-career...
Early-Career Fellowship Program - The Open Notebook
Every year, The Open Notebook offers a paid, part-time fellowship program for early-career science journalists. This ten-month program offers fellows the opportunity to explore their career interests ...
www.theopennotebook.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
❗Reminder: The application deadline for the @theopennotebook.bsky.social early-career fellowship is this Friday, October 31. This fellowship is:
✅ Paid ($6,600)
✅ Part-time
✅ Remote
✅ Mentored
✅ Open to applicants anywhere in the world
Learn more here: www.theopennotebook.com/early-career...
✅ Paid ($6,600)
✅ Part-time
✅ Remote
✅ Mentored
✅ Open to applicants anywhere in the world
Learn more here: www.theopennotebook.com/early-career...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
New Weather West post out this evening: "Following a cool and wet October, a much warmer and drier November to come across California." I'll talk more about this in Monday's YT livestream, in addition to Hurricane #Melissa. #CAwx #CAfire
Following a cool and wet October, a much warmer and drier November to come across California - Weather West
A notably wet (and also cool) October across nearly all of California and much of the Southwest 2025 has been a decidedly strange weather year in California--starting with January's devastating Los Angeles-region firestorms amid a record-dry 6-9 period (and following near-record wet conditions over the 1-2 years prior). The spring and early summer were notably
weatherwest.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Rachel Becker
California is protecting environmental expertise by hiring fired federal EPA scientists for key state roles.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
'I have no regrets': Ex-federal officials flock to California
California officials are using the government shutdown to recruit more federal workers.
www.politico.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
California is protecting environmental expertise by hiring fired federal EPA scientists for key state roles.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
OK, here we go...
I'm excited to launch Climate-Colored Goggles, a newsletter about climate and culture. I'll be writing about climate solutions in pop culture, media & sports. America's most influential storytellers need to get in the game.
Sign up here: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
I'm excited to launch Climate-Colored Goggles, a newsletter about climate and culture. I'll be writing about climate solutions in pop culture, media & sports. America's most influential storytellers need to get in the game.
Sign up here: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:34 PM
OK, here we go...
I'm excited to launch Climate-Colored Goggles, a newsletter about climate and culture. I'll be writing about climate solutions in pop culture, media & sports. America's most influential storytellers need to get in the game.
Sign up here: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
I'm excited to launch Climate-Colored Goggles, a newsletter about climate and culture. I'll be writing about climate solutions in pop culture, media & sports. America's most influential storytellers need to get in the game.
Sign up here: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
Reposted by Rachel Becker
What a federal government shutdown could mean for California, with reporting from @ra-becks.bsky.social @gauchoesque.bsky.social @jeannereporter.bsky.social and others (who are not on bluesky) calmatters.org/politics/202...
What a government shutdown will mean for Californians, from Social Security to national parks
Critical benefits from the Social Security Administration and Medicare will keep flowing in a government shutdown. You could notice delays if it drags on.
calmatters.org
September 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
What a federal government shutdown could mean for California, with reporting from @ra-becks.bsky.social @gauchoesque.bsky.social @jeannereporter.bsky.social and others (who are not on bluesky) calmatters.org/politics/202...
Reposted by Rachel Becker
An important story from @grist.org about what happens when the President’s people turn to GoFundMe instead of FEMA after a disaster. grist.org/accountabili...
Trump raised $8 million for Hurricane Helene survivors. Where did it all go?
On a dusty, warm day last October, nearly a month after Hurricane Helene tore across the southeastern United States, Donald Trump stood behind a podium in Swannanoa, North Carolina, to pledge funding ...
grist.org
September 24, 2025 at 10:25 PM
An important story from @grist.org about what happens when the President’s people turn to GoFundMe instead of FEMA after a disaster. grist.org/accountabili...